Gene and me in the 1980s. Looking at this photograph by Chicago's Victor Skrebneski, Gene said, "Even our mothers don't think we look that good."
(Photo by Victor Skrebneski)
I was surprised how depressed I felt all day on July 21, when Richard and I announced we were leaving the "Ebert and Roeper" program. To be sure, our departures were voluntary. We hadn't been fired. And because of my health troubles, I hadn't appeared on the show for two years. But I advised on co-hosts, suggested movies, stayed in close communication with Don DuPree, our beloved producer-director. The show remained in my life. Now, after 33 years, it was gone--taken in a "new direction." And I was fully realizing what a large empty space it left behind.
Yes, we're planning to continue the traditional format in a new venue, and taking the thumbs along with us. I'm involved in that, and it will be a great consolation. But somehow I thought the show Gene Siskel and I began would roll on forever. How many other TV formats had survived so long?
I sat in my chair and day-dreamed. I remembered a Saturday afternoon, it must have been the winter of 1975-76, when Gene and I were eating hamburgers in Oxford's Pub on Lincoln Av. with Thea Flaum, a young woman who would produce the show for WTTW, the Chicago PBS station. You didn't read her name in the news coverage of our departures, but she was the real "creator" of the show, as TV uses that term.
She told us she would build a balcony for us, and sit us across the aisle from one another. She told us we couldn't wear suits and ties--no one wore them to the movies. She came up with the idea of Spot the Wonder Dog. The show was monthly at first. On Sunday afternoons before a taping, we would separately sit across her dining room table from her and rehearse our scripts. We had "discussion points" we tried to memorize.
We were bad at that. If one guy dropped a discussion point, the other guy got mad. "We can't remember these points," Gene said, "but we can talk to each other." During that first season (the show was called "Opening Soon at a Theater Near You"), the final format took shape. In the pub that day, Thea told us, "You boys have no idea how far this show is going to go. One day you'll be in national syndication. You'll be making real money. You wait and see."
Her prophecy came true. The day we fully realized it in our guts, I think, was the first time we were invited to appear with Johnny Carson. We were scared out of our minds. We'd been briefed on likely questions by one of the show's writers, but moments before airtime he popped his head into the dressing room and said, "Johnny may ask you for some of your favorite movies this year."
Gene and I stared at each other in horror. "What was one of your favorite movies this year?" he asked me. "Gone With the Wind," I said. The Doc Severinsen orchestra had started playing the famous "Tonight Show" theme. Neither one of us could think of a single movie. Gene called our office in Chicago. "Tell me some movies we liked this year," he said. This is a true story.
We began to catch on. Jack Nicholson told Gene, "Harry Dean Stanton called me and said there were a couple of guys discussing movies on TV and they didn't even look like they should be on TV." We didn't. Tall and thin, short and fat. Laurel and Hardy. We were parodied on SNL and by Bob Hope and Danny Thomas and, the ultimate honor, in the pages of Mad magazine.
One thing we never did, apart from an occasional special show, was depart from the format: Two critics debating the week's new movies. No "advance looks" at trailers for movies we hadn't even seen. No celebrity interviews. No red carpet sound bites. Just two guys talking about the movies. At one point, our show and two clones were on the air simultaneously. Then we were left alone again: The only show on TV that would actually tell you if we thought a movie was bad. There was one improvement; we retired Spot (and his successor, Aroma the Educated Skunk) to free up a segment for another review. I remember when we jumped to commercial syndication at Tribune Entertainment, and our new producer Joe Antelo, backed us in reviewing movies by Fassbinder, Truffaut, Herzog--"those guys. Where else they gonna hear about them?"
Did Gene and I hate each other? Yes. Did we love each other? Yes. Somehow an outtake from a promo session has found its way on YouTube, where in a single take you can see us bitterly sniping at one another and then happily joking together. It was like that. "You have the entire staff in terror of you," I told him. "That's funny," he said. "That's what they tell me about you." We were both terrible to work with. And great to work with.
We went to New Orleans for the national convention of syndicated TV. Tribune had been slow in renewing our contract. Leaving our hotel, we ran into Jamie Bennett, an executive Gene knew from Chicago. Jamie asked how we were doing. "Working without a contract," Gene said. "Let's have dinner," Jamie said, and on the spot he talked us into leaving Tribune and becoming the first program of the new Buena Vista syndication division.
Disney was great to work with. Everyone called everyone else by their first name, even the president, Michael Eisner. The wonderful Mary Kellogg was put in charge of our show, and was our cheerleader and den mother. Rich Frank was president of the Walt Disney Studio. When he gave a speech, he took along a reel of clips showing Gene and me trashing movies he had produced. Great jollity. Disney never once objected to our negative review of one of their pictures. Great class.
I began to notice that Gene, who had a laser-like intelligence, remembered every phone number he had ever heard and could do square roots in his head, started getting things out of order. Before a Jay Leno taping in Chicago, he closed himself in a dark room with a splitting headache. But he went to the Bulls game that night. I left the next day for the Cannes festival, where I got a phone call: Gene was sick, was in New York for treatment. He went through the agonies of hell during that final year, but he was heroic, and taped a show barely a week before his death. I missed him terribly. I still do.
We carried on, as I believe Gene would have wanted us to do. Many critics filled the other chair, some gifted, some strange. One guy, in introducing himself, couldn't remember where he worked. I agreed with all the staff members that Richard Roeper was our choice. People thought he was chosen because we both worked at the Sun-Times. That had nothing to do with it--it worked against him, in fact. When the time came that I had to be replaced, Michael Phillips of the Tribune and A. O. Scott of the New York Times were my suggestions.
Now the time has come to awake from my daydream. That's all history--treasured history, but past and gone, all the same. I remember what Gene said to me in that dressing room before the Carson Show: "Roger, we're a couple of kids from the Midwest. We don't belong here."
Thank you so much for sharing this. You and Gene changed how I think about films and you contributed to the development of film culture and appreciation while balancing between the blockbuster and the art house. I still look forward to your reviews and seeing what else you'll be doing.
Thanks for sharing these stories. Looking forward to your next project!
your show was a favourite of mine since i can remember. i still have yours and gene's review of roger rabbit on vhs somewhere. i will miss your show.
now it's time to go back to the source. hookup with PBS again and start a video podcast. it'll be big because we all miss seeing you on tv. i know i'll subscribe to it.
You'll be missed in the balcony. Your reviews are as great as ever here on your site and I am enjoying your journal contributions.
It sounds like Disney is making a mistake in hiring people who are not known for their criticism to take your places.
All good things must someday end, as must Sneak Previews, etc.
I wish you all the best in the future.
The best part about the show was that Gene and Roger both came across as guys. Despite your academic credintials you were able to relate to the normal moviegoer. I always enjoyed it when you both appreciated a good popcorn movie. Most critics have lost that, we don't always want to go and get challneged to redifine our view of manking and the universe. By building that crediblity you both were able to stretch the average guy into seeing something that he might not otherwise have seen because we trusted you. Thanks for that.
Thank you for sharing this touching remembrance.
Gorgeous story. I miss the show already.
Roger, thank you for this. It's very important to me as I'm sure it is to all of your viewers.
I just turned 33 myself, and I can safely say that over the course of my life, there has only been one TV show that I have always looked forward to seeing, no matter my age. Of course, I'm talking about your program. As a kid, seeing you and Gene on TV felt like a trip to the movies. It was special to me. As a teen, you informed me of films I probably never would have thought to check out. And as an adult, I have used the program alternately as a counterpoint to my own thinking or evidence that I have excellent taste, depending on the film in question.
I never realized how much I love the movies until sometime after college. I say realize because I always did - I just wasn't in touch with it. Suddenly, after two roommates took a film class senior year, I found myself reading their homework and going to screenings of Sidney Lumet pictures with them when I should have been working on Economics assignments. Now I blog about film when I find the time, both for my own enjoyment and to share my ideas with others. As I said, your show has always been there.
Last week, you brought up the "Movie of your life." I said that I was too young to really have one yet. I still believe that, though I have some ideas of which ones are in the running. But the TV program of my life may very well be Siskel and Ebert and Roeper and Whoever Continues to Carry the Torch in the Future (though The Simpsons would surely give you a run for the money). You have always been an honest, entertaining, and passionate supporter of the art form we love. That's all we can ask for.
Again, thanks for all you've done and continue to do in the name of film.
Wow, not only was that one of the saddest stories I've heard its one of the most well written.
How basic was Siskel & Ebert's format? Here in Mexico they tried a movie critic's TV show some years ago, which not only consisted of two guys discussing films across a balcony but one happened to be skinny and the other heavy. Too bad they stunk and didn't last very long (even though Siskel & Ebert were ordinary looking that doesn't mean just anybody can do what they did).
I think Disney is making a terrible mistake. The new show may or may not grab more viewers in the short run but they were dealing with the jewel of movie reviews show and should have never touched it. One day, this will look like one of the stupidest show-biz decisions ever.
It's been great watching the balcony; I'll miss it. :)
As a young lad of the tender age of 23, having grown up in a household where a love of movies was just a given, there has never been a point in my life where your show wasn't a part of the order of things. As the years have gone by you and Siskel, and eventually you and Roeper, have been central to my discovery of most of the great pieces of cinema that I have been privy to seeing. Over time, as I came to better understand the things that turned you off or turned you on better to movies I found myself able to watch what you had to say about movies and generally know whether or not I would like them (even if you gave them a resounding thumbs down). So, I also have to celebrate the hours of my life I've spent not watching bad movies thanks to your show. From an appreciative student, thanks for 20 some odd years of enlightening and enjoyable lessons (and it's too bad I wasn't around for the other 13)!
I remember seeing this show for the first time in Canada via our local, over-the-border PBS station (PBS has long courted Canadian subscriptions, it occurs to me) when I was just a kid. I was the sort of pre-teen who would stay up watching old black-and-white films on CBC late into the night, so of course I paid attention.
I recall that it was part of a whole "Sunday Matinee" format PBS used to run, where a classic film would be matched up with some old serials and cartoons, and somewhere in there was Ebert and Roeper.
Good memories.
I got a lump in my throat reading this and reminiscing right along with you. Thank God for the internet and the knowledge that I can always revisit some of the most classic bickering, along with some of the most insightful views on film ever placed in a commercial format.
I look forward to whatever you have planned for the future.
As one of the many fans who has watched the show from its nascent days on PBS, this news was also sad for us, although obviously not on the same level as what you and Richard must be experiencing. Along with music, film inspires life affirmation in me like no other medium, and I do not exaggerate when I credit you and Gene for helping to make that possible. That's because the two of you taught me each week why the movies were worth caring about, what the difference was between a good and bad movie, and, most of all, the importance of not being afraid to express passion for whatever it is that moves us and makes us feel alive. When this passion that you and Gene possessed caused the two of you to clash on the air, it also taught me that two people could argue civilly, then move on. This was especially important because, during the time that I watched the two of you, my parents had divorced after years of horrible fighting, which caused me afterwards to avoid confrontations and disagreements at all costs. For this and more, a simple "thank you" doesn't seem nearly enough, but it is all that I can offer. Whenever the new project that you and Richard have in the works begins, I will be there, ready to learn more about the films - and life.
Ever since I can remember, there were three shows that my family and I watched on Sundays: Tim Russert, Siskel & Ebert, and The Simpsons. I grew up watching your show and it cultivated my love of movies. Thank you for all the years of entertainment and education on the air. I will miss how Sundays used to be.
Roger,
At this juncture in your career, I just wanted to tell you what your work has meant to me over the years.
I'm a reader, not a watcher. The point is important because I have watched many movies only after reading your columns. Although I don't always agree with the verdicts, your reviews are so sincerely and persuasively written that I feel compelled to investigate. By convincing me to do something I normally wouldn't do, you have made my life richer, and I thank you.
Lori Sizemore
Roger, your journal entries are wonderful and this one particularly poignant. I'm 41 now and have been watching At the Movies since as long as I can remember. As a child, I watched (and read your reviews in the Sun-Times) because most times it was the closest I was ever going to get to seeing a movie. My life still restricts how many movies I'm able to get to (bit now its a matter of having a family vs. not having money) and I still watch the show and read your reviews religiously. Thank you for taking me to the movies when I can't always get there.
I've watched the show since I was a teenager and it was "Sneak Previews." You and Gene introduced me to "Fassbinder, Truffaut, Herzog -- those guys." You made my life a little better and a little happier. Thank you very much.
