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

 
 
2016
Feb
13
 
 
Maisie Williams from Game of Thrones makes the first of her cross-genre appearances on Doctor Who – and in this Season 9 repeat episode, her appearance will be embellished with “Doctor’s Notes,” pointing out details and “in jokes” you might have missed the first time around. New Doctor Who episodes aren’t showing up until next year, so why not?
 
 
 
  
 
 
2016
Feb
13
 
 
Made in 1979, this is a fabulous fable of a film. Jerzy Kosinski, adapting his own novel, wrote the screenplay about a very simple, sheltered man (played by Peter Sellers) who goes out into the real world, in Washington DC, with very unpredictable and unforgettable results. Shirley MacLaine co-stars, Hal Ashby directs, and the whole thing is a funny, touching, thought-provoking character study.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2016
Feb
13
 
 
Melissa McCarthy, who attacks this show like her own personal comedy playground, returns as guest host. The musical guest also shows up on SNL ready to play, and innovate, each time: Kanye West.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2016
Feb
13
 
 
The overload of quality television shows no sign of waning anytime soon, even if critics are collapsing under the burden of it all and ordinary people are starting to push back...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2016
Feb
12
 
 
We’re big fans of OK Go, the alt-rock group that seems to have made its stake not only with hit songs, but also with accompanying jaw-dropping videos that are art projects all by themselves...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2016
Feb
12
 
 
MINISERIES PREMIERE: Acting like a music superstar, Louis C.K. unexpectedly dropped a new project on the public – this time a new miniseries, which he’s unrolling slowly but surely on his own website, for a very reasonable fee: $5 for the expanded premiere episode, and $2 for episode two (the only ones available at this point). Horace and Pete is set in a bar, managed by brothers played by Louis C.K. and Steve Buscemi – and while some parts are very funny, others are raw and dramatic...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2016
Feb
12
 
 
SPECIAL: Once again, veteran (very) funnyman Bob Smigel takes his act on the road, and on his hand: As the voice and quick-thinking mind of Triumph the Insult Comic Dog, his canine hand puppet, Smigel and his crew hit the campaign trail, to follow, and occasionally interact with or haunt, actual presidential candidates. The only one with whom Triumph lands an actual interview is Mike Huckabee, which tells you a lot about power politics. But Triumph attends rallies by Donald Trump, Ted Cruz, Jeb
 
 
 
  
 
 
2016
Feb
12
 
 
All this month, TCM has been leading up to the Academy Awards telecast by showing movies, moviemakers and stars that have either won or been nominated for Oscars. I mention it now only because tonight’s lineup is a quartet of movies that, taken together, are an almost unfairly strong evening of cinematic entertainment. Two Dustin Hoffman standout movies start things off, with 1982’s Tootsie at 8 p.m. ET and 1979’s Kramer vs. Kramer at 10 ET, followed by two Robert De Niro class
 
 
 
  
 
 
2016
Feb
12
 
 
If you’re puzzled by the subtitle of this week’s new American Masters entry, B.B. King: The Life of Riley, the first thing you should know is that the late blues legend B.B. King’s real first name is Riley. This biography, like last week’s profile of the late Mike Nichols, is told mostly via vintage interviews with the documentary subject himself, along with supplemental interviews by close friends and collaborators. In this case, those interviewed include Keith Richards
 
 
 
  
 
 
2016
Feb
12
 
 
The key thing about this new David Bowie documentary is that the Five Years in the title are sequential but not chronological. Or, if this is clearer, they’re in order, but they skip some years. The Five Years examined here start with 1971, the year of Ziggy Stardust, and end with 1983 and the Niles Rodgers-produced “Let’s Dance.” In between – well, if you want to know that, you should be watching this special. Check local listings.