Kee-rist there's a lot of big awesome movie news dropping today! I already told you that both Jennifer Kent (here) and Charlie Kaufman (here) announced their new movies -- well let's make it a triple cuz now we've got word on Ari Aster's! He's back with A24 for his Eddington follow-up because of course he is, they good people who don't toss him in the trash because that movie lost a lot of money -- perhaps it's the fact that he's bringing a little somebody named Scarlett Johansson along with him? At least some studios are still in the business of banking on stars -- will this be her first movie with them since Under the Skin? Anyway of course we know nothing about the plot, but we do have the title -- it'll be called Scapegoat. I dare y'all to come up with what you think the plot of an Ari Aster movie called Scapegoat starring Scarlet Johansson might look like in the comments. I'm going to be away for a week so that gives you time...
We've got updates to yesterday's movie-nerd-rupturing news that Ken Russell's 1971 masterpiece The Devils has gotten a 4K restoration and it will premiere at Cannes later this month -- it's going to play in U.S. movie theaters too! It's getting a one week theatrical engagment on october 1th and there's the poster above -- the poster calls this "The Director's Cut" and they sent out more detail via their press release:
"Assembled from the original camera negative, this new 4K restoration presents Ken Russell's definitive vision of THE DEVILS by referencing the edit he privately constructed in 2004. KEN RUSSELL'S THE DEVILS is the uncut and unfiltered theatrical experience that Russell always envisioned - and the first time the film will be presented restored and in 4K... This new 4K restoration of Ken Russell's masterpiece was assembled from the original camera negative. The film's sound has been remastered from original English Composite 35mm Mag Film, transferred at 96kHz, plus other original film elements in selected spots as needed. "
Granted it's only been twenty-four hours but this news is still breaking my brain -- I can't believe the White Whale has been speared! While not confirming confirming a physical media release I hugely doubt we need to worry about that at this point -- now that it's not a one time Cannes thing I fully expect a 4K disc down the road. Hopefully in time for the holidays so every one of us sickos can gift our families The Devils in their stockings! Anyway they also sent along some images from the restored film and prepare to have your eyes blown back through your heads after the jump...
I'm glad that Yellowjackets actor Sophie Thatcher has broken out from that show -- she was immensely watchable even in movies like Heretic and Companion, both of which I personally found extremely underwhelming. I wasn't in the majority with those opinions, most people seemed to love those movies, but they both felt half-baked to me. But not her work in them! She's great. So I'm glad she's the star of the new Nicolas Winding Refn movie, and I am extremely happy about this morning's new news -- she's going to star in the new movie from The Babadook director Jennifer Kent! Okay the thing I am excited about is that Jennifer Kent is making another movie -- it's been EIGHT YEARS since The Nightingale y'all (make that make sense) -- but Sophie can ride that wave. The movie's called The Girl Who Was Plugged In (which yes could've been an alternate title for Companion) and it's based on a 1974 sci-fi novella by writer James Tiptree, Jr, and... yeah this is very Companion-adjacent sounding through and through:
"The surreal dystopian tale revolves around a woman who loses her soul to technology in an effort to be loved. Thatcher plays disfigured, suicidal young protagonist P Burke who is hired by a mega tech corporation to virtually operate a beautiful but brainless ‘flesh body’ called Delphi, grown in a lab with the sole purpose of influencing the masses and selling products. "
But I have no doubt Kent will make her own thing, and Companion will entirely slough off our brains watching this. And I'd be fine with that! Doesn't feel like a massive loss to me.
