The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com Arts 4 — Wednesday, March 9, 2022 Read more at MichiganDaily.com I’M LEANING OVER MY friend’s shoulder in the middle of a party trying to help him guess the day’s “Wordle.” The music is loud and so are the people, but it’s been a long time since I’ve felt this locked into a task. Two of our friends are sitting next to us also trying to solve the puzzle, and it soon becomes a group effort until we land on the word. Do I remember what the word was? No. Do I remember all four of us exploding in cheers and clap- ping, briefly drawing the atten- tion of other partygoers? Yes. Do I recognize that it is strange to be so absorbed by a word puzzle game in the middle of a college party? Also yes. However, I don’t think many “Wordle” players would blame us. “Wordle,” the online word game that has captivated much of the world in recent months, was released in October 2021 by creator Josh Wardle, who origi- nally made the game for himself and his partner to play during the pandemic. “Wordle”’s game- play is fairly simple: Each day a new five-letter word is picked, and players have six tries to guess it. The puzzle is presented as a five-by-six-square grid; the game denotes wrong letters in gray, correct ones in the wrong place in yellow and correct ones in the right place in green. The game blew up around December 2021, and became an internet phenomenon as people began sharing their results in easy-to- share graphics online. In November 2021, “Wordle” had 90 players and by January, that number jumped to over 2 million. People have a tendency to love puzzle games — “Words With Friends,” “Candy Crush,” “Tetris” — but “Wordle” stands out and took off because you have six tries to guess the word, and whether or not one can guess it correctly, those six tries are all you have until the next word is released. It keeps players on the edge of their seats for the next puzzle, and since every player gets the same word, solving the game becomes something of a pride point for players online. It is good, wholesome fun in our pandemic landscape. Devoid of politics or opinions, “Wordle” is a perfect way for people to con- nect over a shared love of a free, simple word puzzle game (hence college students playing during a party). Then The New York Times bought “Wordle.” On Jan. 31, 2022, The New York Times acquired the game for some- where “in the low seven figures.” If you’re keeping up, that is at least one million dollars. The game will be part of The New York Times Games section, which is home to the publication’s daily crossword puzzle and the game “Spelling Bee.” The acquisition of “Wordle” is a part of The NYT’s quest toward “becoming the essential subscription for every English-speaking person seek- ing to understand and engage with the world.” In a Twitter statement, Josh Wardle referred to “Wordle”’s popularity and its upkeep as “overwhelming” and went on to call the purchase “very natural.” His excitement about the move and handing control to a larger team was pal- pable, so we should all be excited for him, right? Well, let me tell you, the after- noon of Jan. 31 on Twitter was insane. As I logged onto the app for probably the millionth time that day, I was met with “RIP Wordle” on the trending page. Most users worried that the game would be stuck behind The NYT’s notorious paywall. One Twitter user summed the predicament up pretty well: “ I have never seen twitter as imme- diately mad as it is rn about the NYT wordle buyout. the NYT took one nice and simple thing that a lot of people really liked, a dumb bit of fun in our exhaust- ingly dark times, and implied that they’ll stick it behind a pay- wall. exhausting.” Others used the opportunity to poke fun at the nature of capitalism, “rip wordle, there is nothing sacred to capitalism apparently.” Some turned the acquisition politi- cal: “NYT buying Wordle is the puzzle equivalent of an out-of- touch politician instantly kill- ing the appeal of a pop culture thing.” The cheekiest among us even brought back the classic millennial adage, “‘How mil- lennials killed Wordle’ -NYT op-ed tomorrow.” However, the humor seemed to be only a thin veneer masking a very real sense of anger over the acquisition of “Wordle.” ‘Wordle’ has a New York Times problem Design by Erin Ruark MADDIE AGNE Daily Arts Writer MRS. MAISEL (RACHEL Brosnahan, “I’m Your Woman”), affectionately known as Midge, is drunk, on the verge of a break- down and all-out spiraling after a man has completely upended her life; her impeccably put-together ensemble is only looking ever so slightly worse for wear. This is the pilot premise of “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”: a character at abso- lute rock bottom, who the audience inevitably falls in love with as her life falls apart. My question is: Why is this an