At The Movies Retrospective

After 24 years on syndicated television, At The Movies, the landmark film criticism show will air its final episode this week. Better known to many for its runs as Siskel and Ebert and Ebert and Roeper, the show accomplished a rare feat in its prime, in that it made middle America at least somewhat interested in what stuffy, pretentious film critics had to say.

In its time, the show went through four major hosting formats (aside from those listed above, the show also featured hosting duos Ben Lyons and Ben Mankiewicz, and Michael Phillips and A.O. Scott). To pay homage, I will run a four-part series ranking my favorite ATM duos from worst to best starting tomorrow.

I don’t assume many of our readers will have a great deal of interest in this series, but as a long-time fan of the show (as well as a pretentious asshole in love with his own opinions) I feel compelled to recap the program which I’ve watched since I was a kid. Also, now that this is a salaried gig ($3/post), I’d be a fool not to stockpile content.

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