According to this story in The New York Times, "At the Movies," the syndicated television show originally hosted by Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, will now be hosted by A.O. Scott of The New York Times and Michael Phillips of The Chicago Tribune.
The show had most recently been hosted by Ben Lyons of E! Entertainment Television and Ben Mankiewicz of Turner Classic Movies, and Lyons' appointment to the show had been met with derision from bloggers and other film critics. According to this article in the LA Times, charges were made that Lyons had gotten the position through nepotism (his father is film critic Jeffrey Lyons) and he was accused of being a "quote whore," for writing superlative-filled reviews in the hope that they will be used as a part of the film's advertising campaigns, which happened after Lyons called I am Legend "one of the best films ever made." Without naming him, Roger Ebert attacked Lyons' integrity in this post and the blog stopbenlyons.com was created to track Lyons' lack of taste.
As I have written before, film criticism may not be saving lives or be considered high brow journalism, but it is important nonetheless. With the culture so invested and absorbed in the cinema, whether it is in the theater, in their homes, or online, it is worth our while to have critics who have a grasp of the form and its history and can provide the public with insights that make us all better consumers.
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