How Siskel and Ebert Changed Hollywood
theankler.com
Oct 21 • 40M
How Siskel and Ebert Changed Hollywood
Author Matt Singer has written a new history of the antagonist critics
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Sonny Bunch
Writes The Bulwark Subscribe
Sonny Bunch hosts The Bulwark Goes to Hollywood, featuring interviews with folks who have their finger on the pulse of the entertainment industry during this dynamic—and difficult—time.
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Sonny Bunch is a contributing columnist at the Washington Post, The Bulwark culture editor, and member of the Washington Area Film Critics Association.
I’m joined by Matt Singer this week, author of Opposable Thumbs: How Siskel and Ebert Changed Movies Forever. The book, out this Tuesday, is a wide-ranging look at the myriad ways in which Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel’s seminal show — or, really, three shows, which ran across multiple networks over multiple decades —changed not only film criticism but film marketing as well. We talked about the introduction of the thumb system — which, shockingly, was not with the duo from the beginning — and why their genuinely antagonistic relationship hasn’t really translated to the YouTube/podcast era of film criticism.
How Siskel and Ebert Changed Hollywood