We All Go a Little Maddin Some TImes

Heads up -- or I suppose in this context great big throbbing forest brains up! Guy Maddin's latest wackadoo movie Rumours, which stars Cate Blanchett, Denis Ménochet, Alicia Vikander, and several other international actors of note, is now available to rent! Click here to do so. It is as I have said several times this year the funniest movie I've watched in 2024 and honestly after last week's election it seems even more meaningful. I think it will land differently, watching it now, than it did back when I was a person who had "hope" inside of me. We'll see because I'm dying to re-watch myself. Here is my Pajiba review of the film from when it screened at NYFF in October. Oh and it's also getting a blu-ray release in January -- pre-order it here if that interests you. This movie might just turn out to be the most prophetic movie of our time which uhhh is terrifying. 

Five Frames From ?

What movie is this?

Good Morning, Jude Law

Our good boy Jude has a couple of movies out this fall -- there's The Order, his FBI versus the white supremiscists thriller (co-starring Nicky Hoult) from Snowtown and True History of the Kelly Gang director Justin Kurzel, and he has Eden, Ron Howard's film telling the true (weird, very weird) story of a group of bohemians and scientists clashing in the Galapagos in the 1920s. I have seen both of these movies, and they are both totally solid entertainments -- from Kurzel, who I revere, a "totally solid entertainment" is less than what I expect. While from Howard it's the opposite since I generally think he's become a terrible director. So a "totally solid entertainment" from him is a step up! 

Either way they're both serious adult movies worth watching, although I doubt they'll make much of a splash in the current entertainment landscape -- well except for Jude showing his dick in Eden. There have already been headlines about that! Anyway point being Jude has stuff coming out (heh, indeed) so he's on the cover of British GQ this month and these are the photos. I haven't read the interview yet so I don't know if he talks about them, if he talks about his penis, or what. So I did it for him. You're welcome, Jude. Hit the jump for the photos...

A Jonathan Bailey Moment of Zen

Ahhhhhhhhhh that's the ticket.

Burn Penguin Burn

Any watchers of The Penguin up in here?  I wasn't a fan of The Batman movie at all (here is my review) but I love love loved this spin-off series, which added all the pizzazz that that humorless slog was missing thanks to Colin Farrell and Cristin Milioti devouring everything in sight as Oz Cobb and his challenger, the mafioso maniac Sofia Falcone respectively. Actually the entire cast was terrific -- the literal second that character actress Deirdre O'Connell popped up as Oz's mother I knew I was in good hands. 

Soooooo happyyy when Deirdre O'Connell showed up on The Penguin! pic.twitter.com/UQU3nA577I

— Jason Adams (@JAMNPP) September 24, 2024

And the show didn't waste her! Usually she gets to shine in the teeniest of roles and then vanish, but The Penguin gave her a shit-ton to do and per usual she knocked it all out of the park. But keep looking at the other actors on board -- Clancy Brown, Shohreh Aghdashloo, Scott Cohen, Carmen Ejogo, Michael Zegen, Michael Kelly, Rhenzy Feliz (who broke my heart), Mark Strong, Theo Rossi...

... and hellooooo Theo Rossi. It's a fucking who's-who of under-appreciated character actors, though. Oh and a special shout-out to the kid actor Ryder Allen who played Young Oz in flashbacks -- he rocked his every scene. 

So good. The show somehow managed to  straddle the line between being too comic-booky and not comic-booky enough (a la the Nolan movies). I know everybody else brought up The Sopranos and it very clearly was what it was going for but I was having so much fun with it I couldn't even hold that against it. Without getting into spoilers I really hope there's a second season because I doubt a sequel to The Batman would have much time for  some of The Penguin's side-characters and I need to see them again! So tell me: any fans?

Pics of the Day

The new Disney+ version of Daredevil doesn't return until March 4th of next year but that hasn't stopped the studio from trotting their gorgeous perfect magnificent and exquisite leading man Charlie Cox out all over the globe -- this weekend he and Vincent D'Onofrio were in brazil for their Disney Expo showing off some stuff. First and foremost Charlie's arms, Charlie's smile, Charlie's scruff. Charlie, Charlie, Charlie. (Also his outfit is literally perfect as well.) Listen I am just trying to provide some dumb distraction here and working with what I got. So enjoy a few more photos of Charlie being literally perfect Charlie after the jump...

Five Frames From ?

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Good Morning, World

What's that? Did I call it a "good" morning? I did! And on a Monday so less. Listen I've just decided -- and yes get back to me in a year's time and we'll see how resolute I'm feeling -- that I am, in the memorable words of The Handmaid's Tale, "Nolite te Bastardes Carborundorum" aka I am not letting the bastards get me down. We've got each other and we've got Scott Speedman half-naked and I am seeing Nosferatu tonight for the moment that's enough for me, dammit. (These gifs are from a new movie called Cellar Door that Scott stars in with Jordana Brewster which you can rent right here -- has anybody watched it yet? I have not.) Anyway that's my attitude this morning. I wish you good people a good morning and fuck the rest of 'em. On that note hit the jump for a couple more gifs...

Please Try To Have a Good Weekend

Find something you love, and fuck it.

Cuz we all deserve the best dammit.

