Today’s issue is free for all. To get every issue, extra content, paid perks like all my secrets (kidding! kinda), giveaways, book club, and access to the full archives, you can become a paid subscriber here and support my work. Did you know that less than 2% of readers are paid subscribers? Subscriptions are what allow me to spend time on this, pay my collaborators, and maintain the community. If Downtime brings you any joy or inspiration, I’d love your support. ❤️ Thanks for reading, either way! Weekly Recs #47: Is this the most fun movie of the year? 🎾All my thoughts on 'Challengers.' Plus: good tahini, the perfect linen set, and what to wear to get your doctorate.
Hello and happy Friday! A big thanks to Act+Acre for sponsoring and unlocking today’s issue for everyone. 🫶 Welcome, new subscribers. Our weekly Friday post is a delightful round-up of recommendations for your downtime and useful/fun things noted from the week. It’s a little dose of joy for your inbox. Enjoy. x
A few things I recommend + noted this week…
To help with my hair thinning and give myself a relaxing self-care moment, I’ve been squeezing a few droplets of this popular serum (which promotes thicker, fuller hair) along my hairline, and I use this (gorgeous!) scalp massage tool to comb through gently. I can see myself doing this as a daily scalp care ritual after my skincare and before getting ready for the day. The reviews are promising, and I can’t wait to see the results. Lastly, I desperately needed something to help with product build-up in my hair. For this, I’m using their pre-wash scalp detox oil, which is more moisturizing and less harsh than my usual scalp scrub. Let me know if you end up trying any of these.
Looking for more recs? There are 46 other issues to flip through in the archives. You can also give and receive recommendations in our subscriber chat. 💬
Is This The Most Fun Movie of the Year? All My Thoughts on Challengers 🎾
Challengers is a tennis drama about three people stuck in a love triangle of sorts. Art (played by Mike Faist) and Patrick (played by Josh O’Connor) are junior tennis champs and best friends who’ve grown up together. They’re immediately infatuated by Tashi (played by Zendaya), a young tennis star with immense talent. Unfortunately, Tashi’s rapid rise to pro tennis is violently halted after suffering an injury in college. Patrick becomes a washed-up tennis player playing lower-level tournaments, while Art is more successful in his path; he’s won three of the four Grand Slam events. All the while, the trio experiences rocky relationships amongst themselves. The movie begins and ends at a lower-tier tennis tournament (a “challengers” event) just outside of New York City. Tashi is now Art’s wife and coach, and Patrick, now his ex-best friend (and Tashi’s college ex), is his opponent in the final match. Art is in a career slump and needs this win to boost his confidence. The movie volleys back and forth in time (yes, like a tennis ball), excavating the past and showing the viewer how these three characters have used one another for what they each needed most. Now, for my rambly thoughts. I’d love to hear yours if you’ve seen the film! This movie is FUN.It’s rare that a movie gets me excited. Even more rare is when I want to watch the movie again immediately. This is how I felt after seeing Challengers last week. This movie is fun. Yes, it’s sexy, too, but I think the trailers and the overall buzz overplayed that. It’s sexy less in a “sex scenes” way and sexy in a more human way. It’s very physical, there’s a lot of sweat, there’s a lot of close-up shots of muscular thighs. The score adds to the fun and is thrilling (a lot of pumped-up house music by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross). Given the intensity of the drama, there are some smart and funny bits in the movie (like the “I TOLD YA” shirt moment) to lighten things up a bit. In one scene, “Hot In Herre” by Nelly plays in its entirety. If that’s not high art, I’m not sure what is.  The cast is GOOD.Needless to say, the cast is fantastic. I now have a crush on all three actors. This was Zendaya’s first time leading a movie at this scale. There were some scenes that could have used work (Zendaya playing the mom of a four-year-old was not so believable), but overall, I hope her performance in this lands her more lead roles. She’s fun to watch. I wasn’t familiar with Mike Faist, who plays Art, but I was impressed seeing his transformation from a reserved college kid to a confident yet fatigued tennis pro. (Side note - his turnip brooch at the Met was perfect.)
