Wes Anderson, the director behind The Grand Budapest Hotel and, more recently, Asteroid City, adapted four short stories by Roald Dahl for Netflix: “The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar,” “The Swan,” “The Rat Catcher,” and “Poison.” These films feature a troupe of famous faces, including Benedict Cumberbatch, Sir Ben Kingsley, Ralph Fiennes, Dev Patel, Rupert Friend, and Richard Ayoade. In this episode, Greg, P.T., and I unpack their meaning, consider them in the context of both Wes Anderson’s filmography and Roald Dahl’s biography, share our favorites, and contemplate the Netflix of it all.

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Movie News Check-In: A strike setback and the Taylor Swift takeover. 3:50

The Short Take: Our general impressions of the set of four films (spoiler-free). 16:31

The Recommendation Algorithm: Who should see these shorts? What do they have to offer non-“Wessies”? 23:30

SPOILER MODE 31:04

Our Rankings: We count down from 4 to 1, working towards our favorites. Who will zig and who will zag with their picks? 1:06:32

The Rhetorical Situation: A discussion of Netflix, the streaming experience, medium as the method of transmission, and what message we might find in the mediums used by these short films. 1:45:41

Oscars Watch Will one of these get nominated in the short film category? Could that end Wes Anderson’s losing streak at the Oscars? Would we even want that? And how much research did P.T. do on the history of short films at the Oscars? 1:58:14

Image Credit: LA Times

The Long Take Review hopes to highlight the value of the work done by the actors on strike. If listeners would like to support SAG-AFTRA, we encourage them to make a donation to the Entertainment Community Fund.

Intro and outro music is “Divers,” by Hara Noda. All music licensed through Epidemic Sound.

Logo art: Illustration 73265080 © Worldofvector | Dreamstime.com

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