Do the names Big Edie and Little Edie, or Nanook of the North, ring a bell? If they do, then have I got a TV miniseries for you. It’s a spoof of classic documentaries, and it’s delightful…

2015

Aug

JOHN WAYNE FILM FESTIVAL By David Bianculli

Listen, Pilgrim: Today is John Wayne day on TCM, with 24 hours of his films – and not all of them Westerns. Out-of-genre entries include 1974’s McQ, a modern cop drama, at 4 p.m. ET, and, at 8 p.m. ET, 1952’s classic The Quiet Man (pictured, with Wayne and Maureen O’Hara), directed by John Ford, about a boxer who retires to his homeland of Ireland.

2015

Aug

KEY & PEELE By David Bianculli

There are only a handful of episodes left of new episodes, but they’re still introducing new characters at Key & Peele. Tonight, it’s “MC Mom,” who sends a musical message on DVD to her son, who’s now away at college – a message about what he left behind that she found in his room, among other surprising revelations. Very funny – and not very “family-oriented.”

2015

Aug

STEAMPUNK'D By David Bianculli

SERIES PREMIERE: If you don’t have a firm grasp on what “steampunk” is, this new reality competition show may not help much – because the definitions, like the artistic aesthetics of the contestants, are all over the place. Basically, it’s a melding of past and future, and Steampunk’d challenges its invited artists to create not just fashion, but to design and furnish entire rooms in a slowly evolving “Manor.” They pull inspiration and material out

2015

Aug

MR. ROBOT By David Bianculli

This is not the season finale of Mr. Robot after all – so when I said last week that it was the penultimate episode, I was wrong. This is the penultimate episode, I think. But with Mr. Robot, I'm not sure about much of anything, except that I'm entertained.

2015

Aug

THE SEARCHERS By David Bianculli

This 1956 John Ford film is one of the best offerings of today’s all-day TCM John Wayne salute – and certainly the darkest. Wayne stars as a Civil War veteran, and a bigot who hates Native Americans, leading the search for the tribe that killed his family brutally and captured his niece, played by Natalie Wood. Jeffrey Hunter co-stars.

2015

Aug

CNN'S 'EVOCATEUR' RECAPTURES MORTON DOWNEY JR. AT THE HEIGHT OF HIS GLOWERS By Ed Bark

In the documentary Evocateur: The Morton Downey Jr. Movie, one can still smell the toxic fumes coming off the old TV brow-beater and his ever-present cigarettes, which he used to autograph for admirers.

2015

Aug

VIVIEN LEIGH FILM FESTIVAL By David Bianculli

Today’s star of the day, being saluted for 24 hours straight, is Vivien Leigh. And though not every one of her classic films is included in today’s marathon, the two best are, one in prime time, the other in late night: 1939’s Gone with the Wind at 10:15 p.m. ET, and 1951’s A Streetcar Named Desire at 3:45 a.m. ET. That leaves room for plenty of others, including many films that predate them both. Watch, especially, for 1937’s Dark Journey (pictured) at 4:45 p.m. ET

2015

Aug

THE MAKING OF A LEGEND: GONE WITH THE WIND By David Bianculli

This documentary on the making of a movie is longer than most movies – it clocks in at more than two hours. But it’s worth it, both for the film it salutes and its own quality. And, as a bonus, this documentary was made so long ago, in 1988, that many more of the movie’s veterans are interviewed than would be the case if it were made today.

2015

Aug

THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL By David Bianculli

Everything else recommended today has some relation to Vivian Leigh. This latest Wes Anderson movie is the exception: a 2014 gem that is as dazzling in terms of structure and story line as it is visually. And believe me, that’s saying something. Ralph Fiennes, F. Murray Abraham star.

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