Day: April 25, 2022

Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for April 27: Portugal unspoiled, singers unmasked

1) “Nature” season-finale, 8 p.m., PBS. The 40th season – a good one – ends with some spectacular views of Portugal. Brutal wind and the world’s biggest waves (up to 100 feet) have left shipwrecks, where creatures make their homes. The coast also has one of the largest seahorse populations. One island has a shrinking number of monk seals (about 30) and expanding number of wolf spiders (maybe 5,000). On land, we see wildfires and wild horses; we also see cork trees – their bark harvested every eight years – holding giant stork nests (shown here). Read more…

By Mike Hughes / April 25, 2022
Stories

Paramount gets another “Godfather” boost

Back in 1972, Paramount Pictures was wobbling.
It had made three big-budget musicals, but not the good ones … and three Neil Simon comedies, but not the funny ones … and some youth-oriented films, but not the famous ones. It had scored with “Love Story,” flopped with others and needed a break; it got it with “The Godfather.”
And a half-century later? The Paramount+ streaming service and cable’s Paramount Network have had modest starts. One solution – again – is “The Godfather.” On Thursday, Paramount+ starts “The Offer” (shown here) a 10-part mini-series about the making of the film; that weekend, the cable network has both the film and its sequel – 7 and 11 p.m. Saturday, 4 and 7:45 p.m. Sunday
“I watched (‘The Godfather’) before I was a teenager and it deeply affected me,” Juno Temple, one of the “Offer” stars, told the Television Critics Association. “I have such a romanticism of Hollywood’s past.” Read more…

By Mike Hughes / April 25, 2022