Things are better today than they ever have been. Yeah real bad. LOL. And despite the gripes about inequality we are basically giving out indefinite unemployment benefits right now, preventing people from being evicted, etc.
The whole point of these movies is to see the problems and encourage society to fix them now before they get worse. Unfortunately, fixing those problems typically leads to more problems.
Part of the start of the pussification of America. Kids had a tough life throughout history- that is a fact that hiding your head in the sand will not change.
Free Jack got so many things right about what 2009 would look like... from the cars we’d be driving and the clothes we’d be wearing to the uncleverly written one-liners! 🤯
I think the major strength Siskel and Ebert had was simple yet effective. Many people say "it is easier to say what is wrong with a machine rather than what makes it work" or in other words "it's easier to insult someone than compliment a thing." Siskel and Ebert had the strength of doing both and at the same time putting a new spin on things so thier reviews didn't become stale and repetitive due to being the same things regurgitated. They embody the phrase "it's okay to be critical of the things you like."
I literally saw Freejack one time when it first hit video and never saw it again. Hand that Rocks I saw in theaters and watching it now as an adult, its pretty distasteful but still sleazy fun! Juice is a classic! Great early 90's music, an intense performance by tupac shakur, and a bleak ending!
Rewatched Juice the other night….the movie doesn’t stop for a second!!! and I forgot how much humor was in it. That film introduced me to Eric B and Rakim
This movie, plus “Back to the Future Part II,” establish that when you time-travel, and then go back to your house, it will be inhabited by black people who are confused and/or annoyed that you tried to break in
When I was a child and saw this on TV, I particularly liked how the children were handled in it. I could really identify with them and I liked that it was up to them to save the mother in the end. That the children were so capable and clever is what made feel like i could handle such a situation if I had a bad babysitter. In most films with children they are incapable of anything are just put in peril and are completely reliant upon the adults, but here that was not the case, and that made it more empowering to me watching it as a child. And it was much better on that note than a lot of films meant for children. So I think Gene is off base again in this one.
Yep. I think Freejack would've made a better video for the Scorpions 1990 song "Hit Between The Eyes" (which plays during the end credits of Freejack by the way) than the overblown mess of a movie it is.
hand that rocks the cradle is a fun suspense film that goes quite well with the film,decieved with goldie hawn both films have different points of view in terms of suspense plot
Hollywood Pictures, a division of the Walt Disney Company, which also owned Touchstone, Walt Disney Productions, Miramax, and Division Films. Every weekend Disney had at least one new film in theatres
@@arikkatzenberg4498Sometime after 2008-10, Disney basically operated under the philosophy of "go big or go home". Thanks to Marvel, Star Wars, lots of animation, and lots of Pirates.
Top best sci-fi movies of the 1990s ever made should be: Free-jack, The Intruders, Terminator 2 Judgment Day, Total Recall, Contact, Dark Forces, & The X-Files Fight The Future.
@@ricardocantoral7672 I totally agree! Underrated and not seen by many. Totally original, peculiar and brilliant all together. I don't think the studio had much confidence promoting it. Notably it was Roger Ebert's choice as best film of that year. It deserves to be seen by any Sci-fi fan. Same director as The Crow, another dark, intriguing film.
Roger listing the source material for Freejack sent me to check if it were available on Kindle, and BAM, not only is it available, it's on sale for two bucks. I like Sheckley -- he was one of the best short story writers of golden age SF -- but I haven't read Immortality Inc. Also, part of what makes The Hand that Rocks the Cradle interesting is that it's very influential in its genre, enough so that it created an entire subgenre of thriller, mostly in the form of Lifetime movies, and some of them follow the plot beat for beat. The nanny/babysitter who shows up as a couple is looking for help, wasn't referred by the service, and proceeds to try to seduce the husband and kill the wife. Or, one variation, seduce the wife and kill the husband. Or seduce both. It's such a common plot that it works as setup for something different: In The Uninvited, the plot starts with the implication that Dad's new girlfriend is a killer hospice nurse who killed the mom so she could marry the rich dad, and the two daughters play Nancy Drew to discover the truth. Also also, Gene has this complaint a lot, that SF movies set in the future show a decayed society or post apocalyptic world, but never one where things are better. And I keep thinking, "Um, Gene, have you heard of Star Trek? That's the core premise of the Star Trek universe. It's post-scarcity, where Earth is so properous and peaceful that people have to fly off in starships to find adventure.
