Opening Soon at a Theater Near You
Reviews of "A Star is Born", "King Kong", "The Seven Percent Solution", "The Enforcer", "Network", "Rocky", "Nickelodeon", and "Silver Streak".
Reviews of "High Anxiety", "The Boys in Company C", "Blue Collar", "The One and Only", "A Hero Ain’t Nothing But a Sandwich"
Reviews of "Coming Home", "The Medusa Touch", "Silver Bears", and "Rabbit Test"
Reviews of "F.I.S.T.", "The Greek Tycoon", and "I Wanna Hold Your Hand".
In their first nationally-syndicated episode, and the first one titled “Sneak Previews”, Siskel and Ebert review Roger Altman’s ensemble comedy “A Wedding”, featuring Carol Burnett, Woody Allen’s first serious film “Interiors”, the Nazi thriller “The Boys from Brazil” starring Gregory Peck and Laurence Olivier, Farrah Fawcett-Majors’ feature-film debut, “Somebody Killed Her Husband”, and an Agatha Christie murder-mystery, “Death on the Nile”. Their “Dog of the Week” picks are “Piranha” and Cheech & Chong’s “Up In Smoke”.
Gene and Roger investigate the private eye story “The Big Fix”, the comedy-mystery "Who is Killing the Great Chef’s of Europe?", Terrence Malick’s stunningly beautiful "Days of Heaven", into the world of Oz with Sidney Lumet’s “The Wiz”, and the NYC slice-of-life “Girl Friends”. In their "Dog of the Week" segment, Gene says avoid the chop-sexy picture "The Bod Squad" and Roger’s pick "Count Dracula and His Vampire Bride" has a great set of canines.
Gene and Roger ride into the balcony with the modern western “Comes a Horseman”, Alan Parker’s violent shocker “Midnight Express”, the schizophrenic ventriloquist thriller “Magic”, Sylvester Stallone’s “Paradise Alley”, and the animated adventure “Watership Down”. In their "Dog of the Week" segment, Roger picks the wet blanket “Slithis”, Gene does not recommend “The Devil’s Rain” or its deceptive marketing.
Roger and Gene reluctantly begin with the would-be-thriller “The Wild Geese”, the Medea-inspired “A Dream of Passion”, Donny and Marie in “Goin’ Coconuts”, the old-fashioned romance “Slow Dancing in the Big City”, and Claude Chabrol’s chilling drama “Violette” In their "Dog of the Week" segment, Gene warns to not let his pick “Dogs” get the bite on you, and Roger’s says send “Message from Space” to Mars.
Reviews of “The Lord of the Rings”, “Halloween”, “Autumn Sonata”, and “Goin’ South”. Dogs of the week are “The Dragon Lives” and “The Hills Have Eyes”.
Roger and Gene review five would-be blockbusters during the holiday season beginning with “Oliver’s Story”, sequel to the 1970 smash hit, the story of three generations of a gypsy family, “King of the Gypsies”, the old-fashioned WWII action picture “Force 10 from Navarone”, Travolta and Tomlin’s embarrassing “Moment by Moment”, and the highly anticipated blockbuster “Superman”. Spot the Wonder Dog has the week off in order to devote more time to the holiday pictures.
Gene and Roger begin with Clint Eastwood’s pleasantly goofy comedy “Every Which Way But Loose”, a throwback sci-fi remake “Invasion of the Body Snatchers”, Neil Simon’s ensemble “California Suite”, the drama “Uncle Joe Shannon” starring Burt Young, and Walt Disney’s classic “Pinocchio”.
Roger and Gene look back on the year 1978. Audiences went to escape and be entertained and not necessarily be challenged. They discuss the year’s trends, including the big winners at the box office. Plus, they each select their choices for the year’s best films and their “Dogs of the Year”, the very worst films of the last twelve months.
Gene and Roger review the first sympathy love story of the year, “Ice Castles”, bittersweet comedy “Same Time, Next Year”, old-style desert picture “Caravans”, a big Hollywood hit coming to network television for the first time, “American Graffiti”, and a 1930’s double feature parody “Movie, Movie”. In their "Dog of the Week" segment, Roger selects the expensively promoted 4-wall “Beyond and Back”, and Gene says “The Late Great Planet Earth” is a lot of nonsense.
Gene and Roger hitch a ride with the classic caper film “The Great Train Robbery”, Paul Schrader’s controversially inclined “Hardcore”, Robert Altman’s sci-fi picture “Quintet”, William Friedkin’s comic crime caper “The Brinks Job”, and Walter Hill’s stylized adventure “The Warriors”. In their “Dog of the Week” segment, Gene says “Secrets” is a phony ripoff, and Roger finds “The Stranger and the Gunfighter” has something to disappoint just about everyone.
Roger and Gene check out Disney’s slapstick comedy “The North Avenue Irregulars”, Peter Weir’s offbeat thriller “The Last Wave”, a mystery writer romance “Agatha”, union organizer drama “Norma Rae”, and the divisive French farce “Get Out Your Handkerchiefs”. In their “Dog of the Week” segment, Roger determines “Debbie Does Dallas” needs a gynecologist, and Gene thinks “Wonder Women” really goes out on a limb.
