This remake of Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre hits the jackpot with Mia Wasikowska
Battle Los Angeles: A Shaky, Breaky Mess
What with the jittering camera aesthetic, clunky script, and creaky clichés, Battle Los Angeles won’t live long in the memory
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Primetime's Children: Salman Rushdie Writing Drama for Showtime
First we heard that Michael Chabon and wife Ayelet Waldman were developing a magicians-vs.-Nazis drama for HBO; now Showtime has enlisted its own award-winning novelist. Salman Rushdie (author of The Satanic Verses and Midnight’s Children, or ex of Padma Lakshmi depending on your frame of reference) is writing Next People, a …
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Idol Watch: Down to a Diddy-Dirty Dozen
Quick spoilers for last night’s American Idol elimination follow:
Per usual, I watched the elimination round of American Idol on extreme fast-forward—the only way it should be watched—so sadly, I have no insights on what must have been the absolutely stunning preview of Red Riding Hood. A few highlights and thoughts, though:
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Dead Tree Alert: Dept. of Homeland Sincerity
When I first pitched my editors for a return review of Parks and Recreation in its third season, the last thing I expected is that the show would end up being politically timely. But while TV’s best sitcom is scarcely a hard-hitting political statement, it’s hard to avoid the coincidence of a show about quirky Midwest bureaucrats …
Tuned InNews Media
Quake/Tsunami Takes Over TV News (Mostly), Will Test Foreign Depth
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TV news and social media snapped to attention early this morning (U.S. time) as news came of a 8.9 earthquake that hit off the coast of northern Japan and the tsunami that caused massive devastation and rolled across the Pacific.
As I write, most news and broadcast networks are …
Red Riding Hood: My, What a Ridiculous Plot You Have!
A sexed-up, dumbed-down cross between the children’s fairy tale and ‘The Wolfman,’ ‘Red Riding Hood’ is mostly a snack for tweens between meals of ‘Twilight’
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Nostalgia Marches On: '90s Kid Classics Return to TeenNick
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Twentysomethings: welcome to old age! TeenNick—Nickelodeon’s teen channel, formerly The N—is planning to bring back a block of Nickelodeon kids’ shows from the 1990s in a late-night block, aimed at the original fans who are now college-aged, or older. Much older—like me, because …
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The NPR-Elitist-Funding Battle: Mostly, Not About NPR or Elites
Public broadcasting is one of the great bargains of government spending. For $400-odd million a year—the cost of a handful of Charlie Sheens—public subsidy gives us TV and radio networks that reach the most remote corners of a huge country. It also gives political culture warriors a convenient regular target to rally their base …
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Judging American Idol: The Final 13
It was the first live night for American Idol‘s 13 finalists, and the theme was: songs by the Idols‘ idols! Who was worthy of worship and who had feet of clay? Click the pictures for my take:
Read Last Year’s Review of the American Idol Final Performances
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Julianne Moore Is… Sarah Palin! Cast the Rest of HBO's Game Change
HBO announced today that it has signed Julianne Moore to play then-Alaska-governor Sarah Palin in its coming movie Game Change, a behind the scenes account of the 2008 election that dishes dirt on Republican and Democratic campaigns.* (The film is being directed by Jay Roach, who helmed HBO’s Recount, about the 2000 election’s …
Tuned InRemembrance
Columnist, Pundit, MTP Eminence David Broder Dies
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The Washington Post announced today that 81-year-old political columnist David Broder has died of complications from diabetes. The dean of Washington journalists (an unofficial title he carried most of his professional life) was one of the most important chroniclers and explainers of …
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Video Takes Down the Radio Exec: NPR CEO Steps Down After Sting
After another bad public-relations moment (following the Juan Williams controversy last fall) in the midst of a federal-funding battle, NPR’s board has ousted CEO Vivian Schiller, according to NPR’s own media reporter. The move follows on the release of an embarassing, unfelicitously-timed sting video in which NPR fundraiser Ron Schiller …