Siskel rants that he yearns for some film to present a positive vision of the future. Yet he panned Back To The Future 2. Ebert often complains about the straightjacket that is the three-act American screenplay, complete with car chase. And yet he calls films that depart from that formula "undisciplined" and "formless". Their palates have become quite refined. Like that bit Eddie Izzard used to do: _There's a whole 360 degrees on the shower knob, but we're only interested in that one infinitesimal millimetre between too cold and too hot._
"Freejack assumes in less than 20 years, the earth will be so polluted that all living human beings will be fatally flawed in one way or another" I mean.....they weren't completely wrong.....
The problem with Gene's criticism of "Freejack" is he stated he grew tired over Sci-Fi that indicts the present world. However sometimes that is a major point of Science Fiction, show the flaws or errors of the modern world and hold a mirror to it that blends in with the adventure plot, with the point of bringing attention to a major issue in the present to make the world of tomorrow a little better. If Gene wanted a utopian nice future world then just watch Star Trek. Sure it may sound preachy, and yes during the time period this movie came out in 1990's America things were not that bad, but one cannot say the same for society today in the 2020's which is almost as dystopic as the fantasy word depicted in "Freejack". I had really liked that movie as a kid.
There are multiple reviews here where Gene's bemoaning the fact that movies aren't depicting an ideal world. Of course, an ideal world would be the least realistic (since humans are imperfect) and boring (since great stories have a strong central conflict) premise of all.
"An ambitious but misguided science fiction film that assumes that in less than 20 years time the Earth will be so polluted that all living human beings will be fatally flawed in one way or another." That was a gd prophecy.
I'd argue Jim garrison was his best role and he hasn't come close to that since. Ridiculous that he didn't get an Oscar nomination even though the movie did for best picture inspiite of all this supposed hate for it...
4:49 - Ebert making a crack about waking up 20 years in the future and still doing reviews sitting across from Siskel. Ebert's joke becomes harsher in hindsight since Siskel would die in 1999 and by 2012 Ebert had retired from appearing on screen due to his health problems.
"A muscular racecar driver played by Emelio Estevez" Was that really necessary? Also was the skinny guy always a little snarky toward the big guy? He also seemed dismissive in times when his cohost was extending the olive branch or being especially sweet.
Anyone else think that "Free Jack" is a very low budget movie? Because the cinematography is God awful. It looks exactly like Who Killed Captain Alex composition wise but at least that film has the excuse that it was made by a tribe leader for only his tribe members using a shitty camera for less than $200 in Ethiopia of all places. What excuse does this film have?
Its unrealistic people would hire nannys off the street...yes shouldnt happen BUT "craigslist". The argument of premise a killer vengeful nanny. The motive of the premise is completely igored Her husband a doctor barehanded touched/felt up a pregnant woman. so when the pregnant woman sues for molestation the doctor kills himself. leaving "his" distraught pregnant to be alone and lose her child....So she ignores her husband cheated on her and wants to take the husband of the woman her husband was technically cheating with.
"I go to a thriller to be thrilled, not to have all my sensibilities respected." --RIP Roger Ebert
That is all the more applicable today.
"20 years and I'd still be here sitting across from you? Amazing."
:*(
Sadly, the only part that was true was he was still with us.
I miss them so much.
@@futuremovieactor I do too, but thanks so much to war guild and others for uploading all these classic reviews.
12:08 : Give Gene credit for recognizing Julianne Moore's talent that early.
Yes....but I was still glad to see her get it! LOL!
Death by greenhouse
I truthfully forgot she was on it. It's been years since I've watched it.
he also recognized a lot of others, like Quentin Tarantino.
This was probably her only movie where she WASN’T naked!
"why don't they make a futuristic movie where everything is good?"
Oh Gene...poor poor Gene...you have no idea how bad it'll get
Things are better today than they ever have been. Yeah real bad. LOL. And despite the gripes about inequality we are basically giving out indefinite unemployment benefits right now, preventing people from being evicted, etc.
The whole point of these movies is to see the problems and encourage society to fix them now before they get worse. Unfortunately, fixing those problems typically leads to more problems.
"I have a problem with Children in danger" Well that rules out any bedtime story in history.
nope. They lived happily ever after.
Its such a dumb criticism
I'm guessing he didn't like Cape Fear remake then.
Part of the start of the pussification of America. Kids had a tough life throughout history- that is a fact that hiding your head in the sand will not change.
@@jimmym3352he gave it a 3 out of 4
Juice was and still is a great movie
The shittiness of "Freejack" brought Siskel and Ebert together in an unprecedented amount of agreement.
