"A Look Back at 1978" special - movie reviews - Sneak Previews with Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 6 ก.ย. 2024
- This is the "Best of 1978" special episode by Siskel & Ebert on "Sneak Previews".
Movies featured are:
(top money makers)
Grease
Animal House
Jaws 2
Heaven Can Wait
(best of 1978)
An Unmarried Woman
Straight Time
Days of Heaven
Autumn Sonata
(dogs of 1978)
The Medusa Touch
The Wild Geese
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I've fallen into a rabbit hole filled with Siskel and Ebert vids from my childhood and I can't get up!
Nice 😂
Punk0 I am in the same hole
Nice to know I have company.
@Texas Chainsaw Jesus: You could say he was a very punny man
This was the year I was born.
"Are these blockbusters going to crowd us out?" Oh, Gene--you have no idea.
FloraWest Shortly after this episode, they began to criticize the opening weekend grosses.
@@patrickshields5251 I remember them doing that--didn't know it was in conjunction with this. Makes perfect sense.
FloraWest You see, they actually predicted this. And this is not the only special they did covering the topic. In 1981, they did a similar episode called "I Was A Teenage Movie: Hollywood 1981", when they focus on the summer blockbusters that year and how they might potentially overshadow a wide variety of movies. Their point still stands and you can find the video on TH-cam.
Their fears are so quaint now.... bless their hearts.
I think these eras are cyclic, and the era of giant corporate theme park ride blockbusters is coming to it's end (although some of these pix will still be made, of course)
- I'm finally a little hopeful for the future in US film,
and all these present broken eggs might just be the start of a fresh omlette, later in the '20s!
I was a small, young kid when this came out of pbs. I watched with parents. I wish I could go back to those days considering the climate these days
Amen
Roger and Gene did their best work associated with PBS. This 1978 clip of their show is priceless and it shows how PBS got a good show here. The clips were lengthy of the movies and Roger & Gene were smart reviewers but were not great looking or especially funny or clever. They were two brainy guys who knew movies and how to talk about them. RIP Roger and Gene. You are missed.
Yes
They certainly exuded more cleverness, humour, and insight than you did in this condescending bit of nothing you decided to chuck out into the netosphere.
Are you serious? They are two of funniest and most clever public figures I’ve ever listened to. Who do you think is more clever than them in today’s film critic industry?
Honestly, the opinions are cool, but I just love basking in an older time and more succinct style of movie reviewing. They don't harp or preach or overpersonalize.
They do plenty of preaching especially Ebert.
I was one of those adolescent kids who saw "Grease" twelve times and knew every lyric of the songs from the soundtrack! So I was delighted when Gene & Roger admitted that they both saw it three times themselves.
They probably did not do Superman because the film was not released until December 15, 1978. So the show was probably produced just about that same time
Roger Ebert awarded the film **** out of 4 in his book. He really loved it by calling it a Pure delight. I think Gene loved it also.
12:22 Poor Gene. If he were alive today, how sad he’d be to see what movies have become.
He'd hate Disney the most. His favourite film studio has gone to the dogs.
Exacly.... like the rest of us.
Exacly.... like the rest of us.
I miss these guys.
This is my favorite of the special shows they did. They are really correct that the blockbusters may potentially crowd out smaller, serious films. 40 years after this broadcast, nothing has changed.
I agree! Like we really need to see another Marvel movie? Nothing against them, but they churn them out so frequently and without much thought like they are just eye candy. Theaters need to show more independent or serious films with substance...they have 10 screens nowadays!
mrnocal Now you have to find them on streaming services like Netflix. After hearing about reports of MIB International and X Men Dark Pheonix, the blockbuster era of filmmaking may have come to an end. Let's hope that the new decade has more serious films to end all this greed.
@@patrickshields5251 Doubtful. Hollywood is always about money, no matter what Faux News says.
@@mrnocal Usually, those 10 screens (68 where I live) play one movie on three screens, three movies on two screens, and one movie on one screen. The arthouse flicks get pushed out, except in New York, Chicago, and L. A.
