So you wanna watch something…

Conversations with a Killer: The Jeffrey Dahmer Tapes: This is the third offering from the creators of ‘Conversations with a Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes’ and ‘The Wayne Gacy Tapes’. It features real, chilling audio clips and interviews between Jeffrey Dahmer and his defence team during his trial. Think of it as a documentary accompaniment to the fictional Netflix series ‘Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story’. The past series were wildly popular for being able to get into the mind of these seemingly insane killers. While there are no reviews as yet, we expect this one will do the same. Watch it if true crime is your thing. The three-episode docu-series dropped on Netflix today.

Mr Harrigan’s Phone: Since it is October, we can expect a long parade of horror flicks up until Halloween. This one is based on a Stephen King short story, ‘If It Bleeds’. The plot focuses on the relationship between a teenager who buys an iPhone for his reclusive billionaire buddy. The only problem: the said Mr Harrigan continues to text the young man long after his death. Also: the old man’s afterlife personality is a bit, umm, different.  

The flick has received strong reviews—and any movie starring Donald Sutherland deserves a second look. CNN says: “While it could easily get lost in the Halloween noise, this smart ‘Phone’ deserves an enthusiastic reception, with a message that comes through loud and clear.” The New York Times likes the chemistry between Craig and Harrigan, but warns this isn’t for fans for hardcore horror: it is “less a chiller than a diverting drama about technology with things that go bump in the night, along with some nicely apt ethical quandaries for Craig—and for us.” The movie released on Netflix on Wednesday.

Goodbye: This drama-comedy directed by Vikas Bahl follows a family dealing with grief after the sudden death of the household matriarch, Gayatri (Neena Gupta). As they make arrangements for her last rites, her husband (Amitabh Bachchan) and the two daughters reconcile their differences, heal past traumas and achieve closure. Yes, the plot is all-too-familiar, but the talent of the actors involved has the potential to make it a must-watch. Just the trailer got over four million views in 24 hours after being uploaded. The movie drops in theatres today. 

A list of good reads

• Positano, a coastal town in Italy, is the Instagram capital of the world thanks to its stunning views. But as Vox reveals, it is also a very unpleasant place to visit.
• The New Yorker has an excellent deep dive into the history of the CIA—and everything that is wrong with it today.
• The Wire lays out why the work of the winner of the Nobel prize for medicine—Swedish geneticist Svante Pääbo—offers uncomfortable truths for Hindutva groups trying to rewrite ancient Indian history.
• The Verge goes inside one of the world’s first human composting facilities. Yikes!
• Vogue reports on the hottest food trend among fashionistas: tinned fish. Double yikes!
• NPR has an offbeat art story of a Chinese artist who found an unusual way to raise awareness about the toxic pollution killing residents in a small city. It involves an old-fashioned pay phone. 
• ‘Ponniyin Selvan 1’ is based on an epic novel written by Tamil author Kalki. A historian in Indian Express looks at whether the fiction stays true to the facts about the Chola empire.
• Rapper Sumeet Samos in Roundtable India shares his experience of casteism at Oxford University.
• Good Housekeeping reports on the value of ‘biphasic sleep’—basically sleeping in two instalments, 3-4 hours at a time.
• Okay, we’re totally guilty of this one. Emily McCrary-Ruiz-Esparza in Lithub takes to task the ‘Amazing Generation’—who are draining language of meaning by overusing adjectives like, well, amazing. It is an amazing, if slightly older read, FYI;)