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Ebert Out at Own Show; BenBen Take Over
By Kyle | July 22, 2008
Siskel & Ebert, Ebert & Roeper, Roeper & Whoever….Let’s start over! Disney has announced that they’re going to jump start “At the Movies” by hiring as new hosts the pedigreed pair of Ben Lyons (son of longtime on-air critic Jeffrey Lyons, grandson of longtime New York Post gossip columnist Leonard Lyons) and Ben Mankiewicz (son of political guru Frank Mankiewicz–a memorable presence in “Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail”–and grandson of “Citizen Kane” writer Herman Mankiewicz and great-nephew of “All About Eve” scribe Joseph L. Mankiewicz). Maybe these guys can just chat about their families on the air? Might be worth watching. I suspect the true heirs to Siskel & Ebert, though, will be some feisty pair of vloggers yet to be discovered.
July 22nd, 2008 at 12:17 pm
I used to watch Siskel&Ebert religiously in the 1980s. It was great, but when Siskel left, I lost interest. Plus I never knew when it was on! I’ll give the new one a shot.
July 22nd, 2008 at 12:49 pm
I vote for you and Lou.
July 22nd, 2008 at 3:43 pm
Gene Siskel is the only person I ever sent a fan later to … (he never responded).
Don’t think the new show will get any traction unless The Bens light a genuine, not coerced, spark.
July 22nd, 2008 at 6:36 pm
These two should bring their unique insight to movies directed by Nick Cassavetes, Sofia Coppola and Jake Kasdan, and those starring Colin Hanks, Bryce Dallas Howard, and Kate Hudson, among others.
July 22nd, 2008 at 8:49 pm
As much as I respect Ebert, his reviews and cinematic analysis haven’t aged all that well. I look forward to seeing a new, refreshing take on the traditional concept.
July 22nd, 2008 at 9:43 pm
I’d love to see the guys who do the podcast over at Filmspotting get a gig:
http://www.filmspotting.net/
I download and listen every week…
July 23rd, 2008 at 5:45 pm
Ebert was a barely-in-the-closet Marxist whore. I sent him email regarding his fawning 4-star review for the Che Guevara puff-piece “The Motorcycle Diaries” (One of red Hollywood’s annual fellate-a-dead-commie projects, e.g., this year’s “Trumbo”); and over an exchange of letters he became completely unhinged.
For instance, despite even the left’s grudging acceptance that Chile’s darling socialist (and Kremlin tool) president Allende offed himself with a gold-engraved AK-47 given to him as a gift by Fidel Castro (the suicide recounted by his personal physician); Ebert clings to the moldy propaganda that he was murdered by the CIA.
….I can’t think of anyone who’ll do a worse job.
July 26th, 2008 at 4:04 pm
Ebert gave Motorcycle Diaries just two and expressed criticism of both Che’s ideology and the fervent cult of personality surrounding him (although his calling Che and Castro “right wingers” in the same review was truly perplexing). You must be thinking of some other movie or some other critic (Frank Rich, maybe?).
July 27th, 2008 at 2:23 am
Posters 7 and 8 are both wrong regarding Ebert’s star review of “The Motorcycle Diaries,” although the latter is closer. He actually gave it two-and-a-half stars.
July 30th, 2008 at 1:07 am
Ebert has a long record of wallowing in the socialist fever-trenches:
http://blog.ianhamet.com/2004/06/fisking-roger-ebert/
http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/individualProfile.asp?indid=962
http://frontpagemag.com/Articles/Read.aspx?GUID=81E9128D-A332-4DA2-A330-C3685B85329C
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1647325/posts