Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert can probably be credited with really getting everyone interested in movie criticism. Before Sneak Previews, people would read movie reviews, sure, but they brought intelligent film criticism to television and became a huge part of pop culture.
This is a tribute from The Nostalgia Critic, and he covers the history of the show, from the start on PBS to the death of Siskel in 1999 to the hosts that eventually replaced them. He probably needs to get a better microphone, but it's well-done.(Slightly NSFW.)
Michael Phillips-related stories
A tribute to Siskel & Ebert
A.O. Scott and Michael Phillips on revitalizing At The Movies
It looks like the new crew at Disney's At the Movies is turning the ship around.The new series run with fresh hosts (New York Times film critic, A.O. Scott (left), and Chicago Tribune film critic, Michael Phillips (right)) has gone 180 degrees in the other direction from the lighter, more sensationalized previous season.
Last year's host combination of Ben Mankiewicz and Ben Lyons often came off more glib than informative -- leaving both critics and fans wondering what happened to the more measured, analytical tone of former hosts Roger Ebert, Richard Roeper and the late Gene Siskel.
Between the two of them, Scott and Phillips bring decades of entertainment writing and critiquing experience -- combining a love of movies with a willingness to tick off the Hollywood powers that be when necessary.
Continue reading A.O. Scott and Michael Phillips on revitalizing At The Movies
At the Movies critics now at the unemployment line
At the Movies, the long-running cinema review show that once starred well-respected critics Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel, is going back to the idea of employing experienced reviewers as hosts.Disney and ABC film-canned Ben Lyons and Ben Mankiewicz this week. The show's now-dismissed young, hipster critics never really showed any particular cinema savvy besides the ability to unfurl sarcastic reviews. And their writing credentials won't be mistaken for the bylines Ebert and Siskel piled up in their careers.
To reverse course in hope of saving At the Movies, executives are turning to two guys with established chops.
Continue reading At the Movies critics now at the unemployment line
At the Movies meets Entourage in season premiere
Last season on Entourage, when Vincent Chase decided to put his own money into Medellin it was a major risk and he knew it. He was rolling the dice on his career, taking a leap of faith by choosing to do a controversial biography of a vicious Colombian drug lord. In Spanish. Directed by a hot-headed genius/madman named Billy Walsh. Vinney was playing with dynamite. It wasn't good for Vincent's career, but it was great for Entourage. Failure is always funnier than success, isn't it?
Well, as bad as viewers thought Medellin seemed to be based on the brief scenes we saw last season, in the September 7th premiere on HBO, the media weighs in. At the Movies' critics Michael Phillips and Richard Roeper filmed a fictional review of Medellin to be shown in season premiere of Entourage, and it's not good. In fact, if they were stilling using the thumb-o-meter, Medellin would get two big thumbs-down.
Continue reading At the Movies meets Entourage in season premiere
The Prisoner -- An early look
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