The Menu (Mark Mylod, 2022)

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DarkImbecile
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Joined: Mon Dec 09, 2013 6:24 pm
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The Menu (Mark Mylod, 2022)

#1 Post by DarkImbecile » Wed Aug 10, 2022 12:35 pm

Mark Mylod’s The Menu, with Ralph Fiennes and Anya Taylor-Joy

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DarkImbecile
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Joined: Mon Dec 09, 2013 6:24 pm
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Re: The Films of 2022

#2 Post by DarkImbecile » Mon Nov 21, 2022 10:48 am

Having been exposed to its inescapably ubiquitous trailer at least a half-dozen times, I was a bit wary of Mark Mylod’s The Menu, assuming that nearly all the surprises in a high-concept black comedy had already been given away. Turns out I wasn’t exactly wrong about that, but both Mylod’s detail-oriented direction and an effective, efficient script by The Onion alums Seth Reiss and Will Tracy are successful enough in their own right to make it all go down smoothly anyway.

Several plot and character elements are pretty ridiculous and/or oddly pointless if you think about them for more than a few minutes, but things move along at a tight clip and let the actors have enough fun — Nicholas Hoult in particular made me laugh basically every time he was in frame — that I mostly did too. It also helps that the commentary on class and wealth is less centered (and less thuddingly obvious when it does appear) than I had feared, with the focus more on artistry and its appreciation than the obscenity of those who can afford to enjoy it.

Ralph Fiennes continues to deliver when called on to blend aloof intimidation and soul-deep melancholy, while Janet McTeer, Rob Yang, and especially Paul Adelstein are spot on in skewering very particular professional archetypes. My favorite recurring gag (aside from the Chef’s Table-esque spotlights on each course) was McTeer’s elite food critic’s declarative certainty about every dish and event followed by Adelstein’s poseur editor concurring knowingly.

Nothing spectacular, but more enjoyable than anticipated.

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TMDaines
Joined: Wed Nov 11, 2009 1:01 pm
Location: Stretford, Manchester

Re: The Films of 2022

#3 Post by TMDaines » Mon Jan 02, 2023 5:25 pm

DarkImbecile wrote:
Mon Nov 21, 2022 10:48 am
Having been exposed to its inescapably ubiquitous trailer at least a half-dozen times, I was a bit wary of Mark Mylod’s The Menu, assuming that nearly all the surprises in a high-concept black comedy had already been given away. Turns out I wasn’t exactly wrong about that, but both Mylod’s detail-oriented direction and an effective, efficient script by The Onion alums Seth Reiss and Will Tracy are successful enough in their own right to make it all go down smoothly anyway.

Several plot and character elements are pretty ridiculous and/or oddly pointless if you think about them for more than a few minutes, but things move along at a tight clip and let the actors have enough fun — Nicholas Hoult in particular made me laugh basically every time he was in frame — that I mostly did too. It also helps that the commentary on class and wealth is less centered (and less thuddingly obvious when it does appear) than I had feared, with the focus more on artistry and its appreciation than the obscenity of those who can afford to enjoy it.

Ralph Fiennes continues to deliver when called on to blend aloof intimidation and soul-deep melancholy, while Janet McTeer, Rob Yang, and especially Paul Adelstein are spot on in skewering very particular professional archetypes. My favorite recurring gag (aside from the Chef’s Table-esque spotlights on each course) was McTeer’s elite food critic’s declarative certainty about every dish and event followed by Adelstein’s poseur editor concurring knowingly.

Nothing spectacular, but more enjoyable than anticipated.
I think the ending of the film highlights a cultural difference between the UK and the US.
SpoilerShow
Taking your half-eaten meal home with you is still not really a done thing in the UK, even in basic eateries, diners or even fast food restaurants. It is still generally seen as uncouth or demeaning for anything but a pizza really.

If the idea was to inspire the chef to go back to cooking such a basic, humble, fast-food dish, in order, to have them reconnect with the joy of cooking for eating for pleasure, then that spell is immediately broken to certain audiences. As it was, I would have expected the chef to add any diner who wanted a doggy bag to his kill list, as per the rest of the night’s clientele.

