Summer doesn’t technically start until June 20 this year, but already its season of new movies is in full swing. Earlier this week, journalists caught the first IMAX preview screening of Joseph Kosinski’s racing drama “F1” — starring Brad Pitt, who does his own driving, and in theaters from Warner Bros. June 27 before streaming later on Apple TV+.
The $300-million movie also stars “Snowfall” breakout Damson Idris as Pitt’s rookie prodigy, plus Javier Bardem, Kerry Condon, Tobias Menzies, and Shea Whigham. “Screen Talk” podcast co-host Anne Thompson caught the early screening, praising the film‘s technical specs and Pitt’s intense gaze from behind the steering wheel, as he balances a dramatic performance with actual race-car driving.
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Co-host Ryan Lattanzio finally caught up with Celine Song’s “Past Lives” follow-up “Materialists,” out from A24 June 13. Mixed early word-of-mouth out of New York City set an uncertain tone for the movie going in, but he says Song delivers an entertaining and shrewdly written rom-dram in the spirit of the greats of its genre from the late-’90s through the early aughts. Dakota Johnson stars as a disaffected matchmaker who’s disarmed by a suave private equity broker played by Pedro Pascal. Meanwhile, she’s reconnected with her ex-boyfriend, a middling New York theater actor and cater-waiter played by Chris Evans in one of his most compelling performances.
Anne argues that “Materialists” — far less fizzy than its marketing would have you believe, including a subplot involving Johnson’s desperately single client played by “Succession” star Zoë Winters — doesn’t satisfy as a romance. Ryan is more taken by the film, which at times fascinatingly feels like an ethnographic study of how a romantic comedy or drama moves, operates, and behaves. Anne doesn’t think the chemistry between Johnson and Pascal sparks enough, while Ryan argues that’s the point, as you’ll see in the film. Where Anne and Ryan really disagree is in the commercial potential of “Materialists”; Anne sees the film as a box-office, audience-pleasing play, while Ryan attests that the film is darker, more cynical, and even at times weirder than the more conventionally minded movie it may appear to be on its surface.
In this week’s episode, we also take a look at the ongoing Tribeca Festival in New York City, where Ryan has already seen a few standout titles on the ground. Plus, we debate whether exhibitors and theater owners should be allowed to join The Academy, as recently posited by Clayton Davis in a Variety piece. Anne explains why that shouldn’t happen. It’s a long road to creating another branch anyway, as The Academy has only just made way for stunt and casting kudos.
Listen to the episode below or watch in the video above.
