Author Archives: Casual Clay Cunningham

At The Movies Retrospective Pt. 4: Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert

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We’ve come to the end of my four-part At The Movies recap, which tragically marks the end of Everyview editor-in-chief and highly decorated Vietnam Conflict veteran Zac Pritcher’s bitter and sarcasm-laced plugs on Facebook. You’re the one who made me keep going, dickhole!

But anyway, this capper is dedicated to two individuals who are actually very worthy of being written about, as they were responsible for bringing movie criticism into mainstream America, and had a major role in helping expand the reach of art house cinema.

They were Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, perhaps the two most important media critics of all-time. Continue reading →

At The Movies Retrospective Part 3: Roger Ebert and Richard Roeper

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We’ve now entered the second half of this cockamamie retrospective idea, and I’m pretty sure by the end I will have close to 50 accumulative hits! I would just stop altogether, but for my loyal readers I persevere. After all, we here at Everyview only give up on good ideas.

So here’s my take on Ebert and Roeper.

After original co-host and balcony mainstay Gene Siskel died of a brain tumor in early 1999, there was speculation the show, better known to the public as Siskel and Ebert, would be unable to continue with one-half of the duo deceased.

However, Ebert quickly let it be known he fully intended to keep the series running, continuing it for well over a year-and-a-half with 26 different guest critics.

Then in September 2000, it was announced Chicago Sun Times columnist Richard Roeper would accept nearly impossible task of sitting across the aisle and debating movies with Roger Ebert week after week. But while replacing Siskel wasn’t something he could have ever done, it’s hard to look back on the tenure of Roeper as anything but admirable.

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At The Movies Retrospective Pt. 2: Michael Phillips and A.O. Scott

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One part in and this four-part series has already proven to be a humiliating failure. Oh, well, it’s not like I have anything better to do. After all, you can only watch so many old episodes of Everybody Loves Raymond before you’ve seen them all, and have to say enough, it’s time to do something productive.

So here’s my opinion on Michael Phillips and A.O. Scott.

For their first few weeks on the air, Phillips and Scott (film critics for the Chicago Tribune and New York Times, respectively), were a breath of fresh air. Not that it was difficult outperforming their predecessors, but actually having two legit(imate) critics on the air was a nice change after the year-long piece of wet diarrhea stank produced by the Lyons/Mankiewicz combo.

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At The Movies Retrospective Pt. 1: Ben Lyons and Ben Mankiewicz

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By September 2008, all shreds of At The Moviesas it once was were gone. Gene Siskel was long dead, Roger Ebert had lost the ability to speak due to a bout with thyroid cancer and Richard Roeper, who replaced Siskel following his death, left the balcony after eight years due to failed contract negotiations.

Even the show’s most notable trademark, the “Thumbs Up, Thumbs Down” grade were gone (Ebert retained the rights which he kept for himself), replaced with the far less memorable “See It,” “Rent It” and “Skip It.”

Hoping to “take the program in a new direction,” producers appointed E! Online columnist Ben Lyons and Turner Classic Movies host Ben Mankiewicz as the new co-hosts. And while this lineup wasn’t the last ATM would produce, the abysmal program they created was undeniably the biggest deathblow planted on the once great show.

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At The Movies Retrospective

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After 24 years on syndicated television, At The Movies, the landmark film criticism show will air its final episode this week. Better known to many for its runs as Siskel and Ebert and Ebert and Roeper, the show accomplished a rare feat in its prime, in that it made middle America at least somewhat interested in what stuffy, pretentious film critics had to say.

In its time, the show went through four major hosting formats (aside from those listed above, the show also featured hosting duos Ben Lyons and Ben Mankiewicz, and Michael Phillips and A.O. Scott). To pay homage, I will run a four-part series ranking my favorite ATM duos from worst to best starting tomorrow.

I don’t assume many of our readers will have a great deal of interest in this series, but as a long-time fan of the show (as well as a pretentious asshole in love with his own opinions) I feel compelled to recap the program which I’ve watched since I was a kid. Also, now that this is a salaried gig ($3/post), I’d be a fool not to stockpile content.

[Concert Review] Wilco: Live At Coveleski Stadium

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Disclaimer:

This review originally ran as a post on “Man Walks On The Moon…Again,” my ill-conceived attempt at running my own blog. Seeing as how that required actually work, I’ve decided to take the easy way out by returning to Everyview, so as to have the pleasure of working under the thumb of 14-year-old dictator Zac Pritcher.

So even though this concert was a week ago, and we already ran a Wilco live review over a year ago, I’m posting it, because it was awesome, and my opinions deserve to be heard, dammit.

So, anyway… Continue reading →

[Food Review] Oreo Brownie

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When asked what their favorite part of the Oreo is, 99.95% of the Earth’s population will say the cream, while the other .05% are nay-saying bastards who claim they prefer the chocolate just for the sake of being unbearable douchebags who naysay for no better reason than making everyone listen to how “opinionated” they are.

Knowing this, it seems puzzling to me that the people at Oreo would set out to appease these idiots, as the brownie is much too chocolaty for its own good. There are small sections of cream spread throughout the surface, but it’s hardly noticeable. In fact, if for some bizarre reason I had decided to eat blindfolded, I am relatively certain I wouldn’t have been able to detect any cream at all.

Read the full review on Does It Hit The Spot!

[Doubleshot TV Review] The Return of Futurama

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Futurama, the moderately popular cult TV program, returned to the air last night after a seven year hiatus with two brand new episodes. Here are two separate, contrasting reviews of each program by Everyview Editor Casual Clay Cunningham and Editor-in-Cheif Zachariah Jedidiah Pritcher. Continue reading →

[Self-Created Game Review] Potshot

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Conflict of Interest Disclaimer: This is a review for a game I co-created.

As a child, I had but one goal; to make it in the NBA. As an avid fan of the Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen and Bill Wennington led Chicago Bulls dynasty of the 90’s, I dreamed of nothing more than using my superior athletic abilities to bring a city joy in the same way those great players brought joy to Chicago.

Things seemed perfectly on schedule following my sixth grade season when I won my team’s free throw championship (63%). Then something unfortunate happened. Simply put, I got lazy. My desire to play simply fizzled out as my body got less receptive to all the fitness requirements necessary for those hoping to succeed in the game. Continue reading →

DEWmocracy 2010 Results Announced

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As chronicled here on this site, as well as several others, Mountain Dew conducted DEWmocracy2010, where patrons got to partake in the consumption of three new flavors entitled, Distortion, Typhoon and Whiteout, then take to the internet to vote for their favorite. The flavor receiving the most votes would become a permanent fixture in the Mountain Dew lineup.

Voting concluded today (June 15). And the winner is… Continue reading →