John Carney loves music. And he loves music in his movies.
07.10.2023 - 17:47 / nypost.com
“Opposable Thumbs: How Siskel & Ebert Changed Movies Forever,” (G.P. Putnam’s Sons).
The new book makes it clear that the animosity the legendary film critic duo displayed on their hit show wasn’t cinematic fiction. The two had a genuine, Windy City rivalry that never subsided — and made both of them better.
Ebert was hired as the film critic for the Chicago Sun-Times in 1967. When Siskel was hired in the same role for the Chicago Tribune two years later, Ebert saw it as a direct provocation, a view only enhanced when Siskel began copying Ebert and rating films using four stars.“Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert saw each other as more than competitors; they were closer to mortal enemies,” Singer writes.
“Each considered it an essential aspect of their job to beat the other; to write the best review, to land the biggest interview, to score the best scoops. And they took their jobs very seriously.”By the time a local television producer brought them together to propose a review show in 1976, the two had known each other for over six years but had never had a civil conversation.Still, the allure of television was too great for them to refuse.
They soon debuted their show, then called “Opening Soon…at a Theater Near You” on Chicago station WTTW.Later years would see their audience and salaries blossom as they evolved into national syndication, and their show’s name was changed to “Sneak Previews” and ultimately “Siskel & Ebert.” Ebert remained pissed off about his second billing “for the rest of his days,” according to Singer. The two slowly developed a friendship and even a sort of love for each other over several decades, but the one-upmanship between them always remained.Siskel, a habitual gambler and Playboy Mansion regular
.John Carney loves music. And he loves music in his movies.
Peter Caranicas Deputy Editor EnergaCamerimage, the cinematography-focused film festival set for Torun, Poland, for Nov. 11-18, has announced that high-profile award contenders “Killers of the Flower Moon,” “Black Lies” and “All of Us Strangers” will be featured in its main competition. “Killers of the Flower Moon,” the latest pic from director Martin Scorsese, takes audiences on a journey through 1920s Oklahoma to tell a heartbreaking tale of love, greed and betrayal.
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called the debacle an “artless bore,” adding that “the power of Christ compels me to give ‘The Exorcist: Believer’ one star.”But it’s not the first horror follow-up to be brutally killed by both critics and audiences. Not even the first one in the “Exorcist” franchise.
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Matthew Chernov “They were reality TV before it existed.” That’s how Matt Singer, author of the upcoming book “Opposable Thumbs: How Siskel & Ebert Changed Movies Forever,” describes the two most famous film critics in history. Like countless fans of his generation, Singer – whose book will be published by Penguin Random House on Oct. 24 – credits Siskel and Ebert with stoking his love of cinema at a young age.