Jun 4Liked by Jen Sopchockchai Bankard, P.T. McNiff
Hello, Lady and Gentlemennnnnnn.
1. No one asked for my Sean Baker rankings but I love Sean Baker (who is also a great letterboxd follow): Tangerine. Red Rocket. Florida Project. Starlet.
2. No one asked for my Palm D'Orr winners by Neon rankings but here they are: Parasite. Titane. Anatomy of a Fall.....................................Triangle of Sadness.
3. PT bowled me over when he said Furiosa saw Praetorian Jack in Max Max in Fury Road. I was like damn.
4. Are you guys ready for my hottest of flaming hot takes?
Are we sure Anya Taylor Joy is good? Like can she take a movie that isn't good and make it watchable? Can she be given a role where there is not much to work with and make it a fully formed character? I'm not so sure. The results are inconsistent to me. She's great in Thoroughbreds and The Witch. She's good in The Menu and Emma. But that's it. Every other movie she's been in, i'm like "oh that's fine". She's a star but is she's a movie star? Because movie stars seem to have a level charisma that she seems to be lacking in her roles imo. And I thought she was fine in this. Alyla Brown (who is in the horror movie "Sting" that i'm very excited to see and hope is on shudder soon) as younger Furiosa vastly outshined her in this imo. I was fully invested in the first hour.....and then when anya taylor shows up for the second half, i'm thinking "okay, it's going to go to the next level". And it does....but not because of her but because George Miller ratchets it up. I'm probably on an island on this even though I think PT was shading in my direction. I know you guys seemed to be groaning at the crowd that hoped Charlize would come back (and she seemed to have a really bad time during fury road so maybe that was an impossibility) but i would have loved some of the irishman deaging technology on charlize for this movie. Or cast Jodie Comer who I think is a better actress.
Thanks, Hasib! I wouldn't say I'm shading to your anti-ATJ stance...but I was firmly in the "Alyla Brown's performance deserves respect" camp.
I do think you're underrating Anya a bit -- I would upgrade The Menu to the great tier, and also add in Queen's Gambit. Ultimately, I think it's fair to wish Charlize were back...she's incredible in Fury Road. But I also understand that she hated making that film, and even if she wanted to come back for this one, Miller probably wanted a fresh start. And I think ATJ brings it here. But...maybe I'm just blinded by those big eyes.
Jun 5Liked by Jen Sopchockchai Bankard, P.T. McNiff
You know who bodies this role and is a better actress than ATJ?
Florence Pugh.
The reason I didn’t bring up queen’s gambit because I’m just talking about carrying movies but that is fair. I just think carrying a tv show and carrying a movie are different but that could be old fashioned beeb talking.
I am now picturing Old Fashioned Beeb with a monocle. 😆 🥰
Love all these takes! You are both making me realize that I haven’t seen ATJ in enough to weigh in. But I do think in Furiosa the type of acting she’s required to do in the role is muddying a general acting abilities. Like is she doing what she’s being asked/expected to do super well vs. she would be good no matter what, if that makes sense. Or maybe she needed the talkier version of young Furiosa to really dig in and do something special. I think her huge eyes (and what they’re doing) are enough to carry me through, but I completely understand that might not be true for everyone.
I do agree that Florence Pugh would have been excellent in this movie. Now I need her to be in the next movie, if it gets made.
Jun 5Liked by Jen Sopchockchai Bankard, P.T. McNiff
LMAO a monocle and hopefully an old fashioned as well.
Btw, I don't hate or even dislike Anya Taylor Joy. I think she's fine! I can be convinced that The Menu is a great ATJ performance, PT. But I also feel like her performance is intrinsically linked to a great script or great director. Everything else that I've seen her in, I feel like she's forgettable. And that's fine because there are a lot of actors/actresses in hollywood like this.
Is Ridley's output reliant on working with great talent? I think he's inconsistent but I think he's inconsistent because he's so prolific so you're going to be due to get some duds as well as some bangers, no? Like QT has the opposite problem in that he puts out one movie every 3-5 years but that one movie almost always a banger. But that's a good question for QT because QT always works with talented actors and actresses......but QT either knows how to put pieces in the right places or his casting director is one of the best of all time.