I've been watching since your PBS days. I'll be reading and watching you in other venues. But this piece was beautifully sad (sadly beautiful). From one Roger to another, best wishes.
One of my favorite S&E moments, albeit a scripted one, came at the very end of one of your anniversary specials, filmed before an audience at Disney-MGM Studios.
(paraphrased)
Ebert: "One question we always get asked is 'Do you two really hate each other?'"
(long pause)
Siskel: "Well, that wraps up this anniversary episode..."
Perhaps your greatest long-running tribute (2 years!) was the fact that the cartoon The Critic was a kind of parody of your format, and that you guys were willing to a) appear in cartoon form on the show and b) sing! That was, in fact, the show's best episode. Especially when you had Jay dress up as Gene.
Thanks for all the years of your program, thanks for your reviews online. My husband and I watched the program every week, looking for movies we might enjoy watching. We're in our early 70's, not a highly-desired demographic. We're the second hump in the curve of movie-goers, we went when we were young, slumped during child-rearing except for kids' movies, then, when we were alone together again, we looked for movies interesting to the mature. We don't enjoy car chases and relentless violence. We do like insightful movies. We appreciate your reviews of independent movies, of foreign movies. Thanks for the guidance of your reviews, may you keep going for many years to come!
It's a shame the show is being changed.
I, too, believed it would go on forever. There are always new movies, we always want to see people talk about them, therefore it just made sense.
Any news, Roger, about when the new show with the thumbs will arrive?
As I'm only 16, I feel robbed. I've missed out, I think. Roger's my role model. It's my dream to just treat him to lunch. And as sad as I feel about this departure, I'm also hopeful.
I hope one day soon, I can see Roger back in his chair, next to Richard, reviewing movies like old times. Hopefully, they can reach a compromise with a company that will cater to their needs without hesitation. Wishful thinking, yes. But what else can we hope for?
Best of wishes, Mr. Ebert.
I like to believe that I was at a young age when I first started watching your show. I believe I was around 10-12, which may or may not be that young but I can guarantee you I was the only young person in my small town of 700 to watch your show. I still remember when Gene died, and his last few shows as well. I even remember some of the guest host shows!
Anyways, everytime I write on this blog I tend to talk more about myself and less about your article.
First of all, I hope your new show does as well as it deserves to, indeed, it is wholly dissapointing that I should even have to say that. After 33 years of syndication, you have to wonder why anyone would want to mess with it.
I thought I should say it now, even if you may never read it, and even if I sound like a blubbering fool, and even though it has no bearings on this article, you have been one of the true inspirations of my life. I appreciate every review you write, even when I dissagree. I am going to school this fall and as silly as it may sound, your reviews and essays helped me to make my decision. I have decided to pursue my Master's of Fine Arts in Teaching, with a minors in Film Studies and Creative Writing.
Anyways Mr. Ebert, I hope my new direction in life takes me onward and upward, and I hope the same for you and Mr. Roeper!
You told the story in such a beautiful way, I think it touches anyone who reads it.
I felt sad when I read that you were ending the show (for now?). But it's nothing compared to what you feel, you who were the origin of it.
I'll be looking forward to your next project, and seeing you sit again in the balcony. And I hope you'll continue to put the clips online, because for me it's the only way I can watch them (living in europe and all...). Actually, wouldn't it be great if your new program wasn't broadcast on TV but only on the internet? Nowadays people spend much more time watching things on the internet than on the TV screen. I can't even remember the last time I turned on MY television. There are several shows broadcast through the internet, not only podcasts, even by amateurs on YouTube (like the "What the Buck" show).
Anyways, thank you for this wonderful post and all your hard work all these years!
I truly, along with the fine people who comment here, am sorry for the loss of this show, as it is the only show that I religiously watch. It was a sad day to learn of the end of the show for me, and you all shall be missed. Hopefully this new show that you plan to make will flourish to the top. I'm sure with your viewer-ship, it will.
Thank you for the years of great reviews, even if there were disagreements. This was the finest show on TV.
Savvy
Living in Europe, I have never had the chance to watch the show, although I was familiar with some of the parodies from an early age. I distinctly remember seeing an "Animaniacs" sketch in which two critics rated movies "toes up" or "toes down" when I was a child, long before I had any idea who Siskel or Ebert were.
In my early teens, I started to notice references to a "very important American film critic" in books and articles I was reading, and at around the same time I stumbled upon the reviews online - on the Sun-Times website, as rogerebert.com didn't exist yet - and I was hooked. I don't remember exactly at which point I realized that the critic whose every review I read on the website was the same guy who was referred to in all those different sources. But it's interesting that, because I fell in love with the writing before I knew of the author's reputation, I've always felt that the most famous critic in movie history was a personal discovery of mine.
I wish now as I did then that the show had been a part of my life. But I'm happy that I got to see several interviews on "Late Night with Conan O'Brien" and "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno", and to now have the clips that are available online and, most importantly of all, the writing.
I don't mean to sound bleak, but when I found out you would no longer be doing your show, it was as if a long loved one who had been in a coma had passed away. I'm still praying for your full recovery so that we can be enlivened by your voice, once more. Your words in print may forever be online, but I miss and will keep on missing your reassuring tone.
I can't help but quote a line from PATTON...
"For over a thousand years, Roman conquerors returning from the wars enjoyed the honor of a triumph - a tumultuous parade. In the procession came trumpeters and musicians and strange animals from the conquered territories, together with carts laden with treasure and captured armaments. The conqueror rode in a triumphal chariot, the dazed prisoners walking in chains before him. Sometimes his children, robed in white, stood with him in the chariot, or rode the trace horses. A slave stood behind the conqueror, holding a golden crown, and whispering in his ear a warning: that all glory ... is fleeting."
Thanks for sharing this. I was born in 1975 and grew up watching your show. Along with your books, it has meant more to me than you could know. You guys taught me how to think about the movies I was watching.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts and feelings about the show which has been a big part of my life for many years.
I still remember my brother and I were flipping the TV dial back in 1981 when I was eight years old and coming across "Sneak Previews". My brother and I were always interested in the current horror films for which there were a lot of at the time. We hadn't actually seen any of these films, but I think we were fasinated by them because the older kids were flocking to them in droves.
On that show, which I remember aired on Thursday night at 8:30 on PBS, you and Gene reviewed "Halloween II" for which my brother and I cursed the both of you for giving it a negative review while you gave that "boring" film "My Dinner With Andre" a very positive review. After we calmed down, the opening titles of "This Old House" came on at 9:00 and we were sent to bed. Now that I'm older your reviews of these movies make perfect sense.
That nasty review for the beloved film we never even saw didn't stop us from tuning in every Thursday evening. Your show forever changed how I watched films and taught me, at a young age, how to distinguish good films from bad films without being pretentious or condescending. Sometimes a good junk film is still good!
While all of my friends religiously watched sitcoms and action shows, I continued to watch Siskel & Ebert which gave me a good vocabulary and a better understanding not only of the movies, but of the world around me as well.
I'm very sad to see this chapter of the show come to an end but I look forward to the new balcony opening soon!
Ebert: Ah, I think we both liked "Halloween." Gene said after he saw it at a midnight Chicago Film Festival screening, he had to take a taxi home. He lived only two blocks from the theater.
Roger, you are a class act on and off screen. I have missed seeing you on TV but continue to read your website any time I want to check out a new flick. It sucks that you've lost your voice--but thank GOD that you can write so well. It's good to get not just plot highlights and opinion, but also a good laugh or a deep insight into humanity now and then.
I say all that to say. . .best wishes in your new venture, and Long Live the Thumbs!
If I may use one of the worn-out movie cliches from your movie glossary...
[Roger starts walking away.]
Me: Roger.
[Roger turns around.]
Roger: Yeah?
Me: [slight pause] Thanks.
With regards to the wisdom of Disney's decision, time will tell.
It is interesting to examine not only the history of At the Movies, but also its impact on film criticism. There have been allegations over time that television shows in the style of At the Movies have had a deleterious effect on film criticism, which I don't believe is necessarily true. Perhaps they popularized the film review format over in-depth critical analysis, but outside of hardcore film buffs, I can't think of many people who enjoy the latter. And, had the former not been popularized in part by At the Movies, how many of today's film buffs would have never been?
Brief debate segments of just a few minutes each might not be the ideal format for film discussion. But who better to deliver the goods in a less than ideal format than a man with the split-second wit and intelligence of Gene Siskel, or with the encyclopedic film knowledge possessed by Roger Ebert?
God, what a lovely memoir. Thank you. I remember watching you both in the early days, in the late '70s. For a while, there were a couple of folks who said I looked like you. You know, chubby and with horn-rim glasses. I was honored.
I’m often reminded of why we, as a movie-watching audience, go to the movies. I believe it’s to escape reality or the monotony of our humdrum lives. Or it may simply be to get entertained, which regardless of where we come from, where we live or what we presume to believe, being entertained is something all of us share in common.
With that being said, I’m reminded why I loved watching your program every Sunday evening. It gave me, a novice movie buff, the opportunity to see which movies were given your famous “Thumbs Up” approval. I knew that once that happened, it was a movie worth watching, spending money to see and investing time into it.
To me, a film critic’s job is to recommend movies to the masses. You do this wonderful job by discussing plot elements, character buildup, story setup and the possible emotional impact a film may have on a person. I’m here to tell you, I don’t watch a movie blind. By that, I mean, I must either read your online review or see your weekly program before I watch a new film. This has also extended to classic films of yesteryear.
As the program goes into a new direction, I wish it Godspeed. As you continue to recover, I wish you happiness and health. For you, Mr. Ebert, are a national treasure.
Thank you for being a true professional at your craft and enhancing the passion I have for movies.
Respect and Integrity.
Just two of the many qualities that made watching you, Gene, and every version of Sneak Previews through Ebert & Roeper a "must" every week since 1975.
That and the fact you were one of the few people who also loved Joe vs the Volcano. Your opinions were, more often than not, similar to my own. Thanks for being my "validation" for loving movies others don't!
The show will be missed, but I'm glad you're still there for us!
Good luck with the future!
Thanks for the real education in cinema, besides the current reviews. Often referencing older or better versions of a story helped me find wonderful directors and films.
Dear Roger,
Your show was more important than I think will be realized for some time. So to you, and Gene, and Richard, and especially you,
We thank you
We miss you
We love you.
BTW, massive internet backlash against the "new" hosts:
http://www.buzzfeed.com/tag/ben_lyons_backlash
I started watching you guys in elementary school because I liked watching you argue. I'm starting law school in another couple of weeks, so I guess the love of a good argument stayed with me.
This is my first commment here, so I think I'll quickly take this opportunity to say that I've spent a lot of this summer reading parts of I Hated, Hated, Hated This Movie and Your Movie Sucks out loud to my mother, who also thinks they're hilarious. She says she likes your reviews because you do a good and succicent job of stating why a movie was good or not, and you put things that she's thinking into words. I also got The Great Movies and The Great Movies II from the library and worked them into our Netflix list. I really appreciate that you put Victim in there - it's such a good movie and nobody knows about it!
I got in an argument over you with my boyfriend, who liked Death to Smoochy and Team America: World Police (but otherwise is a wonderful person), but he investigated your website and decided he likes you on the whole more than he thought he did. Anyway, just thought I'd let you know that I'm having a very Ebert-filled summer and that I'm honored when my mom says I write sort of like you (though this comment is probably not the best example of it).
I actually saw one of the most recent episodes of the show, just a few weeks ago. I remember thinking, wow, this is really strong! In retrospect, this was probably not the best sign for the show's future.
It is no easy thing to balance between high and popular culture. Yes, this is the nature of cinema, more than any other art. But it's a lot harder to -talk- about challenging culture and still maintain mass attention. It is the dream of everyone who cares about art, in whatever form. I would bet that your and Gene Siskel's accomplishment will not be rivaled anytime soon.
Silver Lining: you are still one of the country's strongest critical voices, and can marshal big names for a new show whenever it gets off the ground. Whatever happened to Elvis Mitchell?
I, too, was born in the early 1970s and the show has been a part of my entire life. Though saddened that this is in a sense the end of an era, it is exciting to think about the future and how your new project will develop. We're all being swept up in a sea of technology-prodded change, and it is inspiring to watch you continue to innovate and adapt.
Keep up the great work! Though I haven't heard you on TV for a while, your voice is crystal clear in my head when reading your reviews and posts.
