Not really -- this is an aspirational mood. I'm in
actuality quite stressed. Buster, take me awayyyyy...
Wednesday, February 04, 2026
Danny Ramirez Twelve Times
It's been about 77 weeks since Joaquin Phoenix bitched out of Todd Haynes' gay romance film De Noche in August of 2024 -- that's 77 weeks of one of our greatest living filmmakers' time and output gone, just gone, so let's take a fresh moment to mourn it (all while cursing Joaquin's name under our breath) (or even over our breath). Okay -- better news, better mood, today Variety has officially confirmed the rumor floating about since last summer; that Joaquin's Eddington co-star Pedro Pascal is indeed taking over the abandoned role opposite Danny Ramirez (who bless him has kept himself tightly attached this entire time) and shooting will kick off next month. It's been so very long since all of this began -- did I mention seventy-seven weeks? And that was just the moment the project fell apart; there were months of speculation before that -- that I think I should re-share the plot of the film:
"The story, which echoes classic noirs like “Chinatown,” charts the passionate and unexpected love affair between a cop (Pascal) and a boarding school teacher (Ramirez) in 1930s Los Angeles, when the city is overtaken by corruption and the world is on the brink of war. The two men become targets of the city’s corrupt political machine and are forced to flee to Mexico."
Sounds killer! (No I am not punning on Todd's longstanding relationship with Killer Films, although that's bonus points.) But seriously we love Haynes doing period films and 1930s Noir-tinged L.A. is certainly new for him -- I'll admit I'm detecting a few notes of Luca Guadagnino's ex-pat age-gap homosexual paean Queer in that description (especially their venture south of the border) but as much as I love Queer I have not a single doubt that Haynes will do his own wonderful thing. Break a (Joaquin's) leg(s), Todd! And now in celebration of this news, an older but never-here-posted Danny photoshoot (via) I will share with you after the jump...
Sick in Mind and Body and Soul
So far we're three for three in using the word "Sundance" in today's posts at least once -- let's see if we can keep it up all day long! What a fun game that will be. For me. Only me. So my first Sundance (maybe we should all scream like it's the "word of the day" on Pee-wee's Playhouse?) review dropped yesterday -- it's of the erotic-thriller-ish film Night Nurse and you can read it right now at Pajiba. Or maybe you already read it yesterday -- I don't have a camera trained on your backside at all times, how would I know? Anyway it's a weird little movie and y'all know how weird's my bag so I dug it. Good movie from a first-time filmmaker!
Not Yo Momma's Natchez
A lot of today is going to be catching up on things that landed over the past week while I've had my head buried in Sundance, so let's kick it off with the one that makes me feel the fanciest so I've got the courage to trundle on after a long couch break -- I got another trailer blurb! I don't know how I missed this one since it dates back a few weeks but my review of the really nrather incredible little documentary Natchez, which I called...
... both "bracing and brilliant" made its way into the film's trailer, which I will share down below. I saw it at Tribeca last year -- it's about the small titular town in the South which is reliant upon plantation tourism, and what that means in the here and now moment of time. There are people still romanticizing it a la Gone With the Wind of course, but there are brave people -- mainly of color because of course they have to do all the damn work themselves -- pushing back against those narratives. Anyway it's a smart portrait of our moment and I really recommend watching it when you can -- it started playing theaters (here in NYC it's at Film Forum) this past week.
Good Morning, World
And so we're back! From virtual Sundance! We just walked in to find Brandon Sklenar here with that hot smile upon his face... okay I will stop while I'm behind. Did somebody say behind? Which is to say -- g'bless Paul Feig who's gone from making some great female-centered comedies to making some great female-centered trashy thrillers where he also makes sure to have his beautiful leading men flash their big meaty behinds therein. First there was Henry Golding in last year's Another Simple Favor and now we have the meatiest of them all Brandon Sklenar in The Housemaid, as seen down below. Paul Feig, who knew -- you're a true ass connoisseur. Thank you, good sir. Anyway yes I am indeed back on blog from my Sundance stuff -- there will be reviews coming! But for now, as we greet this Hump Day morning, let's just take a moment or two to bask in a big meaty something sure to brighten it:
Tuesday, January 27, 2026
It's Always Sundance Here in My Pants
Well that's that, me and Jacob Elordi and hopping in our pants-free vehicle and making our way on up to the virtual mountains of Sundance for the next week! As mentioned previously I'll be off-blog from tomorrow through next Wednesday watching and watching and watching some more movies on Sundance's virtual platform, with some reviews to come thereafter or abouts. If you're curious you too can watch some movies virtually, check their website for info. I can't really say what's worth watching yet because I've only watched a couple of screeners so far, but keep your eyes on my socials -- especially Letterboxd where I'm keeping an ongoing list of what I'm seeing -- as well as Pajiba where my reviews will mostly be dropping. I will surely eventually disseminate that information across all the usual places. And no, addressing the Elordi-shaped elephant in the room (really more of a giraffe if we're talking zoo animals) -- there is no Jacob Elordi movie showing at Sundance this year -- I just liked that picture up top too much not to post it. Have a good week!
