Everything You Ever Need To Know About Life...

 ... you can learn from:

Birth (2004)

Anna: What happened to me was not my fault. There's no way I could have behaved any differently, you now... What I did wasn't my fault. What happended to me wasn't my fault, and I can't be held accountable for it. There is no way I could ever have said to him 'Go away'. I couldn't do it... It was a mistake. And... I'm sorry. But I want to be with you. I want to be with you. Yes, I do. And I want to get married, and... I wanna have a good life, and I wanna be happy. That's all I want - peace.

A day we've been looking forward to for a decade at least has finally arrived -- after years of being only available on a shitty out-of-print DVD Jonathan Glazer's 2004 masterpiece in discomfort Birth has gotten the Criterion treatment! In 4K no less! Pick up your copy right here -- like every single Glazer movie there is (yes, every single one) this is not a movie to be missed. And NOW if they could just release Alexandre Desplat's astonishing score onto vinyl I'll be satisfied! Temporarily anyway! Related: have I mentioned here that I started a thread on Bluesky for movies I'm dying to get released on upgraded physical media? Click below to see what I've whined about so far if that's your thing:

‪Think I'm going to start a thread specifically for sporadic bitching about movies I need released on updated physical media already, like yesterday, dammit. Seen here are four standards - Apartment Zero, Chuck & Buck, Soldier of Orange, and of course the king of this, Ken Russell's The Devils

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— Jason Adams (@jamnpp.bsky.social) December 11, 2025 at 3:57 PM

Criterion Gives Birth This January

Put another checkmark in the "Fucking finally!" column because one of the great movies that hasn't gotten a proper release since the days of DVD is getting an upgrade on January 27th, 2026 -- yes obviously I speak of Jonathan Glazer's 2004 masterpiece Birth, as that enormous visage of Nicole Kidman's face with the word "Birth" scrawled across it probably let on already. (Sidenote: Birth is coming out on my mother's birthday? How fortuitous.) I'd have a hard nigh impossible time ranking Glazer's films because he's made nothing but masterpieces in his directing career -- one wants to call his a "brief" career since he's only directed four features, but those four features are spread across 25 years (beginning with Sexy Beast in 2000) and that's the opposite of brief. But depending on the day Birth might be my favorite of his. The next day it'll be Under the Skin and the day after that's it's The Zone of Interest, and so it goes. But this is triuphant news nonetheless -- a 4K disc, including a new doc on the movie's making -- now can we get Alexandre Desplat's now-legendary score released on vinyl please??? No, it's never enough. You get one thing, you need another, and then you die. And are reborn in a little boy to go stalk Nicole Kidman!

And as if Birth wasn't chilly enough -- Criterion is definitely leaning into the January-ness of January -- we'll also be getting Jim Jarmusch's Dead Man and John Huston's The Dead hitting 4k that month. I don't think I've seen either of these before? I may've seen the Huston ages and ages ago but I was certainly too young to get it and should revisit. As for Dead Man I'm hit-or-miss when it comes to Jarmusch and I'm not exactly crawling over broken glass to watch Johnny Depp movies these days, but I did really love Jarmusch's latest at NYFF so I can probably be convinced. Opinions on either?

Next up there's Jia Zhangke's tremendous latest Caught By the Tides, which I haven't seen since NYFF 2024 so it's been awhile, but it's a film that flits across my consciousness often -- Zhangke shot the film over 23 years (!!!) with actors Zhao Tao and Li Zhubin and watching them age in real time, watching China change around them -- it's an incredible experience. I suppose it must've been annoying for him when Richard Linklater beat him to the gimmick with Boyhood but I'm very much Team Zhangke on this one. It's an incredible accomplishment. And then there's the latest entry in Martin Scorsese's World Cinema Project series, which honestly has long intimidated the hell out of me. I'll dive into them one day! 

