|
  The above two posters are the only official posters for the movie, despite what social media might have you believe. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=63k6AfvLsso The newest movie from director Luca Guadagnino—best known for his Desire trilogy: I Am Love (2009), A Bigger Splash (2015), and Call Me by Your Name (2017)—this movie once again features an intense story of romance and sex. It's written by novelist and YouTuber Justin Kuritzkes in his first screenplay. The score is by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, who worked together on the scores for The Social Network and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, and, of course, various Nine Inch Nails albums. Unfolding as a series of flashbacks interspersed throughout a psychologically-crucial tennis match between the two male leads, Art (Mike Faist) and Patrick (Josh O'Connor), the film traces the romantic competition the one-time best friends waged over Tashi (Zendaya), a former tennis prodigy sidelined by an injury, now married to and coaching Art. Heavy-handed with the parallels between the on-court and off-court action, the movie is stylish, playful, and sensual. You don't so much invest in the characters as enjoy them, watching these sexy people frustratedly bounce off each other. I greatly enjoyed this. I might question whether it needed to be quite so long or whether Zendaya has the gravitas for the fully-adult version of her character, but these are minor nitpicks of a highly-entertaining movie, particularly one that nails the ending as well as this one does. Glad I caught it in the theater, where you can feel the pounding score, and the large format is put to good use whether it's whipping through the tennis matches or lustfully capturing the stars' faces and bodies.
|
#
?
Apr 30, 2024 02:16
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 22, 2024 16:20 |
|
|
I only learned in the credits that this was NIN. Amazing score, the audience had it in their bones.
|
|
#
?
Apr 30, 2024 02:26
|
|
|
Sir Kodiak posted:
Didn't realise they were showing this in IMAX, how big must those incredibly sweaty calves be? Agree that it's great, the ending is perfect, and that some aspects of Zendaya's performance were a minor weak point. She's great with other people and is such a good casting choice (it's really important that we buy her character as being massively desirable and successful) that I could get over her not being great on her own (thinking of the scene by the tree where she's sad about her injury in particular). A better performance than Dune 2 from her IMO. Really impressive make-up and styling work as well to make the aging up and down work as well as it does.
|
|
#
?
Apr 30, 2024 12:29
|
|
|
I left the theatre convinced that tennis players are the sexiest people alive and wanting to start playing again.
|
|
#
?
Apr 30, 2024 12:30
|
|
|
distortion park posted:I left the theatre convinced that tennis players are the sexiest people alive and wanting to start playing again.
|
|
#
?
Apr 30, 2024 23:36
|
|
|
Just saw this one today on a recommendation, and it was leagues better than what the trailer led me to believe. Intensely psychological, framing the story around this final matchup between two men with so much complex history is such a cool way of giving what is meant to be this low stakes game a high pressure emotional atmosphere. If you're reading this thread to see if you should give it a shot, I say go for it. The tragic story of two bisexual men being led astray by heterosexuality...
|
|
#
?
Apr 30, 2024 23:41
|
|
|
Cool movie, I liked it a lot. Kind of a chopped-and-screwed The Red Shoes. Josh O’Conner rules, it was neat seeing this only a couple weeks after La Chimera, which he’s also great in. Only complaint: the choral song that plays when Tashi and Patrick are screwing the night before is one of my favorites, and I’m not sure I want it associated with this lol.
|
|
#
?
May 1, 2024 05:33
|
|
|
I loved it, but it's funny how much of my cinema was just there for the gay stuff. Lots of nervous laughter and energy from the crowd during the scenes with the two guys, particularly during the first act, but then increasing (audible!) frustration as the film went on. Some people got actively mad during the last ten minutes, during the tie breaker parts but I dunno if that's because they felt the film was dragging it out or because they just didn't understand the rules of tennis. I loved it though. Tea Party Crasher posted:The tragic story of two bisexual men being led astray by heterosexuality... Hmm. I get this is a joke post but it does remind me of a thought I had -- Is Josh O'Connor's character out to himself, or is he just cruising dudes (as well as women) on the app because he's homeless and isn't going to be picky about what he needs to do to get some sleep for that night? The loooong hesitation over his only match up with that dude was ambigious.
|
|
#
?
