Latest news with #Lucy
Atlantic
5 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Atlantic
A Love Story That's Afraid of Romance
Modern dating, experts have lamented, has become a numbers game; the more matches you make, the more likely you are to land a mate. But in the new film Materialists, the only number that really matters is a suitor's net worth. Take Harry (played by Pedro Pascal), for example: He's a partner in a private-equity firm and the owner of a $12 million penthouse apartment in Manhattan. John (Chris Evans), meanwhile, lives paycheck to paycheck as an aspiring actor and part-time cater waiter who splits his rent with roommates. Between the two of them, Harry's the obvious 'unicorn'—the most desirable kind of bachelor, according to Lucy (Dakota Johnson), a professional matchmaker and the film's protagonist. Lucy sees dating as a marketplace of potential spouses whose worth is determined by their income as much as their looks. Never mind their interests or how they'd treat a partner; a guy like Harry is inherently more valuable than someone like John. Lucy isn't heartless. Rather, she sees herself as pragmatic about modern romance. Materialists, the writer-director Celine Song's follow-up to her sensitive Oscar-nominated feature, Past Lives, tracks Lucy as she finds matches for her clients, many of whom also think about future partners as commodities. The men tell her that they want women under a certain BMI and age; the women want men above a certain height and tax bracket. As amused as she might sometimes be by their demands, Lucy promises to introduce them to their 'grave buddy.' To her, finding love should be easy—it's just math, she likes to say—yet Lucy's own love life has remained stagnant. She asserts to anyone who asks that she'll either marry rich or die alone. This being a romantic dramedy, Lucy ends up in something of a love triangle anyway: She falls for Harry while harboring a lingering affection for John, who happens to be her ex. But her predicament isn't really about which suitor she'll choose; instead, she's caught between two versions of herself—the cash-strapped idealist who once pursued acting alongside John, and the polished working girl she's become. The core conflict of Materialists is similar to that of Past Lives, yet Song renders it less successfully here. Lucy's journey takes too many cynical turns to be satisfying, and the film's ideas are too scattershot to be convincing. Materialists falters most when it tries to mesh its competing aims: to deliver a throwback love story while also deconstructing the reality of modern dating. Instead, in the end, the film resembles the very world it tries to critique, offering a litany of observations about finding The One without ever substantially arguing for any of them. The film's glossy veneer of confidence, much like that of its lead, belies an uncertainty. Apart from some punchy dialogue probing the economy of marriage, its tale is shallow, with almost nonexistent stakes. John and Harry pose little challenge to Lucy's notions about partners needing to check each other's superficial boxes; both are handsome and smitten with her, and the disparity in their wealth never presents much of an obstacle for Lucy either. She had taken issue with John's poverty when they were together, as shown in a clunkily inserted flashback, but his finances are a mere asterisk to their present-day dynamic. Lucy is as thinly written as her suitors—a nod, maybe, to the threadbare profiles of app-fueled dating, but one that makes her a frustratingly inscrutable romantic lead. It doesn't help that Johnson, whose flat affect can be an asset in enigmatic dramas such as The Lost Daughter, isn't particularly believable as a woman with hang-ups about money. (If she's the provenance behind ' iPhone face ' in the misguided Netflix adaptation of Jane Austen's Persuasion, here she has what I call 'property-portfolio face.') The bigger problem, however, lies in Lucy's inelegant transformation from a skeptic about love to a wholehearted believer in it. When her most persistent client, Sophie (Zoë Winters), is sexually assaulted on a date, Sophie alternates between being furious at and grateful for Lucy, leaving the third act a confused mess. Although Winters captures Sophie's despair, her character gets compressed into a plot point and her arc produces a jarring shift in mood. Lucy's realization that she should, as Sophie advises her, treat her clients as more than 'merchandise' rings hollow as a result. Not to sound like someone still pining for an ex, but Materialists made me miss the work Song did in Past Lives. In that film, which followed a married woman yearning for the person she used to be after reconnecting with her childhood crush, Song used intimate specificity to unearth reflections about love—romantic, platonic, and otherwise. In Materialists, the director has essentially done the opposite: Her characters are mouthpieces for broad philosophies about connection, while their stories end up getting buried. The effect is a work that's tonally at odds with itself. Though Materialists is similarly packed with insightful monologues, it's heavy-handed in a way that Past Lives never was. Song bookends her latest with sappy scenes of prehistoric humans falling in love, and she injects flippancy into moments that call for sentimentality: When Lucy and Harry finally have a much-needed conversation, the script incorporates an absurd bit of physical comedy that undermines the poignancy of their heart-to-heart. There's much about Song's movie that I enjoyed. The fizzy sequences of Lucy meeting one client after the next, inspired by the director's own experience as a matchmaker, remind me of classics such as Broadcast News; they offer a glimpse into a gig that consumes a person whole. Besides, there's a real pleasure in seeing Hollywood stars fall for each other. But in trying to both critique and poke fun at the costs of modern love, Materialists never coheres into an emotionally potent tale. To put it in Lucy's terms: The film is beautiful and smart, and it clearly contains enough appeal to make it stand out in the marketplace. It's just no unicorn.
