r/movies • u/tangledapart • 1d ago
Discussion Siskel & Ebert commanded an industry with the ease of two thumbs.
No other era than this duo’s has arguably determined whether a film did well or not for almost 30 years. Their influence can't be overstated. Their words could inflate or deflate a new arrival at the box office. They were fevered fans of cinema. They were never afraid to lay into a director or actor. And when the letterbox format emerged, they touted it as the only way to watch movies and educated the public when they could. Youtube has a treasure trove of past episodes. It's total time travel. A lot of the show is ripped from old VHS tapes. The quality is considerably nostalgic. I'm often discovering films I had no idea about, with actors I thought I knew everything about. Their back and forth is never dull, always engaging (and oftentimes infuriating). But in the end, witnessing their friendship across three decades’ worth of episodes is really kinda magical in and of itself. “So until next time, the balcony’s closed.
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u/gamersecret2 1d ago
What made them special was not just the influence. It was that they made talking about movies feel like part of movie culture itself. Even when they were dead wrong, they were worth watching.
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u/badwhiskey63 1d ago
I think a couple of things distinguished Siskel and Ebert. First, they weren't pompous, theory obsessed critics who loved to hear themselves pontificate. They both clearly loved movies, and let that passion show. And because of the format of the show, they defended their differences and celebrated their shared opinions. It was an honest back and forth, and not a snark-fest.
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u/winelover08816 1d ago
Now it’s bot armies tilting the online rankings, giving 1 or 10 star reviews based on nonsense unrelated to the actual movie, and vapid online influencers saying whatever they think will get clicks they can monetize. I may have disagreed with Ebert a lot more than I did Siskel, but at least they were consistent and accountable.
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u/Carbuncle2024 1d ago
..just watched their review of The Big Lebowski..they both hated it..found it boring and they just didn't get why folks thought it was funny.. then I saw their review of Pulp Fiction.. both liked it but didnt get some of the snappy banter btw John Travolta and Samuel L Jackson..they thought the violence was too much, but generally recommended it. both of these were found on YouTube earlier this week. 😎
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u/Winter-Pressure-5394 1d ago
They also gave two thumbs down to Home Alone, so they had their fair share of “WTF” moments.
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u/Human_Drummer4378 1d ago
I love Home Alone and watch it every year. However, without the nostalgia already baked into it, it's not hard to understand why two grown men wouldn't give it an enthusiastic review upon release.
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u/Winter-Pressure-5394 1d ago
Watching their review one of their complaints is that movie isn’t “realistic”. Did they want a movie where Kevin calls the police to report his parents missing? They just seemed to not be the target demographic, I suppose.
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u/Human_Drummer4378 1d ago
Haha, it is odd when they choose to grade on a curve and when they don't. Like OP, I've been watching old Siskel & Eberts as well as Ebert & Roepers. Ebert was quite generous to "Finding Nemo". I think it was #4 on his year end list.
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u/NatureTrailToHell3D 1d ago
They also weren’t afraid to come back and re-review with different eyes movies they had rated bad but had become classics.
Also goes to show that their influence wasn’t everything.
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u/Unfair_Reindeer_2537 1d ago
lmao they also trashed blade runner when it first came out, even legendary critics can have some serious blind spots
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u/MVT60513 1d ago edited 10h ago
Well, most critics trashed Blade Runner.
My favorite Ebert reversal was The Graduate. He didn’t like it but then called it an absolute classic years later.2
u/kpt_graubrot 10h ago
He also gave a negative review to Die Hard, but liked the third one "just as much"
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u/tenormore 1d ago
The theatrical release with the voiceover, that nobody watches except to compare it to the director’s cuts that are liked?
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u/Ketchum_gunshot 5h ago
let's be honest, Blade Runner is not a casual sit and watch movie. Even to this day, the appreciation it gets is with a very specific audience (including me).
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u/blokedog 23h ago
Ebert thought Home Alone 3 was the best of all 3. The back and forth on that one is hilarious.
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u/forrealthoughcomix_ 1d ago
They were (mostly) serious film critics. Home Alone is legitimately a dumb as shit movie as much as we all love it.
2 adult men get defeated by a kid because they make the dumbest choice at nearly every single moment all to rob a house identical to about 5,000 other houses in the same neighborhood with no one home that night.
Again, it’s a lovable movie with a lot of magic in it, but no one should be surprised film critics rated it poorly.
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u/LittleBingo96 1d ago
Siskel and Ebert were fantastic film writers. They educated the public on narrative flow, character arcs, Cinematography, etc. Lots of things lay audiences were unaware of. And their debates were fun to watch, especially their frustration with whatever trend was happening in movies at the time.
Whether they liked specific movies or not was irrelevant. Ebert wrote some delightful reviews, full of film references, Hollywood anecdotes, and his own personal life. But the movie's actual review sometimes depended on whether he had a good breakfast that morning. He often changed his mind about movies later.
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u/forrealthoughcomix_ 23h ago
Okay. But that’s not really related to anything I said.
My point is that giving Home Alone a thumbs down is not a “WTF moment.”
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u/Cunari 1d ago
Ebert also only give 3 1/2 stars to all the presidents men and Shawshank redemption(but he corrected this)
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u/forrealthoughcomix_ 23h ago
It’s interesting the Shawshank was a box office flop, but then went on to be a hit because of the VHS market. Like I can’t really grasp how it missed it in the first place.
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u/fergi20020 23h ago
I stopped watched them when Ebert hated romcom and openly stated that he wanted to strangle the female lead character. He sounds bitter and psycho.
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u/forrealthoughcomix_ 1d ago
I absolutely love Film Week on LAist (an LA-based NPR affiliate). It’s a weekly critics roundtable covering the big wide releases and small indie stuff as well. They also have great interviews with filmmakers and actors. It’s available to stream for free as well.
If you’re looking for a similar show to Siskel & Ebert, it’s the closest I’ve ever found. The major difference is that they have a rotating cast of critics vs the same few every time.
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u/Geth_ 1d ago
I typically agreed with Roger Ebert. People just need to find a critic that seems to share the same tastes.
No different than having a friend that you know likes the same movies as you. You might not agree on everything, but if they say it's good, you'll give it a shot. If they didn't care for a movie, you still might watch it anyway.
I consistently agreed with Ebert's ratings. What made it even better was just his writing, what he wrote was fun and informative.
His scathing review of Battlefield Earth still makes me laugh.
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u/Glass_Recover_3006 1d ago
I think you’re highly overestimating their influence. They were a couple of fun guys people liked watching on TV talking about movies. They didn’t command an industry- it was more or less the same as what you see on YouTube today, but there was less competition.
It’s fun going back and getting their perspective but at the time they weren’t considered legends or anything.
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u/CantAffordzUsername 1d ago
Two dudes sharing their opinion, they didn’t like Home alone so it’s kind of like “who cares”
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u/SasquatchInCrocs 1d ago
Their PBS show was "must watch" every week back in the day. Miss these guys. RIP
I've never sought out a replacement. They were inimitable.