In this second episode both Siskel and Ebert are less restrained than they were in the first episode. The change on the set is that they are no longer sitting in folding chairs on center stage but are sitting in movie theatre seats.
The movies reviewed here are e Taxi Driver, The Man Who Would Be King, Hester Street, The Story of Adele H, Sharon's Baby aka The Devil Within Her aka I Don't Want to Be Born aka Monster and Manson.
Taxi Driver is where Siskel is on the wrong side of history. He doesn't like the film because of the violence, but then violence in Scorsese's movies were never supposed to be the point. Did he think this was going to be a rom-com? I do realize that I am opining with the advantage of seeing all of the Scorsese films that came afterwards.
The Man Who Would be King is something that both Gene and Roger like, although I don't think I'd categorize it as "a family film" as Roger does. It has a level of cynicism that might make it sail over the heads of most kids.
"Hester Street" was also a film that they both liked, a film made in black and white to accentuate the fact that it is telling the tale of a bygone era when an immigrant arrives in America and cannot afford to send for his wife for three years, and all of the trouble that entails, mainly being that the man has fallen for someone else in the interim.
Dogs of the week are Sharon's Baby which is a belated rip-off of Rosemary's Baby and Manson, a documentary that was re-released to capitalize on the trial of Squeaky Fromme for attempting to assassinate then President Ford.
FInally the two look at the Best Actor, Best Actress, and Best Picture nominations. They both liked Dog Day Afternoon for Best Actor and Best Picture and, even though they positively reviewed it in their first episode, seemed to think that One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest was just part of a trend for the Academy nominating films that make lots of money. That trend is obviously over at this point in time and the obscure nominees are part of the reason Oscar has such poor TV ratings.
This is worth a look for fans of Siskel and Ebert.
The movies reviewed here are e Taxi Driver, The Man Who Would Be King, Hester Street, The Story of Adele H, Sharon's Baby aka The Devil Within Her aka I Don't Want to Be Born aka Monster and Manson.
Taxi Driver is where Siskel is on the wrong side of history. He doesn't like the film because of the violence, but then violence in Scorsese's movies were never supposed to be the point. Did he think this was going to be a rom-com? I do realize that I am opining with the advantage of seeing all of the Scorsese films that came afterwards.
The Man Who Would be King is something that both Gene and Roger like, although I don't think I'd categorize it as "a family film" as Roger does. It has a level of cynicism that might make it sail over the heads of most kids.
"Hester Street" was also a film that they both liked, a film made in black and white to accentuate the fact that it is telling the tale of a bygone era when an immigrant arrives in America and cannot afford to send for his wife for three years, and all of the trouble that entails, mainly being that the man has fallen for someone else in the interim.
Dogs of the week are Sharon's Baby which is a belated rip-off of Rosemary's Baby and Manson, a documentary that was re-released to capitalize on the trial of Squeaky Fromme for attempting to assassinate then President Ford.
FInally the two look at the Best Actor, Best Actress, and Best Picture nominations. They both liked Dog Day Afternoon for Best Actor and Best Picture and, even though they positively reviewed it in their first episode, seemed to think that One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest was just part of a trend for the Academy nominating films that make lots of money. That trend is obviously over at this point in time and the obscure nominees are part of the reason Oscar has such poor TV ratings.
This is worth a look for fans of Siskel and Ebert.