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A review by ursulamonarch
Opposable Thumbs: How Siskel & Ebert Changed Movies Forever by Matt Singer
I love Matt Singer's work and dearly miss his & Alison Willmore's podcast Filmspotting:SVU (SUCH a great show! With two wonderful movie critics who would sometimes bicker... much like those in the book!). And I grew up in Chicagoland in the 80s & 90s, so there was plenty of Siskel & Ebert in the air - I have very fond memories of seeing their show in various iterations.
I think this book does what it set out to do. It introduces Siskel & Ebert, documents the development of their show, and discusses its impact.
Since I am NOT a professional critic, I feel almost ok moving past the question of "does this do what it set out to do" (yes) and onto the question of, "is this the book I wanted about this topic" (unfortunately no). I was reminded of this book because of an interview Singer did on the Flophouse podcast, where he mentioned he watched every episode available, and he highlighted some of his favorite moments, as well as movies the critics were split on. THAT was what I wanted to read about - highlights of the show (I can understand if that might not work great in a book as opposed to watching clips of the show), movies either critic realized he had gotten wrong, the evolution of their taste, and really, more on their taste itself (the parts that did focus on this were probably my favorite of the book). My other favorite part of the book was the appendix, where Singer expanded on the most well-known small movies Siskel & Ebert championed (like Hoop Dreams) - that was great! More of that! More of the movies! I also wished there had been more in the book about Chaz Ebert.
I think this book does what it set out to do. It introduces Siskel & Ebert, documents the development of their show, and discusses its impact.
Since I am NOT a professional critic, I feel almost ok moving past the question of "does this do what it set out to do" (yes) and onto the question of, "is this the book I wanted about this topic" (unfortunately no). I was reminded of this book because of an interview Singer did on the Flophouse podcast, where he mentioned he watched every episode available, and he highlighted some of his favorite moments, as well as movies the critics were split on. THAT was what I wanted to read about - highlights of the show (I can understand if that might not work great in a book as opposed to watching clips of the show), movies either critic realized he had gotten wrong, the evolution of their taste, and really, more on their taste itself (the parts that did focus on this were probably my favorite of the book). My other favorite part of the book was the appendix, where Singer expanded on the most well-known small movies Siskel & Ebert championed (like Hoop Dreams) - that was great! More of that! More of the movies! I also wished there had been more in the book about Chaz Ebert.