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Yahoo
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Dakota Johnson and director Celine Song rethink the rom-com with 'Materialists'
The new film 'Materialists' is something of a bargain: essentially two films in one. It's very much a sparkling romantic comedy in which a young woman finds herself torn between a wealthy man who can offer her a life of comfort and ease versus another much poorer man who nonetheless understands the deepest, truest parts of her inner self. It is also filled with long, thoughtful conversations on the very nature of why love and relationships matter so much, the parts they play in people's lives and effects on an individual's sense of identity. The movie is both a thing and spends a lot of time considering the nature of that very thing, almost an essay about itself. And it does so with a stylish, romantic sophistication and ease. Written and directed by playwright turned filmmaker Celine Song, "Materialists" is the follow-up to the wistfully melancholic 'Past Lives,' her 2023 feature debut that was nominated for best picture and original screenplay Oscars. The new film is in conversation with classic rom-coms by the likes of Nora Ephron, James L. Brooks and Billy Wilder, while also grappling with of-the-moment concerns such as ambition and achievement. 'We're not just showing up here to be in love and beautiful and get to be in a rom-com," says Song. "We're also going to take this opportunity to talk about something. Because that's the power of the genre. Our favorite rom-coms are the ones where we get to start a conversation about something.' Read more: The 18 summer movies we're most excited about Song, 36, is sipping tea at a sunny corner table in the restaurant of a West Hollywood hotel along alongside the film's star, Dakota Johnson. In the film Johnson plays Lucy, who works as a professional matchmaker in New York City, helping affluent clients fulfill their impossible criteria of looks, physique, occupation, education, income, background, lifestyle and anything else that might impact a prospective partner's value in the marketplace of eligible singles. When Lucy meets Harry (Pedro Pascal), a tall, handsome and very wealthy private equity manager, she initially tries to wrangle him as a possible match for any of the many female clients who would want him. But he plans to pursue Lucy instead across a series of impressively expensive dinners. Meanwhile, Lucy has also reconnected with John (Chris Evans), a former boyfriend who is still a struggling actor making ends meet as a cater waiter years after they broke up. Lucy finds herself torn between the cynicism and mathematical practicality her job has hardened in her and a yearning romanticism she wishes she could be open to. Depending on how one finds the erotic absurdities of the young-woman-in-the-big-city storylines of the 'Fifty Shades' films that rocketed her to stardom, Johnson has rarely done a conventional rom-com (there's only 2016's 'How to Be Single'). Which is not to say she hasn't been offered such vehicles. She's just declined to be in them. 'They're not good,' Johnson, 35, says, chuckling lightly at her own bluntness. 'Sorry.' 'I think a lot of what I read these days is void of soul and heart," she continues. "And Celine is all soul and heart. I really love a rom-com if it feels like I can connect to the people in it. And I think I've found it hard to connect to the people in some of the ones that I've been offered.' What made 'Materialists' feel different for her? 'The complexities of all of the characters," Johnson answers. "The paradox. Everyone being confused about what the f— they're supposed to do with their hearts. And what's the right move? I found that very honest and I found it just so relatable." Johnson, who is in a relationship with musician Chris Martin, continues, "For a long time we've all been so quick to judge relationships or how they should happen, how they should exist in the world. When people should get married. Divorce is bad. All these things that actually, if you think about it, why is divorce bad? Why do people have to get married or at a certain age or only once? Why? It doesn't matter.' First thoughts for the project began around 10 years ago, when Song worked for a professional matchmaking service for about six months. It's very much a client-facing job, and she found the interactions she had with people to be bracing in their candor and vulnerability, as well as the ways in which the work demanded management of people's feelings of desirability or lovability — as well as rejection or worthlessness. 'To a matchmaker, everybody's very honest about what they're looking for," says Song, herself married to "Challengers" and "Queer" screenwriter Justin Kuritzkes. "Even at that time, I always thought, I just know I'm going to write something about it.' Ever since the film's first trailer dropped, people online have commented on an unusual drink order placed by Lucy. More specifically, a drink that is placed in front of her before she really even has a chance to order it, by someone who already knows that her preferred beverage was once, indeed, Coke and beer, with space left in a glass to pour the two together. 