And so we come to the months'f inal three releases (big batch!) -- the second more vital drop this month to my eye is their re-release of Edward Yang's Yi Yi in 4K, which I've talked about a few times since seeing it for the first time just a few months ago; an astonishing film, one of the greats. Then there's the 1985 film of Kiss of the Spider-Woman starring Raul Julia and an Oscar-winning turn from William Hurt. I should probably give this one another chance -- I remember not being nuts about it when I saw it in my 20s. And then to bring us home there's Errol Flynn's best movie says me, the enormously entertaining 1935 swashbuckler Captain Blood. Love this movie; Errol is Peak Errol here.The big sword fight on the rocks is unmissable classic cinema. 

Cold War II: The Cold War-ening

We love it when talented people gravitate toward other talented people, and this news is a big example of this -- the great and talented Sandra Hüller of Anatomy of a Fall and The Zone of Interest (hey I was just making a joke about that role earlier this week that I don't think a lot of people got) and Toni Erdmann (I can't even begin to tell you how often Toni Erdmann bobs about in my brain) is teaming up with the great and talented director Paweł Pawlikowski of Cold War and Ida fame. It's titled 1949 and here's how they're describing it: 

"Set at the height of the Cold War, 1949 centres on the relationship between the writer Thomas Mann (Hanns Zischler) and his daughter Erika (Sandra Hüller); actress, journalist and rally driver, as they embark on a road trip in a black Buick cruiser across a Germany in ruins – from U.S. dominated Frankfurt to Soviet controlled Weimar."

Hanns Zischler is a legendary German actor who starred in Wim Wenders' Kings of the Road and Chantal Akerman's Meetings With Anna and has been working steadily ever since -- I just saw him in 2023's terrific brain-bender The Universal Theory most recently. The movie also co-stars the great August Diehl from Inglourious Basterds and A Hideen Life. Talented people y'all! Anyway now that I'm thinking about it I should re-watch Cold War. What a good fuckin' movie. 

Everything You Ever Need To Know About Life...

 ... you can learn from:

The Zone of Interest (2023)

Rudolf Höss: I wasn't really paying attention... I was too 

busy thinking how I would gas everyone in the room.

A happy 60 to the brilliant Jonathan Glazer today.

(Read my review of this masterpiece here.)

MNPP's 20 Favorite Films of 2023

Since I leave for Sundance in a couple of days -- have I mentioned that I'm going to Sundance enough yet? I'm going to Sundance! -- I have decided that it'll be the best for us all if I just go ahead and drop my favorite movies of 2023 list right now without a lot (or more, anyway) hemming and hawing on it. Lord knows I could put this off for a few more weeks as I try to get around to some outstanding movies, and rearrange this list every single day as my erratic mood shifts like the breeze, but I think I'll prefer to just not have this hanging over my head as I start reviewing 2024 films. 

Anyway as I've stated already I think last year was a marvel of a year for movies -- excellence abounded. And while I'm cool on several of the ones that seem to racking up a lot of the established awards out there (Barbie is fine and The Holdovers is mediocre at best) there's a lot to love even on the mainstream stages, and several movies in my Top 20 will probably have Oscar nominations come Oscar nomination time. Hell I even like the Nolan movie -- it's only a runner-up on my list and my least favorite thing about it (Robert Downey Jr.'s performance) seems to be the thing marching straight to Oscar gold, but since we're talking one of my least favorite, most overrated filmmakers, this is something!

Yadda yadda I've put off the list as long as I can with my rambling

so let's just do it. Here are my 20 favorite movies of 2023!

