Latest news with #CrossingDelancey
Boston Globe
12-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Boston Globe
‘Materialists': Matchmaker, matchmaker, make me a mess
When the trailer dropped, I saw online complaints that Song had betrayed the success of her prior feature, 2023's I disagreed—'Past Lives' was my Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up Since A24 is treating this movie as a rom-com, I suppose I should as well. So, stop me if you've heard me say this a bazillion times before: All a rom-com (or a movie purporting to diss rom coms) needs to be successful is two characters whom the audience wants to see fall in love. That's it. The reason why the majority of these films fail is that the filmmakers needlessly overcomplicate matters to the point of convolution. These movies want to be about emotion, but the plot keeps getting in the way. Advertisement Dakota Johnson and Pedro Pascal in 'Materialists.' Atsushi Nishijima Advertisement The sides of this film's love triangle are Lucy (Dakota Johnson), a matchmaker whose matches have resulted in 9 marriages; Harry (Pedro Pascal), the brother of her most recent success, whom she meets at her client's wedding; and John (Chris Evans, coasting on his charm), her struggling actor ex-boyfriend who lives with two roommates in the kind of cluttered (and realistic) apartment you don't normally see in New York City movies. The movie works best when dealing with Lucy's job, Meanwhile, Harry is referred to as 'a unicorn' several times throughout 'Materialists.' That's a familiar term in rom-com land—it means he's the perfect catch. Harry is rich, lives in a $12 million apartment so awesome that it distracts Lucy during foreplay, and has a confidence that sparkles and the rugged good looks of Pedro Pascal. Conversely, John works for a catering company, barely has enough money to survive in Manhattan from day-to-day, and is chasing an acting career he clearly will never have. (The film's biggest laugh comes when you discover who wrote the bad play John is currently doing.) John is as broke as Harry is rich—in fact, Lucy admits that she ended their 5-year relationship because he was so poor. And yet, John still pines for her like a lost puppy. Advertisement In an odd move, John is treated less like the ex our hero should really end up with and more like the standard issue rom-com gay BFF who's always there when needed. (Lucy calls him for advice or support more than once.) Except he's straight, has no sass, and even fewer powers of observation. Dakota Johnson and Chris Evans in 'Materialists.' Atsushi Nishijima Of course, to adhere to the rom-com tropes Song thinks she's mocking, things have to get complicated. They do so in the aforementioned dark subplot that is not handled well at all, despite the fine acting by Winters. See my rating description if you wish to know more. Watching this film, I kept being reminded of Joan Micklin Silver's 'Crossing Delancey,' an infinitely better movie that skewers rom-com tropes by presenting an often infuriating protagonist played by Amy Irving. It even has a matchmaker. Might I suggest you rent that and bypass this altogether? Because, to be honest, I don't know why any fan of rom-coms would want to see 'Materialists.' It's designed to punish you for liking what you like, so why waste your money? The film makes you think it's better and more respectable than the average rom-com, only to end the exact same way they all do. A24 made a killing by releasing what critics called 'elevated horror.' Now, the studio is peddling the 'elevated rom-com,' a new genre I hope I never have to see again. Advertisement ★1/2 MATERIALISTS Written and directed by Celine Song. Starring Dakota Johnson, Pedro Pascal, Chris Evans, Zoe Winters. At Coolidge Corner, AMC Boston Common, Landmark Kendall Square, Alamo Drafthouse Seaport, AMC Causeway, suburbs. 116 min. R (profanity, discussions of sexual assault) Odie Henderson is the Boston Globe's film critic.