Thank you for this remembrance and for the hours of education and entertainment.
Thank you for the memories. I no longer live in Chicago but continue to read the Sun-Times (online) and always check "what Ebert had to say" about this movie or that. Now, I would still sometimes go see a movie if I desired, but I would have to pause after your review. You and Siskel were (are) nationally revered and feared. We love you and treasure you, still.
I will miss your show very much although I still have not forgiven you or Gene for recommending "My Dinner with Andre". What a snorefest. Anyhow I shall have to be content with reading your reviews as I have great respect for your opinions.
Two episodes on Sneak Previews that I will always remember (perhaps imperfectly):
1. You once gave a favorable review to a movie Gene hated. He thought the only reason you liked the movie was because you were smitten with one of the actresses. He said you should should ask her out on a date, but make your review tougher.
2. Gene thought the second half of Apocalypse Now didn't hold up. You went through your review of it, and it was clear you'd changed his mind right in front of us. "That's a good defense of the second half of the movie," he mumbled, maybe the closest he ever came to saying he was wrong.
Thanks for a wonderfully written post.
It may be a sad day that the show as we know it will no longer exist, but in just a few short months Roger Ebert's Journal has become the best blog on the Internet. How great is this?!! We can actually have conversations with the man we have admired on TV for years. I know that the show has become an icon, but this journal is probably the best thing I have found on the net since IMDb. Thank you Roger.
That was beautiful. As long as you have the desire and the intent, Roger, that balcony will never be closed on you and Gene. Not as long as you care to share your opinion with us all. Thank you so much for sharing this.
I'm a 16-year old suburban kid who hasn't missed an episode of your show since maybe two years ago, when I officially became in love with movies and movie criticism. My friends have sometimes made fun of me because I look deeper into movies than they do.
One of my friends said recently when I was trashing a movie, "But it's entertaining, and that's all that matters."
I said, "Aaron, if you think 'Deuce Bigalow 2' is entertainment, then leave my house. Now." We have arguments like this all the time, but they are friendly arguments.
Your show has inspired me in so many ways, although I can't claim to be a true long-time fan since I wasn't part of the whole Siskel phase. I have watched hundreds of reviews online of you two, and I think he and I may be the sole two people in the world that enjoyed "The Cable Guy."
I read your reviews all the time and, unlike most teens my age, I'll watch anything that garnered good reviews.
I wish the best of luck to you and your wife. Long live good movies.
God bless.
I cannot say how much I am going to miss your show. I am originally from Illinois, but moved to Florida (what a stupid move). When we first arrived here we did not know a soul, but on Sunday nights was your show. It was like knowing someone that you could count on. A friend in a strange place. I know everyone else has said this but I do believe Disney is making a terrible mistake.
I loved your show and will really miss it. Thank you for all those wonderful years and memories.
You have no idea how sad I am that the show is over. I've been watching "Ebert & Roeper" since I was 13 years old. You and Richard broke my heart, Roger.
(The show was always "Ebert & Roeper" to me since I only became aware it existed in about 2002. Allthough I was a reader of yours since before then.)
I was always holding out hope that you'd be able to come back to the show. I was always waiting for you to come back, even after the permament guest host was picked (it was funny to think that it was now Michael Phillip's show).
How sad that never came to pass.
LMAO!!! ROFLMAO!!! Those are the most hilarious and simultaneously touching videos on Youtube I've ever seen... Oh, darn I wish I developed commutable intelligence sooner in the 90s so I could've started watching the Siskel and Ebert show earlier - wow... I don't think anything has brought so much tears and laughter to my eyes generated from a digital screen since last weekend when I went see Chris Nolan's The Dark Knight... *sigh* so much for my dream of seeing my movies reviewed by Roger in on the show someday... oh well, there's always Roeper...
This is so sad, but I suppose it was inevitable. At least your absence from television has allowed your many fans to rediscover you as one of the finest non-fiction writers of our era. Please, don't ever stop.
You should also know that you have inspired movie-goers and budding film critics alike. The balcony may be closed, but even in small town Ontario the thumbs live on in a little monthly movie review column I started with another writer in our local paper. The pay sucks and we're limited to only a few column inches a month (yeah, you try composing an insightful critique in 170 words or less), but people love it, and hell - you can't beat being paid to watch movies and then write about them.
(and BTW, I made it clear from the very beginning: I'm Ebert - he's Roeper.)
I'm sure I'm not the only writer who has been inspired by your work both on and off the screen. We'll miss you on television, but we've been missing you there for a while. Your words are enough. Hope to see you at TIFF!
I first came across your show when I was eight years old. The only movie reviewed that I had heard of at that age was Dark Crystal. I don't recall if you and Mr. Siskel gave it the infamous thumbs down but I do know I was captivated. The two of you absolutely changed my life that day and helped shape and create what is my passion for movies. It took some searching to find the show over the years (my favorite: It aired at 10:30 p.m. on Sunday nights in my teen years and I loved wrapping up my weekend with the two of you.) I tried to catch all of your appearances on Carson/Leno, Letterman and Costas-the chemistry was amazing (my favorite story; I believe the two of you were of Letterman and Mr. Siskel explained that at the end of the show, after "the balcony is closed", he turned to you and said, "And blah and blah and blah" to give the appearance your conversation was continuing. Hilarious.) I felt such a large loss when Mr. Siskel passed and again when you stopped appearing on the show; it is amplified even more today.
I loved the show when it was briefly shown on the BBC in the late 80's/early 90's and was disappointed when it ended here. One of the great pleasures of the internet was being able to discover your writings and latterly your shows. I hope that you can continue do something you love and share it with us. It's not just in the USA that the show will be missed.
Roger,
Thank you for helping me enjoy the movies more than I ever thought I would. You've been missed on TV, and now the show you created will be missed. I am looking forward to watching the new show.
Thank you!
You and Gene changed the way I view movies. I now look for things that I never really thought about and it has made movie watching vastly more enjoyable.
I hated the way you criticized movies I liked and then I hated the fact that you were right all along. You will be sorely missed and I agree with many who say that the balcony is never truly closed; we're just waiting for the next great review.
Mr Ebert,
You have no idea the influence and the ways in which you and Mr. Siskel changed the way I see movies. Furthermore, I in turn have changed the way my friends see movies. I re-read your reviews whenever I'm in between books and looking for something good to read. I wish I could be as eloquent and verbose as others on this blog but I just want to say a simple thank you.
Hat's off to you Mr. Ebert. It's refreshing to read commentary from someone who is willing to share potentially embarassing videos.
I wonder, right now, exactly the percentage of my generally-hovers-at-90-to-100-items Netflix qeue arrived on that line thanks to reviews from you. It's a pretty fair chunk, I know that. And even those items not inspired by your reviews generally send me TO your review after viewing.
Movies interest me for themselves ... and I read your reviews for your writing, not because I tend to find myself in agreement. But there is a connection. There is always a connection. There is almost always a circle-back, too, to read you again. Some of your reviews? Again and again.
"It is an additional irony that humans have learned little from the insects, and the butterflies turn into the worms." --R. Ebert
Roger,
Your essay brought tears to my eyes. I remember when Gene died, I saw you at the Lyric Opera and I didn't want to intrude but just went up to you and told you I was sorry about Gene. You were very gracious.
I met you at a happier time at a book signing and you signed my laser disc copy of Valley of The Dolls.
Thank you for sharing your feelings today.
It was only recently that I found out that the old shows were available to view online, so for the last two weeks I've been having a great time watching them! One of the things I felt watching those shows again was a deep sense of gratitude. I am very lucky to have had you and Gene as my teachers.
(On a side note, I had such a good laugh yesterday at this Pearls Before Swine comic. It made me think of Gene.)
I've mentionned before how much I will miss the show. Your have been around so long that it feels like things will not be the same. Not since I heard that Gene had died did I get such a surprise that things were to be changed. I hope to still here from you and Richard. You have such an extensive knowledge of and such a great love of films that it is fantastic to listen to or read your reviews.
I enjoyed reading about how you and Gene started. Thank you for introducing me to Scorsese,Fassbinder, Herzog,and many other filmmakers that I might have passed by seeing in my youth. I love your books and especially look forward to buying the one on one of my favourite directors, Scorsese, in the fall.
Hope you and yours keep well.
All the best for the future.
Good Health
I can remember when you guys reviewed Star Wars. You guys were iconic in my childhood Chicago world. Things that you guys said would work their way into conversations with friends. The format would be lampooned a hundred different ways into various everyday situations. The way you guys did that show spun into 1000 other things that you never dreamed of, or maybe you did. Good luck man!
There is this guy on You Tube named Larry who goes by the username, Firstmagnitude. He posted his collection of At the Movies shows from 1983 to 1986 (with one exception being from 1982). It was very nice of him and I enjoyed seeing those shows again after two decades. However, it does not compare to how great it was to have seen the show as a kid.
I remember when my dad started watching Sneak Previews when I was around 5 or 6 years of age. That was about 1980 or 1981. Watching the show every week became a tradition and we did not miss an episode until after Gene's death. It is the best memory I have of my childhood.
It was a great idea to have A.O. Scott and Michael Phillips on the show. I think the show would be terrific if it was hosted by Scott and Phillips, and I doubt I am the only person who has thought of this. A show called At the Movies With A.O. Scott and Michael Phillips is something I would watch.
I miss you a great deal Roger, but it is wonderful to see that you continue to write.
Disney's stock just took a terrible hit as far as I'm concerned.
I'm praying for your full recovery, and looking forward to seeing you and your equally classy partner in another venue, sometime in the near future.
After a month long vacation, sans newspaper and tv, I returned to your blog to the sad news that "The Balcony is Closed". I've been a fan since almost the very beginning...tracking the show down as I moved around the various TV markets on the west coast...finally settling down in Western Washington and forcing myself to stay awake from 11:30pm - midnight every Sunday just to hear the wisdom from the balcony. My own tribute to you is found in my silly reviews in a blogging category I call, "I'm No Ebert". I hope to see your influence in the next incarnation. Take care and thank you!
What great memories and comments! My first memories of Siskel and Ebert would also watching you on PBS in the early 80s here in Canada. My Dad was a big fan and since he always was in control of the remote, I had no choice but to watch the show,but it wasn't long before I was hooked and this became our weekly show to watch together. The episode that sticks in my mind is your review of Raiders of the Lost Ark and just after you showed the clip with the rolling boulder, you said something like "Wow! and that was just in the first opening sequence!" Your (and Gene's) enthusiam for the movies was contagious and I couldn't wait to run out and watch the newest releases. I can't think of many shows that cause me to talk back to the TV set either with a hearty agreement or "you have got to be kidding Roger/Gene!". My 16 year old son has become a big fan of Ebert and Roeper and is crushed it is coming to an end (but hopefully not for long). Roger, I have followed your illness and have continued to believe that you (and the thumbs up) will return some day. God bless, and best wishes for your future endeavors.
Roger, you're a testament to true friendship. I miss him too. Heck, I miss you both. Can't wait to see what new things your cookin' up for us, your fans.
I started watching the show as a teenager, back in 1985, in our over-the-border local TV channels. Siskel and Ebert's opinions had a great deal to do in my defining my love for films. As these Southern California TV stations were not that consistent in keeping the syndicated show, I would have to keep fishing for it, even through different channels... My friends and cousins didn't watch the show, but knew I did and every time I expressed an opinion on a movie, they suspected I was quoting. Sometimes I was, many times I wasn't. My taste and my ability to analize was slowly taking shape. I even tried, at one time, to court a girl I liked, by inviting her to be my co-host in what I felt could be our local version of Siskel and Ebert (didn't work and neither did the idea for the show, though I was happy to learn that she also liked your show...). One particularly proud moment is when, after watching one of your specials on the industry where you and Gene discussed MPAA ratings and letterboxing, among other things, I explained my friends of the evils of pan-and-scan. One of my friends had this laser disc player, so we rented Amadeus on VHS and put two TVs together, one playing the "full format" tape and the other playing the letterboxed laser disc. My friends' eyes were wide open (and opened).
When Gene passed away, I thought the show would stop, and I would only have the option of reading your reviews online. I was happy to see you carried on, with guest hosts, but I must say I wasn't that thrilled on your choice of Roeper. For some reason Roeper's way of expressing his opinions didn't stuck with me. Still, I would watch whenever I caught the show. What has really done it for me all these years, actually, is keeping up with you through your online reviews and later through your site.