'To me what was important is that this was a drink that is so strange that you can't guess,' explains Song. 'And that only somebody who knows you very well, who knew you in college, who knew you when you were really just at your heart your pure self, [knows] your drink order. So all I did was I Googled 'weird drinks.'' Though the drink is apparently popular in Germany, as for how it actually tastes, Johnson notes, 'It's just very effervescent and kind of gross. Not for me.' Song and Johnson have formed an apparent bond in the time spent working together. (They met during a period when the attention around 'Past Lives' meant that Song could get general meetings, not even for a specific project, with many top stars.) They both mention how by the time they were shooting, Song could often communicate ideas to Johnson with just a look or a gesture rather than an involved explanation. "She'd come in and be like, 'Um ...' and I'd be like, 'Yes,'" says Johnson. Johnson in particular has the unbothered savvy of someone who has spent their entire life in some proximity to the spotlight (her parents are actors Melanie Griffith and Don Johnson) and has now been steadily working since appearing in "The Social Network" in 2010. In conversation, Johnson and Song share a casual, relaxed energy between them. Yet at the mere mention of "Madame Web," the 2024 Marvel adaptation starring Johnson that was a box-office bomb and subject of intense media scrutiny, Johnson's eyes narrow and her posture tightens. 'Go on,' Johnson says with a feigned seriousness. Will Johnson now stick to indie films at the scale of 'Materialists' or the projects produced by her company TeaTime Pictures, such as 2023's 'Daddio' or the upcoming 'Splitsville,' which recently premiered at the Cannes Film Festival? 'It wasn't my fault,' Johnson says, laughing slightly while maintaining her focus. 'There's this thing that happens now where a lot of creative decisions are made by committee. Or made by people who don't have a creative bone in their body. And it's really hard to make art that way. Or to make something entertaining that way. And I think unfortunately with 'Madame Web,' it started out as something and turned into something else. And I was just sort of along for the ride at that point. But that happens. Bigger-budget movies fail all the time. 'I don't have a Band-Aid over it,' she adds. 'There's no part of me that's like, 'Oh, I'll never do that again' to anything. I've done even tiny movies that didn't do well. Who cares?' Having now been an active producer on a number of projects — including one to be directed by 93-year-old comedy legend Elaine May that Johnson says she hopes could be shooting in the fall — has made it different for her when, on a film like 'Materialists,' she is an actor only. 'I think that sometimes I'm like, 'Oh, I know how to fix it,' or I know what to do, I want to help,' says Johnson. 'And there's some things where I have to just not say things. Sometimes I love just showing up, especially on our movie, it was just so much fun for me to only be acting. Because I was in so much of it, I felt like I was in such good hands, I could just relax into that role.' The film uses a fable-like framing story about two prehistoric cave dwellers who may very well be the first married couple. (They also pop up for sharp-eyed viewers in another scene as well.) 'To me, the whole movie is in those pieces,' says Song. 'Because all of what we are living through is also going to be ancient too. We know that certain stone tools were passed over to the other, but we do not know about the flowers that were exchanged. Because there are some things like sentiment and feeling and love that are intangible and ephemeral. There's a very real and tangible and material record of stone tools and things being traded. But what passed between them in their heart is not. It's not on record.' Leaping forward in time to depict contemporary worries and desires, 'Materialists' attempts to capture the specifics of a cultural moment, calculating cost-benefit analysis against a perceived ticking clock while also often dodging abusive predators. 'In present time, the dating world because of social media is so different — everything is aspirational," says Johnson. 