News18
14-05-2025
- Entertainment
- News18
Scarlett Johansson CRIED After Reading This Script: 'It Almost Never Happens'
Last Updated: Scarlett Johansson is stepping behind the camera as she takes on the role of director for the upcoming drama. Scarlett Johansson was moved to tears by the script for 'Eleanor The Great'. The 40-year-old actress is stepping behind the camera as she takes on the role of director for the upcoming drama – which follows a year-old Floridian woman (June Squibb ) as she forms an unlikely friendship with a 19-year-old student (Erin Kellyman) in New York City – and could see a 'great possibility" in the emotional screenplay that reminded her of films made in decades gone by. She told Deadline: 'When I read it, I cried, and that almost never happens. 'Sometimes you'll read a script that's really moving. When I read 'Jojo Rabbit', I cried. Sometimes a script will move you like that, which is extraordinary. 'I could see there was a great possibility in it," she continues. 'I thought, 'Oh, actually, I think I could tell this story.' It reminded me so much of independent film from the mid to late '90s. I was a kid of the '90s. I was working in independent film at that time, and I watched a lot of movies in that period of time that were throughout the '90s into the early aughts, like 'Crossing Delancey' and movies like that I loved as a kid. Richard LaGravenese made a great movie called Living Out Loud, and then certain Woody Allen movies from that period of time, too, that are films that I gravitate toward as just a fan." The 'Black Widow' star then recalled that she had been put on such a tight schedule to get the film made but felt 'so lucky" when two major production compies got involved. She said: 'I got the script in August, and I was like, 'We have to make it this winter.' That was very stressful, like crazy, crazy stressful. It fell apart a thousand different times. 'I don't want to say I'm a film snob, but I love Sony Pictures Classics. The idea of working with TriStar was amazing, it was perfect." 'I couldn't have asked for better partners than Sony Pictures Classics and TriStar. Nicole Brown, our executive at TriStar, is incredible, a dream executive. I was lucky." First Published:
Perth Now
14-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Perth Now
Scarlett Johansson moved to tears by the script for Eleanor The Great
Scarlett Johansson was moved to tears by the script for 'Eleanor The Great'. The 40-year-old actress is stepping behind the camera as she takes on the role of director for the upcoming drama - which follows a year-old Floridian woman (June Squibb ) as she forms an unlikely friendship with a 19-year-old student (Erin Kellyman) in New York City - and could see a "great possibility" in the emotional screenplay that reminded her of films made in decades gone by. She told Deadline: "When I read it, I cried, and that almost never happens. "Sometimes you'll read a script that's really moving. When I read 'Jojo Rabbit', I cried. Sometimes a script will move you like that, which is extraordinary. "I could see there was a great possibility in it,' she continues. 'I thought, 'Oh, actually, I think I could tell this story.' It reminded me so much of independent film from the mid to late '90s. I was a kid of the '90s. I was working in independent film at that time, and I watched a lot of movies in that period of time that were throughout the '90s into the early aughts, like 'Crossing Delancey' and movies like that I loved as a kid. Richard LaGravenese made a great movie called Living Out Loud, and then certain Woody Allen movies from that period of time, too, that are films that I gravitate toward as just a fan." The 'Black Widow' recalled that she had been put on such a tight schedule to get the film made but felt "so lucky" when two major production compies got involved. She said: "I got the script in August, and I was like, 'We have to make it this winter.' That was very stressful, like crazy, crazy stressful. It fell apart a thousand different times. "I don't want to say I'm a film snob, but I love Sony Pictures Classics. "The idea of working with TriStar was amazing, it was perfect "I couldn't have asked for better partners than Sony Pictures Classics and TriStar. Nicole Brown, our executive at TriStar, is incredible, a dream executive. I was lucky."