Gene and Roger start with the simple old-fashioned thriller “The China Syndrome”, the Gabe Kaplan-led comedy “Fast Break”, a character study “Once in Paris”, and an important American film, “The Deer Hunter”. In their “Dog of the Week” segment, Roger offers a Bruce Lee tribute of sorts “Kung Fu Master”, and Gene’s picks the insulting “Last Fist of Fury,” another Bruce Lee ripoff.
In this special edition of “Sneak Previews”, Gene and Roger examine the nominees and try to pick the winners at this year’s ceremony.
Gene and Roger revisit the age of Aquarius in Milos Foreman’s musical adaptation “Hair”, another Sherlock Holmes mystery “Murder by Decree”, Robert Altman’s offbeat “A Perfect Couple”, boxing remake “The Champ”, and an update of the comic strip “Buck Rogers in the 25th Century”. In their “Dog of the Week” segment, Gene decides to take a stab at Dracula, starting with “Love at First Bite”, and Roger sinks his teeth into the would-be-documentary “In Search of Dracula”.
Gene and Roger dissect the adaptation of Sylvia Plath’s “The Bell Jar”, Peter Weir’s mysterious “Picnic at Hanging Rock”, a bowling drama with Rocky’s formula “Dreamer”, romantic fairy-tale “Old Boyfriends”, and mistakenly-titled “Hurricane”. In their segment “Dogs of the Week”, Roger says “Beyond the Door #2” is a badly dubbed Omen II, and Gene is not impressed with David Carradine’s fly-catching skills in “Circle of Iron”.
Roger and Gene acknowledge their differences with the bittersweet teenage romance “A Little Romance”, Truffaut’s concluding chapter in Antoine Doinel’s saga “Love on the Run”, George A. Romero’s satirical flesh-eating zombies of “Dawn of the Dead”, Woody Allen evolving persona in “Manhattan”, and the wartime romance “Hanover Street”. In their “Dog of the Week” segment, Gene laments the state of Sophia Loren’s career in “Firepower”, and Roger’s encounters some flesh-eating coeds in “Cannibal Girls”.
Gene and Roger encounter the latest inner-city drama “Boulevard Nights”, a horror cliché parade “Phantasm”, stylish Hitchcockian thriller “Last Embrace”, and love story “Voices”. In their “Dog of the Week” segment, Roger dishes on a spaghetti western with a budget of peanuts “Get Mean”, and Gene roots for the cops during “The Great Bank Hoax”.
Gene and Roger encounter another soap opera romance “The Promise”, Peter Sellers’ comic remake of “The Prisoner of Zenda”, Peter Bogdanovich’s character study “Saint Jack”, outer space horror hit “Alien”, and interstellar warfare of “Battlestar Galactica”. In their “Dog of the Week” segment, Roger oozes contempt for “The Brood”, while Gene challenges Anthony Quinn’s decision to make “The Passage”, trading on his once valid reputation as a fine actor.
Gene and Roger review a crop of summer releases beginning with the disaster sequel “Beyond the Poseidon Adventure”, future cult film “Rock n’ Roll High School”, tennis gambling and love collide in “Players”, not a sequel but prequel “Butch and Sundance: The Early Days”, and Kennedy assassination thriller “Winter Kills”. In their “Dog of the Week” segment, Gene uncovers Joey Travolta’s attempt to ripoff his brother in “Sunnyside” while Roger says “The Dark” has a really low opinion of its audience.
Gene and Roger demand originality in the movies, but Hollywood has given them another sequel,”Rocky II”, goofy comedy “The In-Laws”, a reteaming of George Segal and Glenda Jackson in “Lost and Found”, Clint Eastwood in Don Siegel’s tough thriller “Escape from Alcatraz”, and a reteaming of Barbra Streisand and Ryan O’Neal in “The Main Event”. In their “Dog of the Week” segment, Roger has less than faint praise for “In Praise of Older Women”, and Gene questions why the last man on earth in “Ravagers” keeps running into new people.
Gene and Roger assess a slew of late-Summer horror pictures beginning with an instant rerun of Alien, “Prophecy”, there’s murder among the rich in “Bloodline”, the Bond franchise shows no signs of growing up or old in “Moonraker”, a romanticized take on the legend of “Dracula”, and a southwest town is terrorized by vampire bats in “Nightwing”. In their “Dog of the Week” segment, Gene warns us against distributors releasing old movies with new titles like “Malicious”, Roger picks imitation Disney fare “CHOMPS”.
Gene and Roger notice the dog starts barking early for crazed scientists and women sprinters in “Goldengirls”, George Burns befriends young runaway in “Just You and Me Kid”, working class high school graduates in slice of life comedy “Breaking Away”, Gene Wilder is a dim-witted rabbi from Poland in “The Frisco Kid”, and cartoonish western comedy “The Villain”. In their “Dog of the Week” segment, Roger is disgusted by the insulting horror film “Terror”, Gene didn’t stick around to finish the cheaply made Italian import “Grave Desires”.