I still haven't gotten around to watch the library of shows online, but I keep convincing myself I will. And I know just how: I'll arrange my queue on "that internet movie rental service" to loosely follow some of the discussions, to enjoy them even more. It has worked for me before, making it possible to have my own south of the border overlooked film festival (while I get to the real one in Chicago).
Thank you so much, Roger, for your opinions, your writing and for sharing your experiences. I'll keep reading. And watching.
-Joel Meza
Mexicali, Mexico
I've always been obsessed with film. It's been something of an escape, an emotional catharsis, and a deep passion all rolled into one, for as long as I can remember. But for years I was unable to articulate why films filled me with such emotion and why certain films worked so powerfully for me. I knew that I loved them and I knew that they exhilarated me and restored my sense of hope whenever life got too overbearing. But I could never explain why. And so for a long time, films remained a hazy emotional enigma of profound power.
Siskel & Ebert was the first time, I had ever seen films analyzed in an intellectual way. It was the first time, two intellectuals put those powerful emotions I felt during films, into words. They explained how films worked and why. They articulated the exact things I felt and thought while watching a movie and they did it intelligently, beautifully and in an entertaining style. I was stunned. I felt like I'd discovered some profound secret. Roger Ebert's written reviews in particular, taught me how to analyze film, critique film and look at it as an academic study. I was a young teenager obsessed with film and this was the man that could explain all of its secrets and for years I admired Roger Ebert. My admiration grew with every review and over the years, I've come to idolize the man. I treated each of his reviews as a document of infinite wisdom and in many of them he would include personal anecdotes about his childhood or his memories, about lessons he'd learned or moral conclusions he'd reached. Loyal readers I think, come to realize that while trying to write about the movies, he writes about life. Sometimes heroes from youth fade as you get older, but Ebert remains a hero and a giant to me not only because of his brilliance and insight, which is obvious, but because of his humanity and his kindness. What lacks in the writing of many critics and what fills the pages of Ebert's prose is heart. An enormous heart and wisdom; and an extreme passion for film. It's comforting, when looking to read about films, to be able to turn to someone I can be sure loves film more then myself, which is rare. But it is exhilarating to walk away from a movie review with a life lesson. To walk away from a review a little bit wiser and a little bit more inspired to be a good human being. To read a last sentence of a review and sigh because the endings knocks you back with its profound meaning.
Ebert along with his show and his writings did something even greater for me though. As I looked up to Ebert over the years, I also aspired to many of the qualities which make him great and the one I would most often see him preach, when I read his reviews (during my high school years), was the importance of education. Here was a role model who was academically brilliant and as a result, school work and academia became a lot more important to me. Why? Because Ebert said it was important. I suppose he inspired me to study twice as hard. And I ended up getting into a great college. I of course, after looking up to Ebert for so long, wanted to pursue a career as a film critic. And when I finally met Ebert it was on the Ebert and Roeper Film Festival at Sea. I asked him, "what I could do that could make me a better film critic." He said, "Major in English. You have to be able to read books with an analytical eye and you have to be able to write very well. You must be able to express yourself at all times using words."
So I majored in English, against the counsel of school advisors, who told me to major in film. I majored in English because Ebert advised me to do so. Each year, I would return to the Ebert & Roeper Film Festival at Sea and Ebert was always gracious and kind. He always remembered me. And he would always ask me how I was doing in school. This of course, inspired me to work harder every year. My college GPA became high enough that come graduation time, I was graduating with honors. Another achievement that stems from inspiration I received from Ebert. In September, I will be starting my first year of law school, a height I certainly would not have reached had I not looked up to a role model that encouraged higher education. How many other film critics would regularly write in their reviews, "When kids ask me how to prepare for their futures, I tell them, 'get as much education as you can. You never know for sure where you will end up, so the more you prepare for the future, the better off you'll be when it comes.'"
The day will eventually come when I embark on the world with a higher education and if I emerge into an intelligent man or do something meaningful with my life, it will be because Roger Ebert was my childhood hero. He was my hero through my teenage years. And he'll be my hero through my adult years. And as for my education, I was only persistent enough to go after it because I had him as a role model.
The television show Siskel & Ebert introduced me to Ebert and brought me to his reviews. I've watched the show all my life. It's been my favorite show for as long as I've been interested in movies, which for me, goes as far back as my memory takes me. To hear the possibility that it will go off the air is an enormous loss for me because I have loved this show so much for so long. But, according to this blog and many other AP stories I have read, it will not end, but continue at another station. And I can only hope this format continues in some form or another on television for as long as television exists.
The last time I saw Ebert was at the last Ebert and Roeper Film Festival at Sea, which had to be over three years ago. I had been taking a class in journalism and the professor gave us an assignment to interview some figure that had influenced our lives and our writing. On the cruise, I asked Ebert if I could interview him as he had influenced me enormously. He smiled and said, "You bet. Meet me on the lido deck at 2:30." I remember the year before, I had asked one of his producers if I could interview him for my school paper. She said she would try to get ten minutes for me, as he was very busy. That interview never happened. This time, I had gotten an agreement directly from Ebert, so I was sure I'd get my fifteen minutes with him. I sat down with him, sifting through my notebook, nervously fidgeting with my recorder and with a shaky voice looked at my questions then looked up and said, "This might take longer then fifteen minutes." Ebert smiled and said, "Why don't we begin and we'll take it from there."
He sat with me for an hour and a half. Until I ran out of questions both in my notebook and off the top of my head. Until the recorder ran out of tape and I had to take notes by hand. Then he turned the tables and started asking me questions about my life. Because he's the kind of fine human being that loves people and loves learning about them. And I left that interview on a cloud. If somebody had asked me before that moment, the very standard question: "If you could meet, sit and talk with anybody dead or alive, who would it be?" I would be able to say I just had coffee with him.
Looking back on the interview, one of the questions I asked him was, "How much longer will Ebert & Roeper go on?" And he responded, "I think Ebert & Roeper is going to go on, until it goes off."
The day that happens will be a sad day, and I eagerly await the day the show begins on a new channel; with its thumbs restored in all their glory. As for Ebert, he's still a hero to me. He's an inspiration to me. And If I could meet, sit and talk with anybody in the world, dead or alive it would still be Ebert.
Roger thanks for the memories. I am a 65 year African American Woman living in Madison,WI. I started looking at you and Gene over 30 years ago. Although, I must say in the last few years I haven't watched, but my husband Marvin is a faithful viewer. The folks in Madison will miss you. Enjoy you life and be blessed.
p.s. I always agreed with you and not Gene.
It saddens me that Roger Ebert is leaving the show he and Gene Siskel began. The format was unique, the entertainment level was top notch and the show was informative. I believe the choice of Richard Roeper to replace the dearly departed Gene Siskel was outstanding. I have moved from Chicago to Memphis,TN but I still find ways to keep up with Roger Ebert's movie reviews. Roger Ebert is the movie critic closest to my personal taste and I will always value his critique of any film. Prayerfully, Roger and Richard will begin a new show on perhaps a cable station. If so, I'm confident they will embarrass the persons chosen to replace them on the show they and Gene Siskel built.
Roger, I've always loved your reviews for one reason - it's obvious you have a genuine love for cinema. Hell, you'd given thumbs up to movies I thought were terrible - just because you could find something in it that you truly enjoyed. It's that love that always made watching and reading your reviews feel more like a conversation between you and the audience. Your new blog? Bookmarked! Looking forward to continuing the conversation...
Dear Mr. Ebert;
Thank you so much for all your great insight and passion over the years.
God knows I've watched your show and read your collumn since I was in grade school, and though I'm not from your generation per say, your unique breakthrough styles and peculiar insights have etched themselves into my memory for some time now. As a result, you've inspired me to think a little harder, observe with a little more zest and moved me to love the world of storytelling.
As I continue on my personal path, I know I'll remember and recall your many great comments, insights and humor.
Underneath it all, despite your obvious guise as simply a movie knowledge guru, I'm positive that you're a loving, knowledgable person aching for discovery and willing to share and learn. And though we've never met, I think I can say that much.
Continue doing what you love to do and thanks again for sharing with all of us around the world. We know that you truly love the movies, and thats the best that anyone could have expected.
Please know that you get a huge thumbs up from me.
Roger -
What a wonderful piece. I have been a fan since the mid 1980's; watching on channel 11 from my parents home on the south side. You left me misty eyed today - hard to do; but done none the less. All the best to you. Take care.
Marty
It's still "Siskel & Ebert" to me, even though neither of you has been on there, and I still catch it when I can. Thanks, and keep on writin'.
Mr. Ebert,
I was very sad to learn that you would not be returning to "At the Movies." I am also 33, and I can't remember a time in my life when I couldn't find your show on Sunday night.
I remember telling a friend just recently that I always watch your show because (while I don't always agree with you) I respect you and Mr. Roeper's (and previously Mr. Siskel's) opinion whenever there is a movie that I am "on the fence" as to whether I think I will like it.
Also, you mentioned the parody of you and Mr. Siskel in Mad Magazine. I have to mention my favorite homage to you and Mr. Siskel, which was the episode of "The Critic" where you and Mr. Siskel briefly split up. It's still one of my all-time favorite TV moments.
Finally, as a unabashed "liberal," I have appreciated the way that you are not afraid to discuss your political leanings and how it affects your perspective of certain movies. At the same time, I never thought you were shoving your beliefs down anybody's throats and you even acknowledged and often praised those who might express a differing viewpoint in their films, so long as it was presented in an entertaining and insightful manner. I know we'll see you and Mr. Roeper on TV again (hopefully soon), but I want to use this opportunity to thank you for your dedication to the film medium.
Simply put...you guys were the reason I started watching more and more and more movies! It will never be the same again! I will always be partial to the original team!I love you Roger and your charismatic, beautiful wife too!
Wow, this sucks, Roger. Although I've disagreed with you on a few reviews - nobody agrees with somebody 100 percent, all the time - you're still, undoubtedly, in my opinion, the best movie critic to walk the Earth. Your show was a real blast and I'd been watching it ever since I was a little kid. I was always eager to hear what you and Gene had to say about upcoming movies and always loved it when you two would disagree. Anyhow, the show just won't be the same without you. But maybe I'll still watch.
Thanks Roger. It's been a pleasure. You and Gene were the best. Probably the only honest thing about TV. Don't ever stop. Wishing you many healthy years ahead.
I'm only nineteen, so I may not have a large capacity for nostalgia; still, I cannot help but miss this television show. Fortunately for me, Youtube seems to have just about every episode of everything ever aired on television, and I look forward to catching up on years of your wonderful wit and criticism. Thank you for providing viewers like me with intelligent entertainment.
As a 49 year old, I have literally watched your shows my entire adult life; from the PBS days onward. Thank you for all those years and all those movies.
Wishing you much health and happiness for many years to come.
Great stories Roger, thanks. I met Gene only once, at an opening night party for the OTB at State and Lake. I introduced myself, told him my favorite movie was "Lair of the White Worm" starring Amanda Donohue (she was very sexy in that movie!). He looks at me and says, "YOU are a very sick man." A cool guy. Thanks for the memories.
I read a comment like this in your review for STEP BROTHERS:
"Sometimes I think I am living in a nightmare. All about me, standards are collapsing, manners are evaporating, people show no respect for themselves. I am not a moralistic nut. I'm proud of the X-rated movie I once wrote. I like vulgarity if it's funny or serves a purpose. But what is going on here?"
... and I can only sympathize. What has happened to our culture, to our world? Who allowed the knuckleheads to steal it from us and molest it and disparage it until it devolved into a swamp of double-vanilla? I grew up in a culture where the idea of two average-looking guys with very smart and informed opinions about movies COULD in fact exist on TV. Could, in fact, become culty national treasures.
And now, the whole thing is washed away, replaced by dim-witted hackery... but you know what: Lyons and Mankiewicz may be just the guys this culture deserves as its most recognizable film critics (if the show takes off with them, which i doubt it will)... I actually tried to plead the case of Michael Mann's MIAMI VICE w/ Lyons once back at E!, and all he could say was that he thought it was gonna be a campy spoof, and why wasn't it that, and also that it was one of the worst movies he'd ever seen. Sigh. The girl who was with me, however, thought he was cute.
