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
Feb
7
 
 
Just in its first episode, Bravo’s new series Imposters reaches several critical junctures where it needs to choose between being a dark drama and a tongue-in-cheek comedy...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2017
Feb
7
 
 
The PBS description of this documentary, about the design and construction of some of America’s most famous bridges, refers to it as “riveting.” I’m not sure there’s enough humor within public TV to make that an intentional joke – but it made me laugh anyway. And because this documentary includes such iconic spans as the Ben Franklin Bridge in Philadelphia, which I traverse at least twice weekly, I’ll be watching. Also on view: the San Francisco-Oakland
 
 
 
  
 
 
2017
Feb
7
 
 
CNN anchor Jake Tapper and chief political correspondent Dana Bash moderate this debate on the future of Obamacare, featuring two senators who made unsuccessful runs for the presidency in 2016: Republican Ted Cruz of Texas and Independent Bernie Sanders of Vermont.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2017
Feb
7
 
 
SEASON FINALE: After the way Super Bowl LI unfolded, or exploded, or imploded, this extended deconstruction – the final Inside the NFL of the season – should be required viewing, no matter which side you were rooting for. The sideline shots and miked players alone should make this an invaluable source of perspective, to help explain what happened, and how, the New England Patriots were 25 points down before bouncing back against the Atlanta Falcons.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2017
Feb
7
 
 
Tonight’s episode is called “BOOM,” and the big noise and big letters suggest it may be a big episode. Or, at least, an explosive one…
 
 
 
  
 
 
2017
Feb
7
 
 
SERIES PREMIERE: Inbar Lavi stars in this new dramas series which, like Good Behavior and Orphan Black and iZombie, finds a way to give its leading lady multiple roles to play, or guises and disguises to adopt. In this case, Lavi plays a con woman named Maggie. Or is it Alice? Or Cece? Or Saffron? Or Ava?... For a full review, see David Hinckley's All Along the Watchtower. 
 
 
 
  
 
 
2017
Feb
6
 
 
One of the many benefits of Black History Month programming is the way it dusts off critical historical links that can fade into the mists of time. In that spirit, PBS’s Independent Lens series revives some of the story of William Monroe Trotter...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2017
Feb
6
 
 
Perhaps you saw last night’s post-Super Bowl premiere of this new 24 reboot, 24: Legacy, starring Corey Hawkins as the new hero of this high-octane franchise. Perhaps you didn’t, because you were too stunned, either way, by the unprecedented Super Bowl LI comeback win by Tom Brady and the New England Patriots. Either way, the show slides into its regular time slot tonight with its second hour – and if you missed the premiere, you can either catch it on the Fox website or just h
 
 
 
  
 
 
2017
Feb
6
 
 
Tonight’s time-traveling episode takes viewers, and some of this show’s characters, back to 1927 and Paris, when Charles Lindbergh is about to complete his record-setting transatlantic flight. One good thing: security at the airport will be easy to pass through -- because there weren't airports yet.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2017
Feb
6
 
 
I teach D.W. Griffith’s 1915 Birth of a Nation silent epic in my Film History and Appreciation class at Rowan University – but I teach it as a brilliant piece of technical filmmaking that also happens to be unavoidably, inexcusably racist. Its lionization of the Ku Klux Klan led to a resurgence of that organization in the early 20th century – and this new edition of Independent Lens notes that the movie sparked the growth of another movement as well, as African-Americans rose u