gene siskel Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Here's an interesting kerfuffle to kick off your weekend. Yesterday, Disney released a statement, published by the Associated Press, stating that film critic Roger Ebert has exercised his contractual right to withhold use of the famous "THUMBS UP/THUMBS DOWN" which has been a part of the critic's television program (distributed by Disney-ABC Television) since way back when it was Gene Siskel sitting opposite Ebert on the balcony. (You can see the AP story in its entirety over on the ABC News website.)

In response to Disney's statement, Ebert this morning sent out the following email, which I'm reprinting here in its entirety, so that Ebert can have his say in his own eloquent words:

Last week I wrote about the late Michelangelo Antonioni and Ingmar Bergman, but after I posted my column, I made a startling discovery. Over the past two months, we lost two more masters, the African filmmaker Ousmane Sembene, who died June 9 at age 84, and the Taiwanese filmmaker Edward Yang, who died June 29 at age 59. As with Antonioni and Bergman, I was lucky enough to have reviewed the final films of both filmmakers, Sembene's Moolaade (2004), and Yang's Yi Yi (2000), and I gave each a four star rating. In fact, I'd rate Yi Yi as perhaps the finest film of the decade so far. Unlike Antonioni or Bergman, these two never received any Oscar nominations and so their deaths did not rate headlines. I suppose if I had been more diligent about combing the web for movie news, I would have found out about them earlier.

Also this week, Buena Vista posted two decades' worth of movie reviews from Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert's various TV shows, including all the "guest critics" from 1999 and Siskel's "replacement," Richard Roeper. I've been addicted to this site since it debuted last Thursday, looking up my favorite movies from mid-1986 (where the reviews seem to begin) to early 1999 when Siskel passed away. Like many movie buffs my age, I grew up with Siskel and Ebert and learned a good deal from their show. It's wonderful to see Siskel again, as well as a younger, more vibrant Ebert, arguing with passion about movies they genuinely care about.

Oh internet, is there anything you can't do? As Monika told you last week, a good portion of Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert's classic television reviews have hit the net, and I can't get enough. It used to be I'd have to head down to the Museum of Television and Radio to find old material like this, but I couldn't sit and watch in my boxers there (Believe me, I tried). In addition to the sweater vest - packed Siskel and Ebert material, there's all of the Ebert and Roeper reviews and the Not Siskel and Not Ebert reviews. These include the occasionally awkward celebrity guest shows, like Roeper with John "Cougar" Mellencamp! You can also find cool extras like Roeper talking about the Sopranos finale and answering the question "Have you ever walked out of a movie?" Head here to get started, but be warned, it's mighty easy to get hooked! What reviews are you guys checking out? Have you found any that particularly stand out?

If I had to give you the best place to start, it would be this glorious special episode where Ebert sits down with Martin Scorsese to pick the best films of the 1990s. I've had this on tape since it first aired -- my favorite film critic and my favorite film director having a passionate conversation, it's pure gold. Their choices are terrific, but be prepared to be confused by Scorsese's #1 choice: "Now I'm cheating a bit with my choice for the #1 film of the 90's because it was actually made in '86." Insane, but I guess you don't tell Scorsese he's got to follow the rules. I checked out reviews of some of my favorite films from the last twenty years -- Planes Trains and Automobiles, Unforgiven, Fargo, etc, but these guys are the most fun when they're in complete agreement on hating something. For a perfect example, check out this review of one of Ebert's least favorite movies -- North. And these aren't on the site, but if you've never seen this clip and this clip of the pair ripping each other apart while trying to tape promos, make it a priority. They feel like SNL sketches. Incredible stuff, and believe it or not -- Not Safe For Work!

My favorite film critic is unquestionably Roger Ebert. When I was a kid, I used to get his "Yearbooks" for Christmas every year, and I've watched every incarnation of his television show. I loved Siskel and Ebert, I like Ebert and Roeper, and the show currently exists in a sort of limbo state I call Not Siskel and Not Ebert. Since Ebert's unfortunate illness, the show has tried a variety of "guest critics." Usually these are film journalists -- A.O. Scott of the New York Times does an excellent job and is the closest the show has to a regular. But they've made some very interesting non-critic choices too. Jay Leno, Fred Willard, and Harold Ramis (Egon!) are just a few of the less traditional names they've brought in for the gig. Kevin Smith did a particularly nice job of co-hosting, and has been invited back. But none of these guests could have prepared me for tonight. The show comes on at 1AM here in Los Angeles, and when I saw who was sitting in I actually jolted up in bed, horror-movie style. None other than John Mellencamp was filling in for Roger Ebert! That's right, the "Cougar!" And it hurt so good!

