Quick Me on Train Dreams & Wicked 2

Train Dreams -- It's not often that I have a completely different opinion when I see a movie a second time than I did the first, and so it feels important to note when it does happen. And it very much happened with Train Dreams, Jockey director Clint Bentley's Malick-ified adaptation of Denis Johnson's book and starring Joel Edgerton as an old-timety railroad worker, on Netflix today. I saw it an Sundance in January and got swept up in the current of its lush visuals and lyrical score (from The National's Bryce Dressner), plus its fine clear-eyed close-mouthed turn from Joel Edgerton. It wasn't enough of a love affair that I felt the need to write a review at the time, but I thought my heart might grow fonder down the line. 

This was not the case -- a re-watch a couple of weeks ago was like a gust of tornado winds splitting through its smoke, and all that was left rang hollow; an ash-heap where a forest once stood. It was as if the film rotated ninety degrees and revealed cardboard backing. It's got the appearance of meaning that reveals itself to be thimble-deep, like a video of somebody diving into a gorgeous lake only to break their neck on the rocks mere inches beneath its serence surface. (The score, on its own merits, still rules though.) 

Wicked For Good -- Nobody should be coming to me for opinions of the Wicked movies, since this shit was always gonna be straight-up me-kryptonite from the start. And yet -- wow! This movie is really, really bad! Far worse than the already awful first one, which at least had a sense of humor, best embodied by Ariana Grande's fluffy little performance therein. This one doesn't even have the decency to have a plot, or "things that happen" -- humorless, tuneless, meandering flying-monkey malarkey, it feels like one terrible song about how a character feels piled on top of another one piled on top of another one until every iota of your patience has been crushed to yellow dust for that endless CG stretch of brick road. Bury beneath it and be done with me! In a better world people would be embarrassed. But, in the spirit of giving, I'll end on the one highlight:

There is this one shot of Jonathan Bailey in Wicked For Good, and you'll know the one when you see it, that is utter pornography, just absolute unhinged filth, and it made all of it worthwhile

— Jason Adams (@jamnpp.bsky.social) November 16, 2025 at 4:37 PM

Joel Edgerton Twelve Times

The Sundance sensation Train Dreams (which I quite liked -- especially its killer score from The National band-member Bryce Dessner) is hitting some screens this weekend and so we're getting lavished with photo-shoots of the film's star (and possible / deserved Best Actor nominee) Joel Edgerton wearing some of the most coveted-by-me clothes I've seen in a men's fashion layout in ages...

... I love love love so much of what he's wearing in this shoot for Palm Springs Life magazine. I would wear 90% of this stuff. (That yellow jacket above -- actually every piece of that outfit -- is especially making me swoon.) As for Joel obviously yes please yes but I do kind of wish he could land bigger magazine covers than Palm Springs Life. But it's not my job to make that happen! At least they gave us a shit-ton of photos. All of which I will share with you now after the jump...

Tales Tales & Get Sunk

My music posts always feel like solitary little islands among the beefcake and movie shit but I don't care -- if there's Radiohead or Radiohead-adjacent news I will post it dammit! And today comes word that my favorite band's front-man Thom Yorke has a new side-project getting released in May -- an album called Tall Tales that he worked on over the past several years with producer and musician Mark Pritchard. It's out on May 9th and you can pre-order yourself a physical copy at this link (or at participating record stores!) and they dropped a video of the first song called "This Conversation is Missing Your Voice" down below. I do wish Radiohead would make a new record (it's been EIGHT years since their last one!) but I tend to love everything the members put out seperately too (especially Thom and Jonny) so I'm all over this.  

But wait there's more music news today! Speaking of singers going solo -- The National front-man Matt Berninger has also dropped the pre-order for his second solo album called Get Sunk, and you can pre-order that right here. (Including a signed limited edition seen below.) I liked Matt's first solo album a lot so I too am also all over this. Perhaps you will be as well. Or not. More beefcake to come, don't worry!

Kelvin Harrison Jr Two Times

(pics via) Weird how little I have said about Cyrano here, given I love the director (Joe Wright of Hanna and Anna Karenina) and I love the cast (Kelvin alongside Peter Dinklage and Swallow's own Haley Bennett) and I love the band The National who did the music for the musical (well the Dressner Brothers, two-fifths of the band, did anyway). Also there's the fact that I have seen the movie and it's not bad! Okay not the world's ringiest endorsement to be sure, but it is a musical and, Tick Tick Boom (my review) and the West Side Story (my review) aside, I am still me when it comes to musicals. I didn't love it like I did those two I just mentioned, but the Dressners' score is gorgeous, and Harrison comes off especially well, with a lovely voice. I know the film's wide release has gotten messed up again because of Omicron (Bennett has been particularly upset about this on her Insta, bless her) but as of now it's still supposed to come out on the 28th. Watch the trailer here. ETA just seeing today's news that Harrison is playing Jean-Michel Basquiat in the new biopic called Samo Lives -- he will be great! He is literally always great.

