Gene Siskel was a renowned film critic, made famous by his TV show At The Movies, which he hosted alongside fellow critic Roger Ebert. Together, they made for a very entertaining show where they talked about movies and why they worked for them or didn’t, influencing a new generation of cinema lovers. The duo popularized the concept of "thumbs up" and "thumbs down" approach to film criticism that fellow critics have tried to emulate.
Update June 28, 2023: This article has been updated with even more amazing films that Gene Siskel loved.
Gene Siskel was well-regarded among his peers, and he tragically passed away on February 20, 1999, at the age of 53. Like all film lovers, Siskel had his favorites and wanted to let people know about them. We’ve already done the greatest movies of all time, according to Roger Ebert, so today it’s time for his partner in crime. Here are some of Gene Siskel's all-time favorite movies.
Ragtime (1981)
Ragtime is directed by Miloš Forman and based on the novel of the same name. The film mostly focuses on Coalhouse Walker, Jr (Howard Rollins), along with a kaleidoscope of tales in New York City during World War One. Coalhouse is a young black pianist who gets involved with an upper-class white family after a tragic incident. Siskel calls it the "greatest cross-section of America" full of both great performances and a big-sweeping story. The film spotlights Coalhouse's important story from the novel and does it justice in a movie that understands America at its core.
Raging Bull (1980)
Raging Bull is directed by Martin Scorsese and tells the story of Jake LaMotta (Robert De Niro), a prizefighting boxer known for obliterating his opponents. Unable to properly express his emotions or treat his friends and family properly, Jake is a ticking time bomb. While his rage has led him to championship victories and fame, it's his toughest battle to fight that could cost him everything. Siskel applauded the film, saying that De Niro and Scorsese are "the finest acting-directing team in the United States" and that "the savage ferocity of boxing never has been better depicted in a film."
Hair (1979)
Hair is a musical that follows Claude Hooper Bukowski (John Savage), an Oklahoma farm boy who's just been drafted into the Vietnam War. Claude leaves his family and sets off toward New York City, where he meets a group of long-haired hippies led by George Berger (Treat Williams). He quickly befriends the group as they take him in as their own, teaching Claude their ways. Based on a play, Siskel thought that the film adaptation was much better and that "what is on the screen is nothing short of marvelous and is filled, at times, with very rich emotion".
Straight Time (1978)
Straight Time tells the story of Max (Dustin Hoffman), a criminal who, after leaving prison, struggles to create a new life for himself. Max wants to leave crime behind, but there are not that many opportunities for him, and the temptations and rewards of his old life are calling him back. This film is a different description of the criminal underworld, one less sexy and fun and more realistic and sad. Siskel loved that point of view as he thought it treated the characters as if they were real people, making it more interesting and disturbing.
Annie Hall (1977)
Annie Hall is a unique love story between Alvy Singer (Woody Allen) and Annie Hall (Diane Keaton), full of imaginative, sweet moments to tell their romantic comedy in a unique, funny, and entertaining way. From their conversation with subtitles to what they really are thinking, to the lunch with Annie’s parents, or the romantic montage with the lobster, this film influenced many romantic comedies that followed. It’s also interesting that the film ends in a breakup, and not in a “they lived happily ever after” kind of way, as that wasn’t a typical storyline back then.
All the President's Men (1976)
All the President’s Men tells the story of journalists Bob Woodward (Robert Redford) and Carl Bernstein (Dustin Hoffman) as they investigate the Watergate scandal for The Washington Post. This movie is one of Robert Redford’s best performances ever, as it tells the story of these two journalists as a pure thriller where they feel the government is out to get them. It’s also a great journalist story, and it shows why the “journalist investigates something important that might get him killed” was such a go-to story until the 21st century, as it was entertaining, thrilling, and had an incredible climax where the characters finally saw their investigation published and how every risk they took was worth it.
