Can’t say I’m that surprised by all the recent, vicious criticism of the TV movie critics show “At the Movies” (check out StopBenlyons.com). Compared with the original that featured Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert – or even the version with Richard Roeper who replaced Gene after his tragic death in ’99 – the newly revamped version with Ben Lyons and Ben Mankiewicz is pretty lowbrow stuff.  I knew Gene when I used to write for the Chicago Tribune back in the day and saw him when he came out to Hollywood and, like Roger, he was a truly informed, erudite lover of film. Ben & Ben are no Siskel and Ebert. There’s also been talk of the fact that both Bens may only have their TV gig because of nepotism (Ben L is son of critic Jeffrey Lyons and Ben M is grandson of famed screenwriter Herman who wrote a little movie called Citizen Kane). If so, it’s only in the grand tradition of this town, where nepotism has always thrived. More to the point, the show itself is now pretty irrelevant. In the Internet age, fewer and fewer people read newspapers – let alone thoughtful film criticism – and even fewer listen to critics. Blogs and word-of-mouth carry far more weight.

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