It has been common knowledge for those of us who care that Roger Ebert, who owns the thumbs trademark, has been shopping around the different networks to find a home for his version of the At the Movies show. Now he has finally found a home, at the old studio where he and Siskel, more then 30 years ago, began their At the Movies show.
The balcony is back, ladies and gentlemen. But of course our handicapped Ebert cannot himself be a co-host as he lacks speaking capabilities and thus could not enter into banter with his co-host. Instead, we get Christy Lemire of the Associated Press and Ignatiy Vishnevetsky of Mubi.com. Lemire is a seasoned critic who guest-hosted with Richard Roeper back when the show was cycling reviewers during Ebert's illness. Vishnevetsky is a more curious figure. Born in the Soviet Union, he moved to America when he was 8 and then eventually to Chicago because he could find more movies here. He manages the Odd Obsessions video store and was offered this position when Ebert heard him speaking at the Lake Street Screening Room and was rather impressed by his eloquence and charisma.
So how do the hosts hold up? Lemire is good, and if you saw her episodes with Roeper, then she pretty much performs as expected. Vishnevetsky is everything ABC wishes Ben Lyons would have been: he's young, charismatic, but what is especially important is that he comes to the table with a deep knowledge of film. He's a smart guy who knows how to say something meaningful about a film, good or bad, whereas Lyons would always spit out really (un)witty taglines for the ads.
But the show still lacks the key element that made Siskel and Ebert so good: the way they would argue. The co-hosts are very cordial, which is to be expected as these two people, I assume, didn't know each other before Vishnevetsky was hired for the show. They are still getting to know each other just as we the audience are getting to know them. But what really drove the old show wasn't just seeing Siskel and Ebert declare their love for a film (my favorite examples of this are Hoop Dreams, Pulp Fiction, and Fargo), it was also seeing them go at each others throat. Of course, I don't want Lemire and Vishnevetsky doing this for the sake of our amusement, and I know they won't. I trust that as they get more comfortable with each other, they will build a rapport that will keep us coming back each week.
The show's other nice touch is additional segments from outside contributors, including bloggers, other critics, and political analysts. Since this program is being broadcast on public television, there are no bigwig producers weighing down on the show to keep it flashy. Instead, there are some terrific segments that you wouldn't expect from any show today. A mock-Citizen Kane trailer introduces the principal players in the show, as well as Ebert's wife Chaz. Its a hilarious and fun segment. Kim Morgan also provides a look back to The Third Man (1949) and shoots her review as if she was apart of the film. And just this past week, political analyst Jeff Greenfield provided a look at why the president, in political movies, always gives a speech at the end that causes the entire crowd to go wild. This is something, Greenfield assures us, that never happens in real life.
And of course, there's Roger's Office, a brief segment where Ebert himself reviews a current film. Of course since he can't speak for himself we get guest voices to convey his words to us. Werner Herzog supplies Ebert's voice for his review of My Dog Tulip, and in the past two episodes Bill Curtis has been taken over the role. We only glimpse Ebert briefly, at the beginning as he types and then at the end when we get his final opinion. These brief snapshots of Ebert are a nice reminder of the old days.
It's a satisfying, if safe, new show that will allow us to get our weekly reviews again, something I have been missing since Scott and Phillips signed off back in August. Recently I was watching TV and a review for the Mechanic came on. The ad was displaying reviews, and mentioned the film received "Two Thumbs Up." I smiled and laughed, because it feels good having those thumbs back after a long four year hiatus.
