Michael B Jordan Ten Times

My coverage of the third Creed movie has obviously favored Jonathan Majors, since I (like I gather many of you) tend to favor Jonathan Majors. In just about everything. Like I am 100% seeing the Ant-Man sequel tonight because of him. Well and Michelle Pfeiffer. But mostly him. Anyway that doesn't mean we won't give a moment of time to the Creed franchise's leading man Michael B. Jordan, who's showing off his own impeccable pecs in the new issue of Rolling Stone. Just about two weeks and we'll see all of these greased up pecs slamming into each other! Cinema! Hit the jump for the whole shoot (with a few outtakes I dug up too)...

I For One Welcome Our New Kang Overlord

As far as Marvel movies go I have enjoyed all of the Ant-Man movies -- they've been nicely their own thing, not too dependent on the bulk of the rest of the MCU to appreciate. And yet I have continued to need to remind myself that I care about the next one all the same -- call it just general superhero malaise at this point. But the new trailer for Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania reminded me -- dude shut the fuck up, this is the one where Jonathan Majors finally gets to blow the lid off of everything as Kang. Indeed the new trailer...

... is like 50% Kang! He's even the still they use to promote the trailer itself, as seen above! And I wouldn't have it any other way. My beloved is really and truly a Movie Star now, isn't he? Or at least he's really and truly about to be with this and the third Creed movie, anyway. Couldn't be happening to a more talented (and hotter) dude, I say! I mean you know you're a Movie Star when the Marvel movie finds an excuse...

... to rip the sleeves off of your super-villain costume. You can just hear the bros in Kevin Feige's office being like, "Dude... did you see that issue of Men's Health though?? Shredded!" I don't know about you but when I am working out it's Majors I have in my head now, not Chris Hemsworth anymore. Sorry, Thor! Time for the next gen! Aaaaanyway this movie is out on February 17th, so rip off your super-villain sleeves and get in line! Now for the rest of us I have made a dozen Jonathan Majors gifs -- basically a gif of every shot of him in the trailer! -- so hit the jump and let's look at him...

Emmys For Everybody!

Congratulations from all of us here at MNPP (i.e. me and my shadow) to all of the Emmy nominees -- people like Nicholas Hoult in The Great, for instance. You hear me, Nicky? I said congratulations. You can feel free to dump that bottle of champagne over me in slow motion now, I will allow it. Anyway see all of the nominees over here -- as reported yesterday I have to run offline for the next couple of hours so y'all tell me what you think is good and what you think is bad about the Emmy nominations in the comments here and I will listen to you when I get back! I already complained about a couple of snubs on Twitter a bit ago (Julia Roberts and Michelle Pfeiffer to be exact) but there's good stuff -- The White Lotus ruled and I am terribly happy to see Mike White have such success at last, and then there's our favorite person in the world...

There's no way I am wading through all the Emmy nominees just so I can get annoyed but I did make sure that the most important thing happened -- yay @melanielynskey!!! #YellowJackets pic.twitter.com/nuOSgz6MkN

— Jason Adams (@JAMNPP) July 12, 2022

5 Off My Head: The Pfeiffer Lady

The one and the only Michelle Pfeiffer, who is turning 64 today, can be seen at the moment on Showtime's The First Lady series, giving in my consideration the best performance on the show as Betty Ford -- I'll admit up front that I went into the show being pretty unfamiliar with Betty Ford, besides the the Cliff's Notes stuff with regards to alcoholism etc, so I don't have a person in my head that I have been comparing her to. But she's giving by far the most human and grounded performance...

... on the series, which is admittedly a bit of a mess. (Oh Viola, what are you doing?) Anyway what's new -- Michelle literally never puts in a bad turn, and yet she continually goes under-appreciated. I'm just glad she's working consistently again after taking so much time off to be with and raise her kids. So let's celebrate her here on her birthday today, with a list I am shocked to admit I've never done before...

My 5 Favorite Michelle Pfeiffer Performances

Selina Kyle, Batman Returns

"It's the so-called 'normal' guys who always let you down. 

Sickos never scare me. Least they're committed."