We're never taught this in school, the idea that all that is good and true can be hacked at and dismissed and eventually forced to concede the field to blandness, stupidity, absence of passion and degeneration of mind. If a culture like ours can have a shining hour (the 70s, for instance), it must also be possible for a culture to fall into disrepair: bedazzled children driving the bus, bloated "product" choking the tv screens and the theaters... and soul-to-soul communication, from the artist to the viewer (a sacred communication between strangers, the best kind of "soul talk" there can be) a thing of the past, a thing of derision.
The question is: can the culture come back? or be reborn into something equally true but modern? or is America doomed to live its dwindling days as a country of young buffoons, coddled suspended-adolescents, video-game philosophers?
I mean, I would say 99.99% of the people in the country would rather eat a memo pad than watch Bergman's WINTER LIGHT. And yet, with a country as soul-sick as this, that same 99% would be greatly benefited by a little Bergman. And yet they have no idea what that is, how that could be, what it could possibly mean to allow a stranger (the artist) to influence your life the way a therapist would, to speak to you on a level deeper than a lap full of popcorn, beyond mere escapsim... that entire option, of expanding one's horizons by experiencing the POV of DIFFERENT humans with sometimes smarter, better ideas... well, the 99% percent have never heard of that, and their lives will suffer in shadows for it and they'll never know why, because they sell cars and sex so hard to us that all we can do is
cower like monkeys.
This has little to do with my sadness over the final nail in the SISKEL & EBERT coffin... but then again, it has everything to do with it. Because once there was a time, in my relatively short life-span, where I could watch two smart guys talk passionately on TV about a movie about two guys talking passionately (MY DINNER WITH ANDRE)...
Do we ever really know when we're living in a golden age? or is that connotation only added in sad retrospect, as we wander the wasteland?
Thank you so much for changing the face(s) of film criticism forever. Your show remains to be a treasure. I'm sure Gene is somewhere quite happy with how you have more than lived up to the legacy, and the world is a poorer place for having lost a truly special bit of television programming. May you live a long, happy life yourself and continue to use your wit, precision, insight, and snark to keep film criticism alive as an art form unto itself. God Bless.
I was writing on my blog about the show going off the air but revised it after reading your blog entry. What a marvelous critic you are to so many. It's a cliche, yes, but your voice is not silenced -- your writing still breathes with vitality, and the future of film criticism isn't over for any of us.
It was particularly touching to read your comments on Mr. Siskel. I can remember those days in 1998 and 1999 when he appeared visibly sick on screen, but still valiantly delivered biting, generous film criticism. I hate to "advertise" but feel free to read my own memories of the show via the hyperlink I provided.
Thank you Roger (and Gene) for enlightening me that there was more to movies than just a Friday night's entertainment. The seed you planted all those years ago continues to enrich my life even today.
Mr. Ebert, I'm so sad to see the baton being passed. You and Mr. Siskel were the only people I ever trusted when it came to movie reviews. I didn't always agree with you, but I trusted your judgement--still do. Your reviews are like reading great literature.
We will miss you. I hope your health continues to improve.
I don't think I ever paid to see a movie that didn't get at least one thumbs-up.
As a Chicago native I've loved every minute of everyone of your shows.
Now, living in Arizona, I still follow through WGN and the Chicago newspapers.
Siskel & Ebert............the best ever!!!!!
Roger,
I hope you get a chance to read this. I can remember watching you on the local PBS station late Saturday afternoons. I never knew your actual schedule, (I was only 7) but was happy when I got to watch you. At the time I was just crazy about movies, (and still am). I also watched your clones but it didnt take long to see they were shilling for movie companies.
I gained major respect for you after seeing an interview where you explained how you never went on press junkets, and refused to let any studio pay for your travel, or any other expenses. Thats when I realized you were the reel deal (bad pun, I know).
I read your site now, and have gone through almost all of your reviews. I hope you continue to write and I look forward to hearing more from you.
Thanks for all the good advice.
A Fan.
Thank you so much for bringing your opinions to us for so many years. I loved your show with Mr. Siskel and got so much from the differing viewpoints each of you would offer. I was very resistant to Mr. Roeper at first, but eventually, I grew to accept him as well. I was also saddened by your absence, but glad that you remained active behind the scenes. You have set the standard for all movie critics. No other critics have come close to the educated, and insightful reviews you've offered through the years. Please do find some way to continue. I think I will not be willing to go to the movies without prior knowledge of a "thumbs up or down" from the opinions I respect the most.
Roger,
Thank you for your article, your show and the memories. I first came across "Sneak Previews," as it was called then, in 1979. One of the films reviewed that week was "Alien." I lived in NJ, but the NYC PBS station didn't carry your show at the time, so I had to watch a Long Island broadcast that came in snowy (these were the days before cable TV was everywhere.) Your show was a exactly what a young film fanatic like me was looking for! I enjoyed the "Dog of the week" segment. And more than anything, I loved your special shows. I believe you I remember one on guilty pleasures. And I particularly loved the shows on movies that fell between the cracks. That was where I was first introduced to "Aguirre," "Night Moves" and many others. Your show will be missed!
I've watched your show religiously since I was a kid. In one market I lived in, the show came on (inexplicably!) at 2 a.m. so I would tape it and watched it the next morning over breakfast. The two shows I never miss are yours and "Meet the Press." With Tim Russert's passing and your show soon to be gone, the world is a little less perfect.
Although I don't generally watch a lot of DVD "extras," one that I love is when they include your show's review of the movie. I watch the review you and Siskel did of Pulp Fiction almost every time I watch that movie!
I can't wait to hear about when and where the balcony will be "open" under a new format...
Be well!
I remember as a kid (1980) walking into the WTTW studios and walking in this huge warehouse like structure and seeing the sets. The one that stood out was Sneak Previews, because the bleacher like movie theatre seats were all flat and at the moment I realized it was NOT filmed in a movie theatre! I'll never forget that feeling.
Roger... Thank you.
I could always count on a good debate, and comments that I knew were honest and not bought. I agree with all the earlier sentiments that you've made a huge impression on all of us, and that the balcony will be missed.
Roger,
You and Gene were the ones that made movie critics believable. You never made me feel you were talking down to me in your reviews, and I always felt I was sitting "in the balcony" with the two of you, waiting for my turn to tell you what I thought of a particular movie. Thanks for all your great insight. Remember one thing: This is my happening and it freaks me out!!
Great video clips. Carson knew it, and so do you--If you make the crew laugh, you're halfway home.
Disney's got more money than god. They can afford a foolish mistake like this one. I don't wish the Ben&Ben show any harm, but I've seen Roger Ebert, and these guys are no Roger Ebert. Even if it succeeds it's hard to imagine what sort of critical territory these guys will stake out for themselves. Disney's never going to let them go European, for god's sake, so that lets them have a critical standing that goes back to....uh, Kael (they should live so long) and...oh yeah, Siskel and Ebert and Roeper.
Roeper, by the way, did a bang-up job. I think he could have been a reliever for either Gene or you, Roger, at any point, and the show would have been as good. And it's a good show.
Since you're off to produce some version of reviews for some medium, please check our Carina Chocano from the LA Times. I think she's out on maternity--or else Zell has fired her along with half the rest of the Times staff (most deservedly, her not so much). She writes very well. I don't know what she looks like, but (re: above video clips) that bar is not set too high.
Roger, have you ever read that late Thurber stuff, after his eyesight was failing and he devoted himself to reviews of radio serials? It's the most cutting, angry stuff imaginable, and man is it fun to read. So I say, as you head off into another project, man the torpedoes! Let Rex Reed be your guide to catty, nasty prose and cut 'em off at the knees! Christ, Roger, do something web-based and never turn the camera off. I'd watch stuff like those out-takes far more often than what leaks out of my TV.
Hi Roger,
Thank you for your eloquent essay and for sharing your vision, humor, honesty and clear eyed movie criticism for these many years.
I remember when Thea Flaum called Don Burhmeister's office where I was working, to ask us what movies were opening up in the next weeks. Was that really 33 years ago?
You and Gene were such a team, a sibling rivalry gone to the TV screen, with all the good, bad and well, all that really matters with true brothers.
Get well soon. Keep writing and reviewing as only you can do.
Bless you.
Mary
My husband and I taped all of your show in the 90's. They were our favorite part of the TV week. Though I may often disagree with your perspective, you have always been my critic of choice, one who will inform me well and do so integelligently and with enthusiasm.
Two sad times for us: when Gene died and when you (Roger) were ill and away. We look forward to your new show - you are welcome to email me when the information is available.
My husband recognized you at a food court in a Hawaii mall in 1997 (I believe). I went over and introduced myself to you, and we exchanged a few words. It was a special moment for me, one I will remember :o)
Sending warm wishes for a long and joy-filled life!!
P.S. I say "yes" to all the kind and wise words above. You are that and then some
Roger,
Thank you for moving on! No matter what...I want to see YOUR show, with whomever you recommend (because Scott, Phillips and Roeper) I thought were best to carry on the show as well..I want to see a production that YOU are a part of. Without Siskel, I could bear it but only barely...without Siskel and You...I don't even care and a void in my life it would be.
I only wish TIVO was around back in the days. I'd have every frickass between you two taped and archived. I wish you well can't imagine what your time away from the show does to you..what I do know, is that you're important to the industry. As a film buff, you've won my TRUST. So keep it up. We will wait patiently for whatever you can produce.
Mike-Bay Area Cali
Roger:
Thanks so much for the hundreds and hundreds of movies I've searched out over the years that I would never have even heard of if it wasn't for your show. I have always admired your eloquence and your passion for the movies. The show has always been the small oasis of sane, intellectual commentary in a desert of overblown pandering and hype that passes for movie reviewing elsewhere.
One of my biggest thrills ever was back in 1997 when after a book signing at the Harvard Coop in Cambridge you were nice enough to take a group of us from the old CompuServe forum out to lunch with you. I was enraptured by the stories you told and will always remember and treasure that hour and a half of my life.
Best wishes for your continued recovery and I hope we someday get to see you back on the air again.
Just for the record, Roger, you totally owned Gene Siskel in those clips. One hilarious one-up after another...he was scrambling to keep up. But of course, you probably already knew that.
Your show and reviews were/are the only reviews that I trust. The reviewers don't always agree but at least it is straight talk without a lot of artsy insider comments, over the top comments e.g. "you'll fall off your chair laughing", or commercial tie ins.
Best of luck in your new format and good health
Mr. Ebert
Greetings from La Isla del Encanto, Puerto Rico. I'm 44 years old and since I was a kid I'm not just a particular moviegoer; I am a movie lover. My profession is in Drama for the public school system 19 years ago. Here on the island I watch your program on PBS broadcast TV for the last 20 years. Each week I was thrilled to experience every program. I hope that someday you would be back soon, because your are not just simply a film critic; you are the best trustworthing friend. Your health condition as well as the departure of Gene Siskel was a real shock to me. But since then your been my teacher, learning about the world of filmaking. Thank you for those wonderful memories.
P.S.
I still read your reviews at your web site.
God bless you
Felix
Of all the programs and people I've ever watched on TV the only person that I've ever genuinely missed is Gene Siskel. As evidenced by watching to two clips, he was a great guy to be around.
The same goes for Roger although, thank goodness, he's still sharing his reviews with us. I like Richard Roeper and read him regularly as well as watch the show. But no one will ever replace Siskel and Ebert - nobody.
Roger, like everyone else here, I'm sad to see Ebert and Roeper At The Movies come to an end. I've watched you since the Sneak Preview days and there's nothing more fun than watching a couple of guys talk about movies the same way my wife and I might talk about them. The dialog between you and Gene and Richard was always accessible, never too academic.
But I also wanted to thank you for not being "above" talking to your audience. In the "early days of the consumer driven Internet", I was a member of Compuserve and you had an email address there that folks could write to. I wrote you one or two notes at the time, and I was thrilled that you actually responded.
I wish you the best with your new project and I for one want to see YOU back in the balcony, even if you have to use a "Stephen Hawking" like voice synthesizer. It's time for you to get back on the air!
Roger,
I, too, was depressed when I realized that you had left the show. For over 30 years, you have been the movie critic that I have trusted. Whether I agreed with you are not, I could tell by your review as to whether I would enjoy a movie. My background and college (U of Ill in Urbana) were similar and, over the years, my taste in movies became similar. I purchased your "Great Movies" Book and even gave it as a gift to my college-bound son who is about to major in Film Studies. Every Friday, I check your on-line movie reviews. You once wrote about how to 'choose' a film critic--learning to understand and appreciate their tastes in movies. I believe I completely understand your tastes, love your writing, and will truly miss your presence in the TV show. You cannot imagine how important you have been to, not just my movie going, but my life. So many important events have occurred around the movies I saw. I went to them and appreciated them because of you and your insights.
