Cool News
Disney Cancels AT THE MOVIES!!
I am – Hercules
“At The Movies,” Disney’s bastard descendant of the old “Siskel & Ebert” movie review show, is kaput.
Currently hosted by newspaper critics A.O. Scott and Michael Phillips, it will air its last episode in August.
"This was a very difficult decision, especially considering the program's rich history and iconic status within the entertainment industry, but from a business perspective it became clear this weekly, half-hour, broadcast syndication series was no longer sustainable," reads an ABC/Disney press release issued Wednesday.
The show began in 1975, sort of, as the PBS series "Sneak Previews," starring Chicago newspaper critics Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert. Siskel and Ebert were hired away by Tribune Entertainment in 1982 to create a very similar show titled "At The Movies."* In 1986, they were hired away by Disney to create yet another very similar show titled "Siskel & Ebert & The Movies," which was eventually retitled "Siskel & Ebert," which became "Roger Ebert & The Movies" following the 1999 demise of Siskel.
After a rotating series of critics (including Ain't It Cool mastermind Harry Knowles) came to sit in Siskel's seat, the series was retitled "Ebert & Roeper," co-starring Ebert's Chicago Sun-Times colleague Richard Roeper.
When health issues cost Ebert his voice in 2006, Ebert's seat on "Ebert & Roeper" was filled by a number of critics on a rotating basis, including A.O. Scott and Michael Phillips. Late that year, the show's name was changed to "At the Movies with Ebert & Roeper."
In mid-2008, Disney rebooted its show as "At The Movies" (I guess Tribune Entertainment no longer had claim to that title) with new hosts Ben Mankiewicz and the widely reviled Ben Lyons.**
In mid-2009, Disney rebooted "At The Movies" again with Scott and Phillips taking over as the new hosts.
"Michael Phillips and A.O. Scott can be very proud of their work on At the Movies. If it had to die, it's going out with class," tweeted Ebert following Wednesday's announcement. "At the Movies' producer David Plummer, a veteran from the S&E&R days, did a great job. Ben Lyons was not his fault."
Find all of Variety’s story on the matter here.
* PBS' "Sneak Previews" continued between 1982 and 1986 with new co-host Jeffrey Lyons.
**Ben Lyons is the son of Jeffrey Lyons.
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he'd do fine on that show. It'll be back eventually.
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Good riddance. It was destined for death once it was announced. Posers!
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With a hundred different websites devoted to film reviews, who has time to sit thru commercials.
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off on saturday afternoons and only occasionally got an airing, i can't really miss something i never see. i'm assuming that affiliates in other towns did the same thing....
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Those guys on Rotten Tomato are just jackasses copying G4's on air staff. Very forced.
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Of course, I don't even read reviews online. I stopped writing them myself, too. Either I'm gonna go see the film or I'm not. So, I don't need to watch some lukewarm opinions ib some dumb review show that insults the 20+ year legacy of a TV classic.
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Of course, I don't even read reviews online. I stopped writing them myself, too. Either I'm gonna go see the film or I'm not. So, I don't need to watch some lukewarm opinions on some dumb review show that insults the 20+ year legacy of a TV classic.
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you've never been on the fence about a movie? never?!?
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....but there's NO WAY it was any worse than Hot Ticket with Leonard Maltin and Joyce Kulhawik.
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I tivo'ed this fairly regularly, but perhaps that format has become a relic of a bygone era. It was usually good for a couple recommendations to slap onto my long-term netflix queue. Obviously there's still a place for entertaining film criticism: witness the recent 70-minute Episode I vivisection. But TV isn't that place any longer.
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...KABC switched it from Sunday night at 6:30 to mid-Saturday afternoons in LA. Too bad. I enjoy Phillips and Scott, it's a pleasure to listen to adults talk about movies. It's a pleasure to listen to anyone talk about movies other than Ben Lyons.
