Siskel & Ebert (1995) - Nixon, Jumanji, Heat, Mr. Holland's Opus, Sense & Sensibility, Othello

[@jennifersman7990]

How I miss these guys! I learned more about films by following them from PBS to syndication to reading Roger’s books and reading his columns online

[@adamgrimsley2900]

Big week! I love Heat and Sense and Sensibility.

[@tinotica]

For me, Mr. Hollands Opus is the greatest movie ever!!!

[@hiattgrey9161]

6:27 There were no tigers in Jumanji. It was just a lion.

[@edcampion3998]

Period dramas when they are done right are amazing and sense and sensibility is that.

[@davidschulting9806]

I wasn't scared by jumanji when I was a kid, it was one of my favorites!

[@ilovebrandnewcarpets]

Yah, same. It wasn’t scary in the least, and I loved it. Not going to win any awards but it was a fun adventure…and I love Robin

[@stephennootens916]

And I think it is thought as a bit of a modern classic.

[@areusirius2054]

wow, what a packed show this was

[@reneedennis2011]

Yup.

[@fuferito]

17:56 “At first I thought I was imagining something, but then I was sure that I was right. He [Kenneth Branagh]'s playing Iago as *gay!* ”

[@filmbuff2777]

They were excited about Pacino & De Niro in Heat, so I wish they could have lived to see The Irishman. I disagree about Jumanji. I may be biased since I saw it as a kid & I've loved it since, but I think it has some real heartfelt moments. When he finds out about his parents & why his Dad kept looking for him, which led to him not caring about the business, & how much he loved him. I find it a genuine moment at the end when he goes running to hug his Dad. As for the scary nature, I think it was intended that way. I don't think its too intense with its more scary/suspenseful moments.

[@jewfroDZak]

One of the finest acting performances ever put on the big screen. He doesn't particularly look like Nixon. His voice doesn't really sound like Nixon's voice. There's nothing in his performance you can point to and say "He has that aspect of Nixon down pat-I can see the image of Nixon in that aspect of his performance." Yet, he IS Nixon. To me, it's the performance that I think most starkly displays what the difference is between doing an impression/impersonation of someone and embodying someone as an actor on film. Hopkins picked up on the two character traits that truly made Nixon Nixon. Nixon always projected a jovial, in-agreement-with-his-interlocutors, smiling persona and Hopkins nails that. The other thing kind of goes hand-in-hand with that also-you could see in Nixon's eyes whenever was in conversation, everything he said was always aimed at him trying to be able to get a read on the people he was talking to based on their reactions to the various things he said. And those are two barely perceptible mannerisms of Richard Nixon that can only be picked up on after having watched quite a bit of news reel footage of Nixon. Those two things are the keys to his persona imo though. There's othrr really great acting performances all over this movie too. I really enjoy Powers Booth as Alexander Haig, Bob Hoskins as J Edgar Hoover, and Paul Sorvino as Kissinger. Perfecto. One other thing that I really enjoy about this film is that it is actually a very very sympathetic take on Nixon. The only portrayal of Nixon I've ever seen in cinema that manages to capture the humanity of the man without demonizing him. While watching the movie, I can never quite feel the righteous disgust that reading about Nixon and his deeds always brings to the forefront of my mind in regards to my opinion of him as a president/politician. I always end up just feeling a deeply tragic sadness for him whenever I watch this flick. Sad for the sad little sick man he became and possibly always was in the first place....Banger film. 👍

[@philster1883]

kinda how I felt reading Woodword and Bernstein's The Final Days.

[@jewfroDZak]

@@philster1883 You felt the same sense of sadness for him you’re saying? I should read that at some point. I kinda got burnt out on Nixon reading and watching all the archival press conferences of him. Having read All the Presidents Men, I put that one on the back burner as I wanted to get as many different perspectives as possible on the Tricky Dickster… After the year or so I spent reading about and watching him, I honestly ended up kind of begrudgingly liking the man. I mean, he’s a skeevy piece of crap no doubt-there’s no lie he wouldn’t tell, no length he wouldn’t go to if he thought it would make him liked by who or whatever thing he wanted the approval of. That was essentially the personality disorder that both brought him to power and caused his downfall-he wanted everyone to like and he would use any means to try to achieve that. Thats a very relatable, a very human problem that i understand and it definitely makes me feel a great deal of sympathy for him. Not even Shakespeare could’ve written such a Shakespearean character.

