Siskel

Eugene Kal Siskel (January 26, 1946 – February 20, 1999) was an American film critic and journalist for the ''Chicago Tribune''. Along with colleague Roger Ebert, he hosted a series of movie review programs on television from 1975 until his death in 1999.

Siskel started writing for the ''Chicago Tribune'' in 1969, becoming its film critic soon after. In 1975, he was paired with Roger Ebert to co-host a monthly show called ''Opening Soon at a Theater Near You'' airing locally on PBS member station WTTW. In 1978, the show, renamed '' Sneak Previews'', was expanded to weekly episodes and aired on PBS affiliates all around the United States. In 1982, Siskel and Ebert both left ''Sneak Previews'' to create the syndicated show '' At the Movies''. Following a contract dispute with Tribune Entertainment in 1986, Siskel and Ebert signed with Buena Vista Television, creating '' Siskel & Ebert & the Movies'' (renamed ''Siskel & Ebert'' in 1987, and renamed again several times after Siskel's death).

Known for their biting wit, intense professional rivalry, heated arguments, and their trademark "Thumbs Up or Thumbs Down" movie ratings system, Siskel and Ebert became a sensation in American pop culture. Siskel remained in the public eye as Ebert's professional partner until Siskel's death on February 20, 1999, at age 53, from complications following his May 1998 brain surgery.

Early life

Siskel was born in Chicago, and was the son of Ida (née Kalis) and Nathan William Siskel. His parents were Russian Jewish immigrants. Siskel lost both of his parents as a child and, as a result, was raised by his aunt and uncle, moving with them when he was nine years old. He attended Culver Academies and graduated from Yale University with a degree in philosophy in 1967, where he studied writing under Pulitzer Prize–winning author John Hersey. Hersey's reference assisted him in gaining a job at the ''Chicago Tribune'' in 1969.

Career

Writing

Siskel's first print review, written one month before he became the ''Tribune''s film critic, was for the film '' Rascal''. His review of the film was not favorable ("Because of the excessive gimmicky, most kids will miss the tenderness," he wrote). Prior to this he served in the US Army Reserve; he was a military journalist and public affairs officer for the Defense Information School. For a time afterwards, he was acquainted with Playboy magazine publisher, Hugh Hefner.

In 1986, the ''Chicago Tribune'' announced that Siskel was no longer the paper's film critic, and that his position with the paper had been shifted from that of a full-time film critic to that of a freelance contract writer who was to write about the film industry for the Sunday paper and also provide capsule film reviews for the paper's entertainment sections. The demotion occurred after Siskel and Ebert decided to shift production of their weekly movie-review show, then known as '' At the Movies'' (later known as ''Siskel & Ebert''), from Tribune Entertainment to The Walt Disney Company's Buena Vista Television unit. Editor James Squires stated on the move, "He's done a great job for us. It's a question of how much a person can do physically. We think you need to be a newspaper person first, and Gene Siskel always tried to do that. But there comes a point when a career is so big that you can't do that." Siskel declined to comment on the new arrangement, but Ebert publicly criticized Siskel's ''Tribune'' bosses for punishing Siskel for taking their television program to a company other than Tribune Entertainment. Siskel remained in that freelance position until his death in 1999. He was replaced as film critic by Dave Kehr.

The last review published by Siskel for the ''Chicago Tribune'' was for the film '' She's All That'', published on January 29, 1999, in which he gave a favorable review, giving it three stars out of four and wrote that " Rachael Leigh Cook as Laney, the plain Jane object of the makeover, is forced to demonstrate the biggest emotional range as a character, and she is equal to the assignment. I look forward to seeing her in her next movie."

Siskel & Ebert

In 1975, Siskel teamed up with Ebert, film reviewer for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'', to host a show on local Chicago PBS station WTTW which eventually became '' Sneak Previews''. Their "thumbs-up, thumbs-down" system soon became an easily recognizable trademark, popular enough to be parodied on comedy shows such as ''Second City Television'', ''In Living Color'', '' Bizarre'', and in movies such as '' Hollywood Shuffle'' and ''Godzilla''. ''Sneak Previews'' gained a nationwide audience in 1977 when WTTW offered it as a series to the PBS program system.

Siskel and Ebert left WTTW and PBS in 1982 for syndication. Their new show, ''At the Movies'', was produced and distributed by Tribune Broadcasting, the parent company of the ''Chicago Tribune'' and WGN-TV. ''Sneak Previews'' continued on PBS for 14 more years with other hosts until its cancellation in 1996. In 1986, Siskel and Ebert left Tribune Broadcasting to have their show produced by the syndication arm of The Walt Disney Company. The new incarnation of the show was originally titled ''Siskel & Ebert & the Movies'', but later shortened to ''Siskel & Ebert''. ''At the Movies'' also continued for a few more years with other hosts until its cancellation in 1990.

The last five movies Siskel reviewed with Ebert on the show before his death aired during the weekend of January 23–24, 1999. On the show, they reviewed '' At First Sight'', '' Another Day in Paradise'', '' The Hi-Lo Country'', ''Playing by Heart'', and '' The Theory of Flight''. Siskel gave thumbs up to all of them, except for ''Playing by Heart''.

