And for our next review we turn to a show called At the Movies, which wraps its final episode this December.

Produced by the ABC and starring the irascible Margaret Pomeranz and that charming curmudgeon, David Stratton, At the Movies follows an odd-couple pair of movie critics as they fight about things like steadycam and intrusive music and whether Lars Von Trier is awful or not.

While the show is intermittently broken up by celebrity interviews – often shot in gorgeous locations like Venice and Cannes (lucky devils) – and the odd classic, it is pretty formulaic fare: a plot description, a few clips, a star rating, and we move on. It shouldn't work, and yet somehow it does.

That success comes down to the chemistry and charisma of the two leads, two of TV's brightest stars - who have worked together now for 28 years - a pair you just wish you could see argue over a restaurant bill because it would be that entertaining. It will be sad to see them go. We give them five stars.

And here are some of their best moments.

Margaret, the would-be rev-head

We all came to know and love Margaret and David's little quirks - he hates shaky-cam, she is rarely charmed by animations (Toy Story films excepted). But she is also a bit of a rev-head, it seems, surprising the world (and especially David) in 2003 when she dished out four-and-a-half stars to 2 Fast 2 Furious, the sequel to The Fast and The Furious. While admitting Paul Walker was "wooden", Pomeranz declared co-star Tyrese "just dynamite on screen". As David looked on puzzled, muttering the word "mediocre", a gesticulating Margaret declared, "I can't tell you - I sat through it and I was so exhilirated. The car chases ... the smell of all that petrol going up in flames ... I loved it!" A few years later, reviewing Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, Pomeranz admitted "my reputation as a critic suffered enormously" for the 2 Fast review, before heaping praise on the new sequel. "This is not a film for everyone, but for a would-be rev-head like me, there are some beautiful moments - and one really gorgeous Mustang." One of the saddest parts of this announcement is that we won't see her review the seventh Fast film, out next year. JM

 

Margaret and David disagreeing 

There's been a longstanding divide between the pair over the films of Lars von Trier, David's bete noire. David has regularly given his movies a "no star" score, while Margaret is a fan. I was curious to see their reviews of von Trier's Melancholia, a wonderful end-of-the-world movie starring Kirsten Dunst. Margaret loved it, and spoke of it passionately and eloquently. "I found the film magnificent," she said, "but I think David is going to disagree with me". When he said," I agree with you, Margaret, that the opening is pretty spectacular," I almost fell off my chair. He went on to say that it was the best thing that von Trier had done, then turned to his reservations about the movie. Margaret gave it five stars. David gave it two-and-a-half. It felt like a six. The shock of that moment still remains. PH

Margaret and David agreeing

Margaret and David were often criticised for going too easy on Australian films. There were times, though, when their enthusiasm was not only warranted, but played a crucial role in bringing deserving work to public attention. This was the case in 2009, when they each gave a five-star rating to Warwick Thornton's teen love story Samson and Delilah, rightly recognising it as a milestone in indigenous cinema for both its formal sophistication and its emotional punch. David was so overwhelmed he was even willing to go against the principles of a lifetime and forgive the shaky handheld camerawork (at least Thornton used the technique responsibly, unlike other "trendy, untalented young cameramen"). For once, the usually bickering pair were in total agreement: this was a film which every Australian should see. Thanks to At The Movies, plenty did. JW

David and the angry filmmaker 

Geoffrey Wright's film about a rampaging gang of neo-Nazi skinheads wreaking havoc on the streets of Melbourne introduced the world to Russell Crowe, signalled its young director as a talent to watch, and drew comparisons with Stanley Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange. But not from David Stratton. He decried its violence and what he saw as its amoral position towards racism in his print review for Variety but on SBS's The Movie Show he hit it where it really hurt by refusing to give the film a rating. By contrast, Margaret gave it five stars, hailing it as an incredibly important work. Wright famously exacted revenge at the Venice Film Festival, spotting Stratton at a crowded party, grabbing a glass of wine from a passing tray, and tipping it all over the bearded critic. "The whole place went quiet," Wright recalled when I interviewed him in 2007. "Then a waiter walking past asked me, 'Would you like another, sir?' And everyone cracked up." KQ

Ignoring Wolf Creek 2

It was almost a reprise of the Romper Stomper moment, though this time it was Margaret coming overall righteous. It was February 2014, and the show was all but over when Pomeranz uttered the following words: "We've chosen not to review Wolf Creek 2." Of course, they were free to review or ignore whatever films they liked, but to declare that they had made a choice to ignore the sequel to the most successful home-grown horror film of all time was unnecessarily provocative. In fact, that's a view Margaret now shares. "My mistake," she told me when we shared a platform at the Melbourne International Film Festival in August, "was in saying we weren't going to review it. We should just have said nothing." KQ