[@jonathan_rosa]

I forgot how lit 1995 was

[@ct6852]

Anthony Hopkins as Nixon was one of the best performances ever in my opinion.

[@stephennootens916]

I somehow missed it when it was in theaters and it wasn't until I saw it on the shelf at my local video rental store that that I knew anything about.

[@ct6852]

@@stephennootens916 It's an Oliver Stone movie. It's too long maybe, but very good.

[@jewfroDZak]

One of the finest acting performances ever put on the big screen. He doesn't particularly look like Nixon. His voice doesn't really sound like Nixon's voice. There's nothing in his performance you can point to and say "He has that aspect of Nixon down pat-I can see the image of Nixon in that aspect of his performance." Yet, he IS Nixon. To me, it's the performance that I think most starkly displays what the difference is between doing an impression/impersonation of someone and embodying someone as an actor on film. Hopkins picked up on the two character traits that truly made Nixon Nixon. Nixon always projected a jovial, in-agreement-with-his-interlocutors, smiling persona and Hopkins nails that. The other thing kind of goes hand-in-hand with that also-you could see in Nixon's eyes whenever was in conversation, everything he said was always aimed at him trying to be able to get a read on the people he was talking to based on their reactions to the various things he said. And those are two barely perceptible mannerisms of Richard Nixon that can only be picked up on after having watched quite a bit of news reel footage of Nixon. Those two things are the keys to his persona imo though. There's othrr really great acting performances all over this movie too. I really enjoy Powers Booth as Alexander Haig, Bob Hoskins as J Edgar Hoover, and Paul Sorvino as Kissinger. Perfecto. One other thing that I really enjoy about this film is that it is actually a very very sympathetic take on Nixon. The only portrayal of Nixon I've ever seen in cinema that manages to capture the humanity of the man without demonizing him. While watching the movie, I can never quite feel the righteous disgust that reading about Nixon and his deeds always brings to the forefront of my mind in regards to my opinion of him as a president/politician. I always end up just feeling a deeply tragic sadness for him whenever I watch this flick. Sad for the sad little sick man he became and possibly always was in the first place....Banger film. 👍

[@ct6852]

@@jewfroDZak Well said. The speech at the end always gives me chills. Nixon was weirdly self destructive, though and Hopkins captured that well. The whole Watergate break in was unnecessary and stupid considering where he was in the polls. I think he had real shame though about how he spoke on those tapes, and that makes him sympathetic.

[@jewfroDZak]

I realized this morning that I didn't actually see or hear the review last night as it played on my screen, on account of the diverted attention i was spending writing my comment last night...So, I rewatched it just now and heard Ebert praise Hopkins' performance using the exact same thinking and specific terms that I used-I can't remember exactly how he said it, but it was with reference to true acting vs. impersonation vs. impression. I had thought that same thought for years, too, so I'm thinking that I must have picked it up from somewhere at some point in time without realizing or remembering it. Maybe it was a commonly held critical viewpoint about Hopkins's performance as Nixon? On the other foot, maybe I came up with it independently though, also? **Come to think, I've actually heard people use the exact same bit of analysis when referring to other roles that other actors have played, so it's not like it was an original bit of analysis from either one of us I just realized. I was sure it was a nifty bit of critique that I had neologized myself for all these years too 😬...Dammit, Ebert, quit stealing my moves!!!

[@twmax6525]

I liked Jumanji a lot! RIP Robin Williams!

[@TheReasoner]

thank you for doing these uploads

[@Nathan-gd7xq]

People praised Heat for its realism but they forget that it includes a scene where 5'7" Al Pacino throws Henry Rollins through a window.

[@bravehome4276]

It's all about leverage (and camera angle, editing, and stunt men) :)

[@Jeff-fu8is]

I don't agree with Gene and Roger's view on Jumanji. I have always loved that movie

[@alanquinn9845]

This episode had some good stuff.

[@upandawaygames]

Roger was certainly wrong about S&S (currently rated 7.7 on IMDb(, but just imagine having multiple Austen movies out in the same year. The way things are going we probably won't see that again anytime soon.

[@gspendlove]

I forgot how hot Amy Brenneman is. Instant arousal every time I watched her on NYPD Blue, and she was amazing in Heat. Judging Amy wouldn't have been worth watching if she hadn't been the star. Whatever happened to her? I'd like to see her make a comeback.