I will always be grateful. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. I shall miss you on the TV show but hope that we will all have the blessing of your movie reviews for many more years to come.
Bob
FIN.
Ooops! Wrong title card.
INTERMISSSION.
Hi
I used to watch your show as it was transmitted for a series or so on the BBC in the early nineties and I watched almost every episode they showed. anyway i remembered your stuff and looked your reviews up on the net many years later and i still enjoy reading your reviews and commentary. Too bad like everything else at the moment the media is being given over to mindless indentikit stage school teens whos daddy owns a tv station or something instead of people who actually genuinely love film and have something constructive and intelligent to say!
all the best from the UK !
Roger,
Thank you for introducing me to so many of the world's great movies through your television show and your books. You're the best. My wife feels the same way.
Mr. Ebert,
Aside from learning a great deal about movies from your reviews, they are just so entertaining that I always find myself re-reading them.
I'm sure I speak for many viewers who look forward to following you and Mr. Roeper to a new program. When one balcony closes, another opens--probably in a much better theater! Go get 'em!
JR Deaver
My wife and I would either tape your show or view it live at 6:30 in Los Angeles every Sunday. Your comments and critiques on movies provided us with a list of movies to see. Sometimes we would even see the "Thumbs Down" movies and yes they were bad. Thank you again for many years of good movie criticism. You and your team of reviewers will be missed.
I was sad to hear that you and Richard Roeper had left the show. I have to confess though, that I stopped watching after Gene Siskel died, but found it more interesting to read your full reviews online.
My favorite parody of your show was a Claymation animation with both of you as dinosaurs.
Maybe someday I'll be able to make it to your film festival because you and Siskel opened up my world to smaller movies and foreign films.
This may sound somewhat maudlin and I apologize if it causes anyone's eyes to roll but I feel as if a small piece of myself has died along with the show since I've watched it ritualistically ever since I was very young when my love for cinema was beginning to bud. It's the only show during the history of things televised within my life span that I actively went out of my way to view on a basis of regularity. I continued to watch loyally even when Roger was on medical hiatus since summer of 2006 because I felt Richard continued to perfectly capture and preserve the spirit of the show from its S&E heyday even in the face of a revolving door of guest hosts which often jarred chemistry continuity. I just hope that the online review archive is kept up and running as I constantly find myself ferreting through past reviews to relive classic debates or catch up on discussed movies I may have missed on the rare occasions when I didn't see that particular airing. To me somebody's status as a lover of film should be held into question if they didn't look upon this show as a treasured and vital accompaniment within their lives. It certainly was a great run and you know what they say about the proverbial end with regard to all things good...
I was also very sad to hear that you are not returning to the show, Roger. You were a delight to watch and I love reading your books, especially the movie reviews (I can't wait for the 2009 Yearbook since there isn't one this year except the special one). Gene was also a delight to watch and in 1991 when he worked on Prodigy I sent him a message telling him that both he and you have really opened my eyes to the world of film and to look not only at mainstream stuff but small films as well. Richard Roeper is also a funny guy and I will miss him on the show too. I hope that you get your voice back soon and you and Richard and the thumbs return to the air in an even better show. I happened to look again last night at some of the shows you did in 2006 before you left and with subs and it saddened me to know that we are nearing the end of an era. Personally, I think Disney is making a big mistake and they will pay for it with the loss of many viewers. I will continue to read your reviews and can't wait to see the new ones in the next book. Oh, by the way, you've always said you don't do celebrity interviews on the show. That isn't exactly true. You did do that a few times, like with Jodie Foster and Bill Clinton. I guess you didn't consider that the same thing as the other shows were doing. Just wanted to bring that up. Take care.
Roger,
When I was young I used to tape "Siskel and Ebert" every week, because it would air at 1:35am on Sundays and I was too young to stay up that late. I was also too young to see most of the movies you talked about, but it was the discussions you and Gene had that I loved, and it taught me a lot about approaching movies with an educated and critical approach. I loved your shows, was sad when Gene passed on, and wish you all the best. Keep doing what you do so well, we here in Canada love you as well.
Roman
Roger,
I've watched you review films since SNEAK PREVIEWS! Weekends aren't the same for me.
But at least I can still read your reviews. I will always wish you well, Roger!
You're the best!
Hi Roger. The main reason we continued to watch the show is because it is about the only place where you can still watch actual film clips. Even the Oscars don't show them any more, preferring instead to simply air the same trailers you've already seen at the theaters and on TV commercials.
My guess is that the "new direction" will be more promotion, and less opinion, sort of like what passes for news programming these days.
Thank you, Roger, and you too, Gene, wherever you are for opening my eyes to movies I would have missed had it not been for your insigntful and "spot on" reviews. I watched your show religiously. Roger, you took me to many films through your comments and if I couldn't see that film I felt like I had. I was saddened to hear you would not be coming back to TV but thanks to the internet we can all enjoy your reviews and comments for many, many years to come. Sign me up for a lifetime of your commentary. Good luck and good health to you. You are loved.
Pat
Roger,
I'll always remember the time you and Gene Siskel appeared on Leno (maybe it was Letterman) after Gene had a long stay in the hospital. Gene said that from the moment he became sick you were there for him. That many people thought the famous Siskel & Ebert hated each other, but in reality you loved each other like brothers. Gene turned to you and said, "I love you, man" and you replied with the same. It was one of the most genuine moments I've ever seen on television and it was the first thing that came to mind when I learned you were leaving At the Movies.
I'll always remember the rainy Sunday afternoons spent watching your show, sometimes heading off to the theater afterwards to see a movie the two of you had recommended (and sometimes ones you didn't).
A big thanks to you, Mr. Ebert, and to Mr. Siskel, Mr. Roeper, and all of the wonderful guests hosts who populated the show over the years!
You've changed how I view films. Forever.
Sam
Roger, you and Gene were instrumental in making me the enthusiast I am today. For many, you were like another set of parents, dispelling wisdom on something we actually loved. I now work in the industry, in large part due to the appreciation your instiled within me. The balcony will never be forgotten.
http://wookified.typepad.com/amen/2008/07/rip.html
Movies were all over the place in my little town growing up. Theaters, TV, video store. But the passionate, aggressive love of movies could be found in just one place... the Siskel & Ebert show. Never missed it.
Funny, David Letterman once called the (seldom used) second guest chair on his set "The Gene Siskel Chair."
God bless you, Roger.
Roger, you and Gene were instrumental in making me the enthusiast I am today. For many, you were like another set of parents, dispelling wisdom on something we actually loved. I now work in the industry, in large part due to the appreciation you instilled within me. The balcony will never be forgotten.
http://wookified.typepad.com/amen/2008/07/rip.html
Dear Mr. Ebert:
It is with quite a heavy heart that I write this blog. Mere words cannot express the joy, insight, education that you and the much beloved and never to be forgotten Mr. Siskel,brought to my cinema viewing life.
In my book your program was and shall forever be the real "MUST SEE TV"
There's a quote that goes "Better to have loved and lost, than to never have loved at all" and as sadly as it is sometimes, good things
often do come to an end, the memories and the joy that was given to
me with your insights, the joy at your banter, that love will never fade.
I thank you, I thank you, I thank you,
Sincerely,
Mel
Roger, I started watching your show when I was in the seventh grade, and I can honestly say that the critiques and recommendations of you and Mr. Roeper have steered me towards a higher appreciation of film. I will always be thankful of you for that. I am now a finalist in a Film Contest sponsored by Dell. My film, upon completion, will be screened at the Telluride Film Festival along with the other two finalists, an honor which I hardly deserve. Whatever the outcome of the contest, I can trace my appreciation and passion for film back to a point during my childhood where I was steered away from the fodder fluff of the day and towards the artistic, the original, and the daring. I do not know if you shall be at Telluride this year, Mr. Ebert, but if you are, I would be honored to tell you this in person.
Thank you once again.
Sincerely,
Jeff Loveness
Thank you for putting his up; while I realized that my favorite movies were reviewed Up by Gene Siskel and I discovered I trusted him more than your choices; those were just my preferences. Bless you for putting this up; I'm so sorry the Balconey has closed; it's really a commentary how everything has a beginning and an end.
I remember when I found out that you got married, too.
Bless you Roger.
Oh, man, I'm so glad I got to see those videos. To see you two having so much vicious fun with one another makes it sadder that you will be retiring from the show. I bet you never had that kind of rapport with Roeper. You will be sorely missed by me. I used to catch you guys on WTTW channel 11 when I was a kid, and unlike many people I know, have learned to respect an informed review by withholding my hard earned money from studios trying to leech it out of there with the next big thing. You guys had a lot to do with that, and I'm glad to say that I have never seen "Meatballs 2" In closing, I love reading "Rotten Tomatoes" to get an overall consensus on a movie coming out, but you Roger are always the tipping point for me. Your review of "In the Bedroom" got me in the theater seat, and I enjoyed it for all the reasons you did. Your reviews are free of the bombast and catch phrases that most media critics reduce themselves to, and you seem to lure readers into your logic. I liked "Little Children" more than you did, but I saw your points clearly, they just didn't matter to that much.
Thanks for the decades of service and entertainment you've provided. I hope your health is better, and I will continue to check your website as my "tipping point" for movies that I am unsure of seeing.
Roger,
Thank you (and Gene and Richard) for three decades of wonderful and insightful television. The departure of the show leaves a void in the lives of so many of us who love the movies. We all hope that the new project will come to fruition soon--but in the meantime, we still have your great writing to keep us informed!
At the risk of seeming superficial, these two videos made me laugh more than any stand-up comedian I've seen in a very long time, and even while serving as my informal introduction to Gene Siskel, reveal more probably than would any obligatory skim-through of a Wikipedia page. Despite having only lived eighteen years, I find myself actively invested in your tradition of straightforward and illuminating criticism of movies, most of which I have not had the fortune of being able to witness in their actual historical contexts. There is something certainly effortless and engaging here that transcends generations. It is something very short of tragic to see you go.
Around 1998, I read your review(translated in Korean) in movie magazine when I was a high school student. It was very enthusiastic review of "Truman Show". Even though You warned readers not to read your review if they really want to have a great time with the movie, I read it and became curious about "Truman Show". Maybe I lost some fun for that, but I had a great time in the theater. At that time, we didn't have any multiplex theater; the screen was bigger than now.
At the same year, thankfully, they released 'Dark City' in December. Unfortunately, they cut some scenes for getting 15. (Our rating system is based on the age. : G(everyone), 12, 15, and 18(nobody under 18 absolutely not allowed and, for example, "Lust, Caution" and "Shoot 'em Up" got 18; learn this, MPAA!)) Nevertheless, I enjoyed dark, gloomy look of the city, and the sequence when characters arrived at "Shell Beach"(or is it?) is still effective now. When I read your article about your 10 movies of the year at that same magazine, I was very surprised to see that you chose that movie as No.1. Even though it was wonderful movie experience(I gave 3.5 out of 4), I was caught off guard. After 8 years, I watched the movie again after you selected it as the great movie, I found it was still terrific. Now, I recommend people around me this movie rather than Matrix trilogy, which was good but not so innovative.
During high school years, I learned English and how to use the internet. I got lots of knowledge from IMDB, and Leonard Maltin's capsule reviews(they're gone now) and your reviews were very helpful. I couldn't believe you gave "Hellraiser" and "Hellbound" negative review at the first time, but now, as the grown-up guy who despises "Torture porn", I can see they are just "Supernatural torture porn". Although I'm more generous than you to "Hellraiser" because of its creepy atmosphere, I don't think it's recommendable now. I like Clive Barker's novella, but its fascinating idea is translated not as good as "Candyman". (By the way, did you see little influence from "Hellraiser" in "Dark City"?)
During undergraduate and graduate course, I heard more about you from the internet. During the time when I know only about you and Mr. Maltin, Gene Siskel died and Richard Roeper replaced his place. Still, I couldn't watch your show, and didn't know much about how you and other two worked. I have read some of Mr. Roeper's reviews, but Mr. Siskel's reviews were hard to find Now, thanks to new website, I have watched lots of clips from "Ebert & Roeper" or "Siskel & Ebert", I have spent wonderful time watching you and Mr. Siskel (or Mr. Roeper) discuss about movies. Too bad Mr. Siskel had been dead for years when I heard about him. The arguments on "Blue Velvet"(I'm on Siskel's side, but Isabella Rossellini's story begins to disturb me) and "Full Metal Jacket"(I'm on Siskel's side, too, with some reservation) between him and you were memorable.
