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

 
 
2016
Jun
4
 
 
This is the cable premiere of the 2015 Matt Damon movie about an astronaut stranded on Mars, a film that somehow won a Golden Globe Award for best comedy, even though it’s basically a drama.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2016
Jun
4
 
 
Three Roy Scheider movies are shown tonight by TCM – but his best two, Jaws and All That Jazz, are not among them. (Jaws, however, is shown tonight at 6 p.m. ET on AMC.) However, the film that starts tonight’s mini-marathon, 1971’s The French Connection, is indeed a classic. Tune in for the car chase – stay for the acting, especially by Gene Hackman and Scheider as a determined detective and his sidekick.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2016
Jun
4
 
 
Here’s a repeat of last Tuesday’s premiere episode of NBC’s new prime-time variety series, starring Maya Rudolph and Martin Short. It’s well worth watching if you didn’t see it, especially the musical number by Miley Cyrus and the film short, shown in our Video Worth Watching, in which Short slips back into his Jiminy Glick fat suit to interview Larry David. I’ve never heard Larry David laugh so loudly.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2016
Jun
3
 
 
Noah Hawley was already a successful writer before Fargo. Now he’s a really really successful writer. We’re talking books, TV shows and movies here...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2016
Jun
3
 
 
This is always fun: The original 1971 version of the Roald Dahl children’s fantasy, starring Gene Wilder as the titular treat-maker, remains as colorful and clever as ever. And just as memorable: “I want it now, daddy!” was one of several catch phrases from this film to make it into my family’s everyday vocabulary. Sometimes as a joke. Sometimes not.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2016
Jun
3
 
 
And how is this not an entertaining TV experience? Carol Burnett selects and introduces her favorite sketches from The Carol Burnett Show, one of the best variety shows ever made. And yes, both the Tim Conway-Harvey Korman “Dentist” sketch, and Burnett’s own parody of Gone with the Wind (pictured), are in here. Check local listings.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2016
Jun
3
 
 
SERIES PREMIERE: Here’s another very dark series based on an equally dark graphic novel. Robert Kirkman, whose The Walking Dead postapocalyptic vision remains powerful and influential many years into its run (or, I guess, its walk), is the co-creator of this new series also. Based on his Outcast comic book co-created with Paul Azaceta, Outcast is a sort of weekly version of The Exorcist, starring Patrick Fugit as Kyle, a West Virginia man with a tragic past, and the residual skill of recog
 
 
 
  
 
 
2016
Jun
3
 
 
This week’s guests include Neil deGrasse Tyson and Eddie Huang.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2016
Jun
3
 
 
SEASON PREMIERE: I love the weird fact that “Weird Al” Yankovic has become this show’s new one-man-bandleader – but the first show of the season, featuring Kevin Bacon, sure doesn’t bring a lot of comedy, much less bang bang, to the proceedings. Two new episodes are shown back to back. I saw only the first, so maybe the second is better.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2016
Jun
2
 
 
Game 1. After all the playoffs, injuries, subplots and surprises, this year’s NBA Finals will feature the same two teams as last year: the defending champions the Golden State Warriors, with Stephan Curry, and the Cleveland Cavaliers, with LeBron James. Both superstars have won NBA Finals before, but James has yet to help win one for his original NBA team. Curry, on he other hand, has played the type of three-point offense, full-court defense that has transformed the modern game. Good dram