Let's Anticipate MARTY SUPREME, the Josh Safdie-Timmy Chalomet table tennis flick

https://i.imgur.com/KJSeT3E.jpeg

He certainly does act a lot in it.

You've seen it already?

Yup -- screener.

judging by his makeup and costume in that screenshot he's out to show the world he's more than just a pretty face

It didn't work, cuz he's prettier than ever.

much sweating?

Who's better: Tyler The Creator or Kevin O'Leary?

My wife and I call Timothee "our favorite imaginary grandson".

Kevin O’Leary is my least favourite imaginary uncle.

I had to look him up.

alfred, could you say more about what you mean about the acting? I really didn’t get that at all on my watch. everything seemed (as expected in a safdie film) pretty true to life

I liked this a lot. maybe just a shade below UNCUT GEMS but certainly in the same league

it actually pained me how charismatic kevin o’leary was in this movie

Both Safdies have a habit of pumping up the kicks in the second hour of their pictures; this thing is just overplotted. Compare this movie with The Secret Agent in the way the latter introduces characters that play like inhabitants of a world instead of in Marty Supreme where they exist as anxiety generators.

Chalamet is loose and game and quite hot in the first hour ("If I believe in myself, money will follow") but no way should he, say, be dominating critics awards.

Timothée Chalamet has teamed up with British rapper EsDeekid for a new ‘MARTY SUPREME’ rap. pic.twitter.com/ZXOGFLP1VS

— DiscussingFilm (@DiscussingFilm) December 19, 2025

Thoroughly enjoyed it. Definitely heavy on "anxiety generators," as Alfred puts it, and feels like the same tools as Good Time and Uncut Gems but in different genres here (sports movie, young-man-grows-up, etc.).

Not much of a spoiler, but someone described this and The Mastermind as having basically the same protagonist, but this one is going at 78 rpm; but in both cases having a guy whose drive basically leaves him disconnected from those around him.

And I love that it doesn't have stunt casting as much as fun casting, with Abel Ferrara and Pico Iyer as my MVPs.

Oh (sorry for the triple post) and one more spoiler:

The last shot felt so similar to the last scene of Anora, where suddenly we're seeing a whole other side to the character; or crying is a way to give the audience some of that before sending them home.

casting was super fun, and never felt like cameos for their own sake. MVP for me was Penn Jillette as the farmer with the dog.

the first half was entertaining but by the 2hr mark i was waiting for it to end, i didnt think it had earned its length at all. it was all just way too familiar for me after Good Time and Uncut Gems (especially considering the sports angle in Gems). felt like the Casino to Uncut Gems' Goodfellas, confidently revisiting the same bag of tricks on a bigger scale, but the shock of the new is gone.

A deeply unsettling headline: https://www.usmagazine.com/entertainment/news/kevin-oleary-recalls-smacking-timothee-chalamets-butt-in-marty-supreme-excl/

(haven’t seen film)

Turns out it was Paul Schrader who made that '78 rpm' comparison above:

THE MASTERMIND AND MARTY SUPREME WOULD MAKE A GOOD DOUBLE BILL. The same 45 single played at different speeds, one at 33 rpm, the other at 78 rpm. Two period picaresque tales of seemingly intelligent American young men who stumble from one hapless misdeed to the next. Kelly Reichardt's film is all restraint, Josh Safdie's all exess. Both are excellent.

the first half was entertaining but by the 2hr mark i was waiting for it to end, i didnt think it had earned its length at all. it was all just way too familiar for me after Good Time and Uncut Gems (especially considering the sports angle in Gems).

otm

this struck me as timothee’s ‘catch me if you can’. now, i like that movie better than ‘marty supreme’ mostly because i’ll take spielberg’s classic cinema magic making and leo’s true leading man rakishness over the safdies’ tightly coiled twitchy nervous energy and timothee as antihero. but i think both present their leading men in a similarly flattering light, that combo of charm and mischief paired with quick pacing. the exploitation and ugly desperation is more present in this — at times i thought of ‘the brutalist’ — but that is obviously typical with the safdies. overall i thought this was better than i expected given that it was rooted in that conman caper-y aspect for large portions of the film as opposed to a more standard sports movie narrative arc. when we got the latter, including almost all of the ping pong parts, is when it dragged for me. the staging was wonderful but watching ping pong can only be so interesting. i also thought the film kinda ended with a whimper and not terribly much to say, which felt like a waste

oh and tho i will chide the stunt casting as an ethos, i agree that kevin o leary was shockingly good. it felt like he had the third most screen time and it was not unearned

feel crazy saying this, but i think i would have liked this more if it had more ping pong content? one of the best moments for me(& one of Chalamet's best acting moments) was when he first sees Endo play and is captivated, "who's that guy? what's up with his paddle? etc etc" iirc its one of the only moments in the film when he expresses any interest in ping pong as a game.