Angela de Marco, Married to the Mob

"Everything we own fell off a truck!"

Woman, mother!

"This is all just... setting."

The Countess Ellen Olenska, The Age of Innocence

"Don't make love to me. 

Too many people have done that."

Elvira, Scarface

"Don't toot your horn, honey, 

you're not that good."

Runners-up: French Exit, Where is Kyra,

The Fabulous Baker Boys, Stardust

What are your favorite Pfeiffer performances?

Despite All Its Rage It's Still Just a Bat in a Cave

When the first images from Matt Reeves' The Batman appeared, with Robert Pattinson's flat-ironed bangs and guy-liner look on full display, the word "Emo" was thrown around a lot. And it was hard not to see a lot of that insta-tude as aggro fanboy discomfort with the one-time vampire twink stepping into the dudely thigh-high leather-boots of their favorite masked vigilante tough guy. Nevermind that Pattinson has proven himself a versatile and delightfully unhinged presence in several slightly more obscure projects since, your Good Times and your Lighthouses and your what have yous -- had Pattinson proven himself guy-friendly enough to take over their favorite bat-franchise? Wring your patent-leather gloves, fanboys -- wring 'em but good!

I instinctually recoiled at the brah spectacle of all that, and found myself hoping our twinkly lil' RPattz would give us the goth kid with painted fingernails and the half-mile stare of angsty ennui that bat boy Bruce Wayne has always had coming... so it's with great and terrible dismay that I must report to you today that The Batman's a howler. Halfway to the bad sort of camp that hurts your brain, there's no so-bad-it's-fun Joel Schumacher or Adam West Bat-theatrics (Colin Farrell notwithstanding, and I'll get to him) to save our spirits from the crushing weight of this unwieldy thing that's trying so hard every single second until it suffocates every inch of life from itself. This movie is endless, it's got one bat-foot in the door of being entirely humorless, and it's one of the single most exhausting movie experiences I've had in quite some time. Please change the Bat-channel!

Things start out smart enough, with the film dropping us straight into the middle of Bruce Wayne's career as the Caped Crusader under ye olde cowl -- we hear about his long-passed gazillionaire parents' murder on the news, but we're not forced to sit through any soggy alleyway origin stories for the ten thousandth time; an incredibly decent choice on the filmmaker's part. But unfortunately for all of us the filmmakers didn't stop cutting things there -- I mean, why get to know who Bruce Wayne is at all? Or any of the characters, for that matter? Pattinson must spend a good 90% of this movie in the suit, and remains a cypher either way, inside and out. Apparently The Batman decided that what the people actually want instead is nearly three hours of the most glaringly obvious "detective story" noir nonsense since Kevin Spacey walked into a police station and screamed "I DID IT." (Not this time; the other time.)

Yes I bring up David Fincher's Seven because Matt Reeves has, judging by this movie, apparently spent the last nigh on thirty years doing just that to anyone who will listen -- after watching The Batman I feel as if there might possibly be a long line of triggered therapists and/or exes in his life who shudder at the mere mention of that 1995 serial-killer film. The Batman plays like one long (so so long) riff on it all. See here Jeffrey Wright giving us Morgan Freeman realness as Detective Gordon! See there, Paul Dano giving us the most watered-down PG-13 Jigsaw-tinged Riddler as John Doe nonsense ever put on-screen! Whereas Seven's devious games left marks scratched onto my psyche to this day, the riddles of The Riddler, with their dime-store greeting-card histrionics, are about as frightening as a frown drawn on a detached baby-doll-head. 

Truly cornball stuff rendered limp by not just the studio-imposed rating but, well, literally everything about them. Dano's weaksauce performance doesn't help. The derivative way the Riddler's videos are shot; the clunky obviousness of the plotting. If I had to sit through another scene where we watch Batman walk, and walk, and walk, and walk, and walk out of the shadows inside another dilapidated dank room all so he could molest more criminal evidence that would then point arrows in the most obvious directions to exactly the place you know all of this is going from the first frame, I was gonna toss myself through one of those ten thousand windows covered with newspapers that every single set of this film was designed with. 

