What to watch in cinemas this week | June 12–18
Materialists and The Wedding Banquet
Recommendation of the week
I wish. I got pre-sale tickets for the F1 movie, hoping, at the very least, that it’s a gentleman’s 5/10. Otherwise, it looks like the live-action remakes of movies still from this century are dominating the box office unfortunately.
American release
Materialists (Celine Song, USA/Finland)
is Celine Song’s sophomore flick for A24, following Past Lives with a similar two men, one woman romance setup starring Dakota Johnson, Chris Evans, and (an obligatory appearance for every new piece of media by) Pedro Pascal. I’m excited to check back in on Song and her husband Justin Kuritzkes, who wrote Challengers (one women, two men) and Queer (many men, jungle Lesley Manville), and try to piece together the complicated ménage à trois they’re signalling to us.
Plot bio: A young, ambitious New York City matchmaker finds herself torn between the perfect match and her imperfect ex.
Releasing in August in Germany because they can’t handle thrupples.
German release
The Wedding Banquet (Andrew Ahn, USA)
is director Ahn and Bowen Yang’s follow up to their highly enjoyable “Pride and Prejudice” adaptation, Fire Island. Not sure what else I could say to recommend this—a remake of Ang Lee’s 1993 film of the same name—which seems like a downer, but it has Lily Gladstone and is the Mubi Go pick of the week.
Plot summary: Frustrated with his commitment-phobic boyfriend Chris and running out of time, Min makes a proposal: a green-card marriage with their friend Angela in exchange for her partner Lee’s expensive IVF. Elopement plans are upended, however, when Min’s grandmother surprises them with an extravagant Korean wedding banquet.
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