One of my favorite sketches from the old SCTV show featured Joe Flaherty and John Candy as hayseed farmers presiding over the “Farm Film Report,” where all they cared about was whether something in a movie “blowed up real good.” Boy, they would have loved this new Mythbusters episode in particular: It’s called “The Explosion Special,” and in it, lots and lots of things blow up real good.

2016

Jan

MAD MAX: FURY ROAD By David Bianculli

George Miller, who directed young Mel Gibson in the original Australian hit Mad Max in 1979, went back to his roots, and his country, to film this 2015 action film – which eschewed a lot of CGI effects by trying to film most stunts as naturally as possible. Tom Hardy and Cherize Theron star.

2016

Jan

YANKEE DOODLE DANDY By David Bianculli

Most of the films chosen by TCM as being worthy of the name “The Essentials” are inarguable examples of just that. Take, for example, the movie presented tonight by Robert Osborne and Sally Field: 1942’s Yankee Doodle Dandy, James Cagney’s endlessly energetic biography of master showman George M. Cohan.

2016

Jan

PARIS SUBS FOR SCOTLAND By David Hinckley

The Starz series Outlander lands in a new country this April, when it returns for its long-awaited Season 2. Instead of the rugged hills of Scotland, our heroes Jamie and Claire repair to Paris... looking like the most glamorous and colorful place this side of Downton Abbey...

2016

Jan

NEIL DEGRASSE TYSON SITS AMONG THE STARS By David Hinckley

If you want to disregard science, says Neil deGrasse Tyson, that’s your right as an American. Just don’t forget it may come at a cost...

2016

Jan

JAILHOUSE ROCK By David Bianculli

Two classic Elvis Presley movies are shown this afternoon on TCM, and both of them feature noteworthy leading ladies. This 1957 film, which includes the title tune, as well as “Treat Me Nice” and others, co-stars Judy Tyler as Elvis’ leading lady. Tyler became a TV star thanks to her role on the Golden Age kids’ TV show Howdy Doody, playing Princess Summerfall Winterspring.

2016

Jan

VIVA LAS VEGAS By David Bianculli

This 1964 movie musical is the second Elvis Presley classic shown by TCM this afternoon. This one, co-starring Ann-Margret, pairs two of the era’s reigning sex symbols in a frothy film flirtation set against the Las Vegas speedway.

2016

Jan

THE HUNDRED-FOOT JOURNEY By David Bianculli

This 2014 movie is, in essence, a dramatized international version of Restaurant Wars. Helen Mirren plays Madame Mallory, the stuffy operator of a Michelin-starred restaurant in France – and Manish Dayal co-stars as Manish, a gifted cook who brings from India his family recipes, and his family, and sets up shop across the street from Madame Mallory, with his own ethnic eatery. Directed by Lasse Hallstrom, director of Chocolat, What’s Eating Gilbert Grape and My Life As a Dog.

2016

Jan

IN PERFORMANCE AT THE WHITE HOUSE By David Bianculli

Tonight’s theme is a “Celebration of Creativity” – and its roster includes Audra McDonald (pictured), Smokey Robinson, James Taylor, Carol Burnett, Usher, and others. Check local listings.

2016

Jan

EX ISLE By David Bianculli

This is definitely not a recommendation. It’s basically a warning, even though it’s sight unseen, which may seem unfair. But last year, We TV gave us the worst show of 2015 in a tasteless reality-show “relationship” program called Sex Box, in which couples had sex on stage in an opaque box, then emerged to audience applause and the questions of “counselors.” This new series, premiering tonight, sounds like a contender for worst show of 2016. It’s called

Posts 1821-1830 of 1879

182 183 184 185 186

New From TVWW

PBS' 'Frontline’ Examines Pension Promises and — Spoiler Alert — Finds the Math Doesn’t Add Up

The Decadence of ‘Versailles’ Comes to Ovation

Prescribing Mamie Gummer in 'Emily Owens, M.D.'

Looking for a Free Ride? HBO Can Deliver

'Pass the Biscuits' Part of the Hatfield-McCoy Pop-Culture Legacy

Dispatches From TVWW

'Extinction: The Facts' is a Sobering Call to Action

How 'Mayans' Has Been Influenced by the Show's Creator Elgin James

For Whom the Bell Tolls: Ken Burns and Lynn Novick Take on Ernest Hemingway, the Man and the Myth

In the Final Season, Sutton Foster's Liza is Now the Genuine Version of Her 'Younger' Self

Season 2 of 'City on a Hill' Returns with Kevin Bacon, Aldis Hodge, and Boston Corruption