And the worst part about it was they did all of this while pretending they had something profound to say about government and police corruption, only to, like Danny Torrance cleaning up his footprints in the snow behind him, obliterate anything interesting about any of that every step of the way. The film doesn't just want to have its cake and eat it too -- it wants Zoe Kravitz (an electric performer reduced to a haircut and a hip swivel amid several reenactments of scenes that Michael Keaton and Michelle Pfeiffer did leagues better in Batman Returns three full decades ago) to pop up every so often, speak the words "white male privilege," and then disappear again until they need somebody to wear a micro-mini and gesture towards off-screen implied bisexuality.

The only person having any fun whatsoever in this dour soul-excavating exercise is Colin Farrell, once again as he did with Daredevil in 2003 strutting through and sparking life where superhero dreams have otherwise gone to die ignominious deaths. It's tempting to say that Farrell must have felt freed under all the latex they slather him in to play Oswald "Oz" Cobblepot née The Penguin, all of which renders him entirely unrecognizable. But Farrell's never been a performer who needed such affectations to do his magical thing before, and instead this performance becomes a testament to his skill despite the pointless obstacles the filmmakers have thrown in his way. There was no need not to hire an actor who wouldn't have needed a scarred-up fat-suit for the role -- I could name you twenty actors who would've relished the opportunity to bite into the only fun role in the whole damn movie. But Farrell, bless him, makes his every moment count nonetheless.

And (let's say some good things) despite the secondhand nature of the movie's look there's still a lot to love within DP Greig Fraser's artful frames; the one action sequence that stands out amid this self-serious slog of a film involves a car-chase with Batman in his Batmobile (now souped-up to give it some serious Mad Max Fury Road energy) and it's a ballet of bonkers red lights and fire and rain-streaked highways that are almost worth the price of admission. But no, that's five minutes dropped down in the middle of one-hundred-and-seventy-six of them. And while the sequence looks great it still manages to feel like an echo of things that we've seen before -- not just the similar chase sequence in Batman Returns (just without any of the delightful goofiness of Danny DeVito's Penguin bouncing around in a kiddie quarter-ride) and not just the Joker's legendary night-time joyride in Nolan's Dark Knight. But also the aforementioned Fury Road itself, and woe be unto the filmmaker that dares to summon up nods towards George Miller -- you will always come up looking small in comparison, and The Batman's certainly not the one to undo those expectations.

The thing is in theory all of Reeves' choices seem like good ideas to me to reintroduce the character in a fresh way -- leaning into the hard-edged detective noir angle of the comics is a good idea! But when your mystery can be unraveled by everybody just looking up one time instead of looking down, well then maybe you should recalculate. Batman's just allowed to blunder through obvious revelation after obvious revelation played to the absolute back of the room -- hell it's played for somebody watching the movie on their phone across the room during a lightning storm. The puzzle pieces add up because they're all exact squares -- every character a boxed-in bore, edgy as a Happy Meal.

A Kiss Can Be Even Deadlier...

Around 1pm this afternoon my brain took a long hard look at me sitting here at my desk, said, "Fuck you, sucker," packed its bags and skedaddled. Oh well! I figured today would be a wash -- last day before a break usually is. And here's where I usually say, Ohh sure there's a chance I might pop in... and then I never do it. So I'm just gonna set aside the bullshit this one time, we've had enough in 2020 -- real talk, MNPP's gonna be in mothballs until January 3rd when I'm back and better than whatever! 

But that doesn't mean there's nothing to read. I'll no doubt be tweeting for one (god forbid I break that disgusting habit), and for another there are 15 full years of rambling content just sitting there in our archives. You can choose from many a topic over there on the site's right-hand column, ranging from posts about Jake Gyllenhaal's chest hair to posts about Jake Gyllenhaal's butt, and everything in between. 

Oh and while you're over there in the right-hand column I'll remind y'all that we've got a "Donate" button perched there too -- I thankfully don't have to survive off of this website (oh my god I'd be so dead) but tips always feel like lil' nods of encouragement (I'm capitalist that way) and are deeply appreciated every damn time. As are nice comments! You can leave some of them here too. I'd love most especially to hear what you're watching over the holidays. For my part I wish every single one of you the happiest of late Decembers -- please stay safe, wear a mask, watch a good movie, and have an orgasm or two. Doesn't even have to be in that order. Bye til the 3rd...