it just felt weird that this guy is a world class ping pong player but never seems to ever talk about it or think about it except when he's playing. does he even like it? maybe not and he just sees it as a vehicle for fame, money & revenge. but then how is he so good - is he just a preternatural savant and never needs to practice? how did he get so caught up in it - he must like it on some level, right?

this takes so many beats from the standard sports film playbook, but in those films there's almost always a scene where the lead gives some insight into what they like about the game, why they do it, what they find beautiful about it, etc. in this film it just kind of seems like he's joylessly addicted to playing ping pong in the same way that Howard in Uncut Gems is addicted to gambling, and that's all there is to it. his relationship to the game remains pretty much a mystery.

obviously one of the selling points of the movie & him as a character is that its the quirky nontraditional sport of ping pong rather than basketball or racecar driving or whatever, but then the movie doesnt end up treating that detail as if its all that interesting, and idk, i think that's pretty interesting! per j0rdan i agree that the ping pong playing scenes largely fell flat for me, and maybe wouldnt have it the movie had indulged in some basic-bitch exposition about what makes someone a good ping pong player, what Marty does that nobody else does, what the strategies are, etc.

and if the movie's not interested in ping pong thats fine too, but then - cut some of the damn ping pong!

feel crazy saying this, but i think i would have liked this more if it had more ping pong content? one of the best moments for me(& one of Chalamet's best acting moments) was when he first sees Endo play and is captivated, "who's that guy? what's up with his paddle? etc etc" iirc its one of the only moments in the film when he expresses any interest in ping pong as a game.

i think this is true. i liked the scene where he beats the world number 1 and they do trick shots at the end to delight the crowd, the character needed that element of showmanship and the film needed some of the levity. however by the climax of the movie we’ve shifted into this very basic sports narrative structure, the really familiar pattern of action shots to emotive crowd reaction shots and back and forth, and again for as well staged as that scene was there’s only so many ways to make ping pong play edge of your seat cinema

There’s that scene in the middle where he says why he wouldn’t want to be just a Harlem Globetrotters halftime sideshow, but that’s before he makes a living doing trick shots for a bit. Not unlike where Lydia Tár ends up, it might be a better and stabler life.

yeah otm -- I also caught a Catch Me If You Can ethos, though Marty's more of a dirtbag obv

tho i will chide the stunt casting as an ethos, i agree that kevin o leary was shockingly good

is kevin o'leary stunt casting? is anyone stunt casting? I don't get it.

I'll admit to not recognizing Abel Ferrara, like, at all.

basically agree with all of jordan’s post. I’m still puzzling over the ending too, having tried not to read too many reviews until after I see it again. someone I think itt compared it to the ending of ‘anora,’ but I think that one, while still imo shocking and effective, felt a lot more sensible.

I haven’t looked up anything on how the ping pong scenes were shot — were they actually hitting the ball? obviously the japanese guy is a real life competitive player, and chalamet deserves credit for learning the mechanics well, but my sense while watching them was that the ball was computer-generated. some of the trajectories seemed unrealistic

it just felt weird that this guy is a world class ping pong player but never seems to ever talk about it or think about it except when he's playing. does he even like it? maybe not and he just sees it as a vehicle for fame, money & revenge. but then how is he so good - is he just a preternatural savant and never needs to practice? how did he get so caught up in it - he must like it on some level, right?

I don’t know if this is true though. he talks about it all the time, and they show him grinding hours in that ping pong club after work. I think it’s shown that he practices a lot

J0rdo/kev

I really liked the ending and i think that its unearned/whimper status is kind of the point. The key to understanding the movie to me is the “I am a vampire” line from Mr Wonderful: he is singularly driven by one passion and will follow you to the ends of the earth to achieve it. Marty is the same way about pingpong and he *literally* followed dude to the other side of the planet basically to prove a point.

Marty, though, in his own way, lived his dream and beat the champ. That’s it. He climbed Everest, he beat the best. Dude may never pick up a paddle again.

And what’s left for Marty once he conquered his demon? this baby. He had one thing to live for and —because he burned all his bridges and never had a chance to breathe — he immediately replaced it with something else to live for and that’s a happy moment and a sad moment.

