The Tribune Years – 1983
The Best of 1982
The Stinkers of 1982
Winners That Were Losers
Dueling Critics
If We Picked the Oscars
The Secret of ‘Star Wars’ (with promos)
The Secret of ‘Star Wars’
Gene Siskel Reports on Return of the Jedi
Blue Thunder, Return of the Jedi, Breathless, La Traviata
Spacehunter: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone, Tough Enough, WarGames, Harlequin
XTRO, Octopussy, Hollywood Outtakes, La Truite, Angelo My Love
The Man with Two Brains, Superman III, Trading Places, Psycho II
Twilight Zone: The Movie, The Evil Dead, The Survivors, The Grey Fox, The Ruling Class
Porky’s II: The Next Day, Stroker Ace, Eddie Macon’s Run, Mr. Hulot’s Holiday, They Don’t Wear Black Tie
A Star Is Born (1954), National Lampoon’s Vacation, Class, Staying Alive, Krull
Teenage Sex Movies
The Bold New Sexuality in Movies
Pryor to Murphy
Eddie and the Cruisers, Strange Invaders, Daniel, Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence
Dial “H” for Hitchcock
Never Cry Wolf, Rumble Fish, Heat and Dust, Educating Rita
Deal of the Century, Richard Pryor Here and Now, Testament, The Dead Zone, The Osterman Weekend
James Bond
A Christmas Story, Star 80, Running Brave, Streamers (incomplete)
Top 10 Videocassettes in the Country
Nate and Hayes, A Night in Heaven, The Big Score, Terms of Endearment, Danton
Amityville 3-D, Yentyl, Scarface, Mickey’s Christmas Carol
Christine, Silkwood, Sudden Impact, Thriller
D.C. Cab, Two of a Kind, The Man Who Loved Women, The Keep
Never Say Never Again
I was also wondering if you have the episode for Siskel and Ebert for this all time movie classic:
The Outsiders (1983)…probably my most favorite film because you have people in there like: Tom Cruise, Emilio Estevez, Ralph Macchio, Patrick Swayze, Matt Dillon, Rob Lowe, Diane Lane, C. Thomas Howell just to name a few
While I don’t know that we have the full episode listings for 1983, it appears that Siskel and Ebert did not review Strange Brew on their show (the movie apparently was released in late August, during the period at the end of the season when pre-taped “special” shows would typically run). I also cannot find an Ebert print review. This becomes even more curious due to the claim that Siskel and Ebert were offered roles in Strange Brew, which they obviously turned down. The original source for this claim is unknown by me, but it was printed in the Washington Post Strange Brew review from Aug. 26, 1983, so maybe it was in the press notes for the movie, or perhaps Moranis/Thomas mentioned it during their press tour. Did Siskel write a review for Strange Brew? Not sure, as most of the old Tribune stuff is behind the paywall. But he did make a comment during a later interview piece with Rick Moranis, in which Siskel referred to “the disastrous Strange Brew, Head Office and Club Paradise.”
I think I seem to recall Gene giving it a negative review.
You’re correct on the date for Gene’s review. Also, Gene gave the film two stars.
As for Roger, his review is also dated for Aug 26th, and he actually gave it three stars, with the headline of: “Strange Brew”: Hoser Hilarity.
Were you able to find that Ebert Strange Brew review online? Googling didn’t work for me, and I also couldn’t find it on the official Ebert site. I was under the impression that all of Ebert’s print reviews from that era were available on the official site, but maybe they aren’t?
I found Roger’s review off of an online newspaper archive. It’s behind a paywall though. I do have access to all of Gene’s print reviews from the Tribune through my library. Many of Roger’s print reviews and commentaries aren’t posted on his website, and are also missing from his books (e.g. Joe, The Funhouse, The Entity, Megaforce, The Beastmaster, Village of The Damned, Dracula Dead and Loving It, to name a few), even though he did write them. I also noticed that Roger’s website is missing a lot of his reviews from certain years (e.g. 1977). Some of Roger’s online print reviews are also inaccurate in their star ratings.
Jesse, what newspaper have you found those missing Ebert reviews in? Do you have copies of them in text already? I’d like to post as many of the reviews “missing” from his web site as we can find either here on this site or somewhere else. I think Big is another one that’s in his books but missing from his web site. And if you can share a full list of the “missing” reviews you know about, and any with incorrect star ratings, that would be great.
Roger’s reviews were nationally syndicated so quite a few papers printed his reviews. I just searched online newspaper databases using certain keywords. However, because such databases require payment, I can only search for and view snippets from an archived page. Sometimes such searches can be laborious but they are often worth it.
It appears that the digitized archives of the Suntimes only go back from 1986 to present, although my library does offer it for free; but I don’t know how complete this source is.
A few commentators on Roger’s website have said that some of his online reviews are erroneous in their star ratings. I did some digging and off the top of my head, reviews with erroneous ratings include: Pale Rider, The Sword and the Sorcerer, The Tempest, and Erendira.
There are lots of reviews that are from his books but not found on his website, such as: The Watcher in the Woods, My Tutor, Explorers, Exposed, D.A.R.Y.L., The Dogs of War, Lords of Discipline, Extremities, The Emerald Forest, The Spy Who Loved Me, and more.
And there are lots of reviews that he either wrote capsule or full-length reviews for but are not included on his website and books: Inchon, Some Kind Of Hero, The Ice Pirates, The Missouri Breaks, The Wind And The Lion, Looker, Nasty Habits, Black Sunday, The Bad News Bears Go To Japan, Hammett, Murder By Death, Rollercoaster, Demon Seed, The Cassandra Crossing, The Other Side of Midnight, Macarthur, The Eagle Has Landed, and more.
When I have time, I will try to find Roger’s review for Dracula: Dead and Loving It. I believe I came across that one through my library’s online database. Roger also contributed to the Film Comment magazine, so I will see if I can find those again. I have been busy but I will post more when I find more time.