Check out their review of She’s Out of Control and North 👍
juice and hand that rocks the cradle are great
Tim Treakle Juice is underrated
Juice is an all time great urban coming of age movie
Both are decent entertainments.
Free Jack got so many things right about what 2009 would look like... from the cars we’d be driving and the clothes we’d be wearing to the uncleverly written one-liners! 🤯
"Why don't they go into a futuristic exercise where the future is better." It's called star trek the next generation.
Exactly what I was thinking.
Yep. Gene likes the Star Trek pictures too. I'm surprised it didn't occur to him.
Demolition man. Be careful what you ask for
@@MC-bh8ph It only took two years later.
I think the major strength Siskel and Ebert had was simple yet effective. Many people say "it is easier to say what is wrong with a machine rather than what makes it work" or in other words "it's easier to insult someone than compliment a thing." Siskel and Ebert had the strength of doing both and at the same time putting a new spin on things so thier reviews didn't become stale and repetitive due to being the same things regurgitated. They embody the phrase "it's okay to be critical of the things you like."
The Hand who rocks the Cradle was so originated it just can't be touched.
😂
I knew/hoped Moore would be famous after watching her as Marlene, as well. Fast forward to 1998 and she blew up in "Boogie Nights", thankfully!! :)
I literally saw Freejack one time when it first hit video and never saw it again. Hand that Rocks I saw in theaters and watching it now as an adult, its pretty distasteful but still sleazy fun! Juice is a classic! Great early 90's music, an intense performance by tupac shakur, and a bleak ending!
Rewatched Juice the other night….the movie doesn’t stop for a second!!! and I forgot how much humor was in it. That film introduced me to Eric B and Rakim
I saw Freejack at the cinema back in '92. I knew S & E wouldn't like it when I started playing this video.
Siskel's defense of JFK is pretty epic.
I was surprised Siskel gave Juice a thumbs down it was a great movie also the greatest 2pac film made
yeah cause 2 poc was in a lot of good movies lmao
Gang Related with Jim Belushi us a good thriller
@@Swoll826 that was a good picture, the only Pac movie that wasn’t that great was Bullet that was a straight to DVD film.
Rebecca deserved an Oscar nod for this
I miss these critics.
I came here for Juice
"Juice" is an excellent film with an rousing cast. Released in 1992 by
Paramount and Universal.
This movie, plus “Back to the Future Part II,” establish that when you time-travel, and then go back to your house, it will be inhabited by black people who are confused and/or annoyed that you tried to break in
Haha I know right. In all seriousness, it's definitely supposed to be a commentary on "white flight". At least that's how I always interpreted it.
It's odd that it happened twice.
Really miss these guys!
When I was a child and saw this on TV, I particularly liked how the children were handled in it. I could really identify with them and I liked that it was up to them to save the mother in the end. That the children were so capable and clever is what made feel like i could handle such a situation if I had a bad babysitter. In most films with children they are incapable of anything are just put in peril and are completely reliant upon the adults, but here that was not the case, and that made it more empowering to me watching it as a child. And it was much better on that note than a lot of films meant for children. So I think Gene is off base again in this one.
Gonna have to disagree just by the premise of the film. Hand that Rocks the Cradle is only one genre label away from being a sadomasochist film.
remember how good was it to read those giant Sunday editions? it was a book thick
3:50 And we all got just that with Demolition Man the very next year
How does someone have manners before robbing people, lol? "Pardon me, I'm 'bout to rob this place."
"The waking up would be interesting for you."
You have no idea how much, Gene. :(
12:50....I knew Siskel would rant about the f'ing freaking kids. Like there's never been a kid in jeopardy...I'm glad Ebert called him out on it
Freejack looks crazy!
Looks like one of the few Back to the Future rip-offs.
It's nonsense that only cyberpunk fans would really like
Gotta give it to THTRTC, it has an excellent villian in Rebecca D. and a good death scene, WHAM!! impaled by a white picket fence!
Freejack is a classic.
Had heard that Freejack was bad, and boy does it look awful! Such a shame that De Morney hasn't gone on to be in more films I think she's really good.
Yep. I think Freejack would've made a better video for the Scorpions 1990 song "Hit Between The Eyes" (which plays during the end credits of Freejack by the way) than the overblown mess of a movie it is.
'Freejack' is one of those movies that's worth watching just because of how bad it is.
pay check was worse lol
that's jonathon banks from breaking bad in free jack
Rebecca DeMornay was so beautiful
Juice the hand that rocks the cradle.
Rebecca can rock me for juice any time.
