Panther Men & Spider Boys

Congratulations to actor David Jonsson on his big Black Panther gig -- I didn't love him in Alien: Romulus like most people seemed to but I thought he was fantastic on Industry... but then, I mean, who isn't fantastic on Industry? Even sexy sad-boi-emoji Kit Harington is turning in Emmy-worthy work on Industry. Oh god why did I just remind myself that Industry's last season didn't get a single Emmy nomination?? Now I'm furious again. Robbed! Cheated! Lied! Cretins! Ahem. Anyway. Jonsson was great on that show -- and I can't be the only one hoping they get him back for at least one episode of the upcoming fifth and final season, right? That character just totally fucking vanished. Anyway he was great as well in the movie The Long Walk, even if that movie was kinda meh to me overall. But beyond that I also just think that he's excellent casting to play Chadwick Boseman's son -- I can one hundred percent see it. And, in petty asides, anything that brushes that anti-vax lunatic Letitia Wright to the side is fine by me. I will admit seeing the new Spider-Man last night -- I saw  the new Spider-Man last night! -- was a bit like unexpectedly having resuscitation paddles pressed to my interest in superheroes. I don't know if I'll get around to writing a full review but it at least didn't shake me of my belief that the Tom Holland Spider-Man movies are the most reliable and sturdy of all the superhero franchises we've got. And the nudges toward where the MCU's headed (where we all know it's headed) were genuinely exciting. So despite my very real and very aged superhero fatigue, I'm invested in the characters (and the castings) that are straight ahead and barreling towards us, and this movie goosed all that. Good on it. Good on Destin Daniel "Short Term 12" Cretton dammit! Aaaanyway I suppose here is where I should note I will be off-line all day tomorrow. So we'll talk again on Thursday. You and me! See you next Thursday! Well okay not "next." This. This Thursday. But that ruins the joke dammit. C-U-T-T is nothing!

Quote of the Day

"... Nowadays, the idea of what censorship means is kind of irrelevant. We used to be shielded from this or from that or couldn’t get access. I’m older than you, but still you remember the time when there were restrictions that don’t exist anymore. Everything is accessible. The speed of light makes things move faster because of technology. The evolution moves faster. Information is moving faster. Access is moving faster. Violence is all around us. Accessibility to Instagram wars is a click, swipe, and scroll away. What are the two things that you can now provoke the mind with because these are no longer provocative? 

It’s silence—because we’re so bombarded with noise—and stillness. So now, the most primal, healthy mind, non-medical inventions are now the enemy? It’s amazing because I can take these tools and I can now do something that I think is essential: make art silent and make it still. Then, you piss people off. "

All I still really want to think and talk about this week is Nicolas Winding Refn's film Her Private Hell -- thankfully I'm still getting chances to do just that even though it flopped! I mean even in this interview I'm quoting from above NWR mentions box office isn't something he worries about, so if he's not I won't. I just need him to continue getting opportunities to fly that beautiful freak flag of his because I need it like oxygen. You can read my review of this movie here. Thinking and talking about this movie is keeping me from having to waste any more time getting annoyed at The Odyssey over-hype.. okay I am still managing to get annoyed about that. But less!

Josh Hartnett's Big Monster Below

Between the just-dropped trailer for Josh Hartnett's new Netflix series Below and my review of the Fantasia horror movie No Rest For the Wicked (also set in an Atlantic adjacent fishing village) I feel like I'm using the phrase "Sweater Porn" a lot this week -- but then I think about how horrifically hot this summer has been and how disgustingly muggy it's been this week specifically and thoughts of the sweet freeing embrace of Autumn are bound to be drowning my subconscious right now. Sweater Porn is just leaking out of me!! Pouring more like -- I mean look at Josh there! Big Burly Dad Josh -- you love to see it. Anyway this show is about some sort of aquatic nightmare creature attacking a Newfoundland town and all of those words, along with the Hartnett of it, are ones that hit my happy triggers. You even see Stranger Things star Charlie Heaton's bum in the trailer -- I mean he does nothing for me but I figure that will be a plus for one of you perverts. I just hope that Widow's Bay hasn't knocked the wind out of this show's sails, since we only want good stuff for Josh. Anyway we'll see when Below lands on Netflix on October 8th; here's that trailer:

Five Frames From ?