I think that may be strikethrough instead of hidden text. I’m on the app.

pretty conservative ending

I mostly enjoyed this. The production design was fantastic, great acting and fun cameos, I liked the music even though I don't exactly get what the rationale was behind it. My main criticisms are that it was too long, way too much of the movie spent chasing around that dog, and it awkwardly tried to split the difference between Uncut Gems-style insanity and a more conventional character study/sports flick. Unlike previous Safdie characters, Marty was far too charismatic and talented to ever feel like he was in true danger.

This was fun to start with on its own terms, badly outstayed its welcome, and ultimately was a meaningless load of pony (crap) - despite the huge amount of people and talent involved.

It made a lot of money this weekend.

Yeah, seem to be a lot of screenings selling out here, including the one I was at.

It’s one of the only movies on screens at the moment besides that insipid-looking Avatar sequel.

it’s doing well because chalamet is a star, and the reviews and word of mouth have been very positive

ILX good with a Marty Supreme/Smashing Machine/Machina of the Gods poll that ends in 6 months?

I'm delighted and relieved it's doing well.

felt interminable at points, the table tennis scenes dragged (not to mention the iffy cgi), soundtrack was slightly incongruous, has a literal shaggy dog story plonked in the middle, and then the ending’s slightly soft (choosing ‘dignity and family’ over the wild expansiveness of whatever it was he had going ‘til then)… notwithstanding all that I enjoyed it. mostly because TC is a force of nature and kevin o’leary a perfect foil

Timothée Chalamet is officially the king of the Christmas box office.

It’s the third consecutive holiday season where the A-list star has dominated at the box office, a reign that began with 2023’s family-friendly musical “Wonka” and continued with 2024’s Bob Dylan biopic “A Complete Unknown.” This year’s ping pong adventure, “Marty Supreme,” extended the trend, serving up a stellar $27 million over the four-day frame. And Chalamet’s domination around the merriest of holidays should endure with 2026’s “Dune: Part III,” set for Dec. 18.

“Seemingly every year, Timothée has a major hit during the important holiday moviegoing corridor,” notes Comscore’s head of marketplace trends, Paul Dergarabedian. “No matter the genre, whether it’s a musical, biopic, sci-fi or comedy, his choice in the material and collaborators has made him not only a bona fide movie star, but a box-office draw.”

https://variety.com/2025/film/box-office/marty-supreme-timothee-chalamet-christmas-box-office-king-1236615317/

call him timothee christmasday

i never found it interminable or draggy. it's the opposite of that for me. it doesn't feel like it gels or coheres very well when you're done, but it's never not-entertaining while you're watching it.

that's pretty much where I'm at

kind of felt like it was a series of set pieces instead of a narrative, but they were enjoyable set pieces

It’s the third consecutive holiday season where the A-list star has dominated at the box office, a reign that began with 2023’s family-friendly musical “Wonka” and continued with 2024’s Bob Dylan biopic “A Complete Unknown.”

well at least he got around to making one of these xmas tentpoles good

I totally get why people were averse to the 80s non-diegetic soundtrack. On a logical level it's inexplicable. A lot of the needle-drops are very well-worn, even as far as movie soundtracks go. But I dunno, it worked for me. Something very powerful about how they're placed. The TfF at the end felt like a musical sigh after so much turbulence

(xpost) I didn't take notice, but you're problably right, all the '50s stuff was off the radio. I just meant the combination of '50s with '80s; I would have preferred one or the other. But, as I posted, the '80s would have been fine (I love what Sofia Coppola did in Marie Antoinette) if they'd simply used some imagination, instead of three or four of the most obvious songs they could have gone for. I did like one thing that I looked up last night: the Korgis' "Everybody's Got to Learn Sometime," which was completely new to me. The film stuck to the chorus, the one part of the song I really like.

(I can think of two places where I did love Tears for Fears, although both performed by someone else: the "Mad World" cover in Donnie Darko, and a karaoke "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" in Mr. Robot.)

i knew "everybody wants to rule the world" and "forever young" but wasn't familiar with the songs by peter gabriel, new order, or public image ltd.

oh also i know "everybody's got to learn sometime" but only as the version beck covered on the eternal sunshine of the spotless mind soundtrack. didn't know it was a cover.