Man in Black

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It's been a weird week for me movie-wise as I haven't watched a single movie this week at all, as I've been busy with a dear friend visiting -- not many weeks go by without me watching something! Weirder still I haven't seen any of the new releases out tomorrow, and judging by the reviews for the new Men in Black (sorry Chris!) and the new Shaft I might want to keep it that way. Even the reception for the Jim Jarmusch Zombie Movie seems kind of muted...

Anyway I am sure I, like most of you, will find some way to entertain myself over the next three days, hashtag this is a reminder that I am not here on Summer Fridays. But here below if you do find yourself in need of a quick something to entertain you is a video I took at The National concert in Brooklyn last night; there are more here, and some photos that I took on my Instagram. They are a good band and I like them! Bye!

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ETA it's just been brought (back) to my attention that Nicholas Winding Refn's series for Amazon called Too Old To Die Young (we told you previously) is dropping on Amazon tomorrow, we had forgotten, and so fuck everything I just said -- there is what we're doing!!!

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❤️👁🔻The wait is almost over 🔻👁❤️#TOTDY #byNWR pic.twitter.com/iw8PBY9LhA

— Too Old To Die Young (@TOTDYTV) June 13, 2019

I Am Easy To Find

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I have done a really really lousy job keeping track of The National's new record this time around -- I mean it's called I Am Easy To Find, so you think I'd do better! Alas I always make the easiest things the hardest. Story of my something something. Anyway yes it's out today, as in right now, and I was listening to it on the subway this morning and the title track started playing and...

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Towers to the skies
An academy of lies
You never were much of a New Yorker
It wasn't in your eyes
If you ever come around this way again
You'll see me standing in the sunlight
In the middle of the street
I am easy to find

Arghh @TheNational got me sobbing on the subway alreadyyy

— Jason Adams (@JAMNPP) May 17, 2019

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... no shit, I just started sobbing like a ridiculous person. Perfect way to end the week, scaring the lady crammed beside you on the A train at eight-thirty in the morning. Ehh it's New York, she was probably just glad it was only tears.

The reason I'm annoyed at myself for not being on top of this record though, beside it being so immediately good to my ears, is I haven't yet posted the short film that 20th Century Women director Mike Mills directed for the record -- I hadn't realized it was online and I could post it. I haven't even watched it myself! So I don't know if it includes the title track, the one that's got me sobbing, but we can find out together. It stars Alicia Vikander and here, here it is:
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Let's Listen To Some Sweet Tunes!

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Two of my favorite bands finally have albums coming out this year after a little bit of a break, and since they've both dropped songs from them in the past week let's close our eyes and press play (okay maybe you should do that in the opposite order) and drink 'em in. Above is "Mourning Song" off of Grizzly Bear's album Painted Ruins - that will be released on August 18th. There's another song out called "Three Rings" which you can listen to right here.

And below is "The System Only Dreams in Total Darkness" off of The National's upcoming record called Sleep Well Beast, which is out on September 8th. Both bands are also touring this year, you can google them to find that out if you care. Now let's all get smooth...

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Cuz I Don't Wanna Get Over You

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Yesterday one of my favorite bands The National performed their song "Sorrow" for six hours straight at MoMA PS1 in Queens, because art. I was there, because art. I didn't stay for all six hours - I got there around around three and hung out, had a couple beers, wandered in and out of the giant dome where they were performing for about an hour or so. I meant to count how many times I heard them sing the song while I was there but it just becomes noise at a certain point - I can only imagine what a feat of endurance it was for them up on stage. Anyway I recorded exactly one go-through of the song, which you can see below. (Hey Pitchfork posted my video!)

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This was my first time seeing the band after seeing the documentary about them at Tribeca a couple weeks back (here's my review) and for the first time it became a thing, identifying them as individual human beings on stage. I've seen them several times before and never cared. Movies are magic.
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Mistaken For Strangers in 215 Words or Less

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I'm not sure I one hundred percent buy the story as Mistaken For Strangers (the new documentary about the band The National as told through the eyes of the lead singer's nobody brother) is selling it - a lot feels oh let's say "nurtured" instead of "manipulated" in the editing room and possibly probably on the shooting end too - how hard would it have been for Tom Berninger to just give himself or his rock star brother several takes on these "off the cuff" developments, anyway? It's pretty clear that somebody with real skill, possibly Mr. Berninger but probably somebody else, whittled this thing down to the rousing underdog story it is today. (And that somebody is a somebody who's most certainly seen American Movie or The King of Kong or any other similar losers-get-their-moment docs from the past several years.) But a rousing underdog story it is, if you can sidestep your side-eye and get lost in its puppy-eyed momentum. And loving The National like I do - there aren't a lot of bands that have their own tags here at MNPP, so they should know I stand with them, not against them - this feels like exactly the sort of rock doc that ought to have been made about them.