May 1, 2024 07:43
|
|
|
Open Source Idiom posted:
I get what you mean, and I thought about that possibility too because we do learn later that he's trying to sleep his way into shelter, but I think it's possible that they just wanted to give us a beat to notice him swiping on a dude in order to add some weight to the two of them making out in the flashback. You can interpret it either way, and I think each interpretation gives Patrick some depth so I'm all here for the ambiguity. What I got from the climax though, to speak genuinely, is that this is really the story of two men who fall out of love with each other because of the energy and drivenness of a intense woman who could draw something greater out of them. There's a moment in The hotel room where Tashi likens true tennis to speaking honestly and transparently with each other, that being "true" tennis. Then we have about 13 years of these men's lives where they are consumed by tennis on the macro scale, the money, the fame, their image and their desire from validation from someone they both respect. It leads them astray and the skill they both have flags for it. It's only at the end, when Peter signals to Art about the affair through the serve, that they enter true and honest conversation through the game and have a intense, spectacular rally that impresses everyone in attendance and brings them together in embrace. They tear down that artificial wall between them That was built up by all the "fake" parts of tennis and seem to experience almost euphoric catharsis. I think that's why Tashi gets excited at the end and screams, because she's witnessed these two men who she knew loved each other (platonically or romantically, either way) finally meet each other in the middle and play the game in the honest and beautiful way that she respects and craves. Personally, being of the bisexual persuasion myself I want to read in a romantic lens, but I think it works platonically too.
|
|
#
?
May 1, 2024 18:02
|
|
|
Tea Party Crasher posted:
No, I absolutely read their dynamic as romantic too (and sexual). I just wonder whether it's a story of two bi men, in the sense that I don't know if either of them identify as bi. I guess I'm considering through the same lens as straight men who sleep with men, if you're familiar with the concept. Do you reckon Tashi was playing them both, manoeuvring them to that final position in the script? That's the vibe I got. She says early on that she doesn't consider herself a homewrecker and then absolutely becomes one, and I reckon part of her motivation at the end is to bring these two guys back together (for her sake as much as anyone's, let's be honest). It's her version of coaching, and a more elaborate version of setting up that make-out in the bedroom early on. I absolutely see an ending to this drama where the three all stabilise around each other to some degree, with Tashi less the ball bouncing between them and more the one calling the shots.
|
|
#
?
May 1, 2024 18:32
|
|
|
Open Source Idiom posted:
I'm familiar with the concept you are talking about, though the idea of it makes no sense to me personally lol. It is a phenomenon though and it is possible here. As far as Tashi puppet mastering them into this position, that's an interesting question. My gut reflex was no, but then I thought about it more and realized that she could have motivated Art in so many different ways besides entering him into the Rochelle Challenger. Surely if she was just trying to soothe his mind she would do the research to make sure he doesn't end up squaring off with his old friend and the man she had an affair with. We see that she keeps abreast with everything going on in the world of tennis so she would probably have a bead on Peter and his movements in the scene. Plus, the other day, my mom was talking to me about the movie and she asked why in the beginning she altered that ad copy to say "challengers", My theory was that she didn't like being composited into being a part of her husband's career and that she wanted to be considered a challenger too. But maybe that moment is us seeing her get the idea to spark them off of each other.
|
|
#
?
May 1, 2024 18:44
|
|
|
Tea Party Crasher posted:I'm familiar with the concept you are talking about, though the idea of it makes no sense to me personally lol. It is a phenomenon though and it is possible here. I was wondering if that was where the film was going since the makeout scene, but the bit that really set it off for me were the flashbacks to the night before the New Rochelle final. Tashi tells Art that she'll leave him if he loses, but then tells Josh O'Connor that he needs to lose. She'd never do that, she loves tennis too much. She'd never ask someone to throw a match. So yeah, in my head she's playing them both. She's forcing Art to ante up by removing his safety net, which is obvious enough, but with Josh O'Connor she's deliberately giving him something to play for i.e. that he'll have a shot at "winning" her because that's the way he thinks. And then she fucks him to seal the deal. But she's the one in charge, and in her world these "dumb white boys" are just there to give her something to get off to -- on or off the court.
|
|
#
?
May 1, 2024 18:55
|
|
|
Honestly you've convinced me, that makes perfect sense
|
|
#
?
May 1, 2024 19:07
|
|
|
I don't think she was manipulating them as far as intending the final match to play out like that, with Art telling Patrick about the affair - it's not 100% clear that she even realised he had told him at the end. I'm not sure she would be that bothered about him knowing though, my interpretation is that she was just super into these two guys giving absolutely everything they had to the game, wanting something with their entire beings. that final shot of her is the closest we get to an orgasm in a whole movie suffused with sex.
|
|
#
?
