November
14
At the Movies: Stopping the Two Bens
My Sunday night At the Movies habit is so deeply ingrained that I keep watching, even when it's a train wreck. The film discourse between the two new young hosts, Ben Lyons and Ben Mankiewicz, is dismayingly shallow. A new website has launched devoted to getting rid of Lyons. And one of the show's co-founders, Chicago Sun-Times critic Roger Ebert, who had to leave the telecast because he lost his voice, has posted a list of dos and don'ts for would-be critics. It's not a stretch to figure out one target for this critics' primer. UPDATE: efilmcritic's Erik Childress is running a Lyons quote of the week on his CriticWatch blog.
E! Entertainment's Lyons, for one, loves running photos in his blog of himself posing at the Toronto Film fest with stars like Keira Knightley. He once came up with this sage line: "I love women in real life, but I hated 'The Women.'" And he chose as one of his picks-of-the-week--usually saved for pointing viewers at things they should not fail to miss-- the trailer for the upcoming vampire flick Twilight. The now-you-see-it-now-you-don't critics' corner, which has been disparaged in many quarters, has not yet been killed off entirely, it seems. One of its stronger participants, IFC's Matt Singer, says he has been scheduled to shoot another one.
Ratings have plummeted, by as much as 20 %, depending on the demo. But the show's producer, David Plummer, denies that At the Movies ever approached former host Richard Roeper to return. For one thing, it was Roeper's choice not to renew his contract. (Roeper could not be reached for comment.) He's been working on setting up his own syndicated show. As to rumors about replacing Lyons or Mankiewicz, "that story has no merit," said Disney ABC.
Meanwhile Ebert remains a powerful print and internet presence, and has added his trademark thumbs up and down (which Disney ABC failed to retain for the show) to his blog.
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Relatedly, I'm very annoyed with the AFI Film Festival:
http://www.mcnblogs.com/thehotblog/archives/2008/11/afi_jury_awards.html#comments
Posted by: T. Holly | November 14, 2008 at 01:45 PM
haha. Oh geez
Posted by: UGLY PUNK GURL! | November 14, 2008 at 02:09 PM
Ben Mankiewicz is actually not half bad; he's got a good Siklian cynic's streak and a real gift of the gab (from his radio chops). Had hey teamed him up with someone a little bit more intellectually challenging, a la Joe Morgenstern or Anthony Lane, the ratings might not be better, but the experience for those of us TiVoing would.
Posted by: Brian | November 15, 2008 at 05:58 PM
The show sucks and the original cannot be replaced. Ebert and Roeper are pro's--these guys will never be anything but wannabes..lame!
Posted by: Jessica | November 15, 2008 at 07:35 PM
" As to rumors about replacing Lyons or Mankiewicz, 'that story has no merit,' said Disney ABC."
Well, I am not sure if this is a rumor or just wishful thinking and an assumption that at some point Disney will get a clue. Apparently, that might be a while.
Posted by: Scott | November 15, 2008 at 11:11 PM
When I saw what this post was about, I was kind of surprised that it didn't even mention Erik Childress' excellent CriticsWatch on Efilmcritic which has been calling out the fauxs and phonies for many years, and immediately jumped on the two Bens fiasco with something called "Ben Lyons Quote of the Week."
http://www.efilmcritic.com/feature.php?feature=2588
That website that launched is a mere pretender to the thrown of Childress' snarky ability to take his fellow critics down for their silly and pretentious quotes.
Posted by: Edward Douglas | November 16, 2008 at 02:10 PM
Edward, thanks for pointing out my oversight. Childress is on the mark.
Posted by: Anne Thompson | November 16, 2008 at 05:44 PM
Just like in other parts of society, there is a generational shift going on at "At the Movies." Not surprisingly, change often brings resistance or, as the kids like to say, "haters." (Hell, even Ebert has a blog.)
To that end, I am not sure I understand the criticism of Lyons drawing attention to the groundswell being created online (and off) about "Twilight." The buzz being generated is largely building among (gasp!) young people and this weekend's opening is predicted to be huge. God forbid a show about movies should point that out. What a couple of knuckleheads.
"Dismayingly shallow," you say? We're talking about movie reviews here, right? Not Kierkegaard. "Role Models," "Zack and Miri Make a Porno," "Soul Men." Thanks, Hollywood, for upping the intellectual ante. (By the way, and example of this shallowness might have been instructive.)
Give the show's hosts some time to find their sea legs. Mankiewicz is a pro's pro, offers wry opinions and always has a defensible take. You may not agree, but you always know where he's coming from. The purpose of critics' shows like this one is twofold: A) let people know what's out there and whether it sucks or not and, B) start a conversation surrounding both the movies they're talking about and the show itself.
Mission accomplished on both counts.
Posted by: Clearcast Digital Media | November 17, 2008 at 07:47 AM
Ben Lyons is a joke, plain and simple. He is a shallow, fame-obsessed Valley Dude whose "critiques" of films are laughble at best. I no longer watch "At the Movies," and I know I'm not alone. Memo to Disney: FIRE BEN LYONS!
Posted by: KVS | December 29, 2008 at 12:57 PM