Roger and Gene are not surprised how an institution can chew people up and spit them out in “North Dallas Forty”, characters from an early-70’s hit reunite for “More American Graffiti”, James Brolin and Margot Kidder endure keyhole slime and red-eyed pigs in “The Amityville Horror”, feature-length saga of Kermit on the road to Hollywood in “The Muppet Movie”, plus nostalgia and violence collide with south Bronx youth gang “The Wanderers”. In their “Dog of the Week” segment, Gene spits on cheap horror film “Patrick’, and Roger’s hits a new low with cheap shark or muddy catfish in “Up from the Depths”.
Gene and Roger endure fears of flying with arms dealers, missiles and stereotypes of “The Concorde Airport ‘79”, Farrah Fawcett-Majors is a private eyes’ companion in “Sunburn”, Dom Deluise tries his hand at directing “Hot Stuff”, Bill Murray is a wacky camp counselor in “Meatballs”, and John Ritter tries to save the country in futuristic comedy “Americathon”. Spot takes a break this week as Gene and Roger recap the best movies of the summer 1979.
Roger and Gene witness kids trying to survive in a society without the help of Lassie in “Rich Kids”, Albert Brooks makes a documentary parody in “Real Life”, a gay night club owner tries to impress his son’s future in-laws in French farce “La Cage Aux Folles”, Alan Alda discovers the price of power in “The Seduction of Joe Tynan”, and teenage crime gets a perceptive look in low-budget drama “Over the Edge”. In their “Dog of the Week” segment, Gene is appalled by the latest Bruce Lee fraud “Game of Death” and Roger declares “Summer Camp” is the first ripoff made before the original.
Gene and Roger discuss the latest tax-shelter deal of Charles Bronson as he tracks a witness to find “Love and Bullets”, H.G. Wells travels to modern day San Francisco in “Time After Time”, Monty Python’ controversial religious satire “Life of Brian”, a Los Angeles policeman is kidnapped in harrowing drama “The Onion Field”, and “Peppermint Soda”, a French coming of age drama with female perspective. In their “Dog of the Week” segment, Roger doesn’t ask why Dracula has a disco-loving granddaughter “Nocturna” who is running a crooked massage parlor, and Gene says Brooke Shields still can’t act alongside Peter Fonda in “Wanda Nevada”.
This season, Gene introduces a new feature on the show called “Take 2” where they take a more in-depth look at movie genres, issues and trends, where movies are now and where they are headed. This show is about midnight movies and what makes a cult film. Featured are discussions of “Reefer Madness” (1936), The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975), Night of the Living Dead (1967), Pink Flamingos (1972), and Rock 'n' Roll High School (1979).
Gene and Roger look for laughs in Blake Edwards’ new comedy “10”, Carol Kane is terrorized by a vicious crackpot “When a Stranger Calls”, Burt Reynolds experiences life after divorce while “Starting Over”, and Francis Ford Coppola sends Martin Sheen to kill a renegade colonel in “Apocalypse Now”. In their “Dog of the Week” segment, Gene’s “City on Fire” shows third-degree burns in close-up, while in Roger’s “The Seven Brothers Meet Dracula” kung fu meets Peter Cushing, but not necessarily the other way around.
Reviews of “Meteor”, “Luna”, “And Justice for All”, “The Silent Partner”, and “Nosferatu the Vampyre”. Dogs of the week are “Disco Godfather” and “Avalanche Express”.
In this edition of Take 2, Gene and Roger discuss landmark films, movies that changed the movie business for better or worse. Featured are discussions of “Airport” (1970), “Easy Rider” (1969), “Sweet Sweetback” (1971), “Jaws” (1975), Vixen (1968), “Beyond and Back” (1978), and Spot finds the grandaddy of dogs, chop-socky “Five Fingers of Death” (1972).
Gene and Roger greet a slate of dreary November titles, Michael Douglas tries to win the Olympic marathon while “Running”, the mainstream courtship of the 70’s “Head Over Heels”, roller disco movie “Skatetown, U.S.A.”, haunted house mystery “The Legacy”, and John Schlesinger’s simple wartime romance “Yanks”. They try a change of pace and skip “Dog of the Week” to recommend a list of movies playing on television.
In this edition of Take 2, Gene and Roger revive some overlooked classics in a discussion of 1970’s films that nearly everybody missed. Featured are discussions of “Sorcerer” (1977), “The Late Show” (1977), “Night Moves” (1975), “Straight Time” (1978), “Images” (1972), “Mean Streets” (1973).
Gene and Roger travel abroad with a group of American students in “French Postcards”, “The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh” is not a disaster film about a friendly shark, Rainer Werner Fasssbinder’s study in post-war Germany ambition “The Marriage of Maria Braun”, Bette Midler sells herself for rock ‘n’ roll in “The Rose”, and Toronto Film Fest hit “Best Boy”. In their “Dog of the Week” segment, Gene’s “Killer Fish” has a lot of bite, while Roger finds another lousy kung-fu movie “The Tongfather”.