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That A.O.Scott was horrific. I know movie geeks will love him, he knows his movies no doubt. But the guy is unbelievably BORING! You have to have more charisma to be a critic on tv. It's like Peter Travers-great written critic-fucking bore on tv.
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I blame AICN J/K.
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Now the only movie review show is that rottentomatoes show. No more thoughtful, insightful debate about the latest movies. Fuck.
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Mar 24, 2010 11:51:22 PM CDT
Siskel & Ebert was my first real connection with film criticism
by nasty in the pasty
Yeah, as a kid I was always super-pissed when they panned something I liked, but they helped pave the way for my appreciation for the real service film critics serve...to steer audiences away from mass-produced crap and highlight cool little movies that would otherwise be completely obscure to the majority of moviegoers. For people wondering if people actually *read* film criticism these days, my answer is, the SMART people do. Not that I automatically avoid or see a movie based solely on what the critics say, but let's face it...a movie getting 20% on Rotten Tomatoes is probaby not gonna be as good as one getting 90%.
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That would be like Einstein and a retarded 12 year old talking about physics. Also, the deli tray that episode didn't stand a chance.
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The show really died when Ebert left though.
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This wouldn't have happened. I need to be a producer.
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DVRs are really easy to work, you poons. Phillips and Scott continued the tradition of shining a light on foreign or smaller films that were a cut above. There are a lot of films I would have missed if not for this program (dating back to Siskel & Ebert, of course).
Bring on the scatterbrained bimbos and preteen internet hacks to tell me which Bay film will next "PWN MY ASS!!!!!!!!!!!" -
Siskel died. The show's been dead to me since then.
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Kinda sad to see it go. The new guys did a good job. Nobody's like the originals of course. Ebert's tribute posted above is pretty moving.
Check out Harry though:
http://www.youtube.com/watch ?v=Fh-6-N8V0RU
(remove spaces) -
I don't think Ebert liked Harry at all hahaha.
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You know who does darn good reviews sometimes is Charlie Rose. He would gave critics around the table and talk and argue about movies.
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Don't see why Realz channel can't buy it though? Or do something similar. The rotten tomatoes show is fucking awful and leonard maltin secrets out is pretty lame, he only talks about shit he likes. Still waiting for that Starz program with Richard Roper where if a movie is shit he will call it SHIT! (or a masterpiece in Shutter Island's case).
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The internet has probably killed the film critic.
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all over again.
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I can't believe it's already been over a decade since Gene Siskel died. Never has been the same. Not sure any show could survive after the Bens though.
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so in a nostalgic way it saddens me that it has ended. I used to look forward to their movie news every week and especially for their Oscar show.
But, I think times have changed (god I feel like an old fart for saying that)... sites like AICN on the intertubes and podcasts that you can watch or listen to at anytime have made At the Movies irrelevant.
a shame. -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rmnYCSwt2Js
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I found it far more entertaining and insightful.
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is the sound of me dancing a jig on that shows grave.
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The series in all it's incarnations was blessed with 3 great personalities
Without one of them passing on the reigns spiritually and figuratively
There's no point in continuing it
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This makes me sad. It was never going to be the same show after Ebert left, but Scott & Phillips were growing on me. I do think local affiliates did a major disservice to viewers and probably hurt ratings significantly by constantly squeezing it into totally random time slots (sometimes even 2AM, around here). If I didn't have DVR, I doubt if I'd ever been able to find it.
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for everyone to be a critic or "expert" on the internet, the loss of an outlet for true and respected criticism is unfortunate. But the reality is that many TV stations would rather take the cheap and easy money from an informercial or advertorial than pay for a quality syndicated program.Harry and Smith made out OK on that run of guest critics, but there were some real yahoos that sat in that chair after Siskel departed.
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Seriously, nobody even has a clue who hosts the show anymore. Used to be a television staple everybody was familar with. Most people didn't realize it was still on. It's for the best.