What movie is this?

Good Morning, World

Well, it's the morning. Is that actually good though? Look at me, serving up some existential today. What is it that Thelma Ritter says in Rear Window? Spread some common sense on the bread? Yeah, that. Anyway look at François Arnaud, being all slutty for us. This is the sort of thing one needs to stare at while contemplating the meaning of life. Why don't so-called "teachers" get that? Cut their pay again! Instead of buying pencils out of their own paychecks for their students what teachers oughta be doing is buying celebrity fashion magazines and pasting the slutty photoshoots on the walls of their classrooms. Damn commies! Well this certainly took a turn.

Charles Melton Fifteen Times

I guess I must be more zonked out today than I thought I was -- and I been thinking I'm pretty zonked out, even for a Monday -- because it took until 5pm for me to remember I hadn't posted Charles Melton's latest sexy-ass photoshoot! This, the freshest in a long delicious string as he's been promoting both Beef and Her Private Hell, is for Bustle magazine (read his chat here) and it dropped all the way back on Friday, but my three-day-weekend bullshit kept me from posting them. Until. Now. That makes two of today's five posts All About Melton. (See the earlier one here.) Clearly once again I've gone deranged, but who can blame me? More importantly -- who will join me? Hit the jump for the rest... 

It's Hot Jeremy Allen White

Jeremy Allen White it's hot.

Smile My Fangbangers

I never really got into Anne Rice that much -- when the original Interview With the Vampire movie came out in 1994 Teen-Me gave those books a little spin and I remember thinking the gay stuff was hot (which was why I went to read the book in the first place, hearing how skittish Jordan's movie was towards that stuff that actually existed on the page) but other than that it just never became my cuppa. But as stated previously on this here website I'm a big fan of the ongoing T.V. series adaptation starring Jacob Anderson (P.S. more of this photoshoot over here) as our sweet lil' Louis alongside an incomparable Sam Reid devouring the screen and our immortal souls as Lestat. 

All of that is to say that some very happy-making news broke this weekend -- the show is getting a fourth season! Huzzah! It will be re-titled once again -- now it will be called Queen of the Damned, meaning one assumes it'll be an adaption of that book, and that only makes sense since we met that character (played by the great Sheila Atim of Dust Bunny fame) this past round of episodes. (And now I am lol'ing remembering that one of you got very angry at me the last time I posted about how the show changing its title to The Vampire Lestat irritated me and how I'd continue calling it Interview With the Vampire anyway -- lol and no further comment.) I vaguely remember seeing the film of Queen of the Damned with the great Aaliyah (RIP queen) when it came out -- weirdly I was just talking about its long disappeared leading man Stuart Townsend last week when my boyfriend asked if Charlize Theron is gay and I pointed to her forgotten marriage to him as proof of... well, she married a dude once. I guess that's all that proved. Right, Louis? He gets it.

Pics of the Day

A brand new genre of photo that I can tell you right now, right here, I will never grow tired of for as long as I live is "Charles Melton on the set of Her Private Hell" -- unfortunately, given the film's microscopic box office take this past weekend, I think I better snatch up and document all the ones I can while they're here, as I doubt we'll be getting many more in the months ahead. I mean I will be talking about this movie... well forever, since I fucking love it (here is my review!). But also at the very least through the end of the year because as 2026 now stands it's my favorite movie so far. And even if a pile of masterpieces drop between now and December this movie will be on my end-of-year list, you can bet your bottom Charles Melton. Anyway at the tail-end of last week several such examples of this, my new favorite genre of photo, appeared, so I dutifully collected them and will now share them after the jump...

