Marty Supreme

I think Timothee Chalamet might be my favorite living actor. Is that dorky to say? (My favorite dead actor, for what it's worth, is Philip Seymour Hoffman). There's something dorky about Chalamet--he's a skinny white dude dating a Kardashian. But goddamn, can he act. When I saw him in Call Me By Your Name, I left the theatre thinking that his performance as Elio Perlman was not only great, but was one of the greatest performances in any film I've seen. His ability to portray youthful arrogance and playfulness, mixed with shyness and lust and vulnerability was astounding to me. I think my jaw was actually hanging open after that last final shot of the movie. 

Josh Safdie's Marty Supreme is a fantastic movie. It's outrageous and funny and anxiety-provoking (but in a fun way, at least in my opinion). And at its center is Chalamet's performance as the singular character of Marty Mauser. Marty (based loosely on Marty Reisman) is a hustler. He is always thinking of a way to make a buck (or make a fuck, considering we watch him fuck a married woman into pregnancy against a shelf of shoe boxes in the opening minutes of the film). But his true passion is table tennis and everything he does revolves around the belief that he is and will be known as the world's greatest table tennis player.

Going into this film, I thought it would mostly be about Marty playing ping pong. But the bulk of the film is actually about Marty trying to make (or steal) money he doesn't have so that he can travel to play ping pong. Don't worry--there are multiple scenes of tense, high stakes table tennis games. But most of the movie is focused on Marty's epic quest to first raise money to attend the British Open for table tennis and then raise money to attend the World Championship of table tennis in Tokyo. But his own arrogance, poor impulse control, and general shenanigans keep getting in the way of his plans. Does he blame everyone else for his own mistakes? You betcha.

Chalamet absolutely sells this character. He's the kind of guy who, when speaking about his older, Jewish opponent in the British Open, tells a reporter, "I'm going to do to Kletzki what Auschwitz couldn't", waiting a beat before saying, "I can say that. I'm Jewish. In fact, I'm Hitler's worst nightmare." The cojones on this little twerp! You really do want to hate him and you have every reason to do so. He's foul-mouthed, rude, a liar, a swindler...but you can't help but root for the sonofabitch. And I think the secret sauce here is that Marty has genuine passion for table tennis. Marty's focus on money throughout the film isn't because he's obsessed with nice things (although he does believe that he deserves nice things), but because he sees money as a means to an end--his goal of getting to Tokyo to win the World Championship. 

Spoilers....

In the climatic scene of the film, Marty purposefully throws a match against Koto Endo (Koto Kawaguchi, the stoic and dignified foil to Marty) as part of a paid publicity stunt. He has just gotten the news that he was banned from the World Championship due to previous shenanigans at the British Open. Even though he made it all the way to Tokyo, enduring danger and humiliation to get there, he won't be achieving his dream of becoming the World Champion at table tennis.

He begs Endo to play a "real" game of ping pong against him. He rallies the crowd to chant their desire to not watch a sham match, but a real one. Endo agrees and Marty beats him by the thinnest margin. When he wins, Marty sobs and hugs Endo, thanking him for the game. This wasn't about money or even about showing off to a stadium full of people (people who are upset because their country's finest player just lost to this American weirdo)...it was about Marty proving something to himself. 

Any other movie would be about Endo, the deaf Japanese man who lost his hearing in WWII, beating the arrogant American pig. But this movie is about Marty--Marty Supreme--coming out on top. It's borderline tasteless, especially right now, given our own resident arrogant American pig at 1600 Pennsylvania. But I'll be damned if I wasn't smiling like a loon when Marty wins the game. Maybe I have a little of that arrogant, piggish American blood in me. Or maybe that's just the power of the film and of Chalamet's performance. 

/spoilers

Marty Supreme is a film that may not work for some people. Some won't see past Marty's annoying traits, especially when he drags his pregnant lover, Rachel, into his bullshit (Odessa A'zion is great, although you want to shake her and tell her to get away from this guy). Some will find the movie too anxiety-inducing to enjoy. But I really like morally grey characters, as long as they're interesting. And Marty is very, very interesting.

Taking a cue from his character, Timothee Chalamet has been hustling his ass off (an ass we get to see during a particularly funny scene in the movie) to promote Marty Supreme and it seems that the hard work has paid off, as the film has been very successful at the box office. I'm so pleased that an indie film about table tennis is drawing such big crowds. It's just such a cool, energetic, funny film and I'm glad I saw it before making my "Best of 2025" list because it will definitely have a place near the top. 

Grade: A

Stuff I watched in... (the second half of) December, 2025

Babylon

Rarely have I a seen a movie that has so many fun and funny things going for it...and also so many stupid and annoying things going against it. Directed by Damien Chazelle (director of Whiplash and La La Land), Babylon is both a love letter to cinema (silent cinema, specifically) and also a wild party movie where Margot Robbie screams the f-word, flashes her tits, and pukes all over fancy rugs. Let's just say that it's a lot.

