Plug Her In, Plug Her In

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.

Feral Island Nuns & Their Hot Priest Prisoner

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As alluded to in this morning's "Gratuitous Sam Reid" post there is a brand new series out for y'all to binge this week, and binge it you shall -- binge it you must!!! I binged it last week and it is a real binger. It's an Aussie series from 2019 called Lambs of God and aside from Mr. Reid the real spectacle is its three leading women, all of whom we're great big fans -- there's Essie Davis, who we fell for thanks to The Babadook, there's Ann Dowd, who we fell for because we have watched things in the past ten years of which she has starred in all of them, and there's the still terribly underrated Jessica Barden.

As for Barden we've loved her ever since the movie Hanna, where she stole her every scene as the normal girl that the weirdo girl Hanna befriends after she escapes from her assassin lab. Since then Barden's proven her greatness in movies like The Lobster (she's the girl with the bloody noses) and on the TV series Penny Dreadful and The End of the F***ing World; really any time Jessica Barden shows up you know you're in for a treat and here, once again, she proves that truth.

Lambs of God has that tremendous trio of actresses playing, wait for it, three semi-feral nuns (!!!) living in total isolation inside of a crumbling monastery on a remote and inhospitable island -- they're all a little mad in the way of cinematic nuns, with their ecstatic visions and whatnot. Then one day whammo out of the weeds appears a ridiculously handsome priest (played by the aforementioned Sam Reid, ridiculously handsome) and, well wouldn't you know it shit goes down. Some real shit!

The series won several AACTA awards (that's basically the Aussie version of the Oscars) when it aired there last year and now y'all can see it here in the US, thanks to the new streaming service called Topic, which seems to specialize in international television shows that you can't see anywhere else -- check out their website right here. The series premieres on Topic this very day and I very very much recommend it -- it's gothic and outrageous and well-acted, kind of like The Devils meets Dark Shadows. I had an absolute blast with it. I mean look at these three actresses and tell me you don't want to watch this right this second and I'll call you full nutso:

Good Morning, Sam Reid

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I have been waiting for the actor Sam Reid to get a good role ever since he starred opposite the great Gugu Mbatha-Raw in Belle in 2013 -- he's one of those ones that are SO handsome (see our previous posts for proof) that it's got to be hard to know what to do with him. (I doubt any of us feel too bad for Sam Reid.) Anyway he's got a terrific role in the TV miniseries Lambs of God, which screened on Aussie TV last year and which is making its US streaming debut today -- but I'll have more to say on that in a minute. For now, it's early, let's just luxuriate in the Gratuitous Sam Reid aspect of the series after the jump...

Good Morning, World

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Happy Monday, but more importantly -- have you guys seen Sam Claflin's abs lately? (pics via; thx Dennis) If he'd had these abs when he shot the Hunger Games movies I might not have been as totally annoyed that he got cast as Finnick. Actually that's not true I take that back, he's never going to be right for Finnick. God he was miscast in that role. That said I didn't come here to be mean to Mr. Claflin, I think he's been really very terrific in the last few movies I have seen him in -- Their Finest, My Cousin Rachel, and most especially his evil turn in The Nightingale. So abs away, Mr. Claflin.

Pantys '19: Fave Films, Part One

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By my count I saw 253 new movies in 2019, which works out to about 7/10ths of a new movie every single day for you Rain Men out there. I don't know if that's high or low because I don't usually keep track of how many movies I watch in a year, I just happen to have that number in front of me. But it seems like a high number! And keep in mind this is not counting all of the pre-2019 movies I also watched, which surely brings that number into the billions. 

Point being I watch movies instead of going outside. Have you been outside lately? I do not recommend it. I mean yes, inside also sucks now, since the internet brings the outside inside with us. But shutting out the horrible wailing sounds of the outside world with a big beautiful glorious brand new baby of a film? Now that's the sweet stuff. That I recommend. But maybe you don't have time for 253 new movies like I did? Well hey what a coincidence, that's just exactly what I'm here for. I'm gonna narrow that gigantic number down to the absolute and finest of the very best ones, according to me. Starting... now.

