FAMOUS IN LOVE:  Tuesday 9PM on Freeform (full season also available via online/VOD) – Change the Channel On the basis of its opening hour, Freeform’s new FAMOUS IN LOVE is pretty woeful stuff.  It’s the latest version of America’s contribution to the fairy tale template, the one that tells of the gleam and oh-so-naughty […]

  STAR-CROSSED – Monday 8PM on CW Previously… on STAR-CROSSED:  10 years ago, a spaceship full of Atrians crash-landed outside Baton Rouge, and little earthling Emery met little Atrian Roman.  The pair bonded, but were forcibly separated (Emery thought Roman was killed), with the Atrians rounded up and sent to a ghetto-like area called the […]

  Even though no one who isn’t in the awards game could name a member of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (or would care about their opinion if they did), that group has seen its Golden Globes become the 2d most prominent award for both movies and TV.  In the last few years, the Globes […]

  TAMMY:  Not Even For Free – Melissa McCarthy Fumbles Her Industry Clout When a star earns hundreds of millions of dollars for Hollywood, it can show its appreciation by handing over the creative reins to the star (on a modest budget), allowing him or her to realize a “passion project.”  That’s where Melissa McCarthy […]

  Stu Zicherman’s A.C.O.D. (written by Zicherman and Ben Karlin) suffers a bit from a familiar indie comedy malady:  the conflicting desires to tell meaningful and even dark stories, while at the same time getting a studio pick-up and selling some tickets.  The result, while funny at times and incisive at times, doesn’t successfully combine both. […]

  NEED FOR SPEED:  Watch It At Home – Not Enough Fuel If there was ever a movie that didn’t need to be over 2 hours long, the relatively unpretentious NEED FOR SPEED was it.  Action movies these days too often feel like they have to be epics, loaded with backstory and climactic showdowns that […]

  THE BALLAD OF WALLIS ISLAND (Focus/Universal – March 28):  A low-key British charmer.  A decade ago, Herb (Tom Basden) had a successful run as part of a folk duo with Nell (Carey Mulligan), which ended when they broke up both personally and professionally.  Now, Herb is still trying to establish himself as a solo […]

  THE HUNGER GAMES: MOCKINGJAY PART I:  Worth A Ticket – Half a Good Movie Is Still Half a Movie As big-screen and small-screen entertainment experiences have begun to merge, there’s been an increase in serialized franchise storytelling–super-expensive mega-movies turned into regularly scheduled series.  Sequels, of course, have always been with us, but through the […]