MINISERIES PREMIERE: This documentary miniseries, which will run for six weeks in one-hour chunks on HBO, is Andrew Jarecki’s nonfiction examination of Robert Durst, the wealthy New York real-estate heir accused of one murder and suspected of several. Jarecki made a fictional feature film inspired by one Durst case, 2010’s All Good Things, but this is a nonfiction treatment. And it’s an amazing one, because Durst, after seeing the fictional film, contacted Jarecki, and eventual

2015

Feb

MASTERPIECE CLASSIC: "DOWNTON ABBEY" By David Bianculli

The police investigation is getting closer to home – and home, in this case, means Downton Abbey itself. Check local listings.

2015

Feb

THE WALKING DEAD By David Bianculli

SERIES RETURN: As this series was leaving for its midseason hiatus, it dispatched one of its most beloved characters, and also took away the hope that there was a zombie-plague cure to be found if only our survivors could make it to Washington, D.C. So now, as the second half of this season’s shows begins, there is, to quote Bob Dylan, “no direction home.” What’s going to happen now? Where will they go, and what will they do? That’s why we’re so eager to watch

2015

Feb

BETTER CALL SAUL By David Bianculli

SERIES PREMIERE: Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould take their Breaking Bad character of smarmy, fast-taking lawyer Saul Goodman, and give him a backstory, in this prequel series about a struggling Albuquerque lawyer named Jimmy McGill. It’s a fabulous series, as least based on the opening three episodes – more Frasier to Cheers than Beverly Hills Buntz to Hill Street Blues. For my full review, and a link to my report on NPR’s Fresh Air with Terry Gross, see Bianculli’s Blog.

2015

Feb

LAST WEEK TONIGHT WITH JOHN OLIVER By David Bianculli

SEASON PREMIERE: Welcome back, Mr. Oliver. In his first season with his own show on HBO, Oliver carved out a different territory for himself in the satirical current-events comedy landscape – burrowing deeply into one topic instead of just peppering shots in every direction. And his HBO on-air promos for Season 2 have been so smart and so knowingly self-mocking, that it bodes well for this second-season batch, as well.

2015

Feb

INTRODUCING BABY SMALLS, WORLD'S YOUNGEST RAPPER By David Bianculli

This video gives new meaning to the term “crib notes.” It’s a just-dropped music video introducing Baby Smalls, the newest, or at least youngest, West Coast rapper...

2015

Feb

EDGE OF TOMORROW By David Bianculli

This 2014 Tom Cruise sci-fi film, co-starring Emily Blunt, is the action-movie equivalent of Groundhog Day: The characters have to relive a certain point in time until and unless they learn their lesson – in this case, how to defeat a deadly alien enemy. If you want to enhance the feeling, record this movie before watching it, then stop halfway through and go back to the beginning. Rinse and repeat.

2015

Feb

THE PHILADELPHIA STORY By David Bianculli

As cinematic romantic triangles go, they don’t get much better than this. In this 1940 romantic comedy, directed by George Cukor, Katharine Hepburn is the fiancé caught between two men – and Cary Grant and James Stewart play the men. Oh, and neither of those men is her husband-to-be (played by John Howard), so technically, this is a comedy about a romantic rectangle.

2015

Feb

SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE VINTAGE By David Bianculli

Next Sunday, in prime time, Saturday Night Live will present a live, star-studded special honoring the show’s 40 seasons. Meanwhile, tonight in prime time, it repeats a vintage episode with at least one classic bit. It’s the Oct. 27, 1990 episode with guest host Patrick Swayze, and includes the sketch in which Swayze and repertory member Chris Farley portray rival male-stripper finalists at a Chippendales audition.

2015

Feb

HERE COMES MR. JORDAN By David Bianculli

This 1941 comedy is about a heavyweight boxer (Robert Montgomery) who dies a very untimely death – so untimely that it wasn’t supposed to occur, which results in him being reincarnated in the body of a recently deceased multi-millionaire. If the plot sounds familiar, maybe that’s because Warren Beatty remade it as Heaven Can Wait in 1978, casting himself in the starring role, and changing the athlete from boxer to pro quarterback.

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