Yeah, I’m glad I’m not alone. I think…I think they were trying to get us to support Timmy Chamalet’s character(Marty). Uh…I hated that guy. He was terrible, pretty much an antagonist.
I do NOT get this movie…or I do and a lot of people did not.
Even Paltrow is mainly wasted. I don’t think she gave an interesting performance, but she wasn’t given much to do.
This is a very rare moment where I stand in total opposition to the critical reviews.
Not to mention Fran Drescher and Sandra Bernhard. Penn Jillette had more to work with.
This is what she will probably be doing in movies from now on. She is 53. Timothée Chalamet is 30. She was supposed to be a woman who was considerably older than the man she was having an affair with. She was supposed to still be sufficiently beautiful that you can imagine a much younger man wanting to sleep with her.
I thought it was a marginally O.K. film.
I think there have been 4 of us on this thread who’ve seen it, and we’re split 2-2.
It does raise an interesting question, as to whether it’s possible to make a “good” movie (ie, well-scripted, well-acted, well-directed) filled with nothing but unlikable characters.
Sure it is, but they shouldn’t rely on the sympathy of the viewer. Hateful Eight is the first to come to mind.
Is there anyone likeable in The Godfather? Fredo, Connie, and Kay are pitiable, but not particularly likeable. And the women are fairly minor characters in the story.
I always liked Sonny. 
Of course you can make a movie good where no one is likable. It’s happened tons of times.
Exactly. So there has to be more to the criticism of Marty Supreme, beyond “I hate all the characters.”
Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb 1964, directed by Stanley Kubrick and full of important actors of the time it was made.
Somehow it seemed appropriate to view this movie again. And no, it didn’t have a happy ending.
I think in this movie…they are trying to get us to care or sympathize with him. He’s a jerk. Do they think we won’t notice or care about that?
My take on Marty Supreme is that almost every character is horrible, and that the movie would have been better without the sports movie cliche where he wins the big game, and without the “redemption” when he goes to visit his child. That way, it could be seen as a straight comedy/satire about what people will resort to in order to achieve their goals.
In other words, I don’t think the audience is support to sympathize with Marty until the end, at which point the movie sabotages itself.
I have a few directors on my absolute watch list. I track all their new projects and try to check them out as soon as I can. Here they are and one movie from each to see if you choose one:
Robert Eggers - The Witch
Ari Aster - Hereditary
Panos Cosmatos - Mandy
Pascal Laugier - Incident in a Ghostland
Jennifer Kent - The Nightingale
Martin McDonagh - In Bruges
John Michael McDonagh - Calvary
Joko Anwar - Impetigore
Mike Flanagan - Doctor Sleep
Mamoru Hosoda - Wolf Children
Makoto Shinkai - Suzume
Alex Garland - Men
Oz Perkins - The Blackcoat’s Daughter
Continuing the march through Film Independent nominations: Best Feature nominee Train Dreams. I really loved this movie; definitely another slow cinema mood piece, and nearly perfect.
That would be my third choice of a movie to represent his work. (First Annihilation, then Ex Machina.)
My wife and I both really liked Wake Up Dead Man.
Excellent performances top to bottom. Daniel Craig’s Benoit Blanc felt much more like a real person than he did in the first two Knives Out films.
The whodunnit was… fine. Kept me interested and wondering how it would resolve, and I found the conclusion quite satisfying.
But what really sold it for me was the interplay between the priest (Josh O’Connor) and the disbeliever (Craig). Fantastic wriiting exploring the nature of religion, faith, and skepticism, brought home perfectly by two terrific actors.
The first two poked fun at entitled rich people - a fairly easy target. This one took a much more thoughtful and measured point of view, and actually made me feel something.
Interesting thoughts, thanks. For what it’s worth, it was my least favourite of the 3, although I can remember very little about the second one having only watched it when it came out, so maybe I should rewatch and see how it measures up. I do agree the chemistry between the two leads was good, although being a staunch atheist my eyes tend to glaze over at any discussion around religion.
Song Sung Blue Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson as a couple and leaders of a Neil Diamond tribute band, with many ups and downs.
I liked it, a lot. You don’t need to be a Neil Diamond fan – I can take him or leave him – to enjoy the many musical performances. (If you loathe him then maybe this isn’t the film for you) Both leads are excellent.
There are points when you think “this would be a good place to end”, but nope…”now, this would be a good place to end”…nope.
It’s not very true to the actual events.
Neither is The Sound of Music, but here we are.