At the Movies
The Best Films of 1996
TV Flash files “The Best Films of 1996” as hour 484 of 616 in the TV Flash guide — At the Movies (1982–1990) on Syndication, season 11, episode 18, aired 1997-01-04, 30 min.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S11E18: listed hour 484 of 616 in the At the Movies guide, hour 18 of 52 in season 11. It aired 1997-01-04 (30 min). The listed hour before it is “Michael/Mother/The People vs. Larry Flynt/The Evening Star/The Portrait of a Lady/I'm Not Rappaport” (S11E17). Next is “The Worst Films of 1996” (S11E19). Broadcast log — titles and dates, not a plot bible.
Viewer FAQ
Where does The Best Films of 1996 sit in the At the Movies guide?
S11E18 is listed hour 484 of 616 — hour 18 of 52 in season 11, season 11 episode 18.
When did At the Movies S11E18 air?
The Best Films of 1996 aired 1997-01-04 and is listed at 30 minutes.
Is this the same as Sneak Previews?
Related Chicago-critics lineage; this syndicated 1982–1990 run (under various official titles) is the thumbs-as-shorthand era people mean by At the Movies. Balcony, barbs, mass criticism.
In the series
Why this series still plays
Two thumbs up: Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert turn newspaper rivalry into appointment film talk — balcony seats, clipped verdicts, and fights that were half the entertainment. Syndication made serious criticism mass. The argument as format: two Chicago men teaching America it was allowed to have taste, and to disagree on camera.
The balcony is the silhouette. Syndicated 1982–1990 under various official titles: Chicago critics debate new releases with clips, barbs, and binary thumb verdicts — two thumbs up, newspaper rivals as appointment film talk. At the Movies is Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert as celebrity critics: balcony seats, clipped verdicts, fights that were half the entertainment. The thumbs system became cultural shorthand. Serious criticism made mass. The argument as format. *Balcony as civic furniture, a thumb as the accessory…
Filed against
- Gene Siskel as Host/critic
Gene Siskel turned newspaper rivalry into appointment film talk on At the Movies — balcony seats, clipped verdicts, and fights that were half the entertainment. Two thumbs as a national grammar. TV Flash files him as 1980s syndication…
- Roger Ebert as Host/critic
Roger Ebert turned At the Movies into appointment film talk with Gene Siskel — two thumbs up, balcony seats, clipped verdicts, fights that were half the entertainment. Newspaper rivalry as syndication. TV Flash files him as 1980s…
Also in season 11
- S11E01 Bogus/The Big Squeeze/Bulletproof/The Trigger Effect/The Island of Dr. Moreau
- S11E02 American Buffalo/Fly Away Home/Feeling Minnesota/The Rich Man's Wife/Grace of My Heart/The Wife
- S11E03 The First Wives Club/Big Night/Surviving Picasso/Last Man Standing/Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills
- S11E04 Extreme Measures/Secrets & Lies/2 Days in the Valley/Caught/Ed's Next Move
- S11E05 That Thing You Do!/Bound/Michael Collins/Infinity/If These Walls Could Talk
- S11E06 The Chamber/The Ghost and the Darkness/The Long Kiss Goodnight/Looking for Richard/Freeway