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The story follows Timmy Chamalet as Marty Mauser, a young Jewish man struggling to get by in early 1950s New York City as a hustling ping pong player. The opening act shows him overseas in London almost winning a major table tennis tournament, but losing embarrassingly in the final round to a stoic Japanese man with far superior skill than him.

As a self-proclaimed “film nerd”, how is it that I hadn’t seen the masterpiece that is La La Land (2016)? This is rhetorical, of course, as I would only have the true answer, and now having finally seen it, I can say that confidently: I am an asshole. I’m a big Damien Chazelle fan, especially after Whiplash (2014), and this being his sophomore project that almost won best picture, what the hell, man?

You’d think with all the glazing I’ve been doing of the man with the recent release of his generational masterpiece One Battle After Another (2025) that I would’ve seen this already. Uh, apparently not. There is so much I could say about this film that it deserves its own dedicated breakdown, when I have the time or energy. But until then, let me first say that this has some of the greatest dramatic performances of all time.

I have mentioned this film a number of times in my journeys, primarily because of the stranglehold the concept of it has had on me. Needless to say, I finally got around to it (so I can get a good grade). I was not only mesmerized and unable to peel my eyes off the screen, but my expectations as a whole were completely shattered, in the best way possible. The Holy Mountain follows a thief, cleverly dressed as Jesus Christ, venturing through a heightened reality filled with re