Quick Me on Train Dreams & Wicked 2

Train Dreams -- It's not often that I have a completely different opinion when I see a movie a second time than I did the first, and so it feels important to note when it does happen. And it very much happened with Train Dreams, Jockey director Clint Bentley's Malick-ified adaptation of Denis Johnson's book and starring Joel Edgerton as an old-timety railroad worker, on Netflix today. I saw it an Sundance in January and got swept up in the current of its lush visuals and lyrical score (from The National's Bryce Dressner), plus its fine clear-eyed close-mouthed turn from Joel Edgerton. It wasn't enough of a love affair that I felt the need to write a review at the time, but I thought my heart might grow fonder down the line. 

This was not the case -- a re-watch a couple of weeks ago was like a gust of tornado winds splitting through its smoke, and all that was left rang hollow; an ash-heap where a forest once stood. It was as if the film rotated ninety degrees and revealed cardboard backing. It's got the appearance of meaning that reveals itself to be thimble-deep, like a video of somebody diving into a gorgeous lake only to break their neck on the rocks mere inches beneath its serence surface. (The score, on its own merits, still rules though.) 

Wicked For Good -- Nobody should be coming to me for opinions of the Wicked movies, since this shit was always gonna be straight-up me-kryptonite from the start. And yet -- wow! This movie is really, really bad! Far worse than the already awful first one, which at least had a sense of humor, best embodied by Ariana Grande's fluffy little performance therein. This one doesn't even have the decency to have a plot, or "things that happen" -- humorless, tuneless, meandering flying-monkey malarkey, it feels like one terrible song about how a character feels piled on top of another one piled on top of another one until every iota of your patience has been crushed to yellow dust for that endless CG stretch of brick road. Bury beneath it and be done with me! In a better world people would be embarrassed. But, in the spirit of giving, I'll end on the one highlight:

There is this one shot of Jonathan Bailey in Wicked For Good, and you'll know the one when you see it, that is utter pornography, just absolute unhinged filth, and it made all of it worthwhile

— Jason Adams (@jamnpp.bsky.social) November 16, 2025 at 4:37 PM

Five Frames From ?

What movie is this?

Good Morning, World

Normally I'd crop out security people and other normies when focusing in on the spectacle of a great big movie star wandering the streets in their underpants, but with these photos of Tom Hardy doing just that (even if it's not quite the full frontal assualt of we saw from the set of Taboo that one time!) on the set of his forthcoming series Mobland I'm taking a different route. Namely because Tom's security guard is a great big hot giant of a man and is turning these photos into a whole tradie fantasy thing. Is "tradie" exclusively Australian? Because I think of it as British too but when I look it up everywhere just mentions Australia. Anyway google that yourselves if you're unaware -- point being the security dude stays in the picture. I hope they're blokes! Big bear-huggin' blokes. Hit the jump for a dozen photos...

That's All For Today...

... gotta go see a guy about a movie.

Pics of the Day

The first photos of Aaron Taylor-Johnson on the set of Robert Eggers' now-filming horror film Werewulf (via) are the literal platonic ideal of what we would hope the first photos of Aaron Taylor-Johnson on the set of Robert Eggers' now-filming horror film Werewulf would be -- Aaron Taylor-Johnson half-naked, howling ferally and covered in blood! Huzzah -- we won, kids! It's giving me The Northman meets Nosferatu -- big shock, that combo. Anyway see my previous post on the film, which is already set to open on Christmas 2026, right here. And hit the jump for the rest of the pics...

Who Wore It Best?

Lots of randomness today! Just the way we like it. See, I stumbled upon that highly attractive old photo of Jeff Bridges first and then I did a reverse image search trying to find more from the shoot, and ever-reliable Google offered me up the shot on the right of Kurt Russell instead. Whoopsie! But this mistake was really a surprise gift. One which we will now force you to choose between:

online polls

Five Frames From ?

What movie is this?

Leo Woodall Eight Times

I haven't paid a lot of attention to the new movie Nuremberg because 1) that's a lot of subject to deal with at this moment in time and 2) they've been pushing Rami Malek and Russell Crowe in all the (little bit of) advertising I've seen and those are not people who really get me out to see a movie. I had no idea it also co-starred White Lotus and fictional gay math whiz Leo Woodall though! I mean given the rest of the cast (which also includes Michael Shannon) I assume Leo's role is on the smaller side, but... he's playing a person named "Sgt. Howie". I'm already in love. Guess I'll be watching Nuremberg then! Anyway Leo is featured in the latest issue of Sharp magazine (read the chat here) and I've got those photos, I have, so hit the jump for all his adorableness....

Today's Mood

Or rather, let's try to make this Today's Mood. 

Positive energy time!

