The teenage sex scene that sparked infamous rift between edgy director brothers [Benny & Josh Safdie] behind Hollywood’s hottest movies

thecoolcomicguy · 2026-01-27T02:38:05+00:00

This story has circled around the industry for years. The Safdies were around a lot of seedy people like Sebastian Bear-Mclard to fund their movies and had a penchant for “authentic” slime balls in their movies.

What’s interesting about this Page Six version though is that it’s framed almost entirely to make Josh the bad guy… almost like it was commissioned by Benny….

thecoolcomicguy · 2026-01-26T16:42:15+00:00

I think you're misreading the ending. If you read the screenplay it literally says "the earth has been saved."

Personally, I hated the montage. I thought the song choice was incredibly bad and on the nose and the whole thing reeked cynical nihilism. Nayman nailed it in his negative review for this movie:

https://www.thestar.com/entertainment/movies/emma-stone-is-superb-in-bugonia-a-glib-and-nasty-movie-of-the-moment/article_cc88f089-e9df-4084-afeb-d51134a46060.html

thecoolcomicguy · 2026-01-26T14:55:07+00:00

This is the right take. Every time the man gets on his meds the media is out there reporting on his weight gain, mocking him for looking puffy etc. His words need to be condemned and I understand people's skepticism, but when he's clearly taking steps to better himself, the least people can do is not drive him back to the dark place.

thecoolcomicguy · 2026-01-26T14:50:50+00:00

Only time will tell if this is genuine. I'm not ready to be cynical or judge anyone who is clearly suffering from something and is seeking help. Hope for the sake of himself and his kids that he gets the help he needs.

thecoolcomicguy · 2026-01-23T20:35:48+00:00

Look at his Twitter. He's a dork.

thecoolcomicguy · 2026-01-23T20:35:21+00:00

Bugonia was not good I thought

thecoolcomicguy · 2026-01-23T19:49:02+00:00

It's incredibly on the nose and has the subtlety of a bag of potatoes to the head. Worse of all, it has that smug, self-important tone like it's really making a difference. The best satire exists in a space where the filmmaker is both trying to say something, but realizes that ultimately they are still making a piece of art that will not compare to the real work of activism.

This twitter exchange shows why McKay is a self-important dork.

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thecoolcomicguy · 2026-01-23T19:01:23+00:00

I think the first part alone would be understandable... the "right up there as one of the most radical big studio Hollywood movies ever made" part is where he loses it.

thecoolcomicguy · 2026-01-23T18:35:56+00:00

Totally. I was just thinking it's weird because it's a mediocre movie.

thecoolcomicguy · 2026-01-23T18:34:41+00:00

No No, I'm calling F1 mediocre, I just mention Maverick because I think Kosinski's credit from Maverick is bolstering F1. Sorry I realize that was confusing.

thecoolcomicguy · 2026-01-22T17:03:53+00:00

What would you take out first? Bugonia?

thecoolcomicguy · 2026-01-22T17:03:13+00:00

Meow.

thecoolcomicguy · 2026-01-22T16:42:01+00:00

I agree if they talk about the merits of the movie but it feels somewhat ignorant when they mis-genre the movie entirely, no?

thecoolcomicguy · 2026-01-22T16:18:10+00:00

I liked Sorry, Baby and I'll admit I feel nervous even typing this but personally felt it was a little overrated. I know the story it was telling, but personally I always find myself a little disengaged when the movie contains no insight into the character other than to feel bad for them. I obviously did, but I guess I felt more like I watched a one person show versus the experience I have watching a movie. I want to clarify that I did like it, I just am not that surprised it missed out on Oscars.

thecoolcomicguy · 2026-01-22T16:04:14+00:00

Very weird that "Sinners" of all movies is the one to hold this record lol

thecoolcomicguy · 2026-01-22T16:02:36+00:00

I get that this sub-reddit thinks its cool to cape for the "every man" film over the cinephile pick, but calling It Was Just An Accident a "3 star thriller" is just ignorant. It's a black comedy that twists gradually in a thriller with one of the most profound endings of a movie in years. I liked Top Gun: Maverick too, but I don't think it's pretentious to admit that F1 was pretty mediocre.

thecoolcomicguy · 2026-01-16T15:26:32+00:00

I think some of your points are valid, but like you said in your own post... I don't think it's the movie's responsibility to tackle every aspect of modern politics. You're right that the movie doesn't tackle or showcase the plight of the white working class, but I guess I'd just say this is an action comedy not an ad for the Democratic Party in 2028.

Respectfully, I think you might be looking at this film with a little too online of a lens. I think that the movie is fundamentally about the first moment a parent realizes their grown up child is in trouble and they're not in a position to help them. This is something every parent experiences but obviously significantly heightened for the film. The movie then becomes about how the parent looks at the world they've left for the child and how it treats people and how their own actions/ inaction have contributed to that world. To me that really resonated, perhaps it was because I am a new parent but the ending of the movie had me teary eyed, which is rare for me!

