Friday, November 06, 2026

The Animal Kingdom Fights Back This Weekend


What you have before you is a really good weekend for movies. I already mentioned Jordan Firstman's Club Kid earlier but there's also Martin McDonagh's Wild Horse Nine (which I need to rewatch as it's been several months but which I really loved upon first view -- I would be fine with John Malkovich winning an Oscar for it) and then of course there's the big kahuna himself, Godzilla Minus Zero. Here's my review. This one I am seeing a second time tomorrow, this time in IMAX, and I'm all a'flutter with renewed excitement. If you see any of these tell me what you thought in the comments! 

Oh and let me give a shout out to a small movie that is also out this weekend that I really loved but haven't had the time to write up -- Hen, the latest oddity from Hungarian filmmaker György Pálfi, is A+ terrific weirdness from the man who previously gifted us with Taxidermia. in 2006. Movies told from the perspective of animals -- like  Jerzy Skolimowski's EO and Andrea Arnold's Cow -- have been a popular little side-show over the past few years, but Hen is far and away my favorite of the bunch. It's clever and funny and not at all precious about being another heady-handed diatribe about Animal Rights in the way these movies always are. I have nothing against Animal Rights, mind you -- it's just these movies are always fucking downers when sometimes we just wanna hang out with a damn chicken. And yes this is indeed the movie that finally answers the eternal question, "Why did the chicken cross the road?" It's to kick ass and chew bubblegum -- sad for you she's all outta bubblegum and you lousy fucking humans are about to find out! Great movie. 

RIP Sebastián Lelio


Absolutely stunned and saddened to hear the news that the great Chilean director Sebastián Lelio has just passed away at the far far far too young age of 52 -- what the hell?!?! Crawl through our archives on the man to see our many reviews and excited ruminations on his work -- although the last film of his I've seen, 2022's The Wonder with Florence Pugh, left me a little cold, I was still betting on and  looking forward to decades more work from him. The run of films from Gloria to A Fantastic Woman to Disobediance to Gloria Bell in the span of just five years was absolutely incredible to witness. Do we get John Turturro's current awards run without his stellar turn in Gloria Bell, which made me totally reimagine him as an actor? I do not think we do! (I put on Gloria Bell whenever I want to feel better and it always works.) And I could go on for days about Disobediance, which is surely the film I'll be firing up this weekend in Lelio's honor -- a genuine masterpiece of empathy and queer eroticism with banger performances from all three of its leads. This is an immense loss for film, for art, as surely as it is for all the people who loved him as a human being in. this world. Terrible, terrible, terrible news. We deserved so much more of his work!

Chiwetel Ejiofor Fifteen Times


As good as I do think Inde Navarrette is in a movie I cannot stand, I still think that, if I were handing out prizes for best acting in 2026 horror movies mine would go to Chiwetel Ejiofor here for his really great and typically unshowy work in Backrooms. I completely bought his character's moral and mental collapse to the point where I was like, "Yeah of course he's eating that weird dude like he's made out of cake. Of course he is!" That's acting y'all. But he's been serving us well since... hell, since Stephen Frears' seriously underappreciated 2002 film Dirty Pretty Things. (Has that movie gotten a re-release? I need to go check -- talk about a movie that deserves a rennaissaince.) Anyway Chiwetel shows up in something, you know you're in capable hands. And judging by these new pictures from AnOther Magazine... strong hands, too. Mmm--mmm indeed yes. Hit the jump for the whole fine shoot... 

Pic of the Day


Shocked to realize I didn't mention this on here the other day when they first teased it (see down below) but now I'm glad I waited because that image above is giving me all of the goose-pimples -- all of 'em! On the social media platform I no longer mention or frequent (come follow me on Bluesky though!) Warner Brothers Clockwork, aka the sub-label that was responsible for turning the year 2026 into Ken Russell's The Devils Mania, are teasing the pre-order of a physical media release of the now-fifty-year-old masterpiece will drop on November 10th aka this upcoming Tuesday. Well I am assuming it's a pre-order, but who knows -- we just have that date and now a corner of a box-set. One imagines this will be a fancy 4K thing -- they went all out with the movie's release, I can't foresee them skimping on this aspect. (Really hoping they drop a vinyl of the film's incredible score as well but I will take whatever they give me.) No idea where it'll be available to buy yet either, but if I had to guess I would say looking at the webstore where they sold Devils merch would probably be a good starting point. I imagine between now and Tuesday I'll have more information to share, but for now -- just set all of your mental alarms!!! It's amazing how things can just... turn around all of a sudden, isn't it?

