Patterico's Pontifications

8/6/2007

Classic Siskel & Ebert

Filed under: Movies — Justin Levine @ 9:32 pm



 [posted by Justin Levine]

In case you haven’t heard the news, you can now search through thousands of past segments of Siskel & Ebert movie reviews.

One criticism of the site – it doesn’t have the full episodes of “Sneak Previews” (later renamed “At The Movies”), only the discussions of single films as individual clips. As a result, some classic debates are lost.

For instance, I remember the time when Ebert & Siskel seemed to be the most angry at each other (actually yelling, with Ebert shouting to Siskel “You should be ashamed of yourself!” and Siskel deadpanning back “Well, I’m not.”). It was the end segment round-up of the show that aired in late June 1987. The two had first disagreed over the merits of “Benji The Hunted“, and then later in the same show REALLY butted heads over “Full Metal Jacket” (which Ebert astonishingly gave a thumbs down to).

During the final segment of that show where the recap their “thumbs up/down” views about the films they just discussed (which is unfortunately not archived on the website), Siskel gets in a final dig at Ebert and says,

“Amazing. This is a show where you give ‘Benji The Hunted’ a thumbs up to, but not ‘Full Metal Jacket’…” Ebert immediately explodes and screams out “NOW THAT’S NOT FAIR! YOU CAN’T COMPARE THESE REVIEWS! ONE IS A KIDS MOVIE, AND THE OTHER IS A FILM THAT DOESN’T LIVE UP TO THE STANDARDS OF ONE OF THE GREAT DIRECTORS! THESE REVIEWS ARE PUT INTO A CONTEXT! AND YOU KNOW IT, AND YOU SHOULD BE ASHAMED OF YOURSELF FOR SAYING THAT!”  [That is actually a paraphrase from my own memory. But I’m pretty sure its close and I’m certain that I got the gist of it correct.] 

Reminds you just how great Gene Siskel was. A great loss.

I also can’t seem to find other important show segments on the site such as their old “Dog of the week” pick where they would single out really bad films to avoid. For instance, it would be great to revisit their trashing of “I Spit On Your Grave” which they both called one of the most offensive films they had ever seen (and which subsequently boosted rentals for the film at a time when the VCR rental biz had just come into being).

Still, this site is a great resource for film nuts like me. Enjoy!

[posted by Justin Levine]

9 Responses to “Classic Siskel & Ebert”

  1. With repeated viewings of a program, I come to feel that I know the participants. One of the charms of the program was that the pair disagreed about things only intellectuals could fret about, such as not only whether a show was a thumbs-up or a toes-up, but why it was a thumbs-up. My impression of Siskel was that he was a really decent man, and I miss him too. As for Ebert, they really should give us more frequent medical updates.

    dchamil (06023d)

  2. Darn it, that FMJ anecdote disproves one of my longest-held beliefs: I could tell nothing about a movie when those two agreed, but when they disagreed, always side with Ebert.

    Ah well, the exception that proves the rule, or some such.

    Alan S. (2413f2)

  3. I recommend the review of Tony Danza’s She’s Out of Control. The first review I ever saw that actually argued a movie was LIFE DRAINING. Ha.

    ClockBlock (7787b4)

  4. O/T
    Justin
    You will never believe this.
    Former Governor and current AG Jerry Brown is arguing the AGW party line in the comment section of this Daniel Weintrab article.
    Daniel Weintraub: Republicans tangle with old foe on global warming

    I urge any one who is interested in arguing with the actual policy makers involved with climate change to come to that article and add your two cents. Registration is a bit of a process, but how often does such an opportunity come about?

    Jerry Brown’s comment to the article;

    The strange comments above reflect the type of distorted thinking now controling Republican State Senators. This rather isolated group persists in fighting every effort to combat global warming–against the views of 95% of climate scientists and the 100 nations which recently spoke out at the United Nations in favor of immediate action to control global greenhouse gasses. California can’t wait until 20012. Over 400 cities nationwide are taking action on global warming. As for freeways, the truth is I built three times more than governors Wilson and Deukmejian combined.

    Come on over and set Governor Moonbeam straight.

    papertiger (f6198c)

  5. I grew up in Chicago, and it was amazing what other things came out of the WTTW/WFMT group.

    Some Guy (d87a55)

  6. I saw a few video clips showing that the two actually had a pretty cold relationship. They were going back and forth and saying mean things (Ebert was insulting Siskel about his stutter, and Siskel made fun of Ebert for being overweight) . . . There was an item on Althouse’s blog. I don’t know if the links still work.

    http://althouse.blogspot.com/2006/05/siskel-and-ebert-uncensored.html
    http://www.metafilter.com/51567/Siskel-and-Ebert-Behind-the-Scenes

    Daryl Herbert (4ecd4c)

  7. Yeah, Justin, Ebert was totally friggin’ nuts: FJB is da bomb.

    Christoph (92b8f7)

  8. Used to watch SISKEL and EBERT and especialy their DOG OF THE WEEK the realy bad movies thay had this funny little dog on there and they reviewed some of the realy bad movies outright stinkers

    krazy kagu (10add8)

  9. Ebert has gone full fledged BDS and is fitting BDS into movie reviews even where there is no context. Because who would know better about domestic and world politics than the guy reviewing the movies.

    buzz (9e5c44)


Powered by WordPress.

Page loaded in: 0.0738 secs.