A few years ago, we realized we could not survive as a weekly newspaper.
Monthly it did not cut down either. Ideally, we would publish every fortnight in the sunlight months, monthly in the dark, but who are we trying to kid … the answer I usually give to how often we publish is “When we feel like it”.
We are not bound by subscribers or regular advertisers, so if we have to postpone a problem because it makes good financial sense, we do. Yet many are not convinced. “No, really, how often do you publish?” say the inquirers, as if it were the most unregulated they have ever heard.
As long as they feel like it
In any case, I’m glad to see that TV broadcasts are increasingly not playing by the rules either. The chapters in a novel are not uniform in length, so why should episodes be – especially since most shows are only streamed and many are just dumped after the season.
While people like Game of Thrones have been releasing movie-length episodes since the days of the X-Files, a new trend is also emerging for shorts. This means that stories can be told at the right pace without pressure to trim perfection or flesh out the everyday.
The underground railway (Amazon Prime; all 92 on Metacritic), a fantasy series based on the harsh realities of American slavery, has an episode that is only 20 minutes long (others are as long as 77); South Korea’s response to Battle Royale and The Hunger Games, Octopus game (Netflix since September 17; 80), has a timed to 32 (max: 63); and Nicole Kidman vehicle Nine perfect strangers (Apple; 53) has a range of 42-55 minutes.
Squid in, one of the best
Of these three, Squid Game is the safest bet. Although episode two was a bit strained and the conclusion too well signposted, the rest delivered some of the most exciting television this year so far.
Nine Perfect Strangers has its moments, but tops midway, not unlike LSD tours most of the characters are on. Although The Underground Railroad is one of those shows that is so well reviewed, you’re afraid it’s boring to expose yourself as a Philistine, even if you at least knew, unlike most Americans, that the railroad was metaphorical. … does not? Seriously, we thought that slavery was abundantly material enough, without the need for imagination.
Finally, like the Squid Game, the LA set series On the edge (released on September 6) was not criminally promoted by Netflix Denmark last month. Created by Julie Delpy in the lead role, who has shared perceptions since before the films, this feels like the most grounded comedy in eternity despite Tinseltown-related maneuvers of leads: four mothers whose oldest children are on their way to puberty. They are hard to like, but the situation is often so inspired, it’s hard not to laugh yourself silly.
Not bad, but a little frayed
Until October, we have a fair number of decent shows left, including Follow-up (S3; Oct. 18), Flosset (S2; 30 Sep.), Insecure (S5; TBC) and Slow down your enthusiasm (S11; TBC) on HBO Nordic soon HBO Max (from October 26); Baptiste (S2; October 14) about CMore and… is… we said decent. You (S3; October 15) returns to Netflix; and Was here (S2; TBC) and Love life (S2; TBC) to HBO – the latter with a new lead that only occasionally encounters the annoying Anna Kendrick character.
Of the new shows, miniseries Dr Death (Oct. 5, CMore; 75) and Stuepige (October 1; Netflix) looks too dull to be easy, Kevin Durant-inspired basketball series Swagger (October 29; Apple) inner city probably seems to have the necessary balls and apocalyptic pairing Invasion (October 22; Apple) and Bidet (October 21; CMore) for the shit to take seriously. ditto Chucky (October 31; CMore).
We are hopeful German series The Billion Dollar Code (October 7; Netflix) will deliver the true story of two IT specialists who had to go to court to get what was rightfully theirs as the inventors of the Google Earth algorithm. We tried to google for more information but …
So is Eva a paedo?
In the meantime, over to filmland, The last duel (61; Oct. 14) reunites Matt Damon and Ben Affleck as screenwriters 25 years after Good Will Hunting, with Affleck taking more of the back seat with acting as an eerie lookin count. Medieval French knights Damon and Adam Driver come to battle over Jodie Comer in this Ridley Scott hijacker. It looks a little ridiculous.
It’s smaller Shiva baby (79; October 7), which developed from a short story about a Jewish girl who ran into her sugar daddy at a funeral. It looks fun.
The lead in the musical Dear Evan Hansen (39; October 21), about a schoolgirl pretending to be the only friend of a classmate who kills herself is 28, but we decided not to dedicate an entire column to rant about how teenage boys feel inadequate by comparing their bodies with much older actors playing their age group. And to think that this movie is about teenage suicide.
But is it healthier than the fleet of grizzly films in the build-up to October 31: from Gift 2 and Halloween kills (both Oct. 14) to Run rabbit races and The light of the devil (Oct. 28)? We do not know, as horror producers rarely let critics watch their films in advance.
Finally, we know we must love the pastel palettes of author Wes Anderson, but there is always a fine line with him: between paradise (Rushmore, etc.) and purgatory (The Darjeeling Limited). The newspaper’s love letter The French dispatch (82; October 21), however, looks pretty tasty. It celebrates a year when the media really listened to its readers, unlike today where disbelief is the best we can hope for.
Source: The Nordic Page