In this edition of Take 2, Gene and Roger explore who’s falling in love with who and how in today’s movies. Featured are discussions of “An Unmarried Woman” (1978), “Starting Over” (1979), The Seduction of Joe Tynan (1979), and Kramer vs. Kramer (1979).
Gene and Roger discover a new trend in romance pictures that is “Something Short of Paradise”, a strange young preacher is out to start his own church in John Huston’s “Wise Blood”, Sunn Classic Pictures produce another biblical psuedo-doc “In Search of Historic Jesus”, and Werner Herzog returns with his strange and offbeat retelling of “Woyzeck”. As a change of pace, Spot dons his mailman outfit to deliver letters from viewers for our critics to answer.
In this edition of Take 2, Gene and Roger go bonkers and start recommending guilty pleasures, great trash they are almost embarrassed to admit they love. Each choose to defend three films. Roger secretly loves “Infra Man” (1975), “The Fury” (1978), and “The Last House on the Left” (1972), while Gene confesses his affection for “Superfly” (1972), “Emmanuelle” (1974), and “The Greek Tycoon” (1978).
Gene and Roger try out Steve Martin’s movie debut “The Jerk”, marriage divorce and child custody get serious treatment in “Kramer vs. Kramer”, Captain Kirk reunites his crew to investigate a mysterious alien force in “Star Trek”, a comedy special banned from TV “Mr. Mike’s Mondo Video”, and this year Walt Disney dusts off “Sleeping Beauty” for the Christmas season. In their “Dog of the Week” segment, Gene has a tipoff to a cheap ripoff “Arabian Adventure”, and Roger finds another film worth cutting up to make ukelele picks, “The Stud”.
In this edition of Take 2, Gene and Roger recall strong and vivid emotional experiences in the best films of the 70’s. Featured are discussions of “Last Tango in Paris” (1972), “An Unmarried Woman” (1978), “The Sorrow and the Pity”, “Apocalypse Now” (1979), “Annie Hall” (1977), “Amarcord” (1974), “ The Emigrants/The New Land”, and “Breaking Away” (1979).
Gene and Roger journey with this holiday season’s eagerly awaited big-budget Disney production “The Black Hole”, a man a woman and a horse in romantic comedy “The Electric Horseman”, Bob Fosse’s musical showbiz autobiography “All That Jazz”, Sean Connery is an aging mercenary fighting a lost cause in “Cuba”, three retired old men plan a robbery in “Going in Style”. In their “Dog of the Week” segment, Roger’s beach blanket ripoff “Roller Boogie” falls flat on its face, while Gene’s “Scavenger Hunt” finds a collection of trash.
In this edition of Take 2, Gene and Roger explore the different ways in which Hollywood has chosen to treat various aspects of Vietnam War. Featured are discussions of the only pro-war film about the war “The Green Berets” (1968), and post-war sentiments in “The Deer Hunter” (1978), “Apocalypse Now” (1979), “Hair” (1979), “Rolling Thunder” (1977), “Coming Home” (1978), and “Hearts and Minds” (1974).
Roger and Gene look back on the year 1979 and pick their top ten films which is not that hard for Gene considering it was an off year. Featured are discussion of “Breaking Away”, “Kramer vs. Kramer”, “The Marriage of Maria Braun”, “Manhattan”, “Apocalypse Now”, “Hair”, “Saint Jack”, “Time After Time” Plus, they each select their choices for “Dog of the Year”. Roger was blown away by “Hurricane” and Gene hopes the decades’ run of disaster films has come to an end with the bust “Beyond the Poseidon Adventure”.
In this special edition of Take 2, is it sight gags and slapstick or comedy that makes you laugh and think? Gene and Roger debate with film clips who is funnier: Mel Brooks or Woody Allen.
Gene and Roger start a new year and decade with the jealously voyeurism and sadism of “Windows”, the free-spirited beat generation in “Heart Beat”, Dick Van Dyke is a conflicted priest in “The Runner Stumbles”, and one woman struggles to confront her rapist in court in French film “Rape of Love”. For their “Dog of the Week” segment, Spot sniffs out Gene’s Omen-ripoff “The Godsend”, and Roger has anything but a “Silent Scream” for his gruesome disaster.
In this edition of Take 2, Gene and Roger give due to great performances and in some cases entire careers that have been overlooked and undervalued. Featured are discussions of John Cazale, Shelley Duvall, Genevieve Bujold, Martin Sheen, Malcolm McDowell, and Robert Mitchum.
Gene and Roger take a chance with Peter Sellers in satirical comedy “Being There”, John Carpenter is trying to scare us all over again with “The Fog”, Neil Simon adapts his autobiographical play “Chapter Two”, Richard Gere plays a male prostitute in “American Gigolo”, and “Fatso” is one of the most lightweight comedies of the year. In their “Dog of the Week” segment, Roger thinks “Guyana: Cult of the Damned” cheapens and exploits a true story, and Gene finds “The Bermuda Triangle” has all marketing and no answers from the fast-buck operators at Sunn Classic Pictures.
