Tag Archives: Timothee Chalamet

Film reviews

Marty Supreme Review

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One-of-a-kind and authentic. Marty Supreme is one of Timothee Chalamet’s most mesmerizing performances. The film is like a ping pong match that you can’t take your eyes off. Writer and director Josh Safdie creates a film that is a few notches down from the stress of Uncut Gems and not aimed as much at gambling. This time the story is focused on earning money through competition and building a reputation.

The film gears on Marty Mauser (Chalamet), a young New Yorker taking on all kinds of jobs and doing what he can to make his way to high-end tournaments and ping-pong championships. He works at a shoe store, but also continuously hustles at various jobs to make money. However, his ego is what is always in front of him. He has the mindset that he can never lose which leads to turmoil for him that builds as many other problems crop up. He gets a girl named Rachel Mizler (Odessa A’zion) pregnant and falls in love with a stage actress Kay Stone (Gwyneth Paltrow). The problems continue to accumulate. For Marty, playing ping-pong is all that matters to him, so his hustling leads to consequences. Marty Supreme makes the audience feel that ping-pong balls are flying in their direction. Sometimes they fall like rain and at other times they dazzle.

There is an aspect of Marty that is successful, but once he achieves fame his entire focus is on himself. Once he has a failed tournament, he goes on a journey hustling to make ends meet to compete in the next tournament. The movie is like Uncut Gems meets the world of ping-pong. The writing about sportsmanship is top-notch. My mind became blurred as Chalamet burned up the screen with stress as he continues to put all things on the line in his role as Marty. There is no stopping the film’s beat which leaves audiences breathless, Marty Supreme is full of ping-pong tournaments which feel like wars for fame that Marty created for himself.

The dynamics between Chalamet and Paltrow are unique. In addition to their age difference, one is working his way to fame, and the other already has experienced it. Their twisted sense of love is written in a mode of desperation. Safdie has a way of creating stressful scenarios with his characters. This happens frequently in Marty Supreme and adds a form of humanistic value. The main character is putting everything on the line and so many things go wrong along the way. Trust, family and friends are lost, but ultimately the one he connects with has his heart. That is the strange but the surreal dynamic plays out in the performances of Chalamet and Paltrow in Marty Supreme.

Chalamet’s performance is ferocious. Even when he is told not to do something, he persists. He is a machine of an unstoppable force. No matter the debts, the trouble, the ping-pong championship is all that matters to him. The amount of sacrifice put forth makes this movie a winning cinematic portrait of non-stop efforts. Four out of four stars.

Film reviews

A Complete Unknown Review

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The song, The Times They Are A-Changin’ is one of brilliance through the voice of Timothee Chalamet in his role as Bob Dylan. Director James Mangold brings us the story of the 1960s era revolutionized by Dylan himself. A Complete Unknown is prolific in its approach of having Dylan as the focus. A well-written story with the many political factors bringing hope, A Complete Unknown is one of the most cinematic and breathless performances from Chalamet—he is the right choice to portray Dylan.

The appreciation I have for A Complete Unknown is how it is presented in the context of an unknown coming from nothing and then unexpectedly having a fan base. Around all that, are the choices and errors in the process of fame. It is not only stunning in the musical sense, but it is also stunning in the fact that persistence is key to the film’s story. Going back to the era of Dylan’s days on the streets, the purpose of having a craft and love for music comes together poetically in A Complete Unknown. It starts from scratch and finds emotional and cinematic building blocks along the way.

With Chalamet as Dylan, the film takes opens with where it all began. It starts when Dylan meets Pete Seeger (played by Edward Norton). From there, the steps of the musical dreams unfold in Dylan’s eyes. With Dylan meeting his hero Woody Guthrie (played by Scoot McNairy), the inspiration growsswiftly in A Complete Unknown. Dylan’s relationship with Sylvie Russo (played by Elle Fanning) is one that is a more hit or miss notion in the film. Dylan’s relationship with Joan Baez (played by Monica Barbaro) is also presented in that form as well. However, Dylan’s troubles with relationships are not the focus, but it leaves room for the growth of the more revolutionary moments of the film.

