After The Hunt, Julia Roberts and Call Me By Your Name Drctr

[Rod Hagen]

The other night saw a DGA screening with Q&A afterward, Julia Roberts flaked (supposedly not feeling well).

I liked it.  Guy who shot Clockers did the cinematography and like all of Luca Guadagnino films, it's beautiful.

 

 

[+ SirBillybob]

I see Stuhlbarg is cast, Elio’s father in CMBYN.

[Rod Hagen]

1 hour ago, SirBillybob said:

I see Stuhlbarg is cast, Elio’s father in CMBYN.

Yes, he was in the Q&A.  Interesting guy, really good actor.

[Rod Hagen]

Michelle Goldberg hates it, which for me is a check in the Positive Column.

 

nytimes.com

WWW.NYTIMES.COM

 

[d.anders]

I just watched it. I did not enjoy it.

[d.anders]

On 10/13/2025 at 11:39 AM, Rod Hagen said:

Michelle Goldberg hates it

She's not alone. 

Thank you for the link. I thought Goldberg's Opinion piece was a fascinating and intelligent read, more intelligent than this movie. Reading Goldberg's piece helped further explain why the movie wasn't working for me. "Overwrought and self-satisfied," seems spot-on to me. Now that I found out about Brian Grazer, I dislike him and the movie even more.

[+ MikeThomas]

It sounds like Goldberg wrote the review through the lens of her personal worldview.  The New York Times does have a great cooking section and app.

Edited November 22 by MikeThomas

[Rod Hagen]

1 hour ago, MikeThomas said:

It sounds like Goldberg wrote the review through the lens of her personal worldview.  The New York Times does have a great cooking section and app.

That's what I felt, the first part.  I hate when professionals deliver criticisms that sound like, 'Now if I made this movie'.  Well, shithead, you didn't.

[Rod Hagen]

2 hours ago, d.anders said:

Overwrought and self-satisfied," seems spot-on to me. Now that I found out about Brian Grazer, I dislike him and the movie even more.

Inception is overwrought, this is far from overwrought:  "A friend is accused of sexual misconduct against another, lesser friend who holds your fate in her hands.  Who do you believe and/or support? "   Self-satisified? It certainly seemed like they had an ax to grind, but since I agree with the movies view point, that didn't bother me.  Of course, I'm human and like you (and Michelle) it would have bothered me if I didn't agree with that view, but I think I'd still judge it on it's quality more than it's message since that's what I usually look for, and it's a WELL-Fucking Made movie.

Edited November 22 by Rod Hagen

[d.anders]

1 hour ago, Rod Hagen said:

this is far from overwrought

I have to disagree. There is purposeful tension and anxiety built into the script by the fact that these characters speak in riddles, carefully revealing nothing. And this is when they are not pretending to be Yale academics. Those philosophy words are mostly overwrought and incomprehensible, especially given the edits. They barely finish a sentence, or a complete thought. IMO, when I see description words like "psychological thriller," I've come to expect overwrought.

1 hour ago, Rod Hagen said:

it's a WELL-Fucking Made movie.

It's professional. I just found it very unsatisfying. I think I hated the script.

Edited November 22 by d.anders

[d.anders]

3 hours ago, MikeThomas said:

It sounds like Goldberg wrote the review

Except it's not a review. It's an Op-Ed essay. Given the subject matter, this movie lends itself to discussion.

[Rod Hagen]

21 hours ago, d.anders said:

I have to disagree. There is purposeful tension and anxiety built into the script by the fact that these characters speak in riddles, carefully revealing nothing. And this is when they are not pretending to be Yale academics. Those philosophy words are mostly overwrought and incomprehensible, especially given the edits. They barely finish a sentence, or a complete thought. IMO, when I see description words like "psychological thriller," I've come to expect overwrought.

It's professional. I just found it very unsatisfying. I think I hated the script.

The script Writer was at the Q&A, and this is her first script.  She did deliver tasty red meat to Gen Xers ("not everything in the world is supposed to be comfortable, like a warm bath. Sometimes, we should be made uncomfortable."), but you're right she hid things unnecessarily with characters' frequent double and triple-speek and evasions .

[d.anders]

13 minutes ago, Rod Hagen said:

The script Writer was at the Q&A, and this is her first script.  She did deliver tasty red meat to Gen Xers ("not everything in the world is supposed to be comfortable, like a warm bath. Sometimes, we should be made uncomfortable."), but you're right she hid things unnecessarily with characters' frequent double and triple-speek and evasions .

I haven't yet watched the screening talks on YouTube. I will eventually get there. I thought there were some good lines, like the one you mentioned. There weren't enough of them. I thought the premise of the movie was worth exploring. IMO, Luca deserved a better script. Many of the negative reviews focus on the script.

I disliked the first 30 minutes. I enjoyed the mystery and tension of the clock ticking, but I disliked the phony, pretentious half-dialogue. And those bursts of musical brass didn't seem to work for me.

I absolutely hated the ending.

[Rod Hagen]

On 11/23/2025 at 9:06 AM, d.anders said:

I disliked the first 30 minutes.

Oh well, I loved the first 15 minutes at the party :-)

 

[d.anders]

I tried watching some of the screening talks on YouTube, but they are very difficult to stomach given that I did not like the film. Like most Italian artists, Luca Guadagnino seems to have a huge ego, and everyone involved seems convinced they made a master work of art. They are deluded, and that's a bitter pill to swallow. Luca keeps talking about this "brilliant screenplay," and I just want to gag.

I read the movie cost somewhere between $70-80 million to make. I also hear Julia Roberts got $20 million. So far, the worldwide gross is $9.3 million, which makes this film a colossal fail. Most people I know in NYC have never heard of it. I had a quick look at audience reviews on Rotten Tomatoes, and those comments were more entertaining than the movie.