SERIES PREMIERE: Make a special effort to watch or tape this one. John Oliver did such a great job subbing for Jon Stewart on Comedy Central’s The Daily Show last summer, he deserves viewer loyalty – even on a different network – as he launches his own comedy news retrospective series. This one, in format, is closer to the old British and NBC versions of That Was the Week That Was, which was one of the most brilliant and bitingly funny topical comedy TV series ever made. Last W

2014

Apr

VERONICA MARS By TVWW Guest Contributor

[Ed. note: TVWW Guest contributor Marley Ghizzone, a diehard fan of the original UPN/CW Veronica Mars series, was excited by the chance to see her beloved characters revived on the big screen. Excited, but also a little apprehensive... - DB]

2014

Apr

AND HE LOVES HER By David Bianculli

This latest Video Worth Watching comes from the folks at PBS Digital Studios, who have found fun ways to do new things with archival footage and audio. This latest example takes raw audio from a vintage cassette-recorded interview with John Lennon and Yoko Ono...

2014

Apr

THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION By David Bianculli

It’s one of my “spider web movies” – a film that will ensnare me, and have me watching it from the moment I tune in, regardless of how many times I’ve seen it, and despite the fact that I own my own pristine copy on DVD. There’s just something about this 1994 drama, starting with the performances by Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman, and definitely including a prison yard scene, with opera broadcast over the loudspeakers, that qualifies as the ultimate example of

2014

Apr

BEAUTY AND THE BEAST By David Bianculli

Jean Cocteau directed this 1946 version of the famous fairy tale – and his is the most beautiful, as well as the most adult, ever filmed. Josette Day plays Belle, the young woman who sacrifices herself to a beast of a man – or a man of a beast – in order to spare the life of her father. Jean Marais plays the Beast – and Cocteau’s photography is every bit as luminous and enchanting as the film’s leading lady.

2014

Apr

ORPHAN BLACK By David Bianculli

Season 2 of Orphan Black ups the ante on the conspiracy plots, and makes you wonder how many of the people around Sarah, and her various clone incarnations, can indeed be trusted. At least they have each other – except, as this season begins, they’re splitting up and facing dangers alone. Don’t they show any horror films at Clone High? Isn’t that an obvious risky move? (The rhetorical answer: Yes, as at least two of the clones will learn tonight.)

2014

Apr

QUIZ SHOW By David Bianculli

This movie, telling about the TV quiz show scandals of the 1950s, is 20 years old now, but still crackles with newness, cleverness and energy, even as it enjoys wallowing in its period details and settings. Robert Redford directed, and the screenplay is by Paul Attanasio, who also wrote the Donnie Brasco screenplay, many episodes of NBC’s Homicide: Life on the Street, and was a producer on Fox’s House, M.D. This movie stars Ralph Fiennes as Charles Van Doren and John Turturro a

2014

Apr

THE GRAHAM NORTON SHOW By David Bianculli

Tonight’s guests on this new edition: Ricky Gervais, Juliette Binoche and Ronnie Corbett. Watch, in particular, for the segment in which host Norton wanders into the studio audience to see whether jokes translate easily from one language to another. An audience member tells a joke in French, sentence by sentence, while Binoche translates into English. The result? An experiment that makes Gervais laugh uproariously – but not because of the success of the translation.

2014

Apr

EXCALIBUR By David Bianculli

In 1981, this John Boorman retelling of the Arthurian legend was made with a virtual Round Table of future film stars, including Liam Neeson, Gabriel Byrne and Patrick Stewart, in addition to established scene-stealer Nicol Williamson, who plays Merlin. No one, however, stole more scenes, or stole them more memorably, than Helen Mirren as the evil spell-caster Morgana. I’ve been under her spell ever since.

2014

Apr

WHOSE LINE IS IT ANYWAY? By David Bianculli

Nolan Gould, who plays little Luke on ABC’s Modern Family, guest stars today, playing improv games with the big boys, like the crazy Colin Mochrie (pictured).

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