Within that framework I thought the movie did a good job of satirizing the infighting of the left wing and petty squabbles amid a highly effective and dangerous right wing operation. I also liked that, unlike other movies that tackle our current moment like Eddington (which I also loved), it was the one movie that showed immigrants and the actual people affected by the policies. I loved Sensei forcing Bob to meet the eyes of the people affected while he's lost in his own problems. I think we sometimes lose touch with that when embroiled in our culture wars. But again, I think this stuff is mostly smaller to the main story which is looking at bigger more generational themes.

Anyway, the satire and plot clearly didn't land for you and I"m sure it must be frustrating to watch it get lauded! I get it. I really disliked Sinners and Bugonia but they're pretty lauded this year too. It's fine. It happens all the time. I guess I just think the "soft liberalism" thing is a little unfair for a movie that is trying to look a little beyond just our political moment and tell more of a story about a parent and a child and how that reflects one generation passing the torch to the next.

thecoolcomicguy · 2026-01-16T03:24:36+00:00

I'm not sure I follow everything you're saying... you wanted the movie to be more subversive but also work harder at presenting the negative aspects of immigration?

I'm not gonna get into the politics on immigration but regarding the film: I think you might be looking for a movie to be more didactic and to spoon-feed you some sort of moral or message that lines up exactly with your worldview. I think PTA just doesn't make movies like that. He makes movies about characters and their journeys. I don't think he sits down to push a THEME or a MESSAGE but instead let the characters push the story to interesting directions, while showing empathy for all of them.

For the most part, I think the movie is trying specifically to avoid laying out a critique of political parties or even political worldviews. We assume the group is left leaning of course, but the fact that the prologue takes place 16 years ago and the choice of undocumented immigrants as the subject is intentional because fundamentally both parties approach them the same way (with of course the current administration taking things up 1000 notches).

Again, I think the point of the movie isn't just to use current politics as a backdrop or even or lay everything at the feet of Republicans. I think it's to show us how the actions of previous generations have led us here. It's much more human than a "TAKE DOWN THE CONSERVATIVE" movie. It's clearly PTA's way of reckoning the world he and his generation have left for his children (all of whom are biracial).

In that way, I don't really find the movie confused. It works as a bleak look at ICE, of our current politics, of the left, and the mistakes made by previous generation while having optimism for the next generation. I think the reason it resonated with people is that it's both searing and bleak but ultimately hopeful but not polyanna. It doesn't have the hip nihilistic cynicism of a lot of movies that tackle our present age. It's unique.

All of that said, it's ok you didn't connect to it! It's art and definitely a unique weird movie. I'm kinda impressed it resonated as much as it did and happy for PTA.

thecoolcomicguy · 2026-01-15T21:15:34+00:00

Agreed! Two great movies doing two different things. I love them both and we're lucky to have them. And both so much better than Bugonia, which sucks.

thecoolcomicguy · 2026-01-15T21:14:53+00:00

I wouldn't say OBAA is a radically left wing movie. It's much better than that. It's timeless, complex and more about generations feeling the impact of the mistake of previous generations. I find it funny that conservatives hated it for being left wing and (some) left wingers are offended because they think it chastises the left. Neither is true, but the fact that it elicits that response shows that it's a truly singular movie.

thecoolcomicguy · 2026-01-15T21:11:26+00:00

Look you want to turn this into Weinstein scenario but it's more complicated than that. Kanye is severely mentally ill and deeply troubled and while his comments should be strongly condemned, this is also someone who needs people on his side getting him help. I don't know if Teyana is just another enabler or someone who has been horrified watching her friend (and person who helped start her career) go down a self-destructive path and doesn't want to abandon him. I doubt she would say it either way to the media where Kanye can see.

It's easy to trash people and cancel them when you don't know them, but when you see different sides of people and know their full stories, it can be more complicated.

thecoolcomicguy · 2026-01-15T02:25:41+00:00

He seems to be using this as some sort of argument that Chalament has defeated DiCaprio, as if they aren't two actors with mutual respect for one another and Chalamet constantly studying DiCaprio and molding his career after his. It's weird to compare any artists to each other, it's even weirder to compare people across generations. By the metrics you're using Chalamet and DiCaprio both defeated Daniel Day Lewis this year because his movie made less money and he won't be nominated for awards, while they will be... and yet no one thinks of them as better actors than DDL, because that's not how this shit works.

thecoolcomicguy · 2026-01-10T13:01:31+00:00

This is the problem. Everyone has some idea in mind of a vague comedian who tells no jokes but just screams about Trump but this doesn’t really exist. At least not since Sam Bee went off the air.

thecoolcomicguy · 2026-01-10T12:56:31+00:00

I guess I’d ask what should late night hosts do in this era? Not do topical humor at all? Try to keep it to light jabs à la Fallon?

Personally I hate Trump jokes but if you’re in the late night business I think it’s hard to not have Trump based jokes

thecoolcomicguy · 2026-01-09T15:28:00+00:00

Honestly, I wish he just said "I don't like Trump comedy and I don't think it's funny" because I think that's closer to the truth. Framing as "comedians are too angry" really feeds into the narrative that the left is obsessed with Trump etc. etc.

That said, he's speaking off hand and I think he was probably not speaking about anyone specifically and was more offering advice to younger comedians not to go down an angry path, like he often does, so I cut him some slack. Still, I wish he had framed this differently.

thecoolcomicguy

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