• About/FAQ
  • Christmas Shelf!
  • What’s On The Shelf

Up On The Shelf

~ You Vote, I Watch, I Review

Up On The Shelf

Monthly Archives: September 2019

MovieBabble Link: Downton Abbey (The Movie) Review

21 Saturday Sep 2019

Posted by UpOnTheShelf in 2010's, Comedy, Drama, Historical Drama, Movie Babble, Movie Reviews

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Downton Abbey, movie review, moviebabble

Confession time: I love Downton Abbey. I got to go to a preview screening of the long-awaited movie and as a fan of the show, I enjoyed it quite a lot! Click HERE to read my review of it!

And if you want to see the movie but need to catch up on the show, here’s a handy recap of all six series by Carson the Butler and Mrs. Hughes!

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Tumblr
  • Email

Like this:

Like Loading...

Siskel & Ebert Blogathon: The Critic – “Siskel & Ebert & Jay & Alice”

21 Saturday Sep 2019

Posted by UpOnTheShelf in 1990's, Comedy, Musicals, Non-Disney, TV Reviews

≈ 10 Comments

Tags

Al Jean, animated show, blogathon, critic, Ebert, film critic, film critics, Gene Siskel, it stinks, Jay Sherman, Jon Lovitz, Matt Groening, Mike Reiss, movie critics, Roger Ebert, Siskel, Siskel and Ebert, siskel and ebert and jay and alice, siskel and ebert blogathon, television animation, television review, The Critic, The Simpsons, tv review

C64211EF-EF83-4F05-916B-9A96F40A797F

Well lookee here, I’m participating in another blogathon! This time it’s 18cinemalane’s Siskel & Ebert At The Blogathon, which honors the iconic film critic duo of Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert. For my part, I decided to look at something Siskel & Ebert-related that doesn’t get as much attention as their reviews.

the critic

For those of you who are unaware, The Critic was a short-lived but popular animated series by The Simpsons writers Al Jean and Mike Reiss. It aired on ABC in 1994 before moving to Fox for its second and final season in 1995. It centers on Jay Sherman, the titular film critic (played by Jon Lovitz) and his life, focusing mainly on the colorful cast of friends, family and coworkers, and the many, many bad movies he’s stuck reviewing.

The highest compliment I can give The Critic is that it combines the best of The Simpsons (no big surprise there) and the best of Family Guy; its humor bounces between hilarious parodies of contemporary and classic films, playful dialogue, and zany surreal moments that you can only get away with in animation. Its characters are just as good as the casts from either of the aforementioned shows, and there’s barely a stinker in the entire series’ run. But perhaps the most fondly remembered episode is Season 2’s “Siskel & Ebert & Jay & Alice”, aka, the one that stars Siskel and Ebert playing themselves.

Siskel and Ebert are not the first recognized film critics to be featured in this series; Rex Reed and Gene Shallit also appeared multiple times. They even have a few lines in this very episode. As a matter of fact, Siskel and Ebert reviewed the first few episodes of The Critic on their show – and gave it a thumbs down. This isn’t a reflection of the series or their judgement, however. The problem is ABC aired the episodes out of order. After the pilot was supposed to come the official second episode “Miserable”, a humorous take on Stephen King’s Misery, but for whatever reason they showed the less interesting “Marty’s First Date” instead. It affected Siskel and Ebert’s view of the show overall despite their high praise for the movie spoof segments. But how does their premiere in the world of prime-time animated television hold up?

sne03

I think we’re in great hands.

Continue reading →

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Tumblr
  • Email

Like this:

Like Loading...

Vote for October’s Movie Review!

02 Monday Sep 2019

Posted by UpOnTheShelf in Movie Reviews, Voting & Results

≈ 16 Comments

Soon, my children, it will be that time of year again. The breeze has that little extra chill, the nights and the shadows we cast grow longer, Mallowmars are briefly, blissfully plentiful, and the nightmares we usually confine to the darkness come out to play.

Ladies and gentlemen, let’s get spooky.

Well, you get the idea. Here’s what you can vote for this October’s movie review:

  • Paranorman
  • John Carpenter’s The Thing
  • Poltergeist
  • Bram Stoker’s Dracula
  • Coraline
  • Army of Darkness
  • The Phantom of the Opera (1989)
  • Dante’s Inferno: An Animated Epic
  • Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
  • Hocus Pocus

You can vote for whatever movie you want me to look at next by leaving it in the comments or emailing me at upontheshelfshow@gmail.com. Remember, unless you’re a Patreon supporter, you can only vote once. Supporters get perks such as extra votes, early access to certain posts and adding movies of their choice to the Shelf. If I can get to $100, I can go back to making weekly tv show reviews. As of now I’m little over halfway there! Special thanks to Amelia Jones, Gordhan Rajani and Sam Minden for their contributions.

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Tumblr
  • Email

Like this:

Like Loading...

September Review: School of Rock (2003)

01 Sunday Sep 2019

Posted by UpOnTheShelf in 2000's, Comedy, Movie Reviews, Musicals

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

Adam Pascal, andrew lloyd webber, band, classic comedy, Comedy, deep purple, film, film review, immigrant song, instruments, Jack Black, Joan Cusack, led zepplin, Mike White, miranda cosgrove, movie, movie review, music class, music teacher, musical, no vacancy, review, Richard Linklater, rock, rock and roll, rock band, rock music, sarah silverman, school band, school comedy, School of Rock, smoke on the water, substitute teacher, teacher, The School of Rock, wagner college

school of rock poster

There are some beloved movies you watch and think “Why the hell did it take me this long to see this?” I can officially count School of Rock as one of them. I once caught some of it on tv during a babysitting gig that was more long ago than I care to remember, but this was my first time seeing it in full. Like Mean Girls, I’ve heard a lot of the lines before I got around to seeing the movie itself, so it’s interesting to see them in their original context. And of course, it stars Jack Black in the role that made him America’s sweetheart. So let’s get to it!

And no, I have not listened to or seen the musical version yet, so I apologize for not making a lot of comparisons throughout.

Continue reading →

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Tumblr
  • Email

Like this:

Like Loading...
Follow Up On The Shelf on WordPress.com

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 63 other subscribers
Xmas Review Votes Due:November 25, 2021

Archives

  • January 2023
  • December 2022
  • November 2022
  • October 2022
  • September 2022
  • August 2022
  • July 2022
  • June 2022
  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • December 2021
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • August 2021
  • July 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015

  • Follow Following
    • Up On The Shelf
    • Join 60 other followers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • Up On The Shelf
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
 

Loading Comments...
 

    %d bloggers like this: