Gene Siskel and Robert Ebert turned film criticism into a TV spectator sport.
The Chicago newspaper movie writers - Siskel for the Tribune and Ebert for the Sun Times - brought their heated rivalry to the Windy City's public TV station WTTW in 1975 in a show first titled "Opening Soon at a Theater Near You."
Their disdain for each other and barbed disagreements over the latest movies generated compelling TV conflict. The show, retitled "Siskel & Ebert at the Movies," spread to public TV stations across the country. Later, their intellectual vaudeville act reached broader audiences through syndication to local commercial stations.
Film crritic Matt Singer examines Siskel and Ebert's rise in the entertaining dual biography/cultural history "Opposable Thumbs: How Siskel and Ebert Changed the Movies."
The title comes from the critics' trademark "thumbs up or thumbs down" judgments on movies, reflecting their low-tech appeal. Siskel and Ebert sat in a mock movie theater balcony, just two guys arguing over which new movies they liked or disliked.
Siskel and Ebert appeared on TV until Siskel's premature death in 1999, their popularity coinciding with that of blockbuster movies like "Jaws" and "Star Wars." Along with hit films, the two rumpled newspapermen gave attention to art films like "My Dinner With Andre."
The unlikely TV stars in their later years responded to the rise of the VCR and increased home viewership of movies, leading to the advent of Netflix and streaming, which has upended the movie industry.
Singer in his in-depth look at Siskel and Ebert's careers delivers an enticing history of American television and movies. The two print journalists built an entertainment empire, appearing on TV talk shows and interviewing movie stars.
Siskel and Ebert's power is a long gone artifact of the past, like the VCR and Blockbuster film rentals.
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