(WBBM NEWSRADIO) – A new book looks at the two most famous film critics in Chicago – and the world.
Matt Singer’s work “Opposable Thumbs: How Siskel & Ebert Changed Movies Forever” charts the intertwining careers of Roger Ebert, film critic for the Chicago Sun-Times, and his Chicago Tribune counterpart, Gene Siskel.
The pair famously debated and discussed movies on a succession of television shows and helped popularized film criticism.
“They had an enormous impact in all kinds of ways,” Singer told WBBM Newsradio. “Their reviews carried a great deal of weight, and when they recommended people see something – it mattered.”
The book also examines whether the duo, who frequently argued, were friends underneath all of their legendary, sometimes heated arguments.
“Did they like each other in 1975? No, definitely not, absolutely not. Did they like each other in 1995? Yeah, they did. They did,” Singer said.
Ultimately, the pair of critics shared an “intense bond,” he added.
Siskel died in 1999, Ebert in 2013.
“Opposable Thumbs” releases Tuesday.
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