Welcome to Screen Gab, the newsletter for everyone who’s been clamoring for another go at the Phil’s Tire Town draw.
That’s because the (fictional) tennis tournament and the film it forms the backdrop to, Luca Guadagnino’s “Challengers,” are now streaming on Amazon Prime Video — bringing the best film of the year so far to an even wider audience, as Screen Gab editor Matt Brennan writes in this week’s Catch Up.
Plus, “The Penguin” and “A Different Man” prosthetic makeup whiz Mike Marino stops by for a Guest Spot and we recommend two pop culture-adjacent docs to stream this weekend.
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Turn on
Recommendations from the film and TV experts at The Times
”HayaoMiyazaki and the Heron” (Max)
Some of my favorite scenes in “Hayao Miyazaki and the Heron” involve Miyazaki’s interactions with young children. To these neighborhood kids, one of the greatest filmmakers of our time — animated or otherwise — is just the old man who gives them one jelly bean each when they go visit his studio. The two-hour documentary spans the seven-plus years it took Miyazaki to complete “The Boy and the Heron” (also on Max), the Academy Award-winning feature the filmmaker came out of retirement (once again) to make. More than a detailed behind-the-scenes look at Miyazaki’s creative process, it’s a companion piece that shows the filmmaker working through his answer to the question posed by the Japanese title of the animated fantasy he is working on — “How do you live?” — even as he becomes more pensive about death. The documentary often cuts between its subject and scenes from Miyazaki’s films that mirror the moments being captured, so familiarity with “The Boy and the Heron” as well as the Studio Ghibli co-founder’s other works is recommended. —Tracy Brown
“Pulp: A Film About Life, Death and Supermarkets” (Kanopy, Pluto TV)
Pulp will play a string of sold-out shows in Los Angeles this week, nearly three decades after their hit “Common People” became one of the defining anthems of Britpop. The English group, led by the louche, lanky frontman Jarvis Cocker, never made it quite as big in the U.S. as their contemporaries Blur and Oasis. But in the decades since the heyday of Britpop, they’ve continued to generate an American following — thanks to Cocker’s singular charisma and a sound that blends glam rock and New Wave. Directed by Florian Habicht, this film follows Pulp in 2012 as they prepare to play a concert in their hometown of Sheffield, in the north of England. It is at once a loving portrait of the group as they reunited a decade after an unceremonious breakup and a paean to the gritty Yorkshire city that spawned them. It weaves together concert footage of Cocker, writhing and bending his spindly limbs onstage like a possessed marionette, with vignettes of the group’s local fans, like a musician who prefers Sheffield to London because in Sheffield, “you usually know the person that’s mugging you.” —Meredith Blake
Catch up
Everything you need to know about the film or TV series everyone’s talking about
New Rochelle, N.Y., has never been sexier than in the electrifying romantic dramedy “Challengers” (Prime Video), in which former friends and current rivals Patrick Zweig (Josh O’Connor) and Art Donaldson (Mike Faist) vie for the title at a second-tier stop on the pro tennis circuit — and the affections of Art’s wife/coach and Patrick’s onetime girlfriend, Tashi Duncan (Zendaya). Written by Justin Kuritzkes and directed within an inch of its life by Luca Guadagnino, the film combines Roger Federer’s grace, Rafael Nadal’s force and Novak Djokovic’s spleen; aesthetically and tonally, it is the equivalent of a cross-court backhand with wicked spin. (At one point, the camera becomes the ball.) Perhaps most impressive, though, the in-your-face photography, thrumming EDM score and dizzying array of jumps backwards and forwards in time don’t drown out the sterling performances from the lead trio. Faist’s simpering, fastidious Grand Slam champion is the perfect foil for O’Connor’s assertive, wolfish also-ran, with Zendaya — reaffirming her place as her generation’s biggest movie star — expertly positioned as the net strung between them. With ample (bi)sexual tension, lacerating humor, marital drama and platonic love, “Challengers” remains the best movie I’ve seen so far this year. It’s enough to make you pump your fist and scream, “Come on!” —Matt Brennan
Guest spot
A weekly chat with actors, writers, directors and more about what they’re working on — and what they’re watching
Mike Marino is having a better week than most people have in years. That’s because the prosthetic makeup designer has two high-profile projects dropping at the same time: Just as “The Penguin,” in which he transforms Colin Farrell into gangster Oz “the Penguin” Cobb, hits HBO and Max, “A Different Man,” in which he transforms Sebastian Stan into an actor with neurofibromatosis, lands in theaters. But Marino doesn’t ascribe his success wholly to hard work or careful planning — his preparation is meant to foster “some kind of magic,” he says, “out of my conscious control.” Marino stopped by Screen Gab recently to discuss “The Penguin,” what he’s watching and more. —Matt Brennan
READ MORE: ‘The Penguin’ is the latest character study of the charming, rage-filled Batman villain
What have you watched recently that you’re recommending to everyone you know?
I am always recommending “The Twilight Zone” [Freevee, Pluto] series from the 1960s. I think all the best filmmakers took inspiration from Rod Sterling. Even though it’s 60 years old, it is still so relevant today.
What’s your go-to “comfort watch,” the film or TV show you return to again and again?
Comfort watches are [the 1990 movie] “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” [Paramount+], “RoboCop” [Max], “Tales from the Crypt” series, and “The Wedding Singer” [VOD, multiple platforms]!
Describe the moment of inspiration where you first landed on the concept for Colin Farrell’s prosthetics as “The Penguin.”
There is a moment after you gather reference images where you let your mind go blank. This is where your hands just start moving intuitively, becoming some form of meditation. All of a sudden, some kind of magic happens. The creation becomes alive and out of my conscious control.
Which aspect of your prosthetic design for the series that people might not notice right away are you most proud of and why?
I think there are many subliminal suggestions inside the design of Oz. We went beyond his face for the series, showing more of his body, describing more of why they call him the Penguin.