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everybody else sucks.
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When this show finishes, this show was enjoyable with Siskel & Ebert. It was charming, constructive and enjoyable to watch. Dare I say better than BBC's Film 2000~ with Jonathan Ross, etc. A little bit of American history dies away when this iconic "At the Movies" is gone.
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I've not seen the show in a long while, but reading the reactions here... I'm kinda curious.
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They already killed it, really.
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Sure, it wasn't Siskel & Ebert, but who would expect that? The current hosts have chemistry and both of them LOVE movies to the point of it being infectious to those who watch them.
I'll miss these guys. I really enjoy A.O. Scott's Movie Minutes podcast for the New York Times, too. -
even know it was on anymore.
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Yeah, and I'd have never caught the show without Tivo. Even WITH Tivo I had to record an extra half hour or hour to catch it as it was always on after a game. I'm bummed about this.
For a couple weeks we even had it super early Saturday morning, which means you could see it before going to a Saturday movie -- usually it airs Sunday late late late. -
I guess the little podcast I pick up on Tivo from A.O. Scott is Critic's Picks (not movie minutes if you caught my earlier post about it).
I'm not entirely sure if they're different at this point. But, they're worth checking out. He just did one on Aliens, recently.
I permanently stored the one he did on Princess Mononoke. -
And because no one asked, I found the podcast I've been getting on Tivo on internet proper:
http://nytsynvideo.com/itunes/6 -
hahahahahahaha!!!!
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and feature it on their website. They would ultimately profit from a show like that. I've added dozens of smaller movies to my netflix list because they were mentioned on "At the Movies".
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Mar 25, 2010 8:40:17 AM CDT
Sorry to see this go. These guys were miles better than ...
by 2for2true
the breakfast club group that ruined the show after Ebert & Roeper were fired. Let's hope someone someone can produce an intelligent review show a la S&E.
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guh.
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It wasnt worth a shit since Siskel died and Ebert left. THe worst part was when they had assorted Hollywood and journalist types like the inane Richard Roeper who know very little about film, other than how to order from the queue at Netflicks. Bring back Rex Reed. He's a pole smoker, but he knows film.
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...to read movie reviews. People can piss and moan all they want, but movie critics on Tv are more often than not too far off the mark. I just don't need them to tell me to avoid movies because it doesn't suit thier personal taste.
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I think that if Gene Siskel were alive today he would be furious at the total lack of originality in Hollywood. Re-makes, re-boots, do-overs, movies made from board games and shitty '80's toys. (I'm looking at you Stretch Armstrong!!)
I'm sure he would rip out his own eyes for having to sit thru Transformers 2. -
I like Phillips and Scott. Better then the 2 Bens. It seemed to have the goofiest time slots. I could only DVR it.
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Those two words may even show up in Ben Lyons obituary.
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fuck
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But Reelz channel reairs it throughout the week. Hopefully they will buy it or do something like it, don't know why Scott and Phillips wouldn't come back, they got nothing else going on.
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So much if it weren't for two things. The first one being Richard Osborne, Mancowitz other co-host of shit on TCM. Why wasn't he the other guy (and he fucking looked like Ebert)? Probably because he doesn't watch new movies. The second being that Lyons Jr never wrote a movie review, thats pretty fucking lame. Ebert pointed that out and I agree you could at least have gotten some reviewer (fuck even Lyons Sr.) who at least has some back history proving their worth. Lyons really is the Jason Reitman of the movie critic world, now we all just need to realize that about Jason Reitman.
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Ebert & Hawking At The Movies... two guys arguing back in forth in artificial robot voices. AWESOME!
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...oh, wait....
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I could be wrong, but I thought that I heard that Mr. Ebert is attempting to bring back the show in some fashion + that he may even make small cameos.
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...is when I first discovered this website. I remember thinking that Ebert had gone into a time machine and brought back his teenage hippie self from the 60's to co-host with him.
