Matt Singer

I remember watching all the iterations of Siskel and Ebert’s movie review shows and enjoying every aspect – the reviews, the astute comments as well as the sparring and sniping, the film clips, the passion these guys had for the movies. This book provides the history of the show, from the initial concept through all the various versions. In addition, you’ll find a biography of both Siskel and Ebert, from childhoods through careers, and (sadly) their deaths.

One of the best parts for me were the (often humorous) quotes from both Siskel and Ebert at the beginning of each chapter. And of course the recreation throughout the book of their arguments, discussions, and opinions about EVERYTHING!! At the conclusion of the book author Matt Singer also included footnotes, an index, and an appendix of 25 movies which are each described in their own paragraph that Siskel and Ebert rated two thumbs up from 1978-1998. They’re from Siskel and Ebert’s “Buried Treasures” and the author lists them as a chance for some of their favorites to find a new audience.

I thought the book was overly long. The author didn’t leave anything out – and sometimes seemed to repeat facts. A few times I skimmed pages as some minutiae was sleep-inducing. And the author wasn't consistant about what he would call these men. On the same page he called them Gene and Roger, Siskel and Ebert, Gene Siskel, and Roger Ebert. For those reasons I'm rating it 3.5 stars.

Despite my criticism, this is an important volume as it documents the groundbreaking concept of honestly discussing and debating the movies, giving the show’s viewers a perspective of what makes a movie successful or a stinker (their term, and at one time accompanied during the show by a live skunk!). It’s also “a dual portrait of two big personalities at war with one another both as critics and as men,” says Mark Harris.

I really felt like I got to know each of these men who were so different, yet their personalities generated a unique chemistry that made their show wildly entertaining.… (plus d'informations)

I was a young adult living in Chicago when Siskel and Ebert began their famous movie reviewing partnership, first on public television and then in syndication. It was a never-miss show for me, as it was for Matt Singer, the author of this lively history of the partnership that lasted for decades, and only ended with Gene Siskel's death.

The book takes us through the history of the show known variously as "At the Movies," "Siskel and Ebert at the Movies," and a few other variations. When the show began, SIskel and Ebert fundamentally despised one another; whether this was only because they were competitors (Siskel was the movie critic for the Chicago Tribune, Ebert for the Chicago Sun-Times) or for some other reason isn't entirely clear, but their animosity certainly was. Over the years, though, their animosity turned to simply lively disagreement over movies, good and bad, and their ad libbed cross talk was the best part of the show.

The relationship changed in another way, too: the two men became friends, almost brothers. Singer does not do a great job explaining how this change came about, nor in illustrating the emotions each had and how they changed. I would have preferred a more complete exegesis on this evolution, but Singer sticks more with the cold, hard facts, letting the feelings in only around the edges.

I particularly enjoyed the appendix listing of movies Siskel and Ebert championed. These are movies that were not the best in their year, ultimately, but merely movies the two critics found excellent and under-appreciated. Even though I'm a tiny bit of a movie buff, I hadn't heard of most of these, and my "movies to see" list grew in the reading.

In short, this is a perfectly competent history of the partnership and the changes it wrought on movies and criticism., well worth reading. It's a special delight, of course, if the reader was a fan of the show, and even more if that fan lived in Chicago in those days. Even though it is occasionally dry, and perhaps a bit slow, I am really glad I read it.… (plus d'informations)

“It’s going to take a lot of good pictures to knock this off my best of the year list.” - Gene Siskel
Since it isn’t the beginning of the year I can’t reword this quote and say it’s going to take a lot of good books to knock Opposable Thumbs off my best of the year list. But since the year is almost over I can say it's definitely on that list and maybe at its top.

Author Matt Singer is a movie critic himself and credits Siskel & Ebert with sparking his love of film. To anyone who remembers seeing Gene and Roger on TV it’s clear he captures the acerbic chemistry between the two that made their show so popular. To anyone too young to be that lucky he offers a fascinating history of their era and an insider’s view of their continuing influence on movies and media today.… (plus d'informations)

Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel were newspaper critics from competing Chicago newspapers brought together to discuss and debate the latest movies on a weekly TV. At first awkward, the two men's commitment to film as an artform, and their often contentious opinions on what that meant for determining the worth of a film, lead to their show becoming very popular. First on PBS and later in syndication, Siskel and Ebert grew to be the most famous and influential movie critics in America.

I loved watching Siskel and Ebert in their various iterations growing up. In fact I wrote about them last year in a TV Draft on the PowerPop blog. I still refer to reviews on Roger Ebert's website when I watch and review movies he previously wrote about. Despite knowing a lot about the two critics and the history of their show, I enjoyed reading Singer's dual biography which describes the duo's lasting effect on popular culture. I think he does a great job except that he spends too much time on the efforts to continue the show after Siskel's death and Ebert's illness. The book concludes well, though, with the description of 25 movies that Singer considers buried treasures despite getting "two thumbs up" at the time of their release.… (plus d'informations)