Nashville (1975)
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Nashville is one of the best Robert Altman movies ever. The film follows many people involved in the country and gospel musical business in Nashville, Tennessee, over five days before a gala concert. This satirical musical ensemble comedy is considered Altman’s magnum opus and has everything the director is known for: the ensemble cast (there are 24 main characters), the intertwining stories, the long takes, and the great performances of a spectacular cast. From Geraldine Chaplin to David Arkin, Jeff Goldblum, Lily Tomlin, Shelley Duvall, and Ned Beatty, this film is a who-is-who of late '70s Hollywood.
Day for Night (1973)
Day for Night is a romantic comedy-drama about the making of a movie called Je Vous Présente Paméla (Introduce You to Pamela). This Francois Truffaut film tells the experience of creating a movie, with small vignettes showing the actors and the crew experiencing several romances, affairs, break-ups, and problems. The original title was La Nuit américaine (American Night), a term used in cinema-making when sequences filmed outdoors in daylight are shown with a filter making them look like they were shot during the night. The original title might be a reference to both the magic of cinema and all the process (and in this case, relationships) that happen off-camera, so the movie becomes much better.
The Emigrants & The New Land (1971 & 1972)
The Emigrants and The New Land are two parts of the same story and together run over six hours. This Swedish epic story is an adaptation of Vilhelm Moberg’s novels about poor Swedes who move to Minnesota in the mid-19th century. The first film won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film and had mild success at the box office, even with subtitles and a long duration. Both films, directed by Jan Troell, a filmmaker endorsed by the one and only Ingmar Bergman, showed the struggles of this Swedish family to arrive in the United States and adapt to this unique new world.
The Godfather (1972)
There’s not that much to say about The Godfather that hasn’t already been said. This incredible film is a classic with a capital “C” about the Corleone crime family and how Michael (Al Pacino) becomes the new Don. This is one of the best '70s crime films ever made and Francis Ford Coppola’s masterpiece. With an incredible cast and an impressive command of the story, Coppola made something that’s more difficult every day: an artistic masterpiece that was also a box office success. So much so that this became the first chapter in a trilogy about Michael and the Corleone family.
Claire’s Knee (1970)
Claire’s Knee is about Jerome (Jean-Claude Brialy), a recently engaged man who, during the summer, develops a flirtatious relationship with his 16-old neighbor Laura. When her step-sister Claire arrives, Jerome’s life becomes upside down as he obsesses over her and, especially, caressing her knee. Eric Rohmer was friends with Jean-Luc Godard, Francois Truffaut, and the rest of the "French New Wave" members, but he started doing films later than his friends. Once he did, though, he became a unique director. He had an understanding of the female psyche and made small films about the romance between intellectual people who wanted to understand what love and romance are and why they can change everything.
My Night at Maud’s (1969)
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Siskel loved himself some Rohmer, and who wouldn’t? My Night at Maud’s is a story about love, sex, religion, fate, and probability. The lead character, Jean-Louis (Jean-Louis Trintignant), is a catholic who sees a woman in church and, without knowing anything about her, is convinced she will become his wife. Everything changes when he ends up in Maud’s (Françoise Fabian) house. She’s a divorced pediatrician who is sophisticated, outstanding, fun, and sexy and might change how he thinks. Rohmer always knows how to capture a man’s desire and obsession with a woman and how she knows it and has her own ideas and wishes. His Maud’s no different, as everyone in the audience gets as mesmerized with her the more Jean-Louis (and us) get to know her.
Z (1969)
Z is a thinly-fictionalized account of what happened in Greece in the sixties as democratic Greek politician Grigoris Lambrakis was killed and the investigation that followed. Although the film might’ve not become a classic as much as some of the other movies in this last, Siskel thought the Costa-Gavras picture had many merits as it could be viewed as both a political thriller and a political statement.
About making the film, director Costa-Gavras told Fifth State: “ The main reason for making Z was my Greek origins, of course. I can’t see how anyone without those origins could possibly have made such a film. I had been concerned about the Lambrakis murder ever since it occurred in 1963, but after the military coup of 1967, I wanted to do something concrete against the dictatorship.”
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