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22nd MTV Movie Awards — No Flash in the Pan, But It Went by in a Flash

“The Wolf of Wall Street” apparently didn’t howl quite loud enough to wrest the top golden popcorn trophies from the claws of “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire” at the 2014 MTV Movie Awards Sunday at the Nokia Theatre, where "Catching…

Apr 17, 2014

A Tribute to the Most Enjoyable Movie Ever Made, and the TV Channel That Is a National Treasure for Airing It 125 Times in the Last 20 Years

I first fell in love with Ingrid Bergman when I was a young teenager and she was just 26 years old. She still is. My feelings for her have been rekindled each of the dozen or so times I’ve watched…

Apr 13, 2014

When It Comes to Mickey Rooney, I’m With Marlon Brando: Rooney Was Underrated. Here’s Why

Marlon Brando, who knew something about acting, wrote in his 1994 autobiography, “Brando: Songs My Mother Taught Me”: “As I’ve observed before, acting talent alone doesn’t make an actor a star. It takes a combination of qualities: looks, personality, presence,…

Apr 7, 2014

With One Season Left, the ‘Mad Men’ Cast Share Their Favorite Moments From the Ground-Breaking Series About Madison Ave.

Think back to 2007, when AMC was a cable channel known for playing old movies. And then along came “Mad Men,” the 1960s era drama series that ushered in a whole new age of original programming for the basic cabler…

Mar 25, 2014

Warren Buffett and Quicken Loans Anticipated Up to 15 Million People Would Enter Their Billion Dollar March Madness Basketball Challenge. Was the Real Number of Entries Millions Fewer?

A widely distributed sports report by the Associated Press last Friday, March 21, 2014, began “The billion dollar dream is over. “A second day of upsets ended any chance of someone having a perfect NCAA tournament bracket in Warren Buffett’s…

Mar 24, 2014

Judd Apatow — One of Hollywood’s Most Successful Creators of Comedy — Says His Primary Motivation Is a TV Series He Did that Was Canceled After One Season

Nearly every television producer working today has a sad story about the one that got away – the passion project that made it to air but after usually a very short period of time was axed, justifiably or not, by…

Mar 17, 2014

Possessing ‘the Fascination of Rattlesnakes Courting in a Bathtub.’ Two Must-See Movies on TV Tonight

Watching the first episode of the return of “House of Cards” reminded me of a review I read recently that said watching certain characters on the screen possesses “the fascination of rattlesnakes courting in a bathtub." But the review was…

Feb 26, 2014

Costume Designers on Top TV and Film Productions Get a Chance to Shine

It was another big night for TV darlings “House of Cards,” “Behind the Candelabra” and “Downton Abbey” as their respective costume designers, Tom Broecker, Ellen Mirojnick and Caroline McCall took the top prizes at the 16th Costume Designers Guild Awards….

Feb 26, 2014

Jimmy Fallon’s ‘Tonight Show’ Debut Is Tonight. Does He Believe Enough in Himself to Excel? Back to the Future

I’ve seen a leaked script of what may be Jimmy Fallon’s debut tonight on "The Tonight Show," and here’s the cold opening — instead of a monologue — which notes that there is plenty of room for ad-libs: Title cards…

Feb 17, 2014

Sex! Thrilling Ecstasy! Stabbing! More Sex! Hollywood! Scandal! It’s One of the Most Salacious Pieces We’ve Ever Written, All in an Attempt to Convince You to Set Your DVR to Record a Movie with a Dull Title That’s One of the Best We’ve Ever Seen

In the summer of 1936, the biggest news on the world stage was the Olympics. Four years after the mostly uneventful games in Los Angeles, Germany’s chancellor, Adolf Hitler, was trying to make a political statement with the games in…

Feb 9, 2014