Tag: Mike Faist

Challengers (2024) | REVIEW

(L-R) Mike Faist, Zendaya, and Josh O’Connor in Luca Guadagnino’s love triangle tennis film titled CHALLENGERS — PHOTO: Amazon MGM Studios (Still image from trailers).

Directed by Luca Guadagnino — Screenplay by Justin Kuritzkes.

The Palermo-born Italian auteur Luca Guadagnino is fast rising into the ranks of becoming one of my favorite current-day European filmmakers. His transformative and beautiful Call Me By Your Name, of his Desire trilogy, blew me away in ways that I hadn’t anticipated. While I’m not sure I like it more than the film he remade, Guadagnino’s reworking of Suspiria had a vibe and a climax that has made certain chilling images stick with me. Then a couple of years ago, he reteamed with Timothée Chalamet to make a sensational genre-bending cannibalistic romance film, in Bones and All, which is probably more of a cult film than anything that would appeal to a wide audience. His latest film, however, is easily Guadagnino’s most accessible film yet. While I don’t think it’s his best film, it’s easily one of the most entertaining and inventively shot films I’ve seen this year. Challengers is a stylistic, sexy, and sweaty sports love triangle drama that gets the most out of the subgenres it fits in.

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REVIEW: West Side Story (2021)

The Jets, The Sharks, and Tony & Maria in Spielberg’s West Side Story – Photo: 20th Century Studios.

Directed by Steven Spielberg – Screenplay by Tony Kushner.

If you’ve been thinking that another West Side Story is pretty unnecessary, then you’re not alone. After all, Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins’ 1961 musical film adaptation of the Romeo & Juliet-inspired Broadway stage play ended up with eleven Oscar nominations and won in ten of those categories including Best Picture. Often regarded as one of the greatest musical films of all time, the 1961 film has made people very familiar with the story. So, did we need Steven Spielberg to make a new version of the stage play? No, we definitely didn’t. But here’s the thing. Let’s be honest, we also didn’t technically need another Batman reboot. We didn’t technically need three different live-action Spider-Men in the last twenty years. However, even though we didn’t need those films, just like how I loved the vast majority of the Spider-Man films, as well as the new Batman flick, I have to say that Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story is just wonderful. We didn’t need it, but I’m glad we now have it.

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