Five Frames From ?

What movie is this?

Good Morning, World

Okay okay yes I did indeed devote Thursday's Good Morning" post to Garrett Wareing, and here we are again -- it's just I was going through the photos I'd screenshotted off of Instagram to save whilst I was away all week and found this one of Garrett and his Ransom Canyon co-star Casey Johnson having some Together Time on the show's set and... yeah. That's a definite post. Good morning! Happy Monday. Anybody watch this show over the weekend?

LOL at this shot being the literal opening credits of an episode -- the folks making Ransom Canyon are ON THE CASE!!

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— Jason Adams (@jamnpp.bsky.social) July 23, 2026 at 2:50 PM

Only Hell Forgives

I don't care if this is two posts very nearly in a row on the same day -- since this is it for this staggeringly busy one day week of blogging (I am, I will remind you, currently on my "three-day-weekends through the summer" bullshit) I want to have Chuck Melton top hot and center to remind y'all that you should go see Nicolas Winding Refn's Her Private Hell this weekend. (You can find out where it is playing near you at this link.) I pointed you to my review earlier today but if you missed it then click on here and gape in awe at my pretentious fanboy enthusiasm. I don't care -- whatever, every critic has their faves and I'm no different. And it's not like I've immediately loved everything NWR's done -- I didn't love Only God Forgives when it came out, which is why I'm one hundred percent going to re-watch it this weekend as I'm 100% now convinced that my opinion will have shifted favorably since then. No I haven't seen it since it came out (which is wild) but HPH definitely feels like a companion to it  and I have a feeling I'm more into Refn's Whole Thing now than I was in  2013. I wasn't ready! Anyway I tell you that because if Only God Forgives wasn't your thing you should be warned that Her Private Hell is very very much of that vibe. But perhaps like me your tastes have shifted in the 13 years since? Hopefully we've all grown into the weird sicko freaks we were always meant to be. And with that -- have a great weekend, you weird sicko freaks!

Bad Boys Bad Boys

I was not at all surprised to learn upon my first googling of actor Egor Venned, the leading man in the brand new queer folk-horror film No Rest For the Wicked, that he's also a model -- half of the movie just hangs on the cut of his cheekbones. The camera is completely in love with him. So it's not so surprising when the character played by Game of Thrones actor Pilou Asbæk (himself a dish) rolls into town that he's immediately drawn beauty-ward... anyway I saw this movie at Fantasia and it's the second review that dropped while I was out of town, so click on over to Pajiba to read my thoughts. I also shared the film's first trailer there (it's down at the bottom of the review) so you can see in motion how ridiculously pretty Venned is. Which isn't the only reason to see the movie -- it's a beautiful and haunting little thing -- but the palpable heat between Venned & Asbæk (seen below being his gorgeous self) is in itself on its own worth the price of admission. (Also the sweaters. The sweaters! Oh my god I love a sweater movie.)

Drag Me To Hell, Charles Melton

So while I was up in Montreal for Fantasia Festival for the past week I had two reviews drop from same said fest, and the first of those is the reason for this post here you are currently reading -- Nicolas Winding Refn's hugely-awaited-by-me (and maybe some of you) latest Her Private Hell was the Opening Night film at Fantasia, and so I dropped my extremely ecstatic review right here at Pajiba. I've seen the movie a couple of times now and it's my favorite movie of 2026 so far -- I fully admit it's not for everybody, but man alive is it for me. Oh and while I was in Montreal...

So not only did I manage to score a HER PRIVATE HELL poster but I got NWR to fucking sign the thing!!! IN GOLD. I am a golden god.