Casting the perfect Margaret and David 

"It's an epic romantic comedy about two film critics who lived together in an Australian television studio." Who better to spoof Margaret and David, than another pair of screen legends the nation is on first name basis with: Geoffrey and Cate? Replete with acerbic wit and Margaret's memorable hiccup laugh, this marvellous roast of the pair was a fitting tribute at the extraordinary 25 year mark. Cate perfects the broad, husky tones of Pomeranz and Rush's smug and stern impersonation of Stratton does justice to every stereotype about him. "I was pleasantly surprised. Two people talking in armchairs for 25 years could have been tedious beyond belief," Rush says. BP

 

When Margaret and David programmed Rage

Watching Margaret and David on a Saturday night may not be everyone's idea of fun (kettle boiled, biscuits at the ready), but I was in heaven on February 16, 2013, when they guest programmed Rage for the evening. The choices were eclectic - from clips that featured well-known stars (Christopher Walken dancing on air in Fatboy Slim's Weapon of Choice), to directors cutting their teeth in music (James Cameron directing the truly terrible video for Martini Ranch's Reach) and soundtrack classics (the cheesy Highway to the Danger Zone by Kenny Loggins from Top Gun). Five stars. LR

 

David shaken, not stirred

What I loved most about David was that he was alway shaken and stirred by handheld cameras. Steady-and-composed David's legendary partnership with Margaret was never more engaging than when an errant camera movement caused him to actually shudder. He championed the steady image over the gimmickery of "the breathing camera".

Reviewing the Spanish horror movie Quarantine, David described it as "in the dubious tradition of The Blair Witch Project and Cloverfield. It purports to be real. If you don't get nausea from this sort of thing, Quarantine just about delivers the goods as a particularly horrid horror film," he lamented. The real horror that lurked in Quarantine was not paranormal activity but a handheld camera. "I mean I hate this kind of photography as you know."

Even when reviewing the musical romance Once, David was unable to let the love of a young busker and a flower-selling, refugee piano-player triumph over his hatred of slack camera work.

"Unfortunately, it's been photographed in that lazy, handheld style that passes for low-budget realism these days, but if that doesn't bother you there's plenty to enjoy in this very lightweight romance,"  he bemoaned.

And that is why I feel certaint that there is a gap in the musical market for a sweet, wafer-thin relationship movie about two film reviewers called David and Margaret. A movie shot with a handheld camera and featuring lots and lots of animation of the kind he hated. Just so that I could enjoy the inimitable David - and the beguiling Margaret - reviewing one last movie. FS

David's response to his fake Twitter alter ego

Margaret and David have been great sports over the years, on At the Movies blooper reels and ABC comedy shows. But David's response to his Twitter parody account, davidstratton9, which was set up in July 2013, was mixed.

Of a tweet about Rear Window that referenced "Jimmy Stewart", Stratton told Junkee.com: "I'd never call him Jimmy Stewart – he's James Stewart. What the f---, you know — James Stewart is the actor's name, not Jimmy Stewart, I would never say that." Others, however, he admitted were funny, including this one from June last year: "Leonardo DiCaprio dies at the end of The Great Gatsby. SPOILER ALERT!! Sorry, that should have been the other way around."

davidstratton9 tweeted about movies, politics, life at the ABC and of course, his colleague, who he often referred to as "Pomzy". He created parallel characters that were hard-drinking, prone to profanity and obsessed with film.

"Margaret just called, angry about that last joke. Challenged me to a gin-drinking competition. I'm not making that amateur error again," he wrote in August last year, and then, "I first realised I loved Margaret when she admitted to laughing during 'that' scene in Deliverance."

The account had been making jokes about Stratton's imminent retirement for some time. A post in July read: "I can't retire yet, I want to savage at least 3 more Adam Sandler films." Today: "Yes, it's official. I've decided to retire so I can watch movies and get drunk all day."

The fake account had more than 12,000 followers but followed only one: Rob (Deuce Bigalow) Schneider. GW

Compiled by Joel Meares, Karl Quinn, Louise Rugendyke, Philppa Hawker, Gabriel Wilder, Jake Wilson, Bhakthi Puvanenthiran and Fergus Shiel.