DAVID BIANCULLI

Founder / Editor

ERIC GOULD

Associate Editor

LINDA DONOVAN

Assistant Editor

Contributors

ALEX STRACHAN

MIKE HUGHES

KIM AKASS

MONIQUE NAZARETH

ROGER CATLIN

GARY EDGERTON

TOM BRINKMOELLER

GERALD JORDAN

NOEL HOLSTON

 
 
2015
Jan
7
 
 
Bright lights, big city! In tonight’s episode, Elsa (Jessica Lange) is planning to head to Hollywood to pursue her long-simmering dream of stardom – but you can bet something will happen tonight to derail those best-laid plans. Given this series, it will, no doubt, be something freaky.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2015
Jan
6
 
 
SERIES PREMIERE: You can think of this new limited ABC adventure series as either a prequel to ABC’s Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. or a sequel to the 2011 Marvel movie Captain America: The First Avenger. Because it’s both. It’s set in 1946, with Captain America presumed dead, and his memorably effective colleague, secret agent Peggy Carter, relegated to a boring desk job. But as played, once again, by Hayley Atwell, she doesn’t stay trapped behind that desk for lo
 
 
 
  
 
 
2015
Jan
6
 
 
Tuesdays in February, this year, belong to Robert Redford, and to start off its month-long tribute, TCM is wasting no time in bringing out the big guns. Three of Redford’s finest performances, and most entertaining movies, are shown in a row tonight, starting with his two famous teamings with Paul Newman. First up, out of chronological sequence, is 1973’s The Sting, a remarkably entertaining movie that, like the movie that follows, sucks me in every time it’s televised. The Sti
 
 
 
  
 
 
2015
Jan
6
 
 
This new Frontline starts with a given -- that the National Rifle Association is one of the most powerful and effective lobbying groups in Washington – then deconstructs the organization’s history to shed light on how, and when, it got that way. The power wielded by the NRA is a surprisingly modern phenomenon, it turns out, and this new documentary explains the group’s rise and increased clout. Check local listings.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2015
Jan
6
 
 
Made in 1969, this movie, like The Sting four years later, was directed by George Roy Hill and starred Paul Newman and Robert Redford. The difference, this time out, was the screenwriter, William Goldman, whose perfect script managed to be both retro and modern at the same time, and introduce almost as many bits of dialogue and business into the national consciousness as his later The Princess Bride. “You just keep thinkin’, Butch – that’s what you’re good at.&rdquo
 
 
 
  
 
 
2015
Jan
6
 
 
This 1972 Robert Redford movie was filmed in Utah, near the ski area of what was then known as Timp Haven. The rugged, beautiful scenery, filmed during several drastically different seasons, is a major character in this story of a reclusive mountain man played by Redford – and the scenery had a major impact on Redford as well. After the movie was finished, he bought the ski resort and some of the surrounding land, and named it after one of the other cinematic alter egos. Presto: Sundance w
 
 
 
  
 
 
2015
Jan
5
 
 
This series returns with new episodes for the New Year, starting the second half of its run with James Gordon still at Arkham Asylum – where, in this first-run outing, he encounters a doctor played by Morena Baccarin, formerly of Homeland.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2015
Jan
5
 
 
The prime-time repeats of every Breaking Bad episode continue tonight, working their way up to the season in which Skyler (Anna Gunn) decides to become an active participant in Walt’s car-washing, money-laundering business.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2015
Jan
5
 
 
Gary Cooper stars as a good-hearted small-town guy who inherits a fortune and moves to the big city, where he’s surrounded by opportunists who want a crack at his newly amassed wealth. One of the people he encounters is played by Jean Arthur, who’s as good, and as central to the success of this Frank Capra film, as she was opposite James Stewart in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2015
Jan
5
 
 
SEASON PREMIERE: Rich Hill, the title of this documentary season opener of Independent Lens, is the name of a place, not a person. Rich Hill is a small town in Missouri – population 1393, at the time of filming – and the documentary follows three teen boys (Andrew, Harley and Appachey) as they alternate between usual youthful activities (playing football, riding skateboards) and dealing with their town’s often oppressive isolation and lack of opportunity. Director-producer Trac