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but they still made a compelling, engaging pair when giving their opinions about movies. They did well paired w/ each other and also stood out individually with Roeper. Disney did right by giving them an opportunity to carry the S&E legacy forward, and if theres any justice they will be given another show with another network. Reelz channel is already airing repeats of ATM. Are you reading & listening, Reelz channel? In fact, all you on this TB who get Reelz and appreciated the show, how about we flood their emailboxes with requests for them to produce new shows once theyre off the air!! Do it people!
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which Entertainment Weekly wishes it could be as good as, At The Movies was destined to go the way of Betamax, the dodo bird, and Ben Lyons career. I know Premiere's online, but I still miss sitting back with the old, oversized Premiere magazine, enjoying the articles and wonderful photo spreads.
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who is going to take over the film series. rumours were flying that it was Mark Kermode. but he he has dismissed all those runours. Jonathon has left the bbc to return to Channel 4.
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I think this show is another casualty of the New Interwebmedia bullshit that we help perpetuate. Oh well, if Roeper gets back on the boob-tube, I'll watch.
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Oh, wait...
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where "American Idol" is deemed important, a show featuring two critics, any gender, showing short clips and then bantering with intelligence about film could only end up on a cable channel, perhaps an A&E or Bravo. But something from Disney. Not at this point. And Siskel and Ebert were smart, but populist enough in each their own way. And they were interesting to visit with, so to speak. Can't say that about those who followed. And if they tried it with "critics" from other publications, like EW? I could could give a crap what most EW writers "think." Because they don't. They just go rah-rah about this and that unless and editor decides it's not on the hot list anymore. B- for this and A plus for that my ass.
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that was lightning in a bottle, and the evidence is in that Siskel and Ebert Uncensored clip. Is there ANYONE that intelligent on t.v. anymore? They came from journalism, not a generation of people that believe they were destined to be on t.v., no matter what the cost. Fucking shame... I still have my Halloween Criterion laserdisc where it showed the S&E review of the film (may have even been a reassessment) talking about what makes it a horror classic, rather than just another slasher pic. I don't think we'll see another pairing like those two.
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The chemistry was never the same after Siskel passed. Sorry Harry, never saw your appearances.
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have all you creaming over Siskel and Ebert ever even seen Siskel and Ebert? Ebert is a great critic, and one of the first GEEKS in the public eye but that show was far from erudite film criticism. It gained notoriety not for "intellect" but because "THE FAT GUY AND THE OTHER ONE" as people knew them were always fighting on-air which at the time was a novel and entertaining idea. S&E during its run was known primarily for 2 things: 1)bickering over movies 2)thumbs up/thumbs down. hate how this site is always going lowest common denominator. The show is 30 years old... one of them is dead... wowowowowowowowowowow it was the greatest thing ever! try for some rational and educated perspective. if you all had even read any of Ebert's Sun-Times reviews, you'd see how the edited snippets on that show offer far far less than his entire columns. the show was entertainment first and foremost, not some fount of critical genius
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but the upside is they also cancelled the hills so we dont
have to look at those douchebags
anymore -
It's fun to watch an 80s movie and then go see what Siskel and Ebert had to say about it.
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Most entertaining reviews on the net.
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Mar 25, 2010 1:42:19 PM CDT
All the non Siskel and Ebert wannabee hosts lacked chemistry
by chuck_chuckwalla
Like corporate boy bands these new guys just never had the spark and liveliness of S&E. Watching them was like watching an intellectual throwdown. It was my second favorite show of the '80s behind Letterman's Late Night show. I never much liked when it went to network television and was shortened to a half and hour. The show really belongs on PBS as an hourlong with no commercial interruptions, you can't have a real in-depth commentary on film in the space provided by network.
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I like the current incarnation as well, but I have to admit I've never watched it regularly due to the Saunday afternoon timeslot in my town.