Now, I watch some clips from the show before 1986 on YouTube sometimes. The sound and video quality is from so-so to bad because they are probably from personal videotape sources. I especially enjoyed the harsh response from you and Mr. Siskel to "The Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter(Ha-Ha)". I could see that you and Mr. Siskel were great partners even at that time.(Don't worry, Mr. Roeper, maybe my colleagues jokingly call you "second wife", but you're also excellent) In the review clip of "Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid", the show starts with the image of popcorn machines in movie theater. That scene confirmed me again important thing about the show; Mr. Ebert and Mr. Siskel(or Mr. Roeper) are just another movie-goers like me, with better knowledge about movies. And they advise how to spend my precious money on good movies.
While watching recent reviews from "Ebert & Roeper", I hoped you to come back to the show. I was happy to know that you began write again, but I really wanted to see you reviewing new movies with Mr. Roeper on TV again. Mr. Siskel died, and now you and Mr. Roeper left the show. I don't know how the show will be changed, and I will miss old show while watching the new one. Well, things change. When I was a teenager movie-goer, I learned lot's of things from you and Leonard Maltin, and was fascinated with "Fight Club". Now, I am now a 25-year-old graduate student at Biology Department, I read reviews of other critics as well as you and Mr. Maltin, and I feel disturbed about "Fight Club". (That does not mean that "Fight Club" will be my "La Dolce Vita" movie!!) Despite these all changes, I still regard you as the most important critic to me who has taught me about how to watch the movies and persuade others to watch them for years. Most of my friends still don't like the films that leave them with serious, unsolved question or something haunting, and they are pretty much passive toward blockbuster movies. Even though they think I'm some weird guy who like strange movies, I'm still trying to convince them these "incomprehensible movies" are too good to be missed. Without you, I would have just watched the movies alone. Because of you, I enjoyed watching good movies while talking about them to people around me. I'm deeply touched by "Crash" despite all meaningless whipping after 2006 Oscar ceremony, and it is one of the films I passionately recommend to my friends.
I'm very sad to hear that you left the show, but, at least, I still read your new reviews every Friday. I hope you will continue your journey without any health problems for more than ten years.
From "All About Eve": "There never was and there never will be another like you."
Seongyong Cho
I just find the mistake in my comment. It is "anybody under 18 is absolutely not allowed", not "Nobody under 18 absolutely not allowed". It is probably one of many mistakes in my comment.
Roger,
You've been a great resource for movie fans worldwide. I wish you good health, and am waiting anxiously for you to return to the air.
Roger
When Sneak Previews first came on, I was going to school in Tennessee. My brother told me about this cool new show where you and "some guy from the Tribune" were talking about movies. I didn't think that sounded that great. But, when I got back to the land of civilization, otherwise known as Chicago, it was great. And we watched every week. And we have been watching every week since the mid-'70s. So you must have been doing something right.
A new movie comes out - I still punch it up at your website to find out what it's all about. I came here tonight to find out about Brideshead Revisited. I got sidetracked.
I'll miss the show but hopefully you and Rich will be back on the old stand, possibly in a new format, shortly. In the meantime, we'll be reading your columns ... and blogs.
Good luck in your further recovery.
Roger,
I remember meeting Mr. Siskel and you at Disney-M.G.M. Studios February 23, 1991. You were taping your annual Oscar pick show. You both were even kind enough to take a picture with me. I will never forget something you said after the taping, "Time to slip out of this cold tuxedo into a warm pizza." It WAS cold.
I wish you many years of good health. Bless you.
Chris.
Roger, I look forward avidly to learning what your next effort will be.
I began collecting your TV reviews many years ago, jotting plusses or minuses and exclamation points where appropriate opposite each film you and Gene reviewed. By December of 1994, my unruly collection of program summaries on envelope backs and pages torn from notebooks had become so scattered and ragged that my sweet wife decoupaged a heavy cardboard cover for a blank-paged spiral-bound sketchbook which to this day contains a summary of every program and review since. I have even jammed in the earlier reviews as they came to light in my other papers. We regularly consult the notebook for suggestions when we are renting DVD's or choosing a film to see in a theater.
All I can say is thank you. Thank you so very very much!
As my mother used to say, "Be well and strong and happy!"
I am in my late 40s, so I got to see the birth of Siskel and Ebert's show on national television. A grand institution of popular film criticism was born! I know Ben Mankeiwicz from cohosting with Cenk Uygur on The Young Turks, and I think he has the character and family heritage to be another great in this tradition. So, while I mourn the ending of one era, I am looking forward to having another show devoted to films for those of us that love them. That's awesome. I look forward to further contributions from Ebert too.
I love the YouTube outtake. In the span of about five minutes, the tone goes from hatred to love and back to hatred, with flourishes of Wildean wit thrown in for good measure. I'd recycle some of my favourite lines here, but I'd hazard a guess and say they'd be unsuitable, and, besides, if I've learned anything from Mr Ebert, it's never to give away a punchline.
I was never able to catch the show itself until bits and pieces of it started to become available on the net. About ten years ago, RealAudio clips started to appear on the official (?) site, and then friends and acquaintances from internet boards and newsgroups forwarded me short, digitised clips. Then YouTube came to the rescue, and now we have the entire catalogue, which I revisit more often than I really should. All good things, and all that, sure, but it's a winning formula, and I wish you all the best in the future with regards to the format.
Finally, I would like to echo fellow posters, on this item, and many others, that these reminiscences are a joy to read. They're frequent staples in your reviews, too, and all of them resonate. One of my favourites is how Gene Siskel once sat next to Neil Armstrong on a flight, and, realising that all anyone'd ever wanted to talk to him was the moon landing, decided to talk about other things. What a nice anecdote to pass on...
Hi Roger,
If there ever were a show which epitomized why I enjoyed watching and videotaping both you and Gene back in the early 1980s, I would have to say the review of Red Sonja back in 1985 says it all. You and Gene were having such a good time critiquing and laughing at that film that you couldn't say the name of the next film you two were going to review (Back to the Future).
It was the comradery and joy eminating from you and Gene that caught my attention to the point that I started videotaping your shows as much as possible. Over the years, I acquired quite a few tapes. Now I am posting many of your At The Movies shows on YouTube so other people can watch. Your shows are priceless, and I wanted everyone else to see your love and compassion for films over the decades. I hope you don't mine too much!
Dear Roger,
It saddens me to be cognizant of the end of the very influential and entertaining "Ebert and Roeper" program. But rather than bore you with my sympathy, I want to praise you for your determination and enthusiasm while the show lasted over thirty years. I was an avid "Ebert and Roeper" viewer. Also, I have watched hundreds of earlier reviews with the enhancements on the website of Gene and several other guest hosts. I don't want to sound cliche, melodramtic, or sentimental, but Mr. Ebert you are one of my heroes and one of my role models. You were and are the most reliable film critic in the industry. I admire the wit, charm, frankness, and sincerity you administer in your reviews. I too have a passion for film and I am pursuing my dreams accordingly. One dream I had was to direct a film that received a thumbs up from you during the program. Even simply a moderate thumbs up would be sufficient and rewarding. I just want to thank you for inspiring me through you sheer affection and passion for cinema to follow my dreams. I hope to one day craft a film to your liking and to shake the hand, or rather the thumb, of one of the most encouraging and influential figures in my life.
Thank you, Roger for everything.
Laron Chapman, 18, Oklahoma City, OK.
I watched Siskel & Ebert faithfully since 1990 (I was a kid then), and I'm sadden by Ebert's permanent departure from the show. Among all the film critics in journalism, I agreed with Ebert the most. He's taught me a lot about the movies. And I loved the commentaries he did for some DVDs (Citizen Kane and Dark City come to mind). If you disagreed with Ebert you better be prepared for a debate. Aside from his discourse with Siskel and Roeper, I remember reading a salvo Ebert had with filmmaker Vincent Gallo for (an earlier version of) Brown Bunny, which Ebert claimed was the worst film in the history of Cannes. Apparently, Gallo had some unflattering words for Ebert (he called him a fat pig, and said he put a curse on Ebert's colon), and, well, Ebert fought back: "I am not too worried. I had a colonoscopy once, and they let me watch it on TV. It was more entertaining than The Brown Bunny. It is true that I am fat... But one day I shall be thin, and he will still be the director of The Brown Bunny." Obviously, Ebert is a master rhetorician.
Watching Siskel & Ebert was like going through film school sometimes. One of my favorite shows they did was the appreciation and importance and history of black and white movies. I enjoyed their various interviews with Letterman and Leno, too. I wonder why Ebert liked poking fun of himself sometimes (is it more or does he like to be known as the "fat guy" critic? - and I once heard him call himself "ugly") in these interviews. Film criticism won't be the same without Ebert (please, keep the articles coming). In my opinion, he's the greatest living movie critic today.
Be well, sir.
Eddie
You and Gene got the ball rolling, Roger. You've made history. Now it's time for someone else to continue that history.
Just don't disappear from the realm of the written word,okay? I don't think anyone is ready for that.
As a fellow Chicagoan, I thank you for your contribution to our city and the nation. The world. You and Gene were quite a pair. Genuine. Gifted. Insightful. I was so depressed the day Gene died. And shocked and sadden to learn of your illness. You continue to give wonderful insightful critiques of today's films. And you are always right on. I'm sad that "the balcony is closed." But you and Gene created something special. A genre in its own right. My answer. Go back to PBS. You have the class of Charlie Rose, Tavis Smiley et al. Enough of TMZ and E! and Entertainment Tonight. We need a legitimate venue to really talk about film. Not just the commercial crap that Hollywood continues to pump out. But indie films. Foreign films. Short films and documentaries. And an intelligent exchange about them. Not hype or studio promotions. Good luck and my best, Mr Ebert. The main thing is you getting well. And I will continue to read your column. Thumbs up to you.
Roger,
I was 12 years old when I started watching Siskel & Ebert in 1986, and I have been watching ever since.
Although I recall many of the reviews from the show (they were often more entertaining than the actual movie)there are two moments that immediately come to mind and make me smile:
#1. Your positive review of Cop and a Half. As you were describing the film I was actually feeling a little sorry for you because I knew Gene was waiting to pounce. His reaction to your praise of the film was priceless: "Wow...where's your big red suit and beard Santa..."
#2. At the end of his critique of The Edge, Gene remarked that "it was a real toss up as to who gave a better performance in the movie, Baldwin or the Bear."
Thank you for teaching me to appreciate the great movies including three films that I have seen recently - Ikiru, The Passion of Joan of Ark, and Wild Strawberries. It is highly doubtful that I would had sought out these films if not for the education I received from you and Gene. I am forever grateful.
I look forward to the triumphant return of your show. You are the best.
Thanks for writing this, and for everything else. I grew up watching your show, first on PBS and then elsewhere. I can't at this point sort out all the different ways it influenced the way I think, about movies and a lot of other things (about principled disagreement, that's a big one). I know a lot has been written about the potentially pernicious effect of the thumbs up/thumbs down approach to art, but I always assume the people who complain never saw the show. It was about a lot more than thumbs up or down. It was about smart people teasing out the meaning of something they'd seen, and being thoughtful about weighing their own reactions to it. It seems to me the show was really about popularizing critical thinking, which lord knows we can use wherever we can get it. It was also hugely entertaining, because of you and Gene and the way you guys related to each other. In your own way you were a classic showbiz duo.
Thanks again, and best wishes.
Dear Mr. Ebert,
What a wonderful and loving tribute! I especially liked Jim's comments, "...your voice is crystal clear in my head when I'm reading your reviews." 'Tis so.
Roger Ebert, I love you! But the ultimate honor of parodies... You forgot to mention the MUPPETS!! I'm 27, and people my age knew those muppets before we knew you, and were fascinated and delighted when we discovered that THESE two muppets were real! (When I was growing up I also thought that Sam Donaldson and Dr. Spock were one and the same. But that's a different story.) I love you LOVE you! I've been responsible for bringing you several disciples, and one is fairly recent and he really really wants to be able to hear you. Please get better!
