News and Quick Comments

News and Quick Comments

Oscar nominees? Several stream now or soon

For some fans of at-home movies, the Oscar nominations were neatly timed.
“Killers of the Flower Moon” reached Apple TV+ on Jan. 12. Eleven days later, it got 10 Academy Award nominations, including best picture.
Others best-picture nominees arrive soon. “Past Lives” reaches Paramount+ on Feb. 2; “Oppenheimer” (shown here) – the leader, with 13 nominations – is on Peacock two weeks later.
And some have been streaming for a while. It’s “Barbie” on Max, “Maestro” on Netflix, “The Holdovers” on Peacock. Netflix also has films with nominations for actors (“Nyad,” “Rustin”) and original script (“May December”). Read more…

By Mike Hughes / January 23, 2024
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From Abe to Golda: Film titles promise too much

There’s a movie mini-trend that’s worth grumbling about.
It can be summed up as: Promise a pound (via the title); deliver a couple ounces.
Mind you, we can’t grumble too loudly. This has been used by the world’s greatest director (Steven Spielberg) and has spawned two Academy Award-winning performances; but it’s also been used for small and rather disappointing films.
That comes to mind now as Showtime has the 2023 “Golda” (shown here), at 8:15 p.m. Thursday (Jan. 25). It’s a worthy little film, but a mere fraction of what we might expect. And it’s part of a long trend, for good or bad: Read more…

By Mike Hughes / January 21, 2024
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Forget the Globes: Emmys prove awards can be fun

So it turns out that an awards show can be fun. We don’t know what the Golden Globes’ excuse is.
The Emmy telecast Monday (Jan. 15),shown here with winner Quinta Brunson and Carol Burnett, was mostly enjoyable, despite the obstacles.
Those were the 27 awards that had to be handed out and 24 acceptance speeches that had to be endured. (We’re eternally grateful to the winners who were absent.) Read more…

By Mike Hughes / January 16, 2024
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Netflix gives us a lift (sort of)

There is a place in life for films like “Lift.”
That place, of course, is a movie theater – big screen, comfy seat, tasty popcorn, forces conspiring to create a suspension of disbelief.
But “Lift” (shown here) alas, has just debuted on Netflix. In our living room, it’s kind of fun if we remember not to think about it too much. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / January 13, 2024
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The best movie? Globes and Choice differ (a little)

The next couple Sundays will be award-show days.
It will be the Golden Globes (8-11 p.m. ET, CBS) on Jan. 7 and Critics Choice (7-10 p.m., CW) on Jan. 14. We’ll end up hearing a lot aboug “Barbie” (shown here); we’ll also get an idea of movies to catch up on.
The shows do have other things to offer: There’s humor from the hosts – Jo Koy for the Globes, Chelsea Handler for the Critics Choice. The Globes also have a full set of TV categories. Still, the important thing may be telling us which movies to look for, pror to the Academy Award nominations (Jan. 23) and ceremony (March 10). Read more…

By Mike Hughes / January 5, 2024
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Want new dramas? Here’s a sorta-strong Sunday

For TV, this is the post-strike time when dramas gradually return.
A few arrive soon; NBC has “La Brea” on Jan. 9 and the Chicago shows on Jan. 17. Others will be much later — “Grey’s Anatomy,” March 14;“9-1-1: Lone Star” next fall.
But for viewers in a real hurry, there’s PBS. In one burst Sunday (Jan. 7), it has two season-openers (“Miss Scarlet and the Duke” and “All Creatures Great and Small”) and a series debut (“Funny Woman,” shown here).
As it happens, all three improve as their six-Sunday season advances. “Miss Scarlet” starts quite poorly, then rights itself. “Funny Woman” goes from OK to quite good. “All Creatures” starts at very good … then gets even better. Let’s look: Read more…

By Mike Hughes / January 4, 2024
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Smothers and Lear nudged TV into new era

It seems logical that we celebrate these two great lives in the same month.
Norman Lear died Dec. 5 at 101; Tommy Smothers died Dec. 26 at 86. Together, they nudged TV into the modern era.
Both were on CBS, the leading network. Both created shows that were younger and sharper. Both battled censors; Smothers (shown here, right, with his brother Dick) lost, Lear won, viewers won.
There’s more to it than that, though. These guys did much more than fight censors and tip windmills; they made shows that were innovative and funny. If you had stripped out every controversial moment, “The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour” and “All in the Family” would still have been TV gems. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / December 28, 2023
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When does the season start? Here’s an update

For TV viewers, the long wait is now ending … slowly. Networks are getting their post-strike seasons in place.
NBC is doing it quite quickly — two comedies (“Extended Family” and “Night Court,” shown here) on Dec. 23, the return of “Transplant” on Dec. 28, then an “America’s Got Talent” spin-off and the “Magnum” finale the next week.
CBS is in less of a hurry; it will start almost everything in the week after it airs the Feb. 11 Super Bowl. Others are in between, with arrivals ranging from early January to mid-March.
Here’s an updated, chronological list, followed by an alphabetical one. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / December 22, 2023