Chicago Tribune movie columnist Gene Siskel was in love with words and movies. But it was an unlikely and ever-contentious television relationship with rival Roger Ebert that changed the way America looked at movies.
Chicago Tribune movie columnist Gene Siskel was in love with words and movies. But it was an unlikely and ever-contentious television relationship with rival Roger Ebert that changed the way America looked at movies and propelled him into a realm of success, fame and unprecedented critical influence.
That the two of them did this from the Midwest — and not from, as before, the coasts — made their success that much more amazing. Not so amazing, in this age of celebrity, was that they became more recognizable than many of the movie stars they reviewed. And, in a fashion, he wrote his own epitaph when, a few years before his death, he said, “I love what I do. It’s a fabulous life.”Siskel wrote more than 5,000 movie reviews for the Tribune. Here are excerpts from some memorable ones, in chronological order:“But children of this television age may enjoy ‘Rascal,’ frequently a fast-paced flick that places good old Mother Nature on a treadmill and runs her to death.
There is only one problem with the excitement generated by this film. After it is over, you will walk out of the theater and, as I did, curse the tedium of your own life.Feb. 11, 1972: ‘A Clockwork Orange’ ‘The Godfather,’ now and maybe forever at the Chicago Theater, ends with a door being closed in the face of the audience, and it is because we have been behind that door for nearly three hours that the film has such remarkable appeal. To permit us a glimpse at The Mob, with all of its ethnic insularity, is like giving a chronic gambler a chance to wander above the false mirrors that overlook every casino.
‘Taxi Driver’ is an urban horror story drenched in lurid night colors: the blues and yellows of a porno moviehouse marquee, stoplight colors mixed with steam pouring out of manholes. If the idea of a neon nightmare holds any appeal, ‘Taxi Driver’ will be worth seeing just for a collection of intense colors rivaled only by the early Disney animation pictures.”“A great movie? Hardly. Stallone as the next Brando? You’ve got to be kidding. A nice little fantasy picture? Maybe.
With ‘Halloween,’ the most often desired reaction is screaming. It’s a beautifully made thriller — more shocking than bloody — that will have you screaming with regularity. ‘Halloween’ was directed by John Carpenter, 30, a natural filmmaker and a name worth remembering.”“Is it as good as its advance word and nine Academy Award nominations suggest? Yes.
In other words, that ‘Apocalypse Now’ does manage to evoke strong emotions about the war says merely that its subject is the war. The film needs more than that to recommend it, and we have the reasonable expectation of getting more from Francis Coppola, the celebrated director of ‘The Godfather I & II.’”“Take your pick: ‘The Blues Brothers’ is the year’s best film to date; one of the all-time great comedies; the best movie ever made in Chicago.
What is it? An adventure film that plays like an old-time 12-part serial that you see all at once, instead of Saturday-to-Saturday. It’s a modern ‘Thief of Baghdad.’ It’s the kind of movie that first got you excited about movies when you were a kid. ‘Raiders of the Lost Ark’ is the product of two of the most gifted people working in the American film industry: George Lucas, 37, and Steven Spielberg, 33.”“The film has received choruses of praise prior to its nationwide opening this week.
‘My Dinner with Andre’ was financed outside of the Hollywood mainstream, with many small investors buying $500 shares in the film. The result is a picture that represents so much of what I want and rarely get from a movie — a couple of hours filled with characters who are as exciting as the people I know in real life.”“The word is already out on this film, and yes, it is as enchanting as most everyone has made it out to be. ‘E.T.
But that issue, having occupied the media’s attention for the last two weeks, is now threatening to dwarf the movie itself. And if it does, that would be a shame, because ‘The Right Stuff,’ written for the screen and directed by former Chicagoan Philip Kaufman, is one terrific movie. ‘The Falcon and the Snowman’ tells the story of two young California men convicted in 1977 of selling CIA spy satellite secrets to Russia at its Mexican embassy. The reasons the young men become spies involve an anti-CIA attitude and greed. ...
Whereas ‘Aliens’ simply throws alien, spindly creatures at Sigourney Weaver for two hours, David Cronenberg’s adaptation of ‘The Fly’ is more appealing because its creature is part human. Thus — as with a Frankenstein’s monster, a classic vampire or a Mr. Hyde — we can empathize with the ‘monster’ rather than merely fear it.”“‘Platoon’ was written and directed by Oliver Stone, a Vietnam vet.
This is the best ‘crazed woman’ thriller since Clint Eastwood’s gem ‘Play Misty for Me.’ Only a gimmicky ending spoils an otherwise competently made shocker.”“‘The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!,’ the latest silliness from the writing and directing team that gave us ‘Airplane!’ Their formula for success seems so simple you wonder why no one else tries it. Cram as many outrageous visual and verbal jokes as possible into 90 minutes.
‘Parenthood’ could easily have focused exclusively on yuppie parents and their kids; however, the script by Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel is more sophisticated than that, remembering that every parent is still a child too.”“Ostensibly the central character of the story is its narrator, Henry Hill , who joins the New York syndicate as a teenage gofer and ends up participating in mob hits, truck hijackings and air-cargo thefts.