Sick Day

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I'm sick! I'm laid up with a fever. Anyway pay me no mind, just scroll down, I posted stuff this week, there's plenty to entertain yourselves with. (pic via) Or entertain yourselves with the rumor going around on Twitter that Jake might be joining Denis Villenueve's Dune -- it's totally baseless, somebody put his name onto the film's Letterboxd page and now it's gone, but you gotta admit... it wouldn't be terrible! Since the main remaining role that hasn't been cast is Timothée Chalamet's main antagonist, the supreme douche-bro played by Sting in David Lynch's film. I theorized Alexander Skarsgard for the role when Alex's father got cast as the character's father, but Jake has that by-all-accounts mutually-satisfying Enemy & Prionsers history with Villenueve to consider...

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PPPPPLLLLEEEEEEEEEASSSSEEEE don't let this be a rumor! https://t.co/nx5dPcTIwX

— Matthew St.Clair @ Sundance (@filmguy619) January 31, 2019

To Just the One I Loved Before

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I just realized I haven't posted the trailer for Sorry Angel yet, to which I say... sorry, angels. (Womp womp -- sorry for that, too.) Sorry Angel is this year's great gay romance out of France, directed by Christopher Honoré and starring Pierre Deladonchamps (from Stranger by the Lake) and Vincent Lacoste as a May-December pair who find each other on the brink of December in 1990s Paris. I saw the film at the New York Film Festival back in September and was stunned by it, saying:

"Yet, like all love stories, it turns out that the impossible is possible, probable, and blazingly beautifully alive, for fleeting moments; they will themselves into being, the slippery little suckers, even on the darkest of nights."

You can read the whole swooning review right here -- you should not be surprised in the slightest to see this movie on my "Best of 2019" list; I absolutely adore it. The good news for you people is that the film is coming out in just a couple of weeks, here in New York anyway -- it is appropriately, given the big beating heart of this thing, opening on Valentines Day at the Quad. You wanna watch this movie. Here's the trailer:
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Everything You Ever Need To Know About Life...

... you can learn from:

The Sisters Brothers (2018)

Hermann: Typically when a man wishes another man

a good day he smiles while facing the other person; but

once he passes by the smile drops from his face. Not you.

Your smile remains on your lips after you've turned away.

John: Well I hadn't noticed. It's common courtesy.

Hermann: Not only that. Not everybody does it.

You... take genuine pleasure in communing with others.

5 Off My Head: Good Genes

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This year marks fifteen whole years since the last time Gene Hackman acted in a film, and I'm pretty sure I've heard the gallant cry, "Don't let his last movie be Mooseport!" for at least ten of those year since. I agree though, that would be a tragedy. That said he's turning 89 today so we really might have to make our peace with that. But who knows? perhaps somebody will coax him out -- the rumor floats every couple of years, anyway. Fingers crossed, but hey Mooseport will never define his legacy -- he's got too many classics for that to be true. On that tip here are five of my favorites!

Harry Caul, The Conversation (1974)

"He'll kill you if he gets a chance. I'm not
afraid of death. I am afraid of murder."

Royal Tenenbaum, The Royal Tenenbaums (2001)

"I'm very sorry for your loss. Your mother
was a terribly attractive woman."

Lex Luthor, Superman (1978)

"Some people can read War and Peace and come away
thinking it's a simple adventure story. Others can read
the ingredients on a chewing gum wrapper
and unlock the secrets of the universe."

David Brice, No Way Out (1987)

"He shot himself!"

Buck Barrow, Bonnie & Clyde (1967)

"Hey, you wanna hear a story 'bout this boy? He owned a dairy farm, see. And his ol' Ma, she was kinda sick, you know. And the doctor, he had called him come over, and said, uh, "Uhh listen, your Ma, she's lyin' there, she's just so sick and she's weakly, and uh, uh I want ya to try to persuade her to take a little brandy," you see. Just to pick her spirits up, ya know. And "Ma's a teetotaler," he says. "She wouldn't touch a drop." "Well, I'll tell ya whatcha do, uh," - the doc - "I'll tell ya whatcha do, you bring in a fresh quart of milk every day and you put some brandy in it, see. And see. You try that." So he did. And he doctored it all up with the brandy, fresh milk, and he gave it to his Mom. And she drank a little bit of it, you know. So next day, he brought it in again and she drank a little more, you know. And so they went on that way for the third day and just a little more, and the fourth day, she was, you know, took a little bit more - and then finally, one week later, he gave her the milk and she just drank it down. Boy, she swallowed the whole, whole, whole thing, you know. And she called him over and she said, "Son, whatever you do, don't sell that cow!""

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What are your favorite Gene Hackman performances?