@@johnfitzpatrick3094 Very true. I understand that it's a business, but I wish they would devote at least one screen to the little films and give them a chance.
My Top 5 movies of 1978:
Capricorn One
Grease
Invasion of the Body Snatchers
The Lord of the Rings
Watership Down
Watership Down is exceptional. Rereading the book now
Capricorn One was a bastardization of the intelligent "paranoia" thrillers of the early 70's.
I'm glad I'm not the only one that has an appreciation for Capricorn one. I just recommended it to one of the reaction channels the other day.
I loved AN Unmarried Woman, a true original, and RIP Jill Clayburg
Coming to Criterion!
That pansy of a husband bawiling his eyes out instead of just coming out with his affair and owning it.
And give Roger credit, he predicted she would win the Academy award for that film and although she did not, she was nominated.
1978 a big year for me. Graduated collage with a BFA, got a job (advertising agency) way north of where I lived in KY, in Akron OH. Living alone, working with people I just met. I also bought my first/new car end of that year (Nissan 280Z).
The year I graduated high school, in Columbus Ohio. Do you still live here in Ohio after all these years?
Who cares ?
Is it me or do people don’t really DISCUSS film like this anymore? Or do they just say “boring, too long, no plot” or “that scene was cool, it’s epic, needs an oscar” and that’s it.
Days of Heaven was Richard Gere's best movie. It is worth seeing even today. Brook Adams was so beautiful. The late Sam Shepherd was also in it and gave a great performance. Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel didn't mention Gere or Shepard by name when they were reviewing this movie because in 1978 they were unknown actors.
Such a fantastic, beautiful film.
@@FloraWest Thank you for your comment. I think it would be hard for the Hollywood of today to make such a movie.
@@danieltadros3262 For sure. The 70s were truly a heyday for that. Fortunately, thanks to so many independent producers, this sort of movie has found a place but yeah, Hollywood is not really it for this type of film anymore.
It's a wonderful film, dir by Terrance Mallick. It's among Gere's best work. He's also real good in Somersby, The Hoax, Brooklyn's Finest and Dr. T and the Women.
Wayne J Pick up that Criterion babe
Always love watching these guys, right back to my childhood. They did miss what became (for years) the most successful independent film of all time - Halloween. But to their credit they did do a special episode paying tribute to it and what it did for the horror genre.
They actually reivewed Halloween in 1978, sadly it's one of the Sneak Previews from that era that is missing.
@@daniverse9625 I’m sure they did, I just haven’t been able to find it.
Ah, the old self-addressed, stamped envelope, the "html link" of that time. Those were the days... :)
I always thought of that as the precursor to the email address.
They could have posted both lists on the screen in the amount of time it took to show the mailing address.
Straight Time. One of Dustin Hoffman's best performances.
John Fitzpatrick Here's the real reason why Straight Time. Prior to the film's release, Dustin Hoffman sued the studio for mishandling the film, and the legal issue went public. This was even addressed in their 1979 Buried Treasures episode.
@@patrickshields5251 I saw that specific episode. It's what inspired me to find it.
John Fitzpatrick I have seen the film. It's a very good movie. Roger's review is not in his website, but it is in his Movie Home Companion books.
@@patrickshields5251 I knew it was in his books, but I didn't know it wasn't on his website.
John Fitzpatrick Sometimes I take pleasure in torturing myself by watching bad movies. 1989's The Wizard is a perfect example of this. This is not a movie. It's a feature length commercial for Nintendo games and the Universal Theme Parks.
They are still recommending movies from the grave. Just saw "An unmarried woman" was really a great film.
Thumbs up 👍.
Most of my real enjoyable movie experiences nowadays are either mining from the past 20 years of South Korean films (which has been their absolute golden age, movie-wise)
, or catching older classics from these two's gents recommendations!
I regret nothing!
That Belushi scene at 5:31 from Animal House is beyond classic!.I saw a documentary not to long ago that said when he crashed that guitar the actors didnt know he was going to do that and they were actually afraid for a second
That theme song was like a time machine!.I remember these show on public television in the early 80's, before S&E got their own show..Back then it was so cool to see something playing at theaters on the TV..Even though it was usually only 30 second of it..
