- Netflix’s Massive Hit “The Night Agent” Returns with Confident Third Season (February 19, 2026)
People talk a lot about “Wednesday,” “Stranger Things,” even “Squid Game,” but one of the most successful shows in the history of the most successful streaming company has been Shawn Ryan’s propulsively entertaining “The Night Agent,” the most-watched show of 2023, and one of the best current shows of its kind. Yes, every season, including today’s new one is logically bananas. The latest mission features a conspiracy that goes all the way to the White House and, if true, would make international headlines around the world, but it’s so confidently made and so remarkably paced that one suspends disbelief just to see what happens next. Buoyed by the best ensemble of new supporting players for the show to date, the third season of “The Night Agent” is arguably the best. After a rocky pair of opening episodes, it settles in for what is basically an 8-chapter action film, and one that argues that the true villains of this world aren’t the low-level players who commit acts of violence but the high-level ones who fund terrorism for political profit.
The nearly Hitchcockian premise of the first season of “The Night Agent,” wherein an average agent gets a fateful call in the middle of the night that thrusts him into an international conspiracy, is largely gone. Which is not a problem. You can’t cast Peter Sutherland (Gabriel Basso) as “the good guy in over his head” for long without the repetition getting ridiculous. The first season of “The Night Agent” does linger as the inciting incident that thrust this decent man into a web of indecent villains. Answering that phone call tied him to Rose Larkin (whose absence isn’t as notable as last season) enough that he chose to protect her by selling part of his soul to an intelligence broker named Jacob Monroe (a very good Louis Herthum). At the start of season three, a terrorist act pushes him into a situation where he thinks he can finally get Monroe in a position to turn him over to Catherine Weaver (Amanda Warren) and her team. He’s very wrong about that thinking.
The Night Agent. David Lyons as Adam in episode 310 of The Night Agent. Cr. Courtesy of Netflix © 2026
His mission to take down Monroe leads Peter into the life of Isabel De Leon (Genesis Rodriguez), a financial reporter who believes she has connected the dots between acts of terrorism and those who are paying for them. Peter and Isabel are contacted by a financial analyst named Jay (Suraj Sharma), who is the first to uncover some suspicious transactions, but that knowledge places him in the crosshairs of Monroe and his people.
While all of this is going down, “The Night Agent” tracks a few other eventually intersecting plotlines, deftly moving between them as the show progresses. In one, we’re reunited with Chelsea Arrington (Fola Evans-Akingbola, getting her best season to date), who is not only newly engaged but now the Head of Security for the First Family, including President Ward Horton (Richard Hagan) and First Lady Jenny Hagan (Jennifer Morrison). When Chelsea is involved in a shooting at the White House, she begins suspect that POTUS and FLOTUS are hiding something because of course they are.
Two other new faces make notable impacts this season. “True Blood” star Stephen Moyer is effective as a hired gun known only as “The Father” because he happens to travel with his young son, who he’s trying to keep unaware of dad’s real job. (Why he’d be traveling with him and trying to keep him in the dark will become apparent in ways a plot synopsis in a review can’t convey. Don’t worry.) Moyer alternates well from icy assassin to warm father in an effective performance.
The Night Agent. Suraj Sharma as Jay Batra in episode 301 of The Night Agent. Cr. Nazim Serhat Firat/Netflix © 2026
Even better is “ER” vet David Lyons (also recently good in “The Beast in Me”) as Adam, a Night Agent assigned by the President to work with and protect Sutherland. This show’s 007 can sometimes be a bit of a drag, always intensely brooding his way through each case, and Lyons balances that nicely with a bit more of a world-weary sense of humor. They make an effective duo for most of the season.
Well-cast, well-paced, and well-written, the only places in which “The Night Agent” stumbles slightly is in the classic Netflix one of bloating. The first couple episodes struggle so much to find the rhythm that they probably should have been one, and later chapters battle the classic Netflix issue of repetitive over-exposition, although never enough to sink the show overall.
“The Night Agent” doesn’t break new ground, but not every show needs to do that. If “The Pitt” has taught us anything, it’s that there’s an appetite for old-fashioned dramatic structures that are done well. This one doesn’t rise to the levels of that HBO hit, but it does what it sets out to do remarkably well. It values escapist entertainment above all else. Could it take stronger political stances? Sure. Could it make more sense when you think back on it? Probably. But the important thing is that these questions don’t linger while you’re watching it, which is the definition of well-done escapism, programming that pushes away the world and criticisms of it.