May 1, 2024 19:19
|
|
|
Tea Party Crasher posted:Plus, the other day, my mom was talking to me about the movie and she asked why in the beginning she altered that ad copy to say "challengers", My theory was that she didn't like being composited into being a part of her husband's career and that she wanted to be considered a challenger too. But maybe that moment is us seeing her get the idea to spark them off of each other. To nitpick, I think she modifies "game changer" to say "game changers." The word "challenger" isn't in the ad. Anyways, yeah, my read is that she wants to be considered a game changer herself, not someone secondary to her husband. I see that desire as being part of why she pushes Art so hard, so that his success on the court can be her creation. Patrick gets that and it's part of his sales pitch to her to be his coach: if she takes him to the top his success will obviously be because of her. The ad may or may not have inspired what she did, but her desire to be dominant is relevant to both the modification she makes to the ad and the game she plays with the boys.
|
|
#
?
May 1, 2024 20:55
|
|
|
I really enjoyed this NYT article. Someone shared the link on Twitter so apologies if it hits a paywall.
|
|
#
?
May 7, 2024 01:29
|
|
|
Really enjoyed this movie! I wish I never saw a single trailer for it though, the marketing definitely felt a bit misleading. But once you settle down and take your time with it, it was pretty drat good and stylish.
|
|
#
?
May 16, 2024 20:10
|
|
|
Some of the best fujoshi rep I've seen on the silver screen.
|
|
#
?
May 19, 2024 18:58
|
|
|
I have a few minor quibbles with this in that it doesn't really make much sense that Tashi would be super famous as just a really good college player who got hurt before she could make the pros even if she was married to another pro. They also super duper telegraphed the center of the racquet moment at the end of the movie. I enojyed it other than that.
mcmagic fucked around with this message at 04:09 on May 20, 2024 |
|
#
?
May 20, 2024 04:07
|
|
|
mcmagic posted:I have a few minor quibbles with this in that it doesn't really make much sense that Tashi would be super famous as just a really good college player who got hurt before she could make the pros even if she was married to another pro. They also super duper telegraphed the center of the racquet moment at the end of the movie. I enojyed it other than that. My read was that she was aggressive in using her control of her husband's publicity to keep herself in the spotlight beyond what she'd normally get out of being married to / coaching a star player. Her changing the car advertisement to reading "Game Changers" from "Game Changer" speaks to this, I think. The car manufacturer / advertising company didn't think she was as notable as Art, only she did. But, yeah, to an extent the movie is taking advantage of the fact that the role is being played by Zendaya. You could definitely see the center of the racquet callback coming from a mile away, but it worked for me in the moment.
|
|
#
?
May 20, 2024 04:23
|
|
|
Sir Kodiak posted:My read was that she was aggressive in using her control of her husband's publicity to keep herself in the spotlight beyond what she'd normally get out of being married to / coaching a star player. Her changing the car advertisement to reading "Game Changers" from "Game Changer" speaks to this, I think. The car manufacturer / advertising company didn't think she was as notable as Art, only she did. But, yeah, to an extent the movie is taking advantage of the fact that the role is being played by Zendaya. The funny part is that it doesn't really matter at all for the story to work if she is famous on her own or not.
|
|
#
?
May 20, 2024 04:39
|
|
|
It's also a situation where our sense of fame in the film is extremely distorted by the fixation all the principal characters have on tennis. How many tennis players do you know by name in real life? You probably wouldn't know Tashi's either unless you're already in the sauce.
|
|
#
?
May 20, 2024 04:50
|
|
|
DoctorWhat posted:I only learned in the credits that this was NIN. Amazing score, the audience had it in their bones. Throughout the whole thing, I was like... wow this is giving me real Social Network scoring vibes despite being completely different. So when I saw the Reznor/Ross credit in huge letters at the end it made so much sense. I don't know why I didn't consider it was them, rather than someone going for the same thing.
|
|
#
?
May 20, 2024 17:02
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 22, 2024 16:20 |
|
|
EL BROMANCE posted:Throughout the whole thing, I was like... wow this is giving me real Social Network scoring vibes despite being completely different. So when I saw the Reznor/Ross credit in huge letters at the end it made so much sense. I don't know why I didn't consider it was them, rather than someone going for the same thing. Finding out it was Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross scoring it is actually what got me in the theater. I saw it in XD (Cinemark's kinda but nor really imax thing) and it was worth it for the audio alone. Really the primary reason to see it in that format.
|
|
#
?
May 20, 2024 19:00
|
|
