Welcome to Close All Tabs, a weekly newsletter where we collate the best bits of screen culture from around the Internet. In other words, we’re online 24/7 so you don’t have to be. Mwah!
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I respect the ‘throwing my cellular device in the water’ community but unfortunately it ain’t me, has never been me, and could not be me. On the bright side, more tabs!
7 Lupin tabs
Among Lupin star Omar Sy’s many talents are: a) being French, b) being suave, and c) being the tallest person to both exist and exist inconspicuously. I have no idea what the word ‘inconspicuous’ means because at any given occasion you can find me talking at 100dB, but I do know a thing or two about being French — or wanting to be French, if I’m gonna be honest to my 15-year-old Amelie-watching, beret-wearing ass (yes, I was the titular Emily in Paris except Paris was a high-school French class). Apparently, I’m not alone:
Everyone is speaking French, pretending to be French, and learning French after watching Part 2 of this show about our favourite French burglar. Everyone is…in their French era.
Part 2 of Lupin — or really lüoú-PÃHN — also includes an extremely small dog who is now vying for the title of cutest French dog.
Sadly, Monsieur Dog is up against his fellow Frenchman from Call My Agent. Behold, chien vs. chien:
Or is a deeper tale/tail at play here…?
Speaking of tales, this breakdown from Time offers a great, quick refresher into the literary origins behind Lupin — based on the Arsène Lupin, the long-storied French burglar who’s half-Robin Hood, half-Sherlock. It also explains just how intricately Arséne Lupin is weaved into the show itself — with both Lupin’s creators and its characters inspired by the classic French character.
And over at the New Yorker, Lauren Collins goes long on the ineffable charm of Omar Sy, who, she writes, is “literally the second most popular man in France, according to an annual poll”. The profile unpicks both the origins and meteroric rise of that fame, from his French breakout in Intouchables to his Hollywood work. “It’s a little bit spiritual,” Sy says of his acting process, which involves revealing a personal secret to each of his characters to establish trust. When Collins asks for an example: “I can’t tell you. It’s a secret!”
3 Wish Dragon tabs
Executive produced by Jackie Chan, Wish Dragon is a spin on the classic genie-in-the-bottle story based on Chinese lore, following a dragon who offers a hapless student three wishes as they embark on the journey of a lifetime across Shanghai. It’s ultra-stylised in its animation, it’s very nice to look at, and it’s also now vying with Shrek for…uh…hottest dragon.
The pink body speaks for itself. Miss Dragon is serving! Anyway, John Cho, who voices said dragon, also spoke to EW about his recent run of Asian animated projects, including Over The Moon and an English dub on Oscar-nominated anime Mirai. “All my work has been informed by what I saw as a kid and my desire to please myself,” he says. “In some ways the animation stuff would be for my kids, but also myself as a kid.”
On The Big Film Buffet last week, we chatted all things Wish Dragon. I also got to ask the age-old question: is Aladdin Chinese???? Everyone’s saying it!
1 Awake tab
This no-context spoiler. Watch to find out what this means (NOT clickbait).
Okay, 1 more tab
Deleting the dating apps to meet someone the old fashion way (by refusing to close all my tabs and posting about spending all my time manically sharing tweets about Richard Linklater)
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