At the Movies (TV Series)

Silver Bullet/Twice in a Lifetime/Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins/Dim Sum (1985)

Gene Siskel: Self - Host

Quotes 

• Roger Ebert : [reviewing "Remo Williams"]  I give it a near miss, though, Gene.

  Gene Siskel : [amused]  I can't believe THIS!

  Roger Ebert : I'll tell you why: I think it's too long, it takes too long to end, it should've been compressed, it's a great idea, a good character, fabulous stunts, it just needs to be boiled down a little bit. It's just too strung out.

  Gene Siskel : And this is the man, ladies and gentlemen, who gives a "yes" vote to "SIlver Bullet" and thumbs down to this fine movie, "Remo Williams".

  Roger Ebert : And I stand behind both of those votes, and I would be happy to meet you after the show and help you a little bit with your, uh, film reasoning.

  Gene Siskel : And I recommend that you stand WELL behind both of those votes.

• Gene Siskel : [reviewing "Silver Bullet"]  Now, if I told you everything that was wrong with this movie, we wouldn't have any time left for any of the other films on this show. One, the story is not credible. Two, the characters are laughable. Three, the child's ailment is exploited. Four, people escape dangerous situations simply through an edit to them being safe. Five, the identity of the werewolf is tipped in the first five minutes. If you can't figure out who the werewolf is, you never should go into a movie theater. Six, there is needless and hilarious narration by the young girl there as an adult, played like she's sixty years old and only it's nine years later. I think I'll take a breath, stop, and leave Roger to name number seven, eight, nine, ten, and eleven that are wrong with this movie.

  Roger Ebert : Gene, I'm going to astonish you. I'm giving this movie thumbs up as a comedy. I think you totally missed the point, and I don't know why you missed the point, because I was sitting four people away from you in the theater...

  Gene Siskel : Yes. Yes.

  Roger Ebert : ...And I haven't heard you laugh harder in the last two years at a movie. I think you have to look at "Silver Bullet" in the same way that you look at "Airplane!" as a satire of "Airport", "Top Secret!" as a satire of spy movies. This movie is such a hilarious parody of the entire Stephen King genre that in some demented way, it's a comic masterpiece.

  Gene Siskel : And Roger, if I could tell you, if I could believe that, you know, I, I felt it might be going that way...

  Roger Ebert : I hope you do believe I'm telling you the truth.

  Gene Siskel : I believe that you say that. But I'm telling you this: That if I could have that certified in some way that the people who made this with the intention to spoof all the time, then I would say, okay, you got something there. But here's what I don't think...

  Roger Ebert : [interrupting]  Oh, I don't think, I don't think you need...

  Gene Siskel : No no no.

  Roger Ebert : ...A certificate, because I don't think it's possible to make a movie this bad by accident. I think...

  Gene Siskel : Oh no.

  Roger Ebert : ...The people who made this movie...

  Gene Siskel : Yeah? What about "Porky's"?

  Roger Ebert : They knew exactly...

  Gene Siskel : What about "Porky's"?

  Roger Ebert : "Porky's" is not this bad or this good or this funny. This movie heads right down the middle of parody in the entire Stephen King thing.

  Gene Siskel : I think the stuff involving the kid in the wheelchair was, is not a parody. I don't think that's a parody.

  Roger Ebert : I think it is, and I think the fact...

  Gene Siskel : [interrupting]  I don't think the...

  Roger Ebert : ...The proof that it's a parody is that it's a souped-up wheelchair that goes sixty miles an hour.

  Gene Siskel : I think the rape of the woman is not a parody.

  Roger Ebert : That is, that is, very, I think you're over-exaggerating that. That is a very mild scene as horror movies go, and you know that.

  Gene Siskel : Uh, that's a pretty rough scene. I was surprised to see that so early on.

  Roger Ebert : Well in that case, maybe...

  Gene Siskel : Let's put it this way. I don't even want to say "let the audience decide". If you go to this one, it's his fault, not mine.

  Roger Ebert : Okay, I'll take the blame. I'll take the blame.