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
28
 
 
Spike Jonze got rave reviews for writing and directing last year’s Her, the meditative romantic comedy-drama about a man who falls in love with his phone and computer’s personalized electronic operating system. And Jonze would have my lifelong admiration simply for directing Christopher Walken in 1999’s unforgettably creative music video by Fatboy Slim for “Weapon of Choice.” And here, in this movie made the same year as “Weapon of Choice,” Jonze directs
 
 
 
  
 
 
2014
May
28
 
 
MINISERIES PREMIERE: Part 3 of 3. At 9 p.m. ET, History presents “Never Surrender,” the concluding segment of its three-night The World Wars dramatic miniseries, To see the entire miniseries in one chunk, start at 5 p.m. ET, when History will present rebroadcasts of the two-hour installments called “Trial By Fire” and “A Rising Threat.” Stars include Maximilian Klas (pictured) as young Adolf Hitler, with Hugh Scully playing the role in tonight’s installm
 
 
 
  
 
 
2014
May
28
 
 
Two days before comedian Don Rickles turned 88, a birthday party-slash-roast was held for him in his home town of New York City – specifically, at the Apollo Theater. And what a bash: guests include Jerry Seinfeld, who serves as a sort of host, as well as David Letterman, Jimmy Kimmel, Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Robert De Niro, Martin Scorsese, and Rickles’ long-time best friend, Bob Newhart. Expect some cheap shots in both directions – and some deep belly laughs.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2014
May
28
 
 
SEASON PREMIERE: Thandie Newton returns as Grace, the undercover detective with a very complicated relationship with the people she’s investigating, in Season 2 of what is, or tries to be, a distaff version of Wiseguy. Season 2, which begins tonight, has Grace working with an FBI team investigating a local prostitution ring – but that plot doesn’t stay primary for very long, as Grace is pulled in new, even more dangerous directions.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2014
May
28
 
 
Mad Men shut down until next spring with the eventful Sunday, May 25th episode, subtitled “Waterloo.” Here are 10 takeaways...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2014
May
27
 
 
This new installment of Frontline presents two half-hour reports, each focusing on a fomenting civil war inside a country whose history, and domestic resentments, run deep. One half is on Ukraine, the other on Syria. This is precisely the sort of documentary the broadcast networks used to do with pride and regularity, but now almost never even attempt. Check local listings.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2014
May
27
 
 
SERIES RETURN: Technically, this is the midseason return of this Syfy costume competition series. So far, Heroes of Cosplay has televised only six episodes – tonight’s new outing is number seven – but while its rules of competition seem vague and capricious, the chances for expression of creativity here are entertaining enough to warrant a peek. Think of it as early Project Runway, but with a fantasy theme.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2014
May
27
 
 
Last week’s episode ended with a white-hot, whiteout surprise: While Gus and Molly (Colin Hanks, Allison Tolman) were pursuing a lead, and a villain, in the blinding snow, the former apparently shot, and felled, the latter. But Molly fans need not fear, as Ed Bark reports in his latest Uncle Barky’s Bytes.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2014
May
27
 
 
SERIES PREMIERE: Wil Wheaton, the former child actor from Stand By Me who was the token teen on Star Trek: The Net Generation, has had his highest-profile adult role of late as a recurring role on The Big Bang Theory, playing a twisted version of himself. Now, starting with tonight’s premiere of The Wil Wheaton Project, he presides over a Syfy series in which he reacts to the week in all things fantasy and sci-fi, and gives a heads-up about things to come. It sounds like a one-man, single-
 
 
 
  
 
 
2014
May
27
 
 
Otto Preminger directed this 1944 film noir classic, in which Dana Andrews plays a detective who becomes increasingly obsessed with the dead woman whose murder he’s investigating. Said woman, the titular Laura, is played by Gene Tierney – and though both the genre and the premise would suggest an extremely unhappy and unresolved ending, keep watching.