✅ Should you try the one-minute rule?

Happy Wednesday! It’s October 18 — people are talking about Wes Anderson’s new short films, the “one-minute rule”, and more.

As always, we’ve summarized and organized the different shades of perspective, so you can see the big picture quickly. Here at Shades we believe that seeing multiple points of view is the best way to stay informed.

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🎬 In the news: Wes Anderson’s new short films

Wes Anderson released a series of short films on Netflix adapted from Roald Dahl stories, including "The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar". Are they worth a watch?

🎬 Polygon thought Anderson added serious depth to the Dahl works — the stories are beautifully nested. Definitely start with “Henry Sugar”.

🎬 The Guardian disagreed, giving them a collective 3/5 stars. They’re a bit two-dimensional and flimsy — the stories would've been better as a two-hour film.

🎬 But Roger Ebert loved them, giving them a collective 4/4 stars. Every frame is perfect, there's not a dull moment in the entire story, and the acting is superb.

🎬 CNBCTV18 said it's a charming and whimsical story, and worth a watch. The only criticism is that there are no women in it, which is a huge bummer.

🎬 Vulture recommends watching all the shorts together. Start with "Henry Sugar", then "The Swan", then "The Rat Catcher", and finally "Poison". It's a journey from optimism to complete cynicism — you'll love it.

✅ Cultural trend: The one-minute rule

The one-minute rule says that if a task takes one minute or less, you should do it immediately. Is it legit?

✅ Vogue says the productivity hack helps you painlessly stay on top of household chores. It’s a stress-free way to prevent the little things from piling up.

✅ Today is a believer too: The rule is a great productivity hack because it makes mundane tasks less anxiety-inducing, and prevents procrastination.

✅ But Buzzfeed thinks committing to the one-minute rule is intimidating initially. The author said they dreaded small tasks eating up their “me” time.

✅ And this Redditor on r/ZenHabits had a word of warning: The one-minute rule enables people to procrastinate on tasks that take longer than 60 seconds.

Quick hits

⚫ Hundreds were killed at a Gaza hospital. The local health ministry blamed an Israeli airstrike, while Israel blamed a misfired Hamas rocket. (AP News)

🏀 The Rockets traded Kevin Porter Jr. to the Thunder after he was charged with assaulting his girlfriend. The Thunder immediately waived him. (NY Post)

⛰ 3-year-old Journey Castillo has visited all 63 US national parks, becoming what her parents believe is the youngest person ever to do so. (The Guardian)

🇨🇳 Putin and Xi met up during the Belt and Road Forum in Beijing. Putin called Xi a “dear friend”. (Reuters)

That’s it for today. Reply to [email protected] with any feedback, or ideas for tomorrow’s topics!

- Jeff (co-founder of Shades)