'You want to live the life that all these other people have on your phone, thinking that that's what you're supposed to be doing. It looks good, but it's not authentic because it's manufactured, it's filtered, it's ridiculous. So everything that a woman or a man is looking for in a partner, when they get to a certain age, whenever that is, it's all material things. It's height, it's income, it's hair, body, physique. It's things that have nothing to do with a soul connection.' Unafraid to grapple with tough conversations and moments of internal crisis, "Materialists" exudes a chic glamour as it interrogates the tough choices, motivations and consequences of modern romance. At one point in the film, Lucy and Harry go to see John perform in a way-off-Broadway production of Song's play 'Tom & Eliza.' (Song's name appears onscreen on a poster.) At drinks after, John says something dismissive about Lucy's work as a matchmaker and she sarcastically retorts that it's just 'girl s—.' This line was Song's own purposeful rebuke of the dismissive attitudes toward writing about love. 'I so often experience a general sentiment that love as a topic of conversation and study is dismissable as unserious, unimportant, 'lighter fare,' 'girl s—,'' writes Song in a follow-up email. 'People call romantic films 'chick flicks' as a way to diminish them, which I find unspeakably sad, not just for the way it excludes 'chicks' from the realm of 'serious people,' but also for the way it excludes 'serious people' from the realm of romance and love. 'That line of Lucy's is intended to be a sharp reproach of that dismissal,' adds Song. 'I believe that love is the greatest mystery in everyone's lives, and therefore it is one of the most important themes in cinema. Love is the one drama we all experience, and it deserves the utmost respect.' Sign up for Indie Focus, a weekly newsletter about movies and what's going on in the wild world of cinema. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Los Angeles Times
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
Dakota Johnson and director Celine Song rethink the rom-com with ‘Materialists'
The new film 'Materialists' is something of a bargain: essentially two films in one. It's very much a sparkling romantic comedy in which a young woman finds herself torn between a wealthy man who can offer her a life of comfort and ease versus another much poorer man who nonetheless understands the deepest, truest parts of her inner self. It is also filled with long, thoughtful conversations on the very nature of why love and relationships matter so much, the parts they play in people's lives and effects on an individual's sense of identity. The movie is both a thing and spends a lot of time considering the nature of that very thing, almost an essay about itself. And it does so with a stylish, romantic sophistication and ease. Written and directed by playwright turned filmmaker Celine Song, 'Materialists' is the follow-up to the wistfully melancholic 'Past Lives,' her 2023 feature debut that was nominated for best picture and original screenplay Oscars. The new film is in conversation with classic rom-coms by the likes of Nora Ephron, James L. Brooks and Billy Wilder, while also grappling with of-the-moment concerns such as ambition and achievement. 'We're not just showing up here to be in love and beautiful and get to be in a rom-com,' says Song. 'We're also going to take this opportunity to talk about something. Because that's the power of the genre. Our favorite rom-coms are the ones where we get to start a conversation about something.' Song, 36, is sipping tea at a sunny corner table in the restaurant of a West Hollywood hotel along alongside the film's star, Dakota Johnson. In the film Johnson plays Lucy, who works as a professional matchmaker in New York City, helping affluent clients fulfill their impossible criteria of looks, physique, occupation, education, income, background, lifestyle and anything else that might impact a prospective partner's value in the marketplace of eligible singles. When Lucy meets Harry (Pedro Pascal), a tall, handsome and very wealthy private equity manager, she initially tries to wrangle him as a possible match for any of the many female clients who would want him. But he plans to pursue Lucy instead across a series of impressively expensive dinners. Meanwhile, Lucy has also reconnected with John (Chris Evans), a former boyfriend who is still a struggling actor making ends meet as a cater waiter years after they broke up. Lucy finds herself torn between the cynicism and mathematical practicality her job has hardened in her and a yearning romanticism she wishes she could be open to. Depending on how one finds the erotic absurdities of the young-woman-in-the-big-city storylines of the 'Fifty Shades' films that rocketed her to stardom, Johnson has rarely done a conventional rom-com (there's only 2016's 'How to Be Single'). Which is not to say she hasn't been offered such vehicles. She's just declined to be in them. 'They're not good,' Johnson, 35, says, chuckling lightly at her own bluntness. 'Sorry.' 'I think a lot of what I read these days is void of soul and heart,' she continues. 'And Celine is all soul and heart. I really love a rom-com if it feels like I can connect to the people in it. And I think I've found it hard to connect to the people in some of the ones that I've been offered.' What made 'Materialists' feel different for her? 