Good Morning, World

A random one for this Thursday, although there's only so "random" that Lucas Bravo can be since he's always skimming the under-surface of my brain -- a couple new photos of him that I found while looking for new photos of him this morning. Just cuz. He pretty. So, so pretty. Almost disgustingly pretty. So pretty he makes me mad. It's the same sort of pretty that Michiel Huisman has. Sexy fuckers.

Josh Ruben Gone Wild

Horror writer-director-actor-hunk Josh Ruben has announced his next movie after last year's Heart Eyes was a Valentine's hit and it sounds like a good 'un -- he's turning Matt and Harrison Query's 2024 novel Wilderness Reform into a movie! It sounds very Nightmare on Elm Street III but set at Crystal Lake -- it's about a troubled teenager who's sent to an isolated camp with a bunch of other misfits looking to get reformed, only to find the camp counselor's cheeriness turned up to a terrifying degree. So you could also say it's the Wednesday parts of Addams Family Values turned into a horror movie. Anyway I've dug all of Ruben's movies to date -- which also includes Scare Me and Werewolves Within -- so I'm already down for whatever he's looking to serve, but the added bonus of an overly cheerful camp setting really hits home for this "went to Church Camp four years straight" human being right here. Anybody read the book? And ohh what the heck since we're here and Heart Eyes came up here's a photo that its star Mason Gooding posted on Instagram earlier: 

Everything You Ever Need To Know About Life...

 ... you can learn from:

Anomalisa (2015)

Michael: Always remember the customer is an individual. Just like you. Each person you speak to has had a day. Some of the days have been good, some bad, but they've all had one. Each person you speak to has had a childhood. Each has a body. Each body has aches. What is it to be human? What is it to ache? What is it to be alive? I don't know. What is it to ache? I don't know. What is it to be alive? I don't know... Uh, yes. "How do I talk to a customer?" How do I talk to a customer? These are the important questions for a customer service representative. What do I say? Do I smile while I'm on the phone? Well, they can tell, if you're smiling, even if they can't see you. Did you know that? Try it as an experiment on the phone with a friend. Try it. Go ahead. Watch. I'm lost. See I was smiling when I said that? I've lost my love. She's an unmoored ship and she's drifting off to sea. I have no one to talk to. I have no one to talk to. I have no one to talk to. I'm sorry. I don't mean to burden you with that, I just don't know what else to do because I have no one to talk to... Be friendly to the customer. Think of the customer as a friend...

It's the 67th birthday of Charlie Kaufman! Not only that but I just realized this Anomalisa is turning 10 in a few weeks! So this post is what we in the biz call a "two-fer" then. I didn't realize it was Charlie's birthday when I did today's "Five Frames" post (which spoiler alert was for Being John Malkovich) but now that I do realize it's his birthday let's give the man some affection. I re-watched I'm Thinking of Ending Things a few weeks ago for the bazillionth time (which is probably why I brought up Pauline Kael talking about Gena Rowlands earlier this week) and it remains a perfect sparkling diamond in my eye, but I certainly do understand why some people find Charlie's work difficult or off-putting. All the more for me! That said I haven't gone back and re-watched Anomalisa in several years so I'm gonna do that this weekend to celebrate my beloved meloncholy genius. 

Today's Fanboy Delusion

Today I'd rather be...

... clapping back at the Frankenstein boys.

Five Frames From ?

What movie is this?

Bonjour, François

Okay okay okay unlike how half-assed yesterday turned out to be here, I should be (knock on François Arnaud's wood) around posting much more today. Phew! And lets's start off with some true hotness to get our juices good and flowing -- actor slash bisexual king François Arnaud (who I just happened to stand beside at a film's after-party last week and y'all lemme tell you, his prettiness very seriously translates to the real world -- my god) was photographed for Nuvo magazine (via) yesterday and we're lucky enough to have the photos and video. I mean obviously -- what if I didn't have anything to post??? If a photoshoot gets photographed in the woods and nobody sees it does the photoshoot exist? Whoa this is all way too heady for a Wednesday morning, my sincerest apologies. Hit the jump and I will shut up and let you just ogle the pretty now...

Everything You Ever Need To Know About Life...

 ... you can learn from:

Él (1953)

Doña Esperanza Vilalta: Francisco is a jealous man. 

Sometimes he thinks you're wrong... and because 

he loves you so much, he tends to lose his temper.

Gloria Vilalta: He deceived you, too.

Doña Esperanza Vilalta: When a man talks with his heart, 

he cannot lie. Listen to a mother's advice... 

Be good to him, and everything will be fine again.

Luis Buñuel's perverse classic Él has made its way into the Criterion Collection today! Here's to hoping they drop more of the Buñuel films made during his early time in Mexico -- that's a seriously under-appreciated portion of his career. Everybody focuses on his early work in the 30s and his late work in the 60s and 70s but there's a ton there in the middle to enjoy too! Él perhaps most of all. Blessings to Criterion for giving this the showcase it deserves. Any fans?

