Frank Sinatra, who co-stars, and whose film company produced this grim 1962 movie about brainwashing, political conspiracies and assassination attempts, was long thought to have withdrawn the film from circulation after John F. Kennedy was assassinated the following year, disturbed by the parallels between life and art. However, the movie wasn’t pulled for about a decade, and it turns out to have been because of a simple contract dispute with the movie distributor. No matter: The Manchuria

2014

Jan

NOVA: "GHOSTS OF MURDERED KINGS" By David Bianculli

“It’s a Long Way to Tipperary” is a famous war song that’s been around for more than a century now, but its reference to an obscure county in Ireland has new resonance today, because of an unexpected archaeological find there. In a remote peat bog, a worker finds a perfectly preserved human torso that becomes one of the coldest cold cases in history. Scientists date it to the Bronze Age, about 1000 BC – and historians theorize that the bodies found in that bog are t

2014

Jan

HAWKING By David Bianculli

Stephen Finnigan directs, and is one of the writers of, this 2013 biographical documentary about Stephen Hawking, told with unprecedented access to the brilliant scientist’s private home movies and other revealing artifacts. Expect to be surprised, impressed, educated – and inspired. Check local listings.

2014

Jan

TOP CHEF By David Bianculli

SEASON FINALE: Part 1 of 2. Tonight’s installment sends the finalists to Hawaii, which is one reason I’ll watch. (Someday, I swear, I’ll actually go there, instead of just wearing its shirts and listening to its slack-key guitar music.) Another reason: the mystery ingredient around which the chefs must build their meals is that old Monty Python musical favorite: Spam, Spam, Spam, Spam, Spam, Spam… In other words, tonight’s Top Chef features Spamalot.

2014

Jan

AMERICAN HORROR STORY: COVEN By David Bianculli

SEASON FINALE: Tonight’s finale, the final chapter of the Coven story line, plays like a witchly reality competition show. All the young witches at the academy compete in a trial in which each of them tackles “The Seven Wonders,” a gauntlet of magical acts they must perform to identify themselves as the next Supreme. Given what’s at stake, expect a bloodbath. And that’s just for starters.

2014

Jan

SUPER AD By Eric Gould

It’s Super Bowl time and, of course, time for the annual run of high-end commercials. Last year when Ram Trucks rolled out the “Farmer” commercial which used the voiceover of late radio broadcaster Paul Harvey it wasn’t your usual Super Bowl fluff -- and arrestingly so...

2014

Jan

STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION By David Bianculli

In this 1993 episode of this Star Trek spinoff series, the holodeck generates not only a believable approximation of the world of Sherlock Holmes, but a dangerously realistic version of the legendary detective’s arch-nemesis, Moriarty (portrayed by Daniel Davis, who, improbably, played Niles the stuffy butler on The Nanny). Why point out this vintage episode for special mention? Because the current, brilliant version of Sherlock is created by the same writers who, in the science fiction re

2014

Jan

GAMBIT By David Bianculli

In 2012, the Coen Brothers wrote, but did not direct, a remake of Gambit, a 1966 Michael Caine heist caper co-starring Shirley MacLaine as a sexy, loose-cannon accomplice. The remake starred Colin Firth, doing an excellent Caine homage, and Cameron Diaz – but here on TCM, as the first movie in an all-night string of Caine films, you can – and should – watch the Sixties original. Co-stars include Herbert Lom, who was persecuted so memorably as the boss of Peter Sellers’ In

2014

Jan

STATE OF THE UNION ADDRESS 2014 By David Bianculli

The 2014 State of the Address will, by necessity, address national health care, international cyber-security and cyber-snooping, and the economy. And it’s an even year, so local elections are coming, which makes even the in-the-chamber reactions of the collected Congress interesting to watch. What lines by President Barack Obama will receive bipartisan support? Which will be divided squarely upon party lines? And will any member of Congress, this year, disrespect both the occasion and the

2014

Jan

JUSTIFIED By David Bianculli

Any time Raylan (Timothy Olyphant) ventures into the surrounding hills in search of a suspect, the results are, invariably, outrageous and surprising. So expect the unexpected tonight – but also expect at least one scene between Rayland and Boyd (Walton Goggins). Those two don’t share the screen as much as they used to on this series, so any time they do is cause to pay extra attention.

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