I Miss Siskel and Ebert

I have loved movies for most of my life. Even before I could go to movies by myself, I would read the movie pages of the newspaper with great interest – “Wow, this Rocky Horror Picture Show must really be scary, they play it every weekend!” As a child of no more than ten or so, I discovered Siskel and Ebert on PBS. Their show, “Sneak Previews” was filled with intelligent discussions about movies, and I made sure to watch it every week. They discussed movies with passion and insight, and I loved it.

I remember their commentary back then as being more in-depth than it was on later shows. Their clips would be longer and they would cover only two or three movies in an hour. The conversations were allowed to flow without the start and stop of commercials. I may be building it up into more than it was, but these are what my eight to twelve-year-old memories recalled, and clearly it was good enough to capture the hearts of America, because the two men started showing up on the Tonight Show (hosted by a really nice old man named Johnny) and the next thing you knew they had jumped to commercial television.

The style and content of the show changed a bit (for the worse), but Siskel and Ebert continued to be passionate about movies. “Thumbs up” and “Thumbs down” became synonymous with their movie reviews. I didn’t love the new show quite as much as the old one. The discussions were briefer, and they seemed intent on covering more movies per half hour, but now with time for commercials in-between. They also started reviewing videos as they came out. The commentary was less intense, but I appreciated their views. I was seeing several movies a month at this point, and found myself mainly in agreement with Siskel, except about popcorn/action movies, which Ebert had a better eye for.

When Siskel died, I was quite sad. It was hard for me to watch the show without him. I never really warmed up to the new guy, Roeper. I still watched on occasion, but the “Ebert & Roeper” never made my Tivo list. Roeper simply wasn’t the same kind of counterbalance, and he hadn’t been around when I was ten years old. He did nothing for me.

When Ebert went in for surgery, I didn’t expect it to permanently take him off the air, but after the sudden death of Siskel I did start worrying. I started watching the show again for a while, mainly to see the wonderful array of guest hosts that filled in for him those first few months. Kevin Smith and Harold Ramis were the most interesting to me. Eventually the film geeks went away and Roeper was joined by other film critics of varying quality. I lost interest again.

Now, because Ebert still cannot speak after over two years and may never be able to speak again, Ebert and Roeper have officially been replaced by a pair of slick-looking young men who are telegenic, but don’t have any real film review credibility. I have no desire to see them. Roeper will surely land somewhere, with Ebert helping out behind the scenes, but it too will be a pale imitation of the old show. The days of Siskel and Ebert sitting across the aisle from each other, trading film observations and insults, is gone. I, for one, miss it. I take some comfort in the fact that Ebert still writes reviews, and I hope that he keeps at it for a long time, but for me it will never be the same as his conversations / arguments with Siskel.

Little House on Reunion Road

The dirt swells up into a plume and flies past the frame
Of the half-built home across the street
Scouring the carpenters and laborers
Who have been pounding since five in the morning
Their faces covered with bandannas or masks
They resolutely continue to hammer

Construction debris and fast food wrappers
Collect in the backyard
Every few days someone shows up to take it all away
Every few days another house gets finished
Another neighbor travels deep into the desert
Miles from grocery stores and fast food
But freeway close to the two cities that divide my life
Tucson and Phoenix
An estranged couple
Grudgingly working their way together
For the sake of the commerce

When the wind shifts just right
You can smell the cows crapping
Stinking up the dairy farm down the road
We are under strict instructions to change the filters once a month
Otherwise the new air conditioner won’t last three years
Straining under the weight of the dust
That drifts down and around and through us
Leaving me with a wheeze that never quits
But is never quite bad enough to deserve attention

I have been planted in this middle class married
Double income no kids consumption driven world
I am surrounded by stuff
Too much stuff to keep track of
I need a home to house the stuff
I need a job to keep the home
I need a car to keep the job
I need loans to pay for it all

There are no street lights
At night the sky is full of stars
And it is so quiet my ears start to rumble
My wife and I can relax
Catch up
Connect
And I am not quite so worried about it all
It’s a good house
Comfortable
It’s a place to build a future
We can do that
As long as I can keep up