Yeah, because they originally did it for WTTW. Unfortunately a dispute with the station were given a "take it or leave it" option - they chose to "leave it". So they went to Tribune Entertainment (possibly with WGN-TV) for At the Movies in 1982, but another dispute followed in 1986, and they went with Disney for what ended up being their most successful attempt - Siskel & Ebert.
I remember seeing the ads for these movies in the newspaper back then but I didn't realize they were all in the same year. As a kid, you experience time differently.
Beatty made Heaven can Wait for Paramount in a deal that included Reds.
Saw Autumn Sonata in film class in the 80s, haven’t seen it since. That clip makes me want to learn Swedish.
I still love jaws 2 and when I was aged 8 was my favorite film 🎞
I would agree with you, but I rewatched it recently and BOY is it not as good as I remember it being!
Oof.
This conversation is fascinating 12:16
They actually predicted 40 years into the future with conversations like this.
Gene had a degree in philosophy from Yale University. Roger Ebert was the real writer of the two. He wrote the script for the movie Beyond the Valley of the dolls. Roger also won a Pulitzer for his writings as a critic.
I came here for the best movie of the year. Blue Collar. I consider The Deer Hunter a 1979 movie so that doesnt count. Days of Heaven was good too.
44 years ago, crazy
I really miss these two guys. 😢
Interesting how this special episode became a harbinger of what was to transpire in the years to come.
Send a stamped self-addressed long envelope. Ha! I remember those days.
I LOVE the mention of yet to be seen Deer Hunter and Apocalypse Now.
R.I.P. the both of you. 🙏 I agreed with you both way more often than not.
JAWS 2 was a really good sequel, a really effective film. Seems like every successful horror sequel they hate (JAWS 2, HALLOWEEN II, and PSYCHO II). Sometimes they're a little too high brow and analytical.
They liked Rocky II and Empire Strikes Back more than the originals
@@lowreztv "Rocky II" and "The Empire Strikes Back" were NOT horror movies.
Daniel Dalton I have always been a huge fan of HALLOWEEN II. I like how they gave a nice conclusion to the Michael Myers story. (Even though they completely fucked that up when they made HALLOWEEN 4, and even though HALLOWEEN II is no longer cannon thanks to HALLOWEEN 2018.) Watching the first HALLOWEEN movie just by itself to me feels incomplete, like only being allowed to read the first half of a book without ever getting to find out how it ends.
I enjoy JAWS 2 fine on its own, however I must say it's nowhere near as good as the original. I put it in the category of sequel that's good, but not as good as the previous film. It is at least by far and away better than the two films that came after it.
I know it has its fans and no disrespect if you're one of them, but I never liked PSYCHO II. I always felt they should've just left the story alone after the first. As I recall Siskel and Ebert felt the movie was well-made but was just very pointless and unnecessary. (Though perhaps not as much so as the Xerox-copy 1998 remake....)
I will always love this show. No one done this anymore.
Even though we had "cable" back then and could watch PBS, I don't think I started to watch Sneak Previews until '79 or '80....don't know why. Loved the opening and wish they never left public television, but perhaps they wanted more money. Always enjoyed watching them no matter where I caught their shows.
Siskel & Ebert left PBS because of a contract dispute.
@@johnfitzpatrick3094 Ah, good to know.
1978, what a year for John Belushi, he had the number 1 movie, number 1 album and number 1 TV show.
I used to love watching this show. Can't believe how many years have passed now.
Straight Time is incredible.
man, where did you find all these in such good quality???
I was wondering the same thing. These look incredible!
@@penbucket Probably taken from the IMDb where a lot of these can be watched. Obviously someone had access to PBS tapes.
@@NovaFeedback1979 or they had a ridiculous tape collection 🤷🏻♂️
Update: this video is a bad example, there are other uploads by this guy that look much better than this.
