I’m not referring to the 2005 movie version of Douglas Adams’ giddily inventive sci-fi comedy, though that has its moments. This is the two-DVD release of the 1981 BBC-TV miniseries (imported to the U.S. soon afterward), bringing to life the same dark, hilarious plot as the BBC Radio 4 series in 1978...

2013

Mar

THE BIBLE By David Bianculli

MINISERIES PREMIERE: This is a warning, not a recommendation. Survivor creator Mark Burnett and his wife, Touched By an Angel star Roma Downey, clearly want to treat their selected biblical stories with reverence and dramatic impact – but the road to bad TV is paved with good intentions. The Bible, presented by History with its first two hours premiering tonight, is more clunky and less dramatically effective than the spate of recent TNT biblical telemovies, not to mention such vintage TV

2013

Mar

ANNIE HALL By David Bianculli

One of the most brilliant comedies ever made: Woody Allen’s 1977 movie was the one that promoted him from frenetic funnyman to premier filmmaker. And it was a deserved jump in reputation, because everything about Annie Hall – the story, the structure, the editing, the music, and especially the performances, which provided depth and drama as well as laugh-out-loud moments – was so fresh, it still feels like a modern comedy all these decades later. And Diane Keaton? Perfection.

2013

Mar

THE GOOD WIFE By David Bianculli

Things at the law firm are pretty tense, now that Alicia (Julianna Margulies) has broken ranks with the other fourth-year associates whose offers to become partners were taken away from them. To keep those attorneys from protesting as a unified front, the bosses offered Alicia, and only Alicia, the chance to advance, and she accepted. Whatever’s going to happen for the rest of the season, it won’t be pretty. And tonight, the focus is on Eli (Alan Cumming), who’s the target of a

2013

Mar

THE WALKING DEAD By David Bianculli

This show usually leaves me reeling with its sudden bursts of violence and its often unexpected deaths – but last week, in an episode with more than its share of gore and dread, the image that stayed with me the most was of the Governor’s damaged eye. The Governor (David Morrissey) removed his eye patch and put a match right up to his punctured eyeball, hoping to see something – anything. It was a quiet, powerful, moment, and as gory, in its own way, as any of the imaginatively

2013

Mar

VIKINGS By David Bianculli

SERIES PREMIERE: This nine-part series stars Gabriel Byrne as an old-style Viking, and Travis Fimmel as the embodiment of a new generation with new ideas – like sailing West, to reach and plunder a land called England. I’ve watched all the episodes sent by History for preview, and Vikings has its moments: about four episodes in, when a British holy man is brought back as a slave, the series takes on some of the flavor of a Scandinavian Shogun. But oddly, given the rarity of this part

2013

Mar

THE 'ENLIGHTENED' SOLILOQUIES By Eric Gould

The HBO series has a sophomore season better than the first, and as it approaches the season finale, the weekly interludes that eavesdrop on the characters' innermost thoughts have become its signature trademark...

2013

Mar

THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN By David Bianculli

This is the TV premiere of the newest reboot of this durable Marvel Comics superhero – portrayed, in this 2012 version, by Andrew Garfield. This movie goes back to the comic’s very origins, with early villain The Lizard (Rhys Ifans), with blonde girlfriend Gwen Stacy (Emma Stone), and with Peter Parker’s elder guardians, Aunt May and Uncle Ben – played by acting heavyweights Sally Field and Martin Sheen.

2013

Mar

THE JERK By David Bianculli

Carl Reiner directed this 1979 comedy with equal emphasis on sight gags and witty dialogue – typical of the man who learned his craft on Your Show of Shows and stretched it on The Dick Van Dyke Show. Steve Martin, in the title role, commits totally to the silliness of the concept, and it works, generating scenes you won’t soon (or ever) forget. “The new phone book’s here! The new phone book’s here!”

2013

Mar

THE LONG KISS GOODNIGHT By David Bianculli

Long before Matt Damon temporarily forgot about his lethal combat skills in The Bourne Identity, Geena Davis did the same thing in this 1996 action movie, which pairs her with Samuel L. Jackson in this tale of a suburban mom who slowly but surely recovers her memory as a top secret agent – at the same time her old adversaries are discovering her fate, and her whereabouts. Watch it for its clever premise, its action sequences, and one torture scene that is a frighteningly early cinematic us

Posts 1881-1890 of 2272

188 189 190 191 192

New From TVWW

PBS' 'Frontline’ Examines Pension Promises and — Spoiler Alert — Finds the Math Doesn’t Add Up

The Decadence of ‘Versailles’ Comes to Ovation

Prescribing Mamie Gummer in 'Emily Owens, M.D.'

Looking for a Free Ride? HBO Can Deliver

'Pass the Biscuits' Part of the Hatfield-McCoy Pop-Culture Legacy

Dispatches From TVWW

'Extinction: The Facts' is a Sobering Call to Action

How 'Mayans' Has Been Influenced by the Show's Creator Elgin James

For Whom the Bell Tolls: Ken Burns and Lynn Novick Take on Ernest Hemingway, the Man and the Myth

In the Final Season, Sutton Foster's Liza is Now the Genuine Version of Her 'Younger' Self

Season 2 of 'City on a Hill' Returns with Kevin Bacon, Aldis Hodge, and Boston Corruption