Word: ebert
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DIED. GENE SISKEL, 53, movie critic who, with Roger Ebert, formed the incompatible but entertaining duo of reviewers whose "two thumbs-up" was among the most coveted symbols of approval in Hollywood; nine months after brain surgery; near Chicago. More laid-back than Ebert, Siskel was no less combative. They did not like each other in real life, and their onscreen skirmishes, first aired on the hugely popular Sneak Previews on PBS, became emblems of pop consumerism: biting but sound-bite-size nuggets of ego and intellection...
Gene Siskel was a man who dared to live outside "The Tube," to find what it was that he wanted to do and then go ahead and do it. Although Roger Ebert anticipates that their show will continue on the air in some form or another, it is hard to imagine that anyone will ever truly take Siskel's place...
...time during which many Americans seem loathe to accept the advice of any arts critic, Siskel was truly a star in his own right. I once heard a friend say something along the lines of, "Siskel and Ebert? Pffhh. I'd probably be more likely to go to a movie that they gave two thumbs down." And strangely enough, about a week or so later, I found myself looking at The New York Times' Arts section wherein some horrible B-movie (which I think was supposed to revive the career of one of those long-forgotten extras from Saved...
Last year, 150 Harvard students had the good fortune of seeing Siskel and Ebert in person at an event sponsored by the Harvard Law School Forum. The journalists were on hand to discuss life beyond the courtroom and the applicability of a law degree in the places where you'd least expect to find it useful. For Siskel, it was topic more personal than many in the audience would have anticipated. "I was once in your shoes," he began in his slightly quivering voice, "all excited about my first day of law school...
...Gene Siskel was indeed a journalist, not just a critic as many would believe. Although he was probably best-known for his movie reviews on Siskel & Ebert, he was also a contributor to CBS This Morning, a nationally-televised show on which he delivered outstanding interviews with some of Hollywood's top directors. These were meaty interviews about the state of the motion picture industry, art in the 1990s and different players' roles within--none of this "Who designed your dress? Oscar de la Renta?" garbage that seems to pass for arts reporting on several less-reputable "entertainment news" shows...