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We Finally Have Shirtless Sufjan

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He posted these pictures on his Tumblr last week. He was in Miami, living it up. Oh and for good measure he also posted a picture of an attractive shirtless gentleman there with him, with a link to a scene from The Golden Girls, because he apparently wants to drive me absolutely crazy. I'm seeing him with friends in Brooklyn tonight! Super thrilled!

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I Am Link

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--- Horror Show - Hey look over here's a chat with Bryan Fuller about Hannibal, which is so close I can practically taste it. (Mmmm fleshy.) April 4th, y'all! He tweeted that picture from the set last night of himself with stars Hugh Dancy and Mads Mikkelsen (oh and a corpse dangling from antlers, natch), saying they're just about done shooting the entirety of the first season. I only got to visit the set one time, boo. Well here's to hoping we get tons more seasons and I can go back.

--- End Sooner - Edgar Wright tells us via Twitter the good news - The World's End, his third film with Simon Pegg and Nick Frost following Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz, is going to hit the US a couple of months earlier than expected - it'll be out on August 23rd.

--- Winter Treatise - Our pal Sean chatted with a Game of Thrones writer about the upcoming season and its adherence, or lack thereof, to the corresponding book. If you read between the lines, let's just say... Reek, right? Reek.

--- Here Comes Trouble - I'm gonna sneak a little music news in here, just cuz - Pitchfork has some info on The National's new album, including its cover which you can see there to the right. It's called Trouble Will Find Me and it's set to come out in May. There's also a doc about them that will be opening up the Tribeca Film Fest. We love The National! We're seeing a collaboration between one of the band's members and Sufjan Stevens in Brooklyn this weekend, about which we are pants-wettingly enthusiastic.

--- Fired Up - Also in music news - Arcade Fire is working on a new album right this minute! Well maybe not right this actual minute, it's still sort of early in the day in NYC for that sort of thing. But probably later today, and tomorrow, and so on until they're done! (thx Mac)

--- We Fight Hard - When you label something as "ninja on ninja action" and one of said ninjas is possibly played by our big-time crush Lee Byung-hun, then you'd better deliver what I am thinking of. This clip does not deliver what I was thinking of.
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--- Mars Landing - If you want some details on the Veronica Mars movie that we paid for - you have paid some, right? RIGHT? - then head on over to The Playlist, where they've rounded up some of what Rob Thomas has had to say on the subject. I am still getting such a thrill writing "the Veronica Mars movie" and knowing it's a thing. A thing!!!

--- The Other Man - Bridesmaids adorable Chris O'Dowd apparently has a cameo in the second Thor movie, but it's him on a date with Natalie Portman and not him on a date with Chris Hemsworth, so nobody cares.

--- Sunny Side Benedict - I haven't watched the new Cumberbatch-centric Star Trek Into Darkness trailer but it's right here so's you and I can do that when we do that. I was just tempted to write "Yo Gabba Gabba Cumberbatch" and I have no idea where that came from but let's pretend it never happened.
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--- Start Good - Here's a list of what Film.com calls The 50 Greatest Opening Scenes Of All Time, although I'd say "All Time" is a misnomer because I don't see anything B.C. up on there.

--- Bigger Ben - We don't know much about it except it's called Silk Road and it's a thriller in the vein of The Prisoner, but British horror director Ben Wheatley - he made Kill List and Sightseers - is setting up a tv show at HBO. Don't trust the execs there, Ben! They're Enlightened-murdering monsters!

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Suffy Sidewalks Busy Sidewalks

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We suspected as much the other week when Suffy started up that Xmas-tinged Tumblr but now it's official - Mr. Stevens will be releasing a five EP set of Christmas music on November 13th called Silver & Gold. These EPs will make up the 6th through 10th volumes on top of his previously released five volume Songs For Christmas set. When Suffy does something, he does something. Aiding him on the album are members of The National and Arcade Fire and Cat Martino, among others. Now let's keep our fingers crossed for some super-hipster holiday shows! You can hear the first track called "Christmas Unicorn" right here:

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National President

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One of my fave bands will be performing for one of my fave presidents - The National will perform in Iowa before President Obama gives a speech next week. Lucky Iowan bastards.