And finally, Josh O’Connor. Whew! I knew of Josh from his performance as Prince Charles in The Crown, but playing a real person is a very different type of acting from understanding a character and translating them onto the screen. I’m glad I got to see him in this type of role—I thought he played the dirty, sweaty, devilish Patrick perfectly. And now we’re all very well acquainted with his thighs and abs. I read that all three actors trained for this film, and let’s just say—we can tell. 🥵
The 🤌cinema🤌 of it all.If you ever took a film studies class, you might love this movie. The 🤌cinema 🤌 of it all was made to be dissected and analyzed. Director Luca Guadagnino of Call Me By Your Name fame helmed this movie, so unsurprisingly, it’s packed with cinematographic metaphors on top of metaphors—the back-and-forth time-hopping structure of the film as a metaphor for tennis is an obvious one. And true to Guadagnino’s style, there’s plenty of sexual tension between the two male leads. The movie's ending, which I won’t spoil, made me gasp, exhale, laugh, and wonder what the heck just happened. It’s a fun ending to discuss with your friends; you’ll likely have different interpretations of the scene. You’ll revisit each character’s motivations. There’s a lot that’s left ambiguous. I can’t remember the last time a movie made me think this much. The rabbit hole I fell down: The Loewe <> Luca Relationship and The Met GalaI almost cut this part because there’s no real point other than “look at this” but I feel like it might speak to someone out there. The costume designer for Challengers is Jonathan Anderson, the Creative Director at Spanish luxury design house Loewe. (Luca and Jonathan said they met at a hotel in Italy.) I’m just a normie and not a fashion expert, but I can see that Loewe is arguably doing some of the most creative stuff in fashion right now. (See: asparagus bags and skits like this.) I scratched my head initially because this movie doesn’t feature any “costumes.” They’re just everyday clothes. But this quote in W Magazine from the designer was illuminating:
One young woman in our theater gasped at Zendaya’s every outfit change. “She looks so good!” she would hiss. “How does she look so good in everything?!”
And Zendaya did look so good—in all her tennis gear and the perfectly tailored shirtdress she wears to the final match in the movie. To Jonathan’s point, she looks good and boring. It’s impeccable dressing, but it’s all something we’ve seen before. Yet even studied conformity takes the eye of a talented creative director and costume designer to nail perfectly (Tashi uses Agustinus Bader moisturizer, obviously!). Loewe returned to the top of my mind during this week’s Met Gala. This image floated to the top of my Instagram feed: a selfie on the Loewe bus, which Mike and Josh were on, along with other favorites like Ayo Edebiri and Ambika Mod.
Red carpet favorite Greta Lee also wore Loewe to the Met Gala. (Justin Kuritzkes, the scriptwriter for Challengers, is partnered with Celine Song, who wrote Past Lives, in which Greta Lee stars.) Who is the connective tissue to who in this Loewe-Luca universe?? I’m curious to see if Guadagnino and Anderson’s creative collaboration continues in any of Guadagnino’s upcoming films. (Zendaya was missing from the bus, presumably because her longtime stylist Law Roach styled her in not one but two Galliano dresses.) Alison Oliver’s presence on the Loewe bus then made me think about her Conversations With Friends co-star Joe Alwyn. But we don’t talk about that anymore. 🎾 🎾 🎾 🎾 🎾 🎾 🎾 🎾 🎾 🎾 🎾 🎾 🎾 🎾 🎾 🎾 🎾 🎾 In summary: go see the movie! Would love to hear what you thought of it in the comments if you’ve seen it already… Further listening and reading:
Thanks for reading, and have a nice weekend. x Alisha 1 Full disclaimer that the brand gifted the vest and pants to me. But I’ve been buying their stuff for the past 4+ years on my own. Highly recommend them for good basics! 2 This code can’t be combined with other promos or used for subscriptions. You’re on the free list for Downtime. Consider upgrading to a paid subscription to support my work and get every letter and other perks. FREE ways to show your appreciation…
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petak, 10. svibnja 2024.
Weekly Recs #47: Is this the most fun movie of the year? 🎾
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