Windy City rivals to face off

For the first time since the 1999 death of the Chicago Tribune’s Gene Siskel -- Chicago Sun-Times film critic Roger Ebert’s original sparring partner in the balcony and in print -- the two combatants on Ebert’s syndicated movie review show will represent Chicago’s two rival daily newspapers.

Michael Phillips, movie critic for the Tribune, is set to split reviewing duties with Sun-Times columnist Richard Roeper on an episode of Buena Vista Television’s “Ebert & Roeper” as Ebert remains hospitalized, having undergone surgery in June for recurring salivary cancer. It will air in the Los Angeles area Sept. 3.