Me & Michelle in Bright Lights

Another exciting career moment for yours truly with the arrival of the trailer for French Exit, Azazel Jacobs' forthcoming farce starring Michelle Pfeiffer and Lucas Hedges -- my review of the film got quoted in the just-released trailer!

THE 43 SECOND MARK IN THE TRAILER FOR FRENCH EXIT Y'ALL pic.twitter.com/E4xs5E1t03

— Jason Adams (@JAMNPP) December 9, 2020

You can read the full review over here at AwardsWatch. I saw the movie at NYFF and the film as a whole is a mixed-bag but Pfeiffer is anything but -- just an absolute and total blast to watch from start to finish, and I stand by my blurb! I hope she can snag a Best Actress nomination for this -- she'd be a more-than-deserving nominee.

She's not the only reason to see the movie, even if its overall tone never quite finds a footing -- Lucas Hedges is also terrific playing her son, and I'm not only saying that because his long hair and beautiful coats and collars in this film finally, after years of trying and failing, made me "get" Lucas Hedges. I don't mean as "an actor" -- I have found him very good before -- I mean as an object of  lust. I never got it before. But something about him in this movie made it click. 

But Michelle is the primary reason to run run run for the French Exit -- I mean look at her! Movie cameras and giant screens were made precisely for the honor and pleasure and the privilege of staring at that spectacular face right there. The film is getting a limited release on February 12th. Here's that trailer:

NYFF & Nightstream's a Wrap!

The two film festivals that've been happily devouring all of my time for the past few weeks have just come to their respective closes -- I've now seen all I'm gonna see from the 2020 editions of the New York Film Festival and the Nightstream Fest (which is what this year's Brooklyn Horror Fest morphed into thanks to the pandemic) and written all I am probably going to write from them as well. I've got this year's NewFest starting tomorrow, after all! So before that takes over, let's look back, with quick easy links to all of my reviews in case you missed them.

NYFF

Beginning -- reviewed here 

Fauna -- reviewed here

French Exit -- reviewed here

Hopper/Welles -- reviewed here

The Human Voice -- reviewed here

Lovers Rock -- reviewed here

Malmkrog -- reviewed here

Mangrove -- reviewed here

Red White and Blue -- reviewed here

Tragic Jungle -- reviewed here

Undine -- reviewed here

Films I watched at NYFF but didn't review -- MLK/FBI, The Monopoly of Violence, Her Socialist Smile, Stump the Guesser; Isabella; Night of the Kings; Days; American Utopia; Nomadland; The Salt of Tears; Zero For Conduct; Flowers of Shanghai; Swimming Out Til the Sea Turns Blue; I Carry You With Me; The Woman Who Ran; Notturno; Meeting the Man: James Baldwin in Paris

Nightstream Fest

Bloody Hell -- reviewed here

Deadline -- reviewed here

Hunted -- reviewed here

Lapsis -- reviewed here

Lucky -- reviewed here

The Queen of Black Magic -- reviewed here

Rose Plays Julie -- reviewed here

Films I watched for Nightstream but didn't review: It Cuts Deep; Dinner in America; Darkness; Survival Skills; The Doorman; Shock Value: The Movie—How Dan O'Bannon and Some USC Outsiders Helped Invent Modern Horror

----------------------------

If you want my quick thoughts on any of those titles that I didn't review ask here in the comments and I'll share some! I'm especially annoyed that I didn't get the chance to write about Nomadland and Days and I Carry You With Me (all stunning) out of NYFF, and Dinner in America from Nightstream which was great fun, and which deservedly won the Audience Award.

