Siskel & Ebert Classics - Guilty Pleasures (1987)

[@dontresca8009]

What i really love is how some of their opinions of these films have now been borne out. Films like Pee-Wee's Big Adventure, The Last Starfighter, The Last Dragon, The Entity, and The Funhouse have been re-assessed by modern audiences are now considered 80's classics. Other films like Summer Lovers and Tarzan are not thought of quite so fondly but i think Roger and Gene liked those films more because they appealed to their lubidos than their quality as actual films.

[@pvthitch]

I feel no guilt at all for loving Pee Wee's Big Adventure.

[@panhalt5604]

Feeling guilty for loving a great film would be silly.

[@suzycreamcheesez4371]

love it!

[@kevinmcdonald6477]

Large Marge agrees!

[@ethanedwards7557]

I love it too but in fairness to Roger and Gene, this was before Tim Burton became the Tim Burton we know.

[@Fiveash-Art]

@@ethanedwards7557 yep , when he was still making creative movies .. not just the cookie cutter Tim Burton commercial branding we've had the past two decades. 😂

[@jimmckee771]

I genuinely think Danny Elfman should've been nominated for an Oscar for his score of Pee Wee's Big Adventure.

[@KRhetor]

It's a great score, but unfortunately probably sounded too derivative of Khachaturian's "The Sabre Dance" for the Academy to consider it.

[@edwardduarte7393]

We are not totally perverted. I loved Siskel.

[@georgeh6856]

"Pee Wee's Big Adventure" is amazing. A true classic. I still recall scenes from that movie this many years later.

[@georgeh6856]

@@christophersayrs907 I went to the Alamo. It does not in fact have a basement. It was much smaller than I had expected. I don't know how much tour guides get asked that since I was not on a tour.

[@ericdavidson6138]

He literally compares it to Wizard of OZ! Is that a "guilty pleasure" too? Pee Wee's Big Adventure is amazing, there's nothing to be "guilty" about laughing at a fun movie with a legendary character. I watched Siskel & Ebert religiously from their early days on, but sometimes their theme shows like this were all over the place and made no sense; they'd kind of reveal how out of touch they could be. Pee's Wee's entire shtick completely fit into (and was kind of a high poit of) the eighties' 1950s revisionist redux in underground art, and its obvious Siskel & Ebert had no concept of that whole movement. And through this whole episode they barely explain what makes them feel guilty about these films they say they like, except for some of the cringey talk of enjoying watching naked girls.

[@kevinwhelan9607]

Such wit and warmth- impossible to imagine two critics today doing the same thing with such intelligence, seriousness, and fun. Gene and Roger RIP❤❤❤

[@QueenOfTheNorth65]

I took my 3 nephews and niece to see Pee Week’s Big Adventure in the theater when it first came out. They adored it, as did I.

[@jjmanzano9]

Yeah that movie is hilarious! Not sure why it’s a “guilty pleasure”.

[@cinematictheatrics]

@@jjmanzano9because Siskel named it the worst film of the previous year. Ebert didn’t see it during it’s original run because of how much Siskel hated it but when Siskel showed clips of it at the end of the year for his #1 worst of the year Ebert said he liked the clips and wanted to see the film. He probably included it mainly for that reason. Not only to get under Gene’s skin but to also show there is a fanbase for this film, since the only coverage it previously had on their show was for Gene’s worst.

[@tomh.2405]

8:07 I love how Gene groans when Roger brings up the Tarzan movie.

[@chriskarley384]

" They're painting me!" 🤣

[@ShyGuyTravel]

"See? We're not totally perverted ... we like nature too!"

[@sandal_thong8631]

10:06

[@charlieodyssey7437]

I love the relationship in The Last Starfighter - its not them falling in love or falling out, its them working on their relationship and growing as people. I love it.

[@JungGordie50]

I miss those two film critics

[@bilimus_]

I saw "The Entity" at a friend's house when I was 11 years old. That's still the scariest film experience I've ever had.

[@ebrown2112_a]

Martin Scorsese loves The Entity. It's a great movie.

[@toddboughn5168]

​@@ebrown2112_aMy second favorite supernatural horror film (number one is The Changeling).

[@MrBoyYankee]

The Last Dragon 🐉 Certified Classic. I regret nothinggggg!!!

[@schmeltingaccident]

As kids in early/mid 90’s, this came on all the time where I lived and I loved it. My friend and I would re-enact the end where Leroy catches the bullet in his teeth. One of us would shoot the other, the other would fall on stomach and would put some ridiculous item in mouth like a toy, a Cheeto, a sandwich slice, maybe underwear lol to surprise the other when being flipped over. We laughed so hard, never got old.