Yahoo
9 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Here's Why ‘Scarlett Johansson Back Tattoo' Is Trending
After dazzled everyone with her appearance at the world premiere of , fans have come out to search for her back tattoo, which was on display in her backless pink gown. The actress's stunning look turned as many heads as the latest entry in the Jurassic Park franchise, as evidenced by the increased search for her eye-catching tattoo. So, why is Scarlett Johansson's back tattoo suddenly topping online trend charts? Here's everything to know. On Tuesday, The Avengers actress led the proceedings at the Jurassic World Rebirth premiere, which took place at London's Leicester Square. She was accompanied on the red carpet by her co-stars, Mahershala Ali, Jonathan Bailey, Rupert Friend, and Ed Skrein. Scarlett Johansson donned a sequinned dress for the event, featuring a pink corset top with a long skirt of the same color. Her outfit also highlighted her back tattoo, which is a lamb sitting amid an elegant vine of roses. While the dress did not provide a complete look at the said tattoo, it was enough to catch the public's attention. Moreover, fans of the BAFTA Award winner even came out to search for her inked art on the internet. The Lucy star has not yet revealed the meaning behind her tattoo. Yet, many speculate that it is a subtle nod to her daughter, Rose Dorothy Dauriac. Meanwhile, celebrity tattoo artist Joshua Lord, who is the one behind Johansson's tattoo, shared a photo of it on Instagram in 2019. He wrote, 'Scarlett Johansson showing the top half of her back tattoo at the Avengers premier! I've gotten to tattoo (and GET tattoos from) this perfect, kind, and ridiculously talented lady for almost a DECADE! I won't show her tattoos, but I will repost them when she shows them off!!' At the premiere, Scarlett Johansson also expressed her love for the Jurassic Park franchise. She claimed that Rebirth serves as a fitting tribute to Steven Spielberg's initial entries in the beloved film series. Helmed by Gareth Edwards, Jurassic World Rebirth takes place five years after the events of Jurassic World: Dominion. The movie revolves around the expedition of a group of operatives, led by Johansson's Zora Bennett. They travel to the research facility from the original Jurassic Park flick to retrieve genetic material from dinosaurs in a bid to devise life-saving medical advancements from their DNA. However, the team soon realizes the risks of embarking on such a mission after they stumble upon a shocking secret. Jurassic World Rebirth comes out in theaters on July 2, 2025. The post Here's Why 'Scarlett Johansson Back Tattoo' Is Trending appeared first on - Movie Trailers, TV & Streaming News, and More.
Daily Maverick
10 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Maverick
Materialists — Save the date for a witty but biting take on modern relationships
Past Lives filmmaker Celine Song pairs glossy romance with uncomfortably sharp insights on modern dating in Materialists, where a love triangle is shaped by Dakota Johnson, Pedro Pascal and Chris Evans. For the second consecutive year, cinemagoers are being treated to a romance that is more than its shiny exterior and good-looking cast suggest it will be. Last year, it was the Blake Lively-starring It Ends With Us, where the pretty people love triangle actually incorporated toxic relationships, domestic violence and repeated patterns of abuse. Now, in 2025, we have Materialists, which presents as a sleek and smart romantic comedy, only to pierce through the facade like a boba tea straw to reach the juiciest bits at the bottom: sharp-tasting insights about modern dating that can be tough to swallow. Then again, Materialists is released by A24 (in the US at least) and written, directed and produced by acclaimed playwright-turned-filmmaker Celine Song. Song's 2023 big screen romance Past Lives was nominated for Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay at the Oscars, and was celebrated for its nuanced exploration of the human condition, specifically the complexities of past and present love, which can exist simultaneously. The point is that neither Song nor A24 sticks to the conventional. There's always something creatively ambitious and artful flowing through the veins of their projects, and Materialists is no different. Though it centres on matchmaking, Materialists is no breezy and cute Hitch clone. Lead character Lucy (Dakota Johnson) is a successful matchmaker in New York City. While she's great with a sales pitch about finding love, Lucy approaches dating like a business investment. All her behind-the-scenes discussions are about assets, value, probability and maths. She has no interest in relationships of her own, until the wedding of one of her clients — the peak achievement of her profession — brings both dashing millionaire Harry Castillo (Pedro Pascal) and Lucy's struggling actor ex John (Chris Evans) into her life. Who will