>
David Bianculli
Tomatometer-approved critic
Movies reviews only
| Rating | T-Meter | Title | Year | Review |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
The Big Time (2002) |
It's an artful, clever look at TVs salad days, with such blasts from the past as sign-ons, test patterns, rabbit ears and vertical-hold knobs. - New York Daily News
Read More
| Posted Dec 11, 2023
|
|
|
|
Being Mary Tyler Moore (2023) |
Being Mary Tyler Moore helps you appreciate the show, and the actor, even more. - NPR
Read More
| Posted May 22, 2023
|
|
|
|
Godzilla (1998) |
The new Godzilla in this movie is sleek and fast, but the storyline is bloated and slow. - NPR's Fresh Air
Read More
| Posted Feb 15, 2023
|
|
|
|
Salem's Lot (2004) |
Though time is taken to establish all the town characters and their relationships, everything is laid out so blatantly that it's not so much development as boredom. - New York Daily News
Read More
| Posted Oct 14, 2022
|
|
|
|
Kurt Vonnegut: Unstuck in Time (2021) |
"Kurt Vonnegut: Unstuck In Time" is faithful to the spirit and subject of Vonnegut the storyteller, but has its own story to tell too. - NPR
Read More
| Posted Nov 22, 2021
|
|
|
|
The Tommyknockers (1993) |
Some interesting performances, and a few of Mr. King's wonderfully weird touches, make it worth the time. - Baltimore Sun
Read More
| Posted Jan 15, 2020
|
|
|
|
Chris Rock: Bigger & Blacker (1999) |
It's a great showcase, written entirely by a gifted comic whom you should, by tuning in, allow to Rock your world. - New York Daily News
Read More
| Posted Aug 02, 2019
|
|
|
|
D.l. Hughley: Contrarian (2018) |
D.L. Hughley, like seemingly every other standup comic in America, gets his own Netflix special. But Hughley is clever enough to do something special with his special, so check it out. - TV Worth Watching
Read More
| Posted Jul 17, 2019
|
|
|
|
Deadwood: The Movie (2019) |
Anyone prospecting for TV treasure will find Deadwood: The Movie a gold mine. - NPR
Read More
| Posted Jun 01, 2019
|
|
|
|
Robin Williams: Come Inside My Mind (2018) |
What's even more interesting are the comments from other very funny comics who drop their guard here and speak very seriously about both the comedy and personality of Robin Williams. - NPR's Fresh Air
Read More
| Posted Jul 19, 2018
|
|
|
|
Clear History (2013) |
It's safe to say, you're bound to enjoy the results. Clear History, for Larry David, is another clear winner. - TV Worth Watching
Read More
| Posted Jun 13, 2018
|
|
|
|
A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965) |
Two score and two years later, it deserves just as large an audience. Gather the family - and enjoy. - TV Worth Watching
Read More
| Posted Jun 04, 2018
|
|
|
|
Mission: Impossible (1996) |
De Palma's film has some stunning sequences... But the movie so betrayed the spirit of the original TV series, by betraying the spirit and integrity of a formerly unimpeachable character, that the entire project smelled of cynicism. - TV Worth Watching
Read More
| Posted Jun 01, 2018
|
|
|
|
Fahrenheit 451 (2018) |
This adaptation hits every point and every scene with the subtlety of a firehose. - NPR's Fresh Air
Read More
| Posted May 21, 2018
|
|
|
|
The Central Park Five (2012) |
The Central Park Five is a vivid, involving documentary. The story it tells is a wrenching one, but it never succumbs to hyperbole or sensationalism. - NPR's Fresh Air
Read More
| Posted May 14, 2018
|
|
|
|
Network (1976) |
Paddy Chayefsky's 1976 satire about network television, directed by Sidney Lumet, was amazing then, and it's amazing now... - TV Worth Watching
Read More
| Posted Apr 30, 2018
|
|
|
|
Mercury 13 (2018) |
While the pace and approach of this new documentary is a bit leisurely, the subject certainly is worthy of interest. - TV Worth Watching
Read More
| Posted Apr 20, 2018
|
|
|
|
Paterno (2018) |
But it leaves you thinking, and reflecting, long after the credits roll - which is precisely what makes it so effective. - NPR's Fresh Air
Read More
| Posted Apr 06, 2018
|
|
|
|
Arthur Miller: Writer (2017) |
This film biography of one of America's greatest playwrights is an extremely personal, subjective, and candid one, and with good reason. - TV Worth Watching
Read More
| Posted Mar 19, 2018
|
|
|
|
Ricky Gervais: Humanity (2018) |