Roger's line about still being here after twenty years was partially true. He just wasn't across from Gene, nor on TV anymore.
hand that rocks the cradle is a fun suspense film that goes quite well with the film,decieved with goldie hawn
both films have different points of view in terms of suspense plot
Rebecca DeHornay...the hand that rocks the cradle is gonna be rockin' something else!
How does someone have manners before robbing people, lol. "Pardon me, I'm 'bout to rob this place."
XRJ92 It happens.
It happens more than you would think. Some robbers don't go all aggro when robbing people. Some are even apologetic.
Costner spoke the hard truth here
Right? I'm not used to Hollywood actors responding reasonably to political questions. These were different times, I suppose.
I'm so bummed the website is down now.
Honorable mentions: End Game, Shadowzone, Star Crystal, Solaris, Deep Space, Warlords Of Atlantis.
Siskel was very much chagrined by dystopian fiction.
Freejack and The Hand that Rocks the Cradle were seen again. When Siskel and Ebert did a special episode called Hollywood's Fear of Love in 1993.
***** Yeah, because they fit into the theme of the show. What's wrong with that?
I've just read I had no idea that the Hand That Rocks the Cradle is a Disney movie
Hollywood Pictures, a division of the Walt Disney Company, which also owned Touchstone, Walt Disney Productions, Miramax, and Division Films. Every weekend Disney had at least one new film in theatres
@@arikkatzenberg4498Sometime after 2008-10, Disney basically operated under the philosophy of "go big or go home". Thanks to Marvel, Star Wars, lots of animation, and lots of Pirates.
Top best sci-fi movies of the 1990s ever made should be: Free-jack, The Intruders, Terminator 2 Judgment Day, Total Recall, Contact, Dark Forces, & The X-Files Fight The Future.
T2 is incredibly superior to any of the other films that you mentioned. Freejack by far the worst although Mick should have won an Oscar.... NOT!!
Dark City trumps them all.
@@ricardocantoral7672 I totally agree! Underrated and not seen by many. Totally original, peculiar and brilliant all together. I don't think the studio had much confidence promoting it. Notably it was Roger Ebert's choice as best film of that year. It deserves to be seen by any Sci-fi fan. Same director as The Crow, another dark, intriguing film.
Roger listing the source material for Freejack sent me to check if it were available on Kindle, and BAM, not only is it available, it's on sale for two bucks. I like Sheckley -- he was one of the best short story writers of golden age SF -- but I haven't read Immortality Inc.
Also, part of what makes The Hand that Rocks the Cradle interesting is that it's very influential in its genre, enough so that it created an entire subgenre of thriller, mostly in the form of Lifetime movies, and some of them follow the plot beat for beat. The nanny/babysitter who shows up as a couple is looking for help, wasn't referred by the service, and proceeds to try to seduce the husband and kill the wife. Or, one variation, seduce the wife and kill the husband. Or seduce both.
It's such a common plot that it works as setup for something different: In The Uninvited, the plot starts with the implication that Dad's new girlfriend is a killer hospice nurse who killed the mom so she could marry the rich dad, and the two daughters play Nancy Drew to discover the truth.
Also also, Gene has this complaint a lot, that SF movies set in the future show a decayed society or post apocalyptic world, but never one where things are better. And I keep thinking, "Um, Gene, have you heard of Star Trek? That's the core premise of the Star Trek universe. It's post-scarcity, where Earth is so properous and peaceful that people have to fly off in starships to find adventure.
Twenty O’nine
Interesting. They're reviewing Juice but didn't mention it in the beginning...
Siskel rants that he yearns for some film to present a positive vision of the future. Yet he panned Back To The Future 2. Ebert often complains about the straightjacket that is the three-act American screenplay, complete with car chase. And yet he calls films that depart from that formula "undisciplined" and "formless".
Their palates have become quite refined. Like that bit Eddie Izzard used to do: _There's a whole 360 degrees on the shower knob, but we're only interested in that one infinitesimal millimetre between too cold and too hot._
Out of all the movies Mick Jagger could have picked..........wow
Th Nanny - no way a married woman is going to hire a live in nanny hotter than herself.
Siskel was so wrong about The Hand That Rocks The Cradle. His explanation makes me doubt all his reviews and what Ebert said to him was right on.
it was really really silly...
Mick Jogger
Close your eyes when Emilio Estavez talks and he sounds exactly like Ralph Machio.
3:47 They did. It’s called “Star Trek.”
I still watch JFK.
"Freejack assumes in less than 20 years, the earth will be so polluted that all living human beings will be fatally flawed in one way or another"
I mean.....they weren't completely wrong.....