Here's the deal, back when you VHS taped things off tv you had 3 options: SP (Standard Play, 2 hrs 40 min), LP (Long Play, 5 hrs 50 min) and EP (Extended Play, 8 hr). By far the best quality was SP, shortest amount you could record but that's because the quality was so much better. You'd have to buy more tapes but on the plus side the quality wasn't anywhere nearly as soft and blurry. Unfortunately most people recorded Siskel and Ebert using EP mode, so they could fit more on less tapes, which is why most S&E uploads look so tremendously awful. This guy knew back in the day to future proof. Funny that 70s uploads look a million times better than 90s uploads. I'm assuming this guy didn't record in the 90s, since all his uploads are 70s and 80s, although I'd love to be proved wrong.
@@NovaFeedback1979 Nope. No way the original SD broadcast tapes still exist for S&E. This guy just recorded without using the awful 8 hr EP mode. However, this particular upload is far from the best he's posted.
I'd completely forgotten about Spot the Wonder Dog! 🥰
I was born in 1978 what a great year
I was 16. I didn't think 78 was a good year at all. Grease was a piece of crap, Bob Dylan went Vegas, The Rolling Stones made a great album but were terrible live, and I was miserable in high school and couldn't wait to get out. On the other hand, an ounce of good marijuana cost only $40.
Still love JAWS 2
That first Jaws had scenes of art reflecting Moby Dick, especially when it shows them all leaving to find the shark in that little boat.
This was probably around the time I started watching Siskel and Ebert. I was only 8 years old but I was (for better or worse) already a movie fanatic. I always remembered how they both seemed to always demean the majority of "action" and "blockbuster" movies and saying how Hollywood was soulless for releasing so many sequels and low brow money grabs. They hated most of the genre films that are now considered classics.... they even said Blade Runner was old hat and boring. That's why I remember being so surprised around the late 1990's and early 2000's when Ebert was giving "thumbs up" to horrible movies like Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace, Speed 2: Cruise Control, and The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle.
Notice how there's no commercial breaks and ran almost 30 minutes. I'm pretty sure it's because they were on PBS at the time.
@@Jamie.Laszlo - Yes. They were on PBS until the mid or late 1980's.
@@JoeyDamocles They quit PBS due to contractual issues.
He must've started to lose his mind.
"Blade Runner" was and still is boring and lifeless.
Siskel was only 33 years old here.
They were on the money with Jaws 2.
John Fitzpatrick Oh these sequels were pure cash grabs. The first Jaws is a masterpiece and helped build the kind of films Siskel and Ebert were just talking about in this episode. But because Hollywood is so greedy, there had to be sequels.
I wonder how many people saw Jaws 2 again and again. Not many, I'll bet.
Agreed. Jaws 2 was basically a retread of the first Jaws. IMO, good sequels such as Rocky II expand on the original, not repeat it. Schieder was the only thing I liked about Jaws II.
@@cliffordshafran9250 Oh it realy was a cash grab.
I hated Jaws 2. Until I saw Jaws 3D and Jaws the Revenge. Only then was I able to view Jaws 2 in any kind of positive light. It also afforded the humorous scenes of a boat driver accidentally pouring gasoline over herself then firing a flare gun and later somehow being burned and stuck to the underside of a piece of the boat after boat and driver were blown up in a huge fiery explosion in the ocean. Oh, and the very quotable "Shhhhhhhhhhshhhshhhhhaaaaaaaarrrrrkkkkkk". As much as all this was light years better than the two sequels that followed, I still wish the shark ate all those annoying kids.
Watched these as a kid in NY on channel 28.
This is such a treat! I miss them. Thanks for posting
Midnight Express was A masterpiece of cinema, apparently people nowadays believes that movies that aren't accurate with the real story are bad attempts , well let me tell you something , all movie lies , even with the most accuracy , Serpico , Goodfellas , Schindler's List , Apollo 13 , etc....so let me tell you something this movie is not accurate but it's still working , the feeling is authentic , the underground feeling is top Notch , the acting is superb , the cinematography is very good, the score is great , the writing is interesting , the pace is fast yet very slow burn to man's insanity ....and it was a great film to witness , you know why , movies are movies , putting so much rules for yourself distances you from a good time , Remember that Boys , everytime you Read base on a true story , you forget about it and have a good time...
