Movies Siskel Ebert Show Eslpod Disapproval Gene Roger

At the Movies was a popular TV program that "reviewed movies" (provided professional opinions about the quality of movies) between 2008 and 2010. The show's "predecessors" (something that came before) were known by other names, such as Siskel & Ebert & the Movies, and dated back to 1986.

In the original show, the two "hosts" (the main people who speak during a show) were Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert. They had very strong, "divergent" (different) "opinions" (beliefs) about movies and often "engaged in heated discussions" (had passionate arguments) about the movies they were discussing. This made the show entertaining for viewers and both Siskel and Ebert became well known and often "quoted" (having their words repeated by others).

The hosts discussed the movies in great detail, but at the end of each show, they provided a "thumbs up/thumbs down" summary in which they would close their "fist" (the shape made by closing one's hand tightly) and hold their "thumb" (the largest finger on one's hand) "up" (pointing to the ceiling) to show approval and "endorsement" (recommendation) or "down" (pointing to the floor) to show their disapproval of a film. This was a "departure from" (something different from what others were doing) the traditional system of rating movies with a number or stars.

Many people relied on the thumbs up/thumbs down recommendation when deciding which movies to watch. "Movie studios" (the companies that make movies) noticed this and began to advertise that their movies had received "two thumbs up" if both of the show's hosts had recommended them.