equally accurate descrip- tion of the show’s season four pre- miere? The first three seasons of the critically acclaimed show have pro- gressed along steadily, the char- acter-driven plot hardly having a chance to catch its breath against the breakneck speed of creator Amy Sherman-Palladino’s (“Gilm- ore Girls”) witty and sharp dia- logue. To call it fast-paced is akin to saying Usain Bolt would fare well in a speed-walking contest. Fans of the show have come to expect this signature trademark of Palladino’s writing, so why has Palladino cho- sen this crucial moment in Midge’s trajectory to slow things down and go back to where it all started? From the downtown New York club circuit of season one, to Paris and the Catskills in season two, to a national tour in season three, the scope (and magnificent production design I might add) of the show has grown, each season building on the last, expanding in reach to give Midge the proper domain to flourish in her stage and familial presence. After closing out the last two seasons on career highs, Midge has been knocked down a rung on the ladder of success and finally faced some real consequences for the impulsivity and raw honesty of her act. We’ve regressed further than ever before, the parallels to the pilot washing over this season’s premiere: from familiar apartment sets to drunken impromptu stage takeovers and, of course, another arrest for her rap sheet. A silver lining to the whole blast- from-the-past act is the pure con- tradiction of Midge herself. She radiates an air of self-assuredness and confidence in her own capa- bilities so often reserved for male characters of incontestable genius that is so unbelievably refreshing to watch. At times, she can be infu- riatingly shallow and full of herself but, unlike her male counterparts, she’s likable. Brosnahan firmly grounds her character, makes her egoism more endearing than irk- some, her arrogance more attrac- tive than aggravating. You can’t help but root for her as she runs against the grain of a white man’s world of comedy. Even though Midge isn’t always self-aware, the show itself cer- tainly is. In a moment of laughable frustration, she vents to her tod- dler Esther, “It’s a fucking man’s world,” and in response to being told to “be the bigger man,” she says, “Well, I’m a woman so, fuck that.” Midge is headstrong and uncompromising in her beliefs; a well-seasoned pro has no time to spare in doubting her talent or questioning her decisions. Apart from the initial breakdown, Midge bounces back quick as ever and is fairly level-headed about moving forward after the near-collapse of her career. A true highlight of this premiere is the Wonder Wheel scene at Coney Island. Midge’s parents have rescheduled Ethan’s (Matteo Pas- cale, debut) birthday for their con- venience, to which Midge shows up unannounced to tell everyone she’s been fired. As per usual, Pal- ladino never fails to take advantage of an overlapping conversational scene between the entire family. A change of pace from the usual out- bursts at dinner or the synagogue, everyone is shouting and cutting each other off as the camera swift- ly hops from car to car to catch a glimpse of everyone’s reaction. It’s well-executed and a real testament to the show’s smart writing and innovative camera work. SERENA IRANI Daily Arts Contributor The titular protagonist of ‘The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel’ hits rock bottom… again ‘Kimi’ is frustratingly average IF YOU’VE EVER scrolled end- lessly through streaming service after streaming service, randomly picked a movie you’ve never heard of starring an actor or actress you recognize, mildly enjoyed it and then fallen asleep, you probably have a good idea of what “Kimi” is like. Steven Soderbergh’s (“Ocean’s Eleven”) newest film “Kimi” isn’t going to blow you away or draw you in for a second watch, but it also won’t leave you upset after spending 90 minutes watching it. “Kimi” is an HBO Max-exclu- sive, filmed and set during the pandemic. It stars Zoë Kravitz (“High Fidelity”) as Angela Childs, a worker for the tech corporation Amygdala. The titu- lar Kimi, Amygdala’s primary product, is an Alexa-esque smart speaker that uses human workers to correct the errors in its voice recognition software. Angela, who suffers from severe anxiety and an almost obsessive aversion to the outside world, discovers a recording of a woman’s murder. She is forced to go outside in order to bring the recording to the FBI, braving hitmen, streets full of pro- testers and corporate cover-ups. Kravitz carries much of the movie single-handedly. For most of the movie, Angela is the only character the audience gets to see directly, with everyone else obfuscated by video calls and glass windows. She makes Ange- la’s anxiety feel realistic, which gives the movie’s basic premise a