CLOCKWORK APPEARS TO BE TEASING A PHYSICAL MEDIA RELEASE FOR 'THE DEVILS' -- WHAT A DAY! (via www.instagram.com/p/DfU_zffm-fI/)

[image or embed]

— Jason Adams (@jamnpp.bsky.social) November 4, 2026 at 12:50 PM

Everything You Ever Need To Know About Life...

 ... you can learn from:

The Drama (2026)

Mike: Why do you want to talk about fucking
in front of your family? Or her family?

Okay no I did not like this movie, but I love Mamoudou Athie and it's his birthday today so we're going there. He certainly wasn't the problem with that movie. He's funny in it. Anyway I am trying to think of, to quote one of our too-oft-ignored series here at MNPP, "The Moment I Fell For" him, but it was a slow build over several years I think. I really enjoyed the movie Patti Cake$ in 2017 (how in the hell is that movie a decade old?) and that was probably where I first saw him; after that the next highlight would be the one-season-wonder Archive 81, which is brilliant and which I still resent Netflix for cancelling. But (skipping over his fun turn for Yorgos in Kinds of Kindness) it weirdly wasn't until...

...  last year's curiosity By Design, the movie where Juliette Lewis turns into a chair, that I realized -- hey Mamoudou is actually sexy as hell. He does this interpretive dance with said chair that is H-O-T. (On a sidenote Vinegar Syndrome just dropped By Design for pre-order this month -- you truly will not see another movie like that one. It's from Amanda Kramer, who also directed our beloved gay greaser fantasia Please Baby Please. Can't wait to see what she's doing next!) Anyway let's get Mamoudou cast as the proper lead in a big romantic movie next. A gay one, preferably. 


Five Frames From ?






What movie is this?

Good Morning, World


Jordan Firstman's film Club Kid is out in theaters this weekend and he's been doing a lot -- like a lot -- of press for it and, shocker of shockers, he's been really charming? He made a really nice movie that's grown in my estimation since I reviewed it at NYFF -- I haven't seen it again but I am next week when they screen it at MoMA -- so I should have just accepted then that there's a person back there behind the obnoxious facade he's developed early on in his career, but still I find myself surprised every time I read or see a new interview with him that I don't want to slap him anymore. Did y'all read the chat he did with Andrew Scott in Interview Magazine last week? I am still trying to figure out if they fucked. I guess I will spend my life wondering! (Slash imagining, natch.) Anyway I look forward to seeing Club Kid a second time and y'all should go see it as soon as you can. It's fun and sweet and lovely (with a couple of extremely hot gay bits as well -- what else could you ask for?)


Thursday, November 05, 2026

Blessings, Mike Leigh Walks Among Us


Can't remember if I mentioned it on here or not (October was a fucking whirlwind) but I got to breathe the same air as Mike Leigh at the New York Film Festival's Opening Night party and it's shit like that that keeps me going -- similarly Mike Leigh's movies are the sort of shit that keeps me going, and it's kinda excrutiating knowing that we might have seen his very last movie now! Well me, that is -- probably not "we" because I saw Tender Loving Care at NYFF and unless you've also seen it at a film festival you'll have to wait until it hits theaters on December 11th. (And that's just 'select theaters" -- you know how it goes.) Anyway I happened to be standing in the hall as Leigh walked by towards the exit at the end of the night and I couldn't help myself, I just blurted out "Thank you!" at him -- thankfully I didn't scare him. He's old! Imagine... no I won't even make that joke. It's Mike Leigh we're talking about here. Anyway the trailer for TLC dropped today and y'all should clear your schedules to see this lovely, funny, artful and humane movie as soon as you can. It's a gorgeous note for Leigh to end his career on, if this is indeed the end. 

Five Frames From ?






What movie is this?

Good Morning, World


Happy THursday from Sam Nivola!
Anybody watching his show Phony? 
I haven't seen it yet or heard a single word 
about it so feel free to enlighten me. 

Wednesday, November 04, 2026

Everything You Ever Need To Know About Life...

 ... you can learn from:

Queer (2024)

Eugene: I'm not queer. Lee... I'm not queer. 
William: I know. 
Eugene: I'm disembodied.
Happy 33, Drew Starkey!

Five Frames From ?






What movie is this?

Leo Neugebauer Ten Times


I would like to file a police report because I feel fully assaulted by GQ's "Man of the Year" drops this morning. I literally just got done posting the Andrew Garfield American Psycho experience when suddenly they tossed this photoshoot of German track and field star Leo Neugebauer on my head -- no really Leo come jump on my head please. Good god... 