Following Siskel's death, Ebert continued the series with rotating guest hosts, which included Martin Scorsese, Janet Maslin, Peter Bogdanovich, Todd McCarthy, Lisa Schwarzbaum, Kenneth Turan. Elvis Mitchell, and the eventual replacement for Siskel, Richard Roeper.

Film and TV appearances

Siskel and Ebert were known for their many appearances on late-night talk shows, including appearances on ''The Late Show with David Letterman'' sixteen times and ''The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson'' fifteen times. They also appeared together on ''The Oprah Winfrey Show'', ''The Arsenio Hall Show'', ''Howard Stern'', ''The Tonight Show with Jay Leno'', and '' Late Night with Conan O'Brien''.

In 1982, 1983, and 1985, Siskel, along with Ebert, appeared as themselves on ''Saturday Night Live''. For their first two appearances, they reviewed sketches from that night's telecast and review sketches from the "SNL Film Festival" for their last appearance.

In 1991, Siskel, along with Ebert, appeared in a segment on the children's television series ''Sesame Street'' entitled "Sneak Peak Previews" (a parody of '' Sneak Previews'').Sesame Street – "Sneak Peak Previews" with SISKEL & EBERT
/ref> In the segment, the critics instruct the hosts Oscar the Grouch and Telly Monster on how their thumbs up/thumbs down rating system works. Oscar asks if there could be a thumbs sideways ratings, and goads the two men into an argument about whether or not that would be acceptable, as Ebert likes the idea, but Siskel does not. The two were also seen that same year in the show's celebrity version of " Monster in the Mirror".

In 1993, Siskel appeared as himself in an episode of ''The Larry Sanders Show'' entitled "Off Camera". ''Entertainment Weekly'' chose his performance as one of the great scenes in that year's television.

In 1995, Siskel and Ebert guest-starred on an episode of the animated TV series '' The Critic'' entitled "Siskel & Ebert & Jay & Alice". In the episode, Siskel and Ebert split and each wants protagonist Jay Sherman, a fellow movie critic, as his new partner. The episode is a parody of the film '' Sleepless in Seattle''.

A very early appearance of Siskel, taken from '' Opening Soon at a Theater Near You'', the predecessor to ''Sneak Previews'', is included in the 2009 documentary film, '' For the Love of Movies: The Story of American Film Criticism''. In the film, he is seen debating with Ebert over the merits of the film version of ''One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest''.

Critical style

Gene Siskel had an abrasive review style, and claimed his film criticism was an individual exercise that should not be swayed by public taste. In an interview for The Academy of Television and Radio, his TV co-host said of him, "I think Gene felt that he had to like the whole picture to give it a thumbs up."

In particular, he often gave negative reviews to films that became box office champs and went on to be considered mainstream classics: ''Poltergeist'', '' Scarface'', ''Beverly Hills Cop'', ''The Terminator'', ''Aliens'', ''Predator'', ''Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade'', '' Thelma & Louise'', and ''Independence Day''. This even extended to several films that went on to win the Oscar for Best Picture: '' The Silence of the Lambs'' and '' Unforgiven''.

Yet, Ebert also noted in a memoriam episode of '' Siskel and Ebert'' that when Siskel found a movie that he truly treasured, he embraced it as something special. Directly addressing his late colleague, Ebert said: "I know for sure that seeing a truly great movie made you so happy that you'd tell me a week later your spirits were still high." Some of Siskel's most treasured movies included '' My Dinner with Andre'' (1981), '' Shoah'' (1985), '' Fargo'' (1996), and the documentary '' Hoop Dreams'' (1994).

Preferences

Favorites

One of Siskel's favorite films was ''Saturday Night Fever''; he even bought the famous white disco suit that John Travolta wore in the film from a charity auction. Another all-time favorite was ''Dr. Strangelove''. A favorite from childhood was ''Dumbo'', which he often mentioned as the first film that had an influence on him.

Best films of the year

Siskel compiled "best of the year" film lists from 1969 to 1998, which helped to provide an overview of his critical preferences. His top choices were:

* 1969: '' Z''
* 1970: '' My Night at Maud's''
* 1971: '' Claire's Knee''
* 1972: ''The Godfather''
* 1973: '' The Emigrants''
* 1974: ''Day for Night''
* 1975: ''Nashville''
* 1976: '' All the President's Men''
* 1977: ''Annie Hall''
* 1978: '' Straight Time''

* 1979: ''Hair''
* 1980: ''Raging Bull''
* 1981: ''Ragtime''
* 1982: ''Moonlighting''
* 1983: '' The Right Stuff''
* 1984: ''Once Upon a Time in America''
* 1985: '' Shoah''
* 1986: ''Hannah and Her Sisters''
* 1987: '' The Last Emperor''
* 1988: '' The Last Temptation of Christ''

* 1989: ''Do the Right Thing''
* 1990: ''Goodfellas''
* 1991: '' Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse''
* 1992: ''One False Move''
* 1993: ''Schindler's List''
* 1994: '' Hoop Dreams''
* 1995: '' Crumb''
* 1996: '' Fargo''
* 1997: ''The Ice Storm

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