Author Archive
 

 

Toronto Film Festival 2024 Reviews: “The Substance” & “Nutcrackers”

THE SUBSTANCE (MUBI – Sept. 20):  It’s quite a feat to take the body horror crown at a film festival that also features a contribution from David Cronenberg, but Coralie Fargeat’s The Substance uses its revo...
by Mitch Salem
 

 
 

SHOWBUZZDAILY Season Premiere Review: “The Night Shift”

THE NIGHT SHIFT:  Monday 10PM on NBC THE NIGHT SHIFT was a workmanlike performer for NBC last summer, but its promotion to The Voice‘s lead-out on the network’s midseason schedule says more about the empty shelves ...
by Mitch Salem
 

 

 

SHOWBUZZDAILY Series Premiere Review: “Pure Genius”

  PURE GENIUS:  Thursday 10PM on CBS – Change the Channel One of the oddities of CBS’s medical drama PURE GENIUS is that its setting–a wildly overfunded institute that boasts the ultimate in cutting edge...
by Mitch Salem
 

 
 

THE SHOWBUZZDAILY REVIEW: “Taken 2”

  TAKEN 2:  Watch It At Home – “Particular Set of Skills” Indeed   As silly sequels to mindless hits go, TAKEN 2 is fairly entertaining, at least for a while.  The first movie, of course, was a sur...
by Mitch Salem
 

 

 

NIELSENWAR 2014-15 Trailer Review: NBC’s “Marry Me”

  MARRY ME:  Tuesday 9PM on NBC THE FACTS:  Happy Endings creator David Caspe reunites with Casey Wilson, one of that show’s stars, for a rom-com that pairs her with Ken Marino, as a longtime couple who finally get...
by Mitch Salem
 

 
 

SHOWBUZZDAILY Series Premiere TV Review: “Wisdom Of the Crowd”

Game WISDOM OF THE CROWD:  Sunday 8PM on CBS – Change the Channel CBS’s WISDOM OF THE CROWD is for the people who thought the problem with FOX’s canceled APB was that it didn’t star Jeremy Piven.  Once...
by Mitch Salem
 

 

 

THE SKED 2013 UPFRONTS: CW Pick-Ups

  The biggest surprise from CW wasn’t any one of its pilot orders–it was the decision to renew THE CARRIE DIARIES, a show that showed little ratings promise in its first season.  Apparently the explanation is ...
by Mitch Salem
 

 
 

THE SKED’S FRIDAY NETWORK SCORECARD – 12/16/11

> With reruns and holiday specials occupying most of the airwaves, NBC was able to grab a rare non-Sunday win. NBC:  The Peacock was the only network airing original scripted programming, and although CHUCK and GRIMM were ...
by Mitch Salem
 

 

 

Sundance 2024 Film Reviews: “It’s What’s Inside” & “My Old Ass”

  IT’S WHAT’S INSIDE (Netflix – TBD):  The biggest sale of the festival as of this writing–a $17M paycheck from Netflix–was its most dynamite entertainment.  Greg Jardin’s feature wri...
by Mitch Salem
 

 
 

Behind the US/Worldwide Weekend Box Office – 3.27.2022

  OPENINGS:  THE LOST CITY (Paramount) opened at the high end of expectations at $31M, a particularly solid result these days for a movie that skews both female and older (the latter crowd evident in the 2% Friday-to-Satu...
by Mitch Salem
 

 

 

THE BIJOU REVIEW: “Bad Teacher” – Passable

>    Worth A Ticket:  Grade It On A Curve In 1999, Jake Kasdan directed a project set in high school that starred Jason Segel and featured Dave (Gruber) Allen in its ensemble; it was called Freaks and Geeks, and ...
by Mitch Salem
 

 
 

THE SKED: NBC MIDSEASON SCHEDULE

> NBC has unaccountably decided not to air a midseason schedule consisting of a test pattern and the words “For the love of God, bring back football…” scrolling at the bottom of the screen.  On the contra...
by Mitch Salem
 

 

 

Box Office Footnotes

> It’s hard to spin the Pirates 4 US opening as anything but a disappointment–when you figure in 3D ticket prices, actual attendance is probably down 30% from the last installment. (Look for Disney to make sure the ...
by Mitch Salem
 

 
 

EARLY FRIDAY BOX OFFICE: “Get Out” Slams Door on “LEGO Batman,” “Rock Dog” & “Collide”

  GET OUT (Blumhouse/Universal) is the latest hit from the prolific low-budget horror production company that still has Split in the market, off to a fast start according to preliminary numbers at Deadline with $10.5M on F...
by Mitch Salem
 

 

 

SHOWBUZZDAILY Series Premiere Review: “Younger”

  YOUNGER:  Tuesday 10PM on TV Land Although it’s a half-hour rather than an hour, TV Land’s new YOUNGER feels somewhat similar to VH1’s recent Hindsight.  Both are series versions of high concepts that...
by Mitch Salem