[@mournblade1066]

Pee Wee's Big Adventure is one of the greatest comedy films ever made. "Do you have dreams, Pee Wee?" "Yeah, I'm all alone, rolling a donut, and there's this snake wearing a vest--" "No, not those kind of dreams!"

[@maskedmarvyl4774]

Large Marge will live forever in everyone's memory who saw Pee Wee's Big Adventure.

[@TheJameslehr]

think she shudda been the one to show up in The Brady Bunch Movie.

[@geronimus-prime]

Aye, scarred for life here.

[@richmotroni]

Infra Man is the perfect movie where you take your brain out of your head, set it aside and once the movie is over, put your brain back in your head.

[@pronkb000]

"When they stop making movies like Infra-man, a little light will go out in the world." --Roger Ebert

[@kevinmcdonald6477]

I guess Roger was taking acid with that quote. I know he was being funny.

[@liwowoli]

I love that ending. They've reviewed all these so-called duds of movies, then they're like, "And next week, we'll be reviewing Ishtar!"

[@waynechapman9823]

Yeah, I was thinking "Now 'Ishtar' would be a bunch of people's guilty pleasure!"

[@kevinmcdonald6477]

@@waynechapman9823 I really doubt anyone would call Ishtar a guilty pleasure. But you never know.

[@kevinmcdonald6477]

They misspelled the title it shoul've been "SHITAR"!

[@hikikomoron]

These men are pawns!

[@nwahnerevar9398]

@@hikikomoron I have put a price of 20,000 Dirham on their heads

[@nicholasadammac1049]

I really enjoy listening to these guys

[@peterkrug4124]

I have never felt any guilt at all for loving THE LAST STARFIGHTER

[@cessnaace]

I saw it at the theater when it came out.

[@cessnaace]

I saw it at the theater when it came out.

[@Fiveash-Art]

I still love the early CGI effects of the spaceships etc .. just a step up from what they accomplished with Tron .. moving towards more realism with the geometry and lighting.... It's still crude, but beautiful in that way. Love seeing innovations like that .... It's more interesting than the stuff we're getting now where they can do everything. It's almost like the box forces film makers to think more creatively ... Now it's just, 'been there, done that' .. who cares really?

[@homeaccount5943]

Same here. I love this movie !

[@danielsweet858]

I've never felt guilty about enjoying any movie.

[@johnfitzpatrick3094]

I remember watching this episode when it first aired.

[@GFred1]

How perfect is it, that they are reviewing Ishtar the very next week.

[@hrhomer73]

Pee Wee's Big Adventure and The Last Dragon are both AWESOME.

[@TheOdMan]

The Last Dragon on Siskel and Ebert? I never knew. The Last Dragon is one of those movies I have watched once or twice a year for 30 years, it's so damn entertaining, highly recommended.

[@brianvice1144]

Tim Burton's debut with a Danny Elfman soundtrack Pee Wee is amazing and he's the third best thing about that movie No one should feel "guilty" about liking it

[@ArthurVega1992]

💯

[@ericdavidson6138]

I'd say its Burtons best film by far, and it's mainly because of Pee Wee and the set design.

[@HansGruberfan]

Pee Wees Big Adventure is one of the greatest films of all time.

[@OriginOfSmallPoxisEgypt]

Absolutely EVERYTHING about Pee Wee's bug adventure is fantastic!

[@fromthehaven94]

"There's no basement at the Alamo!"

[@augustusmilligan9244]

I loved "The Last Starfighter", and still do. It is the basis for many books and films.

[@henrihelander7331]

Something they never understand. The most hardest thing is to make you scared or to make you laugh. Two most underrated forms of cinema, and always will be, horror and comedy.

[@maskedmarvyl4774]

The Entity was an unpleasant movie to watch. The woman is brutally assaulted over and over again, can't fight back, and has nowhere to turn. At the end of the movie, they imply her abuse will continue. Great. Feel-good movie of the year.

[@tmrezzek5728]

Love these guys, especially when they're having a blast about movies.

[@aldenmartin623]

I love the part where they're talking about the sex movies set in beaches and jungles and Siskel goes "We're not totally perverted. We're nature lovers, too!"

[@reneedennis2011]

I thought that was funny, too. 😆

[@Laceykat66]

You always have to justify your love of nudity. That is why they call it "art."

[@wsjustice]

Just paused to comment on that😂 Ebert laughed pretty hard at it.

