I miss these two so much. If you loved movies, this was appointment TV for 15 years. Not only was it fun listening to them argue, you got to know what movies were coming out.
I used to hang out at my friends house on Sunday’s back in high school and would always finish the weekend watching this show just before my dad came to pick me up. Good times.
Yes! I loved watching them passionately agree on a flick, or argue about another flick, you could tell they always had legitimate respect for one another, even when they were arguing like children lol😂
Roger Ebert went to his grave adamant that Cop and a Half was a good movie. He would not relent. He lived a full life in total admiration for Cop and a Half, and died utterly devoted to Cop and a Half.
There's even a line in the movie where the person on TV says, "The movie keeps it's mind where it should be...in the gutter." It would've been perfect.
They had such a great show, and worked so well together. There was a wonderful competition between Roger and Gene, but shared wonderfully intelligent movie reviews. They are both very much missed, both gone far too soon.
0:08 Lethal Weapon 2 3:14 Species 5:18 Rumble Fish 8:08 The Ghost and the Darkness 10:03 Predator 12:15 Body Double 15:28 Mrs. Doubtfire 16:58 Eddie Murphy Raw 19:53 The End of Violence 22:21 Cop and a Half
It wasn't really an argument but I loved their discussion on Fargo. They both loved it, but it seemed like they were going to come to blows over who loved it more.
@@davidporter671 I finally saw it about 5-6 years ago. I was sitting there watching it going "Okay, this is not a bad movie...but when does the magic supposedly happen???"
Wow, this is the subject that I've never seen in RU-vid. I love those two. I think you should upload this kind of videos more. I love them and thank you for uploading ❤
What was great was that you could feel their passion arguing for the marginal movies each week, but at the end of the year, they often agreed on the best movies of the year!
I love how you showed at the end how much Gene wanted Roger to change his opinion on Cop and a Half. We all know the movie is terrible, and even Roger knows it, but he will not relent to just to irk Gene. It just shows how the chemistry worked between these 2 guys. They loved to argue with each other so much. The scene in the opening credits of their show where they are arguing about their newspaper reviews was probably real. LOL
Gene wasn't as quick witted but he did not care one bit about political correctness. Also love how he always went for the low blow whenever it got personal with Roger.
It was so much better listening to these two rather then now days where everyone just " Loves it" for a few weeks and forget why they love it the second they see a new movie they " Love". these guys were Critics they weren't afraid to break movies down, and gave reasons why the movie was good, not just " oh its the new movie, loved it". That says nothing about a movie.
Siskel has a point about the main characters from Lethal Weapon 2. Right from the opening scene, Gibson comes off as a parody of his character from the first film. They're both a bit wackier. It's as if it was straying a tad from its _R_ rating in hopes of a broader appeal. The writing is still good but feels a bit dumbed down and lacks the bite of its predecessor. There's more comedy this time around. At some point, it seems like this became typical of action sequels. I much preferred the scenes where Gibson and Glover are playing it straight. Pesci was terrific.
I grew up with Siskel & Ebert and I learned so much from them. Roger in particular had a bigger influence on the person I became than my own father. They are both profoundly missed. I had forgotten that Roger didn’t like Mrs. Doubtfire. That’s wild.
Full Metal Jacket is a big one, too--and then right after that in the same episode, *another* one over Benji the Hunted! When Ebert gave that movie a thumbs-up just moments after thumbs-downing FMJ I thought Siskel was going to leap out of his chair and try to strangle him.
I also hated what happened to Roger - but I'm in absolute awe of the man because he embraced what was going on with him and became even MORE prolific in his writings. Just unstoppable. I truly miss him.
Imagine saying you go the movies to see someone take off their bra. Siskel’s defense of Species didn’t invoke confidence in the Thumbs Up vote and I enjoyed Species
He said that’s one of the reasons. There’s nothing wrong with enjoying eroticism in movies. Also Ebert doesn’t get to make that criticism against Siskel when he wrote multiple Russ Meyer films-which have tons of scenes of women taking off their bras.
@@HeyFella Yeah but nowadays you can't actually SAY that, especially on TV, because wanting to look at attractive people is now automatically objectification.
@@Billkwandoyou absolutely can lmao. There's a huge difference between eroticism and misogyny, it's easy to strike that balance unless you're some kind of asshole.
My only surprise here is that Siskel liked Species more than Ebert did. Usually with sci-fi films it was the other way around. I almost always agreed more with Ebert, but not on this one.
Ebert was not afraid to like the movies the snoots all say we are supposed to hate and to dislike a move the snoots all say we are supposed to love. Siskel was so conventional that his opinion never really meant much to me. "Meryl Streep? Love it!" "Action movie? Hate it!"
How on earth did you overlook their disparate reviews of "Blue Velvet"?!? That film had to have been their most famous disagreement. It was even included on the DVD as a bonus.
Roger was right about Rumble Fish, an excellent film. Not one of the absolute greatest films ever like Coppola’s four films from the 1970s, but still very good. By the way the RU-vid chapter markers should be named after the movies covered not simply…”8” or “5”.
Summer of '89. Gene gave thumbs down to two of my favorite films. Lethal Weapon 2 AND Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade! Both were 100 times better than Batman (which I wasn't crazy about).
