Hot Ticket

The show itself is OK. The whole Hot or Not thing is too basic a movie review and doesnt leave any way to measure movies like "The Shawshank Redemption" to movies like "Tears of the Sun". Both rate as Hot and thats it. However, Leonard IS extremely knowledgable about film. The only thing that makes this show worth watching are the little 2 minute segments from time to time. Just my $0.02, but thats how I feel.

Hot Ticket is considered fill. Ebert and Roeper lead the weekly block hour with their opinion on the movies at your local cinema. Once they have made their peace with their "thumbs up" "thumbs down," Hot Ticket concludes the critics corner for the week. The only problem is that the team known as Maltin and Kulhawik have no move magic as critics. Leonard Maltin has been talking movies since I was born. Starting out with his weekly segments on Showtime back in the early 80's, Maltin has made it to a network but failed as a respected critic. Joyce Kulhawik makes you want to change the channel as her opinion doesn't hold up. From giving movies like The Passion a "Not" rating, Maltin and Joyce Kulhawik represent the pop culture trash of the consumer generation. While Ebert and Roeper actually known film, the Hot Ticket segment is for pure advertising dollars. On its own, it wouldn't survive.

This show was just down right awful. I hate listening to Leonard talk because when they talk about the film you know he's reading from cue cards and Joyce is just too annoying to even listen to. Their voting system is too flawed: "Hot" or "Not", that's exactly the type of thing I'd expect Paris Hilton to say about a movie, which gives it zero credibility. They showed trailers for some films that were upcoming and then commented on if they would see them or not. Huh? They're critics they're supposed to review the movies, unless the studio doesn't screen them. Now maybe they were going for the aspect of a regular viewer, ugh, I'm just frustrated with this show and glad it's off the air. I enjoy the witty banter and quips from Ebert and Roeper and how they are passionate when they speak, that's what lacks with this show: passion. The End.

I like this program, but I wish they would spotlight new actors instead of spotlighting a select few and recycling the footage. I've seen Leonard and Joyce spotlight Harrison Ford and Meg Ryan three times now, about a month apart between showings. They'll probably show it again next month. It's like they have to briefly review new theatrical releases and then use old concepts to fill out the rest of the show, and they can't review DVDs or limited-release movies like Ebert and Roeper do. I could personally do without finding out what Leonard and Joyce's favorite movies from the 1960s are.

Another thing I don't like is the "Hot" and "Not" votes. It's obvious Leonard is warm on a few movies and often wishes to give a vote somewhere in between. Joyce, however, is one of those "feast or famine" voters, meaning she either loves the movie, or she doesn't like it at all. "The gray area" seems to be an alien concept for her.

To summarize, this show needs a lot of work to keep it fresh and watchable every week.