[@sleuthentertainment5872]

"We are not totally perverted, we like nature too" is one of the best quotes of Gene Siskel. I love this kind of specials where they were in a very good humor

[@donovanmedieval]

"This Ron Silver"? This was years before Reversal of Fortune, but a couple of years after he was on "Rhoada."

[@ajgnexus]

i can appreciate how even these guys know the value of a film that isnt "good" but is ENTERTAINING. Scooby Doo 2 is not a good film at all and i know that, but it never fails to entertain me so i cannot hate it.

[@vincentjoyce5100]

Saw Pee Wee at a sneak preview. More laughter at Large Marge than anything I’ve ever heard.

[@traceahlers455]

The Last Starfighter and The Last Dragon. Two of my all-time faves.

[@kamuelalee]

The Last two films I've seen

[@TheTristianNetwork]

The Last

[@branagain]

Pee Wee’s Big Adventure is a great movie.

[@Shorty_Lickens]

in case anyone does not understand the reference: At this point we already had an animated Hobbit, and an animated Lord Of the Rings. Thats what Ebert was talking about.

[@TheJacklikesvideos]

i think there were some books already, too.

[@kentonkruger8333]

Pee-wee's Big Adventure shouldn't be a guilty pleasure, it's not deep or anything, but it's a solid film.

[@waynechapman9823]

Siskel had put it on his list of the ten worst films of the year, but Ebert hadn't seen it yet. So I'm thinking that when Ebert finally saw it, he thought to himself "It's no 'Dr. Strangelove,' but I like it more than Gene did" and was probably pleasantly surprised he liked it at all after Siskel had raked it over the coals. That might be why he considered it to be a guilty pleasure.

[@jedijones]

@@waynechapman9823 They should've done another one of their special shows where they go back to their biggest disagreements and put it in there.

[@michaelsmyth3935]

I managed to see an R rated stage show by Pee Wee and crew. Watched the 📺 show. Loved this movie.

[@gridlo]

great that he compared Pee Wee's Big Adventure to Lord of the Rings and the Wizard of Oz.

[@myurgil]

My own biggest guilty pleasure is "Force 10 from Navarone." It's got a paper-thin plot with plenty of cheesy dialogue and as a WWII movie, it is riddled with historical inaccuracies. On the other hand, it has a phenomenal cast, some of the best miniature special effects I've ever seen, and a really enjoyable score. At the end of the day, the faults don't matter because the movie is just so enjoyable!

[@philipcohen7192]

I love how much ebert loves inframan. He talked about it on tv twice in two different cult episodes. And siskel is right Inframan is a Hong Kong amalgamation of Ultraman and Kamen Rider. I remember seeing this on VHS in the early 90s from a local video store.

[@stevejohnson1577]

I used to watch ultra man and johnny sokko as a kid in the 1970s

[@philipcohen7192]

@@stevejohnson1577 I loved spectreman but not as many people have seen that.

[@stevejohnson1577]

@@philipcohen7192 ive never heard of it. I lived in windsor, by detroit, and we used to get those uhf stations and they had all kinds of japanese tv and movies because they were low budget and perfect for no money uhf stations in the 70s

[@GrantSchinto]

I guess I was too young when Pee-wee’s Big Adventure came out to realize there were people who thought it was anything other than one of the funniest and freshly original movies they had ever seen.

[@richmotroni]

Pee Wee’s Big Adventure, a story about a rebel and his bike.

[@jedijones]

A rebel without a clue.

[@kevint1719]

Some of these are genuinely good movies, not guilty pleasures. The Entity, The Last Starfighter and Pee Wee's Big Adventure are well worth seeing. Summer Lovers - now that's a guilty pleasure!

[@sahej6939]

1987 had so many great movies 🍿 Hello Again , Nadine

[@kaind.badguy]

“Catching bullets with his teeth”😂😂👏👏👏 Last Dragon was a great kung fu flick.

[@bartman898]

The last star fighter and the last dragon are really good B - movies

[@DavianSinner]

That was a fun show.

[@jedijones]

Ebert never reviewed Pee-Wee's Big Adventure in print or on the show, so this is his only review of it that I'm aware of.

[@DeanStrickson]

Not sure about print, but he did on the show. Search here Ebert Pee Wee to see it.

[@jedijones]

@@DeanStrickson No, Ebert said he didn't see it.

[@WTFer420]

@@jedijones I thought it was Siskel who didn't see it.

[@kevinmcdonald6477]

@@WTFer420 Siskel originally panned it.

[@acholl980]

Rog. was on vacation and the season was over so he never saw it.

[@robmclean4352]

As seen on WLNE-TV6 in New Bedford, Mass.