Run the show out of WNET in New York? -
...where Siskel and Ebert reviewed Superman II, Greystoke and Running Scared (the one with Billy Crystal and Gregory Heines). The show was never the same after Siskel passed. I remember that his last review was of Emmerich's Godzilla, literally phoned in from his hospital bed.
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I remember watching this show every weekend on the family Zenith color television. It was on CBS I believe and we never got good reception with CBS with the rabbit ear tv antenna.
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like looking at the ratings system, denouncing the X, which eventually became NC17. Championing letterboxing on video as Ebert was an early fan of laserdisc. Spotlighting the trend of horror films and the "dead teenager movie". They could create a pretty entertaining half hour yacking about movies.
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Was much more unique to me. Before the internet--it was a treat to see movie previews and opinions with no commercials. Who knows, maybe Reelz or PBS will have something. Chemistry is a big thing. I talked with Ebert after he resumed without Gene. I said it was obvious that you like to bully the guest critics and lord your background over them when you disagree on a movie. I told him that he should know better than that. Opinions are subjective, no matter who they come from.
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Stores have been selling monitors for over a decade now, they are no longer visual radios that tune into broadcasts to keep old people company. Almost every "show" that is worth watching can be streamed online for free. The only time I watch "TV" now is when the Lakers or Dodgers play because it costs a fucking C-NOTE just to go to a game. That's really it. Everything else you can get on the net if you are of average intelligence.
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I think Charlie Rose could do a 30 minute round-table of respected critics every Thursday or Friday. This news is pretty sad, even though I stopped watching when Ebert left. This show was really about the chemistry between Siskel and Ebert. Once those guys were gone, it was just a matter of time.
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when Jeff Ross said to Ben Stiller and Janeane Garofalo about Mystery Men: "Gene Siskel was going to review that, but he took the easy way out"...
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more people are reading Ebert's twitter than are watching At The Movies.
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Are you implying it doesn't exist?
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That really is a fantastic idea. Netflix ought to stream a review show like "At the Movies", especially if they could get Scott and Phillips to come on board.
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The hand gestures and lame movie puns and metaphors were just embarassing.
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Now that I had to laugh at...
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Nerd Rage has a great idea. The only problem is that the show is too timely. :) In other words, it advertised movies in the theater, not on netflix. Hmm...
Still, someone should pick this show up, as is and tie it in to something that would directly benefit them. -
broadcast siskel and ebert on bbc two. Cause bbc two needed something to show cause in those days BBC one showed wall to wall wimbeldon. I Knew who siskel and ebert were as I had seen them while was staying in the us. After watching them ebert defend a film that siskel wanted to tear apart. I realised that the whole thing was scripted. it kind of took away from the whole thing.
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the rating system. rather than have critical analysis these days you have to have stars. for this see empire.
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In First-Run Syndication, the renewal contracts for shows are signed with individual stations around March 1. If not enough stations renew, the show will be cancelled. This is what has happened.Ebert has stated that with Disney dropping the show, he can relaunch the show on his own with another company. It would be great if it was on Reelz, Current, or Starz.As for the question about Movie Mob on Reelz Channel, it was a victim of the 2008-2009 recession. to save money, Reelz changed production companies, from one in L.A. to one in New Mexico, and part of the deal was a new co-host and a change in format. The new co-host saw it as a chance to launch his career and get out of NM. It was obvious he was auditioning to make it to E! or G4. He didn’t let the webcam “mobsters” talk, and after 4 weeks the audience left, and the show was off the air by Christmas 2009. What was funny was at least 3 of the regular mobsters were working actors in Hollywood. Bad move to have a minor-league talent in a minor-league city taking over the show.-----later-----m
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anyone know what happened to The DVD Show? It was there one week, gone the next. The website is still up as it was right before the show disappeared.
