MATERIALISTS: Clean Pedro vs. Grimy Pedro

MATERIALISTS (Blu-ray)

2025 / 116 min

A24

Review by Stinky the Destroyer😽

Another sleeper hit from A24, another opportunity to jump on-board the Pedro Pascal train. Not that it’s a difficult task. The guy is everywhere these days…five movies in 2024 alone, three this year, and lets not forget two of the most high-profile sci-fi TV series of the last 10 years. I imagine Pedro wakes up every morning with a big high-five to himself.

For the most part, he deserves to. Unlike a lot of other actors running the risk of overexposure, Pascal’s track record has been pretty solid and he’s proven to be quite versatile, though my daughter, who has a celebrity crush on him, prefers the gritty, grimy & grizzled Pedro from The Last of Us. Seeing him as sharp-dressed, handsome and wealthy Henry Castillo in Materialists would probably leave her cold.

Despite the collective aesthetic appeal of the cast (which includes Dakota Johnson and Chris Evans), I can kind-of see how Materialists might leave a lot of people cold, especially those expecting the kind of light romantic comedy they're used to. There’s comedy, sure, but it’s understated and ultimately not part of writer-director Celine Song’s playbook. 

It certainly begins like something Julia Roberts used to do in her sleep back in the ‘90s, with Johnson as Lucy Mason, a professional matchmaker whose clients largely consists of entitled rich people with a checklist of physical and/or financial qualities they seek in a potential mate. Lucy’s mathematical approach to matchmaking makes her successful, though she herself isn’t really part of that world. In fact, when she meets charming single bachelor Henry Castillo, Lucy uses her personal analytics to explain why they aren’t compatible (which doesn’t really dissuade him, of course).

Chopsticks, too? Is there anything Pedro can't do?

At roughly the same time, Lucy’s old boyfriend, struggling actor John Pitts (Evans), re-enters her life during a chance meeting. We sense they still love each other, but as seen through flashbacks, she left him because he didn’t meet the same shallow criteria many of her clients demand (and she hates herself for it). Meanwhile, Lucy does begin a relationship with Henry, though it’s obvious she doesn’t actually love him. As love triangles go, the movie takes a few unexpected turns, but it’s sometimes pretty slow going and Lucy isn’t a particularly sympathetic protagonist. I also could have done without the subplot involving one of Lucy’s clients, Sophie (Zoe Winters), and an abusive man she set her up with.

Still, I guess it could be considered a fairly perceptive, mature look at relationships - even if we don’t necessarily relate to some of these people - and the overall performances keep it watchable. Though his character is more of a plot device, fans of “clean” Pedro will enjoy what he brings to the film, while those who love “grimy” Pedro (like my daughter) should give it a pass. 

EXTRA KIBBLES

FEATURETTES - The Math of Modern Dating: Making Materialists; Composer Deep Dive with Japanese Breakfast.

AUDIO COMMENTARY - By writer-director Celine Song.

SIX BEHIND-THE-SCENES POSTCARDS - Standard with all A24 releases.

Four CLARK GABLES In One

4-FILM COLLECTION: CLARK CABLE (Blu-ray)

1935-1939 / 441 min (4 movies)

Warner Archive Collection

Available at www.MovieZyng.com

Review by Mr. Paws😺

Warner Archive has recently released a few 4-film collections showcasing such legendary stars as Elizabeth Taylor, Gary Cooper and (the set we’re reviewing) Clark Gable. The included titles are the same Blu-ray editions that were previously available separately; this is simply a more economical way to grab all four at once. 

The Clark Gable collection features movies he did in the 1930s while under contract at MGM. There’s no Gone with the Wind here (haven’t we seen that one enough anyway?), but it does boast of couple of his all-time best.

1935’s Mutiny on the Bounty is generally considered the definitive adaptation of the oft-told incident, and for good reason. While playing fast and loose with history, the film is a dramatically gripping account of Fletcher Christian (Gable) seizing control of the HMS Bounty from cruel, tyrannical Captain Bligh (Charles Laughton). Though featuring one of Gable’s better early performances, the film is stolen by Laughton, who’s deliciously hateful.

EXTRA KIBBLES - Pitcairn Island Today is a promotional short; 1936 Newsreel features Oscar awards footage; Trailer.

1936’s San Francisco is not the first disaster film. However, it’s the first one with all the elements that would come to define the genre...melodrama, subplots, tumultuous relationships, an all-star cast, epic destruction and a narrative blueprint followed by countless other films since. It’s also the first disaster movie with special effects that are more-or-less convincing. Even today, its depiction of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake is pretty damned impressive. Like some of the soapier entries in the genre, San Francisco dedicates a great deal of its running time to trials and tribulations of its main characters, but once the fight for survival begins, the film is thrilling.

