Ben Lyons, New "At The Movies" Film Critic, Gets Two Thumbs Down From Film World

Los Angeles Times:

Is Ben Lyons the most hated film critic in America?

In the four months since the fresh-faced 27-year-old "movie dude" for the E! Entertainment Network was installed to co-host a revamped version of the venerable movie review program "At the Movies," he has gotten a resounding thumbs down from an angry mob of film bloggers, columnists, professional movie critics and fans of the show. Consensus is that Lyons, the son of New York film critic Jeffrey Lyons, is unworthy of the balcony seats once occupied by Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel on the TV mainstay that has rallied audiences into theaters for more than three decades.

"His integrity's out the window. He has no taste," said Erik Childress, vice president of the Chicago Film Critics Assn. "Everyone thinks he's a joke."

Read the whole story: Los Angeles Times

Comments

[neosoul]

Does this mean Richard Roeper and friends are coming back? Yah!

[minty68]

I've seen this guy on "The Daily 10". He kind of takes a frat-boy approach to reviewing movies and almost always disses something that is a "chick-flick" (because he's not a chick) or anything too compelling to understand. He makes me feel old (I'm only 40!).

[RobinSeattle]

So Lyons is the George W. Bush of movie critics. Considering that it is a Disney (CEO Bob Iger a Big Bushie) product, I'm not surprised.

[Razril]

So it wasn't just me who thought this guy's a joke? Whew. Good to hear.

[LetMeUnderstandThis]

Who needs talent in a word of 15 minutes of fame last for years, it is a sad time.

[LetMeUnderstandThis]

that should be World not Word :(

[Sonny50]

There are far too many shills like this guy reviewing movies.

I remember a reviewer once commenting abt the movie “Shanghai Surprise”, a massive bomb by Madonna , that ”the acting is bad, the accents are all wrong , and the plot makes no sense, but I still think you shld see it.”

[Eric8869]

No one can replace the magic and humor of the Siskel and Ebert pairing.

Jeffrey Lyons has always been a mediocre film reviewer - why would his know nothing son be better?

It's sad when these people make Roeper look good......­.Roeper.

[mam]

Well said; never liked Lyons pere as a reviewer, either. Lord, I miss Gene Siskel!

[missjulz]

This has been one of my major gripes of 2008. As a film fan who has organized and participated in film festivals for years I was disgusted with this show for replacing talented critics with this latest duo. I actually enjoyed Michael Phillips and Roeper together. Very much.

Lyons is for sure the worst, pandering to the Hollywood blockbuster tycoons. Either he has no discerning taste when it comes to cinema or he is someone's pocket.

[pinksghetti]

I watch Ben on E! To be biased I think he is cute, lol. But seriously we live in a celebrity obsessed culture, especially for young people. Ben is only 27 so I'm sure he is caught up in the "we love famous people more than our own mother" society. So he probably will find it hard to give a bad review to a movie unless it's truly horrible and no one "too famous" is in it. I guess he doesn't want to risk being unpopular because some people get more mad if you talk about a "star" then if you talk about Jesus or God.

[MIMom]

They are right. I have watched a few episodes of the new format. I have always liked Ben M. on Turner Classic Movies, and he seems just as smart on ATM.

Lyons is smarmy, arrogant, and gets uppity when Ben doesn't agree with him. Siskel and Ebert didn't always agree, but you figured each knew what they were talking about. Not Lyons.

[SabrinaFair]

The sad fact is that any good review from Ben Lyons is worth nothing to the studios in the long run, in terms of selling a film, and getting people to come out and see it. The same can be said for his father, Jeffrey Lyons, who has been known to give great reviews for bad films in order to have his name featured in the studio's advertisements.

When the legendary Roger Ebert could not return to the program due to his health, Disney let the clock run out on his contractual agreement to produce the show, and jettisoned Richard Roeper, who is highly regarded and respected in the industry. Now they are stuck with this pairing, which not only does not have the respect of the film industry, they have no viewers either.

The best film reviews today are being done by the team at Entertainment Weekly, Roger Ebert and Richard Roeper for the Chicago Sun-Times.

As for Ben Lyons, don't count on him being around for long. When studios get upset, they stop providing film clips. No clips, no show, no more Ben.

[BreakfastatTiffanys1]

He is an i*diot.

But its E!, so what does one expect?

[YeahDonkey]

I am legend?

you gotta be kidding, did you owe somebody money or something?

[WI4change]

My husband and I really tried to like this guy, as we've always been huge fans of the show.....b­ut, really--he totally and completely stinks. We have given up.

[NewArtz]

Movie sequels are rarely more than cheap imitations exhibiting shallow goals and foggy insights, thus Lyons 2 sounds like "Son of Frankenstein Meets Abbot and Costello's Grandchildren at the Mall", (which, if you haven't seen it is like "The Greatest Movie Ever Ever Made Since God Was Born!!!!!!!") There are many movies made to satisfy the dull of thought, so it seems appropriate to hire second generation critics with equal intellect to promote them to glory. Stupid is as stupid does, and if stupid rates the reels then expect Hollywood to be replaced by YouTube.