I have seen Megalopolis, and I am REELING. A full review will come in a few days, as soon as I can decipher reality again, but in short: I was reminded of Cats AND Terrence Malick. Make of that what you will.
Megalopolis screened at the New York Film Festival the other night, and some of the cast turned up alongside filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola. (Adam Driver was a no-show, though.) Coppola was with Neri Oxman, which is like, whoa, there’s a name I haven’t heard in a minute. Remember when “sources” tried to convince us Brad Pitt was dating her? Also in attendance were Robert De Niro and Spike Lee, who did a pre-screening Q&A with Coppola. It got political, naturally. De Niro’s loathing for Trump is legit and cannot be contained.
While Giancarlo Esposito, Nathalie Emmanuel, Dustin Hoffman, Chloe Fineman, and Grace VanderWaal were all in attendance, I want to draw attention to Aubrey Plaza, who showed up dressed like Janet Snakehole enjoying a night on the town, which is fitting. One of my notes from the film is “Aubrey P doing an extended Janet Snakehole bit (compliment)”.
Right now, Aubrey Plaza is starring in Agatha All Along, giving a delightfully unhinged performance as a wicked witch. Opening this week is Megalopolis, which she turns into Janet Snakehole: The Movie, and yes, I believe she fully chose to perform her role as if the film is about Janet Snakehole. Also this week, coming of age film My Old Ass expands across North America, and in it Plaza gives a great, grounded performance. And that’s not even mentioning past work like Emily the Criminal, White Lotus, and Ingrid Goes West. Aubrey Plaza does deadpan so often and so well, it’s easy to forget that she is a really good actor, but this is like Aubrey’s Big Week of reminding everyone that under the intense stares, she has range, and she’s using all of it.