Just as “The Pitt” posits a world where decent people do their best against broken systems, this one scratches that timeless itch wherein we want to see good men and women fighting against the corruption that’s tearing apart this world, often literally with their fists. Peter Sutherland exists on the same spectrum as Jason Bourne and Jack Bauer, men willing to sacrifice personal need for a greater good. It’s no wonder it’s a gigantic hit. We’re all hoping that when things really go down, there will be a Peter Sutherland there to answer the call.
Whole season screened for review. Now on Netflix.
- ABC’s “Scrubs” Returns to Network TV as if It Never Clocked Out (February 18, 2026)
Yes, we are in an era of over-nostalgia, one in which every other canceled IP gets brought back in some form. The number of network TV sitcoms that have been resurrected from the dead, including “Murphy Brown,” “Will & Grace,” “Frasier,” and many more, has been a remarkable phenomenon to behold. The majority of them feel creatively bankrupt, a way to make money off a known property, something that people have always been attracted to in their entertainment. The same reason that most of the top 20 films of the year are based on hit books or sequels to hit films is why TV producers keep going back to the same wells: People love the familiar. The truth is that for the best of these revivals, it’s not just familiarity, it’s comfort. In a chaotic world, it’s nice to see characters that feel like old friends.
Luckily, ABC’s revivals of “Scrubs” largely falls on that side of the ledger. As someone who detests the poorly-written commercials that use two of the stars of this show, the thought of a full version of that sent shivers down my spine, but the 2026 version of “Scrubs” is a pretty solid piece of escapism, a return that feels almost like what the show would look like now if it never left the air.
SCRUBS – “Episode 102” (Disney/Jeff Weddell)
DAVID GRIDLEY, AVA BUNN, JACOB DUDMAN
A bit of history: “Scrubs” premiered almost 25 years ago (I know, I know), just a few weeks after 9/11. It was a solid hit with a loyal fan base on NBC for much of the 2000s, canceled by the Peacock Network after seven strong seasons, but immediately picked up by ABC for what was intended to be its final season. The eighth season even ended with an episode called “My Finale,” which proved to be a bit of a lie when ABC reversed course and thought that maybe they could do with “Scrubs” what they had done with “Grey’s Anatomy,” keep it going despite losing the original cast. They created a sort of hybrid ninth season, titled “Med School,” that was meant as a handoff from the original cast to a new one. It went out.
One of the interesting things about the 2026 version of “Scrubs” is that some of the core ideas of “Med School” remain. Importantly this time, creator Bill Lawrence (having an insane year with “Shrinking,” this, HBO’s upcoming “Rooster,” and the fourth season of “Ted Lasso” in production) anchors the show to much of the original cast, using the new faces as supporting players, at least for now, instead of pushing them to the center like the 2009 version (which barely had any Zach Braff). At least to start this tenth season, the lead is undeniably J.D. (Braff) again, now in more of the Dr. Cox (John McGinley, who appears only in the premiere) role at Sacred Heart.
SCRUBS – “Episode 101” (Disney/Jeff Weddell)
DONALD FAISON, SARAH CHALKE, JUDY REYES
In the premiere, it’s revealed that J.D. has been working as a high-priced concierge doctor who returns to Sacred Heart to check on one of his patients who has been admitted there. We also discover that the nature of the relationship between J.D. and Elliott (Sarah Chalke) has changed since the last time we saw them and that Turk (Donald Faison) and Carla (Judy Reyes) are happily married with four kids. The premiere centers on Turk’s increasing burnout; he needs his BFF back to make the pressure of the healthcare industry more bearable. Finally, there’s an array of new faces, including a great turn from Joel Kim Booster as J.D.’s new nemesis, and a role for “SNL” vet Vanessa Bayer as the administrator over everyone’s shoulder, making sure there are no HR violations. Oh, and Dr. Todd is back (Robert Maschio) is back. Nostalgia five!
Yes, a lot of the 2026 “Scrubs” hinges on lingering affection for the original, but the show doesn’t really lean on references as much as act as if it never left the air. And with the popularity of Lawrence’s culture-referential and self-deprecating sense of humor in the 2020s, the timing seems more natural than a standard cash grab. The new cast is fun, the old cast slides back in where you left them, and the laughs come more regularly than most of the newest network TV sitcoms.
It’s funny how much “Scrubs” feels like it fits in an era of network TV comedy hits like “Abbott Elementary,” another workplace comedy with social messaging under even the goofiest hijinks. And, like that show, one can feel the love among the ensemble members, returning not just to get a paycheck but because they truly adore these characters. Don’t be surprised if you remember that you do, too.
