Baz Luhrmann’s 2013 version of the F. Scott Fitzgerald classic is flashy (big surprise there, from the director of Moulin Rouge) and anachronistic (ditto), but a few scenes are calibrated just right. And regardless, Leonardo DiCaprio projects the proper mystery as the title role – especially when he empties his soul, and his closet, during one visually stunning scene. Carey Mulligan co-stars.

2014

Jun

VICE By David Bianculli

SEASON FINALE: This season finale hits close to home – my home, anyway. I live in Cherry Hill, NJ, just a few miles from Camden, the city across the Ben Franklin Bridge from Philadelphia. In this week’s episode, Vice looks at the way authorities in Camden have begun policing their crime-ridden city, using technology that is very advanced, very pervasive, and arguably very intrusive.

2014

Jun

THE OLD DAD SIDE-STEP By Monique Nazareth

In honor of Fathers Day, Jimmy Fallon presented the "Evolution of Dad Dancing" on his show Thursday. He got a little help from another dad, New Jersey's Governor Chris Christie...Christie had no problem crossing a bridge to Manhattan...

2014

Jun

FEVER PITCH: ARE YOU READY FOR SOME FOOTBALL?! By Monique Nazareth

Much has been made about Brazil’s readiness for the biggest tournament in the world, the 2014 FIFA World Cup. Well, ready or not, the games start today...

2014

Jun

2014 U.S. OPEN GOLF By David Bianculli

As the U.S. Open coverage begins today with opening-round play live on ESPN, much has been written about the Pinehurst golf course and its radical redesign, which basically removes the rough from the edges of the fairway and replaces them with natural vegetation. Not to be critical – but I’ve done that with my front and back lawn for decades now, and never gotten any attention from it. Except from my neighbors, who insist on using the term “unsightly weeds” instead of &ld

2014

Jun

2014 WORLD CUP By David Bianculli

Soccer, as we know it here in the U.S., and football, as it’s known everywhere else, begins its world-stage competition today, as host country Brazil battles Croatia, a team it’s widely expected to beat handily, in the opening game of the 2014 World Cup. For a preview, see Monique Nazareth’s MNtv.

2014

Jun

NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN By David Bianculli

This 2007 Coen Brothers movie, like their earlier Fargo, is a masterful mood piece of murder, mayhem and deliciously strange characters – and, like Fargo, could well inspire a spinoff series based on its overall mood alone. Josh Brolin and Tommy Lee Jones star, and Javier Bardem became a star.

2014

Jun

NBA FINALS By David Bianculli

It’s Game 4. The Miami Heat, despite home-court advantage, were trounced in Game 3, giving the San Antonio Spurs a 2-1 advantage. The same thing happened last year, and the Heat prevailed to win the finals – but this is another year, and history, especially with championships, is difficult to repeat, much less three-peat.

2014

Jun

THE SIXTIES: "THE ASSASSINATION OF PRESIDENT KENNEDY" By David Bianculli

Part 3. This particular episode of The Sixties has been televised already – back in November, on the golden anniversary of the tragic, world-changing killing of John F. Kennedy. But it's worth watching again, and certainly worth it if you missed it the first time around. Even with such a well-documented subject, The Sixties does an excellent job telling it well, and sometimes in new ways, especially with its inventive use of local Dallas TV footage from the time. Like the entire series, it

2014

Jun

THE BLUES BROTHERS By David Bianculli

In 1980, just as Saturday Night Live was closing out its five-year run featuring the still-ongoing show’s original cast, veteran SNL members John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd broke out together as Jake and Elwood Blues, whose love of music allowed them, while on a complicated, music-fueled car-chase “mission from God,” to cross paths with the likes of James Brown, Ray Charles, Cab Calloway and Aretha Franklin.

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