Part 4. Ken Burns is working on a Vietnam documentary slated for a few TV seasons from now, and the PBS Vietnam: A Television History series did an excellent job on the same topic way, way back in 1983. But in between the past and the future of TV Vietnam documentaries, CNN’s The Sixties gives us this present: a new installment called The War in Vietnam, which looks at how America, and Americans, responded to being increasingly embroiled in a war that seemed both unwinnable and, in some wa

2014

Jun

RECTIFY By David Bianculli

SEASON PREMIERE: Season 1 of Rectify ended with Daniel (Aden Young), the death row inmate freed after 19 years in prison because of overturned evidence, being beaten what looked like to death by vengeful citizens of his home town. Had Rectify not been renewed, that’s probably how Daniel’s story would have ended. But with the miniseries renewed, Rectify returns – with the character in a coma, and the narrative alternating between flashbacks from Daniel’s prison days, signi

2014

Jun

DOMINION By David Bianculli

SERIES PREMIERE: This is a warning, not a recommendation. This new Syfy series is an inept, inexplicable continuation of the little-seen movie Legion, which dramatized an earthbound battle between angels, involving humans as pawns or prey or precious beings to be protected. The movie was nothing special, but this TV continuation, set 25 years later mostly in a reconfigured Las Vegas called Vega, is a lot worse than that. So skip it. Every time a viewer tunes in to Dominion, an angel loses his wi

2014

Jun

FOURTH ANNUAL CRITICS’ CHOICE TELEVISION AWARDS By David Bianculli

There’s some irony, I suppose, that this new awards show celebrating TV’s best is televised by CW, which doesn’t have a single dog in the hunt in any category. That says something about the voting body of critics, of which I am a member – but good taste doesn’t necessarily make for good TV, so we’ll have to see, as this awards show is broadcast live. Cedric the Entertainer hosts.

2014

Jun

WIL WHEATON'S ALTERNATE 'GAME OF THRONES' OPENING CREDITS By David Bianculli

If you’re like me, you’ve watched the opening credits for HBO’s Game of Thrones for years now, trying to follow the intricate Rube Goldberg-type “living map” of the various kingdoms, and invariably getting lost somewhere along the way. The Wil Wheaton Project has offered some help...

2014

Jun

2014 WORLD CUP By David Bianculli

Today’s live telecasts feature all four teams in Group B undergoing their second games in this year’s World Cup, along with the remaining two teams in Brazil’s Group A. All games are shown on ESPN, with setup features presented 30 minutes earlier. First up, at noon ET, is Australia vs. the Netherlands. The Netherlands stunned the much-favored defending world champion Spain in the first round by drubbing them 5-1, while Australia fell to Chile, 3-1. Next at 3:00 p.m. from Group

2014

Jun

SOUS LES TOITS DE PARIS By David Bianculli

Tonight, TCM salutes French filmmaking pioneer René Clair, so Bianculli’s Best Bets will do the same thing – especially since this is the first time I can remember Clair’s films being presented, as a mini-marathon, on prime-time TV on any channel whatsoever. Clair made the transition from silent to sound, with strange little comic films that were brazen and brave in both technique and concept. The evening begins on TCM with this 1930, film, which translates as Under the

2014

Jun

À NOUS LA LIBERTÉ By David Bianculli

This 1931 comedy about mechanization predates Charlie Chaplin’s Modern Times by five years, yet anticipates its humorous approach to the dehumanization of man via the assembly line. This time it’s a phonograph factory, which allows director René Clair to have a great deal of fun with pre-recorded music. Which he does. And which, if you tune in, so will you, as this is regarded as one of Clair’s classic achievements in film. Raymond Cordy stars.

2014

Jun

LE MILLION By David Bianculli

The 1931 René Clair French film Le Million translates, roughly, as The Million. (Always here to help.) It’s about a poor artist who wins a lottery for a million (Dutch florins, not dollars, but still…), and spends the rest of the movie trying to locate and retrieve the winning lottery ticket. What makes this movie such a landmark, cinematically, isn’t its plot, but Clair’s use of music and sound, at a time when The Jazz Singer broke the movie sound barrier only a

2014

Jun

THE GRAND MANEUVER By David Bianculli

This 1955 film is from much later in the career of director René Clair, and shows his eventual reliance upon, and comfort with, dialogue-heavy comedy. It’s about an officer who bets that he can seduce a young beauty in the local village before he’s sent away to training camp just before what would eventually become to be known as World War I. Gérard Philipe stars as the officer, and Michèle Morgan as the object of his wager – but look for another beauty, in

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