Tag: Marty Supreme

March 9th, 2026

Dangerous Liaisons: Back in the summer I saw the beginning of the Stratford stage production of this story.   I didn’t finish it.  I found the lead characters most repulsive in their lies, deceit and manipulation of those around them.   I did, however, want to see how the movie from 1988 (which garnered a number of award nominations) addressed the story, and also how it ultimately ended.  

Starring Glenn Close in a simply excellent performance, John Malkovich, Michelle Pfieffer and Uma Thurman it is a good cast and beautifully shot by Stephen Frears. It is a master class in production design, costumes and make up for the times.  All the actors look so young and freshly faced.  The story is Close and rogue Malkovich who look to exact revenge on those around that they don’t like.  It was as simple as that, with a vengeful Close wanting to humiliate another woman.

The revenge takes many forms.  Malkovich was a former lover of Close, who wants to get back into her favour. But he is also a rogue who will do and say anything to try and win a woman’s heart just enough so that she will spend the night with him.   Close is definitely a challenge for him as she has been hardened by life, her station and a realisation that she has limited options.  In order to get her favour, Close is demanding many things from Malkovich that he must do to prove his worth.   One of them involves deflowering a virtuous young woman (Thurman), the daughter a woman Close does not like. The other is in making a married virtuous woman (played by Pfeiffer) willingly give up all her virtues, with written proof of it, from Malkovich. Malkovich regards the first task as simple. The second less so.  The main two characters play with love like a child with a gun.  Hearts are meant to be conquered by all means possible. I am not sure whether I anticipated the final act, but there is certainly a profound moment of choice where the two main characters square off and make a determination that will shape what is to come.   I don’t like these characters.   I have a better sense of them in this film than the play.  It is just beautiful to see in images.  The period is recreated excellently.   Close didn’t win the Oscar but it was certainly a deserving performance.  Jodie Foster was Best Actress for The Accused. Also in the field was Melanie Griffith (Working Girl), Meryl Streep (A Cry in the Dark), and Sigourney Weaver (Gorillas in the Mist) which is a very strong field. It did win three Oscars for Best Writing and Screenplay, Best Art Direction and Best Costume Design.

Oscars 2026: A week from now the Oscars will have finished. I have had an opportunity in the past week to re-visit a number of the nominated films. This week I have watched Marty Supreme, Rental Family and Song Sung Blue. I thoroughly enjoyed seeing Rental Family and Song Sung Blue once again with family who hadn’t seen them. They enjoyed both, especially Song Sung Blue. They are both Neil Diamond fans, but realized that this is not a story about Neil Diamond, but rather a story about a couple from Wisconsin who fall in love and choose to be a “Neil Diamond Experience”. Kate Hudson who is nominated for Best Actress did actually do her own signing, as did Hugh Jackman. This is in addition to carry an emotional range for her character that was unexpected for me. I didn’t know about this couple, and the things that have happened to them, it is not your typical story of rags to riches or unknown talent to the spotlight. It’s more about the challenges that life can throw at you, and how as a couple you can overcome them one at a time.

I also really enjoyed the much deeper story associated with Rental Family with Brendan Frasier. He has an everyman quality along with very expressive eyes. The acting is good and all the characters involved in the rental business learn something valuable. Even in a culture which comes across as tradtional and close-minded with honour taking top priority, they are still are deceiving someone on some level and they choose to do better.

Finally, I have seen in social media these proponents speaking about the greatness within Timothee Chalamet’s performance in Marty Supreme. The re-watch confirmed my first impression of this movie and the performance. I am not a huge fan. It was well acted, for each of the despicable people involved. I didn’t like Kevin O’Leary but maybe that was the point, nor Gwyneth Paltrow. Timothee interesting enough this past week has on the talk show circuit talked about how “no one cares about ballet and opera” and why he is glad that he is in movies. That is a brash, offensive statement like many of those uttered by Marty in the movie, including highly offensive statements about the Holocaust, Japan, and others in addition to the horrible way that he treats his mother (played by Fran Drescher). His actions towards his mother are never explained except for the fact that this street rat will do and say anything necessary to have him get what he wants because as he says himself “I have a purpose”. All of this means for me that this was not the Best Actor performance. I still maintain that this belongs to Ethan Hawke, but this likely will not be the case.

January 5th, 2026

Happy New Year! We enter this year with me being on the road. I have undertaken a trip to South America, from the north to the south covering 10 weeks. As a result I will continue to post given that I am away, as I expect that I will still have time to watch movies and write.

The Running Man: This is a remake of the original 1987 film with Arnold Schwartzenegger, based upon the Stephen King novel and directed by Paul Michael Glaser. At the time it was a rather comical tale with Richard Dawson (well know for hosting gameshow Family Feud, and kissing everyone) making this a strange story. The prospect of remaking this with Glen Powell as the lead named Ben Richards. I had very modest expectations for this. It ended up being better than I had expected.

