At the Movies may have spewed its last appraisals, but our careers in revisiting its reviews on YouTube has just begun. The Firefox vistas remain bright! Categorized by the films discussed in each clip, here are five dialogues from various At the Movies's eras, with appearances from Gene Siskel, Roger Ebert, Richard Roeper, the two Bens (in a very brief cameo), Michael Phillips and A.O. Scott.
· She's Out of Control
There have been poorly received movies, and then there was She's Out of Control, the 1989 Tony Danza stinker that caused Gene Siskel to consider quitting his job as a film critic. Luckily, his reasoning is more delightful than morose.
· Hoop Dreams
Roger Ebert describes this 1994 documentary, his pick for the best film of the '90s, as "a movie that raises so many questions and has so many insights."
· North
Ebert listed North in his book I Hated, Hated, Hated This Movie with the accompanying screed: "I hated this movie. Hated, hated, hated, hated, hated this movie. Hated it. Hated every simpering stupid vacant audience-insulting moment of it. Hated the sensibility that thought anyone would like it. Hated the implied insult to the audience by its belief that anyone would be entertained by it." In this clip, he takes the first stab at understanding his feelings.
· Gigli
You'll be surprised or upset (or both) to find that Roger Ebert didn't hand the 2003 Bennifer feature an evisceration. Fortunately, then-"guest" Richard Roeper sets him straight and calls out the film for the legendary bomb it has since become.
· The Hurt Locker
When Ben Lyons and Ben Mankiewicz took over At the Movies in 2008, their placid banter wasn't enough to sustain the series. For instance, when the two critics disagreed over who should've won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor (which eventually went to Heath Ledger, of course), their reasoning was flatly delivered and unmemorable. Call each other fat or something, you two! The Chicago Tribune's Michael Phillips and The New York Times's A.O. Scott, who both took over the ship next after guest-appearing for years opposite Roeper, engaged each other more forcibly. Their recent Oscar predictions episode (clipped below) was articulate and interesting, though still not as thoroughly engaging as the show's thumb-drawing patriarchs.