Four episodes screened for review. Premieres on February 25, 2026 on ABC with two episodes, available the next day on Hulu.
- Celebrating Black Cinema: Shawn Edwards on the Black Movie Hall of Fame (February 18, 2026)
Deep in the heart of Kansas City, Missouri a dream is slowly being realized in the confines of the city’s historic Boone Theater. It’s the Black Movie Hall of Fame, which, when completed, will aim to tell the vibrant and vast history of Black cinema and moviemaking through the artifacts and stories of the people who lived it.
The Hall of Fame’s founder, Shawn Edwards, along with its co-owner, successful businessman Tucker Lott, are working diligently to finish the project that could almost be described as a lifetime in the making. Edwards, for his part, is a journalist and television/film producer, who, for the last 25 years has served as film critic for Fox 4 News in Kansas City. He is also a co-founder of the African American Film Critics Association (AAFCA) and is serving his second term on the Board of the Critics Choice Association (CCA) where he created and executive produces the “Celebration of Black Cinema and Television” award show.
It should suffice to say that Edwards knows the enormity of the task he has, not just in completing the Hall of Fame—which is already advanced in its construction—but also in trying to tell the story of Black cinema. Thankfully, he is undaunted.
Edwards spoke with RogerEbert.com over Zoom about the Hall of Fame’s timeline, the search for artifacts, and the support it has received so far.
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – DECEMBER 09: Shawn Edwards poses in the IMDb Exclusive Portrait Studio at the Critics Choice Association 8th Annual Celebration of Black Cinema & Television at Fairmont Century Plaza on December 09, 2025 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Michael Rowe/Getty Images for IMDb)
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Where did the concept for the Black Movie Hall of Fame originate?
Well, everything needs an origin story. This one started back in the early-2000s and it’s been swirling in my head ever since. I’m a fan of Black cinema because I grew up on Black cinema. I was fortunate. I had parents who introduced me to Black cinema at a really young age by physically taking me to the movie theater to see Black movies, like “Super Fly,” “Shaft,” “Black Caesar,” “Claudine,” and “Sounder,” whenever possible. It was just a natural part of my moviegoing experience. Those images are powerful.There’s a reason why movie theaters were created. You go into this dark room and you’re sitting there with all these other people and there’s this big screen and there’s just something very magical about that experience.
Growing up, I knew I was Black. I had parents that instilled that identity in me. My grandparents in Kansas City were very pro-Black. My grandparents in Princeton, New Jersey, where my mother was from, were super pro-black. One of the first novels my grandfather gave me in New Jersey to read was Roots [laughs] before the TV miniseries. So, I’ve always had a connection to Blackness, but I also love movies and the process of filmmaking. That love has stayed with me as my career has evolved as a journalist and then eventually into film criticism.
So, this idea of celebrating Black cinema and teaching other people about Black cinema really stuck with me because I would have conversations with so many people that did not know about the vastness of Black cinema or that Black cinema can be traced all the way back to the early 1900s. So I’m like, man, I’ve got to come up with something that explains and teaches people that Black cinema has always been a thing.
What’s the journey been like to pull together resources to make this dream a reality?
It’s a struggle. There could not possibly be a worse time, probably in the history of modern America as it relates to the United States, to try to bring something online that’s called the Black Movie Hall of Fame. We picked the absolutely, positively worst time ever, particularly as it relates to fundraising [laughs].
There’s actually a bullseye on Blackness right now. We are at a time when there’s this sort of calculated deescalation of Blackness, of Black contributions, and of Black history. So, we’re fighting against that huge tsunami to get this thing done.
Fortunately for us, the renovation part of the project was all funded years ago because we saved a 100-year-old movie theater, the Boone Theater, which is located in the 18th and Vine Historic Jazz District in Kansas City, Missouri. The building sat vacant for decades. The last time there was anything going on in that building was in the mid-70s. It’s been empty since then, which is a nightmare when you’re doing a renovation project in a building where there’s been no life for almost 50 years. But we saved the building and we got the funding for the construction years ago. That part is fine. The struggle has been raising the additional money to breathe life into that building so you can actually see what it’s going to be when it actually becomes the Black Movie Hall of Fame, like the movie theater component and all the other elements that will add further value to the theater. But we fight that fight every day. We are actually in the middle of our fundraising campaign, and although it’s not going as quickly as we would like it to be, it’s still inching forward.
What has the relationship been like between the museum and Kansas City, whether on a municipal level or a local level?
On a local level, there’s a lot of excitement and anticipation because it’s located in an area that’s been starving to become what it should be. The 18th and Vine Historic Jazz District back in the day was the hub of everything Black in Kansas City, and most things that Kansas City is known for nationally and internationally stem from Blackness. A lot of times when people think of Kansas City, they think of jazz, and Charlie Parker, Lester Young, Mary Lou Williams, and Count Basie. I mean, jazz is Black music. Those figures spread the sound of bebop around the world. We also have the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, which is about much more than just sports. Another thing that’s associated with Kansas City that’s also rooted in Backness is barbecue. I know people from Texas, North Carolina, and Memphis, Tennessee will argue who has the best barbecue, but Kansas City’s always thrown in the mix when you talk about barbecue.
So, everything that Kansas City’s known for is rooted in Blackness and took place in the 18th and Vine Historic Jazz District. When we said we were bringing the Black Movie Hall of Fame online at the Boone Theater, that we were renovating it, people got excited because a lot of Black cinema is also rooted in Kansas City. Oscar Micheaux traveled through Kansas City; Hattie McDaniel is from right down the street in Wichita; Gordon Parks is from Fort Scott, Kansas; Kevin Wilmont, who just won an Oscar, is from the area; Janelle Monáe and Don Cheadle are also from the area. The community knows that history and they’re fully on board.
And to a certain extent, so is the city when it comes to historical tax credits and those sorts of things that you need in order to preserve as much of the integrity of the building as you possibly can. Though the building fell a little bit behind schedule, we thought it would’ve been completed by now, we didn’t want to waste Black History month this year, so we did a temporary exhibit at the Black Archives of Mid-America to give people a glimpse of what the Black Movie Hall of Fame will look like once everything is completed.
That turned a lot of heads toward a positive direction because people began to get what we were doing. That’s helped out a lot. I think the excitement will swell even more once everything is done and people can walk in and see the exhibits and see the artifacts and the film series that we can do in a building where old Black movies were shown. We just want to get it done and get people excited and to prove those who aren’t on board wrong.
What has the reaction from Hollywood been like, particularly Black creatives? Has there been help on that front as well?
It’s getting there. A lot of people have wanted to know why it’s going to be in Kansas City. [laughs] I mean, a lot of people aren’t that familiar with Kansas City. I understand that as well. I do think Hollywood will come on board in a major way when it’s finished. I just think completion is the goal. Because I think once it’s completed, then you will convert the non-believers and people will buy in even more. And, you know, Hollywood operates with its own language and its own set of rules, especially when it comes to money. I know everybody thinks that every actor and every director is loaded. But it’s not that easy.
Renovation of the Boone Theater in Kansas, City Missouri. (Photos courtesy of Shawn Edwards)
What has the process been like for procuring items for curation for the museum?
I have literally turned myself into a door-to-door salesman. That’s where the interaction with Hollywood’s working. I’ve been fortunate enough to build these relationships through the Critics Choice Association and producing the celebration of Black Cinema, and just traveling back and forth and doing interviews or going to film festivals where, over time people start to have some familiarity with you.
So, often, in certain situations, I’ve tried to slip the Hall of Fame into conversations. Blair Underwood and I were having a casual conversation where I was like: Man, one of my all time favorite movies was Crush Groove. I used to love that jacket you were wearing. Whatever happened to that? He’s like: Oh, it’s at home in my closet. I told him that we might need that, not forever, but we might need that. I was with Malcolm Lee, who I was more candid with because I’ve actually talked to him about the project before, and he offered some stuff. And then there are people who are more difficult, like Spike Lee, who’s got a treasure trove of stuff, but he wants to sell everything. It’s funny, man. I could almost write a book about this stuff [laughs]
For instance, when they came out with the movie “Sarah’s Oil,” you know, Sarah Rector’s mansion is still standing. I talked with the film’s director. I told him about the Black Movie Hall of Fame and how it’d be really cool if we could get one of the dresses the actress wore in the movie for display. He told me I had to talk with the costume designer about that.
I talked to the costume designer on the phone and he told me it’s part of his personal collection, which is in storage. But can we have it for maybe like six months? He’s like: I don’t know. I respond: What do you mean you don’t know? It’s in storage. People would love to see that. It’s a movie that’s directly tied to Kansas City about one of the most famous Black women who ever lived in Kansas City. He shot me back with wanting to see the Hall of Fall when it’s finished. But, as you know, if he gave us that dress and we announce we have the dress it would get people excited and it may help with fundraising.
So, it’s a journey. But I think that’s part of it. I’ve never been a salesperson. There’s been nothing in my career where I’ve had any type of job that was remotely close to selling. But now that I’m this door-to-door salesperson, it’s weird because the rejection is fierce.
