The only guest we had from "Smile" was the head of advertising, and he alienated the whole class when he revealed that their theme would be "Will she go all the way?" featuring the various beauty contestants. It was so far from the film's themes that everyone groaned. I think someone asked if he'd seen the movie. Fortunately, that idea was apparently left on the advertising room floor.

Same impression - freshman mistakes, but funny and with something to say about capitalism. I saw influences, possibly, from "Office Space," and a resonance with (in the protagonist's interactions with Armie Hammer and the boiler room manager) "Get Out." The horse-men metaphor was well done as a way to talk about how corporate entities seek to maximize efficiency. I would rec the film on the basis of "here is a new director to keep an eye on."

I liked Sorry to Bother You. I like it when a comedian slips into a more serious role. Melissa McCarthy and Steve Carrell.

They weren't in StBY. Nor did the principal roles of that film strike me as too serious. I'm guessing we speak of 2 films with similar titles?

A Simple Favor is a darkly funny Mommy Noir, with the always reliably cute and quirky Anna Kendrick, and a disturbingly dark Blake Lively. It's not a great movie - it's sort of like they turned Gone Girl into a screwball comedy - but it's fun and makes clever use of the Vlogger trope (Kendrick is a single mom with a cooking/crafts vlog that seems fairly dull in a chirpy way until her new best friend mysteriously disappears). Some nice supporting moments from Jean Smart and a congenial police detective.

(posted this on Sept 28....)



IIRC Syd also commented on ASF.