Mangold’s approach has a tone of positivity and a following to fuel the film’s fire of fame. The dynamic side of Dylan’s relationship is lacking; however, this brings the audience even closer into the story of Dylan’s rising life. The elements of that “rising life” are connected to the genre of folk going down the path of electric. The place of worship for that is the Newport Folk Festival in 1965. That festival is the road to the top of the mountains in A Complete Unknown.

To touch on the understanding of performance, there is the feeling that Dylan is irritated with many he is close with. This includes his relationships with Russo and Baez. The musical scenes though, are the moments where he tries to find a sense of reconnection where a lot of the attention falls on Baez (since they tour together). Ultimately, though, writing becomes acompetition for fame and, overall, the good-hearted side of heartbreak flows in a poetic way. It just does not find the context of love as he moves on to bigger fame.

With the setup of the uniqueness of the era of the film, the delivery of Chalamet’s performance feels like hearing something new for the first time. There is a moment of a question which goes, “Are you God Bob?” The answer to that question is Chalamet, in his performance as Dylan, on many fronts—his creativity, his voice, his vision, performance— is all spellbinding in its musical force of appreciation. A Complete Unknown will inspire to never lose hope.

A Complete Unknown may not gear on its relationship dynamics well, but its performances are a revelation. Chalamet and Norton shine the brightest here. Their portrayal of musical icons solidifies in a fascinating gem that will be remembered for ages. A Complete Unknown does not hold back in its faithfulness tothe portrayal of the history or the songs. Three-and-a-half out of four stars.

Film reviews

Bones And All Review

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There are many films in which creatures want to live normal lives. There are ones in which they wish they were not what they were born to be. Luca Guadagnino’s Bones and All involves a gruesome trail that is harrowing, but mesmerizing. With Taylor Russell and Timothee Chalamet as the creatures, Bones and All is a poetic journey dealing with society and irreparable consequences. The film portrays many grotesque situations and Guadagnino delivers fragments of difficult questions. In Bones and All, the film’s premise speaks for itself.

Bones and All starts with Maren (Russell), a young and lovely lady who cannot resist her urges. She is a cannibal. The time frame the film is set in is Ronald Reagan’s America. Maren’s father has left her to fend for herself. She goes on the road in hopes of starting a new life. She first meets another individual named Sully (played by Mark Rylance) and he is also a cannibal. She does not click with him. Then she meets Lee (Chalamet), another cannibal, but they are both looking for the same thing, a life that is normal. They team-up and drive thousands of miles through Ohio, Kentucky, Iowa, and many other states. They are two cannibals falling in love, but do not want to live the rest of their lives as cannibals. Their journey together makes them want to reconcile with their pasts. They also meet Jake (played by Michael Stuhlbarg) who is a shady guy. All the characters in Bones and All make the audience curious about whether Maren and Lee can find love or acceptance in the rough journey they embark upon. The movie is quite graphic in the beginning, but its overall landscape is rich in feeling for all its characters.

I love Bones and All because of how Guadagnino knows how to blend emotions in the film. He tones down the moments with sad sound effects and captures his characters’ emotions. Bones and All is a story of redemption, but with horrific creatures. However, the director makes it clear that Maren and Lee wish they did not have their cannibalistic urges. Their journey slowly disregards the Hannibal factor and makes love and society the more important elements in Bones and All.

Bones and All has many of the same loving themes as Guadagnino’s Call Me by Your Name (2017). Chalamet and Stuhlbarg both starred in that film as well. Guadagnino transitions Chalamet’s performance from one questioning who he loves to someone wanting love. The only difference is he wants love as a cannibal. Bones and All is strong in the heavy emotional scenarios. Guadagnino can incorporate love and feelings into his films, no matter how obscure the subject matter.

Will Maren and Lee start a new life? Will their urges come back to haunt them? Can they do good for the world? Bones and All is a ride of curiosities on a bizarre level. While repulsive at first, ultimately effective in terms of its message. Three and a half stars for Bones and All.