Gene Siskel vs. Roger Ebert, Ten Bests

I heard some comments earlier that Siskel was the more level-headed and was spot-on most of the time...but he had some real interesting choices...

Gene Siskel trashed...

The Terminator ("I was not impressed, I thought it should have been a full-scale love story...as an action picture it was not well-made.)
Silence of the Lambs ("it's a freak show and Demme picked a trashy project." "I didn't buy it at all... I wasn't compelled by anybody...and Hopkins was way overplayed.")
Field of Dreams

And his 1979 Best films were...

1. Hair
2. Kramer vs. Kramer

Eberts were:

1. Apocalypse Now
2. Breaking Away

(both better films)

Ebert had Kramer vs. Kramer #8.

Siskel also chose Hannah and her Sisters over Platoon as his best picture...

And in his last best picture, he chose...

1. Babe, pig in the city as his best film of the year...Ebert chose Dark City.

It's interesting to note...the only movies each agreed on as the best picture of the year over all the 30 years they worked together were:

Z
The Godfather
Nashville
The Right Stuff
Do The Right Thing
Goodfellas
Schindler's List
Hoop Dreams
Fargo

And for the contentious debate:

Siskel had Shakespeare in Love at #5 and Ebert at #8.

Siskel had Ordinary People at #2 and Ebert at #5.

And for Seinfeld fans...

Siskel had The English Patient #4 of his best film of the year...Ebert didn't even have it in his top 10.

If you look at the history of their top 10's - Siskel doesn't stand out.

But...

One lasting enduring spot is that Siskel had Shawshank Redemption in his Top 10 at #8 behind Vanya on 42nd street...while Ebert gave it a great review...he didn't have it in his final year-end Top 10.