I’m sure people will be wondering this as they’re reading, but what is the criteria for the Black Movie Hall of Fame?
I’ll be the first to admit, it’s tricky. But basically the main element is that it’s a story about the Black experience, whether it’s in America, the UK, Nigeria, France, Australia, South Africa, Morocco, wherever. Secondly, if it’s a film that’s directed by someone who’s Black. That can get a little tricky because there are a lot of Black directors who don’t necessarily direct movies that are just about the Black experience. But we do want to acknowledge what they do behind the camera too. Thirdly, it has to be a movie that primarily has a Black person or Black persons in the lead. That gets a little tricky too. A movie like “Beverly Hills Cop,” you can debate back and forth. Is “Beverly Hills Cop” a Black movie? If you took Eddie Murphy out of “Beverly Hills Cop” and you went with their original casting choice, Sylvester Stallone, does it still have the same aesthetic? I don’t think so.
When do you expect to have the hall of fame finished by?
The construction of the building, which is actually picking back up, should be finished sometime around April or May of this year. And then realistically, I would like to have everything finished by February 2027 so we can have our inaugural gala where you can walk and see what the Black Movie Hall of Fame is all about, where we have everything in place, functioning, curated, and properly displayed. February 2027 would make me one of the happiest people on the planet.
More information about the Black Movie Hall of Fame can be found here.
- Highlights of Roger Ebert on Black Filmmakers for Black History Month (February 18, 2026)
Roger Ebert was a champion of independent films, and he was never more enthusiastic than discovering a new filmmaker with a fresh perspective. That is most evident in his support for Black filmmakers like Spike Lee, Julie Dash, and John Singleton. In honor of Black History Month, here are some of our favorites from his reviews and features.
“Killer of Sheep“
Ebert was fearless in his aesthetic judgment. He was also fearless about admitting that he was wrong. One of his most insightful reviews is his reconsideration of Charles Burnett’s 1978 film “Killer of Sheep,” which he originally dismissed with what he admitted was “a sentence so wrong-headed it cries out to be corrected” in his Great Movies essay on the film:
“But instead of making a larger statement about his characters, he chooses to show them engaged in a series of daily routines, in the striving and succeeding and failing that make up a life in which, because of poverty, there is little freedom of choice.” Surely, I should have seen that what Burnett chooses to show is, in fact, a larger statement. In this poetic film about a family in Watts, he observes the quiet nobility of lives lived with values but without opportunities. The lives go nowhere, the movie goes nowhere, and in staying where they are they evoke a sense of sadness and loss….What he captures above all in “Killer of Sheep” is the deadening ennui of hot, empty summer days, the dusty passage of time when windows and screen doors stood open, and the way the breathless day crawls past. And he pays attention to the heroic efforts of this man and wife to make a good home for their children. Poverty in the ghetto is not the guns and drugs we see on TV. It is more often like life in this movie: Good, honest, hard-working people trying to get by, keep up their hopes, love their children and get a little sleep.”
“It’s High Tide for a Black New Wave“
From the 1991 Cannes Film Festival, Ebert wrote about the rise of movies from Black filmmakers that made no effort to pander to white audiences:
“As a film critic who had seen virtually every “black film” of the past 20 years, I felt at once I was seeing something new here: A film not only made by blacks, and about blacks, but for blacks. So many of the other black films seemed to be trying to force themselves into white mainstream categories. As a white viewer, I found [Spike] Lee’s approach incomparably more interesting than those tortured “crossover” films that seemed to be translated into an idiom that didn’t belong anywhere.…[Lee] has moved on beyond the ritual charges of racism, beyond the image of wronged and angry black characters, to a new plateau of sophistication on which there is room for good and bad characters of all races, on which racism is seen not as a knee-jerk response to skin color, but as a failure of empathy–a failure of the ability to imagine the other person’s point of view.”
“Do the Right Thing“
Ebert not only gave Spike Lee’s masterpiece the perfect score of four stars, but he also selected it as one of the “Great Movies” he assembled as his pantheon of undisputed classics. He called it one of the few films that “penetrate one’s soul.”
“Spike Lee was 32 when he made it, assured, confident, in the full joy of his power. He takes this story, which sounds like grim social realism, and tells it with music, humor, color and exuberant invention. A lot of it is just plain fun.”
“Do the Right Thing” was later introduced by Lee at Ebertfest, and Chaz Ebert, along with Barry Jenkins, presented Lee with the Ebert Director Award at the Toronto Film Festival in 2023.