Uhh Kyle Gallner in DINNER IN AMERICA made me feel some stuff, you guys... pic.twitter.com/txaR45bV1A

— Jason Adams (@JAMNPP) October 11, 2020

Pfeiffer Pforever

I was all set to illustrate this post with a photo of Lucas Hedges (perhaps one of these again) because that's how MNPP rolls, but then I realized, no, no, Michelle Pfeiffer is good enough dammit! I like to look at Michelle Pfeiffer too! I mean there's a reason she's been a movie star for forty years -- she drags in all the humans. Straight people, gay people, blind people who wanna hear that silky feline voice of hers. We all wanna Michelle. And maybe that can work some more in her favor since she's terrific, absolutely terrific, in her new movie French Exit, which just premiered at the New York Film Fesitval, and which you can read my thoughts upon over at AwardsWatch. The movie isn't perfect but she is, and that's what we're there for -- right?

Good Morning, World

.

Did y'all watch Narcos? I didn't watch Narcos even though I love its leading men with the heat of a vinyl backseat in Charleston August -- Pedro Pascal! Wagner Moura! And today's birthday boy, Boyd Holbrook! I just seem to have an aversion to dramas about the drug wars -- I can't think of a single one I love. I don't even truly love Brian De Palma's Scarface (besides Michelle Pfieffer obviously) -- if you asked me to rank my favorite BDP movies Scarface probably wouldn't even crack the Top 10. 

Anyway I don't know why I am talking about Scarface now -- it's Boyd Holbrook's birthday! I deeply, profoundly recommend you take a hike through our Boyd Holbrook Archives here at MNPP -- there are posts, like this one especially, that will show you why he's a fave... in ways these gifs from Narcos might not. Not that I'm discrediting what's seen here! The stache, after all. But these are a little vanilla and when you see some of his modeling shoots from his younger days... hoo doggy. That's some Neapolitan shit. Hit the jump for the rest...

Lucas Hedges Five Times

.

Yesterday the New York Film Festival announced that French Exit, starring Michelle Pfeiffer and Lucas Hedges, will be their Closing Night film this year -- of course what "Closing Night" means in 2020 is still kind of up in the air at this point; for the most recent explanation of how they're supposedly going to be doing things check out this piece at IndieWire. It involves lots of virtual screenings and working together with the great already-established Rooftop Films here in NYC to do outdoor screenings, basically. 

But I'm getting off topic! French Exit is from director Azazel Jacobs, who made the fantastic film The Lovers back in 2017 (I reviewed it at the Tribeca Film Fest that year) with Debra Winger and Tracy Letts as the typical "old married couple" who're both having serious affairs but who suddenly re-spark to each other. I very much recommend The Lovers. I haven't read the book that French Exit is based on but our pal Nathaniel made a really good case for it over at The Film Experience yesterday -- he says it's short and very darkly comic. I like both of those things! 

He also says the role is a killer one for Michelle Pfeiffer on paper, and that if all goes right she might be dallying with Oscar this year, which is so overdue at this point it's outrageous. Have any of you read the book? In other NYFF news they announced their Opening Night movie will be Steve McQueen's film Lover's Rock, one fifth of McQueen's "Small Axe" anthology that's set to air on the BBC before the end of the year -- see my post on Small Axe right here. 

Two others in the anthology will also be screening at NYFF. The films are mostly loaded with unknowns actor-wise, but a few big names -- John Boyega and Letitia Wright -- do jump out. Anyway the 2020 edition of the NYFF runs, however it runs, from September 25th through October 11th, and we should be hearing the Main Slate of films within the next couple of weeks! Get yourself a sassy turtleneck, go stand in a cornfield, and stay tuned until then! 

Every Dog Has His Day

.

Hoo boy, this is some news today! Variety is reporting that our bellissimo director boyfriend Luca Guadagnino has signed on to direct a new remake of Scarface. Word is that the latest script was written by the Coen Brothers (!!!) and it'll be set once again in Los Angeles. Can I just say...

.

NATURE HAS CUNNING WAYS OF FINDING OUR WEAKEST SPOT pic.twitter.com/B07IR59iD9

— Jason Adams (@JAMNPP) May 14, 2020

We know that Luca knows how to do remakes right -- well anyone of the (correct) opinion that his re-do of Dario Argento's Suspiria is a stone-cold masterpiece does, anyway -- so color me fuckin' intrigued. Save Pfeiffer (obviously, perfection) and some of the over-the-top gruesomeness (oh and Steven Bauer's tight pants, I guess) I've never been too infatuated with Brian De Palma's 1983 film -- it has its moments but Pacino's just way too fucking much. And yes I am fully aware that De Palma wanted Way Too Fucking Much, but it's way too fucking much. 