American Military News
01-05-2025
- Entertainment
- American Military News
Priscilla Pointer, ‘Dallas' and ‘Carrie' actor and mom to Oscar nominee Amy Irving, dies at 100
Priscilla Pointer, a stage actor perhaps best known for roles in the movie 'Carrie' and TV's 'Dallas,' died Monday, her family confirmed. The mother of Oscar-nominated actor Amy Irving, Pointer was 100 years old. She 'died peacefully in her sleep at the age of 100, hopefully to run off with her 2 adoring husbands and her many dogs,' the 'Crossing Delancey' star said Tuesday on social media. 'She most definitely will be missed.' For 44 episodes of CBS' series 'Dallas,' Pointer played Rebecca Barnes Wentworth, Pamela and Cliff's mother and the head of a rival oil family. In the 1976 movie 'Carrie' she played Mrs. Snell, mother to Sue Snell, who was played by her daughter Amy. She was just shy of her 101st birthday, according to a family statement obtained by The Times. 'Priscilla had a long acting career. She met her first husband Jules Irving in Europe just after WWII in an army production of 'Brother Rat,'' the statement said. 'They returned to the U.S. and formed the Actor's Workshop in San Francisco. The company eventually took over the Vivian Beaumont Theater in NYC.' Pointer, who was born in New York City on May 18, 1924, began her stage career in the city the 1940s. She was was married to Irving from 1947 until his death in 1979, moving out west with him after the war. They returned to New York City as the San Francisco troupe was winding down and Irving served as artistic director of Manhattan's Lincoln Center from 1965 to 1972. The couple moved to Southern California after he retired, settling down in Santa Monica. After her first husband died, Pointer married Robert Symonds. The two knew each other from San Francisco, and Symonds had moved to New York from California to work as Irving's associate director at the Lincoln Center. Symonds recalled meeting Pointer for the first time at the Actor's Workshop in San Francisco, where she was 'sitting at a desk typing a letter,' he told The Times in 1997. 'I remember she was very, very pretty.' Former Times staff writer Daryl H. Miller dubbed Pointer a 'natural beauty.' 'Whether hunkered on the floor petting a dog or sitting pertly on a couch,' he wrote, 'she is regal yet casual, arresting yet homespun.' Amy Irving told The Times in 1997 that her mother and Symonds were 'unbelievably well-suited' as a couple. 'I know my mom and dad were deeply in love with each other, but Mom and Bob have so much in common,' she said. 'There's such harmony in their lives, a really nice balance. They spark each other.' The couple's joint projects included the 1984 Blake Edwards film 'Micki & Maude,' in which they played Ann Reinking's parents, and the 1993 South Coast Repertory production of 'Morning's at Seven,' in which they played brother- and sister-in-law.'First Love' at the Odyssey Theater in 2003 and the 2000 production of Athol Fugard's 'Road to Mecca' at the Fountain Theatre in Hollywood were also twofer shows. When Pointer and Symonds worked together on the 1997 production of 'Fighting Over Beverly,' also at the Fountain, they rehearsed at home and carpooled across town to the theater, but their characters weren't supposed to have seen each other in 50 years. 'That really requires acting,' Pointer told The Times, 'because instead of having known him for 43 years, I have to pretend — and so does he — that we haven't seen each other since we were 18.' 'The unflappable Pointer sails above the general mayhem with a ladylike aplomb that makes her subsequent emotional epiphany all the more moving,' The Times wrote about Pointer's performance in that show. Amy Irving told The Times in 2007, 'I grew up watching my dad directing Mom and Bob in the leads of plays, and the three of them were best friends. That was where I began to develop my passion for acting and learn how to do it.' Pointer went solo in shows including 'At Long Last Leo' at South Coast Repertory in 1988 and the 1985 movie 'The Falcon and the Snowman,' amassing close to 100 film and TV credits between 1954 and 2014. After Symonds died in 2007 from complications of prostate cancer, Pointer kept performing, including a 2017 role in 'Night and Dreams: A Schubert & Beckett Recital' at the Walt Disney Concert Hall, where she played one of the amusing old ladies of Beckett's 'Come and Go.' The women each whispered something about another, then launched into 'Lachen und Weinen,' Schubert's song about laughter being a lover's defense against tears. Pointer is survived by her three children from her first marriage, David, Katie and Amy, and many grandchildren. ___ © 2025 Los Angeles Times. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
Los Angeles Times