I can't say that I ever thought I'd be announcing this cast for a Charlie Kaufman movie, but Deadline's reporting that Channing Tatum and Tessa Thompson, two of our most gorgeous movie stars, have just signed on to star in Later the War, an adaptation of the short story "Debby’s Dream House’ by the author Iddo Gefen. Not to slight any of the extremely talented actors who've led Charlie's movies but I don't think of "gorgeous movie stars" first when I think of "Charlie Kaufman leads"... I suppose there's always Cameron Diaz in that Malkovich fright wig. But here's how they describe the story:
"The original story follows a man who manufactures dreams and nightmares for others, including for his own wife. In Kaufman’s version, Tatum plays Peekman, a wildly popular actor-director, famous for blockbuster physical comedies in which he stars with his wife Kiki (Thompson). "
So the casting makes sense with Tessa since she's playing a movie star -- and I'd say the casting of Channing makes sense when you consider that 1) this has to be a person that the otherworldly gorgeous Tessa Thompson would marry (and I don't know that you can cast a Phillip Seymour Hoffman type for that anymore -- the age of Woody Allen types romancing Mariel Heimingway is thankfully behind us) and then 2) Charlie Kaufman is probably tired of having a hard time making movies. So sure, let's hire some gorgeous movie stars, and make it a little easier. I am fine with that. Because this isn't to say Chan & Tess aren't extremely talented people! Their gorgeousness is a bonus -- heck I would've nominated Thompson for an Oscar for Hedda last year, and hell I might have voted for her to win too. And Chan's always been extremely under-appreciated as a performer. Anyway this extremely non-Kaufman-esque band of actors aside -- NEW CHARLIE KAUFMAN MOVIE ALERT!!!! Fuck yeah!!
Let it be known that I do, on occasion, listen to you people -- somebody left a comment the other day (I am way too lazy at 9am to go look up who) chastising me for not posting the new photos of Aaron Taylor-Johnson doing his perfume thing (see the previous ones here) -- thing is this was the only new one I could find? I'm not knocking that singular photograph, which is A LOT and I love making its tender acquaintance. But if I am indeed missing more please point me in that direction and I will again dutifully share. Anyway pleasure aside, a bit of business to attend to -- I'm heading upstate for a family visit for several days tomorrow morning, so it'll be shutters on MNPP until one week from today. We'll be back up and posting our light smut soliloquies come Wednesday the 13th. So enjoy me while ya gotta me, people.
Yes I realize that's the French poster for Ken Russell's The Devils there, but that's the poster I actually own and which hangs on my bedroom wall, so that's the one I'm using to share this incredible news I really wondered whether I'd ever be able to share in my entire life -- this movie, long banned and buried by the studio, has officially gotten a 4K restoration from Warnes Brothers and it will be premiering at Cannes this month. HELL HATH OFFICIALLY FROZEN OVER, Y'ALL.
There have actually been little whispers of this for the past several weeks so I'm not exactly crapping my pants here as I totally one hundred percent would have if this had come completely out of nowhere -- and to the people who were doing the whispering I can only say thank you, since nobody wants to crap their pants. Okay maybe our President does. But not me! I can safely say I am not a person who wants to crap my pants. Now do you see why you keep coming back here? You come for news about a notorious film classic that's been hidden away for literal decades and instead I go on a coprophilia tangent. Keepin' y'all on ya toes, baby! Just like Ken Russell did!
For real though this is incredible fucking news. I have a DVD from the U.K. (or Germany?) of the movie, but obviously a 4K upgrade showcasing this film's tremendous beauty -- those Derek Jarman sets, my god! -- along with the fact that this is apparently trhe longest cut assembled since its release... well this is the movie news of the year, hands down. I know the version of the film I saw at MoMA ages ago before Russell died (he was there, I shared the air with Ken Russell, I am still not over that) was a longer version of the film than I'd seen before, but I'm terrible at keeping track of what cut's from what version et cetera. So how much of the "Rape of Christ" sequence has been dug up??? I'm agog y'all. AGOG. While I go on agogging below is a doc I uploaded onto YouTube thirteen years back that shows some of the "lost" footage (it's age-restricted cuz NSFW obviously):
I thought it was funny when the conversation about smoking cigarettes being "cool" again reared its head last week, as I was prepping for this annual post I've been doing for eighteen years now -- if you look it up this conversation pops up about every two years and everyone acts all outraged again. And as I say every year -- smoking is bad for you! I am glad I quit eighteen years ago today! And yet I also think that it's undeniable that it just looks cool -- it's erotic, it's cinematic, it's literally "bad for you" as I just said and I'm of the mind that we'll stop being human beings when we stop romanticizing nihilism. We're always gonna be attracted to the "bad boy" archetype, even when it's Gina Gershon in Bound. (Hell especially when it's Gina Gershon in Bound.)
