The day Roger Ebert discovered his thumb changed cinema forever. And now the veteran Chicago Sun-Times film critic is making hand gestures again — this time with the middle digit — at the folks at Disney-ABC Domestic TV who canceled production on his long-running syndicated film review show At The Movies. Ebert announced today that he was bringing the series back to life less than a month after the series’ supposedly final episode aired Aug. 14. The new Roger Ebert Presents At the Movies will start airing next January on public television, and will be taped out of Chicago’s WTTW affiliate. That’s only fitting: WTTW is where Ebert first hooked up with the late Chicago Tribune critic Gene Siskel and, in 1975, launched their dueling-fingers act, then called Sneak Previews. The new hosts of At the Movies will be AP’s Christy Lemire and NPR’s Elvis Mitchell, but Ebert says he’ll also be making appearances in segments from time to time (using a computerized voice; he lost his lower jaw to cancer).
Personally, I’m happy to see Ebert get his show back on the air. I have fond memories of watching Sneak Previews as a kid — finally, there was something on PBS that interested me! — and was sad when Siskel passed away in 1999 of a brain tumor. But I also kind of understand why Disney-ABC pulled the plug on the series, which they’d been producing since 1986. “From a business perspective it became clear this weekly, half-hour, broadcast syndication series was no longer sustainable,” the company announced in a statement last spring. And they’re right. Thanks to websites like EW.com (and one or two others), it’s never been easier to get a thumbs up or thumbs down before heading out to the multiplex. Why wait around to watch a TV show once a week when you can get dozens of movie reviews on your iPhone in an instant? But maybe I’m wrong, Popwatchers. Maybe there’s still a place on TV for old-fashioned finger pointing. What do you think?
Read more:
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he needs to just go away, iv never agreede with his opinions and thought he showed such lack of class when he said video games are not art.
Video games have the potential to be art and a few of them have realized this potential – but by far most of them are not.
Secondly, I too rarely agreed with Ebert’s opinions but he did a good job of explaining them – after all that is the problem with television today, people just want to hear what they believe, no contrasting opinions (conservatives watch FOX, liberals with MSNBC, CNN) – it is an actual good thing to hear someone else’s opinion without taking it as a personal insult, grow a spine.
personally , I preferred the most recent hosts Michael Phillips and A.O. Scott
The man is senile and needs to retire.
Does he still have a head?
When I want to know if a movie is good I go to Rottentomatoes. But I watched At The Movies to find out about all of the great small independent films that don’t have the multi million dollar marketing budgets. EW.com is OK for big budget films but your coverage of indy gems is shoddy at best.
I hardly ever agree with Ebert. The good thing though is that he’s not hosting and Christy Lemire is actually one critic I seem to always agree with.
Is that the yardstick film criticism should be measured by? Whether or not one consistently agrees with the reviewer? I typically refer to film criticism in an attempt to see a fresh take on the material, to see another’s well-reasoned point of view, regardless of whether it differs from my own.
I’m happy to hear the show will be back in some form. I still don’t understand why they would cancel the latest incarnation, which was one of the best ever (especially on the heels of the “Bens” disaster). A.O. Scott and Michael Phillips were great together. They hinted on their last episode that some kind of continuation of their partnership may be in the works. I hope it happens.
I watched the show even after Ebert left, until they did the revamp. PBS is a good place for it and I will watch. I discovered many great films from the show that don’t play in the multi-plex.
When I first starting watching Ebert, I hardly ever agreed with him. To me, that a good enough reason to watch him (and Siskel) as it gave me a good indication of whether I would like a movie or not.
As time has gone by, I’ve come to understand his tastes and leanings better. I still don’t always agree with him, but it happens more often today than it did ago.
And even when I don’t agree with him, I would argue that he defends his position with unparalleled sense and a true appreciation of the cinematic arts.
So it comes down to this. If you don`t like him, don’t watch. For the rest of us who were robbed of the joy of watching him give his weekly reviews, this is excellent news.
*that *was* a good enough reason to watch him
Siskel was my favorite of the two.
That’s the thing. There are so many different qualities one looks for in a movie. It’s what made is show with Siskel so entertaining.
I can still remember “At the Movies.”,but I always considered Gene Siskel a better critic than Roger Ebert. Roger Ebert hasn’t gotten better with age, I would guess that he gives positive reviews to 75-80 percent of the movies he writes about. I know this is subjective, but he seems to review favorably every high-budget piece of crap that Hollywood come out with. I haven’t paid any attention to his reviews in years.
If you read beyond the stars on his reviews, you’d know by now that he doesn’t review films on an even playing field. He reviews films based on what they are meant to acheive unto themselves, not by comparison to other films in other genres. I think his quote is “It’s not what the film is about, but how it goes about it”.
Even his 3 and 4 star popcorn reviews are typically tempered with language that advises the rational for the review and the frame in which the review is being considered.
You really ought to read the full text of his reviews, especially the ones you disagree with. I think you’ll find something worth your time in there.
Ebert ROCKS! All 3 generations at our house vote THUMBS UP to Ebert’s return to TV!!!!!
Love Ebert’s reviews, but he’s way more intelligent and better-read than most of the other critics out there. I do like the excellent compilation of reviews & viewer comments on Metacritic.com. Rotten Tomatoes — OK for kids, I guess.
I like this.
But then again, I’m more than happy to watch two intelligent people who know they’re stuff talk about movies, bring up ideas I may not have thought of, and maybe, in the course of their discussion, spur me to check out something I haven’t seen.
Here’s hoping Lemire and Mitchell have at least a fraction of the chemistry Siskel and Ebert had (and that Mike Wilbon and Tony Kornheiser do for sports on “Pardon the Interruption”).
I love Roger Ebert. I love reading his opinions on film and the world we live in. I don’t always agree with him, but I’m always fascinated at how he came to his opinion. He’s one of the most informed and literate “reviewers/critics” I’ve ever read. I think to call him a film critic is to diminish his true value. He is a film historian. I would love to have attended a class conducted by him.
When Siskel-Ebert were on TV, internet was not around; thus they wer enjoyable to watch and viable. A show like this today needs something more than just talking heads. I just watched a brief 6 minute clip of the new show on Ebert’s blog. Nice but nothing special. This type of show needs to reinvent itself or it won’t survive to the end of 2011.
Tired of Ebert. Zzzz…..
I’m very happy with Ebert’s return to tv. I read his column daily, weekly and while I don’t always agree with his reviews, his wit and intelligence is all the more reason to keep him around. Why would you only read reviews you agree with? Why not open your mind and expand your world view to something different and new?
This is the best news I have heard in ages! Thank you, Roger Ebert, for doing this for ALL of us. This is fantastic. I can’t wait. jmyers 9/10/2010