A Very Barry Weekend

It's Friday so there are new movies in theaters, and this is the part where I direct you to the ones that I have seen and reviewed. First and fore-best there is Andrea Arnold's Bird, which stars the-pictured-here Barry Keoghan and Franz Rogowski as the influential dudes in teenage Nykiya Adams' life -- Keoghan's her sweet-but-fucked-up dad while Franz is some weirdo she bumps into who starts following her around. Here is my review of that -- gist being I loved it, it's proper Andrea Arnold magic. The other movie out this weekend that I have both seen and reviewed is Heretic, A24's horror film starring Hugh Grant that you're no doubt familiar with given how hard they've been pushing it -- here is my review of that. The gist on that one being the very good performances therein cannot wallpaper over a bunch of intellectually-compromised and deeply conservative bullshit. Especially after Tuesday it feels important to call this shit out -- to me anyway. Lots of critics seem to love it. I saw someone today say it presents both sides -- as in believing and not believing in religion -- equally, and it doesn't force us to choose, and uhhhhhh that's a pretty wild bunch of nonsense to say with a straight face. I'm pretty sure the movie makes us choose when the atheist turns out to be a violent maniac while the Mormon girls he torments all all pure and true-hearted. But what do I know, right? (I know you should go watch Bird, that's what. It will make you feel better, I promise. It's Arnold's by far most optimistic film to date.) 

Another Buy My Shit On eBay Post

If dropping a shot of Richard Gere is Days of Heaven won't grab your immediate attention I don't know what could -- a quick heads-up that one of the ways I have been coping this week, and will continue coping over the weekend, is listing shit for sale on eBay. Including lots and lots of movies (especially Criterion titles!) and vinyl and books and all sorts of good movie-related stuff. Here is a link to my eBay page. Like I said -- expect lots more dumped on there over the weekend as I'll be going through my movies once again to weed out redundancies (i.e. lots of 4K upgrading has happened.) With who knows maybe the last holidays ahead that we'll ever celebrate why not buy yourself and your loved ones all the presents?? And help me clear space for my panic room at the same time! Everybody wins when everybody loses! Sigh.

Good Afternoon, Gratuitous Nassim Lyes

This morning I couldn't quite bring myself to call it a "good morning" but after spending the past hour going through several new batches of photographs of French-Algerian actor Nassim Lyes I am indeed inclined toward calling this a "good afternoon." And I want to share this spurt (heh) of good feeling with each and every one of you in the hopes that you might have a satisfied smile on your face as well once you're done looking through these. Nassim first caught my eye back in 2021 in the horror film Kandisha and I did a great big gratuitous post on him at the time -- and believe me it is well worth clicking over to that post too. 

But since then I've seen him in two more movies -- the deliciously ridiculous "Paris floods and is taken over by sharks" disaster movie Under Paris and director Xavier Gens' knock-down-drag-out action thriller Mayhem! (I shared the trailer for that here) -- and they were both a lot of fun and Nassim makes for an ace action-hero. I mean he obviously looks the part (obviously!) but he's got charisma and screen presence on top of the muscles. (Ohh to be that charisma, just so I could be on top of those muscles.) Point being France is lucky to have him and you're all lucky that I have access to his Instagram account which is where I swiped most of these pictures in a bid to maybe make our afternoon a little bit cheerier. Hit the jump for 30+ more photos...

Five Frames From ?

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Morning, World

That is correct, Jeffrey Dean Morgan -- we are still not ready to say "Good Morning" yet. Give us the weekend to sleep and grieve and perhaps Monday we can face the days again. For now....... let's just get through Friday.

Oh Jacob, Oh Richard, Oh Canada

Paul Schrader's new film Oh Canada stars Richard Gere as a feted documentary filmmaker at the end of his life who's asked to reminisce on camera by some former students -- this involves lots of flashbacks where he is played by an astonishingly hot Jacob Elordi, who proves once again my thesis that:

Paul Schrader remains the gayest supposedly straight man on earth

— Jason Adams (@JAMNPP) October 2, 2024

No but for real though. 

I don't think even Emerald Fennell leered at Jacob in Saltburn as much as Paul does here. (And I am fairly certain the above shot in the movie has less sheet covering Jacob's bum than what is shown above -- that's either another take or a CG sheet for the trailer's sake!) Anyway that's why we love slash are confounded by Paul -- I mean I haven't even gotten to the jockstrap scene. But yes I saw this at NYFF and didn't get around to reviewing it but I liked it -- more than a lot of people seemed to, actually. I need to give it a second view because film festivals are so brutal and this is a slow, meditative, talky movie. But I think it's worth a watch. Here's the trailer:

Oh Canada is out on December 6th. 

Five Frames From ?

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Pic of the Day

Hey look it's a new still of Drew Starkey and Daniel Craig in Luca Guadagnino's upcoming movie Queer! (Here is my review of Queer.) This photo is of particular note because that see-through green shirt that Drew is wearing is extremely hot -- make sure you click on the photo to embiggen it. The fashion in this movie is pretty extraordinary but then that's no surprise -- it's a Luca movie. Maybe since this one's a period film he'll actually snag an Oscar nomination for Costumes again? He inexplicably hasn't gotten one of those since I Am Love 15 years ago.

Morning, World

I am still not quite up to saying "Good Morning" but to each and every one of you reading this I do hope you are good. I appreciate all of the extremely and extraordinarily kind comments on my little bout of word vomit yesterday. It's another day, I am back at my desk, and here are some nice new smiley photos of Barry Keoghan. Let's just try and make it to the weekend without completely falling apart, shall we? We can do it. If for Barry alone!

Thank You For This, Jake

Good doggy.

Ben Whishaw Four Times

 (via)