The Fourgy of Our Forever Dreams

My schedule today ended up being a bit more bonkers than I anticipated so I'm hopping online later than I'd wagered (I mentioned my tardiness in this morning's post) -- point being I'm just now seeing that the devils at Vanity Fair threw Jonathan Bailey, Riz Ahmed, Harris Dickinson, and Andrew Garfield on a couch in coordinating little outfits and delivered us a video for our everlasting spank bank eternal. I haven't had the chance to actually watch the video properly yet so I have no idea what they're discussing but...

... there it is, it should be documented. Studied. Frame by frame. Thanks to the commenter who alerted me to its existence this morning -- you will be showered in the afterlife with chocolate truffles and oral sex whenever you like. Dear lord!

Good Morning, World

Morgan Spector busted out of his corset for GQ's "Men of the Year" issue (I should say along with his Gilded Age co-star Carrie Coon) to talk "TV's Hottest Marriage" -- read about it here. (Carrie wasn't so lucky with the corset, poor dear.) Anyway while we all go off and fantasize about Rail Daddy laying some rail on us let me mention I've got a screening this morning and won't be back here until this afternoon. Morgan will take good, thorough care of you in my absence, I promise. 

Man Not There, Woman Under Influence

If I was forced at gun-point (or perhaps in this instance umbrella-point is more apt) to list the ten most beautiful movies ever made, Jacques Tati's 1967 masterpiece Playtime would handily be on said list -- I've watched this sucker projected on the wall of the Museum of Modern Art, for goodness's ake. And I don't mean inside one of their movie theaters -- I mean in the actual art part of the museum they had this several minutes of this film projected on a wall right beside paintings for a few years and every time I walked past it I would sit down on the bench provided and re-watch the footage for the gazillionth time. It's about as perfect as such things go and so the news that Criterion is dropping the film onto 4K disc this upcoming February is some happy news indeed. (And obviously the folks at Criterion agree with me on this film's stature since this FOURTH release they've given it, after DVD, blu-ray, and their must-own Tati box-set.)

Indeed I don't usually start these monthly Criterion release announcement posts with one of their now constant 4K upgrades, but Playtime on 4K is obviously a most special ocassion. The rest of February's hardly a slouch though -- take for instance Sidney Lumet's 1976 media master-class Network, which is entering the esteemed Collection for the first time, and also in 4K. That movie turns 50 next year and feels as timely as ever -- and of course I speak of how we all would still have sex with Old William Holden even if we were hot young things like Faye Dunaway was. Obviously! Why -- what did you think I was talking about? 

Next up on February 3rd there's the 1957 Western 3:10 to Yuma, which I must admit I've never seen -- I've seen the remake with Christian Bale but never the original with Glenn Ford. Should I? Tell me your opinion as if you're talking to someone who doesn't have a lot of patience with Westerns in general. Because you are. Nor do I have a lot of patience for John Cassavetes' much-beloved 1974 drama A Woman Under the Influence, which is getting what I believe is its first standalone release after being part of the Cassavetes box-set previously. I tend to agree with Pauline Kael's infamous opinion here -- that Rowlands is just doing Way Too Much in this movie. I understand why actors love the performance, but as a viewer I'm just not into it. (That said I'm sure this is getting this standalone drop because of Rowlands' recent passing and that's nice for her fans.)

February ain't stopping there, though -- you want a box-set of Ernst Lubitsch's musicals, you say? Well you got it! Their reinstated "Eclipse Series" is unloading four of the champagne-synonymous filmmaker's movies starting with The Love Parade in 1929 right through One Hour With You in 1932. I haven't seen a single one of these, but every time I have seen The Love Parade's title anywhere I think of that being the title of Tobey Maguire's book in Wonder Boys. (Is that weird? I'm weird. God I love Wonder Boys. Put Wonder Boys in the Criterion Collection dammit!) After that there's the great Kiyoshi Kurosawa's most recent thriller Cloud, which also happens to be streaming on Criterion Channel right now -- it's about an online reseller becoming unhinged as he tries to score questionable deals, and yes I related to it an awful lot. Which brings us to the last but hardly least February drop -- the Coen Brothers' 2001 black-and-white Noir-riff The Man Who Wasn't There, starring Billy Bob Thornton and Scarlett Johannson among many others. Here's where I admit I don't think I've seen this since it came out? Which is strange indeed because I remember liking it. Huh. Well now's my chance! 

What out of February 2026's releases has you most excited?

Great Moments In Movie Staches

Edgar Wright's not-great re-do of The Running Man has made me want to revisit some of the many trashy Schwarzenegger movies that I adored as a kid, and from there it doesn't take long for me to start thinking about Carl Weathers in Predator. Glen Powell wishes!