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

 
 
2017
Nov
5
 
 
SEASON PREMIERE: This Showtime series, which began as an Americanized version of a British series of the same name, has, like The Office, found a successful home and identify of its own on this side of the pond. There aren’t many series that pull me in as effectively as this one, making me wonder and worry about these characters and the often self-destructive choices they make. The Gallaghers are one majorly dysfunctional family – and yet, somehow, they continue to function, and when
 
 
 
  
 
 
2017
Nov
5
 
 
SEASON PREMIERE: Last season, this Steven Soderbergh TV series about a highly paid escort offering her clients the illusion of emotional closeness – a so-called “girlfriend experience” -- was focused on one character, played by Riley Keough, who pretty much enjoyed her work, though not always the clients or circumstances. This season, the one-hour show tells two stories in each installment, focusing on two different women. And though Soderbergh remains the executive producer, t
 
 
 
  
 
 
2017
Nov
5
 
 
Last night, Larry David hosted Saturday Night Live. Tonight, he returns to the Curb, in an episode called “The Accidental Text on Purpose.”
 
 
 
  
 
 
2017
Nov
5
 
 
SERIES PREMIERE: Frankie Shaw is not only the creator and writer and director of this new Showtime series, but she’s its star as well. And since SMILF (the S stands for Single; for the rest, you’re on your own) is about a single mom trying to make it in a rather judgmental and tough world, it could almost be seen as a spiritual sequel to Lena Dunham’s Girls. Except that the support system for Shaw’s Bridgette Bird is less expansive, and supportive: Her inner circle includ
 
 
 
  
 
 
2017
Nov
5
 
 
Until John Oliver stops making me laugh and think at the same time, I’ll keep pointing out whenever he has a new episode of Last Week Tonight on HBO. So get used to it, because I don’t suspect either of us is stopping soon. Not so long as he keeps pulling out such stunts as seagull puppets...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2017
Nov
5
 
 
The old “misery loves company” axiom gets a stern test with Showtime’s SMILF (Sunday, 10 p.m. ET)...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2017
Nov
4
 
 
A marvelous masterpiece of cinema, this 1968 Stanley Kubrick sci-fi film remains a stunning experience to behold. The special and optical effects remain convincing almost 50 years later – and how many genre films can you say that about? But also, the set pieces, from the dawn of man prologue to the star child epilogue, are jaw-droppingly inventive, amazing, and unforgettable.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2017
Nov
4
 
 
Jordan Peele, of the sketch comedy duo Jordan and Peele, is the writer and director of this wild ride of a movie, which begins like Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner and ends somewhere adjacent to The Twilight Zone. Daniel Kaluuya stars as an African-American whose white girlfriend (played by Allison Williams from Girls) brings him on a weekend vacation to meet her parents for the first time. To say any more would be to ruin the fun – but fun it is.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2017
Nov
4
 
 
Tonight’s episode takes a side trip to a haunted house. Or is it haunted? And is it a side trip, or the main voyage? With this show, half the time you have no idea – and time itself keeps shifting too, as it does tonight, with a cross-time phone call…
 
 
 
  
 
 
2017
Nov
4
 
 
Tonight’s scheduled guests include Emma Thompson, who’s provided some of the funniest moments on this long-running talk series, and Adam Sandler, who has his chance tonight.