Small Axe – Nothing else to say

Blitz (2024)

Call it a theory, but I am becoming more and more convinced that World War Two has been used as a backdrop for movies more than any other event in human history (perhaps because it occurred right around when movies really become a cultural phenomenon, not to mention the fact that Nazis never fail to make effective villains).

There have been so many of these movies that I have a timeline in my head (similar to the ones you would find about the MCU online) where certain stories (fictional or not) are being played, be it Dunkirk (2017), Saving Private Ryan (1998), Casablanca (1942), Grave of the Fireflies (1988), The King’s Speech (2010), Empire of the Sun (1987), Come and See (1985), JoJo Rabbit (2019), or Inglorious Basterds (2009) (the latter two being in an alternative universe). That does not even account for films about the Holocaust (which I would argue is a separate event).

The Small Axe Films (2020)

Since the mid-2010s, “binge watching” has become a thing of human nature.

TV series and mini-series have been gulped up faster than pizza at a teen sleep over, which has happened even more so in the last year with people spending more time at home due to COVID-19. While most binging seems to be associated with TV series (most notably reruns of “The Office”), some series undoubtedly have taken a more cinematic approach (this was what started with “The Sopranos” and one of the main reasons why it was so revolutionary.) While I have more than enough TV/mini series I have yet to catch up on (since I watch too many movies), I have yet to see the line get more blurred between mini-series and movies as I have after watching the five “episodes” of Small Axe.