'Squid Game' creator plots even more violent project
'Squid Game' creator plots even more violent project
And the Slap saga ends... for now
What to know
Will Smith resigns from the Academy… And so ends the Slap saga — for now. It makes sense Smith would resign to save face as the Academy was considering expulsion as a possible punishment. (You can’t fire me, I quit!) For what it’s worth, I don’t think Smith deserved to be booted from the Academy, a multi-year suspension would have sufficed. Now let’s never mention the slap again. 🏆
The Grammys barely top last year’s record-low ratings… The Grammys were last night and were an absolute blast, proving once again why they’re the most entertaining of the 4 major award shows. (My official ranking is Grammys, Tonys, Emmys, Oscars.) The high energy show, despite the low ratings, made last week’s messy Oscars look even worse in retrospect. Awards of note: The Unofficial Bridgerton Musical took the award for musical theater (a first for music originating on TikTok) and Louis C.K. won best comedy album (yikes). 🎸
Pete Davidson raps about wanting short movies in SNL sketch… This! Kudos to Davidson and SNL for finding some truly relatable material and being self-aware enough to remember that The King of Staten Island was hardly a short-ass movie. Netflix has answered Davidson’s call by creating a “short-ass movies” category in app. 🕰
Station Eleven’s Patrick Sommerville and Emily St. John Mandel are teaming up to bring two more of her novels to HBO Max… Hell yes! This is the best news of the day. Anything that gets us close to the magic of Station Eleven once more should be celebrated and hotly anticipated. 👏
Squid Game director Hwang Dong-hyuk preps Killing Old People Club feature… What’s next for the creator of the world’s biggest TV show? An even more violent feature film. The man has no fear of controversy! He also added that he’s heading home to write season two of Squid Game and hopes to premiere it in 2024. 🦑
Harrison Ford joins Jason Segel in Apple show from Segel, Bill Lawrence, and Brett Goldstein… An intriguing project just got intriguinger! 🍎
Fallon and Kimmel swap shows for April Fools’… Be honest, how many viewers do you think actually noticed? 🤔
What’s new
Tony Hawk: Until the Wheels Fall Off — Apr 5 | HBO Max documentary | 🍅 100%
Tokyo Vice — Apr 7 | HBO Max drama series | 🍅 80%
Sonic the Hedgehog 2 — Apr 8 | Video game movie in theaters | 🍅 65%
Everything Everywhere All at Once — Apr 8 | Sci-fi comedy indie in theaters | 🍅96%
Ambulance — Apr 8 | Action movie in theaters | 🍅 70%
What to watch
TV Trailer: Pistol — May 31 on FX/Hulu
Directed by Danny Boyle, created by Craig Pearce, starring Toby Wallace, Anson Boon, Louis Partridge, Jacob Slater, Christian Lees, Dylan Llewellyn, Sydney Chandler, Emma Appleton, Alexander Arnold, Maisie Williams, Thomas Brodie-Sangster, Talulah Riley, and Iris Law.
This is an extremely brief teaser, but there’s a lot to be excited about just based on this spot. One, Danny Boyle is reaching back into his roots and bringing a real distinct, raw vibe to this series. Its aesthetic is kind of reminding me of Winning Time actually, which employs a similar lo-fi ‘70s vibe. I wasn’t all that impressed with Danny Boyle’s previous collaboration with FX (Trust), but this short spot has more energy than most of that series so that’s making me optimistic. Almost all of this cast are unknowns to me, which can work in the series’ favor as it aims for immersion — and it will be nice to see Maisie Williams and Thomas Brodie-Sangster along for the ride. Can’t wait to see what Boyle and FX have cooked up here.
For all past ‘what to watch’ recommendations, see the full list here!