SEASON FINALE: HBO has promoted this dramatization of the Tom Perrotta novel as a “limited series,” which should mean a miniseries with a definite end, which, in turn, should mean that tonight’s season finale is indeed the show’s final episode, period. But Big Little Lies was promoted and described by HBO the same way, and its popularity prompted an initially unplanned Season 2. So we’ll see. And, as long as HBO keeps making Mrs. Fletcher, I&rsqu

2019

Dec

VAMPIRE'S KISS By David Bianculli

Jennifer Beals returns to TV tonight in The L Word: Generation Q, which premieres 10 years after the original L Word ended in 2009. But a full 20 years before that, in 1989, Beals starred opposite Nicolas Cage in this wildly original, criminally underappreciated black comedy film, about a lowly book editor (Cage) who becomes convinced the girl he met at a party actually was a vampiress who bewitched him and turned him into one of the walking undead. Having a knowledge of the

2019

Dec

NO DIRECTION HOME: BOB DYLAN By David Bianculli

This 2005 documentary by Martin Scorsese is an insightful and inspirational biography, and artistic examination, of the life and work of Bob Dylan, one of the most important musical figures of his, and succeeding, generations. The documentary is a very long one – but today, AXS shows it all at once, at all deliberate speed, like a rolling stone…

2019

Dec

SPONGEBOB MUSICAL: LIVE ON STAGE By David Bianculli

“Absorbent and yellow and porous is he!” Yes, it’s SpongeBob SquarePants, the animated sponge whose animated series premiered on Nickelodeon 20 years ago, and soon went from the porifera of pop culture (see what I did there?) to the absolute center. (My college students at Rowan University may initially be unfamiliar with some of TV’s older icons, but they all know SpongeBob.) The popularity of the TV show led, in 2017, to a Broadway musical set at Bikini Bottom

2019

Dec

A CHRISTMAS STORY By David Bianculli

On Christmas Eve, as is now traditional, one of the Turner networks will repeat this 1983 comedy in a marathon 24-hour cycle. But tonight, as a teaser, one of those networks, TNT, presents A Christmas Story as a prime-time double feature. Beware of those B-B guns… and that lamp.

2019

Dec

SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE By David Bianculli

Tonight’s guest host, making her third such appearance, is Jennifer Lopez. The musical guest – because this time, she’s not doing official double duty – is DaBaby. And dat’s DaScoop.

2019

Dec

SEASON 3 OF 'THE MARVELOUS MRS. MAISEL' IS MAGNIFICENT By David Hinckley

If you've watched the first two seasons of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, recommending that you watch the third season is like recommending that if you have a choice of Oreos, you go for the double-stuffed. There's nothing to think about, really...

2019

Dec

THE LATEST VIOLENT THRILLER IS HEADED BY ABIGAIL SPENCER ON 'REPRISAL' By David Hinckley

In a world where pretty much every disagreement is settled by brute force between large angry men, Doris Quinn might not seem like a fit...

2019

Dec

THE MARVELOUS MRS. MAISEL By David Bianculli

SEASON PREMIERE: This Emmy-winning Amazon series returns for a new season at full speed, with a big splash, and with a Season 3 opener that had me laughing out loud several times during the hour. The setting, for most of it, is a USO tour performance, for which the still-on-the-rise Mrs. Maisel (Rachel Brosnahan, nailing every single scene) takes the stage in front of a gaggle of fevered servicemen, and charms them. Series creator Amy Sherman-Palladino both writes and directs the opener, which a

2019

Dec

REPRISAL By David Bianculli

Abigail Spencer, from Timeless, stars in this new Hulu series, a revenge drama in which she survives a horrible physical and mental attack, then takes methodical steps to target and punish her attackers. It may sound like the plot of an exploitation film, like I Spit On Your Grave – but Reprisal is much higher-minded than that. For a full review, see David Hinckley's All Along the Watchtower, and for background on the show, see Mike Hughes' Open Mike.

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