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— Jason Adams (@jamnpp.bsky.social) July 18, 2026 at 12:53 AM

... I got to meet Nicolas Winding Refn briefly and have him sign my poster from the movie, so that was neat. To use a word that doesn't come anywhere near close enough to encapsulating that experience. Anyway Her Private Hell is out in theaters this week, tomorrow (probably some theaters tonight even) so you can all decide for yourselves soon enough whether you're a cool cat like me or total dingleberries with bad taste -- whatever. I don't judge. That said there's an interview in GQ today with the film's star Charles Melton and they shared some fresh set-photos of him and his greasy exquisite torso modeling his character's leather chainmail jacket, and how am I not gonna share those? Hit the jump for them all...

Five Frames From ?

What movie is this?

Good Morning, World

Actor Garrett Wareing would like us to know that his seres Ransom Canyon has just dropped its second season on Netflix -- how do I know this? Because he just posted these pictures and said so. Speaking our language, basically. I also have something to share but I'm not getting out out my clothes to do so (sorry!) -- I'm back! My week in Montreal at Fantasia Fest has come to its inevitable conclusion and I'm now sitting at my desk in big stinky sweaty New York City posting pictures of a shirtless Garrett Wareing again -- all is as it should be. Anyway more on Fantasia in a bit -- for now let me eat my breakfast! Y'all can eat (more Garrett) after the jump...

French Me, Fantasia

Well alrighty then -- the famous Québécois seen above must mean it's time for me to be on my way Montreal-bound again for another year's incredible-looking Fantasia Film Fest! (And whaddya know -- there's even a movie starring François Arnaud sceening this year too!) I leave tomorrow morning and I'm there until next Wednesday, watching heaps of great genre fare per usual -- keep your eyes on my socials and over at Pajiba too and maybe probably you'll see me popping up in those places! Or just stare long, hard, and deep at that photo of François -- I get it. I'd be remiss if I didn't mention one more time, since I am a glutton for attention, that right now right here as I write this it's my birthday and if you'd like to donate to the site's continued emotional / financial maintence (inextricably bound, they are) there are places to do that -- there's also as mentioned earlier this week a ton of shit I tossed onto eBay recently, which is another good way to pay it forward. Although maybe not so great for the next week since I'll be in Canada and unable to ship anything out until I get back from there. Otherwise -- y'all have a great week! And no I am probably not reviewing The Odyssey even though I told y'all I have indeed seen it, although I did plop down a few off-the-cuff thoughts in a brief thread at Bluesky as linked below. That's not nothing! Okay -- bye til I'm back! Hopefully it's not an infernal Odyssey of my own...

 

This happens with every damn Nolan (Oppenheimer excepted) - I never plan on being the turd in the punchbowl but I get so viscerally annoyed by the OTT praise (Nolan doesn't know how to make an ugly image? WTF u smoking NYT) I feel compelled. The Odyssey's... fine? See it for Samantha Morton I guess!

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— Jason Adams (@jamnpp.bsky.social) July 15, 2026 at 4:41 PM

Forever & Alwyn

I suppose we're overdue some news on what Brady 'The Brutalist" Corbet is up to next so voila, here it is -- his next film ios set to be called The Origin of the World, it will start filming this September, and it will star Michael Fassbender, Cate Blanchett, Selena Gomez, and that handsome fella above Joe Alwyn (via, thx Mac). Alwyn was in The Brutalist of course, while  Fassbender & Blnachett starred together in Steven Soderbergh's fantastic Black Bag a couple of years ago. And then there's... Selena Gomez. Anyway the plot's not been announced yet but here's a little bit of a quote from Corbet on the thing which, well, it all sounds very him:

"In a previous interview with The Hollywood Reporter Corbet revealed that the film “spans from the 19th century into the present day — it’s just predominantly focused on the ’70s. The film is really, really genre-defying.”"

