#naheem garcia

[scenesandscreens]

Challengers (2024)

Director - Luca Guadagnino, Cinematography - Sayombhu Mukdeeprom

"For about fifteen seconds there, we were actually playing tennis. And we understood each other completely. So did everyone watching. It's like we were in love. Or like we didn't exist. We went somewhere really beautiful together."

[letterboxd-loggd]

The Holdovers (2023) Alexander Payne

December 30th 2023

[stuff-diary]

Challengers

Movies watched in 2024

Challengers (2024, USA)

Director: Luca Guadagnino

Writer: Justin Kuritzkes

Mini-review:

It's always nice when a movie lives up to the hype, and Challengers actually surpasses expectations. No matter what you expect going in, it will manage to surprise you in one way or another. It's true I'm not a huge fan of sports films, but I can tell you I had never seen one like this. Luca Guadagnino breathes new life into this genre with his masterful, awe-inspiring directing, also aided by Justin Kuritzkes' brilliant screenplay. And the whole thing is elevated to an even higher level thanks to three career-defining performances from Zendaya, Josh O'Connor and Mike Faist, whose chemistry makes these characters very believable. The cherry on top is Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross' stunning score, which makes the pace so propulsive. So, yeah, believe all the amazing stuff you've read about this movie. It's the real deal.

[camyfilms]

CHALLENGERS 2024

I'm taking such good care of my little white boys.

[genevieveetguy]

. I'm taking such good care of my little white boys.

Challengers, Luca Guadagnino (2024)

[badmovieihave]

Bad movie I have Madame Web 2024

[ruleof3bobby]

JUNGLELAND (2019) Grade: C

Interesting concept that had some potential. The plot was a mix bag. The ending was a let down and a little cheesy. Jack O'Connell was good though.

[watchingalotofmovies]

The Holdovers

The Holdovers    [trailer]

A cranky history teacher at a remote prep school is forced to remain on campus over the holidays with a troubled student who has no place to go and a grieving cook.

Always the sign of a good movie when it passes by quickly. Especially when it's from a genre that's not my favourite.

Custom-made role for Giamatti. So much that I sometimes wonder to what degree he's playing himself. It's also noteworthy how Dominic Sessa holds his own.

[cinemedios]

'Los Que se Quedan', visitando el pasado para entender el presente

En 'Los Que se Quedan', Alexander Payne nos habla de la importancia de conocer el pasado para entender lo que sucede con nosotros en el presente.

Trata de un malhumorado instructor de una prestigiosa escuela estadounidense que se ve obligado a permanecer en el campus durante las vacaciones de Navidad para cuidar de un grupo de estudiantes que no tienen a donde ir. Con el tiempo, establece un vínculo inesperado con uno de ellos, un problemático alumno, y con la jefa de cocina de la escuela, que acaba de perder a su hijo en…

[jmunneytumbler]

Alexander Payne and Paul Giamatti Reunite for 'The Holdovers,' Making a Few New Holiday Friends Along the Way

Alexander Payne and Paul Giamatti Reunite for 'The Holdovers,' Making a Few New Holiday Friends Along the Way

Hold it! (CREDIT: Seacia Pavao / © 2023 FOCUS FEATURES LLC) Starring: Paul Giamatti, Dominic Sessa, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, Carrie Preston, Andrew Garman, Naheem Garcia, Michael Provost, Brady Hepner, Jim Kaplan, Ian Dolley, Gillian Vigman, Tate Donovan Director: Alexander Payne Running Time: 133 Minutes Rating: R for Cranky Curmudgeonliness and Teenage Boys Being Teenage Boys Release Date: October…

[wh2m]

→ Naheem Garcia On Playing Tashi Duncan’s Father In Challengers Starring Zendaya, Josh O’Connor and Mike Faist

“A lot of my young students, when they found out I was doing the film, they were very excited. They said they wanted to be an entrepreneur like Zendaya is. She’s a very warm, very nice young lady, and very about her business.”

[unrequitedscene]

→ Naheem Garcia On Playing Tashi Duncan’s Father In Challengers Starring Zendaya, Josh O’Connor and Mike Faist

“They couldn’t have asked for better actors; all three of them were amazing. You’re talking about one of them who was in West Side Story and the other from The Crown. These are top actors and they’re young people. Young but they’re at the top of the game right now – and they have a nice chemistry.”

[byneddiedingo]

Mike Faist, Zendaya, and Josh O'Connor in Challengers (Luca Guadagnino, 2024)

Cast: Mike Faist, Josh O'Connor, Zendaya, Darnell Appling, Shane T Harris, Nada Despotovich, A.J. Lister, Naheem Garcia, Jake Jensen, Hailey Gates. Screenplay: Justin Kuritzkes. Cinematography: Saymombhu Mukdeeprom. Production design: Merissa Lombardo. Film editing: Marco Costa. Music: Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross. 

Luca Guadagnino's sexy, entertaining, and very well made Challengers set me to wondering once again why "love" is the word for "zero" in tennis. Nobody is entirely sure, it seems, but the most plausible explanation is that at some point in history players insisted that they played for love of the game and not just to win. Maybe it made the losing player feel better. There's plenty of love of various kinds in Guadagnino's movie, which is another two-guys-and-a-girl story made fresh by stellar performances by Zendaya, Mike Faist, and Josh O'Connor and by a smart screenplay by Justin Kuritzkes that uses tennis as a metaphor for sex -- or maybe sex as a metaphor for tennis. It also has a cleverly elusive ending that somehow satisfies the demand for closure by avoiding it. 

[inyourwildestdreams22]

An interview with the actor that plays Tashi's dad. He's AfroCuban from Boston and says the part was small as we expected. But it's still nice that he was included (and also her mom) since they did not explicitly appear in the script we read

https://unrequitedscene.com/naheem-garcia-challengers-interview/

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm3608877/

Ohh nice!! Glad we’ll see a bit of her parents on the movie, he also says Z is very kind and warm

[camyfilms]

THE HOLDOVERS 2023

You know, Mr. Kountze, for most people, life is like a henhouse ladder: shitty and short. You were born lucky. Maybe someday, you entitled little degenerates will appreciate that.

[genevieveetguy]

. There's nothing new in human experience, Mr. Tully. Each generation thinks it invented debauchery or suffering or rebellion, but man's every impulse and appetite from the disgusting to the sublime is on display right here all around you. So, before you dismiss something as boring or irrelevant, remember, if you truly want to understand the present or yourself, you must begin in the past. You see, history is not simply the study of the past. It is an explanation of the present.

The Holdovers, Alexander Payne (2023)