Roger, you have made a huge difference in many peoples' lives, including mine. Thank you so much for your wonderful and often sublime contributions to film critique - and a big thanks for doing a lot of it on television! It was exciting to see samples of the movies you raved and ranted about, and you've prompted me over the years to go see many great films I probably wouldn't have chosen on my own. It seems like you've been a part of my life forever, and your show will be missed more than you could ever know.
Take care.
Funny, I don't feel the balcony is closed. If Roger and Richard are going to keep the format on another show then I'm happy with that. Roger and Co. did a great job getting Richard on board after Gene's death. And Roger, Richard and Co. did a great job getting A.O. Scott and Wilonsky (Sorry, I don't know his first name) and others on board after Roger's illness. As long as the show goes on and great people continue being involved with it then to Eric Haynes, the balcony is open!
I love you Ebert and Gene wherever you are. I grew up on your show and have fond memories of being a child and not being able to sleep. Only to find your show on and in the dark gloom of my bedroom. A lone light shined on my 13inch TV set. It was two familiar faces staring back at me, keeping me company. Thanks so much for all the insight you gave me on movies. Thanks to Roeper as well. The show, but mostly you guys on the show I'll miss the most.
I'm very disappointed to see the show end. I greatly enjoyed the chemistry between Roeper and Phillips, and felt the show could go on another 30 years with them. It was a great third act just building steam, and it's unfortunate the show is over.
Thank you for what you, your colleagues and your team gave us, and here's to new horizons.
...and am I glad you're getting your thumbs back! How do you drink your tea, man?!
Best,
Steve
Mr. Ebert,
Part of what made the original show such compelling viewing was that tension between you guys. Each of you was so passionate about film that it actually looked like some of the most heated discussions might erupt into fistfights. I always felt you guys were kind of like the members of the Who--lots of internal squabbles, but a core solidarity and a shared aesthetic.
You don't get that now on the review shows. The critics are generally informed and seem reasonably interested in the films they're reviewing, but it's just not the same. They may be good critics, but they just don't seem as interesting as people.
The way you guys approached movies broadened my sensibilities, as it did for millions of others. And, as someone who makes a living writing, your work in print has had enormous impact on me: your economy of phrasing, your selective and powerful use of imagery, the way you try to approach each review individually and give it a unique flavor. Great lessons for anyone interested in writing.
2001 was a pretty bad year around my house--three different family members fighting illness, including my Mom, who lost a grueling 15-year battle with adnocystic fibroid cancer. And then the WTC coming down in New York--the same towers that my Mom had taken me to see during my first visit to NYC. Obviously, it was a tough year for a great many folks.
For me, one of the year's few bright spots was trading a couple of e-mails with you about one of your Great Movies reviews ("Sweet Smell of Success"). I still have print-outs of that correspondence with your "RE" at the bottom. I'm sure it sounds a little silly, but that really meant a lot to me, that someone of your stature would bother to actually respond.
It's an interesting phenomenon how "ordinary" people can feel as though they know the celebrities they see in the media, even though they, of course, don't. For example, I don't expect to ever meet Bob Dylan, but that's okay. Through his music, I do know him--to some extent, anyway. That's kind of the way I feel about you; despite being nothing more to me than a fleeting image on a TV screen or a collection of words in a movie review, you've been a real presence in my life.
With this recent news about the program, I started remembering back to when I first saw your program, back in the late 70s-early 80s. I used to watch your show in my room on a 7" black-and-white RCA set that had lousy sound but a strong antenna. The show came on late Saturday afternoons on our local PBS channel (right after "Soccer Made in Germany.") I can still see you in a sweater, Gene in a sports jacket, both of you brimming over with excitement as you reviewed films like "Apocalypse Now!" or "Raging Bull"--often quarreling, sometimes agreeing, always enlightening.
Then I hear Mom calling me to come downstairs for dinner--ribeye steak, crinkle-cut fries, iceberg-lettuce salad with french dressing. Dinner's on the table, the family's all here and healthy, and most of my future is still in front of me.
Yep, the balcony is definitely now closed...but it provided a helluva view. For all of us.
I had watched the show off and on for a few years and had always been intrigued by the foreign films that were reviewed on the show. We finally got a movie theater in Tulsa that would show these movies (unfortunately it's no longer there), so I finally got a chance to take in one of the movies recommended, "Bye Bye Brazil". For this 17 year old kid, it was a life changing experience. I never again looked forward to merely anticipating the latest blockbuster product from Hollywood.
Thank you, Roger (and Gene, and Richard).
Roger, I know that all of your movie reviews with Gene and Richard could always be enjoyed in themselves. All three of you are the reason to watch "Siskel and Ebert" and "Ebert and Roeper." On TV, you are sadly missed. Gene is really missed for a long time. I don't know how to say this, but how do you really feel about the new "At the Movies" coming out this fall. I know you want to show to go on, but everyone agrees that you, Gene, and Richard are all the real thing.
Roger, I know that all of your movie reviews with Gene and Richard could always be enjoyed in themselves. All three of you are the reason to watch "Siskel and Ebert" and "Ebert and Roeper." On TV, you are sadly missed. Gene is really missed for a long time. I don't know how to say this, but how do you really feel about the new "At the Movies" coming out this fall. I know you want to show to go on, but everyone agrees that you, Gene, and Richard are all the real thing.
I still can't believe you wrote "Beyond the Valley of the Dolls." I prefer to think of it as your digression, maybe like fellow Chicagoan (and North Carolinian) Michael Jordan's foray into pro baseball. Maybe that movie was your turn with the Birmingham Barons. But the rest of the time, you were hitting three-pointers at the buzzer -- as was Gene. See I call you by your first names, and even feel I have permission to do that. I continue to read your reviews every week, and hear your voice from the balcony narrating as I scan the words. I add my simple appreeciation for the way you've helped one more movie nut see movies clearer, deeper, in historical and social context. I just wish there were a "Siskel and Ebert" counterpart for wine, for fine art, for literature, for public speeches, even politics ... Thanks.
Thak you so much, for so much. I hope you realize what an important place you and Gene held and hold in the lives of us lovers of the movies. To this day, with due respect to Richard and Elvis and A.O. and Michael and the others, we still refer to watching Siskel and Ebert. Always was and always will be.
I am thankful to have you in print and this personal journal is a treasure. I am still counting on you to help me find my way in the dark (theater) and populate my Netflix list.
I went back and watched a lot of your reviews with Mr. Siskel when the At The Balcony archives opened up. I mostly watched the movies I remember going to as a child during the 90's, so I could have my nostalgia thrown out of whack. One of my favorites was "My Neighbor Totoro", when Gene basically panned it and it looked like you had taken a sucker punch to the gut, which was my reaction at least.
I remember how often my friends and I took you two for granted as we grew up. We knew you two were giants of your field, and your thumbs up would help us in some way, shape, or form decide what movie to watch. I remember too often being deflated when I was younger when a movie I was looking forward to didn't get the "two thumbs up". Now that I've grown up, I make it a note to read your reviews every week. It's bad though, since all my journalism teachers chide me for writing like you when I shouldn't.
To Daniel Quiles and everyone else looking for intelligent criticism of film:
Elvis has NOT left the building! Elevis Mitchell is alive and very well on Turner Classic Movies every Monday doing a half hour interview format called Elvis Mitchell Under the Influence. Think James Lipton without the blue cards and family histories. The premier show had the last interview with Sydney Pollack (make a back up and get that into the film archives immediatley). He followed with bill Murray and Lawrence Fishburne so far. The show is a wonderful conversation about the craft.
I will have to find myself a Thea Flaum. She sounds like a genius, and irresistable for it.
I repeat: I have been reading your reviews for a decade and have never seen your show. Gene Siskel could come back from the dead to commune with me and I wouldn't recognise him. I would just as soon take him for Joe Mcarthy.
Australia uses the format in its "The movie show", except with duo Maragaret Pomeranz and David Stratton. The gender contrast isn't a bad idea. Stratton wrote a book called "I peed on Fellini". Note to David Stratton: good anecdote, bad title. I refuse to read your book. And shave that Goddam beard.
I will resist my long felt desire to hurl abuse at Margaret Pomeranz and David Stratton. It is only irrational film critic hatred: they are good at what they do. I think we all feel this hatred from time to time, because film involves personal likes and dislikes, about which we feel passionately and irrationally. Critics themselves are, evidently, not immune to this absurdity. Why do we respond to a critics LOOKS? What does this have to do with their ability to critique a film?
I recall coming across a website by an entertaining young man who wrote things like "Fuck Roger Ebert. He will never recognise my site anyway. Fuck Roger Ebert." I can't find it - perhaps it no longer exists - but I remember it. I learn he is not the only one to use this kind of language towards Ebert. It is doubtful he has done anything serious enough in the scheme of things to warrant such abuse (he is, after all, an entertainer), but there we are, that is the human condition.
Oh to hell with it. Fuck Margaret Pomeranz. Fuck David Stratton. Fuck her and her elf ears. Fuck him and his pretensions and his beard.
I feel better already.
Warm regards,
Solomon
Wow I remember Friday nights coming home from the movies turning you guys on @ 1230am to see what you thought of a movie I just saw. You both were such a part of my movie going experience. As I got older, the show bounced from network to network in NY but I always found it and made a point of watching,,,,and I still do.
Your quick to mention here that the show began with the idea that it was just two guys talking movies but you were smart enough to include video picks later on because you knew for the most part people watch their majority of movies now on DVD or a few years ago heaven forbid VHS, ha.
I find myself now only going to the movies either for something my daughter would want to see, or for the "event" ala Dark Knight.....But the first thing I did this morning sir was click on your column and see what you thought of the XFILES and Step Brothers movie....You remain a huge part of my movie life to this day and good luck to you and Richard as you take the next step
Dan
The love/hate relationship you & Gene had is what made you two so great. S&E will forever be remembered as one of the great duos in history. The enjoyment of watching you two disagreeing violently, and then agreeing on a film either being great or horrible is something that will never be matched or forgotten. Your reminiscence of Gene during his final days was truly touching. Thanks for all the great years of television, sir. I will follow the new incarnation of the program wherever it goes out of loyalty and respect. You are truly an Icon. Keep writing and God Speed, Mr. Ebert. - Jim
Hello,
I have been a fan of Roger Ebert's for many many years. I was a very young girl when I began watching Siskel & Ebert and it changed my life. It is what inspired me to go into journalism. I wanted to be them. In eighth grade, when I was asked what I wanted to do when I grew up, I would say "I want to be a movie critic". To this day, my friends hate going to the movies with me because they know that I will critique it immediately, and loudly. :) I also wait to read Mr. Ebert's reviews until after I see a movie. I do that because I know that his opinion has a way of swaying mine, so I wait, only to find out that I totally agreed with him.
I am a fairly young African American professional woman and Siskel and Ebert will go down as one of the best television shows ever in my book. I enjoyed Ebert and Roeper very much. However, it was difficult for me to continue viewing it once Ebert became too sick to host. I cried when Gene Siskel died, so it was hard for me to watch the show knowing that neither one of them would physically be there.
I meet Mr. Ebert at a book signing for his book "Roger Ebert Great Movies II" and that is still one of the highlights of my life.
I will greatly miss the television show that displayed intelligence in a light comparable to none.
Thank You,
Wendy
Gene and Roger, Roger and Gene...got me interested in movies, in "film" not as a serious Pauline Kael/NYU lecture topic but for everyman...I had the fortune of meeting you both at a lecture you gave our class at Medill circa 1091...we were on the same floor as WTTW at the time...to this day, I have to read the Ebert review before and after I see a movie, then a week later, because what you write seems to resonate differently as time passes...then I read the review a year, maybe 5 years later...amazing...remember after Gene's passing, when I came across a Sport Illustrated centerfold of the Bulls and Michael Jordan and as you scanned the crowd in the photo, the guys in courtside seats, there was the face of Gene Siskel, contorted, yelling something, into the game, frozen in time...time moves on...good luck with your health and thanks for making me think...
I am originally from Illinois, and had moved to Florida. We did not know anyone here. Every Sunday night we would watch your show, it was like a friend, someone we knew. I will really miss your show, and I think Disney is making a big mistake. Thank you for all these years, I feel like I know you and that you are a friend. Will truly miss your show.
I am originally from Illinois, and had moved to Florida. We did not know anyone here. Every Sunday night we would watch your show, it was like a friend, someone we knew. I will really miss your show, and I think Disney is making a big mistake. Thank you for all these years, I feel like I know you and that you are a friend. Will truly miss your show.