So I spent much of my childhood getting the thumbs up from Siskel and Ebert as to what was worth a go at the movies. With the sad parting of Gene Siskel I never quite grew accustomed to the finally permanent replacement of Richard Roeper. It’s good to get a feel for a reviewer’s taste but if on the whole you don’t agree that much with them, but not in a totally opposite way, it’s hard to see the review as much help.
Roger Ebert has had health issues that have kept him off the show for a couple of years now and a cycle of guest hosts have kept Roeper company. I still found the thumbs up system (with a helpful tag of moderate or enthusiastically so) to continue to be a great awareness on a movie’s merit. But to be honest one of the main reasons I stopped tuning in was because they would give away too much about the movie whilst arguing its worth.
Well Roeper has decided not to/was unable to renew his contract and Ebert has decided that he no longer wants to be associated with the current Disney show and he’s taking his thumbs with him. Ebert and Siskel’s widow own the rights… He says the thumbs will be back and Roeper intends to join a new venture that maintains the early integrity that Siskel and Ebert set.
The final show will air the weekend of August 16. Then what do I do? Turn to the clapping or sleeping man in the Chronicle reviews?
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so Disney is keeping the balcony alive with two new critics, Ben Lyons currently noting the news at E! will join Ben Mankiewicz from Turner Classic Movies
I like Ben Mankiewicz from that radio show The Young Turks, and don’t know much about Ben Lyons but have seen on MTV, I’m interested to see if they can get a good new slant to the movie talk.