At The Movies Tagged Articles at Cinematical

They're serious. They're grown-ups. They wear black jackets and they use big words. If you missed the Sept. 5 debut of its post Lyons/Mankiewicz resurrection, Buena Vista Entertainment has rolled out an online look at the updated, No Bens At the Movies reboot.

The sentiment expressed by At the Movies' official website is clearly, You know those two boneheads we hired to replace Ebert and Roeper? Don't worry, we canned 'em. The site's main page now features a dauntingly somber photo of critics A.O. Scott and Michael Phillips, alongside a video preview trumpeting "serious reviews, by serious journalists." It's a big ol' slap in the face to Ben and Mank, but it gets the point across -- Buena Vista screwed up by hiring The Legacy and the Chucklehead, and now they desperately hope to repair the damage by replacing them with, well, actual film critics.

The clips of new reviews are like a big, frosty glass of water after enduring the Bens' desert of stupid. In one clip, Phillips and Scott actually engage in -- gasp! -- thoughtful deliberation about the tone of Big Fan, with Phillips telling the unimpressed Scott that he misreads the black comedy as a naturalistic drama. Watching smart critics say smart things, on subjects in which they're actually knowledgeable makes one nostalgic for the days when Siskel and Ebert were a weekly must-see.

At first, I didn't think much about the news that At the Movies had dumped the well-hated pair of Ben Lyons and Ben Mankiewicz to get a little more intellectual with Michael Phillips and A.O. Scott. When Ebert was officially gone and the Ben-led fluff job took the spots, I preferred to pretend that the show didn't exist. Nevertheless, the new leads are solid choices for cinematic discussion. Writers for the Chicago Tribune and New York Times (respectively), our William Goss pointed out that both had "previously appeared in lieu of Ebert when he had taken ill and proved their own considerable intelligence and mutual respect for one another, the medium, and their audience."

Then I read Melissa Silverstein's "New Hosts for 'At the Movies' -- Another Couple of Guys," and started thinking about the testosterone-led television show. She asked: "Women filmgoers want more information before they make decisions about what movies to see, so wouldn't it make sense to try and bring in a female voice and perspective to look at films that are opening?" That would surely be a benefit to the women looking for reviewers they can relate to, but I think it would be even more important for the overall cinematic community by having a popular, visual representation of a female critic who loves more than the stereotypical "female fare."

I can't say that I got as much of a chance to grow up on "Siskel & Ebert" as much as most of my colleagues -- and not a whole lot of "Ebert & Roeper" either, for that matter -- but I recognize and appreciate the value of two film critics trying to encourage a more popular dialogue about movies. However, ratings and quality both took a dive once Roger Ebert and Richard Roeper took their leave and were promptly replaced by Ben Lyons and Ben Mankiewicz.

Well, since that pairing wasn't exactly cutting it, the show's producers have (wisely) opted to swap out the duo for the Chicago Tribune's Michael Phillips and the New York Times' A.O. Scott, who both have previously appeared in lieu of Ebert when he had taken ill and proved their own considerable intelligence and mutual respect for one another, the medium, and their audience.

How many of you still tuned in for the show's latest incarnation? And how many of you are as considerably relieved as many of us that things should take a turn for the better with proper print critics in the seats again come September 5th?

Truth be told, I sort of skimmed through one episode of the new youth-skewed At The Movies, featuring Ben Lyons and Ben Mankiewicz -- and since there wasn't a segment in which viewers were allowed to throw hard, pointy objects at NY Post critic Lou Lumenick, I turned my attention elsewhere. In her blog today, Variety's Anne Thompson points out a fact we all saw coming from two thumbs away: That, well, no one seems to like the new show. Thompson looks to the many evil emails she's received since this new version of At The Movies aired, and she's not alone. In our post announcing the critic switch, Cinematical readers have been rather harsh. Here are a few comments:

Debbie: "Two thumbs down for the new replacements, they have much to learn and very large shoes to fill"
Orlando: "Horrible! The quality and style one could expect from the crap you see in a supermarket checkstand line."
Johnny: "And the new guys are basically pathetic imitations of what actual critics are."

Yikes! [He says as he scrambles to cancel the new Cinematical video podcast featuring Rocchi and Weinberg discussing movies whilst drinking Coors Light with their shirts off.]

On my end, I guess it's worth giving another shot ... even though the younger Lyons feels like a cross between Ryan Reynolds and the kid who stole your girlfriend in high school and then spammed your Facebook page with pictures of them in bed together, naked. But what about you? Have you watched the new show? Does it need to change? What would you like to see happen?

Yesterday, we learned that At the Movies was changing in a big way. Richard Roeper had decided to leave the show to pursue a new reviewing program, while Roger Ebert sent out a statement saying that he was out as well, that other projects were in the works, and that Disney was taking the show in a new direction.

Banking on the buzz whipped up by both of their exits, Variety reports that Disney has announced Roeper and Ebert's replacements -- the much younger Ben Lyons and Ben Mankiewicz. If you happen to follow any other on-screen critics, Lyons (on the right) has been a big part of E!, while also popping up in shows like MSNBC at the Movies and Access Hollywood, while Mankiewicz has been the host for Turner Classic Movies, and has an alt pop culture show on Sirius called "The Young Turks."

Of course, new, young blood also means an update to the format, and Disney says that the show will get a new look and new segments when the new incarnation kicks off on September 6. These changes will include a "Critics Round-Up" that will have the two Bens discussing films with other critics via satellite. I dig the simplicity of the past, so hopefully this whole deal won't get too flashy.

What say you, Cinematical readers? Can Ben and Ben fill the big shoes left by Siskel, Ebert, and Roeper, and do you want to see At the Movies get updated?

Forget about entering the web review by review, old-school thumbs are going to take the net by storm tomorrow. Over 20 years of movie review clips with thumbs up and down from Roger Ebert, the late Gene Siskel and replacement Richard Roeper will be available online -- for free -- at the Ebert & Roeper website, www.atthemoviestv.com. Just how many movies could there be? Two decades is a looong time, and has resulted in approximately 5,000 reviews, which will even include recent shows with Roeper and guest reviewers such as Jay Leno. Even better -- there is a big search engine coming along with the horde, so viewers can search by movie title, director or actor.

In a statement, Ebert said: "For years, this was a dream. Now I am exhilarated that it is a reality, thanks to the enormous effort of digitizing something like 1,000 programs." It sounds pretty wild to me -- both for nostalgia sake and as a handy film reference. It'll also be great for the Ebert fans who are still missing his presence on the show since his last appearance a year ago. The reviewer has said that he's waiting for another operation that will hopefully restore his speech, and maybe then we'll see him churning out more videos. But in the interim, we've got a few decades of old clips to revisit.