our heroine choose? Will the film stick to genre expectation, with a 'love is all you need' message, or will it chart its own course? Materialists doesn't dabble with its decision for too long actually, resulting in a final act that feels drawn out, and low on energy. Before that, though, the film excels at showing what dating has become in the 21st Century – a mix of mercenary entitlement and desperation, with marriage the end goal, no matter what. Settling is fine; just make sure it results in you walking down the aisle and coupled up. In Materialists, Song has characters vocalising the unsaid, admitting their most selfish drives in ticking off this particular life box. Viewers should be aware that Materialists is a romantic comedy in the same sense that restaurant series The Bear is considered comic. The humour arrives in momentary pricks. It's dark, sharp and entirely dialogue delivered. Lucy's clients act like they're ordering off a restaurant menu, and while hobbies and political views may get a mention, the vast majority of partner wants are appearance-based and materialistic: age, height, body type, income. No compromise. No consideration of character. It's a shocking and sad commentary on what makes someone a viable life companion today. And yet Song doesn't simply slap a judgment on these superficial priorities. Once more, she presents and then unpacks them, largely through the self-aware character of Lucy. Is it wrong to want financial security? Are you a bad person if love and hope of better days aren't enough to keep you in a relationship? Johnson is an acquired taste as a performer, owing to her subdued delivery (especially in comparison with the warm and effortlessly charismatic Pascal and Evans), but it makes sense for the character of clinical and cynical Lucy. There's also the bonus meta pleasure of remembering that Johnson was Anastasia Steele in the Fifty Shades films, a woman won over through lavish acts of affection despite her partner's constant red flag behaviour. Lucy appreciates demonstrations of wealth, but her eyes are always wide open, looking out and inward as she assesses her response. There's a sense that critics may appreciate Materialists more than mainstream audiences, because of the film's cerebral and contemplative nature, versus being powered by passion in keeping with romcom tradition. That said, anyone should be able to appreciate the film's perceptiveness, however uncomfortable it is to look in the mirror held up by Song — one that seems gilded from a distance but is actually quite grubby and dirt-flecked on closer inspection, like even the most perfect appearing life. Materialists may be more glossy and escapist than Past Lives, but its observations still ring true. DM
Time Magazine
11 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Time Magazine
Materialists Exposes the Inhumanity of Modern Dating
Matchmaking has been an unpaid cultural practice all over the world for millennia, but over time it has become a booming industry. More and more of my dating clients either inquire about my opinion about matchmaking or share that they have used a matchmaking service in the past. One client even had a matchmaker solicit her on LinkedIn with promises of her 'perfect match.' This increased interest in an explosion of matchmaking is due in part to the popularity of shows like Million Dollar Matchmaker, Jewish Matchmaking, Indian Matchmaking, and Muslim Matchmaker. These shows highlight the culturally specific ways that matchmakers can help daters find long-lasting love and the benefits of trusting someone else with the process. That's why Celine Song's new film, Materialists, has come out at such an interesting moment. As people consider their relationships with matchmakers and dating in general, the movie exposes the underbelly of the matchmaking industry. (Spoilers are ahead!) Materialists deftly uses matchmaking to show us just how much modern dating has become an inhumane and often unfair playground that benefits the rich. Throughout the movie, we witness hopeful clients disclosing their unfiltered ageist, classist, racist, and fatphobic requests for partners, all while their matchmaker Lucy, played by Dakota Johnson, listens intently and empathetically. That is, until her career is upended by the revelation that one of her clients, Sophie, has been sexually assaulted by a man who Lucy matched her with—a man whose credentials all turned out to be lies. While attending the wedding of one of her clients, Lucy explains to a potential love interest and brother of the groom, Harry (Pedro Pascal), that being a matchmaker is like being a mortician or insurance claim adjuster because of the job's focus on stats like height, weight, race, and income. She reduces her matchmaking process down to 'math' and even extends this to her own dating life. Harry, who courts Lucy aggressively, is tall, successful, and incredibly rich. Lucy discloses that she makes $80,000 and that he can