It’s been a while since I watched a movie review show. This is why I had never heard of Ben Lyons before.

But I know who he is now. And I understand that not too many people respect him:

In the four months since the fresh-faced 27-year-old “movie dude” for the E! Entertainment Network was installed to co-host a revamped version of the venerable movie review program “At the Movies,” he has gotten a resounding thumbs down from an angry mob of film bloggers, columnists, professional movie critics and fans of the show. Consensus is that Lyons, the son of New York film critic Jeffrey Lyons, is unworthy of the balcony seats once occupied by Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel on the TV mainstay that has rallied audiences into theaters for more than three decades.

“His integrity’s out the window. He has no taste,” said Erik Childress, vice president of the Chicago Film Critics Assn. “Everyone thinks he’s a joke.”

Lyons became infamous in film circles for calling Will Smith’s 2007 zombie-vampire movie “I Am Legend” “one of the greatest movies ever made.” That appraisal became a key part of the movie’s print advertising campaign.

“One of the ‘greatest movies ever made’?” said Childress, who’s also a movie reviewer for eFilmCritic.com. “Next to ‘Lawrence of Arabia’ and ‘Citizen Kane’? The only way you can say that with a straight face is if you’ve only seen 50 movies in your life. Or you’re trying to give quotes to appease someone who can do you a favor later.”

Lyons declined to be interviewed for this story.

Proof that the critics are right to hate on him: “Personally, my favorite is Goldeneye cause that’s the first one I saw in the theater.”

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