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4.07 AVERAGE
4.07 AVERAGE
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
Like the author of this book I grew up obsessed with Siskel and Ebert. They inspired in me a love of criticism and of pop culture debates and discussions. They also made dang fine TV.
This book is a nice overview of their individual careers and their partnership, funny and at times amusing its worth at least two thumbs up.
This book is a nice overview of their individual careers and their partnership, funny and at times amusing its worth at least two thumbs up.
I want to first acknowledge this is a great read. Singer has done the research, talked to the people who were there (and the widows) and has put out a readable, sometimes laugh-out-loud, nostalgic look at something that was certainly part of MY growing up.
At an early age (way too early) I started checking out books from the library by Pauline Kael, Bosley Crowther - you name the critic, I read their work. Living in a small coastal Florida town, I didn't have many options to see art house or classic fare. But I educated myself and then...along came Gene and Roger. I started watching them on PBS and followed when they made the move to syndication (though to me, they were never as good as they were in those early years).
Because of them, I learned about films I might not have otherwise, and searched them out. When I went to college the art houses were more prominent and the dawn of the video age helped me see things I'd always wanted to. I owe so much to them both. Later, I became a film critic myself for a small indie weekly. Was I famous? Oh hell no. And it was hard work. Harder than I ever thought. Although it only lasted a few years, I'm glad I did it, and I look back on my writing with pride and wistfulness. They taught me to always say what you feel, not to like something just because others did. Critical thinking is important, and something many people today need to practice.
Were they perfect? Of course not. I found Roger a little too loosey-goosey and he often got details wrong in his books. I heard from a colleague in the early 90s that he had a reputation as a bit of a butt grabber with the ladies. Was it true? I don't know and I don't care.
I think the greatest takeaway from this book is the insight into Gene's life. Intensely private, he looked at movies in a fascinating way that aligns more with my views than Roger's. I loved the tidbit about how he watched a favorite film multiple times because he felt you could get something new from it every time. I agree. To think he left us at 53 - It's really hard to fathom.
And finally: There's an appendix in the back of the book with about 30 of their favorite, unsung movies they really went to bat for over the years. Many of my favorites are here, like The Mighty Quinn and of course.....Jean Jacques Beinex's Diva. I never would have known about it if it wasn't for them, and it's my favorite movie of all time and the reason my online handle is tangodiva. In case anyone was ever curious...
QUOTE: One day, the neighborhood news section editor asked Siskel what his ambitions were at the paper. "Your job," Siskel replied without hesitation.
When a stunned colleague asked why he would say something like that to his boss, Siskel replied, "Candor. It is powerful. It knocks people off their feet. They are not used to it. Try it someday. If you've got the guts."
At an early age (way too early) I started checking out books from the library by Pauline Kael, Bosley Crowther - you name the critic, I read their work. Living in a small coastal Florida town, I didn't have many options to see art house or classic fare. But I educated myself and then...along came Gene and Roger. I started watching them on PBS and followed when they made the move to syndication (though to me, they were never as good as they were in those early years).
Because of them, I learned about films I might not have otherwise, and searched them out. When I went to college the art houses were more prominent and the dawn of the video age helped me see things I'd always wanted to. I owe so much to them both. Later, I became a film critic myself for a small indie weekly. Was I famous? Oh hell no. And it was hard work. Harder than I ever thought. Although it only lasted a few years, I'm glad I did it, and I look back on my writing with pride and wistfulness. They taught me to always say what you feel, not to like something just because others did. Critical thinking is important, and something many people today need to practice.
Were they perfect? Of course not. I found Roger a little too loosey-goosey and he often got details wrong in his books. I heard from a colleague in the early 90s that he had a reputation as a bit of a butt grabber with the ladies. Was it true? I don't know and I don't care.
I think the greatest takeaway from this book is the insight into Gene's life. Intensely private, he looked at movies in a fascinating way that aligns more with my views than Roger's. I loved the tidbit about how he watched a favorite film multiple times because he felt you could get something new from it every time. I agree. To think he left us at 53 - It's really hard to fathom.
And finally: There's an appendix in the back of the book with about 30 of their favorite, unsung movies they really went to bat for over the years. Many of my favorites are here, like The Mighty Quinn and of course.....Jean Jacques Beinex's Diva. I never would have known about it if it wasn't for them, and it's my favorite movie of all time and the reason my online handle is tangodiva. In case anyone was ever curious...
QUOTE: One day, the neighborhood news section editor asked Siskel what his ambitions were at the paper. "Your job," Siskel replied without hesitation.
When a stunned colleague asked why he would say something like that to his boss, Siskel replied, "Candor. It is powerful. It knocks people off their feet. They are not used to it. Try it someday. If you've got the guts."
funny
informative
relaxing
fast-paced
Reviewing a book about two film critics is a rather daunting task. I didn't grow up watching Siskel and Ebert, not because I wasn't interested in film criticism from an early age. It was just that Gene Siskel died when I was about 2 and 1/2 years old, and I wasn't paying attention to the state of film criticism at that time in my life. And I vaguely knew who Roger Ebert was, I do have occasional fond memories of watching Ebert and Roeper as a kid, but I couldn't appreciate the effect that those two men had on both the film industry and the state of film criticism as a whole during their long and vaunted careers. Thankfully, Matt Singer came along to chronicle it all together and package it in a very informative and truly spell-binding book.