do better than her. He responds that he has plenty of material assets and is more interested in her intangible assets. The longing for romantic and financial security is ever present throughout the film, making it a tense watch at times. But, as I was leaving the theatre, I heard a group of women say that the movie was 'so cute,' Taken at face value, the plot is pretty simple romance. Girl meets rich boy, but also reconnects with broke ex-boyfriend, John (Chris Evans), and through a series of events, girl decides that love is more important than money. But so much of the film mirrors the horrors of contemporary dating, from discussions of someone's value in the dating market to explicitly stating what makes certain daters more desirable. For men, that means making over $100,000 (the more the better) and being at least six feet tall. For women, that means being young, thin, and beautiful. It seems that all parties want someone 'fit,' and the clientele represented in the movie skews heavily white and heterosexual. This depiction of outlandish dealbreakers, while often raw and horrifying, does not stray too far from the realities of the current dating cultural climate. Song, a former matchmaker herself, does an excellent job of showing the complexities of dating and being the one responsible for facilitating near impossible matches. Lucy is cold and exacting, debating her clients' viability in mainstream or niche markets. This is the kind of calculation I see my clients doing as they try to determine their odds on various dating apps. It's a process that can feel demoralizing unless you become desensitized to it over time. All of this math, these stats, and the quest for the best value completely obviate the search for real love. In fact, for a movie about love, the term is used sparingly. Instead the viewer is privy to the myriad reasons why people partner instead of love: to make one's sister jealous, to have or bear children, to make one's parents happy. Lucy sells her service by talking about how people should be looking for a nursing home buddy, but that's just the hook. Once her clients are on the hook and paying top dollar, they want a product worth their investment. Materialists doesn't have a traditional happy ending, though it does conclude with a wedding. Just because Lucy has chosen John, and all of the financial uncertainty that comes with that choice, perhaps Song wanted us to feel that she has not fully settled. As the couple awaits their turn at a bustling City Hall Wedding Bureau during the final credits, there's an anxiety about whether they will make it. Lucy's materialism is what drove the two apart before. Throughout the movie, Lucy states that marriage is a business agreement, and it always has been. Are we to believe that she's decided to make a bad business decision? We are also left hanging when it comes to whether or not Lucy will accept a promotion at the matchmaking agency or leave the industry completely. All of this ambivalence—of Lucy's moral stance, her standards, her belief in love—is what viewers must contend with. And it's similar to the position of everyone trying to find what they're looking for in dating in this economy. Even in the best of business deals, the numbers don't make sense.
Toronto Sun
17 hours ago
- Lifestyle
- Toronto Sun
SUNshine Lucy
SUNshine Lucy Photo by Jack Boland / Toronto Sun SUNshine Lucy is an animal sanctuary volunteer and runs a nonprofit called The Honest Whisper. The vegan animal lover likes spending time with her cat, Mr. Bojangles, and Labrador mix, Samantha. These photos were taken in 2019. (Jack Boland/Toronto Sun) This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account SUNshine Lucy Photo by Jack Boland / Toronto Sun SUNshine Lucy Photo by Jack Boland / Toronto Sun SUNshine Lucy Photo by Jack Boland / Toronto Sun SUNshine Lucy Photo by Jack Boland / Toronto Sun SUNshine Lucy Photo by Jack Boland / Toronto Sun SUNshine Lucy Photo by Jack Boland / Toronto Sun SUNshine Lucy Photo by Jack Boland / Toronto Sun SUNshine Lucy Photo by Jack Boland / Toronto Sun SUNshine Lucy Photo by Jack Boland / Toronto Sun SUNshine Lucy Photo by Jack Boland / Toronto Sun SUNshine Lucy Photo by Jack Boland / Toronto Sun SUNshine Lucy Photo by Jack Boland / Toronto Sun SUNshine Lucy Photo by Jack Boland / Toronto Sun SUNshine Lucy Photo by Jack Boland / Toronto Sun SUNshine Lucy Photo by Jack Boland / Toronto Sun SUNshine Lucy Photo by Jack Boland / Toronto Sun SUNshine Lucy Photo by Jack Boland / Toronto Sun SUNshine Lucy Photo by Jack Boland / Toronto Sun SUNshine Lucy Photo by Jack Boland / Toronto Sun SUNshine Lucy Photo by Jack Boland / Toronto Sun SUNshine Lucy Photo by Jack Boland / Toronto Sun SUNshine Lucy Photo by Jack Boland / Toronto Sun SUNshine Lucy Photo by Jack Boland / Toronto Sun Full Screen is not supported on this browser version. You may use a different browser or device to view this in full screen. Toronto & GTA MMA News NHL World
