#MZS
“I believe the movie may be demonstrating a fact of human nature: Most people, most of the time, all over the world, choose to go along.”—Roger Ebert

www.rogerebert.com/mzs/red-meat...
Red Meat: Steak 'n Shake Goes Nazi | MZS | Roger Ebert
Et tu, Steak 'n Shake?
www.rogerebert.com
March 9, 2025 at 6:49 PM
I deleted this because I didn't wanna spend the next two days replying to people, but I wanted to be sure to preserve it for posterity
September 9, 2025 at 6:16 AM
Saw this today because of MZS. Great thriller, reminded me a lot of SORCERER.
"The main character, Ethan Hawke‘s Samuel Murphy, might be Steinbeck’s plainspoken Tom Joad reimagined as an action hero...Hawke understands that in movie acting, sometimes the best approach is to let your face do the talking." Review of The Weight. Excellent film. www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-...
The Weight review: Ethan Hawke shines in Depression-era drama
Hawke's performance is one of the best he's ever given.
www.rogerebert.com
September 23, 2026 at 12:54 AM
“The Supreme Court notoriously decided in 2010 that in certain circumstances, corporations should be considered people. If that’s true, Steak ‘n Shake wears a brown shirt and swastika armband.”
www.rogerebert.com/mzs/red-meat...
Red Meat: Steak 'n Shake Goes Nazi | MZS | Roger Ebert
Et tu, Steak 'n Shake?
www.rogerebert.com
March 9, 2025 at 6:44 PM
LISTEN TO MZS
What’s the deal with supposed progressives posting Gen AI imagery? You’re using several gallons of water and god knows how much power each time, to make stuff that looks like dead dog ass. And insulting actual artists in the process.
January 4, 2025 at 1:49 PM
There's no better time than now to revisit @aiannucci.bsky.social’s masterful political satire The Death of Stalin, now streaming on Hulu.

From @mattzollerseitz.bsky.social: www.rogerebert.com/mzs/30-minut...
60 Minutes on: The Death of Stalin | MZS | Roger Ebert
A hilarious film about a subject that's not funny at all.
www.rogerebert.com
September 4, 2025 at 7:15 AM
“Movies should have a shape, just like a sculpture, a table, or a person, rather than being the equivalent of a sleeve of cake icing that’s open at both ends and leaks everywhere.” www.rogerebert.com/mzs/its-ok-f...
It's OK For Movies to Just End | MZS | Roger Ebert
No, really! It is!
www.rogerebert.com
February 8, 2025 at 7:50 AM
“The sight of Roger’s favorite fast-food chain adding neofascism to its menu would have appalled him. It appalled the editors of RogerEbert.com, of which I am one.” www.rogerebert.com/mzs/red-meat...
Red Meat: Steak 'n Shake Goes Nazi | MZS | Roger Ebert
Et tu, Steak 'n Shake?
www.rogerebert.com
March 9, 2025 at 6:46 PM
“We’re seeing a way of life disappear, to be replaced with something else—who knows what. There will be rebuilding and regrowth, but what’s gone can never be replaced.” www.rogerebert.com/mzs/whats-go...
What’s gone can never be replaced: thoughts on Los Angeles, disasters, and the present moment | MZS | Roger Ebert
A few thoughts on the LA wildfires, and what it is doing to American entertainment, culture, and our collective psyches.
www.rogerebert.com
January 10, 2025 at 12:00 AM
New Yorkers: there's an incredible series at MOMA (@moma.bsky.social) commemorating the 20th anniversary of Katrina with a series of films about New Orleans before and after. Curated by @mayascade.bsky.social and K. Austin Collins. My picks: www.rogerebert.com/mzs/when-the...
"When the World Broke Open: Katrina and its Afterlives" Launches at MOMA | MZS | Roger Ebert
A preview of an ambitious event at MOMA on the anniversary of Hurricane Katrina.
www.rogerebert.com
August 27, 2025 at 5:44 PM
"Wilder’s a moralist, but a European kind of moralist. He’s not wagging his finger. He’s identifying certain timeless tendencies in humankind, and perhaps wishing things were not so, but also realizing that they are so, and that there’s no point denying it." www.rogerebert.com/mzs/30-minut...
30 Minutes on: "The Apartment" | MZS | Roger Ebert
Billy Wilder's groundbreaking comedy-drama still has the power to wound.
www.rogerebert.com
June 16, 2025 at 12:31 AM
Rob Reiner’s films changed my life & this is the essential read on the man’s profound impact eloquently presented by MZS.
December 16, 2025 at 11:06 PM
Sigh.
September 18, 2025 at 1:48 AM
“That’s the kind of storyteller James Gunn is: the kind who can make you cry over a crotch-licking weasel.” www.rogerebert.com/mzs/james-gu...
Somehow, James Gunn Always Gets You: An Appreciation of "Creature Commandos" | MZS | Roger Ebert
An appreciation of James Gunn in light of the conclusion of Creature Commandos.
www.rogerebert.com
January 17, 2025 at 7:16 PM
“It took a long time to be able to write about Jan. I think what was stopping me was the sense of finality. Jennifer and Nancy died before their mother, multiplying one of the worst agonies a person can endure by a factor of two. And now the mother is gone.” www.rogerebert.com/mzs/remember...
Remembering Jan Dawson, My Mother-in-Law (Twice) | MZS | Roger Ebert
Remembering the mother of the writer's first two wives.
www.rogerebert.com
May 11, 2025 at 11:20 PM
On the 40th anniversary of the release of Aliens, here is one of my most read, weirdly controversial pieces. www.rogerebert.com/mzs/watching...
Notes on watching "Aliens" for the first time again, with a bunch of kids
Captain's log: eight fifth graders, one adult, one James Cameron movie.
www.rogerebert.com
July 18, 2026 at 6:21 PM
I had a great time talking to @larsenonfilm.bsky.social about carrying on one of the traditions of Roger Ebert, communal film criticism, where an audience spends four days examining a single movie:

