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
Jun
7
 
 
What a week.  Again. Is it just me, or does every week these days seem to cry out for explication, deconstruction – and a much-needed dose of humor? C'mon, Sam... float like a butterfly. Sting like a Bee.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2017
Jun
7
 
 
SPECIAL: A few days before BBC America launches the final season of this fine sci-fi series, the network reaches back in time and presents a repeat of the very first episode – but an enhanced episode, with on-screen notes that put this show in a larger, and more current, context. It sounds interesting, so go ahead, BBC America – send in the clones!
 
 
 
  
 
 
2017
Jun
7
 
 
The final movie in Billy Bob Thornton’s personal trilogy as TCM Guest Programmer arrives late, or early (depending upon your sleep habits), but is worth recording for more convenient viewing: It’s 1973’s Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid, a Sam Peckinpah Western starring James Coburn and Kris Kristofferson in the title roles, and featuring Bob Dylan as both a supporting player (a mysterious character named Alias) and the composer of the film’s soundtrack (including the gorg
 
 
 
  
 
 
2017
Jun
6
 
 
The Platinum Age of Television is as fragile as it is delectable. My latest personal reminder of this truth came while perusing the mortality list from the 2016-2017 TV season...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2017
Jun
6
 
 
The new Netflix miniseries Anne with an E, a fresh and very satisfying adaptation of the beloved Lucy Maud Montgomery book series begun with Anne of Green Gables, was compared by many reviewers, including myself, with the 1985 miniseries version that also was a wonderful adaptation. But here’s an even earlier basis for comparison: This is the 1934 movie version, starring Dawn Evelyn Paris as the young orphan who is sent, by mistake, to an elderly brother and sister who had requested the or
 
 
 
  
 
 
2017
Jun
6
 
 
Most broadcast shows ended for the season along with the May sweeps – but in June, iZombie still has a few episodes to go, and is advancing its overall story line with tales of zombie armies, possible cures, and romantic entanglements and betrayals. Tonight, there’s another surprise: a character’s unexpected return. But really: with so many zombies around, how unexpected can a return be?
 
 
 
  
 
 
2017
Jun
6
 
 
Jennifer Lopez’s new dance series continues – and, on a Tuesday night, now that FX’s The Americans is over for the season, there’s very little time-slot competition. And when Lopez, as a judge, connects with some of her contestants, it really is nice to watch.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2017
Jun
6
 
 
One of Stephen Colbert’s scheduled guests tonight is Hasan Minhaj, with whom he has two very significant things in common. One is that both have cashed paychecks as correspondents for The Daily Show (Colbert for many years until taking his current gig, and Minhaj currently). The other is that both have hosted the White House Correspondents’ Dinner – Colbert in 2006, Minhaj (pictured) just a few months ago.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2017
Jun
5
 
 
The Heart Guy, a new medical drama from Australia courtesy of Acorn TV, proves you can take the same premise for two shows and come out with almost diametrically opposed results...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2017
Jun
5
 
 
SERIES PREMIERE: Well, it’s the premiere in the U.S., anyway. But in its native Australia, the series introduced here until the title The Heart Guy has been running under the name of Doctor Doctor. Either way, Rodger Corser stars as Hugh Knight, a competent young heart surgeon and inveterate party animal who’s forced to return to his sleepy small town of Whyhope. That basic plot makes this series, by any other name, a sort of cross between Northern Exposure (where a young New York do