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DAVID BIANCULLI

Founder / Editor

Bianculli's Blog

ERIC GOULD

Associate Editor

The Cold Light Reader

LINDA DONOVAN

Assistant Editor

Dateline Donovan
Contributors

DAVID HINCKLEY

All Along the Watchtower

ED BARK

Uncle Barky's Bytes

ALEX STRACHAN

TV That Matters

MIKE HUGHES

Open Mike

ED MARTIN

Ed Martin's TV Mix

KIM AKASS

Aerial View

MONIQUE NAZARETH

MNtv

BILL BRIOUX

TV Feeds My Family

ROGER CATLIN

TV Eye

GARY EDGERTON

Must-Click TV

TOM BRINKMOELLER

Raised On MTM

GERALD JORDAN

Crossing Jordan

NOEL HOLSTON

The Grassy Noel

TVWW ARCHIVE

Contributors Archive
 
 
2013
Aug
21
THE BRIDGE By David Bianculli
 
 
More than once in tonight’s episode, Det. Cross (Diane Kruger) draws her weapon. Her temporary partner Ruiz (Demian Bechir), however, is drawing something just as powerful: conclusions, as they close in on their suspected killer.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2013
Aug
21
HBO'S 'NEWSROOM': AARON SORKIN BRINGS IT HOME By David Bianculli
 
 

If you stopped, or never started, watching Aaron Sorkin’s The Newsroom, pick it up now. Sunday’s upcoming episode on HBO is as crisp and clever as vintage The West Wing…

 
 
 
  
 
 
2013
Aug
20
THE LIFE OF MUHAMMAD By David Bianculli
 
 
SERIES PREMIERE: PBS sets aside all of its prime time tonight to tell the story of Muhammad. The three one-hour programs look not only at biographical details, but religious ones – especially, in the final hour, a study of jihad and Sharia law. So if you’re looking for a salute to the former Cassius Clay, you’re on the wrong track. Check local listings. 
 
 
 
  
 
 
2013
Aug
20
THE PLAYER By David Bianculli
 
 
Robert Altman directed this 1992 satire of Hollywood wheeling and dealing – which, 21 years later, hardly even plays like a satire. The way Tim Robbins and company act, and the way Altman captures their every Machiavellian move, this could be more like a documentary. But, in any event, a very funny one.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2013
Aug
20
GONE WITH THE WIND By David Bianculli
 
 
Spoiler Alert, regarding this 1939 classic: Atlanta burns.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2013
Aug
20
MAN ON THE MOON By David Bianculli
 
 
Director Milos Forman found something excitingly anarchic about Andy Kaufman’s life and times in show business. Jim Carrey does a very good job trying to bring the innocent energy and calculated confrontations of the Saturday Night Live and Taxi standout – and watch for Paul Giamatti, who does a great job in a pivotal, and mercurial, supporting role.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2013
Aug
20
ERIN BROCKOVICH By David Bianculli
 
 
Julia Roberts won an Oscar for her performance as an attorney’s indefatigable assistant in this fact-based 2000 movie, which inspired many a woman to go into this type of tackle-the-corporations litigation. Well, one woman, at least: my daughter, Kristin, who was as empowered by this movie as she was freaked out by The Paper Chase.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2013
Aug
19
THE TALL T By David Bianculli
 
 
Randolph Scott, TCM’s star of the day, headlines this 1957 Western, playing a new ranch owner who seems pretty easygoing – until, that is, he climbs into a stagecoach that soon is overtaken by an outlaw, played by Richard Boone. Fans of Justified, take special note: This movie is based on an Elmore Leonard short story, called The Captive. That’s how long Leonard has been inspiring Hollywood to make entertaining dramas about quirky characters.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2013
Aug
19
CONTAGION By David Bianculli
 
 
This is a thriller whose killer is more deadly, and scary, than any monster wielding a saw, a chainsaw or a hatchet. It’s a microscopic, deadly virus, and finding where it started, and how it spread, is the riveting mission at the center of this excellent 2011 drama. Matt Damon, Gwyneth Paltrow and Kate Winslet star.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2013
Aug
19
UNDER THE DOME By David Bianculli
 
 
Big Jim’s son went rogue, then returned – and Big Jim (Dean Norris) returned, too, with a slight head wound, after facing off one adversary in his quest to control the town’s resources and loyalties. This week, everything seems to be up for grabs, while the origin of the dome seems to be a step or two closer to being discovered.
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
New From TVWW

PBS' 'Frontline’ Examines Pension Promises and — Spoiler Alert — Finds the Math Doesn’t Add Up
By Alex Strachan
 
 
 
 
The Decadence of ‘Versailles’ Comes to Ovation
By David Hinckley
 
 
 
 
Prescribing Mamie Gummer in 'Emily Owens, M.D.'
By Ed Bark
 
 
 
 
Looking for a Free Ride? HBO Can Deliver
By Christy Slewinski
 
 
 
 
'Pass the Biscuits' Part of the Hatfield-McCoy Pop-Culture Legacy
By Noel Holston
 
 
 
 

Dispatches From TVWW

'Extinction: The Facts' is a Sobering Call to Action
By David Hinckley
 
 
 
 
How 'Mayans' Has Been Influenced by the Show's Creator Elgin James
By Mike Hughes
 
 
 
 
For Whom the Bell Tolls: Ken Burns and Lynn Novick Take on Ernest Hemingway, the Man and the Myth
By Alex Strachan
 
 
 
 
In the Final Season, Sutton Foster's Liza is Now the Genuine Version of Her 'Younger' Self
By Monique Nazareth
 
 
 
 
Season 2 of 'City on a Hill' Returns with Kevin Bacon, Aldis Hodge, and Boston Corruption
By David Hinckley