Dance It's Criterion Day

Tis that semi-annual moment where my birthday and Criterion Announcement Day overlap -- I personally feel as if this means that Criterion should send me copies of every single upcoming release I'm about to tell you about, but sadly the world doesn't work that way. Mean world. Just think -- if it did work that way that'd mean I'd be getting a copy of that complete Stanley Kubrick boxed-set that I told you about last month since that's an October release alongside the rest of these! Holy moly would that rock. That set is obviously the month's show-stopper -- the thing every cineaste will be gifted or gifting themselves for this year's holidays -- but the rest of the October line-up ain't too shabby. For two Guillermo Del Toro's Frankenstein is escaping its Netflix confines and getting a gorgeous 4K set as pictured...

... right there. Love that art! Jacob Elordi's Oscar-nominated performance is definitely the movie's highlight but I'm excited to have the entire gorgeous package off that streamer and in my greedy little hands -- the rich scenery and costumes and gore (and Jacob Elordi's little bandage underpants) is all gonna look so gorg in 4K! And since we're talking about October aka Spooky Season that's not the only horror on board the month -- no less than some lil' masterpiece called The Silence of the Lambs is hitting 4K finally! Perhaps you've heard of it? Also there's Jerzy Skolimowski's 1978 psychological thriller The Shout starring John Hurt, Susannah York, and Alan Bates (mmmm Alan Bates)...

... coming at us, a film I've seen a couple of times and liked not loved. I don't know -- I always expect more from it than it's willing to give me so I always forget what happens in it like a week later. Like reading through the plot now I am like, "Oh yeah that happened," but I find that movie weirdly unmemorable. Perhaps you disagree? Alan Bates is always worth staring at either way.

The title I'm most curious about in the October line-up though is Ngozi Onwurah’s "radically ahead-of-its-time dystopian sci-fi film" Welcome II the Terrordome from 1995 -- I have heard of this movie but very little about it and I have definitely never seen it before. But it sounds and looks really striking! Bless Criterion for rescuing something like this and putting it in front of people, then. Have any of you seen that one before?

Speaking more of movies I haven't seen -- there's Ulli Edel's 1981 drug-addict flick  Christiane F. which... I've admitted this before on here but I really don't like watching addiction movies anymore. They're always so miserable and unplesant and wallow-y, you know? I have had my fill of addiction dramas. No more watching needles go into veins in close-up, no more puke dribbling on chins and people groveling for pennies to get their fix -- I just don't need it anymore! Let the youth learn their lessons; I got it. That said the fact that one David Bowie did this movie's soundtrack is whispering my name all the same... maybe I can just go listen to the soundtrack on Apple Music and be fine that way. We'll see. Anyway the final October release is one of Criterion's always-fantastic Eclipse box-sets -- this one is "The First Films of Samuel Fuller" which includes I Shot Jesse James, The Baron of Arizona, and The Steel Helmet, aka two Westerns and one War movie. And even though, like drug movies I generally can do without Westerns, I've actually seen The Baron of Arizona before! It's because it's a Vincent Price movie though, and I try to see all of those. He's Vinnie fuckin' Price after all!

Wet Hot American Horror

Most excellent news today as my beloved Film at Lincoln Center here in NYC has announced my beloved annual "Scary Movies" series line-up -- the series actually disappeared for a couple years but it's back with a vengeance now! This year it will run from August 12th through 20th and screen sixteen movies including brand new premieres and beautiful new restorations of classics. For example -- a new 4K print of Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer (with director John McNaughton in person) ffs!!! And they're also screening a new 35mm print of Daniel Goldhaber's fantastic 2018 film Cam, a movie I fucking love that's been buried on streaming for far far too long and not gotten the proper recognition it deserves. As far as the new films: two of them, the J-Horror haunted house flick Never After Dark and the kiddie-show-gone-berserkers Buddy, those I'm hopefully seeing at Fantasia Fest (which reminder I leave for tomorrow and will be basically offline as far as the site's concerned for a week). But other than that all of these titles are new to me and I cannot wait to dive in. Fresh horror for August is always such a treat. Hit the jump for the full line-up reveal and press release etc...