My Favorite Movies of 2019: 25 - 11

25. Parasite

(dir. Bong Joon-ho)

-- read my review here -- 

Indelible Moment: Peach Fuzz

24. The Mustang

(dir. Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre)

-- read my review here -- 

Indelible Moment: Prisoners run free

23. Transit

(dir. Christian Petzold)

Indelible Moment: A ship departs

22. Us

(dir. Jordan Peele)

-- read my review here -- 

Indelible Moment: The house next door

21. The Irishman

(dir. Martin Scorsese)

-- read my review here -- 

Indelible Moment: Hug in the backseat

20. Piercing

(dir. Nicolas Pesce)

-- read my review here -- 

Indelible Moment: Blood games

19. To Dust

(dir. Shawn Snyder)

-- read my review here -- 

Indelible Moment: Bodies in the ground

18. Atlantics

(dir. Mati Diop)

Indelible Moment: Ghosts at the disco

17. This Is Not Berlin

(dir. Hair Sama)

-- read my review here -- 

Indelible Moment: Art Performance Art

16. The Nightingale

(dir. Jennifer Kent)

-- read my review here -- 

Indelible Moment: First Kill

15. Invisible Life

(dir. Karim Aïnouz)

Indelible Moment: So close at the restaurant

14. Peterloo

(dir. Mike Leigh)

Indelible Moment: The horses approach

13. Waves

(dir. Trey Edward Shults)

-- read my review here -- 

Indelible Moment: Father Daughter Talk

12. High Life

(dir. Claire Denis)

-- read my review here -- 

Indelible Moment: The Fuck Box

11. Pain and Glory

(dir. Pedro Almodovar)

-- read my review here -- 

Indelible Moment: A little boy faints

Oh wait I also felt pretty “seen” when Little Gay Pedro passes the f out upon seeing the hot guy naked pic.twitter.com/Kl9VEOaRfj

— Jason Adams (@JAMNPP) January 5, 2020

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Coming up later this week: My Top 10 Films,

plus all the rest of our 2019 Pantys. Stay tuned...

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Monsters Wanna Costume Too

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As I mentioned earlier there wasn't a lot that stuck in my craw during last night's Oscars, since they got a lot right -- or you know, right with the limited options they had presented themselves with, nomination-wise, anyway. But there was one big thing I found myself annoyed about, and that was the way they used costumes from both Midsommar and Us as dancing props for the opening musical number even though neither of those movies got nominated. If you follow me on Twitter you saw this happen in real time:

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The Midsommar dresses just make me sad :(

— Jason Adams (@JAMNPP) February 10, 2020

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Wow -- riveting Twitter feed, Jason. Anyway I turned that tweet into action and today over at The Film Experience I wrote a little bit about the Oscars' truly lackluster history with the genre's endlessly iconic costuming. When I really started thinking about all of the egregious oversights over the years it really piled up! Even just this past year there are two hands worth of examples!

I know it's just one of many, many examples of the Academy hardly ever allowing themselves outside of the box, but it seems like all we ever talk about with regards to that are the bigger categories when, if you dive into the smaller crafts that make up our shared movie history, you see it's just as infuriating. As much as I loved Greta Gerwig's Little Women -- and I deeply deeply did -- who's going to remember anything Florence Pugh wore in that movie more than they'll remember her day-mare floral May Queen extravaganza?

The Kelly Gang's Coming Soon

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I have no idea when Snowtown and Macbeth director Justin Kurzel's newest film, called True History of the Kelly Gang and which got some very fine attention at the Toronto Film Festival in September -- including tell of a Nicky Hoult nude scene worth the price of admission -- will be getting a release here in the U.S., but I'm guessing it'll be some ways into 2020. But the film, which also stars Babadook legend Essie Davis and Russell Crowe and 1917 star George Mackay (hey he just sat five inches away from me a couple of days ago) and Charlie Hunnam...

... excuse me, and Naked Charlie Hunnam...

... the film is getting released in its home country on the Australian streaming service called Stan (which is sort of their Netflix, although they have Netflix too) on January 26th. And so they've gone and released a vertiginous-shaped trailer, which thanks to the wonders of the internet I've now got to share with you. It looks absolutely bonkers. Watch:

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Obviously this is one I'll be covering every single little sniff of information about, so keep coming back to MNPP if you want such a thing! Assassin's Creed aside I think Kurzel is absolutely one of the most interesting directors working today and I can't wait to see what he does with the story of the Kelly Gang -- one of, if not The, Great Aussie Myths, which has already been filmed a ton of times at this point -- and with this insanely talented cast.

And also with Nicholas Hoult wearing nothing but sock garters. Did I mention Nicholas Hoult wearing nothing but sock garters? Nicholas Hoult wearing nothing but sock garters. There's no glimpse of that bit just yet but obviously they're gonna save the big money-shot for when it counts...

Bloody Bloody Alice Mitchell

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At what point do we start talking about the fact that Sam Claflin's hateful yet extraordinary performance in Jennifer Kent's The Nightingale (reviewed here) should be in awards conversations but won't be? Now's a good time right? I mean everyone in the film, including its leads Aisling Franciosi and newcomer Baykali Ganambarr, should be drowning in buzz -- these are three of the best performances I've seen in anything so far this year -- but I think this one's just gonna be me sitting here getting hoarse by my lonesome, innit?