I would say both movies are better constructed than Batman. However, I think Batman is the most ambitious and it has more depth than people give it credit for.
@@ricardocantoral7672 I will say this about Batman, I recently rewatched it for the first time in thirty years and found it to be more entertaining as an adult than I did as a teenager.
In terms of that first film, Lethal Weapon 2, I haven’t seen it, but I wonder how I would justify having his craziness. Perhaps he’s bent on making the world go more humanely. He wants decency in the world, so he acts out forcefully to get it.
Just asked my sister: Why isn't there a show just like this on TV, cable , or streaming? It is a simple and successful formula. Second point: Roger Ebert came out with a thumbs up for, "Cop and a Half" ?!? He was always a man of the people, but that is ridiculous. Objectively bad movie. Rumble Fish was an interesting movie. I think they were both right.
@@raymondm.9954And he thumbs-upped the sequel and said it was better. And somehow both guys, God love 'em, gave thumbs-ups to Speed II which might be their most collectively out-to-lunch decision in history.
Ebert: I'm happy for yah. Lol. I think I saw Ghost and the Darkness. It was a long time ago around when it came out. I was a teenager and don't remember much of it. It must have not left a deep impression on me. But it seems I tend to agree with Ebert more when I watch these. Siskel also seems just very condescending when he doesn't like a film.
5:25 "...the high points of his career: the two godfather movies and the first half of apocalypse now." - only the first half of apocalypse now is good? siskel what are you on about you psycho
Siskel rather legendarily gave Apocalypse Now a thumbs-down (or "NO" as it was in the Yes/No days) at the time. Not sure if he reneged on it like he did some other movies later (like Slapshot).
Gene's not wrong, promoting Mrs Doubtfire as the next Tootsie was ridiculous. Tootsie is a billion times better and especially smarter. Saying that, Robin is undeniably funny and charming in Doubtfire and he elevates it above being just cheesy, forgettable garbage.
I think it does a pretty effective job at showing the effects of divorce without having to be full-on Kramer vs. Kramer (great movie that it is). Field and Williams both insisted on the divorce being final at the end which was a ballsy ending.
1. Lethal Weapon 2 is better than the original. 2. Species is totally forgettable. 3. Never saw Rumble Fish (just ordered it from the library). 4. I liked the Ghost and the Darkness. 5. Predator is really good. 6. I don't remember Body Double 7. Mrs. Doubtfire is fun. 8. I saw Eddie Murphy "Raw" in concert. I would watch Delirious instead. 9. I have heard bad things about The End of Violence. 10. I heave heard Cop and a Half is awful.
Gene's arguments against Lethal Weapon 2 were quite dumb. That was a rare case of a sequel being better than the initial film. Also, it would have been fine conclusion but unfortunately, they made two more LW Movies. Hollywood just doesn't know when to leave well enough alone.
They got too comedic, especially the fourth one, and turned into the cop version of Fast and the Furious with the expanding family of characters. As for Gene, I get where he's coming from. Riggs isn't suicidal anymore but they still kept playing up his crazy wild card routine even though that was only a result of him wanting to die. Unfortunately, he couldn't really explain it since Ebert was shouting him down almost immediately.
To be honest, both were 80s action fluff. But once Riggs' existential crisis was resolved in the first, there never was going to be any more dynamism in that character or the duo. And the conveniently forced conflict in the sequel just proved it.
I saw 2 before 1 and I always thought the first one to be totally out of tone for the series and actually a bit cringy. The first one goes way too far with the suicidal thing and the movie and actors can’t sustain it, imo. It’s funny how someone who saw them contemporaneously could have a totally different view.
i get why they were so critical. imagine havin to watch bunch of movies even ones you normally wouldnt like. ur goin strt bein critical on movies youd normally like .
It shows how far movies, and Siskel, Ebert, and reviewers in general had fallen by that point that they’re even bothering with fodder like Lethal Weapon TWO (or even the first which was drek to begin with)
I agree with Siskel: Rumble Fish that has since become a cult film is a pos. I saw it in a sneak preview and the audience laughted it and Matt Dillon's worst performance off the screen. Dillon did bounce back in future roles. If Coppola wanted to make a b&w art film out of S.E. Hinton' he should've scrapped her sappy writing and started from scratch.
Nope, it's a masterpiece, you just have bad taste. Roger completely nailed Gene for his ridiculous and baseless criticism. Exactly the kind of drivel I'd expect from Siskel, the man who thought Taxi Driver would have been better if it was a romantic comedy.
@@silversnail1413 Siskel far from perfect but Ebert missed the boat even more, Blue Velvet, The King of Comedy just a few examples. And gave a thumbs up to Burt Reynolds payday abortion Cop and 1/2 that Siskel rightfully never let him forget. Ebert wrote one of the greatest movies ever Russ Meyer’s Beyond the Valley of the Dolls but he was uneven as a film critic.
siskel is the absolute worst. He said Die Hard 2 was better than Die Hard 1 and he's saying Ebert's standards are dropping for liking Predator 1....ONE OF THE GREATEST ACTION MOVIES OF ALL TIME! He's THE WORST
