THURSDAY
JULY 7
2016

BIANCULLI’S BEST BETS

 

ESPN, 8:00 a.m. ET

Yesterday’s quarterfinal match in the 2016 Wimbledon men’s division served up (so to speak) a match for the ages: Seven-time Wimbledon champion and No. 3-ranked Roger Federer, who last won the tournament (and one of his 17 majors) in 2012, came back from two sets down to gut out a five-set victory over No. 9-ranked Marin Cilic. Today, there’s an equally inspiring potential comeback story, on the women’s side of the semifinals. Venus Williams, whose last appearance in a final was in 2009, when she lost to sister Serena, is back at Wimbledon, seeded No. 8 – but Venus has made it to the semis, and plays today at 10 a.m. ET. Her opponent: No. 4 seed Angelique Kerber, who beat sister Serena to win this year’s Australian Open. Serena has made the quarterfinals, too, and plays today as well, in the day’s first women’s semifinal game at 8 a.m. ET – but she faces Elena Vesnina, a Cinderella entrant who’s not even seeded.

 
  
 
 

ESPN, 2:30 p.m. ET

Wales didn’t score against Portugal yesterday, so ended its own Cinderella run, but with its head held high. Today’s other semifinal game is between two perennial powerhouses: France and defending champion Germany.


 
  
 
 

TCM, 8:00 p.m. ET

Another special movie night this month on TCM is Thursday’s “America in the ’70s,” a tribute that kicks off tonight with a roster of some of my favorite films of all time. It starts with 1976’s All the President’s Men, which is now 40 years old, but just as potent, and important, as when it was first released. Dustin Hoffman, Robert Redford star, Alan J. Pakula directs, and William Goldman wrote the teleplay, based on the Watergate book by Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein. Brilliant, brilliant, brilliant.

 
  
 
 

TCM, 10:30 p.m. ET

Made in 1972, this Michael Ritchie film starred Robert Redford as a candidate for the senate who begins an improbable and somewhat disillusioning rise in the polls.

 
  
 
 

TCM, 12:30 a.m. ET

Made in 1976, director Sidney Lumet’s treatment of Paddy Chayefsky’s savage skewering of network TV, and particularly TV news, is 40 years old now – but uncannily, unsettingly prescient. Like All the President’s Men, it’s another of my very favorite films. Brilliant, brilliant, brilliant. And Peter Finch, as loose-cannon network newscaster Howard Beale? Incomparable.

 
  
 
 

TCM, 2:45 a.m. ET

This 1974 drama is one of director Francis Ford Coppola’s most underrated films (his even earlier You’re a Big Boy Now is another), and also one of his best. Gene Hackman stars as a surveillance expert who stumbles upon the proof, or at least the sounds, of a major conspiracy. Costars include Harrison Ford, Cindy Williams, and John Cazale, who lived long enough only to make a few films, but each was astounding, including The Godfather, The Conversation, The Godfather: Part II, Dog Day Afternoon, and The Deer Hunter.

 
  
 
 

TCM, 4:45 a.m. ET

Made in 1971, this was another Seventies triumph directed by Alan J. Pakula, and this one starred Donald Sutherland as the title character, and Jane Fonda in a career-redefining turn as Bree, a high-priced prostitute who is threatened by a serial killer. So moody. So dark. So good – especially the acting, by both Sutherland and Fonda.

 
  
 
 
 
 
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David Bianculli

Founder / Editor

David Bianculli has been a TV critic since 1975, including a 14-year stint at the New York Daily News, and sees no reason to stop now. Currently, he's TV critic for NPR's Fresh Air with Terry Gross, and is an occasional substitute host for that show. He's also an author and teaches TV and film history at New Jersey's Rowan University. His 2009 Dangerously Funny: The Uncensored Story of 'The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour', has been purchased for film rights. His latest, The Platinum Age of Television: From I Love Lucy to the Walking Dead, How TV Became Terrific, is an effusive guidebook that plots the path from the 1950s’ Golden Age to today’s era of quality TV.