29-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
Priscilla Pointer, ‘Dallas' and ‘Carrie' actor and mom to Oscar nominee Amy Irving, dies at 100
Priscilla Pointer, a stage actor perhaps best known for roles in the movie 'Carrie' and TV's 'Dallas,' died Monday, her family confirmed. The mother of Oscar-nominated actor Amy Irving, Pointer was 100 years old. She 'died peacefully in her sleep at the age of 100, hopefully to run off with her 2 adoring husbands and her many dogs,' the 'Crossing Delancey' star said Tuesday on social media. 'She most definitely will be missed.' For 44 episodes of CBS' series 'Dallas,' Pointer played Rebecca Barnes Wentworth, Pamela and Cliff's mother and the head of a rival oil family. In the 1976 movie 'Carrie' she played Mrs. Snell, mother to Sue Snell, who was played by her daughter Amy. She was just shy of her 101st birthday, according to a family statement obtained by The Times. 'Priscilla had a long acting career. She met her first husband Jules Irving in Europe just after WWII in an army production of 'Brother Rat,'' the statement said. 'They returned to the U.S. and formed the Actor's Workshop in San Francisco. The company eventually took over the Vivian Beaumont Theater in NYC.' Pointer, who was born in New York City on May 18, 1924, began her stage career in the city the 1940s. She was was married to Irving from 1947 until his death in 1979, moving out west with him after the war. They returned to New York City as the San Francisco troupe was winding down and Irving served as artistic director of Manhattan's Lincoln Center from 1965 to 1972. The couple moved to Southern California after he retired, settling down in Santa Monica. After her first husband died, Pointer married Robert Symonds. The two knew each other from San Francisco, and Symonds had moved to New York from California to work as Irving's associate director at the Lincoln Center. Symonds recalled meeting Pointer for the first time at the Actor's Workshop in San Francisco, where she was 'sitting at a desk typing a letter,' he told The Times in 1997. 'I remember she was very, very pretty.' Former Times staff writer Daryl H. Miller dubbed Pointer a 'natural beauty.' 'Whether hunkered on the floor petting a dog or sitting pertly on a couch,' he wrote, 'she is regal yet casual, arresting yet homespun.' Amy Irving told The Times in 1997 that her mother and Symonds were 'unbelievably well-suited' as a couple. 'I know my mom and dad were deeply in love with each other, but Mom and Bob have so much in common,' she said. 'There's such harmony in their lives, a really nice balance. They spark each other.' The couple's joint projects included the 1984 Blake Edwards film 'Micki & Maude,' in which they played Ann Reinking's parents, and the 1993 South Coast Repertory production of 'Morning's at Seven,' in which they played brother- and sister-in-law. 'First Love' at the Odyssey Theater in 2003 and the 2000 production of Athol Fugard's 'Road to Mecca' at the Fountain Theatre in Hollywood were also twofer shows. When Pointer and Symonds worked together on the 1997 production of 'Fighting Over Beverly,' also at the Fountain, they rehearsed at home and carpooled across town to the theater, but their characters weren't supposed to have seen each other in 50 years. 'That really requires acting,' Pointer told The Times, 'because instead of having known him for 43 years, I have to pretend — and so does he — that we haven't seen each other since we were 18.' 'The unflappable Pointer sails above the general mayhem with a ladylike aplomb that makes her subsequent emotional epiphany all the more moving,' The Times wrote about Pointer's performance in that show. Amy Irving told The Times in 2007, 'I grew up watching my dad directing Mom and Bob in the leads of plays, and the three of them were best friends. That was where I began to develop my passion for acting and learn how to do it.' Pointer went solo in shows including 'At Long Last Leo' at South Coast Repertory in 1988 and the 1985 movie 'The Falcon and the Snowman,' amassing close to 100 film and TV credits between 1954 and 2014. After Symonds died in 2007 from complications of prostate cancer, Pointer kept performing, including a 2017 role in 'Night and Dreams: A Schubert & Beckett Recital' at the Walt Disney Concert Hall, where she played one of the amusing old ladies of Beckett's 'Come and Go.' The women each whispered something about another, then launched into 'Lachen und Weinen,' Schubert's song about laughter being a lover's defense against tears. Pointer is survived by her three children from her first marriage, David, Katie and Amy, and many grandchildren. Times classical music critic Mark Swed and former Times staff writer Daryl H. Miller contributed to this report.