Of course all this makes me wonder about is all the other stuff Luca's attached himself to -- there's the remake of Lord of the Flies for one, and well yeah yes indeed for another there's the Call Me By Your Name sequel, which he keeps insisting he's going to do, despite all of You People (not me!) whinging about it. What will actually be next for Luca once things are happening in the world again? Besides his HBO series We Are Who We Are I mean, which he's actively in post-production on right now for a probable end-of-year drop. Speaking of, hello Tom Mercier...

Baby Daddy James

.

After watching (and semi live tweeting) Baz Luhrmann's Romeo + Juliet last night I was switching around the channels on the TV and caught the last act of X-Men: First Class, which I surely hadn't seen since it came out in 2011 (I'm not really prone to revisiting superhero movies unless they have Michelle Pfeiffer wearing leather in them) -- what struck me is how young everybody looked! 

This has been a hard decade on all of us, specifically our faces. From there it was only a hop and a skip to thinking about how truly young James McAvoy looked in Atonement (hey whaddya know I also tweeted about that) and suddenly, I had to ask...

bike trails

Hold Your Loved Ones Close This Holiday

.

This is a very short week! I didn't get everything done this very short week that I wanted to, including writing a proper review of Knives Out, which is out in theaters today and which I can't seem to summon more to say about than just "It's a ton of fun, you should see it!" I mean that. I do, and you should. It's just 1) a movie it's hard to write about because it's an endless series of twists that even just talking about the twists existing feels spoilery, and 2) it's fluff I will eventually watch ten times but doesn't really inspire a lot in the terms of words out of me.

.

Oh man I never get swag, what a treat! I am 100 percent gonna cherish every bit of this KNIVES OUT paraphernalia (most especially that flask) #knivesout #film pic.twitter.com/W5gIDppfQl

— Jason Adams (@JAMNPP) November 20, 2019

.

It's a terrific Movie Movie, full of movie stars having fun and clever misdirections and fun sets and costumes, but I don't really know what to say about it beyond that. I mean that, by the way, is plenty. All of those things add up to plenty! But I can't say I feel particularly passionate about Knives Out -- the thing that's most noticeable about it I guess is that it feels so Old Fashioned now, an original story coming from a big studio on a holiday weekend that's full of fresh characters and good actors, so that should be the thing that gets your ass to the theater for it. You won't be disappointed. 

Spectacularly moved? Probably not. For that you should still check out Marielle Heller's Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood if you haven't already, which didn't do great at the box office when it was released over this past weekend but will presumably still be in a ton of theaters this week for the holiday. I reviewed that right here and yes that is the sort of movie that will get me rambling endlessly. One of the year's absolute best.

Your other best options are Martin Scorsese's The Irishman, which just hit Netflix (read my NYFF review at The Film Experience) and I'll also recommend, if you're in New York, the Guatemalan flick Temblores, which is about a closeted gay man whose ultra-religious family refuses to let him find happiness. It's opening at the Quad (and PS its gorgeous lead actor Juan Pablo Olyslager will be there for Q&As) and the film's a rough sit emotionally but worth checking out for what feels like an honest view of the uphill battle we still face in many places. (Including here in the US for too many!) It's some perfect anti-Thanksgiving programming -- family can truly suck.

The other two films out this weekend, The Two Popes (reviewed here) and Queen & Slim (reviewed here), I wasn't nuts about them to put it mildly, but other people seem to be so who knows where you'll fall. If you see any of these, or anything else worth telling me about, let me know your thoughts in the comments! And have a Happy Thanksgiving, go get good and stuffed...
.

This Thanksgiving I am thankful for one thing, and that thing is Michelle Pfeiffer's Instagram account pic.twitter.com/2itScrCgv8

— Jason Adams (@JAMNPP) November 27, 2019

Get Some Good Dickinson This Weekend

.

