As the 1980s began, movie moguls were still in their '60s/'70s haze. Perplexed by the new generation, they'd written big checks to "auteurs" – directors who looked and sounded hip and artful. Then Heaven's Gate happened...

2019

Jul

THE MOVIES: "THE EIGHTIES" By David Bianculli

DOCUMENTARY MINISERIES PREMIERE: Last night, CNN repeated all the TV-related episodes of its popular series of Decades documentaries – using them not only as filler for the holiday weekend, but also to consistently and constantly promote this new series from the same producers at Tom Hanks’ production company. This one is devoted to The Movies, with a different decade each installment, beginning tonight with “The Eighties.” That was a good decade for

2019

Jul

BIG LITTLE LIES By David Bianculli

I’m beginning to think of Meryl Streep’s Mary Louise as the maternal equivalent of Walter White’s in-law and nemesis, Hank, on Breaking Bad. In both cases, Hank and Mary Louise are related to the drama’s protagonist by marriage: Hank was married to Walter’s wife’s sister, while Mary Louise was the mother of Perry, the now-dead husband of Nicole Kidman’s battered wife Celeste. Both Hank and Mary Louise are persistent bloodhounds, he on the trail

2019

Jul

APOLLO: MISSIONS TO THE MOON By David Bianculli

This month is the golden anniversary of Apollo 11’s successful voyage to the moon, so expect, and enjoy, lots of related TV documentaries to mark the occasion. This is one of them. For overviews of the Apollo 11 anniversary programming, see David Hinckley's All Along the Watchtower and Mike Hughes' Open Mike.

2019

Jul

THE DAY WE WALKED ON THE MOON By David Bianculli

Ibid.

2019

Jul

CITY ON A HILL By David Bianculli

The trail of the armored car robbers heats up, and leads to several different directions – some of which are dangerous, others of which are almost comic. Considering the way this particular crew of robbers has handled itself to this point, that sounds about right. And Kevin Bacon, as a tough and sometimes shady FBI guy on their trail, hits both serious and comic notes in almost every scene.

2019

Jul

FIFA WOMEN'S WORLD CUP SOCCER 2019 By David Bianculli

Tomorrow, The U.S. and the Netherlands will compete in the World Cup Final – but today, the teams they vanquished respectively to get to the final, England and Sweden, play today in a game to determine third place, or the bronze, for the 2019 contest. Karen Carney, a Debra Messing lookalike who has represented England in her fourth straight Cup appearance, announced yesterday that this bronze match in 2019 would be her final appearance, at age 31, before retiring from the sport.

2019

Jul

BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY By David Bianculli

Rami Malek, while between seasons on Mr. Robot, played Queen frontman Freddie Mercury in this 2018 biopic, and won an Oscar. He is the champion…

2019

Jul

HOTEL ARTEMIS By David Bianculli

Jodie Foster, who’s fairly choosy about her film roles, stars as The Nurse in this 2018 twisted action thriller – as much character study as violent mystery, with a bunch of killers taking refuge in a safe house of sorts that proves anything but.

2019

Jul

MOVIES OF 1939 By David Bianculli

Every Friday this month, TCM runs with the generally accepted thesis that 1939 was one of the best years ever in the history of cinema – with, just for starters, Casablanca, Gone with the Wind, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington and The Wizard of Oz all released that year. Eighty years later, try and build a comparative, competitive roster from the movies of 2019. But that quartet of classics is just the glittery tip of a cinematic iceberg. Starting at 6 a.m. ET and running a

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