I'm ready to talk about Squid Game
Hi All,
I hope you all had great weeks and have even better plans this weekend. I’ve already been up and out for a coffee and it was COLD outside today. It definitely feels like fall which I kind of love. I’m cracking out Gilmore Girls season five today and I’m excited.
I’m doing a massive organizing project right now of all my childhood things so I’m driving up to my cottage today to go through more boxes. It’s been a hard process that is steeped in nostalgia but I’ve successfully culled about 70% of my stuff. So I’m going to watch Rory fall in love with Logan as I sort through all my old books, magazines, and CDs.
I’ve got to hit the road, so let’s just jump right into it…
This week on the blog:
🦑 I finally finished Squid Game and I want to talk about it. It took me forever to get through it because I’ve been busy with MBA stuff, but actually, that’s what I want to talk about. Last week in class we looked at Disney as a case study and I’ve been having a lot of conversations about the media industry from a business point of view — so I’m talking about Squid Game and how it fits into the media business.
Things to watch this week:
CBC Gem has the Canadian premiere of Smoother, an Irish family thriller. If you love small-town murders, this is probably the show for you. It starts streaming today. Take a trip to Clare and watch the trailer here.
On Crave today, the documentary Oscar Peterson: Black + White premieres. I’m very excited about watching this one. It garnered a lot of buzz at TIFF and you all know how much I love anything Can-Con. This looks like the perfect cold Friday evening curl-up-with-a-smoky-cocktail watch. Check out the trailer here.
I know a lot of you love HBO’s Insecure and Curb Your Enthusiasm. Both have new seasons starting up on Sunday night. You can stream them on Crave.
Ahoy, yachties everywhere — Below Deck season nine is starting on Monday! Season eight got nominated for an Emmy so I’m expecting that same calibre to carry over into season nine. If you haven’t watched this show it’s a mustwatch. All the seasons are on Hayu and I am obsessed. I wrote a blog about it earlier in the year and created a ranking of all the previous crew members — the ranking is my top-performing blog ever. People LOVE this show. So climb aboard My Seanna.
On Tuesday, I’m getting back into The Bachelorette. I missed the first episode because I was expecting it on a Monday and didn’t see it on the calendar. It’s on TUESDAYS this season because Dancing With The Stars is on Mondays 🤦. It’s okay. I’ll catch up this weekend. This season the stunning and wonderful Michelle is our lead. She’s a teacher from Minnesota and was my true favourite last season. I’m excited. Accept this rose and watch her season preview here 🌹.
Other things to check out:
Let’s start off with some personal news… I was in the Toronto Star this week! For those of you who don’t know, I volunteer with Girl Guides of Canada and I am a media mentor for their youth spokesperson program. I helped organize a group of girls to talk about our new FireSongs campaign and it was a really fun afternoon. Lots of high fives to go around.
📺 I finally finished my rewatch of season one of One Tree Hill and conveniently this wonderful video of the three main girls came out this week too. Sophia Bush, Hilarie Burton, and Bethany Joy Lenz are doing a fabulous job with the podcast and their friendship is a joy to watch.
📺 I’ve been thinking a lot about the Gyllenhaals lately. Probably because I’ve been thinking a lot about a scarf at a sister’s house (IYKYK). Maggie Gyllenhaal’s directorial debut The Lost Daughter starring Queen Olivia Colman had its trailer drop and it’s fantastic. I can see this film getting a lot of buzz during awards season. I can’t wait to watch it, but unfortunately, I’ll have to wait until December 31st!
🎶 Adele is off on her press tour for her new song and album and I’m loving it. She did Vogue’s 73 questions and it’s great. I’m not always a fan of the format, because it feels too staged, but I am obsessed with her house. It is stunning. I’ve had her new song stuck in my head all week and I’m not complaining at all. Go easssssssssssy on me baby...
💍 We’ve got an engagement announcement! If you care at all you probably already know this but Kourtney Kardashian and Travis Barker are now engaged and this is a big deal within pop culture circles. I don't have a hot take on this other than I’m endlessly curious as to why this is a big deal? Happy for them but I don’t care. If you are following this development let me know. Get me up to speed as to why we care…
📰 In industry news, IATSE avoided a strike this week. There is a tentative deal, but a lot of union members are not thrilled with it. I’m keeping my eye on this.
📰 We’re also getting reports that Alec Baldwin fired a prop gun that killed Halyna Hutchins, the Director of Photography, and injured the Director on the set of the movie Rust. This is a tragic story. I cannot imagine what everyone on that set is feeling and I’m sure there will be ramifications. I’m seeing lots of conversations about safe sets and the use of prop guns on Twitter today. This is going to be an industry conversation for a while as more details come out.
🐾 To end on a lighter note, the New York Times has an explainer on Bones or No Bones days. Basically there is this geriatric pug on TikTok that determines what kind of day we’re all going to have. It’s a joy. Read that here.
As always, if you like reading my newsletter — it would really mean a lot if you could send this along to a friend. We’re going to grow this through word of mouth and I know you know cool people who would love this. So hit this button to help a girl out :)
Have a great weekend,
-Paula
📝📝📝 This newsletter was graciously edited by Emma Sakamoto 📝📝📝
Editors Pick: My favourite audiobook listen of last year was Naomi Novik’s Deadly Education, narrated by Anisha Dadia. I’m halfway through the recently released follow-up book, The Last Graduate, and it is just as good so far. Think magical school but with a heavy, heavy dose of dark academia. This Polygon article, about Novik’s interest in the economics of magic, is a great introduction to the series.