NONFICTION MINISERIES PREMIERE: ESPN’s 30 on 30 series presents a multi-part documentary examination of O.J. Simpson, a new take by director Ezra Edelman. (He directed HBO’s excellent documentary about the Magic Johnson-Larry Bird rivalry and friendship, Magic & Bird: A Courtship of Rivals.) ESPN’s parent company thought so much of this new documentary that, before showing the rest of the installments on ESPN, it’s launching the miniseries tonight on ABC, in prime tim

2016

Jun

MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS By David Bianculli

It’s a fair night over at TCM, where a couple of prime-time movies are presented that have to do with world’s fairs. 1944’s Meet Me in St. Louis is a period piece starring Judy Garland, and directed by her husband, Vincente Minnelli. It’s set in the year before St. Louis hosted the 1904 World’s Fair, and tracks the events leading up to it, as seen by a regular St. Louis family. This musical is the source for both “The Trolley Song” and “Have Yourse

2016

Jun

IT HAPPENED AT THE WORLD'S FAIR By David Bianculli

This 1963 movie was set at the 1962 World’s Fair in Seattle, and filmed on location as a publicity stunt for the fair. Elvis Presley stars – and one of his costars is young Yvonne Craig, who in a few years would don purple tights and a wig to play Batgirl on ABC’s Batman.

2016

Jun

SUNSET BOULEVARD By David Bianculli

Billy Wilder directed this 1950 film classic about film classics, and cast it perfectly. Former silent film star Gloria Swanson plays former silent film star Norma Desmond. Former silent film director Erich von Stroheim plays former silent film director Max Von Mayerling, and William Holden plays the young screenwriter who enters their sheltered private world of memories and delusions. Oh, and there’s another young actor deserving of attention: Jack Webb, just before he took on the TV role

2016

Jun

2016 NBA FINALS By David Bianculli

Game 4. The Golden State Warriors trounced the Cleveland Cavaliers in the first two games of this championship series, when it had the home court – and the Cavaliers did the same to the Warriors in Game 3, when the contest was played in Cleveland. That’s the setting for tonight’s Game 4 as well, but there’s no guarantee the home-court advantage will continue to be… an advantage.

2016

Jun

REAL TIME WITH BILL MAHER By David Bianculli

This week’s scheduled guests include California Sen. Barbara Boxer, musician Tom Morello, and journalist Andrew Ross Sorkin.

2016

Jun

MEET THE HITLERS By David Bianculli

No, it’s not April 1 again already. This is a real documentary title, of an actual film in which people with the surname Hitler are interviewed about the impact of that name on their everyday lives. I can already imagine the VH1 spinoff: Meet the Kardashians.

2016

Jun

ACE IN THE HOLE By David Bianculli

This is a movie with a plot that feels utterly current It’s about a news organization, and an ambitious reporter, so caught up in the fervor of covering breaking news that news judgment and morality become increasingly clouded in the frenzy of media competition. The fact that this movie was made in 1951, and still hits all the same points and concerns as a modern remake would cover, says something frightening. The technology may change, but human nature – the bad as well as the good

2016

Jun

E.T. THE EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL By David Bianculli

This movie was made way back in 1982, when special effects were much more rudimentary – but this Steven Spielberg fantasy film still works on every level. Road test it on someone very young, and watch.

2016

Jun

THE KING AND I By David Bianculli

With the Tony Awards coming Sunday, it’s time to get in the mood by watching some classic movie musicals. And TCM has a small slew of them tonight (a slewette, perhaps), starting at 8 ET with this 1956 film version of the Rodgers and Hammerstein hit musical. Yul Brynner won an Oscar for playing the petulant king, and Deborah Kerr co-starred in one of the most iconic cinematic ball gowns this side of Gone with the Wind. Oh, and the song “Shall We Dance?” It’s been an infan

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