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El Royale Remembrances

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Don't ask me the original source of these (they were on some rando Tumblr) but here are two unedited promotional shots of Chris Hemsworth in character for Bad Times at the El Royale this past year worth taking note of, I'd say. This reminds me that I never reviewed that movie, which is a shame -- they really mucked up its release, at least as far as I personally was concerned, since they dropped it right in the middle of the New York Film Festival. I managed to see it late but even then I was too busy with Important Movies to devote too much thought or energy to this strange little genre riff that nobody else was talking about. 

But funny enough I find myself thinking back on BTATER (how did I just realize its anagram is BTATER?) a lot more than I do say Collette or Mary Queen of Scots, and not just because I think about Chris Hemsworth's pecs every single day I am alive on this earth. There are other things! Cynthia Erivo's show-stopping numbers! Dakota Johnson's swagger! Adokable little Lewis Pullman! I think El Royale might morph into a lifer with a couple more views. Have y'all seen it now that it's out on blu-ray and such? Thoughts?

Quote of the Day

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I've been playing a game of "Avert your eyes, you desperate fool!" all week with Nightingale news -- the new film from The Babadook director Jennifer Kent played at Sundance and got some attention, good attention; you can see our previous coverage of the film right here -- and so far, so good. Perhaps they've played it lightly, the spoiler-squads, since the film was already bought before it played there; we told you that IFC had picked it up in early January. While we wait for a proper release date for that though, Kent is looking ahead and holy crikies, she's apparently going to work with Guillermo Del Toro, says she in a chat with BD:

“Look, we’ve got something on the boil. I’m not being secretive but I’m not sure I can talk about it. It’s something scary and I really admire him and his work. I think he’s a true artist so I’m excited to know more. We’re in [the] early stages of that.”

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Five Frames From ?

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What movie is this?

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Good Morning, World

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Alex Pettyfer, ladies and gentlemen
and none of the above. (via)

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Great Moments In Movie Staches

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Proving anew that TCM is the best TV channel there is out of all the TV channels (at least until there's an "All Jake Gyllenhaal's Nude Scenes All The Time" network aka AJGNSATTTV, I suppose) TCM ran Rainer Werner Fassbinder's final hothouse of a film Querelle on Sunday night, meaning an insomniac grandmother in the suburbs of Spokane might've been switching between Lifetime and Rachel Ray reruns and stumbled upon Brad Davis getting plowed beside a preening Cockatoo. What a wonderful world!

Even though I've got the movie on DVD I recorded the airing because let's give TCM them numbers (I have no idea if they keep track of DVR recordings to be honest, but let's pretend they do) and watched the movie for the dozenth time last night. (See my two absolutely riveting tweets on the subject right here.) And now we're all caught up and can get to the mustaches!

I'd forgotten that a mustache is an integral plot point! It's a pointedly complicated plot about doubling but basically Querelle (Brad Davis) is sort of framing his brother Robert (Laurent Malet) for a murder he committed, so he gets his "good friend" Gil (Hanno Pöschl) to dress up like him to go and try to murder the one person who knows Querelle is guilty, Lieutenant Seblon (Franco Nero).

(Speaking of mustaches.) Of course Querelle can't be trusted and it's all a ruse but nobody cares because he's Brad Fucking Davis and they all want to put their dicks in him or vice versa, and so they all happily get murdered or commit murder or cover up murder for him. Hey, I get it!

Anyway Gil comes back from trying to kill for Querelle and Querelle sees him standing there looking just like his brother and he can't keep his hands off of him -- he finally feels love, or what he thinks of as love, in the arms of his brother's mustachioed doppelgänger. As one does.

That's the brother, in case you're having trouble keeping track. Anyway the kissing scene between Querelle and Gil mirrors perfectly with the first time Querelle sees his brother at the brothel at the start of the film -- a moment where they hold each other close while gut punching in mechanical dance-like motions - it's like West Side Story, but miraculously even gayer.

The dedication seen there in text over the shot references Fassbinder's "friendship" with El Hedi ben Salem, his lover and a frequent actor in his films (he's the leading man in Ali Fear Eats the Soul) -- Salem went to prison in 1977 for stabbing three people after he and RWF had broken up; he hung himself in his cell, but Fassbinder didn't hear of his death until the time he was making Querelle in 1982. And of course Fassbinder himself would be dead from drugs before the film came out.

All of this sadness and death hangs over Querelle like a toxic orange cloud of course, but I still maintain it's one of his funniest movies, turning the knob up on no-homo posturing to eleven, twelve, snapping the goddamned thing right off. It's a candy-colored fairy dance where everybody's in on the joke, play-acting butch extremes with their legs in the air at a moment's notice. Peel that mustache off your face, handsome, so I can say I love you and be the top I was always meant to be at last.

Who's Timmy's Daddy? Oscar Isaac Is

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Well the latest casting announcement for Denis Villenueve's Dune movie is a thriller -- Oscar Isaac is going to play Duke Leto Atreides, father to Paul, played by one Timothée Chalamet. I had to google it - Oscar is sixteen years older than Timmy, so it's technically possible, but they'll still probably age him up a little is my guess. Anyway this means Oscar will be bridging the Star Wars universe with the Dune one, which always seemed inevitable. In Lynch's 1984 film this role was played by a well-bearded Jürgen Prochnow -- I hope they keep the beard! Oscar always looks better with the beard.

