Week 2

Hi, readers!

Nowadays, it seems that becoming a movie critic takes no skill. People think that all you need is something to watch movie with and a blog but people constantly forget a key ingredient to a quality review: a brain. [Yes, you read that correctly.] There used to be an artform to movie-critiquing and it is losing a battle to technology. Now, I want to bring back these old methods and mix them in with new methods of movie critiquing.

Siskel and Ebert (and Their Show)

Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert were two of the greatest movie critics in history. This duo hosted a TV program, called Siskel & Ebert. What I like about they way they review movies is sometimes, they have opposite opinions and they debate topics like, did the actor/actress place his/her role correctly. Here are Siskel and Ebert critiquing Mrs. Doubtfire:

Here are some ways of reviewing that are a trademark to Siskel and Ebert:

Thumbs Up, Thumbs Down

Ebert (left) and Siskel (right) with their
thumbs up, thumbs down method. 

This system was a signature of Siskel & Ebert, created in 1981. It was Siskel and Ebert’s way of rating new movies. They would either give a thumbs up recommendation or a thumbs down. This became huge in the movie critic industry because instead of just giving a yes/no recommendation like any other movie critic, they did something unique. Plus, would you rather have to analyze a whole movie review to see if you want to watch it or would you rather just look for if the critic recommends it or not? Don’t get me wrong, an analysis is important, but there are just some situations where one cannot read through the whole analysis. Movie producers who received a thumbs up from both Siskel and Ebert for one of their movies would boast that they got “Two thumbs up.” This method is so simple, yet creative in the movie business. Why settle with a yes or no when you could settle with a thumbs up or thumbs down?

See It, Skip It, Rent It

In 2008, this method of reviewing movies came about. By 2008, both Ebert and Siskel were not on the show anymore because Siskel died of brain cancer and Ebert was unable to speak due to a cancer that was removed in the jaw area [the TV series was changed to At the Movies].  This scoring system was like the thumbs up, thumbs down method but with a medium between. “See it” means, yes, watch it. “Rent it” means that the movie was okay, but not unbearable. Finally, “skip it,”as the name suggests, if it was on a list of movies that you might watch, skip it, abandon it, and move on to a new movie.

Critics Roundup

Critics roundup was a method that also appeared on At the Movies in 2008. During this event, At the Movies would have a few guest critics. They would pick a few movies to talk about; use the see it, skip it, rent it method; and then go on from there with discussions. Basically, it was just the same show with more people. What was good about this was that there were more than two voices debating on how good a movie was. 

Legacy

Siskel and Ebert will go down in history as the best of the best for movie criticism. They were not only movie critics, but inventors of new styles, like the thumbs up, thumbs down rating method.

Siskel (left) and Ebert (right) watching a movie together

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