I was just now looking through the movies out in theaters this weekend  -- that aren't The Lighthouse or Jojo Rabbit anyway, both of which you can see below I've already covered a'plenty today -- and was reminded that oh right there is a Maleficent sequel. And it's got Michelle Pfeiffer in it! That's all lovely and great but when it comes to posting something here I had to find the dudes, and it's got some good ones. That's Beach Rats star Harris Dickinson seen above -- he's playing a prince or some shit. But there's also David Gyasi (he's the guy who got to fuck around with Julian Morris in Man in an Orange Shirt, for one) and also Deadpool baddie Ed Skrein, and...

... Ed has a whole lot of look going on. Like... a whole lot. He's the sexiest half-man half-horned-thing since James McAvoy, maybe? Point being I'd watch the gay porn parody of Maleficent featuring those three in a skinny minute, I would. The actual Maleficent sequel? I'll probably wait for home video. Sorry, Harrison! Sorry, Ed. But I gots to go see The Lighthouse a third time.

All those pretty things aside I do want to make y'all aware that MNPP will not be silent per usual this weekend -- I repeat: I'm not being lazy for once! As mentioned yesterday the 2019 edition of the Brooklyn Horror Film Festival has now begun, and my reviews of films playing BHFF will start popping off tomorrow, right as they premiere there. Reviews of horror movies, what a treat for all!
.

I don't know what movie Harris Dickinson is seen here getting tattooed up for but I think we can all agree who gives a fuck about movies at this moment pic.twitter.com/WsKacVFdcC

— His Name Was Jason Adams (@JAMNPP) October 18, 2019

.
But holy hell bags that's not all -- our annual 13 day long Halloween celebration also kicks off tomorrow, seeing as how tomorrow is, you know, 13 days away from Halloween. In the past we've done the "13 Mustaches of Halloween" and we've done the "13 Snakes of Halloween" just to name two examples -- well this year's is even more random than ever, and I can't wait for y'all to dig in...

Zoë the Cat

. 

You've no doubt heard by now that Big Little Lies star Zoë Kravitz is going to play Catwoman opposite Robert Pattinson's Batman in the next Batman movie The Batman, from Cloverfield and Let Me In director Matt Reeves. I think she's good casting, I like Zoë a lot and she'll look killer in whatever costume they come up with, although she's always come off so reserved and "too cool" in everything I've seen her in before that I do have to wonder what her Catwoman will look like? Every Catwoman has been different through the years so she doesn't necessarily have to have Michelle Pfeiffer's manic frenzy in the role...

... although that was clearly the best take to date. Zoë was just so (pointedly, purposefully) somnambulistic in the last thing I saw her in (that'd be BLL season two) that seeing her go big, well, it's hard to picture at this juncture. But who knows what Reeves is going for tone-wise at this point. Not I. He's hiring terrific actors and that's half, hell that's three-quarters, of the battle. Now I just want him to cast Zoe's hot husband Karl Glusman as somebody too. Preferably somebody in really tight tights, given what we know about him thanks to that Gaspar Noé 3D porn movie he did. Riddle me that.

.

A Lack of Humility Before Nature

.

Splendid News for New Yorkers with refined taste - the Quad Cinema is running a miniature Jeff Goldblum retrospective in February! As of now they're showing 12 movies, but the press release promises more will be announced -- I am really deeply hoping that the titles among the unannounced-so-far are two of his goofiest mid-80s vehicles, 1985's  Transylvania 6-5000 and 1988's Earth Girls are Easy, which would also function as a "Geena Davis Double Bill," aka four of the finest words in the English language. 

Anyway of the 12 they are definitely showing there are the Obvious Musts like the first two Jurassic Park films and my beloveds David Cronenberg's The Fly and the best of the Body Snatcher bunch the 1978 one with Donald Sutherland, and then there are some I haven't seen -- I've never seen John Landis' Into the Night with Jeff & Michelle Pfeiffer, now have I seen the 1990 serial killer slash Satanic Panic thriller called Mister Frost, nor crazily enough have I ever seen 1984's The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension, which seems a thing that should be rectified this time around. Check out the whole schedule here!