'The complexities of all of the characters,' Johnson answers. 'The paradox. Everyone being confused about what the f— they're supposed to do with their hearts. And what's the right move? I found that very honest and I found it just so relatable.' Johnson, who is in a relationship with musician Chris Martin, continues, 'For a long time we've all been so quick to judge relationships or how they should happen, how they should exist in the world. When people should get married. Divorce is bad. All these things that actually, if you think about it, why is divorce bad? Why do people have to get married or at a certain age or only once? Why? It doesn't matter.' First thoughts for the project began around 10 years ago, when Song worked for a professional matchmaking service for about six months. It's very much a client-facing job, and she found the interactions she had with people to be bracing in their candor and vulnerability, as well as the ways in which the work demanded management of people's feelings of desirability or lovability — as well as rejection or worthlessness. 'To a matchmaker, everybody's very honest about what they're looking for,' says Song, herself married to 'Challengers' and 'Queer' screenwriter Justin Kuritzkes. 'Even at that time, I always thought, I just know I'm going to write something about it.' Ever since the film's first trailer dropped, people online have commented on an unusual drink order placed by Lucy. More specifically, a drink that is placed in front of her before she really even has a chance to order it, by someone who already knows that her preferred beverage was once, indeed, Coke and beer, with space left in a glass to pour the two together. 'To me what was important is that this was a drink that is so strange that you can't guess,' explains Song. 'And that only somebody who knows you very well, who knew you in college, who knew you when you were really just at your heart your pure self, [knows] your drink order. So all I did was I Googled 'weird drinks.'' Though the drink is apparently popular in Germany, as for how it actually tastes, Johnson notes, 'It's just very effervescent and kind of gross. Not for me.' Song and Johnson have formed an apparent bond in the time spent working together. (They met during a period when the attention around 'Past Lives' meant that Song could get general meetings, not even for a specific project, with many top stars.) They both mention how by the time they were shooting, Song could often communicate ideas to Johnson with just a look or a gesture rather than an involved explanation. 'She'd come in and be like, 'Um ...' and I'd be like, 'Yes,'' says Johnson. Johnson in particular has the unbothered savvy of someone who has spent their entire life in some proximity to the spotlight (her parents are actors Melanie Griffith and Don Johnson) and has now been steadily working since appearing in 'The Social Network' in 2010. In conversation, Johnson and Song share a casual, relaxed energy between them. Yet at the mere mention of 'Madame Web,' the 2024 Marvel adaptation starring Johnson that was a box-office bomb and subject of intense media scrutiny, Johnson's eyes narrow and her posture tightens. 'Go on,' Johnson says with a feigned seriousness. Will Johnson now stick to indie films at the scale of 'Materialists' or the projects produced by her company TeaTime Pictures, such as 2023's 'Daddio' or the upcoming 'Splitsville,' which recently premiered at the Cannes Film Festival? 'It wasn't my fault,' Johnson says, laughing slightly while maintaining her focus. 'There's this thing that happens now where a lot of creative decisions are made by committee. Or made by people who don't have a creative bone in their body. And it's really hard to make art that way. Or to make something entertaining that way. And I think unfortunately with 'Madame Web,' it started out as something and turned into something else. And I was just sort of along for the ride at that point. But that happens. Bigger-budget movies fail all the time. 'I don't have a Band-Aid over it,' she adds. 'There's no part of me that's like, 'Oh, I'll never do that again' to anything. I've done even tiny movies that didn't do well. Who cares?' Having now been an active producer on a number of projects — including one to be directed by 93-year-old comedy legend Elaine May that Johnson says she hopes could be shooting in the fall — has made it different for her when, on a film like 'Materialists,' she is an actor only. 'I think that sometimes I'm like, 'Oh, I know how to fix it,' or I know what to do, I want to help,' says Johnson. 'And there's some things where I have to just not say things. Sometimes I love just showing up, especially on our movie, it was just so much fun for me to only be acting. Because I was in so much of it, I felt like I was in such good hands, I could just relax into that role.' The film uses a fable-like framing story about two prehistoric cave dwellers who may very well be the first married couple. (They also pop up for sharp-eyed viewers in another scene as well.) 