challengers edition: set two
yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah
Welcome back to my brain where it’s still all-Challengers, all the time. I’m very pleased to report that I have now seen Challengers in theaters ten times. In honor of its release on Blu-ray today, I’d like to share with you what else I’ve bought since my first Challengers-related missive.
Seven more tickets to Challengers. I have seen this movie in settings ranging from the TCL Chinese Theater IMAX to the Vidiots microcinema and everywhere in between. God bless movie theaters!
Challengers on Bluray. Originally I preordered this on Amazon but this morning I saw that it hadn’t even shipped yet and the estimated delivery date was July 18 at the earliest. Wtf! I promptly canceled my Amazon preorder and drove my ass to Target. To be grateful for a moment, I’m so glad this got a physical release. To complain for a moment, this bullshit disc doesn’t have a single special feature. Where are my commentaries, my behind-the-scenes content, my bloopers and deleted scenes? Never forget what they took from you.
After the runaway success of the Phil’s Tire Town shirts and hoodies that I talked about last time, SuperYaki made more delightful merch, and of course I bought all of it. All of it being this hat and this sticker/magnet.
Aprintof an original oil painting of one of the film’s climactic scenes (spoilers if you click through but if you haven’t seen the movie yet wtf are you waiting for). I don’t actually have this yet but should get it this month.1GUM.
This water bottle that looks like a tennis ball.
A fragrance that is supposed to smell like, among other things, a fresh can of tennis balls. If you’ve seen the movie with me lately I’ve been wearing this scent. I like it! And it really does smell like tennis balls when you first spritz, but that fades away.
Two movie posters, one mini and one full size. I started with the mini and then decided I wanted the big one too. I don’t know where to hang these (especially the big one) but I have already popped them into cheapo Amazon frames (the frames weren’t that cheap honestly but it’s hard to find frames in these sizes).
A very fun poster zine from New Zealand-based publisher Coup de Main.
A used tennis racket. This was technically free, not something I shopped for. I got it from my local Buy Nothing group by being pathetic. The very nice woman who gave it to me also threw in a carrying bag and some used tennis balls.
Okay yes I really am that delusional and I signed up for beginner’s tennis lessons through my local community college. This was honestly Mike’s idea, I wasn’t going to do this shit. They start at the end of the month.
Patrick Zweig’s sneakers. If you’re interested, they run pretty narrow, and I have narrow feet, so tread (lol) with caution if your feet are on the wider side. Navy is the screen-accurate colorway. This GQ article about the shoe was a contributing factor in my purchase. They’re featured prominently in my favorite little moment from the film.
Initially I resisted but eventually I bit the bullet and ordered an “I TOLD YA” shirt off Etsy.
Multiple trashy romance novels. This weekend I went to the all-romance bookstore in Culver City, The Ripped Bodice, and when I approached the counter the bookseller was wearing an “I TOLD YA” shirt. I looked her right in the eyes and said “Hi, I love your shirt. I’ve seen Challengers ten times and I need you to help me.” If you want the syllabus, reply to this and I’ll hook you up. This is unrelated to Challengers but I also bought this really cute hat (and asked for suggestions related to my next obsession, The Acolyte - lmk if you want those too and also lmk if you’re watching so we can chat). As an aside, I love the recent surge in romance as a genre. I don’t read much romance, I merely dabble (maybe a few a year?), and I’ve definitely read stuff that sucked, but also quite a few I’ve really enjoyed. For further reading check out this recent NYT piece as well as The Cut’s Freak Week reporting.
At the time I didn’t realize this would be a Challengers-related purchase but I bought tickets to this month’s Gay Asstrology dance party and they played not one but two tracks from the Challengers soundtrack, and my dream of hearing the score at the club was finally realized. The DJ mixed the main theme into Charli XCX’s Von Dutch into Nelly Furtado’s Maneater and I saw the face of god.
Have I done the most unhinged thing possible? I don’t know, ask me again in about eight months.
May Challengers summer never end. May getting really obsessed with a piece of art never end. May finding joy in unsuspecting places and grabbing hold and not letting go never end.
yours in materialism,
liz
Edit September 2024: Generally speaking, I don’t write about things in this newsletter until I receive them. I take my recommendations seriously and would never steer you wrong. However, I made a mistake here in my excitement about Challengers. I never received this item. I made multiple attempts to contact the seller, who eventually responded to an Instagram DM that she had experienced postal delays and the print would ship soon. Spoiler alert: it didn’t, and she quit responding to my messages. I pursued a chargeback with my credit card company which I’ve never done before. A stranger who also never received his item contacted me on Instagram and said he had talked to at least 10 other people who didn’t get their orders. The artist turned off comments on IG and replies on Twitter. Be careful out there folks!