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They Say You're A Pervert You're A Vulture

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I'm getting a little punchy at this point this afternoon, so who knows what tomfoolery might come outta my mouth. We're in a danger zone! Problem is I was out way past my bedtime of 11pm last night so I drank a lot of caffeine today and then I took some Sudafed this afternoon for this never-ending cold (I've begun to think of "winter" as a euphemism for cold) and long story short I am fucking delirious right now. I drank all the caffeine - all the caffeine in the world! - because I've got a concert tonight. Namely, The National! I love The National! I'm defecating myself with anticipation. I feel sorry for whoever sits next to me. (That's you, boyfriend.) Anyway I have got an actual purpose here - if you haven't heard The National's new song "Rylan" you should. I like it very much. I hope they perform it tonight. It will make sitting in my own poop much nicer.

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The National Arcade Fire Start A War

Like the title says. Here's The National's Matt Berninger and Arcade Fire's Win Butler singing "Start a War" from their show last night in Chicago. Oh, to have been there! (via)

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Hey I Saw This

The Clogs - read about them here if you've never heard of them - performed here in NYC on Saturday night and I like their most recent album just fine but probably not enough to go see them live... until I read Sufjan was gonna perform with them. Yes I'm one of those people, damn me to hell, whatever. I think he only sings on one song on the album - anyway he only sang one song at the show (which you'll see below) and the show was still a treat so obviously the other folks in the band are doing something right.

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I would've taken a picture or a video myself like this person did but they told us not to do that and I like to follow the rules unlike other lawless hooligans. Still thank you, lawless hooligan, for capturing this moment! It made me nuts that I couldn't. I wish I had your gumption, is my point. Also, I wish I'd had your angle on Suffy's arse.
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Holly Suffy Jolly

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Okay not only did a pair of new Sufjan Stevens Christmas songs make their way online today, but in seeking out a place to download the files as mp3s - read more about them here (they include The National!) and then you can download them right here! - and not just listen to them online I stumbled onto the fantastic Fuck Yeah Sufjan Stevens! tumblr and fell far far down the rabbit hole. So many pictures I've never seen before! And so many without sleeves! It's a Christmas miracle! Hooray! Here are a bunch of my favorites.

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They're The Young Blue Bodies

Finally! I was afraid this wasn't going to show up online but once again I was misunderestimating the power of the technological world we inhabit. I got to see The National perform at Radio City Music Hall on Wednesday night and it was a great show and greatest of all my beloved Sufjan showed up and sang back-up and played tambourine on "Afraid of Everyone" (along with St. Vincent too) and here is the video:

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Oh swoon, yo. You might recall I recently blogged about the news that Sufjan's been recording (or at least working on) his new album at The National's studio in Brooklyn, so this shouldn't have been a complete surprise him showing p. A couple of my friends even mentioned to me beforehand that they thought he might be there. But I didn't think such a wonder could occur. And then it did. Wondrous.
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Sufjan Going National

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Over the past couple weeks I've been feeling a slight tingling in my Suffy-sense. A reborn irritation, if you will, is what it really is - a Sufjan Stevens song came onto my iPod the other week and a wave of anger washed over me. It's been five years since his last proper album came out. FIVE YEARS. I've whined here a few times wondering where the hell he's been but it's been a few months since I've bothered because the lack of any news at all starts to dull one's awareness, even with someone I adore as much as I adore Sufjan, ya know? But lately, these past few days, he's been on my mind. I'd even been thinking I'd do yet another "Where the hell is he?" post if I didn't hear anything.

And then, the heavens opened up and glorious light spilled down. Via Pitchfork:

"... the National's Bryce Dessner, a friend of Sufjan, tells Exclaim! that Sufjan is at work on that elusive new album right now. According to Dessner, Stevens is recording the album at the National's Brooklyn studio.

Dessner says, "We've played on some of the tracks and been listening to some of the stuff as he's been working on it." He added, "It's going to be incredible. It's going to probably blow people's minds."

Dessner also says that the new work won't sound like the music Stevens has released in the past, and he offers the unsurprising tidbit that Sufjan is "very solitary in what he does".

Nothing solid yet, then, but the prospect of a Sufjan/National record should get us through some rainy days."

You guys have heard me mention the current complete obsession I have right now with The National, right? Then imagine what this brief bit of news is doing to me today. Just imagine it. It fucking tingles.
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I Still Owe Money To The Money To The Money I Owe

I haven't stopped listening to The National's latest album High Violet for weeks now. I posted about my obsession on May 10th and it hasn't lessened a bit since then. I think I'm driving my boyfriend loony with it, but I can't help myself, I'm so completely addicted to it. It's fantastic. Here's a video of the fellows performing "Blood Buzz Ohio" at the BAM Opera House recently, with some behind-the-scenes stuff crammed in for good measure. You can watch the entire show here.

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