Day: April 15, 2021

Weekly Previews

Week’s top-10 for April 19: Earth Day is strong; Oscar night is weak

1) Academy Awards, 8 p.m. ET Sunday, ABC. For the third straight year, the Oscars will go without a host … and might pay little attention to the songs. That can be disastrous: Humor and music are key, when many winners give dreary speeches (thanking agents and such) and many viewers haven’t seen the films. Nominated for best picture are “Promising Young Woman” (shown here with Carey Mulligan), “Mank,” “Minari,” “Nomadland,” “Trial of the Chicago 7,” “Judas and the Black Messiah,” “The Father” and “Sound of Metal.” Read more…

By Mike Hughes / April 15, 2021
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for April 17: envy, murder and a giant

1) “Envy,” 8-10 p.m., Lifetime. Serayah (shown here) – who made an impressive TV debut in “Empire” (as Tiana, Hakeem’s es-wife) gets the title role, sort of. Learning she has a prosperous half-sister, she suddenly wants it all. This is the second faith-based film produced by Bishop TD Jakes, based on novels about the seven deadly sins. “Lust” was last week; production on “Greed” was delayed by the pandemic. The others – including, alas, sloth and gluttony – may take a while. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / April 15, 2021
Stories

Teen conquers complex role

In rare moments, a master actor gets to play a double or triple role.
That includes comedy guys – Eddie Murphy, Jerry Lewis, Peter Sellers – and various Englishmen who become Jekyll and Hyde. And now, sort of, there’s Chiara Aurelia.
No, you probably haven’t heard of her. She’s 18 and has had some roles … five of them playing the younger version of a main character. But when “Cruel Summer” debuts (9 and 10 p.m. Tuesday, April 20, on Freeform), she has virtually a triple role – the same teen-ager (Jeanette, shown here, center, at the start), over three summers that transform her completely.
“Each year kind of represents a different element of all of our lives,” Aurelia told the Television Critics Association. “You know – the darkness, the sadness, the youthfulness.” Read more…

By Mike Hughes / April 15, 2021