Gene Siskel
Unleashed from the video vaults of the American Genre Film Archive (AGFA), AGFA MYSTERY MIXTAPE #3: SEQUELITIS is a brand new compilation of the most electrifying found footage mayhem that you’ll see this week. For our third tape, we’re diving into the most controversial, hotly debated topic of all time: HORROR SEQUELS! Thank you for your generous support during these difficult times. And remember: “This makes Guns N’ Roses look like THE BRADY BUNCH.”
Throughout the ’80s John Hughes defined the teen movie genre and spoke not only to that generation’s teens, but every generation that has followed. Then in 1991 he hung up his director’s hat and disappeared into obscurity ala J.D Salinger. In 2008, a group of young Canadian filmmakers set out to complete a documentary about the man with what they hoped would culminate with an interview, which would be his first since 1999.
Isabella Rossellini, Kyle MacLachlan, Dennis Hopper, Laura Dern and producer Fred Caruso are all interviewed for this 68-minute documentary that takes a look at David Lynch's Blue Velvet
A Confessional Documentary is a 1-minute long short film directed by noted film critic Gene Siskel, originally shown alongside his partner Roger Ebert's short film (Citizen Yuppie) on the 1987 broadcast of their annual Holiday Gift Guide program. It was shot entirely on a (then-new) Fisher Price PixelVision PXL2000 low-fidelity camcorder in monochrome on compact audio cassette, inspiring Richard Linklater to utilize the same technique in his 1991 feature SLACKER. The film recontextualizes the image of Roger Ebert's face to provide some humorous jabs at the nature of film criticism.
At the Movies is a movie review television program produced by Disney-ABC Domestic Television in which two film critics shared their opinions of newly released films. The program aired under various names. Its original hosts were Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times and WLS-TV and Gene Siskel of the Chicago Tribune and WBBM-TV. Richard Roeper of the Sun-Times became Ebert's regular partner in 2000 after Siskel died in 1999. Ebert suspended his appearances in 2006 for treatment of thyroid cancer, with various guest hosts substituting for him. From April to August 2008, Michael Phillips of the Chicago Tribune cohosted. Starting on September 6, 2008, E! Entertainment Television film critic and reporter Ben Lyons and Sirius Satellite Radio host and former co-host of The Young Turks and current Turner Classic Movies host Ben Mankiewicz took over as hosts. On August 5, 2009, it was announced that Michael Phillips would return to the show along with New York Times film critic A. O. Scott on September 5, 2009. During its run with Siskel and Ebert as hosts, the series was nominated for Primetime Emmy Awards seven times and also for Outstanding Information Series, the last nomination occurring in 1997. It was widely known for the "thumbs up/thumbs down" review summaries given during Siskel's and Ebert's tenures. The show aired in syndication in the United States and on CTV in Canada; the show also aired throughout the week on the cable network ReelzChannel.
At the Movies is a movie review television program that aired from 1982 to 1990. It was produced by Tribune Entertainment and created by Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, who had left Sneak Previews the previous year. Siskel and Ebert left in 1986 in a dispute with Tribune Entertainment; they went on to create Siskel & Ebert with Buena Vista Television. They were replaced by film critics Rex Reed and Bill Harris, a gossip correspondent for Entertainment Tonight. Under Reed and Harris, the show expanded beyond movie reviews, adding show business news. Harris left in 1988 and was replaced by former ET host Dixie Whatley.
