Best-bets for Aug. 6: Lots of movies, including a gem

1) “Belfast” (2021), 8 p.m., HBO. When Kenneth Branagh was 9, his family left Ireland to escape the Protestant-Catholic hatred. In England, he mastered Shakespeare as an actor, writer (seven movie adaptations) and director. Now here’s his first original movie script, a black-and-white masterpiece (shown here) about his youth. Branagh won an Oscar for his script and was nominated as a director. There were six more nominations, including best picture. Read more…

1) “Belfast” (2021), 8 p.m., HBO. When Kenneth Branagh was 9, his family left Ireland to escape the Protestant-Catholic hatred. In England, he mastered Shakespeare as an actor, writer (seven movie adaptations) and director. Now here’s his first original movie script, a black-and-white masterpiece (shown here) about his youth. Branagh won an Oscar for his script and was nominated as a director. There were six more nominations, including best picture.

2) “A Dangerous Affair,” 8 p.m., Lifetime. After four gloomy Saturdays, the “Flowers in the Attic” prequels have ended. Now Lifetime has a fresh theme for its new movies – “Love, Lies and Seduction.” Tonight, a Pilates instructor starts a steamy affair with her client … then faces a masked woman’s erotic obsession with him. On Sunday’s “The Art of Passion,” a diligent ER doctor finds an erotic affair entangled with her work. There’s a trend here.

3) More movies. The uneven art of the sequel is on display. Encore has a great one; “Alien” (1979), at 7 p.m., is followed by James Cameron’s brilliant “Aliens” (1986) at 9. E has an awful one; “Meet the Parents” (2000), a good comedy at 5:30 p.m., is followed by the heavy-handed “Meet the Fockers” (2004) at 8. And AMC follows the rousing “Rocky” (1976), at 3 p.m., with sequels at 5:30, 8 and 10 p.m. and 12:30 and 3 a.m. The first couple are quite good.

4) “FBI,” 8 p.m., CBS. A little girl has been kidnapped from day-care; to get her back, the parents must settle an old debt with a dangerous gang. That rerun is followed at 9 with “NCIS: Los Angeles,” probing whether a Naval intelligence officer committed suicide after taking LSD.

5) ALSO: ABC spends prime time (8-11 p.m.) rerunning the first three episodes of “Claim to Fame,” assembling people who don’t know which famous person each is related to. And Turner Classic Movies has an Audrey Hepburn marathon, peaking at 8 p.m. ET with her endearing “Roman Holiday” (1953).

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