Los Angeles Times:
New hosts A.O. Scott and Michael Phillips bring a balance of fun and smarts, just as Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert provided.
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My apologies for giving the Bens a pass too easily and simply preferring the new co-hosts because of greater experience as film critics.
I missed Mr. Lyon's outrageous claim that I Am Legend was "one of the best movies ever made." I see an awful lot of movies, but even with that endorsement, I somehow missed seeing total trash like I Am Legend.
Even worse, he backed up this rave review by saying he grew up on Will Smith movies. What a wide range of cinema expertise. I grew up on Will Farrell movies. Can I replace A.O. Scott?
Maybe Lyons should have been carefully scripted.
I watched Siskel and Ebert forever, even emailed Mr. Ebert. Amazingly, he wrote back. The longevity of these critics was reassuring to movie fans.
Zap, the Ben era begins. The Bens themselves didn't bother me too much but summarily pulling Roger Ebert's hand-chosen co-host Richard Roeper to put on these well-connected-in-Hollywood guys ticked me off terribly. Ben Mankiewicz is a grandson of Joseph Mankiewicz who wrote Citizen Kane. (His great uncle Joseph was a major force in Hollywood as a producer, director and writer, working on outstanding pictures like The Philadelphia Story, The Barefoot Contessa, and Sleuth.) And we know that Ben Lyons' father is long-time film critic Jeffrey Lyons.
Very well connected, these fresh new co-hosts.
Now I'm glad to see print film critics back on At the Movies. Having read his Times reviews for years, I especially respect Mr. Scott's opinion. Because of the Chicago connection of the show, Mr. Phillips http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/09/07/at-the-movies-hosts-ao-sc_n_278724.htmltml#ms a good choice, too.
According to an online source, the Bens were at the movies for only 25 episodes. It just seemed like forever.
Watched the new show on Sunday and WOW what a switch. And very much for the better.
I will finally be able to watch again. Ben Lyons was the effing worst!! I have to admit I am not familiar with either of these guys...kind of wish they had chosen a person of color or a woman but I will give it a chance.
Does anyone still turn on the TV to decide which movies to watch?
Finally! We've been delivered from the incompetence and brown-nosing of the past season!
Thank goodness! Among the guest hosts Roeper had, Scott and Phillips were two of the best.
One quality critics must have is consistency. If, for example, you pretty well disagreed with everything Siskel wrote, you'd establish a benchmark for him. If he said he hated a movie. chances are you'd like it.
Siskel and Ebert and Roper were consitstent, as is A.O. Scott.
The two Bens lacked the anchor of consistency, so were doomed to failure.
Yes. Absolutely right about being able to evaluate how you'd like a movie by how much you generally agreed or disagreed with the critic. My taste in movies is usually very different from A.O. Scott's, but I know this and take it into consideration when he likes or dislikes a movie, but he always has something interesting to say. I had no idea about the Bens and stopped watching their reviews.
Good - I can finally watch again.
Ditto.
Just another thing the Internet killed. Why wait for the show when you have RottenTomatoes.com? They really should've retired the show when Siskel died, and even more so when Ebert lost his voice. End of an era.
rotten tomatoes? Seriously? lol
I don't think movie buffs will ever tire of this format.
I don't care for RottenTomatoes because I don't agree with them much of the time and their opinions are usually based on "going to the movies" as opposed to enjoying the art of film. These two sound smart and fun.
Thank goodness the Bens are gone. Disney made a horrible misstep by trying to dumb down "At the Movies" so the Hannah Montana crowd might watch.Ridiculous.
I have been an Ebert/Siskel/Roeper fan for 30 years. I miss them. I appreciate reviews which make me think and challenged me to see movies I would not normaly have seen before my Siskel/Ebertization. Without them I would never have known about THE DECOLOGUE, RED,
GIRL ON THE BRIDGE, SECRETS AND LIES and hundreds of others.
