Opposable thumbs : how Siskel & Ebert changed movies forever / Matt Singer.
Material type:
TextPublisher: New York, NY : G. P. Putnam's Sons, [2023]Description: viii, 342 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations ; 24 cmContent type: - text
- unmediated
- volume
- 9780593540152
- 0593540158
- How Siskel & Ebert changed movies forever
- How Siskel and Ebert changed movies forever
| Item type | Home library | Collection | Shelving location | Call number | Materials specified | Status | Date due | Barcode | Item holds | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Adult Book
|
Main Library | NonFiction | New | 791.4309 S617 | Available | 33111011277908 |
Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:
Once upon a time, if you wanted to know if a movie was worth seeing, you didn't check out Rotten Tomatoes or IMDB.
You asked whether Siskel & Ebert had given it "two thumbs up."
On a cold Saturday afternoon in 1975, two men (who had known each other for eight years before they'd ever exchanged a word) met for lunch in a Chicago pub. Gene Siskel was the film critic for the Chicago Tribune . Roger Ebert had recently won the Pulitzer Prize--the first ever awarded to a film critic--for his work at the Chicago Sun-Times. To say they despised each other was an understatement.
When they reluctantly agreed to collaborate on a new movie review show with PBS, there was at least as much sparring off-camera as on. No decision--from which films to cover to who would read the lead review to how to pronounce foreign titles--was made without conflict, but their often-antagonistic partnership (which later transformed into genuine friendship) made for great television. In the years that followed, their signature "Two thumbs up!" would become the most trusted critical brand in Hollywood.
In Opposable Thumbs , award-winning editor and film critic Matt Singer eavesdrops on their iconic balcony set, detailing their rise from making a few hundred dollars a week on local Chicago PBS to securing multimillion-dollar contracts for a syndicated series (a move that convinced a young local host named Oprah Winfrey to do the same). Their partnership was cut short when Gene Siskel passed away in February of 1999 after a battle with brain cancer that he'd kept secret from everyone outside his immediate family--including Roger Ebert, who never got to say goodbye to his longtime partner. But their influence on in the way we talk about (and think about) movies continues to this day.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Introduction: Coming attractions -- Ebert before Siskel -- Siskel before Ebert -- Opening soon at a theater near you -- The first-take show -- Rompin' stompin' film criticism -- Two thumbs up -- Across the aisle -- Hooray for Hollywood -- Get to the crosstalk -- The future of the movies -- The balcony is closed -- Ebert & Roeper & Lyons & Mankiewicz & Phillips & Scott & Lemire & Vishnevetsky -- Epilogue: Until next time, we'll see you at the movies -- Appendix: Buried treasures that Siskel and Ebert loved.
"Once upon a time, if you wanted to know if a movie was worth seeing, you didn't check out Rotten Tomatoes or IMDB. You asked whether Siskel & Ebert had given it 'two thumbs up'"-- Provided by publisher.
When Gene Siskel, a film critic for the Chicago Tribune, and Roger Ebert, winner of the Pulitzer Prize for his work at the Chicago Sun-Times, reluctantly agreed to collaborate on a new movie review show with PBS, there was at least as much sparring off-camera as on. Their antagonistic partnership made for great television, and their signature "Two thumbs up!" would become the most trusted critical brand in Hollywood. Singer details their rise from the local Chicago PBS station to multimillion-dollar contracts for a syndicated series. Ford shows how they influenced the way we talk about (and think about) movies to this day. -- adapted from jacket