The majority of the film takes place between 1926 and 1932--the height of silent film and the dawn of talkies. The film explicitly references Singin' in the Rain a lot. But imagine if Singin' in the Rain had wild orgies, copious drug use, violent gangsters threatening to mutilate your genitals if you don't pay your debts, and a close up of an elephant's shitting asshole. Not so wholesome, huh? And I respect the movie for not overly romanticizing and sanitizing Hollywood of the 1920s...but it also feels very anachronistic at times. To the point where it was distracting. 

The best thing about Babylon is that it's raucously funny, especially in the latter half. There were scenes where I was laughing my ass off (the scene where two characters are taken to "the asshole of L.A." is worth the price of admission). It's really just a crazy, kinetic movie where your senses are assaulted for over three hours.

The worst thing about Babylon is...well, a couple things. The film calls to mind that "it insists upon itself" meme, and there's a montage near the end that really felt like it was just Chazelle jacking himself off (intellectually) to the idea of how profound this film is. Additionally, the acting and character development is...not great. Margot Robbie is very fun to watch, but she's a thinly written manic pixie dream girl with a heaping spoonful of seriously mentally ill and gambling/drug/sex addict. Her character, Nellie LaRoy, may be amusing to watch on screen, but if you met this person in real life, you would be running for the hills (or you would fall in love with her until she empties your bank accounts and accidentally runs over your dog). 

Diego Calva plays Manny Torres, who is supposed to be the "normal guy" witnessing all this depravity and madness, and the character SUCKS. He's literally a blank slate. And he's supposed to be the emotional center of the movie! He's supposed to be the character the audience relates to, but he's just...nothing. Someone also needs to tell this guy to close his fucking mouth because his mouth is literally open for like 90% of his screen time. Resting awe face, I guess.

Brad Pitt is also in the movie.

There are some really good supporting characters and fun cameos, but the most interesting characters are either not fleshed out properly or are only in the movie for a few scenes. However, they do add a lot of depth to an otherwise shallow film.

The power of Babylon is in how polarizing it is. You may love it or hate it, but you are sure as hell going to have an opinion about it. For better or worse, I'm still thinking about it days after I watched it. 

I've been mulling over what grade to give Babylon. I think it's one of the few movies I've watched that doesn't deserve one grade, but two. It is both an A- and a C film. Typically, I would say, well, that makes it a B or B- film, but it's not a B or B- film...it's both better than that and worse than that. So, to Babylon, a singular film that despite being intensely annoying I can't wait to rewatch, I give:

Grade: A- and C 

***

Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery

I'm not a huge Rian Johnson fan. His Knives Out movies are fun, funny, and have great casts...but they're also a little on the nose. Like, they're the kind of movie where it will show a character reading Ayn Rand so that the audience will know, "Oh, that's one of the bad guys." You know what I mean? The characters feel more like a collection of traits that serve to make the audience feel some kind of way about them.

That said, I liked Wake Up Dead Man more than Knives Out. The film is surprisingly very Christian. It concerns a young priest, Jud Duplencity (Josh O'Connor), who is sent to serve as assistant pastor to the fearsome Father Jefferson Wicks (Josh Brolin). Oh, excuse me. Monsignor Jefferson Wicks. 

So, here's the thing. Rian Johnson clearly isn't Catholic because the way he portrays the Catholic Church and priests is just...all wrong. There's a bunch of confusing shit in here. Jefferson considers his church to be his church, which isn't that way Catholicism works (or Protestantism, for that matter. They rotate pastors for this very reason...so people don't get too attached to one church). Also, he apparently "inherited" the church and congregation from his father, also a priest. But...like...priests aren't supposed to have children. I mean, they do. But usually it's not all out in the open like "Yes, I fathered a son despite my vow of chastity and now he is inheriting my church." What? 

Finally, Wicks acts like a fire and brimstone evangelical pastor. The Catholic Church has many, many sins to account for...but they generally don't preach fire and brimstone from the pulpit. Leave that shit to the Southern Baptists. 

So, already, you're asking me to suspend my disbelief. Then, on top of that, it's super obvious that Wicks is supposed to be a Trump-like figure (only not a demented moron, like Trump is). He is the center of a cult of personality and his little flock are beholden to him and only grow worse and worse in their habits and impulses due to his negative influence. Wicks is an angry, hateful, prejudiced man. And on Black Friday...he winds up murdered!!!! Of course, everyone has a motive because Wicks has blackmail-level shit on everybody. So, enter Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) to solve the mystery.

