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I don’t want to jinx it but I think Defending Jacob can surprise. If it ends up critically liked (y’know like 80s on RT and 70s on MC) then Apple’s money alone could push it over the edge. We’ve seen it happen with how Nat Geo got Genius into Limited Series the first time despite a competitive field. (I won’t mention Genius’ other series nomination as that was a dead year.) If this year in any way weakens by some of the other contenders flopping I could definitely see Defending Jacob surprising.
ReplyCopy URLMakes no sense. Why can’t FX air it then?
To add to the other reponses.
Declining linear ratings on basic cable. FX scripted series declined 25% from 2018 to 2019 per article at THR. TNT/TBS (Search Party, Raised by Wolves for HBO Max), USA/SyFy (Brave New World for Peacock) are doing the same thing more or less, they just dont have the snazzy FX on Hulu branding.
ReplyCopy URLI picked Little Fires Everywhere just because I thought the trailer looked bad. Like trying so hard to be Big Little Lies but not getting there.
But that could just be how they’re marketing it (obviously going after similar audiences) so if it’s getting good reviews then I’ll keep my fingers crossed. I read the EW blurb though on metacritic, and they actually cite the teen storyline as the highlight and mentions those actors before Witherspoon or Washington, so interested to see how that plays out.
ReplyCopy URLThe Eddy got 80 from The Hollywood Reporter and 4/5 stars from The Times, but 50 from Variety:
Chazelle’s opening chapters were shot on 16mm film by Olivier Assayas collaborator Eric Gautier, using a jumpy handheld aesthetic that’s as deeply indebted to John Cassavetes as it is to the French New Wave. It’s improvisational, the way that jazz is, swishing from one corner of the frame to the other to document the energy of music as it’s being made, and the result doesn’t look like TV so much as the raw footage from some work-in-progress concert doc. That said, English screenwriter Jack Thorne is a veteran of the medium, and his job is to thread a handful of banal soap-opera-like storylines between the show’s live music performances.
Those who swooned for La La Land may be slightly less charmed, as The Eddy feels like the opposite of that musical fantasy: It’s gritty and giddy and in no way inclined to provide the sort of Technicolor view of Paris that he previously paid to the City of Angels. We glimpse the Eiffel Tower just once, far in the distance. And when Julie hits what we hope is rock bottom, she winds up scouring rough parks for cocaine, not contemplating suicide on one of the city’s more scenic bridges. That would be romantic. This isn’t.
ReplyCopy URLThe raggedly structured episodes run more than an hour apiece, mostly because the editors can’t live without the jazz, though audiences won’t be as patient. The Eddy is told in broken Frenglish, as characters communicate in a mix of two languages, butchering both in the process. The show seems equally divided between whether it wants to be a live chronicle of Ballard’s music or a boilerplate father-daughter reconciliation tale, spiced up with exotic locations and a soupcon of criminal intrigue. For a record of Ballard’s music, buy the record. For the rest, future episodes will have to put the characters first.
Little Fires Everywhere so far:
Very Positive from Entertainment Weekly
Very Positive from Paste Magazine
Very Positive from Den of Geek
Mixed from The Hollywood Reporter
Mixed to Negative from Variety
I will be intrigued to see how these even out as the day goes on. The THR review is the concern for me and hints the most at flop. I’d be concerned about the Variety review normally but Daniel D’Addario has only given one 80 or above review on Metacritic since October and it was Katy Keene of all things.
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