Mike Hughes

Stories

Oscar night on TV: Here’s a guide

The Academy Awards, which used to be a big deal, arrive Sunday on ABC.
And this time, they might draw some interest. They have a host, some songs, a studio audience … and some movies (including “Elvis,” shown here) people have seen.
We used to take that for granted, until things crumbled. There were two no-audience pandemic years … three no-host years … and a year with no songs during the main show. Also, nominees were obscure.
Now all of that seems to be behind us. Here’s an overview of the night; also, alongside this are two Oscar features — on front-runner Ke Huy Quan and on the oft-overlooked documentary categories: Read more…

By Mike Hughes / March 6, 2023
News and Quick Comments

At Oscar time, doc-makers get a fiery moment

(This is a story I posted on Jan. 28, but I thought it would be fun to bring it back now, with the Academy Award telecast coming on MRXH 12. You’ll find two other Oscar stories to the left.)
As the Academy Awards near, the nominees have a descending order of fame.
At the top this year are the stars – actors (Cate Blanchett, Angela Bassett, Judd Hirsch, etc.), a director (Steven Spielberg) and some songwriters (Lady Gaga, Rihanna). And near the bottom, every year?
“You are the lowest on the totem pole as a short-doc filmmaker,” Cynthia Wade said
That’s the short-documentary category. She won it in 2008 (for the 39-minute “Freeheld)” and had her moment on global TV, being handed an Oscar by Tom Hanks; she was nominated again in 2013. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / March 6, 2023
Stories

Award shows are fun — as long as Quan wins

There are actors who accept awards casually. They smile slightly, read lethargic lists, then depart.
Then there’s Ke Huy Quan (shown here), who makes the award season worthwhile.
At previous ceremonies (Golden Globes, Screen Actors Guild, etc.), Quan jumped and hugged and beamed. Now he’s a front-runner at this year’s Academy Awards, at 8 p.m. ET Sunday (March 12) on ABC; so is his movie, “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” and its star, Michelle Yeoh.
All of this follows a big gap. The pause in his acting career “has been for a long time,” Quan said. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / March 5, 2023
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for March 7: fine night for comedies and a drama

1) “Accused,” 9 p.m., Fox. Whitney Cummings (shown here) gives a perfect performance – subtle, layered, deeply moving – in a strong episode. Cummings is known for fun; she’s a brash stand-up comedian, creator of her own show (“Whitney”) and co-creator of “2 Broke Girls.” She plays a stand-up comic here, but the story soon veers into dark turf. We won’t reveal any plot points, but it’s a tough and disturbing hour. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / March 5, 2023
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for March 6: return of “Voice,” “9-1-1” and Mel Brooks

1) “The Voice” opener, 8-10 p.m., NBC. Two new coaches – Niall Horan (shown here) and Chance the Rapper – arrive, facing the show’s big winners: In 22 editions, Blake Shelton has had nine champions and 14 runners-up, sometimes simultaneously; in eight tries, Kelly Clarkson (back from a one-edition break) has had four champs and a runner-up. Reba McEntire will be the mentor for all four teams Read more…

By Mike Hughes / March 4, 2023
Stories

History — Mel Brooks style — finally returns

For almost 40 years, Mel Brooks has inhabited Nick Kroll’s comic mind.
Kroll was about 5, he says, when he munched a fish stick and proclaimed, “It’s good to be the king.” It was a start.
“Some of my very first laughs ever (were) from me parroting Mel Brooks,” Kroll told the Television Critics Association. “And many, many years later, nothing has changed.”
Now he’s assembled an all-star project: “History of the World, Part II”(shown here), an eight-part sequel to Brooks’ film, airs (two per day) on Hulu, Monday through Thursday (March 6-9). Read more…

By Mike Hughes / March 3, 2023
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for March 5: with Oscars near, a great movie night

1) “Gone With the Wind” (1939) and “Casablanca” (1942), 4 and 8 p.m. ET, Turner Classic Movies. A week from the Academy Awards, TCM fills its line-up with great films. That peaks here, “Wind” is ranked No. 6 on the American Film Institute’s best-film list; “Casablanca” (shown here, with Dooley Wilson and Humphrey Bogart) is No. 3. They’re sandwiched by the epic “Doctor Zhivago” (1965) at 12:30 p.m. and “The Way We Were” (1973), a lushly emotional Streisand/Redford film, at 10.
Read more…

By Mike Hughes / March 3, 2023
Weekly Previews

Week’s top-10 for March 6: Oscars, plus “Voice,” Mel, more

1) Academy Awards, 8-11 p.m. ET Sunday, ABC. For three dreary years, the Oscars had no host and little fun; one year even exiled songs to the preview year. The show bounced back last year and should be fine now. Jimmy Kimmel hosts, something he does well. There’s music by Rihanna, Sofia Carson (shown here), David Byrne and more, plus an “American Idol” hour afterward. And there are some films – “Avatar,” “Elvis,” “Top Gun: Maverick” – people have seen. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / March 2, 2023
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for March 4: slime, spies and Bond

1) “Kids Choice Awards,” 7 p.m., Nickelodeon channels, plus CMT, TV Land, and MTV2. Each year, this offers lots of star and slime. This year’s hosts are Nate Burleson of “NFL Slimetime” and Charli D’Amelio, who was slimed two years ago. There’s music by Bebe Rexha (shown here) and Young Dylan and a career award for Adam Sandler. Presenters include Pete Davidson, Melissa McCarthy, Awkwafina, Chris Pine, Halle Bailey, Seth Rogen and more. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / March 2, 2023
Stories

Reese’s pieces fill the media landscape

Movie moguls used to have a consistent image.
As portrayed (in films and stories and such), they were big and blunt. They drank a lot, smoked as lot, didn’t read much. They definitely weren’t cherubic-faced book nerds.
That’s what makes this surprising: Reese Witherspoon has become one of Hollywood’s top producers.
Yes, that Reese – the one who convinced us she was a ditz in “Legally Blonde” movies. After lots of success in the past – from “Gone Girl” to “Bright Little Lies” and “Where the Crawdads Sing” – her company, Hello Sunshine, has four series streaming this spring:
— “Daisy Jones & the Six” (shown here) starts Friday (March 3) on Amazon Prime. A richly crafted series about a fictional rock band, it’s filled with characters who are deeply flawed, yet deeply fascinating. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / March 1, 2023