At The Movies With SMU Alumna Christy Lemire
Christy Lemire ’93 is living a movie buff’s dream. She serves as co-host of the TV series “Ebert Presents at the Movies” and the online program “What the Flick?!”
By Pat Ward
SMU Magazine
Lemire earned a B.A. in journalism and broadcast news from SMU and serves on the Division of Journalism Advisory Board in Meadows School of the Arts.
Pulitzer Prize-winning film critic Roger Ebert gave Lemire a thumbs-up as co-host of “Ebert Presents at the Movies,” a retooled version of the well-known movie review show he had hosted with the late Gene Siskel for 23 years. She shares the balcony with Ignatiy Vishnevetsky, a critic for the film website MUBI.com. Ebert, who has battled thyroid cancer since 2006 and relies on computer-generated voice technology to speak, appears in brief segments.
Now in its second season on PBS, the half-hour program is taped in Chicago and broadcast in 48 of the country’s top media markets. The series airs locally on Fridays at 7:30 p.m. on KERA-TV (Channel 13). Recent episodes have focused on the year’s best and worst movies so far: Lemire admired “The Tree of Life,” filmed in Texas by Austin resident Terrence Malick, and panned “The Hangover Part II” as a dim follow-up to the wildly popular 2009 comedy.
Lemire also offers her opinions about recent hits and misses on “What the Flick?!” (See her co-reviews of The Help and "Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows - Part 2") Appearing with her on the online program are Ben Mankiewicz of Turner Classic Movies and Matt Atchity, editor-in-chief of RottenTomatoes.com, a leading film review aggregator.
Her thoughtful, humor-tinged reviews have appeared in newspapers for more than a decade. She started critiquing movies for the global news service while working in the Dallas bureau in 1999. As a general assignments reporter for AP, she covered some University-related stories, including the first stages of construction on SMU’s Gerald J. Ford Stadium.
She was named the AP’s first full-time movie critic in 2004. Home base is her native Los Angeles, where she lives with her husband and young son.
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