Anyway I make some form of that argument every single year so's I can justify this post. Eighteen years of them now! That's wild. And no I don't miss smoking in the slightest, even if I one thousand percent understand the sould-crush that the kids are feeling so they're picking up the cancer-sticks again. I'm not judging anybody -- I get it y'all. The world's on fire -- you might as well lean in and light some drugs up off of it. With that said over the past twelve months I've gathered a ridiculous amount of pictures and gifs for y'all (over 150) so let's get to those. Hit the jumpand inhale...
I mentioned this on this morning's Connor Storrie post but then I saw the above photo and realized there's no way I'm getting away with not giving Nicholas Hoult's look at last night's Met Gala a post of its own. Because good goddamn, Nicky! The thoughts he made me think last night should not be shared in public among mixed company, let's just say that. I saw the buzzed hair first and was momentarily sad we'd lost his Slutty Blond phase but y'all -- it was worth it. See more here and here. Or hit the jumpfor a couple more...
If you follow me on Bluesky you may have seen me swooning over some of the guys at the Met Gala last night -- most especially Nicholas Hoult in his leather daddy gear. I was surprised by how black leather forward the night was for the men -- I guess Pillion had a bigger effect than we thought! Anyway one man who didn't wear black leather (but did wear black, which leather aside was very much the color of the night, making me think everybody translated "Fashion Is Art" to mean they should dress like art gallerists in 1993) was Heated Rivalry BMOC Connor Storrie, who looked very pretty (once he ditched the jacket and blammed out those guns), if a bit safe. I prefer these photos that GQ posted of him getting ready for the big night honestly,, but then... tighty-whities. I would! I am not unpredictable! Hit the jump for the all of them...
It's weird I didn't see Wagner Moura get dragged into the brown-word brouhaha that erupted when Steven Soderbergh broke our hearts, declaring he wants to make a movie about the Spanish-American War starring Moura that would use"a lot of A.I." -- if I missed somebody asking Moura about that shit please share it in the comments! Until then I am choosing to believe that Wagner didn't know anything about the A.I. part of this and has since bolted, just so's my crush on him can remain throbbing for a little longer. Thankfully for now we't throbbing just fine thanks to this new-ish photoshoot (via) ...
... and the news that Wagner will be starring opposite two of my favorite actors -- Ralph Fiennes and Colin Farrell, A mini-In-Bruges reunion! -- in Art, a film adaptation of the 1994 play by Yasmina Reza to be directed by the great Fernando Meirelles (thx Mac). The play's about three long-term friends who debate the meaning of art when one of them buys an extremely expensive all-white painting. Okay! I suppose somehow that will be made cinematic. And I bet it will be accomplished without any A.I. too. Keep that line of thinking going, Wagner! Hit the jump for all of the photos...
Reggie: Because I already know an awful lot of people, and
until one of them dies I couldn't possibly meet anyone else.
I can't tell you how often this bit of dialogue from Charade pops up inside my head -- as an avowed hermit I doubt that surprises anyone. But really I promise you that in my head the intention is closer to the line from Dawn of the Dead -- "When there's no more room in hell, the dead will walk the earth." Being in my life is hell! I am saving people from knowing me -- it's fucking exhausting knowing me. Anyway (speaking of?) today would have been Audrey Hepburn's 97th birthday. You only have three short years to make your "Centennial of Audrey" little black dress that you'll wear to join us all when we go riot and loot Tiffany's -- better get on it!
