I used to watch “Siskel & Ebert,” and later “Ebert & Roeper,” religiously. Not because I was ever a heavy moviegoer, but because I was curious about what what going on in the popular culture and I wanted to know what movies to rent when they came to video. Later, after welcoming two babies into my family, watching a show about movies became a nice escape from the cold reality of many years without any movie-theater viewing whatsoever.
When Ebert left the balcony due to surgery complications that robbed him of his ability to speak (but not write — he’s still reviewing movies and even blogging), I kept on watching. Ebert’s partner, Richard Roeper, had grown on me. And I still needed to know about the movies that were arriving in theaters.
Recently the Ebert & Roeper train came to an end, their program altered by its distributor into a movie-slash-entertainment plugfest hosted by two gibbons. As I removed the show from my Season Pass list, I mourned a little bit.
So here’s the good news: I’ve found a replacement. “The Rotten Tomatoes Show” on Current TV isn’t the same show as Ebert and Roeper’s show, not by a mile. It only covers a handful of movies a week, and it’s a week late in covering them. And yet, I love it.
Here’s how “The Rotten Tomatoes Show” fulfills me: It’s an half-hour show about movies that fills me with knowledge about the latest releases while keeping me entertained. Hosts Ellen Fox and Brett Erlich are smart and funny — and Erlich’s penchant for wearing classic “Real Genius” t-shirts suggests that he is a man with impeccable movie taste. (That’s International Order for Gorillas up there.)
The show itself works like this: The hosts watch three new movies, and solicit video comments from the users of RottenTomatoes.com and Current TV. Each review, a montage of the hosts’ and viewers’ comments, encapsulates the movie pretty well, and many are laugh-out-loud funny. When all is said and done, the show also reveals the movie’s final Tomatometer score, indicating the critical consensus for the flick. In addition, there are reviews of new DVDs, reviews in haiku and DVD form, and a weekly list on silly topics like the best monsters or best car chases in the history of film.
So… smart and funny people talking about movies? I’m sold. Is “The Rotten Tomatoes Show” going to change the world? No, no it’s not. But as a replacement for the late, lamented “Ebert & Roeper,” It’ll do nicely.
(“The Rotten Tomatoes Show” premieres Thursdays at 10:30 on Current TV, located on DirecTV 358, Dish Network 196, and Comcast 107, and then repeats endlessly throughout the week.)
"I used to watch 'Siskel & Ebert,' and later 'Ebert & Roeper,' religiously."
First time I met Pat Sajak, I told him how my mom watched "Wheel" religiously.
"Tell her she should get a new religion," he replied.
Sajak is a wise man.
Have I told you of all the benefits of Ebertism, Ben?
I made it through about twenty seconds of the Rotten Tomatoes show before I changed the channel in horror. I may have hit a bad twenty seconds, though.
I never understood why Ebert chose Roeper as the replacement for Siskel. Roeper's a dweeb. It's as if Paul and John split up the Beatles and Paul started working with the Captain and Tennille. Watching Roeper's continuing the show without Roger was like listening to the solo recordings by the other guy from Wham!.
Roger should've gone with Ihnatko. Just for the hat.
Roger gave Real Genius 3.5 stars. Tomatometer says: N/A.
Nice review and consistent with what I think about the show.
Good chemistry with the hosts ... Brett Erlich and Ellen Fox ... (very foxy!)
Both love movies, both are excellent writers and comedians.
I understand Ellen wrote movie reviews for New City News and the Chicago Tribune when she was based in Chicago along with doing Improv.
My family always makes it a "must see" on Thursday.
Now that I found this interesting and informative site ... I'll check in again ...