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Tuesday, July 22, 2008

A&E The new team for 'At the Movies': Ben Squared?

Posted by David Lee Simmons on Tue, Jul 22, 2008 at 9:36 PM

Well, it’s official: the new hosts have been selected for the venerable movie-review show “At the Movies,” and the selections are, at best, not terribly inspiring. I don’t mean that as a personal or even necessarily professional dig at “E! News” fixture Ben Lyons or Turner Classic Movies weekend host Ben Mankiewicz, who were chosen to replace Pulitzer Prize winner Roger Ebert and his cardboard-cutout co-host Richard Roeper. (Ebert's been ill for years, and wants to focus on his writing.)

Ebert is a legend who invented the show with his Chicago newspaper rival Gene Siskel; the two helped redefine the whole notion of film criticism with the show and its popular “thumbs-up/thumbs-down” gimmick, and was a success even after Siskel’s death in 1999. The less said about Roeper the better; his lack of film knowledge and what felt like a complete inability to develop a sophisticated thought was maddening. Even an advanced-age Ebert sounded ten times smarter and insightful. It was like George H.W. Bush picking Dan Quayle all over again.

Now we have Lyons and Mankiewicz, who, truth be told, have much more impressive family histories than they do resumes for this show. The 26-year-old Lyons, who is known more for his celebrity interviews than his film reviews, is the son of film critic Jeffrey Lyons. The 41-year-old Mankiewicz, who sets up and closes out the golden oldies on weekends for Turner Classic Movies, once co-hosted the Sirius radio show “The Young Turks” before moving on to TMZ. He’s also Hollywood royalty; his grandfather, Herman, and great uncle, Joseph, both were Oscar-winning filmmakers during Hollywood’s Golden Era.

Just a quick peek at Lyons’ work doesn’t provide much comfort, and it’s not for lack of effort. Like Mankiewicz, he’s incredibly telegenic and very comfortable in front of the camera. I just don’t sense the same kind of gravitas that made Siskel and Ebert so enjoyable to watch. It felt much more like an intellectual argument in which the viewer didn’t feel out of place for watching. My fear with this pair is that there won’t be much beyond sound-bite-friendly witticisms.

I have more hope for Mankiewicz, and maybe that’s because he’s A) More familiar for his work with the Atlanta-based TCM and B) Gets to say lots of smart, in-depth stuff about movies that have mattered over the years. The hope, of course, is that the two more than anything will be “great TV,” and that means an intelligent and entertaining discussion about the movies. Considering the drop-off following Siskel’s death — it really felt like “Roger Ebert Tells Others They’re Stupid and Is Often Right” — that might not be too much to ask out of them.

I know there have been guest co-hosts over the years for “At the Movies,” and one of my favorite critics, the New York Times’ A.O. Scott, was less than stellar in front of the camera. But he’s smart as hell. Others I would have loved to see tried out are Elvis Mitchell (now on TCM with the revealing “Under the Influence” interview show; New York magazine film critic David Edelstein, who is a joy to listen to on public radio’s “Fresh Air”; Manohla Dargis, Scott’s co-worker at the New York Times (especially to add some needed feminine/feminist perspectives); Washington Post and NPR film critic Bob Mondello, whose pop-culture knowledge is matched only by his soothing voice; the Boston Globe’s Ty Burr, who might be my favorite film critic period, especially when I disagree with him (and then realize he’s right); the New York Press’ Armond White, who is by far the most opinionated and crankiest of this bunch and therefore the most potentially entertaining; or CL’s own Curt Holman, whose succinct writing style often translates to equally sharp, observant talk on his podcast appearances on our website.

Has anyone seen Ben Lyons’ work beyond the “E!” stuff? I’m still searching for clips. Here’s another take on the changeover, courtesy the L.A. Times’ Patrick Goldstein in the paper’s “The Big Picture” blog.

Tags: A&E