I knew "The Perfect Kiss" right away (probably couldn't have named it, but that it was New Order, yes), but not Gabriel or Public Image--so I guess they're a little less obvious, if not, I don't know, the Shop Assistants or the Meat Puppets or "Beat Box." There's no formula for these things, and I end up undercutting myself anytime I veer in that direction. (No Tears for Fears--but wait, I loved them in x, y, and z.) Suffice to say I just didn't like the soundtrack, the Korgis song excepted.

I did not know Odessa A'zion was Pamela Adlon's daughter until a few days after. I also watched I Love LA the same weekend we saw the film and it took a while to realize it was the same actress.

same! it wasn’t until I looked her up that I was like, oh yeah… tbf, I had a similar experience looking up about half of the bit parts (penn jillette and the “dad’s dick” sidetalk guy especially)

Everybody's Got To Learn Sometimes is one of the best aongs ever

didn't recognize Penn Jillette at all

Korgis guys were in 70s proggers Stackridge, which you probably knew

Also a lot of people itt clearly aren't stans of classic 90s jungle

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FlzAaLOUDa0

^^ that's the version I first heard (dancing in the 90s). And then the Eternal Sunshine version left me waiting for the beat to drop.

The whole 80s-music in MS seems Brechtian, as far as having period-correct design and details but then another element (soundtrack) that lets us know they're not trying to fool us into thinking this is a documentary from the 1950s.

Tyler has a line or two that sound improvised and out-of-sync with the period, one of which is his camaraderie use of the n-word, which doesn't feel of the movie's era. Not unlike when Courtney Love says what I assume is an off-script "as if!" or "not!" or some other 90s phrase in The People vs. Larry Flynt.

I liked Paltrow, calmly and with some amusement, calling out Chalamet on his jewelry scheme.

“dad’s dick” sidetalk guy especially

oh my god THAT'S where i know that guy from?? hhahahaha i love this movie even more now

shoulda italicized instead of underlined whoops, whatever

Everybody's Got To Learn Sometimes is one of the best songs ever

― Jonk Raven (dog latin), Sunday, 11 January 2026 17:25-

He’s not wrong.

Tyler has a line or two that sound improvised and out-of-sync with the period, one of which is his camaraderie use of the n-word, which doesn't feel of the movie's era.

people def said this in 1952

this was funnier than i expected going in. it definitely felt like we were supposed to be laughing at marty's bullshit. i do agree about it being overplotted--the whole bathtub/dog/shootout strand was just some extra chaos that didn't really change where it ended up. truly an insane cast, on imdb i noticed that philippe petit was in what i assume was one of the scenes where they're touring with the globetrotters.

lol, the one anachronism that bugged me was marty saying that something was "in his DNA" about dion instead of in his blood or whatever.

the whole bathtub/dog/shootout strand was just some extra chaos that didn't really change where it ended up

True. But this was essential to the spirit of the film for me. Lynch talks about the "eye of the duck" when it comes to movies - that little thing that makes the film what it is. And I think if the whole bathtub scene hadn't happened it would've just been a straightforward caper about ping pong. It's like the film is screaming "AND ANOTHER THING!" It also lets Rachel into the story a bit more - she would have been underused otherwise

Well, well.

Marty Supreme has shattered one record after another since opening over the holidays. Its latest box office milestone came Tuesday when passing up Leonardo DiCaprio’s rival Oscar contender One Battle After Another to end the day with an estimated cume of $72.27 million, according to A24. From director Paul Thomas Anderson and Warner Bros., One Battle After Another, has earned slightly north of $71.6 million to date domestically (unlike Marty, it’s already playing in the home as its theatrical run winds down.) Internationally, One Battle is still far ahead, earning $154.5 million at the foreign box office for a domestic total of $206.1 million.

But Marty Supreme is only now beginning to roll out in earnest overseas, where it has earned nearly $10 million to date from just a few markets, including a best-ever showing in the U.K. for an A24 pic with north of $8.4 million. Based on early returns, box office experts believe Marty Supreme could do substantial business overseas and end up north of $170 million to $180 million globally, if not higher.

And it is now just days away from overtaking Oscar best-picture winner Everything Everywhere All At Once ($77.2 million) to rank as A24’s top-grossing film domestically of all time (and it will ultimately pass up $147 million earned by Everything. And the pic will also become Chalamet’s top-grossing original film this weekend at the global box office when passing up last year’s Oscar contender A Complete Unknown, which grossed $75 million in North America (the Bob Dylan biopic’s global total was $140.4 million).

whoever chose the previews before this had a lot of fun picking 3 ralph fiennes movies in a row: the choral, bone temple, and the new hunger games

that's a pretty impressive cume

Just saw this at MoMI, followed by a Q&A with Ron Bronstein.