... this is what we call "a man." I had never heard of him before but this shoot's got me howling at the moon -- I'm going full Tex Avery over here. Really -- I would put every single one of these photos above the fold of this post if I could, each one is hotter than the one before it, but since that's impractical I must implore you to hit the jump and take it in, baby take it all in...

Good Morning, World


It takes a special magazine cover for me to set aside my OCD regarding type and put one at the top of one of these posts but obviously this new GQ cover featuring Andrew Garfield serving American Psycho qualifies -- of course if and when the photo appears without text you'd best believe I'll be switching 'em out. Anyway! I don't know if Andy thinks he could star in Luca Guadagnino's proposed American Psycho remake and this is some kind of Sean Young like appeal for the gig, but it's not like he doesn't have the Luca connection -- this whole interview is on the basis of Luca's new movie Artificial, in which Andrew gives a tremendously good performance as the real life American psycho Sam Altman. (Here is my review of Artificial if you missed it!) Personally I think Garfield is too old -- part of the point of that story is that all of its awful finance dudes are in their 20s. But he looks good being a slutty businessman in these photos so we'll allow it for this. Hit the jump for all the pictures...

Tuesday, November 03, 2026

Have You Voted?


Get out there and vote! And if you have already, make like
Jon Ossoff & Tony Goldwyn and give yourself a hard firm hug.


Jack Lowden Six Times


This would have been posted yesterday but just as I was about to get to it those insane Morgan Spector photos dropped and well that was all she wrote for that Monday, sorry Jack -- the maybe-Mister-Bond-to-be (although all the good money seems to be on Callum Turner now) is on the cover of the new GQ Hype and he's bringing a piping hot ginger-bearded bookishness that's an arrow straight through my heart places. This look is so my fetish -- all of it! Every inch. Shelves included, of course. Anyway I'm of two minds on the Bond thing -- he's a better actor than that dumb franchise deserves (so was Daniel Craig) but I had this dream of seeing him fighting his lady Saoirse as the villain. Maybe they can just do a new Mr. and Mrs. Smith instead. Well for now we'll just make due luxuriating in this stylish Jacky-boy scholar-porn after the jump... 

Five Frames From ?






What movie is this?

Everything You Ever Need To Know About Life...

 ... you can learn from:

Carrie (1976)

Freddy: Here, piggy! I'm gonna bash your little heads in
and you don't have to worry about the bomb no more!

I've done a million of these posts highlighting dialogue from Brian De Palma's masterpiece Carrie (turning 50 this very day!) before, since it's got one of the greatest and most memorable scripts that's ever graced the genre. But somehow I always overlook this line -- it's not as showy as Piper Laurie's... well anything that comes out of Piper Laurie's lips. But I think it's an important throwaway line in the film that most people miss -- the film doesn't strain towards making political or cultural statements beyond the fascism that is high school -- this isn't De Palma's Blow Out, which is explicitly political just a couple of years later -- but I think the deep nihilism of the late 1970s is in here, infecting these kids to their cores, and this is just a little whiff of that. Anyway this is a perfect and precise movie, a perfect and presicse adaptation, and the quicker we brush Mike Flanagan's abortion of a television show out of our heads and get back to appreciating the GOAT the better. Carrie forever!


Good Morning, World


I am sure most of you saw some of these photos of soccer stud Jude Bellingham yesterday when Calvin Klein kicked down our doors, grabbed us by the throats, and threatened us all with a very good time -- but have you seen ALL of these photos? Because I spent all yesterday gathering up a few dozen of them, I did, because what better way is there to spend one's day? I have yet to find one. Also...

If this is how they're advertising the World Cup I'm down (His name is Jude Bellingham)

— Jason Takes Man-Adams (@jamnpp.bsky.social) June 13, 2026 at 8:05 PM

... I would just like to stake my claim as an early Bellingham supporter. I mean I am sure "British People" or "Soccer Fans" knew who he was before I did -- I just mean amongst us sluts who only pay attention to sports when it gets gay and sexy. My people! Anyway what should be plain to all of us at this point is Jude Bellingham is one of the most attractive people on the planet, so let's get to worshipping after the jump...

Monday, November 02, 2026

Who Wore it Best?


I am sure there is some inside joke of a reason why Warfare co-stars Kit Connor and Michael Gandolfini just unveiled matching Marlboro tattoos on social media -- I'm not here to decide if this means they're smoking each other's pipes or not' I am just here to ask the second-most important question: