Two of a Kind: Remembering Siskel and Ebert

Some very sad news came my way on Friday morning and that was the death of veteran US film critic Roger Ebert, one half of the Siskel and Ebert film review program he hosted with the late Gene Siskel after a long battle with cancer, he was 70 years old.

I had been aware of Roger's work for a couple of years before fully discovering the Siskel and Ebert program on the show's archive website in 2007-2008, seeing that was like a revelation, it was for me a real sign of how film reviewing was really done, it wasn't done with a sense of pretentiousness, it wasn't done in a way that thumbed its nose at the general movie going public and it wasn't done in a way that made the viewers of their show feel like idiots.

No siree, it was done with passion, wit, honesty and in a plain talking sense that brought in many viewers week after week, both of them also had a great chemistry between them and when they disagreed on a particular film it was like gladiatorial combat, reviews of films like Full Metal Jacket, Rocky IV, Lethal Weapon 3 are some of many examples though they could also really kick a film if they thought it was bad and sing the praises of a good one in unison.

Looking at their show very recently it made me think "I really wish I had a show like this growing up" as I very rarely went to the cinema to see films nor did I get the David and Margaret program which was then on SBS and to have had a show like this one would have been absolute heaven for me and gone a long way to fulfilling my movie going desires at that young age.

Siskel and Ebert were indeed two of a kind and its VERY doubtful that without them and the work they did to make film criticism into a legitimate subject of discussion when it came to talking movies, I doubt it would've become as accepted as it has been today and although attempts were made to replicate that duo after Gene's death in 1999, no one could come close and even our own Margaret and David fine as they are in my view can't hold a candle to these two men.

For the critical difference, it was Siskel and Ebert for me and I can only imagine the bantering that would be going on right now, it would be something very special and it warms my heart somewhat knowing that their partnership is together again and while it is so very sad that they're no longer with us, they're reviews together and the legacy that they've left on so many film reviewers since will always live on.