[@allynicholl3998]

Siskel’s two-finger typing is adorable

[@bravehome4276]

My two favs of these: The Last Starfighter: Alex Rogan: Hold it! There's no fleet? No Starfighters, no plan? One ship, you, me, and that's it? Grig: Exactly! Xur thinks you're still on Earth. Classic military strategy, surprise attack. Alex Rogan: It'll be a slaughter! Grig: That's the spirit! The Last Dragon: Laura Charles: I thought that maybe it would be a great idea if I got myself a bodyguard. You know, like someone to guard my body? What girl could do worse that to have her own real life kung fu master? Leroy Green: I am no master. Laura Charles: You sure look like a master to me.

[@samuelbarber6177]

For me, films like Batman Forever and Joss Whedon’s Justice League are kind of like guilty pleasures. I know they aren’t very good but I can’t help it but love watching them.

[@jimmckee771]

Tommy Lee Jones is great in Batman Forever

[@GrainneMhaol]

I unironically love Batman Forever. Somehow, it hits the sweet spot of camp and genuinely fun 90s adventure.

[@bencox5994]

I love these shows

[@jorgezarco9269]

Infra-Man(1975). Called "Zhong Guo Chen Ren" in Mandarin Chinese. Top Score by Anthony W. Mawer was featured in the Hong Kong version. Danny Lee played Infra Man. He played an amoral police officer in John Woo's action-drama The Killer(1989).

[@suzycreamcheesez4371]

RIP Large Marge

[@donovanmedieval]

When I worked at Blockbuster, I would not have looked down on anyone renting these movies. I normally looked down on people renting mainstream hits that had been in every theater just a few months before.

[@Shorty_Lickens]

The Last Starfighter is genuinely good but felt shallow compared to other recent space adventures of the time. It needs a sequel today. Or a reboot or something.

[@ikercompeanleroux1315]

EBERT: My next guilty pleasure Is Tarzan The Ape Man. SISKEL (painfully): Oh.... 😂

[@ikd3240]

Inframan is AWESOME! It's such a goofy, fun, outrageous movie! So happy Ebert likes it.

[@klfrostmediallc334]

I saw the entity…you see a lot of Barbara Hershey too

[@oobrocks]

I've never heard of inframan before... Thank god!

[@stevereynolds5684]

Watch it as a preteen and it’s awesome.

[@jerrywoods4066]

It was horrible. Me and buddies went to the show . It was the second movie . We walked out on it in thirty minutes

[@oobrocks]

Thanks!

[@gwlankard1]

Imagine thinking Pee Wee's Big Adventure is a guilty pleasure?

[@pasqualesacco7305]

I have last star fighter on DVD love it

[@jesse1085]

It’s strange that Gene’s opinion of The Entity is somewhat positive. His one-star 1983 newspaper review was a lot harsher. Perhaps he re-watched the film to prepare for this show.

[@Dr170]

Haven't you ever seen a film that you instantly hated but grew on you?

[@gage6209]

"Go to the refrigerator every 5 minutes" Haha! Siskel was so funny.

[@8584zender]

Aw shit, Large Marge is one of the scariest scenes in movies. Rog is right though, you have to be in a certain state of mind to enjoy Peewee and it usually involves THC.

[@homeaccount5943]

I don't believe in "guilty pleasures." Like what movies you enjoy. It doesn't matter what anyone thinks, only you.

[@postmodernrecycler]

Yeah, I think that term is a lazy way to say you know a movie is not good by canonical standards but you like it anyway and probably a lot of other people do, too.

[@Dr170]

It's a cop out. I use it only to refer to films other people should feel guilty for watching, most of them starring Ryan Reynolds

[@homeaccount5943]

@@postmodernrecycler No, and Why should I ponder what anyone else's "standards" are for a good movie ? If I like a movie, and others don't, who fucking cares ? Nobody else pays my bills.

[@JimAllder11]

It's nice to see the human fallibility in their love of these imperfect films. Never saw this ep when it originally aired. Would have balanced things out nicely for me. I always felt Gene and Roger needed to occasionally humble themselves. They really went after John Carpenter, on a regular basis. And they were wrong every time they did it.

[@chrisbergmanniii59]

They both overlook the fact that Barbara Hershey first showed her greatness in The Stunt Man.

[@joshdude2621]

I love the fact that they dig the last dragon

[@davidechavez-valdez6967]

Inframan IS a masterpiece (!)-a silly and wacko one at that. If you like nonstop action with bizarro, Tojo bros logic and flair, it’s a must-see.

[@paulhardister6274]

Randal Kleiser, director of Summer Lovers, would go on to direct the Pee Wee sequel.

