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DAVID BIANCULLI

Founder / Editor

Bianculli's Blog

ERIC GOULD

Associate Editor

The Cold Light Reader

LINDA DONOVAN

Assistant Editor

Dateline Donovan
Contributors

DAVID HINCKLEY

All Along the Watchtower

ED BARK

Uncle Barky's Bytes

ALEX STRACHAN

TV That Matters

MIKE HUGHES

Open Mike

ED MARTIN

Ed Martin's TV Mix

KIM AKASS

Aerial View

MONIQUE NAZARETH

MNtv

BILL BRIOUX

TV Feeds My Family

ROGER CATLIN

TV Eye

GARY EDGERTON

Must-Click TV

TOM BRINKMOELLER

Raised On MTM

GERALD JORDAN

Crossing Jordan

NOEL HOLSTON

The Grassy Noel

TVWW ARCHIVE

Contributors Archive
 
 
2014
Jun
14
2014 U.S. OPEN GOLF By David Bianculli
 
 
Down at Pinehurst 2, German golfer Martin Kaymer is making his own kind of history. After two rounds at the U.S. Open, he’s shot 11 birdies, only one bogey, and shot back-to-back scores of 65. How good is that? Good enough for 10 under par, the lowest 36-hole score in U.S. Open history, and a comfy lead over the rest of the field. But comfy, in golf, can vanish after a few bad breaks, so there’s more reason than ever to watch Kaymer to see if his unflappable play continues, or if it
 
 
 
  
 
 
2014
Jun
14
AFI LIFE ACHIEVEMENT AWARD: A TRIBUTE TO JANE FONDA By David Bianculli
 
 
Jane Fonda, daughter of a cinematic icon, has become one herself, and this AFI tribute gives her a Life Achievement Award when her professional life is still going strong – as a regular supporting player on HBO’s The Newsroom, just to name one impressive current credit. The two-time Oscar-winner, for 1978’s Coming Home and 1971’s Klute, deserves to be remembered for many, many memorable achievements, including the deliciously sexy, and funny, Barbarella. But those of you
 
 
 
  
 
 
2014
Jun
14
ORPHAN BLACK By David Bianculli
 
 
This is the penultimate episode of Season 2, and Cosima (played by Tatiana Maslany, as are so many other characters on this show) continues to weaken. Her best hope for a recovery? It could well be Kira (Skyler Wexler), the biological daughter of Sarah, the only clone, apparently, capable of giving birth.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2014
Jun
14
THE GRAHAM NORTON SHOW By David Bianculli
 
 
This week’s new episode features Normal Heart star Mark Ruffalo, Masters of Sex star Michael Sheen, British TV personality Amanda Holden and musician Ed Sheeran. Only one of them, though, is persuaded by Norton to show off a childhood skill and ride a unicycle.  
 
 
 
  
 
 
2014
Jun
14
CAN DISNEY’S BELLE SAVE FELLOW HEROINE BO, FROM NBC’S ‘BELIEVE’? BELIEVE IT OR NOT, SHE’S TRYING… By David Bianculli
 
 

The final episode of NBC’s Believe airs Sunday… unless you believe. That series, and its inspirational young heroine, are the object of a rescue mission by another famous heroine: Belle, from Disney’s Beauty and the Beast…

 
 
 
  
 
 
2014
Jun
13
2014 U.S. OPEN GOLF By David Bianculli
 
 
The dreaded Pinehurst 2 course turned out to be a lot softer, and easier, than anticipated yesterday, because of all the rain, and is expected to play a bit softer today as well. That means more below pars than expected, and Martin Kaymer leading the field by being almost unshakeable with both his putter and his tee shots. Coverage moves to NBC at 3 p.m. ET, then returns to ESPN at 5 p.m. ET.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2014
Jun
13
2014 WORLD CUP By David Bianculli
 
 
One day into the World Cup, and only one game, and already we have an egregious error, a controversial call, a star performance and a dramatic victory, as host country Brazil bounced back from an own-goal deficit to beat Croatia 3-1. Today there are three games in as many cities. In Natal, Mexico faces Cameroon, televised at 11:30 a.m. ET on ESPN2. At 3 p.m. ET, ESPN switches from golf to soccer and presents Spain vs. Netherlands, live from Salvador. And the day’s final game, presented on
 
 
 
  
 
 
2014
Jun
13
THE STING By David Bianculli
 
 
This 1973 caper movie is what I consider a perfect film in its genre: charming, surprising, inventive and stylish. It’s got great heroes (Paul Newman and Robert Redford, after Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid), a magnificent villain (Robert Shaw, before Jaws), and enough con-men card tricks, and other kinds of tricks, to fill an inside straight. If you’ve never seen it, you must. If you have, it’s always worth revisiting. All that, and all those fabulous Scott Joplin rags, to
 
 
 
  
 
 
2014
Jun
13
THE GREAT GATSBY By David Bianculli
 
 
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
13
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.
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
New From TVWW

PBS' 'Frontline’ Examines Pension Promises and — Spoiler Alert — Finds the Math Doesn’t Add Up
By Alex Strachan
 
 
 
 
The Decadence of ‘Versailles’ Comes to Ovation
By David Hinckley
 
 
 
 
Prescribing Mamie Gummer in 'Emily Owens, M.D.'
By Ed Bark
 
 
 
 
Looking for a Free Ride? HBO Can Deliver
By Christy Slewinski
 
 
 
 
'Pass the Biscuits' Part of the Hatfield-McCoy Pop-Culture Legacy
By Noel Holston
 
 
 
 

Dispatches From TVWW

'Extinction: The Facts' is a Sobering Call to Action
By David Hinckley
 
 
 
 
How 'Mayans' Has Been Influenced by the Show's Creator Elgin James
By Mike Hughes
 
 
 
 
For Whom the Bell Tolls: Ken Burns and Lynn Novick Take on Ernest Hemingway, the Man and the Myth
By Alex Strachan
 
 
 
 
In the Final Season, Sutton Foster's Liza is Now the Genuine Version of Her 'Younger' Self
By Monique Nazareth
 
 
 
 
Season 2 of 'City on a Hill' Returns with Kevin Bacon, Aldis Hodge, and Boston Corruption
By David Hinckley