DAVID BIANCULLI

Founder / Editor

ERIC GOULD

Associate Editor

LINDA DONOVAN

Assistant Editor

Contributors

ALEX STRACHAN

MIKE HUGHES

KIM AKASS

MONIQUE NAZARETH

ROGER CATLIN

GARY EDGERTON

TOM BRINKMOELLER

GERALD JORDAN

NOEL HOLSTON

 
 
2014
Dec
26
 
 
When Comedy Central scheduled this 2008 film, it was, at best, an attempt to tie in with a holiday release of a new comedy starring the same two actors. But now, presenting Pineapple Express the day after the defiant, First Amendment-embracing release of the controversial The Interview seems positively prescient. Both comedies star Seth Rogen and James Franco – so if you watch this pothead comedy, keep in mind that it features the same guys at the center of one of the most fascinating inte
 
 
 
  
 
 
2014
Dec
26
 
 
If you didn’t catch this profile of Bing Crosby earlier this month, here’s a second chance – and if you do watch this time, stay tuned through the final credits – because that’s when the filmmakers slip in an especially rare and entertaining Crosby vocal outtake. Check local listings.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2014
Dec
26
 
 
Back in March 2004, a violent earthquake struck Southeast Asia, triggering a tsunami that devastated coastal Japan and many other countries. A decade later, this documentary takes a look back – and a look ahead, asking what steps can be taken to save more lives the next time such a disaster strikes.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2014
Dec
25
 
 
Merry Christmas. Most stations are running the classic WPIX Yule Log special beginning at 8 a.m. ET, so look for it. In New York, WPIX first televised its Yule Log, with music taken from the Christmas music collection of the wife of then-station president Fred M. Thrower, in 1966. In 1970, the crackling fireplace image was replaced with a new fireplace (from a California residence, rather than New York’s Gracie Mansion), and that’s the one to seek out. If the fireplace on your TV doe
 
 
 
  
 
 
2014
Dec
25
 
 
On a family holiday, those who gather around the TV set usually are in search of a family movie – something everyone can watch at the same time, just as they (we) did in the old days. Well, here’s one perfect option: Director Rob Reiner’s flawless 1987 film version of William Goldman’s novel and screenplay. Even better, it's being offered through a Cary Elwes-hosted marathon beginning at 1:00 p.m. and ending with the final showing at 12:15am. The supporting players steal
 
 
 
  
 
 
2014
Dec
25
 
 
In England, it’s a tradition for certain series to serve up special movie-length episodes for the holidays. One of them is Doctor Who – and another, starting this year, is Call the Midwife, with a special installment that has Cynthia thinking about becoming a postulant. Check local listings.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2014
Dec
25
 
 
TCM is of the opinion that there are fewer better ways to spend Christmas night than some films by one of Hollywood’s most celebrated Jewish comic actor-writer-directors. I couldn’t agree more – and for tonight’s Mel Brooks mini-marathon, TCM focuses on the films in which Brooks himself stars or is featured. His affectionate Alfred Hitchcock spoof, 1977’s High Anxiety, starts things off, with Madeline Kahn (pictured, with Brooks) doing a perfect imitation of Hitch&r
 
 
 
  
 
 
2014
Dec
25
 
 
A marathon of all 12 episodes of Season 8, the most recent season of Doctor Who, is shown on BBC America today, beginning at 8 a.m. ET. That’s the season that introduced Peter Capaldi as the current and Twelfth Doctor – and the marathon serves as an all-day warm-up, and primer, for tonight’s all-new 2014 Doctor Who Christmas special, Last Christmas. Nick Frost from Shaun of the Dead plays Santa Claus, in an episode that also prominently features Jenna Coleman as Clara, my all-t
 
 
 
  
 
 
2014
Dec
24
 
 
SEASON PREMIERE: Today on Hulu, the streaming network presents Season 2 of its co-production with the BBC, starring and co-created by James Corden and Matthew Baynton. The series takes Hitchcock’s The Wrong Man concept to comedic extremes, with Corden’s Phil and Baynton’s Sam the victims of mistaken identity. Season 1 left them in a lot of trouble, but Season 2 hands them even more – including an unexpected incarceration in jail. In the United States. In Texas. And it&rsq
 
 
 
  
 
 
2014
Dec
24
 
 
It’s Christmas Eve – so if you’re into the holiday, and awash with company, there’s no better time than tonight to watch this durable, lovable holiday classic.