Liked it more than I expected going in. As far as the Q&A, Bronstein is really articulate and interesting to listen to and a few people I know who have worked with him said that basically he's a good guy. Would have gone to see his wife present her own film there last weekend but it was already sold out when I clicked.

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/21/movies/marty-supreme-jewish-america.html?unlocked_article_code=1.G1A.zxkv.VJbx6dXOu1ks&smid=nytcore-ios-share

Is Marty Supreme good for Jewish Americans or bad . This writer says good but acknowledges those who differ

Definitely thought of both The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz and What Makes Sammy Run?

Really liked this way with chaos in this and Uncut Gems. That's what Safdie films have really, what distinguishes them and why it keeps me there even if I looked at my watch 3/4 times waiting for this to end.

Entertaining, which comes with this emptiness, but that chaotic quality is what makes them linger in the mind after. Did laugh at the very lazy 80s soundtrack.

Like this was a very American sports film too. There has to be a hustle and make it yourself as make believe element. I love table tennis (and most racquet sports) and love to watch it at the Olympics, but I definitely was relieved it when the chaos started after he got back from the tournament.

The ending was kinda disappointing, wanted him to get killed somehow.

"Best ping-pong movie ever"

This is the best one I've seen, maybe because it's the only one I've seen but anyway I'd give it a solid 4/5.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0328258/

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/91wT0KNGhKL._AC_UF894,1000_QL80_.jpg

― I walked with a nimby (Matt #2), Saturday, 10 January 2026 bookmarkflaglink

Yeah its really good. Its on YT.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uG9x5S9T4N8

I e never seen a Safdie film. Their whole vibe puts me off. I’m willing to try though. Is uncut gems the best of the bunch? I started Good Time once but was just wasn’t up for feeling g stressed and shitty

Start anywhere. They're consistent, for better or worse. Each depends on a strong male lead performance.

Each depends on a strong male lead performance.

― The Luda of Suburbia (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Sunday, 25 January 2026 05:15 (seven hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

the pleasures of being robbed and heaven knows what would like a word

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2026/jan/24/ping-pong-american-revival-marty-supreme-table-tennis

Table tennis is a fantastic sport but what the above doesn't say is the domination by the East (mainly China) means that its highly unlikely that it goes anywhere for now.

the pleasures of being robbed and heaven knows what would like a word

― flopson,

I meant the last three Safdies, guess I wasn't clear.

Uh oh: https://pagesix.com/2026/01/26/hollywood/the-teenage-sex-scene-that-sparked-safdie-brothers-infamous-rift/

Any derisive mentions of "ping pong" (not just here but all over the place) leave me thinking that I would have been much less likely to see this if it had been about baseball, basketball, or, say, wrestling.

Its the Marty Supreme movie not the Marty Basketball movie

xp Wallace Beery IS Marty Supreme

i only know about this movie from this thread and right now but i’m ready to check it. and thx to all for the spoiler shielding!

The scene where he’s playing ping pong on top of a moving train is one of the most WTF of recent cinema.

Uh oh: https://pagesix.com/2026/01/26/hollywood/the-teenage-sex-scene-that-sparked-safdie-brothers-infamous-rift/

i know i can't expect better from page six but "teenage sex scene" is an awful way to describe what happened. That is fucking assault involving a minor that happened on camera and in full view of both safdies (i don't care if the article makes it sound like Benny was just an innocent bystander - he was a co-director)

that is some goddamn bullshit on the safdies' part

and the whole team, jesus christ

Just awful :-( fuck them

is there just fucking zero regulations and standards on Hollywood sets these days or has it always been thus?

you’re asking about Hollywood

not non-union NYC productions

I thought this was pretty good. At first I was put off a little by the songs, which I thought maybe a cheaty way to accord a little more accessibility to an otherwise uneasy movie, or even a stunt a la Tarantino's (good!) use of Bowie in "Inglorious Basterds," but in the end I think they mostly enhanced this sort of '80s-hustle, breathlessly go-go-go quality to the whole thing. On that front, you know what movie it sometimes reminded me of, at least a little sideways? "Risky Business"!

And of course I thought of "The Hustler," too, for obvious reasons, but also kept thinking of "The Mastermind," another movie with a few similarities despite being temperamentally and tonally its opposite.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HwVWD4yvObU

Wow.