It ruined Turkish tourism for a long time
@@jamesmack3314 shit....sorry to hear that, I still believe it's a great movie...
Superman: The Movie wasn't in this show because it had literally just been released.... Otherwise it would have the main film they were talking about as both of them absolutely loved it.
No mention of Pretty Baby and that would easily have been the most controversial film of 1978.
Two of my favorite movies of 1978:
GREASE and ANIMAL HOUSE!
Grease I can do without Animal house I cannot
I'm not going to say movies in general were better back in the day..But they were certainly more interesting..
RIP Spot..RIP...whosa gewd boy...whosa grewd boy..
Animal House was supposed to be 1962, not 1968 Roger.
He was comparing the tone of 1968 vs. 1978; 1968 was the year of famous student protests around the USA and Europe, much more serious than the party atmosphere of the late 1970s.
1978... Reminds you just how long they were doing this show in its various incarnations.
Spot is so cute
Thanks for uploading all these!
Agreed ☻
Great 😊
I'm looking for a clip of Siskel n Ebert SNL shorts review show.
I vaguely recall the magic shoes and Martin short Chris guest as male synchronize swimmers.
I always loved this show, even as a child, even when I disagreed with both of them.
Jill Clayburgh deserved the Best Actress Oscar in 1979 instead of Jane Fonda for Coming Home.
Wow I didn’t know Gene won the Masters in ‘78!!
Fact
That’s Stephen Bishop singing in Animal House.
Why were all the people going to High School so old?
Lighting, they say.
Grease on 4k! Amazing
I actually just caught _The Medusa Touch_ last week over on *New Castle After Dark*
(which is a TH-cam channel where two gents introduce unusual (mostly) 1970s flicks - then show the full movie!
There's even an old school intermission where they talk about how the films going so far etc, then the rest of the movie and little summation - it's a lot of fun, check 'em out if you like old movies......They've got a real friendly little community over there too) 👍
Wow. Send a self addressed stamped envelope if you want to see each of our 10 best of year 1978 Lists. :)
I loved The Medusa Touch.
Cannot believe the "Grease" cast was supposed to be teenagers.
Like the exact same thing isn't still happening?
AGEISM!-Gabrielle Carteris
I sure am glad they came up with better theme music! That sounded like circus fanfare! LOL.
I think it was written by Ozzie Nelson, of "The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet" fame. I can't recall its title off the top of my head. Something about a picnic, maybe?
The original Sneak Previews from PBS. Those were the days.
The real life Bert and Ernie ☺️
And Ebert was right...in theory...Clayburgh should have won Best Actress (she did at Cannes)...and I hold to this even in 2023...an astounding performance. I have nothing against Fonda (her work in 'Klute' is remarkable and I'd watch her anytime and anything up until 1981) but at times in 'Coming Home', a certain affected technique to her physicality and delivery.
@24:04 I thought for a moment that Roger said he loved Grease 2 😂
Looks like Ro.ger was wrong - Jane Fonda took the best actress Oscar for 1978
He was a big-mouth know it all, even then!
It wasn't a bad prediction since Clayburgh was certainly a contender, but it was the year of Vietnam War movies with "Coming Home" and "The Deer Hunter" bagging all the major awards.
Clayburgh might not have won but she certainly deserved the award.
@@KRhetor She was certainly a very talented actor!
When adjusted for inflation, Grease made approximately 83 billion dollars.
83 billion dollars? That could only fund the war in Afghanistan for less than 3 months!
Love unmarried women, Jill clayburg was nominated(oscar) for the bravura performance in this well made movie
Honestly, though, I started laughing when Michael Murphy broke down like that.
RIP
Jaws 2 was a piece of shit. Amazing people went to see that. I have a feeling though, there weren't a lot of repeat business there.
Fuck you buddy, Jaws 2 was awesome. You suck!!
Same with the Exorcist sequel...garbage
@@ericastanson7241 you apparently have set the bar very low for what is “awesome”
I was 14 that year and still haven't seen one of these pictures.
Not even Grease???? or Animal House?!?!?