Hello, Lady and Gentlemennnnnnn.
1. No one asked for my Sean Baker rankings but I love Sean Baker (who is also a great letterboxd follow): Tangerine. Red Rocket. Florida Project. Starlet.
2. No one asked for my Palm D'Orr winners by Neon rankings but here they are: Parasite. Titane. Anatomy of a Fall.....................................Triangle of Sadness.
3. PT bowled me over when he said Furiosa saw Praetorian Jack in Max Max in Fury Road. I was like damn.
4. Are you guys ready for my hottest of flaming hot takes?
Are we sure Anya Taylor Joy is good? Like can she take a movie that isn't good and make it watchable? Can she be given a role where there is not much to work with and make it a fully formed character? I'm not so sure. The results are inconsistent to me. She's great in Thoroughbreds and The Witch. She's good in The Menu and Emma. But that's it. Every other movie she's been in, i'm like "oh that's fine". She's a star but is she's a movie star? Because movie stars seem to have a level charisma that she seems to be lacking in her roles imo. And I thought she was fine in this. Alyla Brown (who is in the horror movie "Sting" that i'm very excited to see and hope is on shudder soon) as younger Furiosa vastly outshined her in this imo. I was fully invested in the first hour.....and then when anya taylor shows up for the second half, i'm thinking "okay, it's going to go to the next level". And it does....but not because of her but because George Miller ratchets it up. I'm probably on an island on this even though I think PT was shading in my direction. I know you guys seemed to be groaning at the crowd that hoped Charlize would come back (and she seemed to have a really bad time during fury road so maybe that was an impossibility) but i would have loved some of the irishman deaging technology on charlize for this movie. Or cast Jodie Comer who I think is a better actress.
Great ep, guys.
Thanks, Hasib! I wouldn't say I'm shading to your anti-ATJ stance...but I was firmly in the "Alyla Brown's performance deserves respect" camp.
I do think you're underrating Anya a bit -- I would upgrade The Menu to the great tier, and also add in Queen's Gambit. Ultimately, I think it's fair to wish Charlize were back...she's incredible in Fury Road. But I also understand that she hated making that film, and even if she wanted to come back for this one, Miller probably wanted a fresh start. And I think ATJ brings it here. But...maybe I'm just blinded by those big eyes.
You know who bodies this role and is a better actress than ATJ?
Florence Pugh.
The reason I didn’t bring up queen’s gambit because I’m just talking about carrying movies but that is fair. I just think carrying a tv show and carrying a movie are different but that could be old fashioned beeb talking.
I am now picturing Old Fashioned Beeb with a monocle. 😆 🥰
Love all these takes! You are both making me realize that I haven’t seen ATJ in enough to weigh in. But I do think in Furiosa the type of acting she’s required to do in the role is muddying a general acting abilities. Like is she doing what she’s being asked/expected to do super well vs. she would be good no matter what, if that makes sense. Or maybe she needed the talkier version of young Furiosa to really dig in and do something special. I think her huge eyes (and what they’re doing) are enough to carry me through, but I completely understand that might not be true for everyone.
I do agree that Florence Pugh would have been excellent in this movie. Now I need her to be in the next movie, if it gets made.
LMAO a monocle and hopefully an old fashioned as well.
Btw, I don't hate or even dislike Anya Taylor Joy. I think she's fine! I can be convinced that The Menu is a great ATJ performance, PT. But I also feel like her performance is intrinsically linked to a great script or great director. Everything else that I've seen her in, I feel like she's forgettable. And that's fine because there are a lot of actors/actresses in hollywood like this.
Let’s throw in a festive pocket square while we’re at it and then it will be perfect.
So she’s like the Ridley Scott of actors, then? (Sorry, Ridley, I love you!) I can see that.
and a top hat?
Is Ridley's output reliant on working with great talent? I think he's inconsistent but I think he's inconsistent because he's so prolific so you're going to be due to get some duds as well as some bangers, no? Like QT has the opposite problem in that he puts out one movie every 3-5 years but that one movie almost always a banger. But that's a good question for QT because QT always works with talented actors and actresses......but QT either knows how to put pieces in the right places or his casting director is one of the best of all time.