Anyway I bring this up right now because, holy of holies, we have news on Kent's next movie! She wants to adapt the lesbian murder novel Alice + Freda Forever, which tells the true life tale of two girls who went bad for each other in 1890s Tennessee, igniting a firestorm of shocked and lurid press attention at the time. You can read up on Alice Mitchell here on Wiki. Lord knows I keep thinking of Heavenly Creatures reading up about it, but that's because we don't have a lot of these stories to turn to! Have any of you read the book? Got ideas on casting? Maybe that old-timey sketch to the right will help? Even though she looks middle-aged there the actress probably shouldn't be older than her 20s. Oh hell, just cast Aisling Franciosi again!

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Quote of the Day

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“One way to look at the world is, ‘If I turn away from all the suffering, it doesn’t exist. The other way is to look at it boldly in the face, and let it into your head, and see how it feels, and be motivated to be a more loving, compassionate person.”

That is Babadook director Jennifer Kent in an interview with The New York Times about her new film The Nightingale, specifically about the sexual violence her film depicts, and which's gotten a lot of people very riled up. When I saw Kent speak at a Q&A alongside the film last week she basically said getting riled up by what she's depicting is a good thing -- clearly we should be riled up. If you missed my review of The Nightingale you can read it right here -- this is one of the year's most important movies and I really recommend it, if you think you can handle it. Anyway here's a wee bit of video that I took at that Q&A:

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What Music They Make

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How precious is song? That thread that binds any person, even the poorest and smallest, to the infinite? In the dungeons of time, in the deepest of muck, to sing is to bring a beauty anywhere. What is a song but a scream turned beautiful? It's an act of faith -- not necessarily of the spiritual sort; it's faith in our individual presence. I am here, I matter. I have something to give to the world. Kindness, uplift, or even a profound sad wail to turn our profound sadness manifest. It's our inner self expressed, impressed onto the sky itself.

Jennifer Kent's The Nightingale begins and ends with song, bridged by screams and terrible mean whispers. Song knots its many characters together -- a song sung from mother to child, a song song to drunken men in a forced foreign tongue, a drunken song spat into the night, and the music made from birds across an infinite mud-spattered no place. Mournful songs and dances; songs smack like the back of a fist and the tip of a sweet finger. Everyone sings, and the world listens or it more likely doesn't listen, but the singer at the least will never be the same, turned, as it is, inside out.

Clare (an astonishing Aisling Franciosi) is called "Nightingale" by her boss, although "boss" is too kind a word for it -- he is the man (Sam Claflin) who bought her, out of kindness he says and he makes her say, but we see none of that. She's his plaything, his music box and slave, and she's coming to the end of her usefulness just as Kent's film begins -- more trouble than she's worth. Her newly acquired husband and baby are stealing her music; complicating its sweetness. An edge in everyone's voice sets hold.

Horrors like car horns, brained on walls -- screams stopped mid-scream are so much worse than the continued sound. Who can find anything to sing about in a world of nightmares? Of waltzes waltzed with unspeakable things, shirt fronts soaked through with what's left of their ruined faces? Spun off into purgatory and madness, a landscape of hanging moss, trees stuffed with corpses, flat stone that stretches gray to the gray sky -- songs seem out of the question. And yet songs come; they come like clockwork, defiant to men's endless atrocity.

The Nightingale is bleak and hard and it's as hopeful as they come -- true hope, the sort of sinking through the earth itself and feeling something still of yourself tickling sharp at your toes. We hurt, we hurt bad, men make pain and pain makes men. And somebody somewhere, maybe somebody makes a movie or makes a song, one high and pitched right that cuts through the violence, hard fought and barely, but barely, hanging on. Honest and true, this one. A scream turned beautiful.

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What Damage a Sam Can Do

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I'm checking off two of my most anticipated films for what's left of 2019 from my checklist this week -- tonight I'm seeing Jennifer Kent's Babadook follow-up The Nightingale starring The Fall's Aisling Franciosi as well as this Sam Claflin chap seen here (watch the trailer at this link), and on Thursday it's Quentin Tarantino's Once Upon a Time in Hollywood of course, which I'm currently in the fun process of dodging all spoilers for on Twitter. Fun!

