There is a certain Mad Men-esque quality to TNT’s new ad agency drama series Trust Me, premiering tonight at 10pm. Like that AMC critics’ darling, Trust Me features characters who could uncharitably be called assholes—except no one in the writer’s room is interested in digging any deeper. On Mad Men, Don Draper, a philanderer who is almost pathological in his lying, should be a loathsome character. But series creator Matthew Weiner and star Jon Hamm have managed to subvert the audience’s judgment to create one of the most indelible characters currently on TV. No such luck over at TNT, though.

This post has additional content, click on the permalink to read more.

Read more

Elaine Stritch's twilight renaissance continues unabated. In addition to the Emmy Awards she's racked up in the last few years for her one-woman show on HBO and her recurring role as Jack Donaghy's mother on 30 Rock, she's now being honored "for her achievements and humanity" on February 7, at Theater for the New City's 6th Annual Love 'n' Courage benefit for that group's Emerging Playwrights Program. No doubt some of her former co-stars might take issue with the latter citation, but she's still growin' and crowin', so kudos to her.

In addition to the octogenarian Stritch, the evening will also feature Charles Busch (Die Mommie Die!) and Julie Halston (Sex and the City) as hosts—ones who will not try to steal Stritchie's laughs, hopefully—fellow Golden Age of Broadway alumnus Tammy Grimes (The Unsinkable Molly Brown), and a bunch of exceedingly random, exceedingly old theatrical types (Fritz Weaver, Vinie Burrows, and composer David Amram, whose combined age is on the far side of 300) who don't quite equal Stritch's star wattage. But hey, it's a benefit for a good cause, and $125 gets you into the National Arts Club in the company of a living legend who managed to turn a sardonic rasp into an emblem of Broadway.

Photo by Denise Winters.

Read more

The acting is still as cardboard as the flimsy-looking model home used as a set, but the premise of Cinemax's new After Dark series, Forbidden Science, is several notches above the usual contrived idea behind the softcore porn. Instead of people calling in to a talk radio host with their best-sex-ever stories or a hotel that prompts rediscovering the passion in a relationship, Forbidden Science is downright complicated.

This post has additional content, click on the permalink to read more.

Read more

Now out on DVD, The Grocer's Son is a low-key character study with pretty French people cavorting amid pretty scenery. Unfortunately, the character being studied is hardly worth the effort. The title character, Antoine (Nicolas Cazalé), returns to his family's grocery business after a decade in the big city not because his father has been hospitalized and his mother needs his help, but to impress his neighbor Claire (Clotilde Hesme) with a vacation in the country where she can study for her college entrance exams.

This post has additional content, click on the permalink to read more.

Read more

In the interest of authenticity, the creative team behind the upcoming Broadway revival of Blithe Spirit posted a craigslist ad asking for real mediums in an effort to “guarantee that each performance is every bit as genuine as possible.” Their audition will consist of two minutes in which to “conjure the spirit of Noel Coward or to display any psychic abilities.”

In the Noel Coward play, Madame Arcati (to be played by theater legend Angela Lansbury) brings back the ghost of Elvira (Christine Ebersole), the dead first wife of novelist Charles Condomine (Rupert Everett)—which means the lucky medium will get the chance to work with La Lansbury herself. Let's just hope that those mediums don't actually conjure the spirit of Noel Coward. If he doesn't like what he sees on the stage, no doubt he won't be shy about expressing himself. He was, after all, the man who once famously told a stubborn Claudette Colbert that if he could find her neck, he'd wring it.

[Blithe Spirit on Broadway Seeking Mediums] 

Read more

Playbill.com has the scoop on Jeremy Piven's sudden departure from the acclaimed revival of Speed-the-Plow. Apparently, his recent spate of missed performances are all due to high levels of mercury, and his doctors (why do celebrities always have multiple doctors?) have advised him to leave the production.

This post has additional content, click on the permalink to read more.

Read more

Dear Kristin Wiig:

Hi! First of all, we just want to say how funny you are. Your weird handicapped sister in this season’s Lawrence Welk sketch on Saturday Night Live still makes us laugh every time we think about it, and your Elisabeth Hasselbeck was a pitch-perfect character assassination. But we need to talk. There are now three other actresses on SNL, and yet you continue to bogart all the funny female characters, relegating the others to extras.

This post has additional content, click on the permalink to read more.

Read more

Critics have been falling all over themselves to worship Kelly Reichardt’s Wendy and Lucy, starring Michelle Williams. What no one is saying is that Wendy is possibly the dumbest lead character ever captured on film and the whole film is filled with plot holes. Just how irritating can one 80-minute film be? Let’s count the ways (spoilers follow).

This post has additional content, click on the permalink to read more.

Read more

In honor of Liza's triumphant return to Broadway, here are her five best (and most outlandish) moments in concert. At least, the five best moments currently available on Youtube.com.

This post has additional content, click on the permalink to read more.

Read more

Directed by Yen Tan
Now playing at Landmark Sunshine

The acting is wooden, the camera remains stubbornly static, and nothing much happens in Ciao, but the overall effect remains with you for days afterward. Any American gay movie that eschews perfect bodies and steamy sex for a character-driven talkfest is worth a look.

The opening sequence certainly doesn't inspire much faith in what's to come. Two men named Andrea (Alessandro Calza) and Jeff (Adam Neal Smith) are exchanging emails, silently shown being typed in real time on a black screen. It seems that Andrea has been emailing gay Texan Mark for months from his home in Italy, and has planned a trip to visit. And although Mark has died and Jeff gets the e-mail, he invites Andrea to use his already booked plane ticket to come anyway. Of course, Jeff later summarizes all of this to his stepsister Lauren (Ethel Lung), rendering the whole tedious montage moot. By this time, your eyes will be rolling.

But what follows is a frequently touching, frustrating, and lovely story. Jeff and Andrea bond over Mark and his quirks while wandering around Dallas and sharing stories and secrets. That's it. There's no sex, and only one lingering kiss in the dark, but Ciao manages to hold our attention without resorting to naked, sweating bodies. With American gay films increasingly turning to fluff and self-conscious straight romances transplanted to the gay world, Ciao comes as something of a relief: A dreamlike, melancholy movie about two lonely gay men sharing a connection. That's almost enough to forgive writer-director Tan's amateur flourishes.

Photo courtesy of Regent Releasing

Read more