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
May
11
 
 
Last week, the episode ended with a great piece of music: The Hollies’ “On a Carousel,” from 1967. It was a callback to the classic “Carousel” episode of Mad Men, in which Jon Hamm’s Don Draper wowed Kodak, and a nation of viewers, by describing a new slide projector gizmo as a deliverer of memories and love. That was as Mad Men was taking off. Now, as it winds down, Don is perched in front of a new IBM Selectric, grudgingly pecking out tag lines for Peggy &nd
 
 
 
  
 
 
2014
May
11
 
 
SERIES PREMIERE: This new Showtime series is a gothic gold mine – a creepy, scary show that takes viewers to 1890s London, in ways that touch upon familiar sights, ideas and even characters from classic horror literature, and emerges with something cracklingly fresh. Eva Green, as one of the stars of Penny Dreadful, demands attention, and deserves it. For a full review, see Bianculli’s Blog.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2014
May
11
 
 
The May 4 episode of AMC’s Mad Men ended with closing credits showcasing a very catchy and appropriate song: “On a Carousel,” released by The Hollies in 1967.... as Mad Men is in its final season, poor Don has gone round and round to where he’s just hanging on, longing for things just out of reach – just as in the song...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2014
May
10
 
 
This 2013 drama stars Hugh Jackman as a father whose six-year-old daughter goes missing, along with her friend. The father gets increasingly frustrated by the efforts of police (including a detective played by Jake Gyllenhaal) to locate and recover her – so he embarks on his own quest, with an intensity that transfers to the film itself. Costars include three very dynamic and talented actresses: Viola Davis, Maria Bello and Melissa Leo.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2014
May
10
 
 
Tonight’s installment of Orphan Black is the last one sent to critics for preview this season – so after tonight, I’m watching like a civilian. But what I can tell you about tonight’s show, without spoiling anything, is that we learn a lot more about the mysterious Mrs. S (Maria Doyle Kennedy) – and her origins and motives.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2014
May
10
 
 
Anne of Green Gables, the novel by Lucy Maud Montgomery about an orphan girl sent to live with an elderly brother and sister who were expecting a young boy, was turned into a tender, beautiful TV miniseries in 1985, starring Megan Follows in the titular role of Anne Shirley. But long, long before that, the same story was the basis for this early sound film, a 1934 drama in which the leading role of Anne Shirley was played by an actress named… Anne Shirley. Just as the movie was released,
 
 
 
  
 
 
2014
May
10
 
 
Hugh Jackman, Michael Fassbender, James McAvoy, costars of The X-Men: Days of Future Past, all show up to promote their new film. And once Norton hears that they used to get ready to shoot scenes by having the sound crew blare the same upbeat song as they danced from their trailers to the set, Norton has them exit and recreate it. The song? “Blurred Lines.”
 
 
 
  
 
 
2014
May
10
 
 
Charlize Theron is the guest host tonight, with musical guest the Black Keys. Her appearance is timed to promote her starring role in A Million Ways to Die in the West, the new live-action comedy film by Seth MacFarlane, the Family Guy creator who scored a major hit with 2012’s Ted.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2014
May
9
 
 
On most nights, the guests who pop in to play with the Whose Line gang are celebrities, and pseudo-celebrities, largely untested in the world of improv. Not so with tonight’s guest, Keegan-Michael Key from Key and Peele, who, in the nonscripted arena, can give as good as he gets.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2014
May
9
 
 
SERIES RETURN: These are the first two hours of Jack Bauer’s return to television – and no, he’s not the victim of a Groundhog Day time-machine weapon. It’s just that Fox, to maximize the audience for its reboot of this Kiefer Sutherland franchise, is repeating Monday’s two-hour premiere tonight. So if you missed it Monday, hop aboard tonight. It’s worth the ride.