Ebert was also a big fan of Lee’s film of the Tony Award-winning musical “Passing Strange.” Though it was a filmed theatrical musical performance, not a traditional cinematic narrative, he wrote, “This is a superb ensemble, conveying that joy actors feel when they know they’re good in good material. This is not a traditional feature, but it’s one of Spike Lee’s best films.”
“The Inkwell” and “Straight Out of Brooklyn”
Ebert was very enthusiastic about these two films directed by Matty Rich, made on a budget too small even to be considered micro. “Straight Out of Brooklyn,” also written by Rich, was filmed with a $900 camcorder, starting when he was just 17, and released when he was 19. Ebert appreciated its initiative and authenticity. “The edges are rough and the ending is simply a slogan printed on the screen. But the truth is there, and echoes after the film is over.” “The Inkwell” was released when Rich was 22. “Rich is still learning as a filmmaker, and he needs to tell his actors to dial down. But he knows how to tell a story. And he knows how to get big laughs, too.”
“For Love of Ivy“
It’s rare to find a straightforward movie romance with Black characters. Ebert’s review of the Sidney Poitier/Abby Lincoln film, “For Love of Ivy” came out so long ago (1968) the actors were referred to as Negro. He liked the movie, which, for the record, was directed by a white man, but his review is about how to review a movie about Black characters that has minimal, if any, commentary on the overall Black experience.
“Because the two central characters are black, I found myself asking all kinds of ideological questions: Is the movie “honest”? How does it portray the racial situation in America? Does it sell out? Does it deal in stereotypes? Does Poitier play another impossibly noble character?
This is the mental routine movie critics seem to go through whenever a Poitier movie opens. Since Poitier is an authentic superstar (and possibly today’s top box-office draw), all sorts of moralists try to advise him on whether he’s doing his duty, whatever that is. Usually they decide that Poitier movies ignore the racial crisis and paint an unrealistically rosy picture of black-white relations.
I think this criticism misses the point, and may even be a sort of triple-reverse racism.”
“Daughters of the Dust“
Ebert called Julie Dash’s “Daughters of the Dust” “a tone poem of old memories, a family album in which all of the pictures are taken on the same day…. The film doesn’t tell a story in any conventional sense. It tells of feelings. At certain moments we are not sure exactly what is being said or signified, but by the end we understand everything that happened – not in an intellectual way, but in an emotional way.”
Ebert interviewed John Singleton, director of “Boyz N the Hood” when the late director was just 26.
“The main characters are not the smartest ones, I said. They’re all naive. It’s the more ideological people who have given their positions more thought. The skinheads. The black militants. The feminists.
Singleton nodded. This was one late afternoon after a Chicago screening of his film, and we had moved across the street to a Mexican restaurant to talk.
The Fishburne character is fascinating, I said. He’s scrupulously neutral and constitutionally conservative: He tries to be color-blind, values only excellence, believes in hard work and holds the young hero to the same standards. He kind of balances out the black militant student. Is that what you were thinking of?
“Not exactly. He’s kind of conservative, but not militantly conservative. That’s the way I wanted Fish to play him. He believes in not making excuses because of racism, you know, or sex and anything else, and every time Malik comes to him with a complaint, he always refutes it, telling him, `Hey, you can’t blame your problems on that.’ But even he, in the end, has to admit that there’s a system that tries to keep things in check, you know. A certain institutional bias that is slanted against kids like Malik. The professor believes that, to be a good teacher, he can’t allow himself to come too close to his students; they may have problems, they may be victims to some degree, but he can best help them by being the best teacher he can.””
“Eve’s Bayou“
Ebert wrote, “There has been no more assured and powerful film debut this year than “Eve’s Bayou,” the first film by Kasi Lemmons….[It] resonates in the memory. It called me back for a second and third viewing. If it is not nominated for Academy Awards, then the academy is not paying attention. For the viewer, it is a reminder that sometimes films can venture into the realms of poetry and dreams.”
He also praised the “visual precision” of the film, also later presented by the director at Ebertfest.
“Down in the Delta“
The legendary Maya Angelou directed “Down in the Delta,” and Ebert respected her unintrusive approach, letting the actors carry the story.
“Angelou’s first-time direction stays out of its own way; she doesn’t call attention to herself with unnecessary visual touches, but focuses on the business at hand. She and Goble are interested in what might happen in a situation like this, not in how they can manipulate the audience with phony crises. When Annie wanders away from the house, for example, it’s handled in the way it might really be handled, instead of being turned into a set piece.”