I actually almost had The Nightingale spoiled for me today by of all places the film's press notes sent from its own PR people -- I'm guessing they've gotten some strong reactions due to its well-documented harsh content (recall a critic in Venice getting canned for screaming obscenities at Kent after a screening there) and were just trying to be upfront about triggering folks I guess, but I read a few words more than I wish I would've with regards to that. Oh well. Anyway The Nightingale is out on August 2nd so stay tuned for more, like a for real review and everything, shortly.

Good Morning, World

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Good morning and happy Monday everybody, we've got 46 days until Jennifer Kent's The Nightingale hits movie theaters here in the US -- 46, a number that means absolutely nothing to anybody (apologies to you 46-year-olds out there but you know it's not a special year) but hey, Sam Claflin posted this bathtub shot on his Instagram over the weekend, so make note of 46 I shall. Watch the trailer for The Nightingale here, and from what I gather appreciate still being able to feel sexually attracted to Sam before the film comes out and makes us all feel wrong for that.

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There's Music in the Way That We Kiss

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Jason approves!!! pic.twitter.com/5Y3qsoJVLq

— Jason Adams (@JAMNPP) June 6, 2019

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All four of Shout Factory's "Gay Pride" releases this year are out on blu-ray as of today -- last week both Boom and To Wong Foo hit (as an aside I should add here that it somehow escaped me that the Boom blu-ray has a commentary track from John fucking Waters!) and today comes Jeffrey and the pièce de résistance Can't Stop the Music, the astonishingly over-the-top Village People musical starring Steve Guttenberg and Steve Guttenberg's tight pants, among others. 

This movie has been a bit of a pain in the ass to see for a long time, and it is so so worth seeing -- see it. Oh and there's also the rainbow-colored special edition of The Babadook that they put out, which leans into the entertainingly ridiculous internet meme. And a percentage of the proceeds go to a good cause, so get yer gay on.

10 Off My Head -- 2019: Chapter II

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Well we're at the halfway point of the year basically, and per usual all the really good shit, movie-wise, is probably still ahead, heavily loaded onto the back-end -- Hollywood loves itself a big behind! I hear ya, Hollywood. I personally haven't done me a mental list of the 2019 movies I've loved the best so far in these here first six months, perhaps I should get around to that, but for now I just want to take stock of what we still have to look forward to (or what we might have to look forward to -- some of these don't have release dates yet, but I'd be surprised if they make us wait until 2020 for any of them.) So here are...

My 10 Most Anticipated Movies of the Rest of 2019

The Nightingale

(dir. Jennifer Kent)

releases on August 2nd -- more here

Midsommar 

(dir. Ari Aster) 

releases on July 3rd -- more here

Parasite 

(dir. Bong Joon-ho)

releases on October 11th -- more here

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood

(dir. Quentin Tarantino)

releases on July 26 -- more here

Little Women

(dir. Greta Gerwig)

releases on December 25th -- more here

Knives Out

(dir. Rian Johnson)

releases on November 27th -- more here

Wounds

(dir. Babak Anvari)

release unknown -- more here

Pain & Glory

(dir. Pedro Almodovar)

releases on October 4th -- more here

A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

(dir. Marielle Heller)

releases on November 22nd -- more here

The Lighthouse

(dir. Robert Eggers)

release unknown -- more here

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Runners-up: The Irishman (dir. Martin Scorsese), 1917 (dir. Sam Mendes, out on December 25th), Matthias & Maxime (dir. Xavier Dolan), Yesterday (dir. Danny Boyle, out on June 28th)...

... Joker (dir. Todd Phillips, out on October 4th), The Kitchen (dir. Andrea Berloff out on August 9th), Jojo Rabbit (dir. Taika Waititi, out on October 18th), A Hidden Life (dir. Terrence Malick), It: Chapter II (dir. Andy Muschietti, out on September 6th), Portrait of a Lady on Fire (dir. Céline Sciamma, out on December 6th)...

... Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark (dir. André Øvredal, out on August 9th), The Woman in the Window (dir. Joe Wright, out on October 4th), Divine Love (dir. Gabriel Mascaro), Where'd You Go, Bernadette? (dir. Richard Linklater, out on August 16th), Lucy in the Sky (dir. Noah Hawley), Uncut Gems (dir. Safdie Brothers)...

... Waves (dir. Trey Edward Schults), Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (dir. JJ Abrams, out on December 20th), Gemini Man (dir. Ang Lee, out on October 4th), Frankie (dir. Ira Sachs), Ad Astra (dir. James Gray, out on September 20th), Spider-Man: Far From Home (dir. Jon Watts , out on July 2nd), Crawl (dir. Alexandre Aja, out on July 12th), On a Magical Night (dir. Christophe Honoré)

What are you most looking forward to in 2019?

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