Critic Carries Flag for Cancer Survivors

Seth Rogen movie manages to be both funny and poignant

(NEWSER) - With a current 92% rating at Rotten Tomatoes , 50/50 gets praise for its blend of comedy and drama about a young man diagnosed with cancer.

• In Salon , Mary Elizabeth Williams calls the movie “poignant, funny and profane”: It “understands the woozy terror of a life or death crisis,” she notes—though “unsurprisingly,” Seth Rogen et al., “like true students of the Judd Apatow school of filmmaking, never quite get a grip on their female characters.”

Paul Rudd stars in Jesse Peretz comedy

(NEWSER) - Our Idiot Brother is the story of a sweet-natured fool who depends on his three sisters to get his life back on track. It’s good for a smile, if not big laughs:

• In the New York Times , AO Scott calls it a “thin, unconvincing movie made likable by the charm and skill of its cast and by a script peppered with wit and insight.” The humor, however, comes from “obvious, picked-over places.”

Film critic talks about life after cancer treatments

(NEWSER) - Roger Ebert is fine with the way his face looks after cancer surgeries, and he tells Oprah he's not going through another one for purely cosmetic reasons. "This is the way I look, and my life is happy and productive so why have any more surgery," he said in the interview airing on today's Oprah Winfrey Show. "Nobody looks perfect, we have to find peace with the way we look and get on with life." More»

Longtime admirer Will Leitch comes clean about insulting his hero

(NEWSER) - As a University of Illinois undergrad, Will Leitch lived the dream: He befriended his hero, Roger Ebert. "I wanted to be him, desperately," Leitch writes. "He was the reason I did anything." They fell out of touch, and the protégé later found himself in New York in the early days of online journalism, riding high and writing a story headlined "I Am Sick Of Roger Ebert's Fat F---ing Face." More»

Film critic will use computer for interview on Tuesday's show

(NEWSER) - Roger Ebert can no longer speak , but he's been booked on the Oprah Winfrey Show. The legendary film critic, who lost his lower jaw during cancer treatment, communicates with computer assistance. He's been in the news thanks to an Esquire profile and his good-natured reaction , and the queen of all media—who once dated her fellow Chicagoan, TV Guide reminds us—is on the case. The interview, taped Friday, will air on Tuesday's show. More»