Taxi Driver 1976
The stiff, bored early review that opens the episode, proof the writing hadn't yet translated to TV.
The Big Picture · Discussion
2. “Is the Room Big Enough for Both These Guys?” | Gene and Roger
July 20, 2021/ 32 min/ Brian Raftery
A narrative doc on how two rival Chicago newspaper critics who could barely share a room became TV's first movie-review double act.
12 films across 1 segment.
AI-generated This episode was transcribed and analyzed with AI models. The matches aren't perfect — expect the occasional misheard title or a link to the wrong film.
The films that made Gene and Rogerthe movies threaded through the origin story
The Devil Within Her 1975
Roger's "Dog of the Month," panned as an Exorcist rip-off, back when the show was still dry banter.
Dumbo 1941
A childhood matinee (Mrs. Jumbo chained up) that stuck with Gene his whole life.
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid 1969
Gene's contrarian early call: "laughable, but not very memorable."
The French Connection 1971
One of the future classics Gene raved about early at the Tribune.
Z 1969
Another early Siskel rave.
Chinatown 1974
Gene found it "tedious from beginning to just before the end."
Beyond the Valley of the Dolls 1970
Gene gave it zero stars and called it a cesspool, not knowing it was written by Roger Ebert.
Ikiru 1952
Kurosawa's dying-man drama that hit Roger in college (the transcript mishears it as "Akira").
The 400 Blows 1959
Truffaut's coming-of-age film, another Roger college awakening.
2001: A Space Odyssey 1968
Roger's lifelong obsession: four stars, and he kept going back. Gene once tried to buy the monolith prop.
Saturday Night Fever 1977
Gene's fixation: he saw it 17 times and outbid Jane Fonda for Travolta's white disco suit.
Also mentioned raised along the way
New Hollywood name-checks Easy RiderMASHThe Exorcist
Not films filtered out: TV, games, ads
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