I hope some of you went to see Damian McCarthy's new horror movie Hokum over the weekend! Starring Adam Scott as a writer who finds himself trapped inside a haunted hotel -- yes yes The Shining, The Shining, although honestly it made me think of Ti West's The Innkeepers more-- it's the third movie from the Caveat and Oddity director, and his best, says me in my review of the movie right here. Which is saying something because I loved the hell out of Oddity. McCarthy has cemented his place in the "director you should be very excited about" category now anyway -- we'll await every fresh announcement from him with bated breath. Oh and not to brag (that's a lie, I am one thousand percent bragging) but I managed to score one of the limited run of Hokum dolls that Neon dropped last week -- I've got a new cherished nerd collectible y'all!
They had TWENTY of these Hokum dolls on sale on Neon's webstore this morning AND I GOT THE LAST ONEEEEEEEE
It's Monday! Who doesn't love a Monday? Why you ask anybody around the globe what their favorite morning is, it's gonna be Monday. (Set to the tune of "It's Gonna Be Me" by NSYNC of course.) Anyway we're not big on double-dipping but I only recently discovered that there was a longer version of the "Dylan O'Brien baths bare-assed in the sea-shore scene in Send Help" that was included in the extras on the blu-ray, and what, I'm gonna leave those shots un-giffed? Dylan lathering up his soapy torso...
... will be one of The indelible images of 2026, cut or uncut (editing, I mean editing!) -- make no mistake! For serious though I think this extended sequence, which adds a little extra sexual tension between him and Rachel McAdams' character (instead of staying turned away she turns back and he shows off for her), is useful -- not just because we see more of Naked Dylan, but because it complicates their relationship further and that's always good. Alas. At least we have it now. And now is the time where you hit the jump, to have it...
We have a U.S. release date for Nicolas Winding Refn's first movie in a decade y'all! Her Private Hellwill be opening on July 24th thanks to the stellar folks at Neon -- this will be after it bows at Cannes this month for those bastards who go to Cannes. (Fuck you, bastard people.) I've posted about this movie a lot previously because duh -- we fucking worship NWR. But this thing's also got one of his most gorgeous casts (which is saying a lot given his last movie that had both Alessandro Nivola and Karl Glusman in its cast) -- Sophie Thatcher, Charles Melton, Havana Rose Liu, Diego Calva, Drive My Car star Hidetoshi Nishijima, Parker Sawyers aka...
... the beautiful man who had lots of sex with Henry Golding in the movie Monsoon. Also the model Lola Corfixen and the oldest person in the cast, one Dougray Scott, who nevertheless remains very much fuckable at 60 years old. And listen -- not every movie needs to star a cast of nothing but hotties. But I do look at the ones that do -- the ones being shot by a hyper-stylist like Refn especially -- as extra special gifts. Let's hope that NWR used his decade off making the most gloriously obtuse and sexy disturbing television shows since Twin Peaks as perverted fuel for this big-screen return!
This trailer dropped a few days ago so per usual I am late late late for a very important date date date -- in this instance a date with Josh Hartnett's happy trail. But this blog would be pond scum if I didn't post that gif at some point so hopefully this is new to you! Maybe you're a person who doesn't spend their entire day online, in which case I would love to body-swap with you. No that's not a euphemism. Save me from myself, please. Anyway! The movie is called Verity and it's from director Michael Showalter and it's based on a book by Colleen "It Ends With Us" Hoover and it also stars Anne Hathaway and Dakota Johnson. It's about a ghostwriter working for a famous novelist and getting all entangled in their disturbing business or some shit, I don't know. I am sure it will be full of silly twists and sexy turns, I am just here for that shot of Josh. Although yes obviously I love Anne & Dakota too, and I am glad that there's been a mini-resurgance of eortic thriller type movies. We love 'em! Watch:
"I too quit smoking (2013) AND find this type of pictures cool. Also, PSA: if you're feeling like you want to start smoking again, just remind yourself "I do not want my body and house to stink like stale horseshit", then go drink one more glass of water to entertain your hands and lips. Congrats, btw."
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