Future Dark Knight Christian Bale was just a kid when he starred in this 1987 film by Steven Spielberg, a faithful adaptation of J.G. Ballard’s novel about a British boy who was in Shanghai in 1941 when the Japanese invaded, making him a prisoner of war in a strange land. John Malkovich and Miranda Richardson co-star, but this movie belongs mostly to Bale, and to Spielberg’s beautiful cinematic images.

2013

Sep

LIFEBOAT By David Bianculli

A night of movies about ships in trouble is on hand tonight on TCM – a fleet of films that includes 1957’s Abandon Ship! (10 p.m. ET) and 1953’s Titanic (midnight ET). But the evening leads off with a really good one: Alfred Hitchcock’s 1944 Lifeboat, which takes place aboard the confining craft of its title. So how does Hitch work his trademark cameo appearance into this film? It’s worth tuning in just to find out… And you’ll stay for the rest, a gripp

2013

Sep

THE WHITE QUEEN By David Bianculli

In this new episode, the Queen leaves her royal chambers and heads to the battlefield, where what she sees leads to a new perspective on her kingdom, and her future plans. And she’s not the only powerful woman roaming the battlefields, either…

2013

Sep

ROBOCROC By David Bianculli

The latest Syfy movie with a funny title, but no reason to watch, is tonight’s new Robocroc, which endows an artificial crocodile with Terminator-type sensors and sensibilities. I’m not asking you to watch it – just to spend a minute imaging some future possibilities for similar Syfy films along similar lines. A mechanical wild pig named Cyboarg, perhaps? An artificial insect named Antroid? Or perhaps a boxing, hopping-mad Australian machine called Kangaroobot? I eagerly

2013

Sep

THE NEWSROOM By David Bianculli

Part 1 of 2. This is a repeat of last Sunday’s episode, but one that’s scheduled handily in case you missed it, as a catch-up session prior to tomorrow’s Season 2 finale. It’s election night 2012 on this show, and the gang at the newsroom is working as hard as it can to recapture its credibility and make no mistakes – sort of like Aaron Sorkin, behind the scenes, is working hard to stick the landing on this redemptive second season.

2013

Sep

A RETRO TV SUMMER: GETTING COZI (AND ME-TV, AND OTHERS) WITH LASSIE, CIRCUS BOY AND THE BEAVER By Ed Martin

The official start of the 2013-14 television season is only one week away... Maybe the reason I’m not so interested in the programs coming in the weeks ahead is that I’m too busy enjoying programs from decades gone by...

2013

Sep

GREAT PERFORMANCES: "PAUL MCCARTNEY'S LIVE KISSES" By David Bianculli

Let’s all get up and dance to a song that was a hit before your mother was born: Tonight PBS repeats last year’s intimate, charming little special in which Paul McCartney (with some help from Diana Krall) works through a repertoire of pop standards, including “Bye Bye Blackbird” – for him, a different kind of “Blackbird” song, but just as pleasant a listening experience. Oh, and if you’re wondering about the full title of his resultant album of sta

2013

Sep

O BROTHER, WHERE ART THOU? By David Bianculli

This may be my very favorite Coen Brothers movie of all, which is really saying something – and which is why I highlight this 2000 music-filled, laugh-filled, ludicrously loose adaptation of Homer’s The Odyssey (!!) almost every time it’s televised. Each time, I hope to persuade a few more readers to see it for the first time. George Clooney, Tim Blake Nelson and John Turturro play three chain-gang convicts (and backwoods recording group) on the run. And this time, I think I&rs

2013

Sep

MINORITY REPORT By David Bianculli

On Fridays this month, TCM is giving its prime time and late-night schedule over to science fiction films in general, and visions of the future in particular. Among them tonight is one of the newest movies TCM has shown: Steven Spielberg’s 2002 thriller, starring Tom Cruise and based on a story by Philip K. Dick, who also gave us the story that was turned into Blade Runner.

2013

Sep

REAL TIME WITH BILL MAHER By David Bianculli

SEASON PREMIERE: It’s about time. Bill Maher is back for a new season, just as President Obama is jockeying for approval of his plan to punish Syria for using chemical weapons, Colorado is awash with what headlines are calling “biblical rainfall,” and Miley Cyrus has managed to spark media outrage on two different occasions within a single week. Welcome back, Bill. Have a great time. And viewers should, too, since tonight’s scheduled guests include the always quotable jou

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