EXTRA KIBBLES - Clark Gable: Tall, Dark and Handsome is an enjoyable 45 minute documentary; Bottles (cartoon short); Cavalcade of San Francisco (short); Night Descends on Treasure Island (short); Alternate ending; Trailer.

"I swear...it was like this when I got here."

Released the same year, Wife vs. Secretary is a romantic comedy co-starring Myrna Loy and Jean Harlow. Gable is Jake, a magazine publisher whose loving wife, Linda (Loy), is led to believe (through gossip and misunderstandings) that his relationship with dedicated secretary ‘Whitey’ (Harlow) might be more than purely professional. Not bad as these things go, but hardly one of Gable’s essential films. It also features James Stewart in one of his earliest roles.

EXTRA KIBBLES - The Public Pays is a short from MGM’s “Crime Doesn’t Pay” series; Trailer.

Finally, 1939’s Idiot’s Delight was Gable’s last film before Gone with the Wind made him Hollywood's dreamiest dreamboat. Based on a popular play, it’s mostly remembered for being the only time Gable performs a musical number in a movie. Elsewhere, there’s plenty of comedy and melodrama, but while the film is held in high regard by some, this writer felt it could have benefited from a little trimming, including that musical number (with all due respect, Mr. Gable, you ain’t much of a singer).

EXTRA KIBBLES - The Good Egg and It’s an Ill Wind are two Looney Tunes shorts; Alternate ending; Trailer.

As with most Warner Archive Blu-ray releases, the picture and sound restorations for these movies are quite good. Contentwise, the set is worth grabbing for Mutiny on the Bounty and San Francisco alone. Though the other two aren’t completely without interest, neither rank among the best of their genre or Clark Gable’s lengthy filmography.

SEEKING A FRIEND FOR THE END OF THE WORLD: Inevitability in Action

SEEKING A FRIEND FOR THE END OF THE WORLD (Blu-ray)

2012 / 101 min

Universal

Available at www.MovieZyng.com

Review by Princess Pepper😽

I seem to recall when this was first released and thinking the title was metaphorical. But indeed, Seeking a Friend for the End of the World is almost exactly as advertised. The seeking part? No. But finding a friend when you weren’t actually seeking? Sure enough, which kinda makes the whole thing pretty predictable…

…to say nothing of somber, even if that wasn’t entirely writer-director Lorene Scafaria’s intention. It’s hard to mine comedy from the apocalypse, to say nothing of romantic comedy. Not that the movie is never funny, or without its sweet, feel-good moments, but the impending doom that underscores nearly every scene looms large. We already know how this is gonna turn out.

Still, it’s a fairly engaging journey along the way. A 70 mile wide asteroid is heading toward Earth, which of-course will wipe out everyone. But Dodge (Steve Carell) was already miserable before that, trapped in a bad marriage and dull job. That changes when he meets his free-spirited young neighbor, Penny (Keira Knightley) for the first time. She’s sort of a hot mess, too, having just broken up with her shiftless boyfriend. 

They have different agendas for the limited time they have left. Penny wants to go home to her parents. Dodge hopes to reunite with an old high school sweetheart (after reading a months-old letter from her that was put in Penny’s mailbox by mistake). This essentially becomes a road movie as these two opposites (and an abandoned dog) embark on the journey together. Anyone who's seen their share of romantic comedies will know how this turns out, too.

Seeking room on the sofa for the end of the world.

Seeking a Friend for the End of the World unfolds like a benign variation of conceptually similar - but far more brutal - films like Miracle Mile and These Final Hours (the latter being one of the bleakest movies I’ve ever seen). The funniest moments are during the first act, particularly when Dodge attends a party thrown by friends who plan on going out with a bang. Though different in nearly every way (including their ages), Dodge and Penny’s budding romance is kind of charming, though for me, the most emotionally affecting scene involves Dodge and a spider he spots in his sink, which wordlessly conveys his sudden appreciation for life (no matter how much of it one has left). Maybe I’m just wired wrong.

Carell, Knightley and the supporting cast of recognizable actors (most of whom only appear in a scene or two) all give good performances, while Scafaria’s dialogue often touches on relatable themes and feelings. However, the movie doesn’t hold any real surprises. For the most part, we’re just watching the inevitable unfold, both the love story and humanity’s fate. 

This is a re-issue of a Blu-ray released in 2012.

EXTRA KIBBLES

FEATURETTES - A Look Inside Seeking a Friend for the End of the World is your standard promo piece; Music for the End of the World: What’s On Your Playlist features cast members naming your own music choices.

AUDIO COMMENTARY - By writer-director Lorene Scafaria (and her mother!), actors Patton Oswalt & Adam Brody, producer Joy Gorman.

OUTTAKES