There have been so many upsets at this year’s Wimbledon tennis tournament, if today’s men’s quarterfinals don’t produce another upset, it would be… upsetting. No. 1 seed Novak Djokovic, from Serbia, plays No. 7 seed Tomas Berdych from the Czech Republic. Also of major interest this morning: No. 2 seed Andy Murray (pictured), still trying for his first win on his home-kingdom Wimbledon court, plays unseeded Fernando Verdasco of Spain.

2013

Jul

SCARFACE By David Bianculli

Brian De Palma’s violent remake of the gangster classic is itself, by now, a classic. His 1983 reboot turned the title character into a Cuban cocaine mob boss, played with chewy, playful intensity by Al Pacino. And as his blonde trophy moll, Michelle Pfeiffer got the first meaty role of her career, and proved she was more than just another beautiful young actress.

2013

Jul

WITH SIX YOU GET EGGROLL By David Bianculli

Doris Day and Brian Keith star in this 1968 big-screen romantic comedy, about a widow and a widower who meet cute and decide to get serious – despite from misgivings, and internal squabbling, from their respective children. This movie is more interesting than amusing, and mostly for its place in pop-culture history. It not only predated by one year the blended-family premise of 1969’s The Brady Bunch, but also provides an early supporting film role for George Carlin, who very quickly

2013

Jul

FUTURAMA By David Bianculli

This week’s new episode has Bender working with a scientist who claims he can use the latest technology (including, gasp, a 3-D printer!) to turn the robot’s dream into reality. And even though most of Bender’s hard drive memory is reserved for porn, he does have one other object for which he lusts mightily: a vintage guitar. And the scientist is about to make him an exact copy – no strings attached.

2013

Jul

DONUT SHOWDOWN By David Bianculli

SERIES PREMIERE: I don’t usually pay attention to cooking shows, but this competition program is so specialized, and features such apparently enthusiastic and knowledgeable representatives from bakeries around the country, that I can’t help myself from turning into the TV critic equivalent of Homer Simpson. “Mmmm – doughnuts!”

2013

Jul

STATUE OF LIBERTY By David Bianculli

Liberty Island, home ground for the Statue of Liberty, was swamped by Hurricane Sandy last November, and though Lady Liberty stood firm, the facility’s docks and infrastructure took a beating (see photo). The tourist attraction has been closed for repairs ever since, but is scheduled to reopen July 4, making this an ideal time for PBS to repeat Ken Burns’ 1985 history of the iconic landmark, made five years before his Civil War masterpiece. But even here, the "Ken Burns effect" was v

2013

Jul

VENUS VS. By David Bianculli

Yesterday, in the latest upset from this year’s early rounds of tennis at Wimbledon, Serena Williams – seeded No. 1 and heavily favored to win the tournament – was beaten in three wildly momentum-changing sets by Germany’s Sabine Lisicki, a No. 23 seed. But you can still watch a Williams sister fight valiantly on TV tonight: ESPN presents a new documentary about big sister Venus Williams, whose toughest tennis battle of 2005 may have taken place off the court. That’

2013

Jul

GOSFORD PARK By David Bianculli

Like Downton Abbey? Of course you do. And that’s why you’ll also like this 2001 movie by Robert Altman, which, long before so many people went venturing down the Abbey road, Altman presented this sprawling, wickedly entertaining story about the guests and servants at a country house in England between the wars. Sound familiar? Well, the similarities are anything but coincidental. Altman’s co-author for this screenplay was Julian Fellowes, who would go on, before the decade was

2013

Jul

BEING MARY JANE By David Bianculli

This new telemovie stars Gabrielle Union, co-star of NBC’s Life and one of the few black actresses to penetrate the Friends universe, as a TV news anchor on and off the job. It’s the telemovie pilot for a new BET series that already has been ordered, and Union says she’s excited by both its message and its often intimate, sometimes unflattering content.

2013

Jul

INSIDE AMY SCHUMER By David Bianculli

SEASON FINALE: Among the sketches in tonight’s season finale is one in which Amy agrees to a three-way, with her boyfriend and… their local pharmacist. And afterward, she’s not happy with her percentage of the proceedings.

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