20. De Humani Corporis Fabrica

(dir. Lucien Castaing-Taylor & Verena Paravel) -- my review

19. La Chimera (dir. Alice Rohrwacher) -- my review

18. Showing Up (dir. Kelly Reichardt) -- my review

17. El Conde (dir. Pablo Larraín) -- my review

16. Passages (dir. Ira Sachs) -- my review

15. Godland (dir. Hlynur Pálmason)

14. Past Lives (dir. Celine Song) 

13. Rotting in the Sun (dir. Sebastián Silva) -- my review

12. Beau is Afraid (dir. Ari Aster) -- my review

11. Godzilla Minus One (dir. Takashi Yamazaki) -- my review

10. Killers of the Flower Moon (dir. Martin Scorsese) -- my review 

9. Asteroid City (dir. Wes Anderson) -- my review

8. May December (dir. Todd Haynes) -- my review

7. Poor Things (dir. Yorgos Lanthimos) -- my review

6. Saltburn (dir. Emerald Fennell) -- my review

5. Skinamarink (dir. Kyle Edward Ball) -- my review

4. Afire (dir. Christian Petzold) -- my review

3. The Eight Mountains

(dir. Felix van Groeningen & Charlotte Vandermeersch) -- my review

2. The Zone of Interest (dir. Jonathan Glazer) -- my review

1. All Of Us Strangers (dir. Andrew Haigh) - my review

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Runners-up: The Killer, Anatomy of a Fall, Oppenheimer, All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt, Eileen, A Thousand and One, Infinity Pool, You Hurt My Feelings, Silver Dollar Road, Will-o'-the-Wisp, Fallen Leaves, Full Time, Bottoms, Priscilla, Return To Seoul, Robot Dreams

This Is Not My Beautiful House

I will have more to say about Jonathan Glazer's The Zone of Interest next week before it's out -- I've seen it twice now and... yes, I will have more to say then. An adaptation of the book by Martin Amis the film stars the legend-in-the-making Sandra Hüller alongside Christian Friedel as a married pair of Nazis living their happy home life just outside the gates of Auschwitz while the sounds of mass murder drown the soundtrack -- I will right now say that the film is an experience, and it is not one to be missed. On a less traumatic note when I saw the film that second time this past weekend...

Got Mica Levi to sign my vinyl, can die happy now pic.twitter.com/wl8SyOsA5O

— Jason Adams (@JAMNPP) December 3, 2023

... I got legendary composer Mica Levi, who was there along with Glazer and several other members of the crew for a Q&A, to sign my Jackie and my Under the Skin vinyl, which was pretty rad. Anyway the reason we're here is the movie has that absolutely stunning new poster today, seen at the top of the post, and a new trailer, which I will share below. I recommend not watching the trailer as always, but you do you.

The Zone of Interest is out on December 15th.

5 Off My Head: It's NYFF 2023, Baby!

My beloved New York Film Festival has today announced its Main Slate for this the year 2023, and included are the three movies I am most looking forward to for the rest of the year -- and we'll get to what those are in a second, although if you listen to my rambling even just once in awhile you can probably guess. (Since Luca Guadagnino's Challengers moved itself to unknown pastures because of the SAG strike we have to count that one out for the time being.) But per usual it's a tremendous gathering of potential, given the filmmakers included -- Wim Wenders, Catherine Breillat, Kleber Mendonça Filho, Marco Bellocchio, Agnieszka Holland, Ryûsuke Hamaguchi, Alice Rohrwacher... and that's ignoring the Opening and Centerpiece and Closing night films which were already announced, those being Todd Haynes' May December, Sofia Coppola's Priscilla, and Michael Mann's Ferrari. Check out the entire line-up at this link or down below, but first as I do every year here are the five movies from the Main Slate that I'm most excited about...

The 5 NYFF Main Slate Movies I Want Right Now

Poor Things by Yorgos Lanthimos

Yorgos is a man I will follow to the ends of the earth and further at this point, so this should come as no shock -- the only thing that's shocking is it's not my most anticipated movie of the year, but there's one below that's beating it by an inch. The trailer (seen here) makes this look like everything Yorgos does best wrapped in one psychedelic package, and a big-time showcase for Emma Stone's strangest impulses. Bring it on!

All of Us Strangers by Andrew Haigh

I just shared that first image from the film yesterday the second it dropped, and I've been all over news of this movie since minute one. Weekend director Andrew Haigh with a maybe-gay movie starring Andrew Scott and Paul Mescal? Of course I have. 

Anatomy of a Fall by Justine Triet

This won the Palme d’Or at Cannes this spring and its story of a riddle-like murder mystery sounds right up my alley anyway, but it's the fact that it features what is by all accounts an astonishing turn from German actress Sandra Hüller that's got my attention. Like most people who saw Toni Erdmann I have been Team Hüller ever since, and she's wowed me every chance, and this sounds like her biggest showcase since that marvelous earlier film.