[@mikesternmike]

I saw the Funhouse in the theater classic

[@stationarywanderer7910]

Some of the movies don't belong in this category at all. Pee Wee and the Last Starfighter are both wonderful movies that are really well done.

[@hawks7775]

The entity completely surprised me...great performance

[@PatI-zg9gm]

I was probably a tad too young to see The Entity in the theater, but it certainly kicked off my appreciation of Barbara Hershey.

[@ryanjones4150]

My biggest guilty pleasure wasn't around when they made this list - Showgirls.

[@nathanielgreer2764]

This reminds me of Randal in Clerks talking about his customers. “Ohhh Navy Seals!”

[@Blaqjaqshellaq]

Vincent Canby called Bo Derek's Tarzan remake "the kind of movie you could only enjoy after a few cocktails."

[@65g4]

American pie movies are probably my guilty pleasures

[@augustusmilligan9244]

"...and introducing Ron Silver as Himself" "You were the bad guy in 'Timecop'" "Heat Vision and Jack"

[@lars7282]

When 2 intellectual grown up guys in the 80s talk about a Japanese flick - that’s fantastic. They seem so unhinged here

[@Dr170]

Definitely a slight on their ostensible intellectuality.

[@jamesmitchell8922]

Infra Man mentioned twice in Sneak Previews and S&E

[@1992Magnascopics]

The Funhouse!

[@deckofcards87]

The Entity scared the cr ap out of me especially because it was described as "a true story"

[@nospam3327]

Well, fwiw, I have blu-rays of The Last Starfighter, The Last Dragon, and Funhouse, so I guess I should get Summer Lovers.

[@maxthepupp]

The great Julius Carrey III as The Shogun of Harlem! Gold, baby , gold! But Tarzan with Bo? Sweet lord is that awful. So bad.

[@crystalshaw8744]

Ebert was on acid when he watched Inframan.

[@cybercab]

I remember Ultraman. That was fun....in 1981.

[@henrydeltoid448]

There is a new one coming out called Shin Ultraman.

[@veganism]

R.I.P. PeeWee 😢

[@markmaki4460]

I wonder if it is true that they dubbed Carol Burnett's legendary Tarzan call into Tarzan the Ape-Man.

[@roberttynan5185]

I wonder what they would've thought of Tommy Wiseau's "The Room".

[@MrJboogie04]

I think they might have liked "The Disaster Artist" as it was more of a real story than" The Room." I know that modern critics have ripped apart The Disaster Artist but really The Room is definitely not a movie to sit home and watch but like The Rocky Horror Picture show." The idea behind "Snakes on a Plane" was a movie that was so bad it was good, yet Tommy came out and beat Hollywood with his own version of what became a classic bad movie for the midnight crowd.

[@iluvmylovebirdandmybudgiet7729]

reviews for the "Disaster Artist " were pretty good....I always thought "Snakes on a plane" ads looked better than the film....

[@iluvmylovebirdandmybudgiet7729]

i.e. "Ed Wood"

[@lamecasuelas2]

Guilty pleeassure my ass! Infra Man it's an amazing movie and everyone should watch It!

[@karmatt3098]

I love Siskel. However, this film was mentioned on this slow years before, and he didn’t watch it?

[@johnpeter4436]

5:05 Do the "Greek islands" have anything to do with Peter Gallagher's anatomy?

[@jbrisby]

Man, I'd completely forgotten Summer Lovers. But it was some of the first nudity I ever saw in a film.

[@jedijones]

The first nudity I remembering seeing in movies was the boobs in Airplane on HBO and Nicole Kidman's butt in Dead Calm on VHS.

[@babybird871]

I remember "Dressed to Kill" I was 12 or 13..and the theater owner told my mother "it was racy"..she said I could handle it..but did try to cover my eyes at the beginning...but an overall great movie

[@RyanAnthonyDigitalMedia]

Never realized that Power Rangers is just a remake of Infra Man

[@FriendZone75]

It’s not a remake at all. It’s all apart of the same kind of series in Japan called “Sentai”. The original Power Rangers seasons literally used footage from their Japanese counterparts. Saban (the producer) made a deal with the Sentai producers in Japan to be able to use the concept and footage in the US for Power Rangers. They filmed footage of the American actors and recorded a lot of English dialogue, but almost every battle scene is borrowed from the Japanese sentai show already produced - it was just overdubbed.

[@stevereynolds5684]

It wasn’t “just” overdubbed, they did add some footage, especially in the later seasons, but yes, 90% was Super Sentai.

[@kamuelalee]

No, the original Power Rangers in Japan were called the Five Rangers.