Altogether ooky

"Phenomenon"Wednesday 8pm, NBC Let’s just call this new reality show "America’s Next Top Magician." Legendary mentalist Uri Gellar and current Hollywood magic boy Criss Angel (of "Mindfreak" and allegedly boffing Cameron and Britney fame) put 10 aspiring illusionists through their paces, judging them as they perform various challenges and pull out their biggest tricks. Ultimately, […]

Edumacational

"Down in the Old Belt: Voices from the Tobacco South"Tuesday 9pm, WHTJ This locally produced documentary tells the stories of Virginia tobacco farmers. Tobacco obviously has a long, complicated history in the Old Dominion, since it played a big part in the colony’s initial economic success but also was heavily tied to slavery and, later, […]

Capsule reviews of films playing in town

3:10 to Yuma (R, 117 minutes) Russell Crowe and Christian Bale replace Glenn Ford and Van Heflin in this remake of the highly regarded 1957 western. Crowe is the outlaw leader on his way to court via the titular conveyance. Bale is the small-time rancher charged with escorting him there alive—no small task when droves […]

Making faces [with video]

“How does the show look?” asks the man in the crisply ironed shirt and smart specs standing behind yours truly, Curtain Calls —or, as he occasionally thinks of himself in anagram, “I Cull Art Cans.”

Ch-ch-ch-changes

“Law & Order: Criminal Intent”Thursday 10pm, USA NBC’s new season is suspiciously light in its “Law & Order” shows, as the once-flourishing procedural fran-chise has been reduced to only one series (“Special Victims Unit”) currently on the air. Original recipe “L&O” is set to return midseason, but this third spin-off has been quietly shuffled off […]

Capsule reviews of films playing in town

3:10 to Yuma (R, 117 minutes) Russell Crowe and Christian Bale replace Glenn Ford and Van Heflin in this remake of the highly regarded 1957 western. Crowe is the outlaw leader on his way to court via the titular conveyance. Bale is the small-time rancher charged with escorting him there alive—no small task when droves […]