This 1997 Paul Thomas Anderson movie about the porn industry in the 1970s and 80s gave Mark Wahlberg a starring role, demonstrating what turned out to be a very impressive eye for talent. That extended to the rest of the cast as well, which featured – 15 years ago – Julianne Moore, John C. Reilly, Don Cheadle, William H. Macy, and, as the infamous Rollergirl, Heather Graham (pictured). All that, and Burt Reynolds, too…

2012

Jun

THE NEWSROOM By David Bianculli

SERIES PREMIERE: Aaron Sorkin has a new TV series, for HBO this time – and it stars Jeff Daniels as a TV newsman who finds his voice, and a new direction, after a very public meltdown of unfiltered honesty. For a full review, and an overview of Sorkin’s TV career, see my Bianculli’s Blog HERE.

2012

Jun

1949: 'HOPALONG CASSIDY' BEGINS AIRING ON NBC By Christy Slewinski

On this day in 1949, feature film star William Boyd brought big-screen cowboy Hopalong Cassidy to NBC's prime time lineup. The early Hopalong Cassidy shows were actually re-edited versions of Boyd's feature films, to which Boyd had wisely purchased the rights. Before long, Boyd was producing all-new shows specifically for television, starring Edgar Buchanan as his sidekick, Red Connors. Hopalong was television's first Western and the precursor to future hits such as The Gene Autry Show and Th

2012

Jun

THE WEST WING (THE COMPLETE SERIES) By David Bianculli

Arguably the last great drama series from broadcast TV before cable stole the momentum and the spotlight, The West Wing definitely was the last great drama of the 20th century: It premiered on NBC in September 1999. Created by Aaron Sorkin, whose new TV drama was just unveiled by HBO...

2012

Jun

1980: DAVID LETTERMAN TAKES ON DAYTIME By Christy Slewinski

On this day in 1980, NBC premiered The David Letterman Show — a 90-minute daytime show...

2012

Jun

WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBIT By David Bianculli

Robert Zemeckis changed the rules of cinema in 1988, showing how you could blend live action and animation using CGI and other special effects. It may look somewhat crude today, but it also looks innocent and charming, like a vintage Road Runner cartoon. And when Bob Hoskins falls under the spell of Jessica Rabbit, you can understand why he’s drawn to her. Especially considering the way she’s drawn.

2012

Jun

REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE By David Bianculli

TCM is saluting Natalie Wood tonight, and the first two movies show her range in very different sorts of vehicles. This one, from 1955, is a generational classic, full of angst and hope and love and despair and everything else that consumed the postwar generation. Wood plays a young girl in love with James Dean – and other conflicted teens in this Nicholas Ray film include Sal Mineo and Dennis Hopper.

2012

Jun

CHRIS ROCK: BIGGER AND BLACKER By David Bianculli

This 1999 comedy concert special didn’t cause quite as much of a stir as Rock’s previous standup smash, but it’s another wild ride of smart, often controversial observations. This is the special in which he recommends forgetting about gun control, and focusing on “bullet control” instead. Charge thousands of dollars per bullet, and gun violence automatically will drop significantly…

2012

Jun

SEX AND THE SINGLE GIRL By David Bianculli

Here’s another Natalie Wood feature –set squarely in the time, place and world now reimagined by Mad Men. Wood plays Helen Gurley Brown, the psychologist who wrote a bestseller describing the new freedom of young single women in the early 1960s. Tony Curtis plays a tabloid magazine reporter who sets out to entrap her and write an exposé – and the attitudes, fashion and observations in this film are, for anyone interested in the period, revelatory. And her’s somethi

2012

Jun

FULL METAL JACKET By David Bianculli

This gripping drama, from 1987, is one of many cinematic masterpieces by Stanley Kubrick. It’s actually two movies – one detailing the boot-camp experiences of Marines being trained for duty, and the other dramatizing their experiences in Vietnam. Matthew Modine stars in both, but the scene-stealers in part one are R. Lee Ermey as the tough-as-nails sergeant, and Vincent D’Onofrio (left) as his most malleable and picked-on recruit.

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