In this edition of Take 2, Gene and Roger compare differences between space movies of the 50’s and their re-invasion in the 1970’s. Featured are discussions of “Destination Moon” (1950), “The Day the Earth Stood Still” (1951), “2001: a space odyssey” (1968), “Star Wars” (1977), and “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” (1977).
Gene and Roger are intrigued to find out why George Segal and Natalie Wood are “The Last Married Couple in America”, Al Pacino’s new picture “Cruising” rides a wave of controversy into theaters, Ali MacGraw is a mistress scorned in “Just Tell Me What You Want”, John Ritter is a real-life superhero in “Hero at Large”, and Farrah Fawcett stars in sci-fi thriller “Saturn 3”. Spot leaps into the balcony to announce the “Dogs of the Week”, Gene’s chop-socky “A Force of One” alternates anti-drug messages and kicks to the groin, while Roger hones in on Spot’s jealousy of the big brave collie dog in “The Magic of Lassie”.
In this edition of Take 2, Gene and Roger pull back the curtain to show us just how they go to the movies as critics. From coming attraction commercials to expectations, press agents to screening rooms, then back to the office for a final review. We are invited along as they see the new comedy “The Black Marble”, plus they try to explain just how critics come to have their opinions.
Gene and Roger report on the thematic balancing act of WWII drama “Soldier of Orange”, Otto Preminger’s spy thriller “The Human Factor”, Sissy Spacek is more than just a “Coal Miner’s Daughter”, and Henry James’ conniving gold-diggers in “The Europeans”. In their “Dog of the Week” segment, Roger is repelled by Disney’s nasty PG-Animal House “Midnight Madness”, while Gene discovers the overwrought sequel nobody asked for “The Wilderness Family Part 2”.
Gene and Roger are back with their annual Academy Awards program. They survey nominees in the top five categories: Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Actress and Best Supporting Actor and Actress, and speculate on who the winners might be.
Gene and Roger check out the racetrack for old-fashioned remake “Little Miss Marker”, Marshall Brickman’s first solo effort “Simon”, two “Little Darlings” compete in summer camp shenanigans, the classic story of a boy and a magical horse “The Black Stallion”, and James Caan cannot find his kids in “Hide in Plain Sight”. In their “Dog of the Week” segment, Gene argues “Don’t Answer the Phone” or just don’t go see this movie, and “Last Rites” is the worst vampire movie Roger has ever seen.
Gene and Roger experience a critical year in the life of “Nijinsky”, a satirical dissection of Marin County in “Serial”, a young woman pursues “My Brilliant Career” turn-of-the-century Australia, four teenage “Foxes” grow up in a Los Angeles suburb, and George C. Scott moves into an old Seattle mansion in “The Changeling”. In their “Dog of the Week” segment, Roger finds a schlock in half-baked disaster “When Time Ran Out”, and Gene advises us to stay off “The Fifth Floor”
Gene and Roger investigate the north sea oil rigs due for hijacking in “Ffolkes”, Bill Murray plays Hunter S. Thompson “Where the Buffalo Roam”, intrigue finds romance and baby seals in “Nothing Personal”, Harvard college kids flirt with love during the Vietnam protest movement in “A Small Circle of Friends”, and Gary Busey falls in love with Annette O’Toole in“Foolin’ Around”. In their “Dog of the Week” segment, Gene finds an old Nazi “Death Ship” but the production goes overboard, and Roger digs through Roger Vadim’s trash-y exploitation “Night Games”.
Reviews of "Middle Age Crazy", "Those Lips, Those Eyes", "Ordinary People", and "Willie & Phil". Dogs of the week are "Satan’s Playthings", a.k.a. "Assault", and "The Mountain Men".
Reviews of "Stardust Memories", "Somewhere in Time", "Oh God! Book II", and "Coast to Coast". Dogs of the week are "He Knows You’re Alone" and "Caligula".
Reviews of "Private Benjamin", "Gloria", "Why Would I Lie?", and "Terror Train". Roger defines "The Idiot Plot". Dogs of the week are "Nightmare" and "Bloody Friday".
In this special episode, Gene and Roger take time out to discuss the recent trend of horror films that depict women falling victim to extreme violence, and try to warn viewers away from them. Featured are clips from 1978’s "I Spit on Your Grave" and "Halloween", 1979’s "The Silent Scream" and "When a Stranger Calls", and 1980’s "Friday the 13th", "Don’t Answer the Phone!", and "The Boogey Man". This episode was retitled "Women in Danger" in 2011 when it aired as a "from the vault" episode of "Ebert Presents: At The Movies".
Reviews of "Hopscotch", "It's My Turn", "Loving Couples", "The Elephant Man" and "Motel Hell". Dogs of the week are "Schizoid" and "The Exterminator".
Reviews of "The Awakening", "One Trick Pony", "The Stunt Man" and "The First Deadly Sin". Dogs of the week are "The Day After Halloween" and "Cheerleaders’ Wild Weekend".
Gene and Roger examine changing gender roles in Hollywood movies. Is it a real trend, or does it fall apart under scrutiny?