The Beast by Bertrand Bonello

Bonello hasn't made a movie I've loved as much as I loved as Saint Laurent since Saint Laurent, but Nocturama came close. And this one stars George MacKay, so hope remains alive. Set in three distinct time periods it's about a woman (Le Sedoux) who discovers her existence has been forever intertwined with MacKay's character. Would that we are all so lucky!

The Zone of Interest by Jonathan Glazer

This is my most anticipated movie of the year, just beating out Yorgos as mentioned above, and probably only because Glazer works so infrequently that we must properly pop the champagne whenever he shows up to keep encouraging the man to keep making his wondrous movies. Add on the facts that this also stars Sandra Hüller (from Anatomy of a Fall above), it has a score from Mica Levi, and it sounds like it's working on a very Michael-Haneke-type of register -- it focuses on a family of Nazis living an idyllic life right outside of a concentration camp -- and how could I not be all in on this?

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Passes for NYFF are on sale right now -- single tickets go on

sale on Sept. 19th. Hit the jump for the entire press release...

Into the Dark Again

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I'd normally save this sort of announcement for one of my "I Am Link" posts but this is good enough news and I'm too busy to wait to do one of those time-consuming posts anyway -- Birth and Under the Skin director Jonathan Glazer is gearing up to make a new movie! Along with those just mentioned titles there's Sexy Beast in the year 2000 and there you have the entirety of Glazer's feature-film output in 20 years, so him getting to work on something new is big news always. 

Deadline says it's a Holocaust drama loosely on Martin Amis' 2015 book The Zone of Interest, which is about a Nazi officer at Auschwitz who begins falling for the Commandant's wife. I haven't read the book -- have you? -- but the critic's quotes on Amazon are all over the place, saying it's "rich in black humor" and then "pulverizing" and then "subtle" so who knows? I'm having trouble picturing what a Glazer Holocaust Movie would look like, period.

Nobody's been cast yet but A24 is teaming up with the producers of You Were Never Really Here and Cold War to make the film, so it seems pretty much a go. I will obviously stay right on top of this one. I just saw Birth on the big screen a few months ago and it blew my mind all over again.

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Great Moments In Movie Shelves #185

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"This is my desk.

I used to work here."

We never see Anna's original husband Sean sitting at this desk before his supposed pubescent reincarnation plunks himself down and says this in Jonathan Glazer's 2004 masterpiece Birth -- we never see Original Sean at all except kept at a distance in the film's opening credits as he jogs through Central Park, just before summarily dropping dead midway through a tunnel. (It's always a tunnel.) But judging by the way everyone reacts to New Sean's proclamation...

... it would seem that yes, Original Sean did indeed sit there and work there while he was still alive. Or last alive? First alive? Anyway not much of anything of Original Sean remains in this astonishingly well appointed apartment -- you certainly get the feeling it was all there well before he was and it will be there long after any of these people are still around; it's not a home where people leave histories, it's a museum they move through gingerly, not wanting to upset the past, a thing much bigger and older than any of them. (A pack of love letters try to make their way inside, but end up buried in the dirt where Sean died instead.) Still once New Sean lays claim to this space he becomes imprinted on it...

... quite literally. With one fast fade Anna's new fiancé Joseph is obliterated, reduced to a shadowy ghost now haunting the hallways seemingly now trapped inside of New Sean's brain. His presence is rendered redundant -- hey honey hubby's home, thanks for keeping the bed warm but he'll take it over from here thank you very much. It only makes sense...

... that Joseph's last stand a couple of scenes later would take place here in this same room that New Sean has used to reclaim the title of "Man of the House" -- Joseph makes a desperate and pathetic show of his superior big man manliness...

... literally cutting New Sean off from the rest of 

the family and attacking him in there. 

But it won't keep, the dam is breached...

... the whole ship's tipped. 

There's nowhere left to sink...

... but beneath the waves,

start all over again.