We all know TV shows where any character, no matter how likable or central to the storyline, could be whacked as quickly as you can say “Red wedding!” or “Lucille!”...

2017

Dec

THE GRADUATE By David Bianculli

More than a year before the current Harvey Weinstein et al scandals erupted, a 20-ish female student in one of my film classes at Rowan University stunned me during a discussion of how different people could watch the same film very differently. She asked how I saw Dustin Hoffman’s character in this seminal 1967 film, directed by Mike Nichols, and I told her I saw a young man determined not to follow blindly in the footsteps of a previous generation, disillusioned by the materialism all ar

2017

Dec

LENNY By David Bianculli

And here, on a remarkably slow TV night, is another excellent Dustin Hoffman film, this one from 1974, directed by Bob Fosse. Hoffman plays the influential, intentionally inflammatory standup comic Lenny Bruce – and once again, I’ll happily focus this time on Hoffman’s female co-star. This time it’s Valerie Perrine, playing Honey (pictured), the stripper who became Lenny Bruce’s wife.

2017

Dec

DAMNATION By David Bianculli

Tonight’s new episode, the seventh in this series, has potentially deadly confrontations on two different fronts. Creeley finds danger on an exclusive hunting retreat, while Seth takes risks by infiltrating a factory.

2017

Dec

CORDEN’S YEAR HAS BEEN YUGE By Eric Gould

To celebrate a big year of “Car Pool Karaoke,” “Drop the Mic,” and “Crosswalk Musical” and many other gags, The Late Late Show with James Corden has put together this charming supercut of the host’s singing and dancing talents...

2017

Dec

THE CAROL BURNETT SHOW 50TH ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL By David Bianculli

Originally televised Dec. 3, this golden-anniversary special repeat reunites the surviving members of The Carol Burnett Show to show clips, share laughs, and remind us all about the appeal of the endangered TV species known as the variety show.

2017

Dec

THE BIG LEBOWSKI By David Bianculli

Dude, every time I introduce my Rowan University film students to the films of Busby Berkeley, at least one of them invariably lights up with enthusiasm afterward and starts talking about the bowling hallucination from The Big Lebowski. And yes, students, that was a deliberate stylistic homage from the Coen Brothers. Watch and learn… Jeff Bridges, Julianne Moore star.

2017

Dec

THE PRODUCERS By David Bianculli

TCM is presenting a double feature of Zero Mostel movies. It begins with The Producers, the Mel Brooks comedy masterpiece that, next year, will celebrate its own golden anniversary. Mostel stars as unscrupulous Broadway producer Max Bialystock, and Gene Wilder plays the meek bookkeeper Leo Bloom. Eventually, Brooks mined this Oscar-winning screenplay for a hit Broadway show – but this movie is strong enough on its own merits, especially when it unveils the intentionally horrible musical th

2017

Dec

NOVA: "DAY THE DINOSAURS DIED" By David Bianculli

The theory that dinosaurs were wiped out by a giant asteroid hitting Earth has been around for a while – not as far back as the dinosaurs, but for a while. Anyway, tonight’s new Nova examines new evidence surrounding that theory. The idea that they found actual satellite footage of the cataclysmic event is literally unbelievable. Check local listings.

2017

Dec

THE FRONT By David Bianculli

In this 1976 movie, Woody Allen plays a cashier who agrees to pose as the writer of scripts by several blacklisted, and otherwise unemployable and unpayable, Hollywood writers. One of those writers is played by Zero Mostel – who, like many other performers in this excellent film, actually were victims of the Hollywood blacklist.

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