Best known, perhaps, as the cohost of PBS’s long-running Sneak Previews (later changed to Siskel and Ebert and the Movies), Roger Ebert was many things. The first Pulitzer Prize winning film critic, he was also a profound commentator on culture and politics, an incredibly astute observer of human nature and, ultimately, a candid memoirist and cataloguer of the human spirit. His very well written autobiography, Life Itself, began with this wonderful metaphor drawn from his lifelong love affair with film: I was born inside the movie of my life. The visuals were before me, the audio surrounded me, the plot unfolded inevitably but not...

I love Downton Abbey. (Or at least I did until last night. I’m rather undecided going forward.) I love it for many of the reasons I love Mad Men. In addition to strong characters and the elements of love and betrayal and power and suspense that are part and parcel of good narrative, both shows are also period dramas set at particular times and places which aren’t just interesting in general but are experiencing great tumult and change and so help us understand not just something of where we came from but also who we are and where we are going. When we watch the debate over the women’s vote in Downton Abbey (or women’s pay in the...