SEASON PREMIERE: The new season begins with a two-hour installment, picking up the action a few months after last season’s shocker of a finale. It’s no shocker, though, that Downton Abbey returns with flair to spare, and with a new set of subplots that unravel slowly, but very, very surely. For a full review, see Ed Bark’s Uncle Barky’s Bytes. Check local listings.

2014

Jan

THE BEST OF "LATE NIGHT WITH JIMMY FALLON" By David Bianculli

Now that NBC no longer has Sunday Night Football, its top-rated series, it has to fill the Sunday time slot with something. Tonight, it begins with a two-hour special presenting a compilation of some of Late Night host Jimmy Fallon’s best bits – a month before he takes over as the new host of The Tonight Show. One highlight that better be included: Fallon (as Neil Young) and Bruce Springsteen (as a younger version of himself) doing a cover of Willow Smith’s “Whip My

2014

Jan

VERONICA MARS RETURNS By Eric Gould

It’s not a reboot of the series, but after a crowd-sourced Kickstarter fundraising campaign last year, creator Rob Thomas announced that the show would return for a full-length feature... It’s scheduled for release this March, with Kristin Bell reprising her title role...

2014

Jan

'DOWNTON ABBEY' SEASON 4: RESONANCE LOST AND NOT ALWAYS FOUND By Ed Bark

PBS’s two-hour Season 4 launch of Downton Abbey easily could be subtitled “Waiting for Lady Mary to Snap Out of It"...

2014

Jan

PRO FOOTBALL PLAYOFFS: KANSAS CITY CHIEFS VS. INDIANAPOLIS COLTS By David Bianculli

Both the Kansas City Chiefs and Indianapolis Colts come to this game with identical records (11-5), and identical pressures: Win, and they continue with postseason play. Lose, and they join all the other teams sitting out January. The teams are almost identically matched in terms of overall offensive output per game, but the Colts have Luck on their side – Andrew Luck, the team’s quarterback.

2014

Jan

PRO FOOTBALL PLAYOFFS: NEW ORLEANS SAINTS VS. PHILADELPHIA EAGLES By David Bianculli

In today’s second postseason contest, the New Orleans Saints have the better record (11-5), but the Philadelphia Eagles (10-5) have home-field advantage. It’ll be a showplace for both quarterbacks: Drew Brees for the Saints and Nick Foles for the Eagles. And though Brees is incredibly efficient at home, he’s much less so on the road, and the brutally cold conditions may favor Philly. One stat that isn’t mentioned often, but which may be a factor in today’s game: Bre

2014

Jan

NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN By David Bianculli

Deciding whether or not to watch this brillant, disturbing 2007 Coen Brothers movie again – or for the first time? Flip a coin to decide. If nothing else, it’ll get you in the mood. Javier Bardem, as the coin-flipping killer, is magnificent.

2014

Jan

THE BAD AND THE BEAUTIFUL By David Bianculli

Director Vincente Minnelli is most associated with musicals (and, of course, for marrying Judy Garland and fathering daughter Liza), but he also directed this hard-boiled 1952 dramatic classic, which takes a Rashomon approach to tell the story of an unscrupulous Hollywood producer (Kirk Douglas), as seen from the respective perspectives of a director (Barry Sullivan), a writer (Dick Powell), and an actress (Lana Turner). Akira Kurosawa’s Rashomon had come out only two years before, making

2014

Jan

THE MUPPET MOVIE By David Bianculli

Made in 1979, this is the original Muppet movie – The Muppet Movie – made when the syndicated TV show, which had begun three years before was still in production. Tomorrow night, ABC Family will present the 2011 version, The Muppets, but check out the roster of cameos and guest stars for this Jimmy Carter-era production: Edgar Bergen, Milton Berle, Mel Brooks, Bob Hope, Madeline Kahn, Steve Martin, Richard Pryor and Orson Welles.

2014

Jan

COLLEGE FOOTBALL: OKLAHOMA STATE VS. MISSOURI By David Bianculli

This particular postseason college contest used to be called the Cotton Bowl. Now, in part of America’s corporate takeover, it’s called the AT&T Cotton Bowl, as though the best brand of cotton is the type that comes from fiberoptics as well as fibers. The teams tonight are Oklahoma State (10-2) and Missouri (11-2), who are playing in this bowl, rather than an even more prestigious one, because of unexpected losses late in the season. But at least they get a prime-time broadcast n

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