www.rogerebert.com/mzs/josh-lar...
Josh Larsen on the Return of Cinema Interruptus | MZS | Roger Ebert
Matt Zoller Seitz speaks to Josh Larsen about the upcoming Cinema Interruptus presentation of Robert Altman's The Player.
www.rogerebert.com
August 7, 2025 at 5:01 PM
I'd been hoping someone would write on the Roger Ebert angle on Steak & Shake going full Fraktur-font Nazi in their ads, & of course @mattzollerseitz.bsky.social did it right. Ebert loved that place & at his annual film festival there is always a pilgrimage there.
www.rogerebert.com/mzs/red-meat...
Red Meat: Steak 'n Shake Goes Nazi | MZS | Roger Ebert
Et tu, Steak 'n Shake?
www.rogerebert.com
March 10, 2025 at 2:39 AM
I wrote this 10 years ago and totally forgot about it – came across it while searching for something else – Back to the Future is Now Alll Back and no Future

www.rogerebert.com/mzs/back-to-...
"Back to the Future" is now all back and no future | MZS | Roger Ebert
All back, no future.
www.rogerebert.com
May 5, 2025 at 4:17 PM
Just one. It was a line Gene Wilder ad libbed.

www.rogerebert.com/mzs/the-thro...
The Throwaway Scene That Gives Blazing Saddles Its Warm Heart | MZS | Roger Ebert
A look at the Mel Brooks comedy classic on its 50th anniversary, from a different angle.
www.rogerebert.com
July 27, 2024 at 6:20 PM
“It was once considered sufficient for a documentary to pick interesting people and hang with them for a bit, rather than constantly contriving and laboring to entertain, borrowing techniques from fiction films that documentarians were once rightly suspicious of.” www.rogerebert.com/mzs/life-the...
Life, the Movie: Why Documentary Filmmaking Should Return to, You Know, Documenting Stuff | MZS | Roger Ebert
If nonfiction films are determined to look, feel, and move like fiction, what’s the point of nonfiction filmmaking?
www.rogerebert.com
February 7, 2025 at 7:48 PM
Apparently this tweet used to have community notes, but they have been removed. x.com/bjamngirlAA/...
May 4, 2025 at 2:50 PM