'To me, the whole movie is in those pieces,' says Song. 'Because all of what we are living through is also going to be ancient too. We know that certain stone tools were passed over to the other, but we do not know about the flowers that were exchanged. Because there are some things like sentiment and feeling and love that are intangible and ephemeral. There's a very real and tangible and material record of stone tools and things being traded. But what passed between them in their heart is not. It's not on record.' Leaping forward in time to depict contemporary worries and desires, 'Materialists' attempts to capture the specifics of a cultural moment, calculating cost-benefit analysis against a perceived ticking clock while also often dodging abusive predators. 'In present time, the dating world because of social media is so different — everything is aspirational,' says Johnson. 'You want to live the life that all these other people have on your phone, thinking that that's what you're supposed to be doing. It looks good, but it's not authentic because it's manufactured, it's filtered, it's ridiculous. So everything that a woman or a man is looking for in a partner, when they get to a certain age, whenever that is, it's all material things. It's height, it's income, it's hair, body, physique. It's things that have nothing to do with a soul connection.' Unafraid to grapple with tough conversations and moments of internal crisis, 'Materialists' exudes a chic glamour as it interrogates the tough choices, motivations and consequences of modern romance. At one point in the film, Lucy and Harry go to see John perform in a way-off-Broadway production of Song's play 'Tom & Eliza.' (Song's name appears onscreen on a poster.) At drinks after, John says something dismissive about Lucy's work as a matchmaker and she sarcastically retorts that it's just 'girl s—.' This line was Song's own purposeful rebuke of the dismissive attitudes toward writing about love. 'I so often experience a general sentiment that love as a topic of conversation and study is dismissable as unserious, unimportant, 'lighter fare,' 'girl s—,'' writes Song in a follow-up email. 'People call romantic films 'chick flicks' as a way to diminish them, which I find unspeakably sad, not just for the way it excludes 'chicks' from the realm of 'serious people,' but also for the way it excludes 'serious people' from the realm of romance and love. 'That line of Lucy's is intended to be a sharp reproach of that dismissal,' adds Song. 'I believe that love is the greatest mystery in everyone's lives, and therefore it is one of the most important themes in cinema. Love is the one drama we all experience, and it deserves the utmost respect.'
Hindustan Times
03-06-2025
- Business
- Hindustan Times
Dakota Johnson reveals what attracted her to Celine Song's Lucy in Materialists
In director Celine Song's much-anticipated film Materialists, Dakota Johnson takes on the role of Lucy — a sharp, savvy matchmaker caught in a romantic tangle. The film follows her journey as she navigates a love triangle between her charming ex (Chris Evans) and a mysterious new suitor (Pedro Pascal), all set against the backdrop of modern romance and ambition. While promoting the film globally, Dakota opened up about what drew her to the character and the complexities that made Lucy such a compelling role. 'After I read the script, I was immediately enticed by the layered inscrutability I saw in Lucy. I was drawn to the role because it's so complex. Lucy has so many different dynamics in the film, so there's many different Lucys. She's a bit of a different person with every other character — she's sort of a chameleon in that way. And then you're wondering which of her is the truth, which I thought was just so fun to play with.' Sony Pictures Entertainment will release Materialists in cinemas across India on June 13. Recently, Johnson revealed that her father, Don Johnson, cut her off financially after high school when she decided not to attend college. Johnson recalled that her father's ultimatum was clear: attend college and receive an allowance, or pursue acting and be on her own. "I didn't get in, and my dad cut me off because I didn't go to college," Johnson said, adding, "So, I started auditioning. I think I was 19 when I did The Social Network, and then little jobs and stuff after that," as quoted by E! News. Despite struggling financially, Johnson landed roles in notable films, including 'The Social Network' and the 'Fifty Shades' trilogy. Johnson opened up about the challenges she faced while trying to make it in Hollywood. "For a couple of years, it was hard to make money," she said, adding, "There were a few times when I'd go to the market and not have money in my bank account or not be able to pay rent, and I'd have to ask my parents for help," as quoted by E! News.