This is the first Ricky Gervais standup special in seven years... the ease with which he continues to command the stage, totally controlling the rhythms and reactions while seeming fully conversational, is even more astounding. - TV Worth Watching
Read More
| Posted Mar 13, 2018
|
|
|
|
Jane (2017) |
... a beautiful piece of work. - TV Worth Watching
Read More
| Posted Mar 12, 2018
|
|
|
|
Notes From The Field (2018) |
... [Anna Deavere] Smith, like Hal Holbrook in his one-man portrayals of Mark Twain in Mark Twain Tonight!, is equally impressive in terms of performance and research. - TV Worth Watching
Read More
| Posted Feb 26, 2018
|
|
|
|
Chris Rock: Tamborine (2018) |
Rock, in every TV special he's ever released, manages to touch on a topic in a way, and with a fervor and intelligence, I end up remembering long afterward. - TV Worth Watching
Read More
| Posted Feb 20, 2018
|
|
|
|
In the Cloud (2017) |
It plays as derivatively as it sounds, but there is one reason, behind Byrne, to watch: One of his co-stars is Laura Fraser, who played Lydia the Stevia lover on Breaking Bad. - TV Worth Watching
Read More
| Posted Feb 08, 2018
|
|
|
|
Woodstock (1970) |
... this four-hour expanded Director's Cut edition... wasn't released until 1994. And in this case, more is better and the strained, overwhelming size of the film just seems to mirror the subject itself. - TV Worth Watching
Read More
| Posted Feb 05, 2018
|
|
|
|
David Bowie: The Last Five Years (2017) |
... for Bowie fans, undoubtedly it will be worth the wait. - TV Worth Watching
Read More
| Posted Jan 08, 2018
|
|
|
|
Bright (2017) |
It's not as horrible as many early reviews would suggest, but this first effort, at least, doesn't come close to living up to the potential of the premise, or the budget of the movie. - TV Worth Watching
Read More
| Posted Dec 27, 2017
|
|
|
|
Judd Apatow: The Return (2017) |
... and Apatow's self-deprecating use of visual aids, especially his photos with former President Obama, is priceless. - TV Worth Watching
Read More
| Posted Dec 12, 2017
|
|
|
|
Too Funny To Fail (2017) |
This isn't so much a rise-and-fall story as just a story about a very rapid fall, and even the documentary's participants have trouble taking the subject seriously. But that just makes the stories they tell even funnier. - NPR
Read More
| Posted Oct 21, 2017
|
|
|
|
1922 (2017) |
1922 plays like an extended episode of Tales from the Crypt - and if approached that way, is lots of fun. - TV Worth Watching
Read More
| Posted Oct 20, 2017
|
|
|
|
Jerry Before Seinfeld (2017) |
It's the best kind of minimalist comedy television. Just a comic, a mic, a stage and an audience. - NPR
Read More
| Posted Sep 20, 2017
|
|
|
|
The Rocky Horror Picture Show: Let's Do the Time Warp Again (2016) |
The new star is Laverne Cox, the transgender star of Netflix's Orange Is the New Black, and she's fabulous. She looks great, she sounds great, and she salutes Curry's performance while adding her own touches, vocally and otherwise. - NPR
Read More
| Posted Oct 20, 2016
|
|
|
|
A Very Murray Christmas (2015) |
A Very Murray Christmas is an unexpectedly tender little TV jewel from the man who built his early career on being a wisecracking cynic. - NPR
Read More
| Posted Dec 07, 2015
|
|
|
|
The Whole Gritty City (2013) |
We return to this scene at the end of the documentary. By then, we know a lot more about these local bands, and how much music means to the kids, and how they even inspire each other. - NPR
Read More
| Posted Jul 18, 2014
|
|
|
|
The Avengers (1998) |
This Avengers film is so horrendously, painfully and thoroughly awful, it gives other cinematic clunkers like Ishtar and Howard the Duck a good name. - New York Daily News
Read More
| Posted Jul 08, 2014
|
|
|
|
Kurt & Courtney (1998) |
We do get a strong sense that Love is a loose cannon with a short fuse. But in a freewheeling documentary about a drug-addled rock-star couple that hardly qualifies as a news flash. - New York Daily News
Read More
| Posted Apr 11, 2014
|
|
|
|
Dark Days (2000) |
Moving and memorable. - New York Daily News
Read More
| Posted Mar 03, 2014
|
|
|
|
When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts (2006) |
It's something to make a point to see. - New York Daily News
Read More
| Posted Aug 22, 2006
|