The problem with Gene's criticism of "Freejack" is he stated he grew tired over Sci-Fi that indicts the present world. However sometimes that is a major point of Science Fiction, show the flaws or errors of the modern world and hold a mirror to it that blends in with the adventure plot, with the point of bringing attention to a major issue in the present to make the world of tomorrow a little better. If Gene wanted a utopian nice future world then just watch Star Trek. Sure it may sound preachy, and yes during the time period this movie came out in 1990's America things were not that bad, but one cannot say the same for society today in the 2020's which is almost as dystopic as the fantasy word depicted in "Freejack". I had really liked that movie as a kid.
They didnt understand Juice at all . It wasnt about guns it was about power. The gun just embodied that power
There was definitely an anti-gun agenda in the film.
@@ricardocantoral7672 It wasnt an antigun movie
Haha It's believable until you're asked to suspend your disbelief enough to accept Mick Jagger would still be alive. 🤣
The Campbell movie trailer looks interesting.
There are multiple reviews here where Gene's bemoaning the fact that movies aren't depicting an ideal world. Of course, an ideal world would be the least realistic (since humans are imperfect) and boring (since great stories have a strong central conflict) premise of all.
1992 must have been a. bad year because the second movie i never even heard of
You were saved from 💩
Thanks, war guild!
"An ambitious but misguided science fiction film that assumes that in less than 20 years time the Earth will be so polluted that all living human beings will be fatally flawed in one way or another."
That was a gd prophecy.
Freejack is a terrible movie.
I saw it at the second run 2 dollar cinema and paid too much....my friends and I laughed at its ineptness
I'd argue Jim garrison was his best role and he hasn't come close to that since. Ridiculous that he didn't get an Oscar nomination even though the movie did for best picture inspiite of all this supposed hate for it...
I guess Oliver Stone is a conpiracy theorist then
nice little jabs at each other after freejack.
"I find it unrealistic that she hired a nanny who wasn't an illegal immigrant."
I miss this non political correction of these guys.. God I miss these two
4:49 - Ebert making a crack about waking up 20 years in the future and still doing reviews sitting across from Siskel. Ebert's joke becomes harsher in hindsight since Siskel would die in 1999 and by 2012 Ebert had retired from appearing on screen due to his health problems.
Oh Roger, which newspapers do you read?
The Chicago Sun-Times and the Chicago Tribune!
"A muscular racecar driver played by Emelio Estevez" Was that really necessary? Also was the skinny guy always a little snarky toward the big guy? He also seemed dismissive in times when his cohost was extending the olive branch or being especially sweet.
You’re new around here, aren’t you?
Anyone else think that "Free Jack" is a very low budget movie? Because the cinematography is God awful. It looks exactly like Who Killed Captain Alex composition wise but at least that film has the excuse that it was made by a tribe leader for only his tribe members using a shitty camera for less than $200 in Ethiopia of all places. What excuse does this film have?
Did they make it close to another 20 years sitting across from each other? I'm too lazy to Google or read comments now.
No they are both dead.
They only made it 6 more years together.
0:06 that guy fucked up every pronunciation he could.
2009?
Rebecca De Mornay could've played young Hillary Clinton in a movie
Emilio esters.....total babe.
Anyone care to tell me how these two originally met? They both worked for Chicago news outlets but there has to be some kind of history.
It might say on Wikipedia.
10:13 Freudian slip
4:47 Roger barely made it through that 20 years, Gene didn't.
if I woke up in 2009 the first thing Id do is buy Amazon stock
20:35 - 'Freejack': 👎👎, 'Until the End of the World': 👎👎, 'Juice': 👎(S)👍(E), 'The Hand That Rocks the Cradle': 👎(S)👍(E)
It should've been Ebert and Siskel.
freejack must have sucked because i never saw so much as a trailer until now.
Its unrealistic people would hire nannys off the street...yes shouldnt happen BUT "craigslist". The argument of premise a killer vengeful nanny. The motive of the premise is completely igored Her husband a doctor barehanded touched/felt up a pregnant woman. so when the pregnant woman sues for molestation the doctor kills himself. leaving "his" distraught pregnant to be alone and lose her child....So she ignores her husband cheated on her and wants to take the husband of the woman her husband was technically cheating with.
10:12 He almost said BJ. Yes I'm immature.
80085
Holy shit they watched JUICE?
Why wouldn't they ?
They were usually able to cover the most widely released movies.
Freejack is some kind of mishmash of of total recall and blade runner that toally failed
Geez, Gene was a real snowflake wasn't he?