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i read in this interview with ebert where he said (or typed I guess, because he didn't have his new "voice" yet) that he was expecting that the famous balcony would be donated to somewhere prestigious, but he saw it @ the dumpsters behind the studios. smh.
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That is what S&E called early 80's slasher movies. I still remember that.
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..is that I can shut it off to shut Ebert to hell up when he mouths off anbout a movie that everyone except him loves.
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A lot happened between the early 80s and the late 80s. And in 1989/1990 when what seemed like belated sequels (although compared to the likes of TRON Legacy these sequels were relatively quickfire)arrived in the bucketload. We had Indy and the Last Crusade, Ghostbusters 2, Gremlins 2, The Karate Kid 3, Rambo 3 and Rocky V. Already by this point my childhood heart had experienced its first hurt in the form of Superman IV. But these sequels all managed to show up and entertain but none managed to quite hit the magical nail on the head. (the exception here MAY be Gremlins 2 - which did it's own fresh and crazy thing. I could wax lyrical about this period in time for a long time. A long time. But to focus on Indy here. I remember on the very first viewing being slightly disappointed with the River Phoenix opening and then when it cuts to adult Indy on the boat ut just felt so much less than the penings of the other films. Throughout the film I couldn't shake the feeling that this wasn't Indy anymore but Harrison Ford PLAYING Indy. Everything about the film seemed a little blander, a little too light. Don't get me wrong, it is still an enjoyable film but it has ALWAYS been behind RAIDERS and TEMPLE in my opinion. It was very much a stepping stone to SKULL, which wasn't THAT much different. The problem with SKULL compared to CRUSADE is that Shia is no Sean and they didn't make nearly enough about Indy's age. A couple of lines thrown in there but then it was business as normal. So yeah SKULL wasn't as 'dark' as it should have been and was too much of a 'team-Indy' experience. But The LAST CRUSADE started that. But in both cases there are enjoyable moments which only make the fact they don't fully satisfy all the more grating.
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....that honor goes to his dad! Lyons Sr. was the worst movie critic ever, outdone only by Rex Reed. But Lyons Jr. certainly was following in Dad's footsteps critically, for sure.
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And hasn't been GOOD since Ebert. Hasn't been excellent since Siskel.I've been watching the show every weekend since Sneak Previews on PBS but even I think it's outlived its usefulness. It was never really a GREAT idea to review movies on Sunday night after everyone has seen them. As opening weekends got bigger and bigger the show got more and more irrelevant. Instead of a place to go for advice it became "I wonder if they liked the movie I saw 2 days ago?"If/when they relaunch DO IT ON A FUCKING WEDNESDAY!
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and think ebert politely told roper to stick his opinion up his ass.
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Mar 28, 2010 2:58:28 PM CDT
SIDESHOW COLLECTIBLES should do Ebert retrospective busts.
by bob cryptonight
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I can read reviews by a dozen or more critics at rotten tomatoes. 2 guys? Big deal. I can get a better consensus when a group is involved. And of yeah...BEFORE the movie opens.
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the new host of film 2010...is Claudia winkleman. who the fuck? claudia winkleman is the daughter of fleet street legend Eve Pollard. Winkleman tv presenting jobs have included the interview segements of such shows like Strictly come dancing on sunday. and other shows that escape my memory. Is she a film reviewer of any note.not really. has she reviewed a film in her life for a major newspaper not that I can think. Say what you like about Jonathan Ross. he had huge apitite for asian film and manga comic and marvel. and his search for jack kirby. he got an off camera interview with the great reclusive comic book artist. so claudia winkleman is the new host. bbc not dumbing down, eh? i beg to differ....
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philip french or mark kermode. well done bbc, you have just shot yourself in the foot or both feet. whatever viewers ross killed off during his tenure have been decimated. bbc will have to pull the plug cause I cant see anyone watching Claudia Winkleman doing this show.
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to do the show with Roger Ebert. They can both talk on their little computer boxes. I'd watch the shit out of that show.
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