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

 
 
2018
Jul
25
 
 
Bill Maher is on break. So is John Oliver. But tonight, returning from her own brief summer sojourn, Samantha Bee is back – to talk about summits and Russians, tweets and walkbacks, 1984 and Ivanka, and whatever happens today after I type this.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2018
Jul
25
 
 
Troubled and restless gal returns to her childhood small town and soon realizes that one way or another, her life, her past aren't so simple or small anymore...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2018
Jul
24
 
 
The Bletchley Circle ended altogether too soon, a frustration that has now been largely remedied by a smart and addictive spinoff, The Bletchley Circle: San Francisco...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2018
Jul
24
 
 
Tonight’s continuation of the 10 [INSERT PLURAL NOUN HERE] That Changed America series of PBS specials looks at Modern Marvels – which includes the Holland Tunnel, which I use a lot, and the Hoover Dam, which I don’t. But I remain impressed. Dam. Check local listings.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2018
Jul
24
 
 
This 1973 debut film by Terrence Malick is being shown by TCM as part of its “50 states, 50 movies” festival this month – but whatever brings it to prime time, and gives people a chance to see the newly restored version, is cause to rejoice. Martin Sheen stars as a young killer roaming the badlands with his even younger companion, played by Sissy Spacek. The two of them are playing approximations of real-life 19-year-old Charles Starkweather and 15-year-old girlfriend Caril Ann
 
 
 
  
 
 
2018
Jul
24
 
 
This new episode, about “Halloween,” widens its scope to include segments and stories on the Salem Witch trials and Vlad the Impaler, who inspired Bram Stoker’s title character in Dracula.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2018
Jul
23
 
 
The story of Ted Williams supports the theory that to be the best in the world at something – or maybe at anything – you probably have to be, in some ways, a lousy human being...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2018
Jul
23
 
 
If you saw and enjoyed Ken Burns’ Baseball (and if you didn’t, add it to the top of bingeing queue), you already know what a complicated and contrary figure Ted Williams is – and, also, what an amazingly gifted athlete he was. Now he gets the American Masters treatment, which, in more ways than one, is a solo home run. For a full review, see Gary Edgerton’s Must-Click TV and David Hinckley's All Along the Watchtower.  Check local listings.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2018
Jul
23
 
 
We’re getting into the last lap for this series, at least for Season 1 – and tonight, in an episode called “Woman Down,” not only is Plum (Joy Nash) finding the strength and motive to stand firm against some male oppressors, but so is magazine editor Kitty, played to narcissistic perfection by Julianna Margulies (pictured).
 
 
 
  
 
 
2018
Jul
23
 
 
This new POV entry, The War to Be Her, is about Maria Toorpakai, a young athlete who blossomed early as a gifted squash player. Unfortunately, she blossomed in the tribal region of Pakistan, where woman are dissuaded from playing sports – and where, after disguising herself as a boy for years, she fled the country to pursue her passion for squash. But her success, her activism, and threats to her family all brought her back.  Check local listings.