If only there were a TV network not driven by profits, a network with the goal to make us more knowledgeable and more responsible citizens. A network that chooses to present scientifically based programs, shows that inspire, educate and entertain. A network that delivers the news with honesty and integrity. If only there were such […]
PBS
Posted inArts & Culture
It’s a TV-on-DVD fall frenzy!
The Walking Dead: The Complete Second Season Now that the third season has started, I guess we’ll know soon enough, but The Walking Dead must figure out a way to deliver a consistent season. It delivers awesome season openers and closers, but the ones in between can be maddening; they can take several episodes to […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Endeavour
Set in 1965, the Masterpiece Mystery telefilm finds young Detective Constable Endeavour Morse (Shaun Evans, Being Julia) at a career crossroads, thinking of quitting the force when a big case diverts his attention: the disappearance — and subsequent murder — of a poetry-loving student. Needless to say, it’s not the only corpse that will show […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Racing Dreams
It’s not the go-kart you once rode up and down your driveway. These no-suspension, sponsor-stickered mini stock cars reach speeds of 80 miles per hour as they circle the track, their drivers’ rears a mere inch off the ground. “What kind of parents would let their kids go that fast when they’re not even old […]
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Cinema Verite
How that came to be is depicted in the made-for-HBO film Cinema Verite, directed by the American Splendor team of Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini, with Diane Lane (Secretariat) and Tim Robbins (Green Lantern) respectively starring as Pat and Bill, the heads of the Loud family. Shooting their every move — every highlight, every […]
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The Mystery of Edwin Drood
Despite leaving The Mystery of Edwin Drood incomplete when he died in 1870 (of all the nerve!), the book has hit the screen about half a dozen times since, most recently this two-hour version from the BBC, now on Blu-ray fresh from airing on PBS’ esteemed, enduring Masterpiece Classic showcase. Edwin Drood (Freddie Fox, The […]
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Downtown Abbey
“Downtown Abbey” begins with a telegraph. It’s April of 1912, and as the family and staff of the palatial mansion called Downton Abbey wake up and start their day, the news travels fast: The Titanic has sunk, and the master of the home, Robert Crawley, the Earl of Grantham, is suddenly without an heir. Because […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Downtown Abbey
“Downtown Abbey” begins with a telegraph. It’s April of 1912, and as the family and staff of the palatial mansion called Downton Abbey wake up and start their day, the news travels fast: The Titanic has sunk, and the master of the home, Robert Crawley, the Earl of Grantham, is suddenly without an heir. Because […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Houdini
Narrated by Mandy Patinkin, the just-OK doc traces his meteoric rise from immigrant to death-defying superstar to spiritualist exposer. Those who’ve never read a book on Houdini — I highly recommend William Kalush and Larry Sloman’s “The Secret Life of Houdini: The Making of America’s First Superhero” — are sure to learn something, but for current […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Zen: Vendetta / Cabal / Ratking
Too bad BBC canceled it less than a month after it aired earlier this year. The reason? “Too much crime,” which is a terrible excuse when the programming is par excellence. Zen — “It’s Venetian,” he says — is played by Rufus Sewell (TV’s “The Pillars of the Earth”); his love interest is the seemingly […]