Reviews of "Fade to Black", "The Chant of Jimmy Blacksmith", "The Idolmaker", and "Every Man for Himself". Dogs of the week are "Walk of the Dead" and "Battle Beyond The Stars".
Reviews of four films, including "Times Square", "Borderline" and"Kagemusha".
Gene and Roger discuss recent gems that never got a fair chance at the box office (and one classic that did) for their fantasy movie theater. Recommendations for "The Conversation" (1974), "The Killing of a Chinese Bookie" (1976), "Real Life" (1979), "The Green Wall" (1970), "And Now My Love" (1975), "Happy New Year" (1973), and "Citizen Kane" (1941).
In this special episode, Gene and Roger examine one of the latest trends in movies: films about families.
The Christmas movie season begins, and Gene and Roger have seen the first week of films. Reviews of "Flash Gordon", "Stir Crazy", "Popeye", and "Bye-Bye Brazil". Dogs of the Week are "Alligator" and "If You Don't Stop It… You'll Go Blind!!!".
Four more big Christmas movies. Reviews of "Any Which Way You Can", "The Formula", "Raging Bull", and "Nine to Five". Dogs of the week are "The Immortal Bachelor" and "Mother’s Day".
Reviews of "The Jazz Singer", "Seems Like Old Times", "A Change of Seasons", and "Resurrection". Dogs of the week are "Invincible Devil" and "New Year’s Evil". Also, Gene and Roger give their final recommendations for Christmas movies.
Gene and Roger each enumerate their top ten films of the past year.
It's finally Spot the Wonder-Dog's time to shine as the worst widely-released films of the year are publicly shamed. Gene and Roger try to find the general trend. Dog of the year is "I Spit on Your Grave".
Gene and Roger take look at six low-budget American films made outside of the studio system. Featured are "Return of the Secaucus Seven", "Heartland", "The Whole Shootin’ Match", "The Haunting of M", "Impostors", and "Gal Young Un".
Reviews of "Scanners", "The Green Room", "The Mirror Crack’d", and "Altered States". Dogs of the week are "First Family" and "Mountain Family Robinson".
Reviews of "The Incredible Shrinking Woman", "Fort Apache, The Bronx", "The Devil and Max Devlin", "Melvin and Howard", and "Hangar 18". Dogs of the week are "The Cauldron of Death" and "11".
Reviews of "Eyewitness", "Tess", "The Competition", and "The Dogs of War". Dogs of the week are "Land of the Minotaur" and "The Last Challenge of the Dragon".
Reviews of "Sunday Lovers", "Falling in Love Again", "My Bloody Valentine", and "The Last Metro". Commentary on the Academy Award nominations. No "dogs" are featured this week.
Reviews of "Tribute", "La Cage aux Folles II", "Charlie Chan and the Curse of the Dragon Queen", "American Pop", and "The Day After Trinity". Dogs of the week are "The Gong Show Movie", and "Dragon on Fire".
This year, instead of predicting Academy Award winners, Gene and Roger go through the nominations and pick their choices for "bests", with surprising results.
Reviews of "Back Roads", "All Night Long", "The Postman Always Rings Twice", "Private Eyes", and "Galaxina". This week, Spot the Wonder-Dog brings us the worst nominations for The Academy Awards: Paul Zastupnevich for Costume Design on "When Time Ran Out" and James Crabe for Cinematography on "The Formula".
Reviews of "Thief", "The Final Conflict", "The Trials of Alger Hiss", and "Rockshow". Dogs of the week are "Dirty Tricks" and "Earthbound".
Gene and Roger discuss a troubling new trend in movies, as well as its possible causes.
Reviews of "Nighthawks", "Modern Romance", "Excalibur", "Heaven’s Gate", and the limited re-release of 1927’s silent classic "Napoleon". Dogs of the week are "Sphinx" and "Cheaper to Keep Her".
Reviews of "Hardly Working", "The Howling", "Breaker Morant", "Mon Oncle d’Amerique", and "Caveman". Dogs of the week are "Goin’ Ape" and the doglike practice of title changes for cash-grabs with "Communion" a.k.a. "Alice Sweet Alice" a.k.a. "Holy Terror".
Reviews of “Lion of the Desert”, “Tell Me a Riddle”, “Windwalker”, and “Friday the 13th Part II”. Dogs of the week are “Squeeze Play” and “Spaced Out”.
Reviews of “The Four Seasons”, “Bustin’ Loose”, “This is Elvis”, and “Atlantic City”. Dogs of the week are “Happy Birthday to Me” and scratch & sniff movies via Odorama with “Polyester”.
Reviews of “The Legend of the Lone Ranger”, “Death Hunt”, “Take this Job and Shove It”, and “Outland”. Dogs of the week are “The Fan” and “The Burning”.
Reviews of “Cheech and Chong’s Nice Dreams”, “High Risk”, “History of the World Part One”, and “Clash of the Titans”. Dogs of the week are “Final Exam” and “The Hand”.
Reviews of “Cutter’s Way”, “City of Women”, “I Sent a Letter to My Love”, and “Raiders of the Lost Ark”. Dogs of the week are “Dead & Buried” and “Screamers”.
