Tonight’s episode: Treehouse of Horror XXVI. These always are among my favorite episodes of The Simpsons, because they offer unfettered freedom from the show’s usual rules of behavior, civility and compassion. In other words, anything can happen in these annual trilogies, and invariably does. My favorite of the segments this year – and they’re all delightful – is the one in which Sideshow Bob, played with Emmy-worthy flair by guest star Kelsey Grammer, finally gets

2015

Oct

THE GOOD WIFE By David Bianculli

The judges in Alicia’s new, less familiar court venues this season have given her a very hard time – and tonight, one of them ups the pressure even more, by demanding that she change a client’s not guilty plea, in order to help expedite the court’s backlog, or be jailed for contempt.

2015

Oct

THE WALKING DEAD By David Bianculli

Last week’s episode, the primary threats weren’t walkers, but another killer “W” horde – human scavengers just as ruthless as the zombies, but a lot faster. It was another intense and excellent hour, with character development as well as near-constant tension. And tonight, it’s back on the zombie trail. If it’s not one thing in this post-apocalyptic undead world, it’s another.

2015

Oct

HOMELAND By David Bianculli

So much happened last week, with Carrie going off her meds and off the wagon, and with Saul sleeping with the enemy (or at least a formerly apparent antagonist) – but nothing beat the climax, when Carrie took aim with her rifle, and shot her intended assailant, who was Quinn. But he was wearing a bullet-proof vest, and snuck up behind her and subdued her instead. So now Quinn has Carrie, and has her on his kill list… or does he? I wouldn’t be too worried, because a) it’s

2015

Oct

'THE SIMPSONS' HALLOWEEN IS ANNUAL GRISLY, USUAL SMART By David Hinckley

The annual "Treehouse of Horrors" episode of The Simpsons (Sunday, Oct. 25 on Fox, 8 p.m. ET) raises a life-or-death question. Why is The Simpsons still alive? Because even when you're sitting there groaning "Oh, no, not The Simpsons again," you laugh...

2015

Oct

LEPRECHAUN By David Bianculli

After appearing in Star Wars: Return of the Jedi, diminutive actor Warwick Davis went on to co-star in Labyrinth, portray the title role in Willow, and then, beginning with this light-hearted yet sometimes mean-spirited 1993 horror film, star in a series of Leprechaun movies, again playing the leading role. And he’s since appeared in several more recent Star Wars and Harry Potter films, and starred as an exaggerated version of himself, alongside series creators Ricky Gervais and Stephen Me

2015

Oct

TROPIC THUNDER By David Bianculli

This 2008 comedy has an outrageous and potentially awkward, if not downright insensitive, premise: A group of actors filming a war movie in Vietnam, including one white actor playing a black soldier, cross the paths of drug traders in the remote Vietnamese jungle, and must fight for their survival for real. It’s the cleverness of the acting that carries off this film’s high-concept conceit: Ben Stiller (who also directed) and Jack Black are very funny and very good, and Robert Downey

2015

Oct

PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 4 By David Bianculli

I note the appearance of this 2012 horror film not because I’m recommending it, but because it’s tied to this weekend’s release of the latest (and allegedly last) entry in the persistent Paranormal Activity franchise. Oh, and because FX is showing it twice in prime time, once at 8 p.m. ET and again at 10 ET, allowing me to point out that the resulting repetitive double feature is, in essence, a matched pair o’ Paranormal movies.

2015

Oct

I REMEMBER MAMA By David Bianculli

This 1948 movie, based on the Broadway stage play, is about a Norwegian woman looking back fondly on her turn-of-the-century childhood as a loving member of a family of Norwegian immigrants. Irene Dunne (pictured) stars as Mama, and Barbara Bel Geddes – later to play the matriarch on TV’s Dallas – plays Katrin, the teen girl who would grow up to do all that remembering. Personally, I remember I Remember Mama, the movie, for one other distinction: It spawned a TV series called M

2015

Oct

DOCTOR WHO By David Bianculli

Doctor Who began as a TV series in England in 1963 – and tonight, the Doctor returns to London, but in the year 1651. There’s a masked highwayman terrorizing the countryside, and the Doctor is on his trail… or vice versa. Maisie Williams from Game of Thrones continues her guest-starring role.

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