This James Cameron movie was released in 2009, launching a new boom in theaters showing 3-D movies. Almost five years later, we can ask whether that enthusiasm was a bit misguided in the long run – but in the short run, Avatar is quite a good-looking, ambitious fantasy film.

2013

Dec

THE CHALLENGER DISASTER By David Bianculli

Just in case you missed this telemovie’s recent premiere: Here’s a worthy repeat of a very smart, quite intriguing docudrama, about the committee formed to investigate the Challenger disaster. William Hurt stars as Richard Feynman, and gives a likably persistent, admirably authentic performance.

2013

Dec

SYNECDOCHE, NEW YORK By David Bianculli

Written and directed by Charlie Kaufman, this 2008 movie is a superb example of just what an original thinker Kaufman is. Philip Seymour Hoffman stars as a regional theater director from Schenectady, NY who gets a MacArthur Genius grant, and uses it to finance an ambitious rehearsal space in New York City. He begins painstakingly recreating buildings, blocks and the lives of his cast members – and what that has to do with the word “synecdoche,” well, that’s part of the tw

2013

Dec

SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE By David Bianculli

Someone tell Sarah: The musical guest on tonight’s new edition of SNL is One Direction. Paul Rudd hosts.

2013

Dec

VANILLA SKY By David Bianculli

This 2001 Cameron Crowe film is based on a 1997 Spanish film called Open Your Eyes (well, Abre los Ojos, anyway). Both of them – the original Spanish film and the Hollywood remake – feature Penelope Cruz, but the other primary stars are replaced for the English-language adaptation. For Vanilla Sky, Cruz’s co-stars are Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz. But in both versions, it’s a very unsettling and unpredictable story.

2013

Dec

FROSTY THE SNOWMAN By David Bianculli

A week ago, I was complaining about the appearance of Christmas TV specials in prime time, showing up the day after Thanksgiving. A week later, though, I may as well give up. So here’s a very vintage repeat, of a 1969 animated adventure narrated by Jimmy Durante, and featuring some of the voices very familiar to those of us who wallowed in everything Bullwinkle.

2013

Dec

BLONDE VENUS By David Bianculli

This 1932 Josef von Sternberg movie, starring Marlene Dietrich as a risqué German entertainer, is a wild, wild movie even 80 years later. Even Cary Grant, as the young, wide-eyed target of her flirtations and machinations, seems a bit stunned as to how to react to her. And wouldn’t you, if the singer you were attracted to made a stage entrance doing a strip tease as a gorilla – stripping off her gorilla costume to become a white Afro-wigged warrior princess?

2013

Dec

DR. SEUSS’ HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS By David Bianculli

Another Christmas offering – this time the 2000 live-action movie, staring Jim Carrey as the green-faced Grinch.

2013

Dec

WEST SIDE STORY By David Bianculli

Last night, NBC mounted a live production of The Sound of Music. Monday, HBO is presenting a new biographical and music-filled tribute to Stephen Sondheim. And tonight, to keep that musical theater ball rolling, MGM HD – one of the best places to watch this kind of ultra-widescreen presentation – is televising the 1961 movie version of West Side Story, with music by Leonard Bernstein and lyrics by Sondheim. Natalie Wood stars.

2013

Dec

THE SOUND OF MUSIC LIVE! By David Bianculli

Last week’s prime-time special, introducing viewers to the casting and rehearsal process in bringing this Rodgers and Hammerstein classic to television, did a great job of promotion, stressing the point of just how high-risk, and exciting, a live TV premiere is bound to be. And here it comes. At one point in TV’s history, everything was presented this way – but tonight, a live musical, starring Carrie Underwood and featuring Audra McDonald and Laura Benanti, is an absolute rari

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