Ebert interviewed Robert Townsend after the release of “The Five Heartbeats,” a film about a singing group. He recapped the director’s history, his years with “my mother looking for the back of my head” as an extra, his love for classic films from directors like Frank Capra and Alfred Hitchcock, and his low budget satire of the Hollywood treatment of Black performers, “Hollywood Shuffle,” which Ebert described as “a ragged film, no masterpiece, but it had spirit.”
“[Heartbeats is] not simply a showbiz movie, though, I said. There’s a lot of drama about families in it, and about how some of the guys grow up faster than the others, and one wanders off into drugs.
“Yeah. I wanted it to have more body, to go a little bit deeper. A lot of movies don’t have real values anymore. They’re disposable, geared toward one weekend. They just throw a lot of noise and action at you. They don’t care. You look at the shape of the country, and the crime statistics, and then you look at the movies, and a lot of them are catering to that climate of violence, helping to feed it. I just have different values.””
Finally, in this episode of the Siskel & Ebert series, the critics discuss three Spike Lee films, “She’s Gotta Have It,” “School Daze,” and “Do the Right Thing.”
- Keep on Dreaming: Reverend Jesse Jackson (1941-2026) (February 17, 2026)
In the early hours of Tuesday, February 17, 2026, the Reverend Jesse Jackson left us at the age of 84. No one can claim shock at receiving the news, due to Jackson’s advanced years and the numerous health difficulties that beset him in the last decades of his life. And yet, his taking leave of us has an unusual reverberation. In my lifetime, America has had few spokespersons for progressive values as effective as Rev. Jackson. For those of us born after 1970, he was a vital and singular link to a bygone era. He served as a bridge between the Civil Rights Movement, which feels like a lost Age of Heroes to those of us born after, and the end of the American Century.
The photographs taken just seconds before the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. in 1968 at the Lorraine Motel depict King standing between the young Jackson and Rev. Ralph Abernathy, Sr. (1926-1990); the mise-en-scène of those photos would prove to be fateful. Jackson was famously one of King’s proteges, while Abernathy (two years older than King) was his trusted lieutenant. King’s assassination rudely ended his apprenticeship as a civil rights activist. Jackson, who was soon after ordained a Baptist minister, was the national director of Operation Breadbasket, an organization dedicated to economic empowerment of Black families, which was part of King’s Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC).
King’s death meant Rev. Abernathy was now in charge of the SCLC, and Jackson and Abernathy clashed. By the end of 1971, the Shakespearean power struggle between the ascendant Jackson and the waning Abernathy came to a head. Jackson left to start his own organization, Operation PUSH. And the stage was set for the young minister to come into his own.
Born in Greenville, South Carolina, to Helen Burns (18 years old when she gave birth) and Noah Robinson (he was Burns’ married neighbor, aged 33 when their child was born), Jackson took the name of his stepfather, Charles Jackson, who married Burns one year after she gave birth and adopted her child. There’s some evidence Jackson was teased by other kids regarding his parentage, but he later remarked that he felt he had a surplus of fathers, not a deficit, as he developed a relationship with his biological father.
Jackson was a child of the Jim Crow South who nevertheless became a formidable presence in his segregated schools. By high school, he was a popular athlete, earned good grades, and was elected student body president. And then came the Montgomery Bus Boycott of 1955-1956, which served as a call to arms for many young people across the country. A new day had begun.
Taking a football scholarship at the University of Illinois after graduating from high school in 1959, Jackson returned home to Greenville and found himself unable to use the public library for a school project. So he enlisted the help of seven high school students and launched a sit-in, or “read-in,” strike in July of 1960. By September, the library was successfully desegregated. That fall, Jackson left the University of Illinois and transferred to North Carolina A&T, a historically Black university in Greensboro, North Carolina. He played football there, but unlike at Illinois, he also played quarterback, was elected student body president, and was involved in many local desegregation campaigns.
He earned a B.S. in Sociology in 1964, and then enrolled in the Chicago Theological Seminary, beginning his long relationship with the city, one that would last the rest of his life. He left the seminary in 1966, just a few credits shy of his Master of Divinity, to focus full-time on his activism. By then, he was in King’s orbit, having participated in the Selma to Montgomery marches.
After his relatively brief time at King’s side came to a close and he struck out on his own, Jackson attempted to fill the void created by King’s absence. But as a younger man, he knew he could appeal to the younger generation King had largely lost before his death. He grew out his hair into an impressive afro, and his signature oratory became omnipresent.
