Timothée Chalamet has become one of Hollywood's hottest young stars. Last year was his breakthrough, with key roles in Lady Bird and Hostiles, and earning an Oscar nomination for Call Me by Your Name. He's probably looking at another with this fall's Beautiful Boy.
With his star on the ascent, Hot Summer Nights is finally hitting DVD. Shot before his star-making turn in Call Me by Your Name, this is a gritty but sleek crime drama about an awkward teen who starts dealing drugs and gets in over his head while trying to impress a local girl (Maika Monroe, It Follows).
The film previously debuted on DirecTV and in limited release. If you missed either of those, you'll be able to catch it on home video. Unfortunately, for high-def cinephiles, no Blu-ray release is planned. But the DVD includes a making-of featurette and a commentary with writer-director Elijah Bynum and co-star Emory Cohen.
Hot Summer Nights will be available on DVD September 25.
About Kip Mooney
Like many film critics born during and after the 1980s, my hero is Roger Ebert. The man was already the best critic in the nation when he won the Pulitzer in 1975, but his indomitable spirit during and after his recent battle with cancer keeps me coming back to read not only his reviews but his insightful commentary on the everyday. But enough about a guy you know a lot about.
I knew I was going to be a film critic—some would say a snob—in middle school, when I had to voraciously defend my position that The Royal Tenenbaums was only a million times better than Adam Sandler’s remake of Mr. Deeds. From then on, I would seek out Wes Anderson’s films and avoid Sandler’s like the plague.
Still, I like to think of myself as a populist, and I’ll be just as likely to see the next superhero movie as the next Sundance sensation. The thing I most deplore in a movie is laziness. I’d much rather see movies with big ambitions try and fail than movies with no ambitions succeed at simply existing. I’m also a big advocate of fun-bad movies like The Room and most of Nicolas Cage’s work.
In the past, I’ve written for The Dallas Morning News and the North Texas Daily, which I edited for a semester. I also contributed to Dallas-based Pegasus News, which in the circle of life, is now part of The Dallas Morning News, where I got my big break in 2007. Eventually, I’d love to write and talk about film full-time, but until that’s a viable career option, I work as an auditor for Wells Fargo.
I hope to one day meet my hero, go to the Toronto International Film Festival, and compete on Jeopardy. Until then, I’m excited to share my love of film with you.
