Oh. My. God. This had me wiping tears off my cheeks AND my keyboard, it’s so hilarious. Maybe to fully appreciate it, you had to have watched them religiously for years like I did, enjoying the tension between the two movie lovers who couldn’t seem to agree on anything.
I often wondered what they talked about during the commercials, so to speak. Well, now we know.
By the time Gene Siskel died much too early, they really had bonded and loved each other, though maybe they didn’t say it, or recognize it until Gene was sick and the writing was on the wall. Roger Ebert has memorialized his partner and friend so beautifully since then, in a way we should all hope to be honored when we are gone.
Now Roger himself is ill, has lost his voice, but still writes and his real Voice rings pretty clear on issues beyond celluloid and art. He has stood strong to rant against the violations of our constitution, and the immorality of war. You can’t keep a spirit like that down.
That pair has brought me a lot of insight, pleasure and laughter over the years. These outtakes — biting, argumentative, silly, make me love those guys all the more.