Reviews of “Stripes”, “Eyes of a Stranger”, “The Cannonball Run”, and “Superman II”. Dogs of the week are “Bare Knuckles” and “It Came Without Warning”.
Reviews of "Dragonslayer", "The Great Muppet Caper", "For Your Eyes Only", and "S.O.B.". Dogs of the week are "Maniac" and "Beyond Evil".
Once again Gene and Roger defy expectations by each recommending three movies that defy logic. Gene recommends “High Risk (1981)”, “Bugsy Malone (1976)”, and “Private Parts (1972)”, and Roger recommends “Kill and Kill Again (1981)”, “Massacre at Central High (1976)”, and “Invasion of the Bee Girls (1973)”.
Reviews of “On the Right Track”, “Gates of Heaven”, “The Fox and the Hound”, “Escape from New York”, and “Force: Five”. Dogs of the week are “Dirt” and “Demonoid”.
Reviews of “Arthur”, “Endless Love”, “Zorro, The Gay Blade”, and “Blow Out”. Dogs of the week are “Blood Beach” and “Super Power”.
Reviews of “Eye of the Needle”, “Wolfen”, “From Mao to Mozart”, and “Tarzan the Ape Man” Spot the Wonder-Dog has the week off.
Reviews of “Victory”, “Condorman”, “Loulou”, and “Under the Rainbow”. Dogs of the week are “Terror House” and “Firecracker”.
Reviews of “Continental Divide”, “Only When I Laugh”, “Body Heat”, “Mommie Dearest”, and “First Monday in October”. Gene and Roger introduce Sparky the Wonder-Dog, whose dogs of the week are “Hollywood High Part 2” and “Chu Chu and the Philly Flash”.
Reviews of “Carbon Copy”, “Prince of the City”, and “The French Lieutenant’s Woman”
Reviews of “Rich and Famous”, “So Fine”, “Gallipoli”, “True Confessions”, and “Cattle Annie and Little Britches”. Dogs of the week are “The Kinky Coaches and the Pom Pom Pussycats” and “A Hard Way to Die”.
Gene and Roger discuss movies directed at adolescent audiences.
Reviews of “…All the Marbles”, “Southern Comfort”, “Stevie”, and “Chariots of Fire”. Dogs of the week are “Fantasies” and “Hell Night”.
Reviews of “Body and Soul” and “Looker”
Reviews of “The Watcher in the Woods”, “Halloween II”, “Priest of Love”, and “Chanel Solitaire”. Dogs of the week are “Fear No Evil” and “Ms. 45”.
Reviews of “Time Bandits”, “The Woman Next Door”, “Man of Iron”, and “The Pursuit of D.B. Cooper”. Dogs of the week are “Lovers and Liars” and “Haunts”.
Reviews of “Tattoo” and “Raggedy Man”.
Reviews of “The Onion Field” (1979), “Fingers” (1978), “Bye-Bye Brazil” (1979), “Stroszek” (1977), “The Chant of Jimmy Blacksmith” (1978), and “Gates of Heaven” (1978). Sparky the Wonder-Dog has the week off; no dogs this week.
Reviews of “Absence of Malice”, “Buddy, Buddy”, “Pixote”, and “Ragtime”. Roger’s dog of the week is “The 7 Grandmasters”, but Gene’s pick ,“Adios Amigo”, turned out to be unexpectedly enjoyable.
Reviews of “Heartbeeps”, the re-release of 1950’s “Cinderella”, “Taps”, and “Taxi Zum Klo”. Sparky the Wonder-Dog visits on his day off (no dogs this week) so Gene and Roger can recap the holiday season's movies that are worth seeing.
Once again, Gene and Roger each share their picks for the top ten films of the past year. There was also a special mention of the re-release of the 1927 silent classic “Napoleon”. Since many the films were still in theaters, this episode was repeated (with newly recorded "bookends") on April 1st.
The worst widely-released, disappointing and inexplicable films of the year.
Reviews of “Whose Life is it, Anyway?”, “Four Friends”, “On Golden Pond”, and “Modern Problems”. Dogs of the week are “The Children” and “Jack the Ripper”.
Reviews of “Zoot Suit”, “Venom”, “The Border”, and “Personal Best”. Dogs of the week are “Vice Squad” and “Jaws of the Black Dragon”.
Reviews of “Cannery Row”, “The Boat is Full”, “Soldier Girls”, and “Making Love”. Dogs of the week are “Private Lessons” and “Super Fuzz”.
Reviews of “Shoot the Moon”, “Night Crossing”, “Montenegro”, and “One From the Heart”. Sparky comes to visit on his day off, as Gene and Roger take the Academy to task over two actors with historic performances who were snubbed this year.
Reviews of “Evil Under the Sun”, “Union City”, “The Amateur”, and “Quest for Fire”. Dogs of the week are “The Creeper”, originally titled “Rituals” (1977), and “Nightmare County” (1977).
Reviews of “The Seduction”, “Vernon, Florida”, “Ticket to Heaven”, and “Missing”. Sparky again comes in on his day off, as Gene and Roger discuss a new Academy Awards category.