solid foundation. Without her convincing portrayals of Angela’s panic attacks at the idea of going outside, this whole movie would have felt ridiculous. There is a noticeable shift in the camerawork once Angela leaves her apartment. The slow shots of her walking throughout her spa- cious loft that the movie started with are gone. We are now treated to shaking footage at angles that put Angela in the corner, small and scared of the world around her. The film has a sped-up qual- ity to it, zoomed out to make the camera appear to move faster than it actually is, as well as many quick cuts, making these scenes feel panicked and off-putting. These tricks work wonderfully the first couple of times they are used but become stale by the end of the movie. The movie ramps up tension for the first half, only to then plateau off toward the end. There is a level of artificiality to the tension of the movie. It is rife with coincidences that were clear- ly inserted to obtusely heighten the drama of early scenes. A pre- cariously placed glass falls just as Angela first discovers the murder; Angela’s boss calls her the moment after she discovers the identity of the woman on the recording; her shut-in neighbor walks up the moment Angela is brought back to her apartment drugged and about to be murdered. All of these coin- cidences might seem small, but as more and more start to build up, they become increasingly frus- trating. The movie is a very tight 90 minutes; the multitude of fluke occurrences feel out of place when compared to the well-planned chase scenes and anxiety-induc- ing setup. The movie is at its best when it leans on the paranoia Angela feels, especially after she leaves her apartment. Every step in her quest to uncover the murder she stumbled upon is met with doubt from the people she meets along the way. Her anxiety and discom- fort are telegraphed for everyone in the audience to see very clearly. While not subtle, it is nonetheless relatable to see a corporate high- er-up condescendingly talk down to Angela, pretending to listen when just trying to save their own skin. This aspect of the movie was the only one that really kept my attention and didn’t leave a nag- ging voice wanting substantially more. “Kimi” leaves you under- whelmed with the knowledge that you could have been given more. The filmmakers demonstrate that they know what they are doing, but at very key points, seem to have chosen the easy route. The movie doesn’t try to go above and beyond; instead, it settles as another enjoyably forgettable action thriller. Daily Arts Writer Zach Loveall can be reached at zloveall@umich. edu. ZACH LOVEALL Daily Arts Writer puzzle by sudokusnydictation.com By Stella Zawistowski ©2022 Tribune Content Agency, LLC 03/09/22 Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis 03/09/22 ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE: Release Date: Wednesday, March 9, 2022 ACROSS 1 Expand, as bread dough 5 Lift option 13 Responsibility 14 It borders It. 15 Crown-wearing literary elephant 16 Work out like a hairdresser? 19 Time worth naming 20 Late time, in ads 21 Bills worth a hundo 22 Enjoy a La-Z-Boy interjections 25 A lot, to Auden 26 Mother of life, in Greek myth 27 Needing to be settled 30 Work out like a bartender? 35 Evidence of shortages, for short 36 Catch, as a flick 37 __ menu 38 Work out like a fine artist? 43 Good buddy 44 Little winged singer 45 Slice (off) 46 Crew implement 47 Top-flight 51 Training song in 55 Protagonist of novels 56 Exec with the purse strings 57 Work out like a stockbroker? 60 Be worthy of counterparts 62 Destine for failure 63 Partner of ends 64 Avonlea adoptee 65 Numero dopo le sette DOWN 1 Rodeo performer 2 Accustom (to) 3 Component of the spice blend 4 Medium ability 5 Take advantage of 6 Raised landform 7 Tennis immortal 8 U.S. __ 1, East Coast hwy. 9 Saintly symbol 10 Share a border with 11 Tinseled fabric 12 Half of seis 15 Literally, “tray 17 Bring together 18 Parental control option 23 Much, casually 24 Relaxed 27 Gregorius of the Phillies 28 Either of two Monopoly properties that Abbr. 29 Ballpark figs. 30 Have trouble with 31 Where much of “Children of the 32 Coal, for one 33 Arena worker 34 Harvests 39 Like many a Broadway musical 40 Bingham of 41 Conic section 42 Canapé base, often 47 Sing like Michael Bublé 48 Slide (over) 49 Otherwise 50 “Fun Fearless 51 Company message 52 Cut 54 Centenarian fashion icon Apfel 55 Fork-tailed flier 58 Relaxing resort 59 Courtroom affirmation SUDOKU WHISPER “Spring break is too short.” “I need a full break.” WHISPER By Judy Hughes ©2022 Tribune Content Agency, LLC 02/23/22 Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis 02/23/22 ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE: Release Date: Wednesday, February 23, 2022 ACROSS 15 Slippery DOWN 29 Prep Read more at MichiganDaily.com