Do Dump or Marry: Heated Rivalry Eats Paris
Three of the four main cast-members of Heated Rivalry were dolled up at the Saint Laurent show in Paris today -- left to right that's Robbie G.K. (making a feast of those leather trousers), Connor Storrie, and François Arnaud, with Hudson Williams as the odd man not to be seen for this go. (Click the picture to embiggen.) And obviously threesomes of this sort...
🚨 LUCA GUADAGNINO + CONNOR STORRIE SPOTTED IN PARIS 🚨
— Jason Adams (@jamnpp.bsky.social) January 26, 2026 at 7:51 PM
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Everything You Ever Need To Know About Life...
... you can learn from:
Birth (2004)
Anna: What happened to me was not my fault. There's no way I could have behaved any differently, you now... What I did wasn't my fault. What happended to me wasn't my fault, and I can't be held accountable for it. There is no way I could ever have said to him 'Go away'. I couldn't do it... It was a mistake. And... I'm sorry. But I want to be with you. I want to be with you. Yes, I do. And I want to get married, and... I wanna have a good life, and I wanna be happy. That's all I want - peace.
A day we've been looking forward to for a decade at least has finally arrived -- after years of being only available on a shitty out-of-print DVD Jonathan Glazer's 2004 masterpiece in discomfort Birth has gotten the Criterion treatment! In 4K no less! Pick up your copy right here -- like every single Glazer movie there is (yes, every single one) this is not a movie to be missed. And NOW if they could just release Alexandre Desplat's astonishing score onto vinyl I'll be satisfied! Temporarily anyway! Related: have I mentioned here that I started a thread on Bluesky for movies I'm dying to get released on upgraded physical media? Click below to see what I've whined about so far if that's your thing:
Think I'm going to start a thread specifically for sporadic bitching about movies I need released on updated physical media already, like yesterday, dammit. Seen here are four standards - Apartment Zero, Chuck & Buck, Soldier of Orange, and of course the king of this, Ken Russell's The Devils
— Jason Adams (@jamnpp.bsky.social) December 11, 2025 at 3:57 PM
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Good Morning, Samson
Aww big ol' Samson from the 28 Years Later movies -- aka actor Chi Lewis-Parry -- shared this picture on Instagram this morning with a message of "Memento Amoris" aka "Remember Love", what a sweetheart he is! No seriously I have an enormous crush on CLP (and yes okay Samson too, jeez) after The Bone Temple -- have you seen it yet? Have you read my review yet? As a person who was decidedly not a fan of the first movie I found this sequel leaps and bounds weirder and more moving. And gayer. So much gayer. Watch this video of CLP and Ralph Fiennes chatting and tell me they don't have chemistry for days:
Monday, January 26, 2026
My Top 20 Movies of 2025
My 20 Favorite Movies of 2025
20 -- SIRAT
19 -- AFTER THE HUNT
-- Read my review here! --
18 -- LURKER
-- Read my review here! --
17 -- PETER HUJAR'S DAY
-- Read my review here! --
16 -- WAKE UP DEAD MAN
15 -- THE PHOENICIAN SCHEME
-- Read my review here! --
14 -- BLACK BAG
-- Read my review here! --
13 -- DUST BUNNY
-- Read my review here! --
12 -- THE SECRET AGENT
11 -- MY UNDESIRABLE FRIENDS: PART 1
10 -- SENTIMENTAL VALUE
9 -- GRIFFIN IN SUMMER
-- Read my review here! --
8 -- BUGONIA
-- Read my review here! --
7-- THE TESTAMENT OF ANN LEE
6 -- THE HISTORY OF SOUND
-- Read my review here! --
5 -- NO OTHER CHOICE
-- Read my review here! --
4 -- PILLION
-- Read my review here! --
3 -- PEE-WEE AS HIMSELF
-- Read my review here! --
2 -- MARTY SUPREME
-- Read my review here! --
1 -- ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER
-- Read my review here! --
----------------------------------
I have like 20 runners-up but fuck it,
I'm done. Goodbye forever, 2025!
Everything You Ever Need To Know About Life...
... you can learn from:
Once Upon a Time in Anatolia (2011)
Prosecutor Nusret: Ignore Naci. He's justa handful of bees, as my mother would say.All noise and no action.
I have such a vivid memory of watching this film at the New York Film Festival in the fall of 2011 -- you know how some images imprint themselves onto your brain? It's not just a specific image out of this gorgeous stream of images that director Nuri Bilge Ceylan assembled here, either -- it's a flow of images, of cars moving down dirt roads across distant hills and fields in the night-time, with the screen and the audience I was watching the film with itself included in the memory. It was as if we'd all be lifted and transported to this place where we hovered over on the next hill over, watching this drama unfold in the distance.
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