Day: February 9, 2022

Spielberg’s gem heads to Disney+

In a time filled with terrific musicals, here’s some more good news … with a smattering of bad:
“West Side Story” (shown here), with seven Oscar nominations (including best picture) reaches Disney+ on March 2.
The bad news is for the notion of seeing films in movie theaters, where they belong. Steven Spielberg has turned this into a visual masterpiece. Read more…

Nat Geo gives Disney+ a surge of nature epics

Two potent forces – Covid and Disney – could have blunted the National Geographic Channel.
Or not. Courteney Monroe, president of National Geographic Content, told the Television Critics Association that her projects are bigger and busier than ever. She announced a flurry of them — some global (including a new version of the 2010 “Great Migrations,” shown here) and one stretching for a decade.
All of those will go straight to the Disney+ streaming service, skipping the linear outlets — National Geographic Channel and Nat Geo Wild. But Monroe insisted that neither channel will be trimmed back “and shows from the linear channels will find their forever homes on Disney+.” Read more…

Best-bets for Feb. 11: Commotion amid water, ice and snow

1) “The Perfect Storm,” 7-10 p.m., AMC. After this, we really will be afraid to go near the water. “Jaws” (1975) is at 8 p.m. on BBC America, on the same night that Mark Wahlberg is in two movies about real-life disasters. “Deepwater Horizon” (2016) has a fire on an offshore oil rig; “Perfect Storm” has Wahlberg (shown here) and George Clooney as mariners, as weather extremes converge. “Jaws” is a classic; the others were well-crafted, each nominated for two technical Oscars. Read more…