Double features, for film fans, don’t get much better than this. Two of Humphrey Bogart’s most indelible roles, played back to back. The Maltese Falcon, from 1941, starts it off, based on a Dashiell Hammett novel, adapted and directed by John Huston, and allowing a great cast of actors to embody some of the mystery author’s most memorable characters: Peter Lorre and Sydney Greenstreet as colorful villains, Mary Astor as the quintessential femme fatale of film noir, and Bogart a

2018

Dec

THE ORVILLE By David Bianculli

Tonight Seth Macfarlane’s fond take on the Star Trek canon returns for Season 2 – which means if it has its own five-year mission, it’s embarking on the second 20 percent of its stated voyage. And this season, I suspect there to be even more embracing of the story, and less of the punch lines.

2018

Dec

RAY DONOVAN By David Bianculli

SEASON FINALE: Last week, two members of the Donovan family got beaten to a pulp. Tonight, yet another family member is endangered, as Ray’s daughter, Bridget (Kerris Dorsey), is kidnapped by some of the forces aligned against him. That makes Ray angry – and if you’re in his warpath, you’re not likely to like him when he’s angry.

2018

Dec

ESCAPE AT DANNEMORA By David Bianculli

MINISERIES CONCLUSION: I made a mistake last Sunday and said the miniseries was concluding then. It was a major mistake, but I came to it honestly. In terms of the story’s dramatic narrative, the final, post-escape portion should have followed – but instead, Ben Stiller threw an unexpected but inspired curve ball by using that point in the story to flash back to the earlier lives of the three characters who ultimately conspired to pull off the two prisoners’ escape from prison.

2018

Dec

THE TWILIGHT ZONE MARATHON By David Bianculli

An annual tradition that remains one of TV’s finest, here comes Syfy’s ring out the old, bring in the new, Twilight Zone marathon, which this year begins at 10:54 p.m. ET tonight, and doesn’t end until we’re into 2019. Tonight’s episodes are all wonderful, but the best one arrives just before midnight, at the 11:55 p.m. ET showing of 1961’s “Long Distance Call,” starring young Billy Mumy as a kid who has conversations with his grandmother over his

2018

Dec

DAVID HINCKLEY'S TOP 15 SHOWS OF 2018 By David Hinckley

Here’s another good thing about the platinum age of television: More and more programs are no longer one-and-done...

2018

Dec

THE NINETIES: "THE ONE ABOUT TV" By David Bianculli

The dead zone of TV is almost over – I promise, things will get interesting, or at least fresh, next year. And by next year, I mean the very beginning of next year: Tuesday, Jan. 1, 2019. Meanwhile, there’s hardly anything for you, or me, to watch on television today. Unless, that is, you’re interested in watching television about television, and me on television. That’s because CNN, tonight and tomorrow night, is ringing out the Old Year by looking back at even old

2018

Dec

NEW 'BLACK MIRROR' STORY IS AN INTERACTIVE TRIUMPH - THANKS PARTLY TO YOU By David Bianculli

Friday, Dec. 28, 2018 – I’ve just experienced one of the more original and unpredictable dramas I’ve ever seen as a TV critic. It’s the brand new, one-off installment of Black Mirror on Netflix. And I didn’t – and couldn’t – watch it on my TV set…

2018

Dec

BLACK MIRROR: "BANDERSNATCH" By David Bianculli

SPECIAL PREMIERE: As a special treat during the holidays, Black Mirror creator Charlie Brooker presents a special – very special – one-shot, one-off installment of his always worthwhile TV anthology series about technology, fantasy, suspense, and surprise. This new 2018 entry, Bandersnatch, requires you the viewer to decide the actions of the protagonist – which means the first thing you have to decide is whether you want to go to all the trouble of watching on a computer, smar

2018

Dec

A HARD DAY'S NIGHT By David Bianculli

If it’s a surprise to you that I’m recommending this 1964 Beatles film, directed by Richard Lester, as one of the best movie musicals ever made – well, you just don’t know me very well. Listen – Do you want to know a secret? Do you promise not to tell? I like the Beatles…

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