[@RhinocerosProductions]

Al Pacino and Robert De Niro have never been in a movie before? WHAT? Godfather 2? How could Ebert have made such an oversight!!!

[@CR41489]

I think Roger was alluding that they never had any scenes together before “Heat” which is true. While both De Niro and Pacino were in “The Godfather Part II” they never shared the screen at the same time. 👍

[@danielgray1073]

can we please bring film back as a society. Remember when we used to have movies about real people and real issues? Now we only got TV show after TV show obsessed with telling 2 hour stories in 10 hours.

[@fulanideedee8709]

My gawd, I forgot how undervalued and overly gorgeous 90s Laurence Fishbourne was. I wonder if I could find the S&E episode with them reviewing Fishbourne's Deep Cover.

[@JohnSmith-xx9se]

Jean Louisa Kelly was such a babe in this movie.

[@smoothALOE]

“Mr Holland’s Opus” was probably my favorite movie of 1995. I think it should’ve received a bit more acclaim. I was too young to really enjoy or notice the other big nominees that year, though. Am I off base?

[@ilovebrandnewcarpets]

Anyone else here never seen Nixon? Trying to think if I’ve ever even heard of it. Might have to check it out. Love Hopkins

[@stephennootens916]

It was one of those movies that slipped by. I saw it only after it went to video. It was directed by Oliver Stone and it has some of that odd style he picked up making JFK and Natural Born Killers. While he kept making movies I don't think he made any that made the big splash afterwords.

[@jewfroDZak]

One of the finest acting performances ever put on the big screen. He doesn't particularly look like Nixon. His voice doesn't really sound like Nixon's voice. There's nothing in his performance you can point to and say "He has that aspect of Nixon down pat-I can see the image of Nixon in that aspect of his performance." Yet, he IS Nixon. To me, it's the performance that I think most starkly displays what the difference is between doing an impression/impersonation of someone and embodying someone as an actor on film. Hopkins picked up on the two character traits that truly made Nixon Nixon. Nixon always projected a jovial, in-agreement-with-his-interlocutors, smiling persona and Hopkins nails that. The other thing kind of goes hand-in-hand with that also-you could see in Nixon's eyes whenever was in conversation, everything he said was always aimed at him trying to be able to get a read on the people he was talking to based on their reactions to the various things he said. And those are two barely perceptible mannerisms of Richard Nixon that can only be picked up on after having watched quite a bit of news reel footage of Nixon. Those two things are the keys to his persona imo though. There's othrr really great acting performances all over this movie too. I really enjoy Powers Booth as Alexander Haig, Bob Hoskins as J Edgar Hoover, and Paul Sorvino as Kissinger. Perfecto. One other thing that I really enjoy about this film is that it is actually a very very sympathetic take on Nixon. The only portrayal of Nixon I've ever seen in cinema that manages to capture the humanity of the man without demonizing him. While watching the movie, I can never quite feel the righteous disgust that reading about Nixon and his deeds always brings to the forefront of my mind in regards to my opinion of him as a president/politician. I always end up just feeling a deeply tragic sadness for him whenever I watch this flick. Sad for the sad little sick man he became and possibly always was in the first place....Banger film. 👍

[@madamedutchess]

I was 11 when Jumanji came out and remember it being one of the last "kid" films I watched. Hated the special effects back then thinking some of the scenes looked too fake!

[@darrellludlow]

Can't believe Siskel gave Casino a Thumbs Down on a previous episode.

[@rong7496]

“Never starred in a movie before.” Yes, they did. Godfather, Part II. They just didn’t have any scenes together/opposite one another.

[@smoothALOE]

I was thinking the same thing.

[@reneedennis2011]

Heat, Othello, and Sense and Sensibility are good movies. Mr. Holland's Opus is good, too, but I don't see what the big deal was about.

[@r_jd279]

Great cast, great director... unsure if it's just cynicism, but Nixon looked like a parody at first.

[@pokeysdad17]

no one plays a pompous, smug, stuffed shirt better than richard dreyfus.

[@erch4882]

Jumanji was so good. wtf are these fools talking about !!!???

[@bryanhernandez2045]

Heat is hilariously bad.

[@rosario508]

I got a chance to see Heat in a theater last year and I think it’s one of the most overrated films in history.