We are blessed to have the"voice" of Roger Ebert at Rogerebert.com. His blogs and reviews are constant treasures to film fans everywhere.
I enjoyed A.O Scott and Michael Phillips as frequent co-critics with both Roger and Robert.I wish them well. I'll be happy to turn AT THE MOVIES back on again.
I think the Bens just had no gravitas or chemistry, but I don't doubt their knowledge. I think they'll both do well down the line. I am, however, happy to see the new team. Phillips and Scott were the best of the co-hosts with Roeper, and should do well together. This is Michael's second time cleaning up a post-Siskel mess. Michael Wilmington came to the Tribune after Gene's death, and made me stop reading the reviews. When Phillips became the number one guy, I was happy to be able to read reviews that didn't talk down to me and didn't reveal important plot points.
YAY!
One could argue either way about Ben Mankiewicz's film knowledge, but Ben Lyons? That guy knew nothing about film, but he sure loved to have his picture taken with the stars. Throwing softball questions to celebrity flavors of the month on E doesn't make you a film critic. Good riddance.
Siskel and Ebert set the bar for movie reviewers way high. They were the best.
Best of luck to these new two.
Billy Wilder stopped making movies years ago because he said movie critics were troo dumb to understand what he was doing. Siskel and Ebert were reviewing at the time and they are a fine example of the dumbing down of the US. The gentleman who replaced Siskel thought 'Animal House' one of the greatest comedies of all time - amind numbing assertion of his lack of taste or his lack of knowledge of movie history. The NYT gentleman at least appears to have an active brain which will be refreshing. To say Siskel and Ebert set the bar very high-you must mean from an ant's perspective
Must be a Medved drone.."This movie is anti-Christian!! Waaah!!"
"Animal House" *is* one of the greatest comedies of all time and only a humorless curmudgeon would think otherwise.
1. Siskel and Ebert managed to make film criticism, which until their show became regularized around 1982, accessible and understandable to a wide audience of film goers. Your remark "To say Siskel and Ebert set the bar very high-you must mean from an ant's perspective" is nonsensical in that Ebert is one of the most respected film critics in the world and you would be hard pressed to find any critic that is as enlightening, posseses his knowledge of film history, technique and theory or -- dare I say, humor and common sense. Siskel passed away much too soon but he was a thoughtful reviewer with well-crafted arguments and a wonderful sense of film theory. Besides the fact that Ebert won the Pulitzer Prize in criticism (the first film maker to ever do so) and Siskel, not exactly a drooling idiot, received his degree in Philosophy from Yale they did in fact change they way audiences talked about film.
2. They educated audiences on film editing, letterboxing, colorization and the scam of the film ratings system and more while at the same time giving their opinions on films and championing indie films when these films were less recognized even than today. This was unprecedented and reached a wide audience of film goers outside of Pauline Kael and the NY Times or obscure film journals. Being a critic does not mean you are a snob. Good critics are teachers, sharers of knowledge and insight. If you have a chance read his blog on www.rogerebert.com which is so smart, fresh and sensible it will make you really appreciate that the internet can be used to foster intelligent conversation with people with "active brains" rather than just a black hole of anonymous posters making mean-spirited and ill-informed remarks. Lastly. the NY Times fellow you call attention to is AO Scott and not only has he frequently appeared on Ebert and Roeper (while Ebert was out with an illness) but his brain finds Mr. Ebert as "one of the few authentic giants in a field in which self-importance frequently overshadows accomplishment". I think your remarks kind of illustrates the point.
Two thumbs up!
Thank goodness. I've faithfully watched "At the Movies" ever since the days of Siskel & Ebert. Siskel & Roper wasn't as good, and Roper & Guest Co-Host was even weaker; but all of the preceding were much better than the two Bens. I stopped watching. So glad we've gotten back to grown-up reviews!
me too I stopped watching with the two Bens and now Im back
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First Posted: 09- 7-09 11:38 AM | Updated: 09- 7-09 04:21 PM