Nope. I intend to watch Animal House if I can catch it on cable one of these days. I've heard so much about it.
@@DavianSinner Yes, it's a bit dated, but, it stands the test of time because it's just so damn funny!
dumb ass
@@CaptainSpalding72 You should feel much better now!
Hooper 1978 should have been selected that was a great film, and inspired once upon a time in hollywood for sure.
15:56 excellent movie, Hoffman channeling Robert Deniro
A vintage review of a vintage year . The review though was clearly made before Superman and Every which way but loose which were top two at box office at the very end
12:55 whoa......
Siskel missed an opportunity to expand on Kaufman's comment: that's what his reinterp of 'Body Snatchers' is actually about: the culture of boredom, of people whose lives are so boring and and who are so bored its difficult to tell when they shift into being another life form; its a savvy take on social alienation and the flattened topography of human emotion. Kaufman's film is not only on my list as one of the best of '78, but also one of the best of the 70s and among the best remakes (though I don't the term) ever.
Calling Jaws 2 'trash' is a bit harsh. I really dug in in the theater. It resides somewhere in my top 100, but it ain't trash.
Saturday Night Fever a musical? There was no singing by the characters.
But there was a lot of dancing by the characters and that also defines musicals.
There was a lot of music it is just not sang by the actors.
Nobody needs to sing. You can look Broadway's musical Contact, in which nobody sang but everyone danced. It won the Tony Award for Best Musical .
No, Superman (1978)?! Yet, they saw Grease three times each...
Joseph Superman was still playing in theaters when this episode was broadcast.
I was 10 when Grease came out and I probably saw it 8 or 9 times at the theatre. Not as many times as my friends saw Star Wars the year before (and probably still in 1978). I had friends who saw Star Wars over 100 times. We didn’t have VHS so if you liked a movie you wanted to see it as many times as you could because it would be years before it came on television (with commercials).
Superman came out on December 15th that year...their 10 best lists were already made by the time they taped the episode...so Superman didn't really become a blockbuster movie until 1979 began...
These specials will help a bit in making of my going back in time movie quiz series. Though the real trouble starts when I hit the 50's and beyond... Don't think Siskel and Ebert covered those.. Does anyone know who did cover those early decades of movie making?
And if you wanna check out my quizzes here is a link to one of them:
@
I do like❤
These guys didn't get Animal House was set in the 50's?
I guess not since it was set in 1962.
You heard it here: Roger Ebert loved "Grease 2."
LOL I noticed that too!
I loved The Wild Geese. I didn't like the sequels but the original is always better. Roger Moore turned in a great performance at the same time he was slogging along during his stint as James Bond. I loved Kenneth Griffith as the gay medic as well as Jack Watson as Sandy the drill instructor.
For context, today The Medusa Touch is rated 7 out of 10 on imdb with an audience score of 73% on Rotten Tomatoes. Even Siskel's worst -- The Wild Geese -- garnered a 6.8 out of 10 on imdb and 63% on Rotten Tomatoes. Both films were at best "meh" time passers but far from the very worst of 1978.
Superman The Movie wasn't one of the top films of 1978? Seems like it should've been number one.
joe jones It did make Roger's best 10 list though.
It was the second biggest hit, behind Grease.
Didn't come out until December 15th when they taped this episode....
_Grease_ has to be in the top ten of insipid films.
I saw the much anticipated sequel to Jaws in the summer of '78. Which meant, standing in a long line for hours in the hot summer heat just to see a giant shark eat people. And, even though Jaws II made a lot of money at the box office it was largely considered a big disappointment. The only reason Jaws II made so much money is that people went with the expectation of seeing more of the original film. Instead, they got this scream teen movie about a giant shark that has taken down whales, fishing boats, speed boats and even a helicopter just to get one guy, but won't attack 8 helpless teenagers drifting around in tiny broken sailboats. Why?
Is the shark just bidding his time, toying with them so Sheriff Brody will eventually arrive to save them and the shark can take revenge for killing the other giant shark. Which would seem the most plausible reason cause' according to Jaws 4: The Revenge, those giant sharks apparently got each others back.
They didn’t talk about Superman TM