Ebert not able to attend his namesake festival

CHAMPAIGN -- Movie critic Roger Ebert says he'll have to skip this year's Ebertfest film festival after breaking a hip.

Ebert wrote on his blog on the Chicago Sun-Times' Web site that his doctors have told him he should remain in a Chicago hospital rather than travel to Champaign-Urbana for the festival, which runs through Sunday.

Ebert wrote that, while he'll be almost 150 miles away, his heart will be in Urbana, his hometown.

Ebert has been a Sun-Times film critic for more than 40 years.

He's had a series of cancer-related surgeries the past few years. One left him unable to speak, but he continues to pen reviews.