Critics react to Taika Waititi's latest

And a way too early Best Picture prediction

What to know

• Taika Waititi’s Next Goal Wins greeted with OK reviews… After Jojo Rabbit, there’s been a fair amount of hype around Waititi’s next non-Thor movie — and after 3+ years, it turns out the film is just fine. It sounds like it’s a straightforward sports comedy, and while competent, not anything special. Don’t get me wrong, I’m still going to see it, but maybe the hopes of Taika becoming some game-changing, mutli-award winning master filmmaker should be put to bed. ⚽️

• Frontier cable gave up on selling TV service and is doing just fine… Here’s a real arbiter of things to come. Frontier, one of the smaller broadband companies, abandoned its cable TV product to instead focus on selling internet and marketing YouTube TV. The results have been good, according to them. This is further proof cable TV is on the way out in the short term, but this quote from Frontier’s CEO is really interesting, “If you go 30 years out, there may be a full loop where we’re going to re-bundle stuff.” He’s suggesting that down the line, the cable companies could sell packaged streaming video services and internet service — putting us right back where we started. 📺

• Disney and Charter make a deal, but drop some channels… The two companies returned from the brink, but not without some collateral. While ABC and ESPN are back on Charter TV services, Freeform, Disney Jr., FXX, FXM, and some others are not coming back. Which I’m sure will upset some viewers, but then again a lot of that programming is available on streaming. And why should cable subscribers pay for channels they don’t watch? Maybe this is another crack in the wall of the cable TV package. 🐭

• Drew Barrymore defends bringing talk show back, writers picket studio… A big part of the guilds’ power right now is stopping promotion of studio projects. Talk shows are a primary vehicle for that promotion and if the other shows follow Drew’s lead, well that could delay any resolution. 🪧

• Netflix’s bet on Adam Sandler keeps paying off… This has to be one of the most mutually beneficial deals in Hollywood. Sandler gets to keep making comedies (that sadly don’t work well in theaters anymore), occasional quality dramas (like Hustle) and Netflix gets star-driven content that audiences seem to really like. Mazel tov! 🍿

• Poor Things wins Golden Lion at Venice Film Festival… Here’s my way too early Oscars prediction: Poor Things is going to win Best Picture and the Christopher Nolan and Martin Scorsese fanboys riding hard for Oppenheimer and Killers of the Flower Moon are going to be furious. 🦁

• WB drops Aquaman 2 teaser as fans ask “where’s the marketing?”… All the marketing in the world won’t save WB’s latest doomed comic book movie, but at least people will stop creating conspiracy theories now. 🌊

• Neil Diamond jukebox musical sees attendance boost with new matinee… I wonder if more Broadway shows will try the Thursday matinee idea. 🎭

• Barbie hits on demand tomorrow… Just a quick reminder if you’re among the dozens of people who didn’t see it. 💄

• The Nun II takes number one with $32.6M box office… Horror movies, they make money. ✝️

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What’s new

• The Other Black Girl — Sept 13 | Hulu dramedy thriller series

• A Haunting In Venice — Sept 15 | Gothic mystery film in theaters | Ⓜ️ 61

• Returning: Welcome to Wrexham s2, The Morning Show s3,

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What to watch

Be it Nikes, Beanie Babies, or Cheetos, we’ve had a glut of product and brand movies recently. With the exception of Barbie, BlackBerry is the best one. Maybe because it’s brutally honest about the brand and the product therein. Writer-director Matt Johnson and his co-writer-producer Matthew Miller, give a warts and all portrayal of the rise and fall of the early ‘00s’ signature piece of technology. Without spoilers, it’s a truly wild roller coaster that includes both the Cinderella-esque ascension and the Ikarus-ian downfall of the BlackBerry — one made all the richer if you don’t know every detail of the story going in. Johnson and Miller infuse their film with a heaping dose of dark humor and a voyeuristic, ground level photography style that evokes the best of this genre, namely The Social Network. (It also made me reflect fondly on Halt and Catch Fire, which is the perfect companion series to this.) Jay Baruchel is fantastic as the studied, thoroughly Canadian, Faustian hero Mike Lazaridis, and It’s Always Sunny’s Glenn Howerton disappears into the role of the brash and ballsy Jim Balsillie. While both actors show they have immense talents far beyond their comedy work of the past, Howerton proves he might be one of this generation’s greats. He’s that good and needs to be in more dramas ASAP. Currently just $4 on demand, you won’t go wrong firing up BlackBerry.

For all past ‘what to watch’ recommendations, see the full list here!