Reviews of “Porky’s”, “El Salvador, Another Vietnam”, “Deathtrap”, “Richard Pryor, Live on the Sunset Strip”, and “Das Boot”. Dogs of the week are “Madman” and “Great White”.
Gene opened the show with a review of Neil Simon's "I Ought to Be in Pictures" which Roger thought was redeemed by good performances, but Gene thought was sappy and silly. Neither liked the Chuck Norris science fiction horror adventure "Silent Rage" which they both thought was ridiculous. They split on "Victor/Victoria", Roger thought it was stylish and fun while Gene thought it was unfunny and over-wrought. They were both enthusiastic about the remake of "Cat People. Plus, for the "Dogs of the Week" segment, Roger chose the college campus horror picture "Mark of the Witch" and Gene chose "Strange Behavior".
Reviews of “Circle of Deceit”, “The Kirlian Witness”, the revival of Walt Disney’s “Fantasia”, and “Diva”. Gene and Roger both stumbled upon the same dog this week, “The Beast Within”.
Reviews of “Death Wish II”, “Gaijin”, “If You Could See What I Hear”, and “Swamp Thing”. Dogs of the week are “Blonde Ambition” and “The Grim Reaper”.
Reviews of “The Sword and the Sorcerer”, “Partners”, “Christiana F.”, and “Conan the Barbarian”. Dogs of the week are “The Beach Girls” and “The Senior Snatch”.
Gene and Roger are “…spotlighting six excellent movies that we believe the public, film studios, and sometimes even the critics have overlooked unfairly”. Roger’s picks are “Cattle Annie and Little Britches” (1981), “Over the Edge” (1979), and “Swamp Thing” (1982), and Gene’s picks are “Go Tell the Spartans” (1978), “The Wanderers” (1979), and “Agatha” (1979). No dogs this week.
Roger opens the show with a negative review of the Steve Martin comedy “Dead Man Don’t Wear Plaid”, Gene agreed. Neither liked “Rocky III”, which they both thought lost the colorful writing and intimate details that made the two previous installments. They review two Steven Spielberg productions, first was “Poltergeist”, which Roger gave a moderate recommendation due to the special effects, and Gene disliked because he thought it failed at being scary or even entertaining. However both were very enthusiastic about “E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial”, which they thought was one of the best films of the year. Plus, in the “Dogs of the Week” segment, Roger selected the vigilante fantasy called “Fighting Back”, and Gene selects the Sean Connery journalism drama called “Wrong is Right” which he dismisses as a crushing bore.
Reviews of “Hanky Panky”, “Annie”, “Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan”, and “Grease 2”. Dogs of the week are “Visiting Hours” and Universal Pictures for withdrawing “Barbarosa”, according to Roger, “before it ever had a chance to really prove itself”.
Reviews of “Author! Author!”, “Burden of Dreams”, “A Week’s Vacation”, and “Firefox”. Dogs of the week are “Mystagogue Superman” and “The Swinging Wife” (1974).
Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert review Blade Runner (1982), Chan Is Missing (1982), Eight Minutes to Midnight: A Portrait of Dr. Helen Caldicott (1981) and Diner (1982).
Reviews of “Megaforce”, “The Atomic Café”, “The Weavers: Wasn’t That a Time”, and “The Thing”. Sparky the Wonder-Dog has the week off, so Gene and Roger can address the record summer at the box-office by talking about “E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial”.
Reviews of “The Secret of Nimh”, “The Devil’s Playground”, “Gregory’s Girl”, and “Tron”. Dogs of the week, introduced by a debuting Zeke, are “Humongous” and “Vanessa”.
Reviews of “Young Doctors in Love”, “The Aviator’s Wife”, “A Midsummer Night’s Sex Comedy”, and “The World According to Garp”. Dogs of the week are “Garden of the Dead” and “Seed of Terror” a.k.a. “Grave of the Vampire”.
Reviews of “Night Shift”, “Smash Palace”, “Xica da Silva”, and “An Officer and a Gentleman”. Dogs of the week are “Dracula’s Last Rites” and “Enter the Ninja”.
Reviews of “The Road Warrior”, “Sisters”, “The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas”, and the re-release of “Barbarosa”, unceremoniously pulled from theaters just weeks earlier. Roger’s dogs of the week is “Frankenstein Island”, but Gene’s pick, “The Challenge” was a pleasant surprise to him and definitely not a dog.
Two film critics, Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel, introduce their new show: "Opening Soon...At a Theatre Near You." They discuss the Chicago Film Festival and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975). They review current and upcoming releases such as "Dog Day Afternoon". Each pick a Dog of the Month: Gene's Pick: "Lisztomania". Roger's Pick: "Mahogany".
Gene and Roger review Martin Scorsese's haunting character study "Taxi Driver"... John Huston's action adventure adaptation of "The Man Who Would Be King" ... the warm family drama "Hester Street"... and Francois Truffaut's "The Story of Adele H." Their "Dog of the Week" picks are "The Devil Within Her" and "Manson".
