The turbulence and unrest of the 1960s are finally over—the turbulence and unrest, that is, having to do with Mad Men‘s contract renewal negotiations with AMC. The network announced today that it struck a deal with Matthew Weiner for seasons five and six of the show, while Weiner also signed with Lionsgate studio for a possible …
Duncan Jones played with twisted realities in “Moon.” Now he’s back, scrambling up the timeline with “Source Code:” The story of a military man who can relive the last eight minutes of another’s life, on the hunt for a train bomber
Director David Schwimmer’s grim story of Internet-based pedophilia is hard to watch but impossible to ignore
Appropriately enough after its strongest episode so far this season—including a flat-out stunning performance by Margo Martindale (above)—Justified headed the list of nearly 40 broadcast programs honored by the Peabody Awards this year. The (long) list follows the jump, but among the standout choices to me are Men of a Certain Age, …
Quick spoilers for last night’s Top Chef All-Stars coming up:
In last night’s finale, Richard Blais and Mike Isabella flung foie gras ice cream against pepperoni sauce in the Top Chef All-Stars final round. Two four-course meals later, the Toppest Chef of all time is…
The eleven remaining Idols gathered last night to sing the songs of Sir Elton John and Bernie Taupin. Who Crocodile Rocked it? Who’s going to hit that Yellow Brick Road? Click the pix for my reviews:
Read Last Week’s Review of the American Idol Performances
[vodpod id=Video.5876300&w=425&h=350&fv=]
When it first debuted, I thought that Bob’s Burgers was worth keeping an eye on, despite a slow start, because of some appealing writing and the general past level of creator Loren Bouchard’s work. I’m ready to upgrade it now: this show is going on my Season Pass list, and if you haven’t checked …
I don’t know if we can blame The Mentalist or The Closer or House or Monk, or whether we can trace the causes much, much farther back in history, but we are presently up to our occipital lobes in eccentric doctors/inverstigators who annoy their colleagues with their quirks yet get the job done. At this point, I’m longing for a show …
Quick spoilers for last night’s The Good Wife coming up:
We’re well into The Good Wife‘s second season, and at long last, the longest, most expensive and highest-profile State’s Attorney’s race that has ever been held is approaching its close. On top of that, the battle for control of Lockhart Gardner and Bond has ended (exit Bond), …
I had unofficially resolved not to blog on any of the gossip and reports over the negotiations for the Season 5 return of Mad Men, figuring I’d just pick up the news when the inevitable renewal announcement finally came. It hasn’t, but from the reports, things are getting interesting.
Don’t get me wrong: whatever egos and money grabs …
There’s an odd side effect to Showtime mailing out critics entire seasons of shows like Nurse Jackie and United States of Tara in advance: I get so paralyzed by the impossibility of finding time to watch the entire thing that I often end up watching nothing ahead of time. So I saw the season-three debuts last night no earlier than …
When he was making the rounds for his World War II documentary in 2007, Ken Burns told me (and other reporters) that he had finally decided to make a film about Vietnam too. Here’s what he said at the time:
Not today, but–there was a point where, with the same vehemence of conviction that I said it after The Civil War, I’d said that
…
This afternoon, the digital paywall goes up at the New York Times. The Times’ effort to charge online has begun to be treated like the Helm’s Deep of journalism: a last, best stand by the forces of light against the ravening hordes of aggregation and bankruptcy. (Last week’s 30 Rock, about the decline of writing, was a kind of indirect …