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

 
 
2017
Jul
19
 
 
My TiVo DVR memory has been swallowed almost totally by this TCM month-long presentation of the films of Alfred Hitchcock, a ridiculously generous overview that continues every Wednesday and Friday night all month. Truly, almost every film contains enough ingenuity and artistry to justify diving into it all over again – and if any of these films is new to you, please take full advantage of the opportunity. The movie that opens tonight’s tribute, for example, is 1948’s Rope (pic
 
 
 
  
 
 
2017
Jul
19
 
 
Tonight’s episode has Cynthia (Loretta Devine) learning that her parents, after all this time, are having some marital difficulties. It leads to a multi-generational discussion about marriage – and also makes room for guest stars Starletta DuPois and Bill Cobbs, playing her parents. Jerrod Carmichael stars.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2017
Jul
19
 
 
In tonight’s new episode, sexual assault victim Trish (Julie Hesmondhalgh) returns to the scene of the crime – a visit that may or may not jog her memory, and that also may or may not place her in additional danger.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2017
Jul
19
 
 
Comedy Central’s The Daily Show didn’t get an Emmy nomination this year in the variety talk series category. Neither did NBC’s The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. But Samantha Bee’s TBS show – the little talk show that could – did. And tonight, she returns, to talk Trump, Putin, Trump Jr., and health care. For starters.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2017
Jul
19
 
 
Alfred Hitchcock wasted no time whatsoever in getting this particular murder story to the screen. Patricia Highsmith published the novel of the same name in 1950 – and by1951, Hitch had the movie in theaters, starring Farley Granger and Robert Walker as the titular new acquaintances – one of whom suggests to the other that they each murder an enemy of the other, thus committing murder without any apparent connections to the crime. Great premise – and, in Hitchcock’s hands
 
 
 
  
 
 
2017
Jul
18
 
 
PBS’s Weekend in Havana special makes at least two valuable points. The first, and most significant, assures viewers that Havana deserves a spot on almost everyone’s travel wish list...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2017
Jul
18
 
 
USA’s Shooter returns with a bang. Make that many bangs. The action adventure thriller wastes no time when it returns. It does, however, waste several characters.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2017
Jul
18
 
 
DOCUMENTARY MINISERIES PREMIERE: Part 1 of 3. What all nature documentaries do in general, and in theory, this three-part miniseries aims to do quite overtly and specifically. Photographer Joel Sartore leads the charge in corralling endangered species – many of them already housed and protected in wildlife sanctuaries and compassionate zoo structures – and makes a case for the preservation of some of nature’s most rare creatures. Check local listings.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2017
Jul
18
 
 
This 2015 made-for-cable movie is one of Disney Channel’s biggest recent hits – and is about to spawn a sequel, Friday’s Descendants 2, which is being firebombed simultaneously on ABC, Freeform and Lifetime, as well as the Disney Channel. That’s an awful lot of hype, but Disney feels this movie musical, a live-action comedy about the next-generation offspring of classic Disney animated villainesses, has all the makings of a lucrative and long-running franchise. Dove Camer
 
 
 
  
 
 
2017
Jul
18
 
 
This new edition questions the entire concept of parole – whether it still works in the modern prison system, and, if not, how to address and repair it. Check local listings.