Disney Destroys At the Movies

Long before the web the best way to hear about a film for a cinema fanboy was to watch Siskel and Ebert — and even though Gene Siskel passed away his co-host Roger Ebert has kept the flame going all of these years. What made the show so good was that Siskel and Ebert were themselves true cinema fanboys: Watching them argue the finer points of a film was like hanging out with friends at a diner. Also you got the feeling that the two of them were there not for the money (the series got started on PBS after all) but because they were there to talk about what they loved. So I was upset when I heard that Walt Disney had decided to keep the show running without our beloved Roger Ebert:

‘At the Movies’ gets new hosts Lyons, Mankiewicz

“Over the years, TV’s best-known movie review show has gone from hosts Siskel and Ebert to Ebert and Roeper to Roeper and guest critics — and now it’s Lyons and Mankiewicz. Ben Lyons, a Hollywood reporter and film critic for ”E! News” and others, and Turner Classic Movies host Ben Mankiewicz will take over ”At the Movies” when its new season begins in September, Disney-ABC Domestic Television said Tuesday.”