India Today
09-05-2025
- Entertainment
- India Today
Fifty Shades, House of Cards director James Foley dies of brain cancer at 71
James Foley, American director known for the 'Fifty Shades' films, Netflix's 'House of Cards', 'Glengarry Glen Ross' and 'The Corruptor', has died aged 71, after a prolonged battle with brain cancer. A statement from his representative confirmed that the veteran filmmaker died in his sleep earlier this per the Hollywood Reporter, Foley's rep said, "he died peacefully in his sleep earlier this week following a years-long struggle with brain cancer".advertisementBorn in Brooklyn, New York, on December 28, 1953, Foley embarked on his filmmaking journey with his 1984 debut, Reckless. He gained critical acclaim with 'At Close Range' (1986), starring Sean Penn and Christopher Walken. Foley's notable works include the stage-to-screen adaptation 'Glengarry Glen Ross' (1992), the psychological thriller 'Fear' (1996), and the erotic dramas 'Fifty Shades Darker' (2017) and 'Fifty Shades Freed' (2018).His television contributions encompass directing episodes for acclaimed series such as 'House of Cards', 'Billions', and 'Twin Peaks'.Foley also directed several music videos for Madonna, including 'Papa Don't Preach' and 'Live to Tell'. He is survived by his siblings.
Time of India
09-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Time of India
James Foley, director of ‘Fifty Shades Darker' passes away at 71 after battle with brain cancer
Hollywood director James Foley , known for his work on ' Fifty Shades Darker ', ' Fifty Shades Freed ' and ' Glengarry Glen Ross ', has passed away at the age of 71. He died peacefully in his sleep at his Los Angeles home earlier this week, after a long battle with brain cancer . A representative confirmed the news to The Hollywood Reporter, saying the director had faced a 'years-long struggle' with the disease. Operation Sindoor Conflict widens, India targets Lahore, Pindi, Karachi after foiling multiple Pakistani attacks Operation Sindoor: Several airports in India closed - check full list Anupam Kher shares cousin's reaction from Jammu Foley, a respected name in Hollywood for more than three decades, worked with some of the industry's biggest stars, including Al Pacino, Sean Penn, Madonna and Mark Wahlberg. His films were known for their emotional depth, stylish direction, and strong performances. A respected career in Film and TV James Foley began his career in the mid-1980s, making his directorial debut with 'Reckless' in 1984. The film starred Aidan Quinn and Daryl Hannah and marked the beginning of Foley's journey as a filmmaker with a strong visual style. Two years later, he stepped into the music world, directing several music videos for Madonna, including her hits 'Papa Don't Preach', 'Live to Tell' and 'True Blue'. These videos became iconic in pop culture and showed Foley's ability to move easily between film and music. His big break came with the 1992 drama 'Glengarry Glen Ross', based on David Mamet's famous stage play. The film featured a powerful cast including Al Pacino, Jack Lemmon and Alec Baldwin, and remains one of the most respected films of the 1990s. Foley's direction was praised for letting the actors' performances shine while keeping the tension high. Over the years, he continued to work across genres. He directed thrillers like 'Fear' starring Mark Wahlberg and Reese Witherspoon, the action-packed 'The Corruptor' with Chow Yun-fat and Mark Wahlberg, and the crime drama 'Confidence' with Edward Burns, Dustin Hoffman and Rachel Weisz. Foley also directed the psychological thriller 'Perfect Stranger', starring Halle Berry and Bruce Willis. Return to the spotlight with 'Fifty Shades' After a short break from major films, James Foley returned to the big screen in a big way by directing the last two instalments of the 'Fifty Shades' series – 'Fifty Shades Darker' (2017) and 'Fifty Shades Freed' (2018). Both films were international box office hits and brought his name back into the spotlight. Foley also left his mark on the small screen, directing episodes of several popular TV shows. He directed 12 episodes of the political drama ' House of Cards '. He is survived by his brother Kevin, sisters Eileen and Jo Ann, and nephew Quinn. His brother Gerard passed away before him. Foley's legacy will live on through his wide range of films, music videos, and TV shows. Check out our list of the latest Hindi , English , Tamil , Telugu , Malayalam , and Kannada movies . And don't miss our picks for the best Hindi movies , best Tamil movies, and best Telugu films .
