Author Archive
 

 

THE SKED SEASON FINALE REVIEW: “Happy Endings”

> It’s not all that unusual for a situation comedy to change directions in the midst of its initial season and emerge a different, and better, show:  The Office and Parks & Recreation both took that journey (the ...
by Mitch Salem
 

 
 

EARLY FRIDAY BOX OFFICE: Middling “Focus” Sharp Enough For Win; “Lazarus” Stays Dead

  You’ll be hearing quite a bit of spin over the next few days about how relatively inexpensive FOCUS (RatPac Dune/Warners) was to produce, $50-65M depending on the source.  That number, however, ignores the lavish ...
by Mitch Salem
 

 

 

EARLY FRIDAY BOX OFFICE: “Lego Movie” Builds Another Win

  THE LEGO MOVIE (Warners) is barely even being challenged by the newcomers this weekend, and it will easily reign supreme over the multiplexes for its 3rd win in a row.  Preliminary numbers at Variety and Deadline have ...
by Mitch Salem
 

 
 

SHOWBUZZDAILY Toronto Film Festival Reviews: “Breathe” & “3 Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”

  BREATHE (Bleecker Street – Oct 13):  BREATHE wasn’t the favored Triumph of the Human Spirit drama at Toronto this year; that title went to Stronger, with Jake Gyllanhaal as a survivor of the Boston Marathon ...
by Mitch Salem
 

 

 

SHOWBUZZDAILY Streaming Film Review: “Palm Springs”

  The borders between “movies” and “television” were already beginning to buckle pre-pandemic, thanks to Netflix and the desire of studios to release their product on as many simultaneous platforms ...
by Mitch Salem
 

 
 

SHOWBUZZDAILY MONDAY NETWORK SCORECARD – 6.12.2017

  The NBA ended its season in a big way. DEMOGRAPHIC DETAIL: For each broadcast program (or hour segment), the chart below displays preliminary key advertiser demographics (adult 18-34, 18-49 and 25-54 ratings), audience ...
by Mitch Salem
 

 

 

SHOWBUZZDAILY @ SUNDANCE 2013: “Touchy Feely”

  TOUCHY FEELY offers the gifted writer/director Lynn Shelton taking herself very, very seriously for the most part.  It turns out to be a less effective mode for her than those of her recent small-scale comedies Humpday ...
by Mitch Salem
 

 
 

THE SKED PILOT + 1 REVIEW: “How To Live With Your Parents (For the Rest of Your Life)”

  HOW TO LIVE WITH YOUR PARENTS (FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE):  Wednesday 9:30PM on ABC A lot can happen between the creation of a TV pilot in the spring and the production of episodes for the regular season: a writing/prod...
by Mitch Salem
 

 

 

TORONTO FILM FESTIVAL REVIEW: “Labor Day”

  LABOR DAY is a beautifully performed, well crafted Harlequin romance.  As such, it’s a shock coming from writer/director Jason Reitman (based on Joyce Maynard’s novel), one that goes in a completely differen...
by Mitch Salem
 

 
 

THE SKED SEASON FINALE REVIEW: “Haven”

  Not even HAVEN‘s worst enemy would have wished on the series its season finale experience of the past few weeks.  More serialized than ever before, the season was approaching its ending with a second-to-last episo...
by Mitch Salem
 

 

 

SHOWBUZZDAILY Season Finale Review: “Resurrection”

  Rarely has a TV series crashed as quickly and completely as ABC’s RESURRECTION.  It premiered just 10 months ago with a 3.8 rating in the 18-49 demo, yet last week it managed only an 0.8 (actually up a tenth from ...
by Mitch Salem
 

 
 

THE SKED REVIEW: “Hemingway & Gellhorn”

    It wasn’t so long ago that the announcement of an epic period love story starring Nicole Kidman and Clive Owen as war correspondent Martha Gellhorn and legendary novelist Ernest Hemingway, directed by Philip...
by Mitch Salem
 

 

 

THE SHOWBUZZDAILY REVIEW: “Hitchcock”

  HITCHCOCK:  Worth A Ticket (Opens November 23) – A Moderately Good Eve-ening The American Film Institute’s yearly festival opened tonight with the world premiere of the fittingly movie-centric HITCHCOCK.  I...
by Mitch Salem
 

 
 

THE SKED Series Finale Review: “Eastbound & Down”

  Television is a little less berserk and interesting tonight with the departure (although not the death) of Kenny Powers (Danny McBride), the unstoppable id of EASTBOUND & DOWN.  The series finale, written by series ...
by Mitch Salem
 

 

 

SHOWBUZZDAILY Season Premiere Review: “Animal Kingdom”

  ANIMAL KINGDOM:  Tuesday 9PM on TNT ANIMAL KINGDOM has been a key part of TNT’s rebranding as a hipper TV destination than the home of Major Crimes and The Last Ship, and tonight’s Season 2 premiere promised...
by Mitch Salem