There is a typical backstory provided with a nation still (even in the future) to address socialized medicine and a young couple have a sick child for whom they cannot afford the appropriate medicine. Ben Richards and his spouse have a sick daughter, and Ben has a personality that has anger management issues. He has been dismissed from numerous jobs because of insubordination. His spouse is already working two jobs. Surrounding him in this futuristic world are advertisements promising endless sums of money for participating in the reality TV gameshow where a contestant puts their life on the line. Richards despite his wife’s protests ends up deciding, or more properly, being manipulated into entering The Running Man which is the most intense, dangerous and rewarding of all of them. He is convinced by the executive producer Dan Killian, played by Josh Brolin who is absolutely everywhere these days. In a funny scene there is a movie on a screen shown and it has Josh’s father James Brolin in the role!

The rules are simple. Richards is given a head start, for which he gets a signing bonus, and must survive for thirty days. Each day he lives he must submit a video, deposited in a mailbox. Each day he lives he gets more money. Each agent that hunts him he kills he gets a bonus. No one has ever lasted the full distance with the longest being 29 days. Finally, everyone in society can be rewarded for sending film or locations of the contestants, which will be displayed by the show and the enthusiastic host. The contest each time has three contestants. They do not work together. This suits Richards as he is a loner, along with someone with a sizeable chip on his shoulder. Naturally the media used tells their own version of the story of each contestant to make the society feel compeeled to have them punished.

There are themes of TV looking for blood and not telling the truth, along with using all means fair and foul to keep the ratings high while expecting to eliminate the contestants in the more dramatic and bloody ways. Add in a society trusts completely in the media and judging those contestants without all the facts, along with the media being rich with all the beautiful people who keep the average person down and poor with no choice but to sign themselves up for these barbaric games. It is the Roman Coliseum all over again with high tech tracking them and sophisticated weapons to kill those involved. The final act was not what I was expecting, and it was satisfying. While I am happy that I was able to watch this without paying for a theatre ticket, I still was entertained. Not lost time and a better take on the Stephen King story from 1982 under pseudonym Richard Bachman.

Marty Supreme: This film has plenty of buzz surrounding it and it was just released on Christmas Eve. I saw an afternoon performance and the house was about a half full. Directed by Josh Safdie, and produced by him but also Timothee Chalamet it was a story based very loosely of the life of American ping pong player Marty Reisman. It was nominated for Golden Globes for Best Picture Musical or Comedy, Best Actor and Best Screenplay. Set in the 1950s in New York City, the story begins a young Marty Mauser working as a salesperson in a shoe shop run by his uncle. He is a good salesman. His Uncle recognizes his talent, and would like to promote him to Store Manager. Marty has different ideas. He is working only to pay for an airline ticket to London UK for the British Open Table Tennis Championships. Through circumstances, his Uncle looks to manipulate him by withholding wages to Marty, and Marty chooses one of many paths which the onlooker thinks isn’t his best choice.

You see, Marty sees himself and his talents as destined for much greater things. He is an early adopter to see the greatness of table tennis which is very popular in Asia as well as Europe. He is the American representative for the British Open tournament which shows that he has some considerable talent. It can’t match his ego and outward confidence. Marty feels that he doesn’t need to mind those he hurts and manipulates to ensure that he gets what is owed to him. He has a distant relationship with the truth in all of his relationships, both personal and professional. He talks very fast and in circles, often directly contradicting his own statements which are dismissed as easily as old clothes if it doesn’t help his present situation. It doesn’t seem to phase him how many people he hurts. In short Marty is not a likeable fellow. This holds true for others in the movie as well. He meets up with rich entrepreneur, played by Canadian Dragon’s Den personality Kevin O’Leary and his aging actress wife, played by Gwyneth Paltrow. Each of them are dispicable in their own way. Add to the cast there is Fran Drescher and Sandra Bernhard. I can say that none of these actors are people that I feel the need to spend time. It seems that all of Marty’s luck is bad, or at least resulting in unintended consequences, which puts him later in the film into a difficult situation where he is desperate for assistance. He needs to get to Japan to play for the World Championships. That requires money, and money that he doesn’t have. All his hustles can only get him so far.

Is this a Best Actor winning performance? I am not sure. It will garner a nomination in my mind without a doubt. But the challenge for me is the character itself. Marty is smart, but his intelligence is directed in ways that don’t suit him. There are some laughs within, but often they are uncomfortable as when Marty speaks his mind on people around him and where they fit into this life. For example, early on he reflects on a fellow Jewish competitor in table table, and brags that Marty will defeat this competitor in a way “that Auschwitz didn’t”. A curious phrase, and he feels entitled to say it because he, himself, is Jewish. Marty has a poor relationship with his mother, played by Drescher. No explanation is given for that. He has a young woman, played excellently by Odessa A’zion, who supports him in his questionable life choices but for reasons that are readily apparent and understandable given the times and her position. She thinks quickly on her feet and can seem to hold her own with Marty on many levels.

One curiousity for me is the use of 1980s music in the soundtrack from New Order, Peter Gabriel, Tears for Fears, and Alphaville. It flies in the face of the times for the events. It makes for an uneven experience. I also find that the final act didn’t really lay the foundation for the finale. Can a tiger change its stripes? This remains to be seen.