Sunday, February 6, 2011

I've seen EBERT PRESENTS AT THE MOVIES. Here's my review.

http://www.ebertpresents.com/

Giving the show one thumb up for the Russian critic first-named Ignatly and one thumb down for the off-putting Christy Lemire of the Associated Press.  I don't know why Roger Ebert has a fatal attraction to aggressively telegenic personalities such as Lemire and Richard Roeper.  Unlike Roeper, Lemire at least doesn't give off the odor of "I don't really like movies but this is a boss career move."  But Lemire is yet another TV "personality" that has obviously been trained by image consultants to smile just about every time she delivers a line of copy on-camera.

Thumbs down for Roger's use of ubertraditional news broadcaster Bill Kurtis as his substitute speaking voice; I'd prefer someone a bit more brash-sounding like, say, Patton Oswalt or Michael Moore.

Thumbs up for using old SISKEL AND EBERT clips during the closing credits.

Final Verdict: Substitute either Lisa Schwarzbaum (ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY) or Ben Mankiewicz (who survived the Ben-and-Ben AT THE MOVIES with professional dignity) for Lemire and Roger Ebert will have a more viable film-review series than what can now be seen on public television stations nationwide.

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