Wake Up Dead Man is fun. Josh O'Connor is lovely as the foil to Wicks. He is a man who wants to bring genuine care and compassion to this fucked up little church. There are some beautiful scenes of actual pastoral care, such as when Jud has an impromptu conversation with a woman (played by the lovely Bridget Everett) whose mom is sick. This film has more of a Christian heart than any of the pap put out by Angel Studios. And for that, I appreciate the film. I mean, some people hate the film for that very reason because it's a little rich to show good Christians while Christofascists destroy the country in real time. But I have a soft spot for movies that tap into how spirituality could be if only people weren't such cunts.

Grade: B

***

Liar Liar

For some reason, I had a desire to revisit this classic Jim Carrey comedy to see if it still holds up. Well, there's a scene where Jim rips off a man's toupee and makes an "Indian war whoop" sound. So...

Also, Jim sleeps with a senior partner at his firm and it's most definitely not considered sexual harassment because the higher up is a woman! Oh, there are also jokes at the expense of fat people, ugly people, women with big boobs, and "slutty" women. Someone uses the r-word at one point too. Just a typical comedy from 1997!

So, yeah, it does not hold up. But those scenes in the courtroom where Jim is representing Jennifer Tilly and he can't lie are still pretty dang funny. There's not much else to say. If you're feeling nostalgic for good old Jim Carrey, watch Dumb and Dumber instead.

Grade: C+

***

Vertigo

Vertigo is considered by many to be Alfred Hitchcock's greatest movie (I personally think his best is Rear Window). This was my third time watching Vertigo and its greatness finally hit. In the past when I watched it, I was very put off by the misogyny, both in how the "spinster" character of Midge is treated, but also the entire plot where Scottie (James Stewart) forcibly makes over Judy Barton (Kim Novak) to look more like a dead woman he was in love with. However, I think that now I know what I'm getting into, I can accept that the film is not only a product of its time, but also that the characters' motivations are less about misogyny and more about obsession. Both on the part of Judy, who gives in to Scottie's insane demands, and on the part of Scottie himself. James Stewart is so fun when he's playing a bad guy. 

Vertigo is beautifully shot and deeply haunting. A lot of movies from the 1950s feel a bit too cheery or melodramatic, but Vertigo is actually unsettling. The score by Bernard Herrmann really amps up the feelings of anxiety and danger than infuse the film. 

It's a classic and I'm glad I gave the film multiple chances to suck me in. Something about the movie itself feels irresistible and enticing. 

Grade: A

***

The Philadelphia Story

Here's another classic I've watched before, but it's been many, many years. The Philadelphia Story was specifically made to boost Katherine Hepburn's success at the box office after she starred in a few flops. She bought the rights to the film and in it she plays socialite Tracy Lord, a woman presented as an unloving, judgmental ice queen who learns to relax a bit and has a huge fuck up the night before her wedding. The idea was to let audiences know that Hepburn understood her image and was ok laughing at herself. It worked and the film was a box office success.

Movies from this time period are so interesting because they often have a mix of old-fashioned and modern sensibilities. I mean, this is a movie in which a divorced woman gets extremely drunk on the eve of her wedding to her would-be second husband and kisses another man (James Stewart is the lucky guy) and then it's implied they sleep together...she's too drunk to remember what happened...so she breaks up with her fiance only to end up getting married to her ex-husband (Cary Grant) now that she's fallen off her ice queen pedestal a bit. That's pretty chill for 1940, isn't it? 

Although there's this weird scene where Tracy's dad implies that she is responsible for his infidelity to her mother because she wasn't a loving enough daughter and that's really fucking weird. But other than that, The Philadelphia Story is a rollicking fun time filled to the brim with witticisms and quips and bon mots. Also, James Stewart playing drunk is really, really funny.

Grade: A-

***

The Equalizer 

The Equalizer is a ridiculous, yet fun revenge fantasy film. It was not my choice to watch it--my partner picked it after I made him watch 8MM. After seeing one revenge movie, he was in the mood for another.

Denzel Washington stars as Robert McCall, an unassuming man who works at a Home Depot type store, is a widower, and reads classic novels at open-all-night diners. Just a lonely dude. But Robert has a secret past and all it takes to unleash the past are some fucking assholes hurting someone Robert cares about. In this case, it's Alina (Chloe Grace-Moretz), a regular at the diner Robert frequents who is the victim of human trafficking. Even though she's not physically locked up, Alina is not free. The men she works for are dangerous and after she hits a client who hits her first, they beat her up and leave her hospitalized.

Robert finds out who these men are and, after making them a fair offer to buy Alina's freedom (and getting laughed at), he kills all five men in 25 seconds. 

Who is Robert McCall and how is this 50-something man who reads Hemingway so good at killing? Will a fixer for the Russian mafia with dozens of highly trained killers and the backing of a powerful oligarch be able to stop Robert? I think you know the answer to that question before you've even seen the movie (especially given that there is an Equalizer 2 and an Equalizer 3). 

Although The Equalizer is...a bit unrealistic...it's pure, dumb fun watching Denzel kick ass after ass after ass after ass. 

Grade: C+