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Remembering Siskel and Ebert’s great debate: Mel Brooks or Woody Allen?

JL;DR SUMMARY PJ Grisar reflects on a 1980 debate between legendary film critics Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert about who is the funnier filmmaker, Mel Brooks or Woody Allen. A way out west there was a fella, fella I want to tell you about, fella by the name of Jeff Lebowski. At least, that was the handle his lovin' parents gave him, but he never had much use for it himself. This Lebowski, he called himself the Dude. Now, Dude, that's a name no one would self-apply where I come from. But then, there was a lot about the Dude that didn't make a whole lot of sense to me. And a lot about where he lived, likewise. But then again, maybe that's why I found the place s'durned innarestin'.

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Tags

Jewish IdentityWoody AllenMel BrooksComedyLegacyFilm CriticismCultural ShiftsGene SiskelRoger EbertCinema History

Places mentioned

Chicago, Illinois, United States
"Ebert, the Pulitzer Prize-winning critic for the Chicago Sun Times, whose work spoke to the everyman, preferred Brooks."
Atlanta, Georgia, United States
"Film critics Gene Siskel, left, and Roger Ebert at the National Association of Broadcasters Convention in 1986 in Atlanta, Georgia."

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Cairo Item ID 80303
Cairo Source ID 35
Retrieved 2026-04-18 05:30:57 UTC
Curated 2026-04-18 08:30:59 UTC