Ebert Presents...... A Head Scratcher

I've been a fan of Roger Ebert for nearly 30 years, ever since At the Movies premiered in syndication back in 1982. He and his partner Gene Siskel were respected Chicago journalists who had a friendly yet competitive rapport that made film criticism accessible to everyone, even a 12-year-old, as I was at the time. With their trademark Thumbs Up, Thumbs Down approach, the pair avoided the pretentious, scholarly approach other critics employed. They cared about what the public cared about - did it have an engaging story, were the characters unique and above all, was it an entertaining way to spend a Saturday night.

The duo brought that straight-forwardness into the nation's living rooms every week for 17 years, right up until Siskel died from a brain tumor at just 53 in 1999. Ebert continued the tradition (with Richard Roeper) until thyroid cancer took his voice and sidelined him in 2006.

Roeper soldiered on with guest critics until 2008 when he was replaced by TCM's Ben Mankiewicz and 27-year-old Ben Lyons, son of film critic Jeffrey Lyons. The pairing proved disastrous as Lyons' inexperience and credibility were constantly questioned (even Ebert publicly decried him). The more-seasoned critics Michael Phillips and A.O. Scott quickly replaced them but the ratings weren't there anymore. After 28 years, At the Movies quietly closed it balcony for good in August 2010.

Needless to say I was pretty excited to hear that Ebert himself was bringing back a re-tooled At the Movies that would return the show to its past glory. Ebert would even offer a review, a computer returning the voice he lost five years earlier.

Ebert Presents: At the Movies premiered last weekend on PBS affiliates and features Christy Lemire of the Associated Press and 24-year-old Ignatiy Vishnevetsky of something called Mubi.com as its co-hosts and primary reviewers. I'd never heard of either and based on the first episode, their notoriety won't improve for the better. Lemire is reminiscent of a perky soccer mom who's trying too hard to dazzle her kids' friends with movie knowledge and Vishnevetsky is virtually a carbon copy of Ben Lyons, unabashedly gushing over the artistic merits of films like The Green Hornet and The Dilemma. The two act like mother and son transmitting their own public-access review show from the family basement.

In between current films being reviewed, the new show features various film professionals and bloggers from around the country. The premiere episode featured blogger Kim Morgan discussing, rather articulately, the merits of Carol Reed's classic The Third Man. On other shows of its type, a classic film is usually showcased because it's celebrating an anniversary or being released on disc. As neither was alluded to in the segment, it's kind of unclear why it was chosen.

Finally it was time for Ebert's contribution. Instead of a computer-voiced Ebert, we got director Werner Herzog reading an Ebert-penned review of My Dog Tulip. Herzog's heavy German accent was so distracting, think Arnold Schwarzenegger, it was impossible to focus on any of the words coming out of his mouth. I'm not sure, but I think Ebert liked the movie. What's next week, Jean-Pierre Jeunot reviewing The Last Rite?

I commend Roger Ebert for trying to revive an institution like At the Movies. If anyone could return it to its former glory, it's the guy who invented the thing. The blogger segment and celebrity-read Ebert review are passable but the show has to start and end with a pair of experienced and respected reviewers. Why he chose a kid five years younger than Ben Lyons is beyond me. The majority of young people (18-34) don't care about film reviews and certainly don't watch public television. I'm sorry, but Ignatiy Vishnevetsky isn't going to change that. Film-review programs appeal to mature viewers who care more about quality than crudeness and violence. They like established critics, think Phillips and Scott, who work for established publications. Until that happens, it's thumbs down to Ebert Presents: At the Movies.