Roger Ebert

The police thriller "Zulu," set and shot in South Africa, will close the 66th Cannes Film Festival on May 26. Starring Forest Whitaker and Orlando Bloom, the film is directed by Jerome Salle. An adaptation of the novel of the same name by Caryl Ferey, the screenplay was co-written by Salle and Julien Rappeneau. Described as part crime noir and part social study, the English-language story follows a police investigation during apartheid. Two policeman, a black (Whitaker) and a white (Bloom)

It's safe to say you've never seen anything quite like the dark and kooky animated epic "Consuming Spirits," a 15-years-in-the-making labor of love for writer-director Chris Sullivan, who also produced, shot, edited, recorded sound, performed music and more. With its startling mix of 16-millimeter-shot, handmade animation styles using stop-motion, sketches, collages and models, along with uncensored characters often resembling cadaverous marionettes, this twisted look at life in a faded Appalachian town is one decidedly idiosyncratic ride.

I'm confused. Are movie critics Gene Shalit, Gene Siskel and Richard Schickel the same person or just related? Is Gary Franklin really Roger Ebert in a skull cap? Please respond . . . inquiring minds want to know. NICHOLAS SHAFFER Los Angeles

Violeta Parra grew up in poverty in rural Chile and became an internationally recognized musician, her songs covered by such luminaries as Joan Baez and Shakira. With its grand arc, her story would fit nicely into the standard biopic format, but director Andrés Wood wisely opts for a more impressionistic approach in "Violeta Went to Heaven. " His feature matches its subject in turbulence and intensity, scrambling chronology in a revelatory way. Francisca Gavilán's lead performance burns with a dark radiance that's anything but self-congratulatory.

For the first time since the 1999 death of the Chicago Tribune's Gene Siskel -- Chicago Sun-Times film critic Roger Ebert's original sparring partner in the balcony and in print -- the two combatants on Ebert's syndicated movie review show will represent Chicago's two rival daily newspapers.

Roger Ebert will resume writing reviews later this month but will not rejoin his syndicated TV show because he's still unable to speak. In a letter published in the Chicago Sun-Times this week, the Pulitzer Prize-winning film critic and co-host of TV's "Ebert & Roeper" said surgery in January ended in complications, and his ability to speak was not restored. He said the return of speech would require another surgery. "But I still have all my other abilities, including the love of viewing movies and writing about them," Ebert said.

If people were lining up to be skeptical of a film adaptation of a classic 1925 novel in 3-D, I'd be near the front of the queue. Wouldn't it be nice if we could leave "The Great Gatsby" alone? Didn't the soporific 1974 movie teach us anything? Can we not let F. Scott Fitzgerald rest in peace? I have a deep appreciation for director Baz Luhrmann's visual imagination. He makes things look amazing, and even if his "Romeo + Juliet" wasn't loved by everyone, at least he tackled Shakespeare with a unique intensity and verve.