How I discovered this book's existence is a fascinating story, at least I believe so. As I might have mentioned once or twice, I work in a bookstore and one day, one of my co-workers came up to me to ask where this book was because a customer was looking for it. At the time, it was a fairly recent release and I tend to work exclusively in the new release section of my store. Yet, it had slipped past me, and I knew that this book had somehow inadvertently been sent directly to the backlist “Film and Television Reference” section because if I had seen it come in, not only would I have given it a very prominent spot on the shelf, but I also would have likely purchased a copy for myself. Many of the internet reviewers who inspired me to flex my critiquing muscles were in turn inspired by Siskel and Ebert and I owed them the experience of being well-informed about the two men who changed our media and criticism landscape forever.
From their early days, Siskel at the Chicago Tribune and Ebert at the Chicago Sun-Times, all the way through the various iterations of their syndicated television show, be it Sneak Previews or At the Movies, to their personal lives and eventually their tragic and far too young deaths, Singer takes the reader through it all. The trials, tribulations, and production difficulties are all endlessly fascinating to read about. As are the discussions about who they were as people and how that informed their reviews and how they could make or break a film simply by featuring it in one of their episodes, the anecdote about their collective enjoyment of Hoop Dreams (James, 1994) bringing a documentary that likely would have been passed over by the general public to massive acclaim simply by introducing it to their audience who otherwise wouldn’t have known about it.
For someone who unfortunately wasn't around to see all of it in action, I feel like I was there with the anecdotes, either from various interviews with Siskel and Ebert themselves, or interviews with those close to them and the show. I couldn’t stop thinking about this book during the entire week that I was reading it. In fact, although I have been doing fully produced video reviews for over a decade, (inspired by the aforementioned internet critics who Siskel and Ebert inspired) reading this book reminded me of why I love criticism and the power that a critic wields in their pen, or in the case of today's media landscape, the keyboard. That's partially why I'm writing this review that you’re currently reading, since as much as I enjoy making videos, reading about Siskel and Ebert and their newspaper columns also reminded me of the value of a text review. They revolutionized both criticism and the film industry and gave rise to the current media landscape of YouTube and internet reviewers who have risen up in their absence. Love them or hate them, you can’t deny that the effect that they had on the world of criticism was transformative.
Matt Singer, a film critic as well as author, clearly understands his subjects and even states that he was one of the critics that they helped inspire. The book could have very well been a dry history of their partnership, but instead, it goes into great detail, exploring the context of the events, along with describing how the begrudging partnership, between two men who would have otherwise never spoken to each other, grew into something bigger, and even as they would argue over films, grew to respect one another. And it even extends past them, showing the impact that those two men had on the field of film criticism as a whole. As cliché as it might sound, I give Opposable Thumbs by Matt Singer a rating of two thumbs up!
How I discovered this book's existence is a fascinating story, at least I believe so. As I might have mentioned once or twice, I work in a bookstore and one day, one of my co-workers came up to me to ask where this book was because a customer was looking for it. At the time, it was a fairly recent release and I tend to work exclusively in the new release section of my store. Yet, it had slipped past me, and I knew that this book had somehow inadvertently been sent directly to the backlist “Film and Television Reference” section because if I had seen it come in, not only would I have given it a very prominent spot on the shelf, but I also would have likely purchased a copy for myself. Many of the internet reviewers who inspired me to flex my critiquing muscles were in turn inspired by Siskel and Ebert and I owed them the experience of being well-informed about the two men who changed our media and criticism landscape forever.
From their early days, Siskel at the Chicago Tribune and Ebert at the Chicago Sun-Times, all the way through the various iterations of their syndicated television show, be it Sneak Previews or At the Movies, to their personal lives and eventually their tragic and far too young deaths, Singer takes the reader through it all. The trials, tribulations, and production difficulties are all endlessly fascinating to read about. As are the discussions about who they were as people and how that informed their reviews and how they could make or break a film simply by featuring it in one of their episodes, the anecdote about their collective enjoyment of Hoop Dreams (James, 1994) bringing a documentary that likely would have been passed over by the general public to massive acclaim simply by introducing it to their audience who otherwise wouldn’t have known about it.
For someone who unfortunately wasn't around to see all of it in action, I feel like I was there with the anecdotes, either from various interviews with Siskel and Ebert themselves, or interviews with those close to them and the show. I couldn’t stop thinking about this book during the entire week that I was reading it. In fact, although I have been doing fully produced video reviews for over a decade, (inspired by the aforementioned internet critics who Siskel and Ebert inspired) reading this book reminded me of why I love criticism and the power that a critic wields in their pen, or in the case of today's media landscape, the keyboard. That's partially why I'm writing this review that you’re currently reading, since as much as I enjoy making videos, reading about Siskel and Ebert and their newspaper columns also reminded me of the value of a text review. They revolutionized both criticism and the film industry and gave rise to the current media landscape of YouTube and internet reviewers who have risen up in their absence. Love them or hate them, you can’t deny that the effect that they had on the world of criticism was transformative.
Matt Singer, a film critic as well as author, clearly understands his subjects and even states that he was one of the critics that they helped inspire. The book could have very well been a dry history of their partnership, but instead, it goes into great detail, exploring the context of the events, along with describing how the begrudging partnership, between two men who would have otherwise never spoken to each other, grew into something bigger, and even as they would argue over films, grew to respect one another. And it even extends past them, showing the impact that those two men had on the field of film criticism as a whole. As cliché as it might sound, I give Opposable Thumbs by Matt Singer a rating of two thumbs up!
emotional
funny
informative
lighthearted
fast-paced
funny
informative
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
sad
fast-paced
funny
informative
reflective
medium-paced
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
informative
lighthearted
fast-paced