DAVID BIANCULLI

Founder / Editor

ERIC GOULD

Associate Editor

LINDA DONOVAN

Assistant Editor

Contributors

ALEX STRACHAN

MIKE HUGHES

KIM AKASS

MONIQUE NAZARETH

ROGER CATLIN

GARY EDGERTON

TOM BRINKMOELLER

GERALD JORDAN

NOEL HOLSTON

 
 
2013
Feb
12
 
 
All the major broadcast networks, even Fox, will carry this year’s State of the Union Address by President Barack Obama, his first such address since being elected for a second term. Watch for it on the standard cable news networks, as well.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2013
Feb
12
 
 
This week, following a particularly grisly new piece of evidence, Raylan (Timothy Olyphant) gets off on the wrong foot. Or, at least, tries to follow the clues one step at a time. What he’s found is a severed human foot – all that remains, for now, of the person Raylan is seeking. And he’s not the only one…
 
 
 
  
 
 
2013
Feb
11
 
 
As good as Kevin Spacey is — and he is great — House of Cards suffers a few contrivances that seem hasty. Like blogger website offices...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2013
Feb
11
 
 
Abby Elliott, who did some excellent but underappreciated work on Saturday Night Live, continues her recurring guest role on this sitcom as Ted’s seemingly unhinged new girlfriend. She’s not likely to end up as the titular Mother – but in the meantime, she promises to be a very funny distraction.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2013
Feb
11
 
 
George Cukor directed this 1933 version of Louisa May Alcott’s beloved family story, and provided Katharine Hepburn, as Jo, with an early, meaty starring role. Her co-stars include Joan Bennett and Spring Byington, but it’s Hepburn who runs away with this one.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2013
Feb
11
 
 
This is the fourth episode – the last one sent to critics in advance – and it’s the one that will either impress its fans or test the loyalty of viewers. There are suggestions that this series already is borrowing from the “Red John” story line on The Mentalist, as well as from the traumatized-child backstory of Dexter. It’s an interesting amalgam, but also an increasingly unsettling one.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2013
Feb
11
 
 
As long as Larry Hagman appears in these new episodes, I’ll keep noting them. TV icons such as J.R. Ewing just don’t come around that often.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2013
Feb
11
 
 
If you like, think of this 1940 movie as a prequel to Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln. Based on Robert E. Sherwood’s Pulitzer Prize-winning Broadway play, it tells of Abraham Lincoln’s early years, with Raymond Massey reprising the title role from the stage version. And watch for the woman playing Mary Todd, who eventually becomes Abe’s wife: She’s played by Ruth Gordon, making her cinematic debut.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2013
Feb
10
 
 
LL Cool J returns as host, but on this show it’s the performers, not the host, who generate the majority of the excitement. Among the scheduled performers tonight, as always, are some fascinating pairings – including Dr. John and the Preservation Hall Jazz Band with the Black Keys. And Alicia Keys and Maroon 5. And Elton John and Ed Sheeran. And Bruno Mars, Rihanna (pictured), and Sting. It gives whole new meaning to the term “plays well with others.” And there are some s
 
 
 
  
 
 
2013
Feb
10
 
 
Jorge Garcia, who played Hurley on Lost, reprises his role as the Giant in tonight’s new episode of Once Upon a Time. This time the Giant wreaks havoc after being harassed by Jack and delivered forcibly to Storybrooke. Does this mean Jack, who has gone off after the Giant before, is really some sort of obsessed villain? A kind of… beanstalker?