Penti Mento
Joined: Fri Dec 30, 2022 1:22 pm

Re: The Films of 2022

#4 Post by Penti Mento » Mon Jan 02, 2023 7:50 pm

TMDaines wrote:
Mon Jan 02, 2023 5:25 pm
I think the ending of the film highlights a cultural difference between the UK and the US.
SpoilerShow
Taking your half-eaten meal home with you is still not really a done thing in the UK, even in basic eateries, diners or even fast food restaurants. It is still generally seen as uncouth or demeaning for anything but a pizza really.
SpoilerShow
Why do you think this is? Isn't it more uncouth and demeaning to throw away perfectly good food? I can understand if you're "on the go" with other appointments, or on a smoking-hot-about-to-get-laid date, but in general that seems weird.

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TMDaines
Joined: Wed Nov 11, 2009 1:01 pm
Location: Stretford, Manchester

Re: The Films of 2022

#5 Post by TMDaines » Thu Jan 05, 2023 4:11 pm

Penti Mento wrote:
Mon Jan 02, 2023 7:50 pm
SpoilerShow
Why do you think this is? Isn't it more uncouth and demeaning to throw away perfectly good food? I can understand if you're "on the go" with other appointments, or on a smoking-hot-about-to-get-laid date, but in general that seems weird.
SpoilerShow
As an outsider to this aspect of American culture, it has always struck me as pretty damn weird for adults to routinely be unable to finish their dinner and have so much food left that they would even think to repackage it for consumption at a later point. It simply isn’t even a concept in European countries.

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therewillbeblus
Joined: Tue Dec 22, 2015 3:40 pm

Re: The Films of 2022

#6 Post by therewillbeblus » Sat Apr 01, 2023 7:45 pm

TMDaines wrote:
Mon Jan 02, 2023 5:25 pm
I think the ending of the film highlights a cultural difference between the UK and the US.
SpoilerShow
Taking your half-eaten meal home with you is still not really a done thing in the UK, even in basic eateries, diners or even fast food restaurants. It is still generally seen as uncouth or demeaning for anything but a pizza really.

If the idea was to inspire the chef to go back to cooking such a basic, humble, fast-food dish, in order, to have them reconnect with the joy of cooking for eating for pleasure, then that spell is immediately broken to certain audiences. As it was, I would have expected the chef to add any diner who wanted a doggy bag to his kill list, as per the rest of the night’s clientele.
Yeah, the way this plays out as a one-note superficial punchline made and performed by Brits posing as Americans for their own cheeky pleasure is the kind of masturbatory ‘laugh-at-your-own-joke’-ness that infects the film with a gross aftertaste to a bad meal (and that eye-rolling allegory is on par with what to expect here!) Not even the sight of Arturo Castro dressed as a s’more can save this, though that was a lovely sight to see and earned a single smile at the finish line. This must be how people who don’t get Ruben Östlund’s work feel, though I never want to watch a comedy with the LB crowd I follow who are inexplicably comparing this favorably to Triangle of Sadness

ntnon
Joined: Tue Dec 03, 2013 7:04 am

Re: The Films of 2022

#7 Post by ntnon » Sat Apr 01, 2023 11:18 pm

TMDaines wrote:
Thu Jan 05, 2023 4:11 pm
Penti Mento wrote:
Mon Jan 02, 2023 7:50 pm
SpoilerShow
Why do you think this is? Isn't it more uncouth and demeaning to throw away perfectly good food? I can understand if you're "on the go" with other appointments, or on a smoking-hot-about-to-get-laid date, but in general that seems weird.
SpoilerShow
As an outsider to this aspect of American culture, it has always struck me as pretty damn weird for adults to routinely be unable to finish their dinner and have so much food left that they would even think to repackage it for consumption at a later point. It simply isn’t even a concept in European countries.
SpoilerShow
So the real difference is portion size. The curiosity being that the stereotypical (and increasinly detached from reality) relative girth of the - obese - American vs. a more svelte European would surely imply that the portions are both eaten...

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