A review by varunob
Opposable Thumbs by Matt Singer

funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted reflective relaxing fast-paced

4.5

Matt Singer’s account of the pairing of the most famous film critics since the advent of television is outrageously funny and incredibly poignant, aside from being a looksee into the world of film criticism (I dabble: see Cinephile Stock for more). Just how did the Laurel and Hardy pairing happen? And how the devil did two critics from a city like Chicago – whose greatest contribution to films, aside from being the location for Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight Trilogy, is Michael Mann and/or Harrison Ford – pull it off? Siskel and Ebert’s adventure, and it truly was that, is often contradictory, and just as often not in line with the wider public sentiment about a film. Singer brings a great balance to the proceedings, diving with the same gusto into the relationship the men shared as he does into their joint dealings with broadcasters, revealing a canniness that was not necessarily visible to the executives in charge. Above all else, though, the book brings to light the most significant change in film criticism since the form has existed, and does it complete justice.