Mellencamp did the worst job I've seen yet on the show, but it's hard to make fun. The guy's clearly not trying to be a serious critic, he's got a pretty decent day job going. He and Roeper reviewed Vacancy, Lonely Hearts, In the Land of Women, and Fracture. Of that list, Roeper only gave a positive review to Women, but Mellencamp loved each and every one, using the word "fantastic" to describe just about everything. He picked the classic documentary Grey Gardens as his video pick of the week. I don't know how they booked him or how it happened, but Mellencamp did seem to be pretty clueless in the film department. Now I suppose I could get on my high horse and say "What business does a musician have criticizing movies? Does Gene Shalit play "guest guitar" for Green Day?" But I actually think it's kind of fun to hear from these unlikely sources. And hey, Mellencamp did direct and star in a movie called Falling From Grace. I haven't seen it, but before you mock, Grace is highly respected by Ebert, who gave it a four-star review back in 1992, and Roeper, who wrote a column then offering money back to anyone who didn't like it. Apparently the staff of NBC's The Office aren't as keen on his film work. On the episode two weeks ago, Kevin said "If someone gives you 10,000-to-1 odds on anything, you take it. If John Mellencamp ever wins an Oscar, I am going to be a very rich dude."

To watch the Mellencamp show in full, keep checking the Ebert and Roeper website. Get well soon, Roger! And hurry back! Please!

Before I landed the stable, glamorous and lucrative job of film critic, I lived in a small town (population about 4500) with two movie screens (the theater expanded to a whopping five screens in the spring of 1985). As of the fall of 1984, I was already a movie nut. Over the course of the year, my parents drove me to see Ghostbusters, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Gremlins, The Karate Kid, Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, Starman and Dune. But it was in December that I saw the light. On their TV show, Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert counted down their lists of the ten best films of 1984, which contained many titles that I hadn't seen and many others I hadn't heard of: Once Upon a Time in America, Amadeus, The Cotton Club; Paris, Texas; Love Streams, Stranger than Paradise, Secret Honor, This Is Spinal Tap, The Killing Fields, Choose Me, Entre Nous, A Passage to India, Micki & Maude, The Natural, and -- oddly -- Purple Rain. I scribbled down the titles and spent the next several months hunting for them on video, feverishly watching them on my family's primitive, but then brand-new, VCR.

Nowadays, with the Internet and all, people can look up dozens (hundreds?) of ten-best lists, and unless you have a favorite critic, the result is going to be more or less a consensus of all those lists. Sadly, that generally singles out the lowest common denominator choices, the films that have been specifically created, screened and promoted as award contenders. (In other words, the films that wound up on Richard Roeper's list.)

When Gene Siskel died, Roger Ebert was left without a co-host on their weekly movie review show. For awhile, it got a bit interesting, as Ebert welcomed other film critics to appear with him. On one great episode, Bill Clinton even sat in to talk cinema. And then, finally, it was decided that Richard Roeper would feature permanently as co-host, and the respectability of "two thumbs up" went away forever. Now, with Ebert in the hospital for awhile, the show is in need of guest co-hosts once again. But instead of getting primarily critics this time, the show is featuring a few people even less qualified than Roeper to stick out their thumbs. So far Jay Leno, Kevin Smith and screenwriter/novelist John Ridley have appeared, and in the next few weeks we will be seeing entertainment reporter Toni Senecal, actress Aisha Tyler (on two episodes) and actor Fred Willard.

As much as I find Willard to be funny in everything he's in (hmm, I should write a guilty pleasure post about Moving Violations), I don't really see how he fits here. He's not as bad a choice as Leno, who can't be too harsh a critic since his regular job is to kiss entertainers' asses, but really why should we be interested in his opinions of new films? At least one of the scheduled hosts is Michael Phillips, who reviews movies for Ebert's paper's rival (just as Siskel had), the Chicago Tribune. Be sure to check your local listings to see who is hosting when. You know, so you can avoid watching the show until Ebert returns.