Jackson makes an appearance in two of the seminal documentaries of the early seventies: William Greaves’ “Nationtime” (1972), and Mel Stuart’s “Wattstax” (1973). In the latter film, Jackson’s inimitable voice provides the film’s coda. Stuart uses audio of Jackson’s signature “I Am Somebody” speech as we see the faces of all the Black folks who have offered commentary throughout the film about the state of the race. It shows the primacy Jackson occupied at this critical time.
“I Am Somebody” was a key turning point in the rhetoric of the time. Building on his predecessors’ important work, Jackson understood that hard-won opportunities in the workplace or academia would be hollow victories if the internalized racism of white supremacy wasn’t attacked head-on. He wanted Black people to know that degrees and good jobs wouldn’t make them important; he wanted them to know they were already important. When he said those words, millions believed him.
Throughout the 1970s, Operation PUSH racked up a string of wins through nationwide boycotts due to the racist policies of certain brands. Even the mere word that Jackson’s organization was scrutinizing a company could prompt preemptive changes. When the ’80s arrived, and the Reagan Revolution began to roll back many of the victories of the Civil Rights Movement, Jackson began to focus on coalition politics, making inroads into feminist causes and the Gay Rights movement at a time when few cishet Black male activists did.
1983 set the stage for the first of his two historic Democratic presidential campaigns. Harold Washington’s April victory to become the first Black mayor of Chicago no doubt stoked Jackson’s own ambitions. And in a move widely mocked when he first announced it, Jackson took it upon himself to negotiate with the Syrian government for the release of an African-American U.S. Navy pilot, Lt. Robert O. Goodman, who had been captured when he was shot down over Lebanon. Jackson secured his release and brought Goodman home to a White House welcome from President Reagan. Jackson’s critics were stunned into silence.
With his 1984 and 1988 presidential campaigns, Jackson endured patronizing dismissal from much of the national media. And he did not get the backing of Coretta Scott King and much of the Civil Rights Movement Old Guard, who preferred tried-and-true candidates. But Jackson’s eloquence and his progressive vision were incredibly effective in the Reagan Era, when the very word “liberal” had become a pejorative.
Jackson’s campaign platform called for ratification of the ERA, a single-payer health care system, sanctions against South Africa, the creation of a Palestinian state, the end of corporate tax cuts, and a return to New Deal era spending. Senator Bernie Sanders has many times cited Jackson’s campaigns as being important and influential in helping him visualize the kind of presidential campaigns he would launch.
Neither of Jackson’s bids was successful in terms of securing the nomination, but the difference between 1984 (when he was perpetually in third place behind Sen. Gary Hart and former VP Walter Mondale, who would go on to be crushed by Reagan) and 1988 (when he gave Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis a run for his money as a close second) spoke volumes. Jackson’s vision spoke to many Americans, and the Democratic Party would ignore his ideas at its peril.
He made his missteps, to be sure. There was the time Jackson used an antisemitic slur to describe Jews and New York City in a conversation he thought was off-the-record. There were multiple credible accusations of sexual harassment brought by female staffers and journalists. And in 2008, a hot mic caught him suggesting that then-candidate Senator Barack Obama should be castrated for chastising Black men for neglecting their fatherly duties. Months later, Jackson was seen at the Hyde Park celebration of Obama’s victory, weeping with a small American flag in the hand that framed his face. It became an iconic image on a historic night.
The 2000s and 2010s saw Jackson on the wane. Reverend Al Sharpton had emerged as a fleet-footed competitor in the national arena as a spokesman for progressive politics. The younger man outstripped the elder, as often happens. Jackson no doubt counted himself lucky to live to see the first African-American President of the United States, and he has been widely and justly cited as an important forefather to that moment. Jackson’s critics from the old guard he came up under often were wary of his rapacious ambition. History will have the last say on that.
Reverend Jackson ends his long life in the public eye with very few ideological missteps to apologize for. He was on the right side of so many issues, even when being on the right side publicly was a risky proposition.
It is sadly ironic to lose him during Black History Month, during a dark time when so much he tried to stop is currently flourishing, but Jackson prepared us for this moment. If you go back and listen to his lauded 1988 Democratic National Convention speech, known for its refrain of “keep hope alive,” it is stirring and evergreen:
“You must never stop dreaming. Face reality, yes, but don’t stop with the way things are. Dream of things as they ought to be. Dream. Face pain, but love, hope, faith, and dreams will help you rise above the pain. Use hope and imagination as weapons of survival and progress, but you keep on dreaming, young America. Dream of peace. Peace is rational and reasonable. War is irrational in this age, and unwinnable.”
