Media, My Media
Media, My Media
Ebert, Roeper say Aloha to “At The Movies”
From SF Gate and AP today:
Ebert, Roeper cutting ties with `At the Movies'
By Don Babwin, Associated Press Writer
(07-21) 17:01 PDT Chicago (AP) --
Roger Ebert is leaving the balcony — but hinting that he's not finished with television.
The famed film critic announced Monday that he is cutting ties with the nationally syndicated program he and the late critic Gene Siskel made famous, a day after Richard Roeper said he was quitting the show.
In an e-mail to The Associated Press, Ebert said Disney-ABC Domestic Television, which owns "At the Movies With Ebert and Roeper," has decided to take the program in a new direction.
"I will no longer be associated with it," Ebert said.
He didn't immediately elaborate, but it was clear the Pulitzer Prize-winning Chicago Sun-Times critic wanted the show to remain as it was when he and Siskel, a fellow Chicago newspaper film critic, first hit the airwaves on PBS in 1975.
"Gene and I felt the formula was simplicity itself: Two film critics, sitting across the aisle from each other in a movie balcony, debating the new films of the week," Ebert wrote. "We developed an entirely new concept for TV."
You can read the full story here.
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In their day, Ebert and Siskel were pretty much the most trustworthy guys when it came to reviewing movies on television. I was one of those who always enjoyed watching their show, and yes, I was one of those folks who saw the show on PBS. Part of the fun was that they didn’t always agree. In fact, sometimes it was more fun to watch when they really disagreed.
Their honest approach to telling audiences about films was something fresh as the usual film critic of the day was something of a visceral presence who only appeared in print through the local paper (or syndicated columns, for those areas that didn’t have a film critic.)
I kind of lost interest over the years, especially after Gene Siskel passed away. It wasn’t that I lost interest in films, I just stopped going to the movies every week. Other things in life took over that time. But I still would check in with various movie critics to see what they thought of a picture now and then.
And thanks to Ebert and Siskel, plenty of other movie goers did the same. It never hurts for an audience to be a little wiser and better informed before they hand over the cash or plastic for the latest and greatest in cinema.
Tuesday, July 22, 2008