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

 
 
2014
Sep
13
 
 
Some of the Doctor’s most chilling adversaries have been the ones that exist just on the periphery of perceived reality – the dangers that lurk just out of sight, out of frame, in the shadows and under the bed. Here comes another one – and the entryway this time is the mirror. And a children’s poem.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2014
Sep
13
 
 
This is the second episode of this new Starz! series, which really gets you closer to the personalities, and artistic styles, of the two fledgling directors selected to adapt and film the same script. For anyone with Hollywood dreams, it’s amazingly instructive, and, at times, maddening. Just as it should be. For my full review, see Bianculli’s Blog – and to hear my radio review of The Chair, visit NPR’s Fresh Air with Terry Gross website.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2014
Sep
12
 
 
Do not miss this. Bill Maher is opening his new season with a high-wire-act two-parter of a bold live TV stunt. He always does Real Time live – hence the title – but tonight he’s rushing straight from that show, done for this week only from Washington, D.C., to a standup comedy concert act, also televised live by HBO. And the guest list for Real Time ought to help him relax a little, because he’s filled it with guests who need no help talking, or arguing, or expressing op
 
 
 
  
 
 
2014
Sep
12
 
 
This 2013 comedy didn’t make much of a dent at the box office, or even with critics, but it certainly sounds intriguing enough to check out on a Friday night of home TV viewing. John Cusack and Emma Roberts star in a story that casts Cusack as a reclusive writer, and Roberts as an aspiring writer and poet who makes ends meet by getting a job – at a sex shop.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2014
Sep
12
 
 
This is the first episode I haven’t previewed, because Cinemax only sent the first four episodes. But I’m really looking forward to seeing more, which is my very simple measure of a TV success story. Clive Owen stars.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2014
Sep
12
 
 
Rushing right from a live telecast of Real Time, Bill Maher does his latest standup comedy special, also live, in an unprecedented one-two punch that ought to bring increased vitality and urgency to both programs. I’ll be watching. So should you.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2014
Sep
12
 
 
SERIES PREMIERE: Despite the presence of such likable actors as Harold Perrineau from Oz and Lost, this new Syfy zombie series is a very acquired taste – and will taste palatable only to those who really, really enjoy the tongue-in-cheek, intentionally cheesy theatrics of Sharknado. This new series comes from that same team, a team that brings its usual just-for-fun approach to the zombie post-apocalyptic world. Personally, I watch so much accidentally bad television, I get no thrill from
 
 
 
  
 
 
2014
Sep
11
 
 
SERIES PREMIERE: So, so much of CBS’s fortunes, literally and figuratively, are riding on the success of this brand-new Thursday night football franchise. CBS, until January, even is shifting its top-rated Big Bang Theory back to Mondays to make room – room for a new NFL showcase CBS hopes will rival NBC’s most-watched Sunday Night Football, room for hours and hours of premium-priced Thursday night ads keyed to weekend moviegoing, room for a ready-made platform to launch CBS&rs
 
 
 
  
 
 
2014
Sep
11
 
 
Here’s an interesting challenge: For this week’s contest among the fashion designers, Project Runway turns on the sprinkler system above its models and turns the place, and the show, into “Project Rainway.” What sort of waterproof garb will the designers concoct for the occasion?
 
 
 
  
 
 
2014
Sep
11
 
 
The main plot line in tonight’s episode is about a legalized marijuana dispensary – but watch for an extended cameo by  “Weird” Al Yankovic. He performed onstage with Garfunkel & Oates three years ago – but tonight, as their characters on the show, they “meet” him for the first time. And though they’re big fans, he’s not impressed… at least not by their choice of stage names.