Utopia Is Finally Coming For Us All

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Oh we're getting all kinds of exciting news today -- America Honey actress Sasha Lane has been cast as the lead in Amazon's remake of the UK series Utopia, which news-to-me is apparently rolling forward. The last I'd heard on this (I was a huge massive fan of the original series) was four years ago when David Fincher was going to make it with his beloved Rooney Mara -- that clearly never materialized. There was a rumor that Fincher buried the UK version on this side of the pond, keeping it from streaming services so US audiences wouldn't be able to be spoiled.

It's really very much worth seeking out though. The Variety article gives some plot details, if you need them. And the original is actually on Amazon UK, I see. It's find-able. Find it! Anyway now Gillian Flynn, writer of Fincher's Gone Girl (not to mention Widows and Sharp Objects), is on the case -- apparently I missed the announcement back in April when Amazon ordered nine episodes. No other actors have been announced yet but that'll surely be coming so stay tuned.
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Everything You Ever Need To Know About Life...

... you can learn from:

Suspiria (2018)

Madame Blanc: Movement is never mute. It is a language.
It's a series of energetic shapes written in the air like words
forming sentences. Like poems. Like prayers.

Luca Guadagnino's Suspiria hits blu-ray today! Click on over and buy your copy if you haven't already, and then buy one for every person you know. Send a couple to me while you're at it! Make Suspirias rain, yo. The film's been streaming for a couple weeks now but the blu-ray has a trio of featurettes worth checking out about the making of the film, with a focus on the dance sequences and its astonishing make-up. And in related news...

... it is the 42nd anniversary of Dario Argento's classic original film this Friday! In Italy at least, where the movie was released on February 1st, 1977 -- it didn't hit the US until August that year. I guess we'll all just have to watch both movies back to back to back to back this weekend, then!

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Who Wore It Best?

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Even though this question was plainly sitting right there for the asking I hadn't intended on asking it because it seemed quite plain to me which of these two, Timothee Chalamet at the Golden Globes a couple of weeks ago or Michael B. Jordan at this weekend's SAG Awards, had worn the harness best. (That said I would love to see MBJ rocking Timmy's superior outfit.) But then I read Towleroad's piece on the subject (which funny enough gave a shoutout to one of my tweets about it) which egregiously casts Timmy's take in last place -- WTF! -- and so ask I must. (Feel free to write in Adam Rippon if you desire but I like to keep this things down to duos.)

survey solutions

Say Lakeith Stanfield's Name Five Times

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Even though I know better I keep falling for it when people call the upcoming Candyman reboot "Jordan Peele's Candyman" -- I keep thinking this is his next directorial effort after Us comes out next month, but it's not. he wrote the script, and he is producing, but it's Nia DaCosta who is directing the film. DaCosta has one film under her belt called Little Woods, which comes out in April...

Little Woods stars Tessa Thompson and Lily James as sisters who've beaten down by financial circumstances - Tessa deals pharmaceuticals on the side but that starts spiraling out of hand. There's a trailer right here. Yours truly actually saw it an entire year ago at Tribeca, but I never reviewed it for some reason? It's good, I recall, but my memory's a little bit hazy.

Anyway we're not here because of Little Woods, as I'm sure you've figured out by now thanks to this bank of gigantic yellow "Lakeith Stanfield stripping out of his sweater" pictures -- we're here because the rumor's taken hold that Lakeith is going to play Candyman in the Candyman reboot directed by the Little Woods director. This is maybe very good casting!

If you've ever seen Lakeith on an awards show, or in an interview, or in a photo-shoot, or anywhere, literally anywhere, it's pretty clear the dude's got an edge about him -- that's my polite way of saying he seems a little nuts. Nuts is a good quality for an actor to have! And it's an especially good quality for an actor who might play Candyman to have. I am down with this casting, if it comes true. You?

Pics of the Day

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Velvet Buzzsaw premiered in Los Angeles last evening (after having just played Sundance this past weekend) and Billy Magnussen bless him took advantage of his time on the red carpet to hop on top of everybody, pulling his co-stars Jake Gyllenhaal and Tom Sturridge (and momentarily writer-director Dan Gilroy, although he seems to've squirreled out of that fairly quick like, the slippery sucker) into a group hug pile that I'm all in for. The movie hit sNetflix in three days y'all! Hit the jump for a dozen more shots...

Tahar Rahim One Time

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Queen of the World

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Too much of my life as of late has been Winslet-less so I'm pretty happy with all the killer roles she seems to be lining up as of late -- Saoirse Ronan let it slip that Kate's doing a small role in Wes Anderson's new movie The French Dispatch, which already has a crazy loaded cast (previously posted about right here) as is usually how Wes Anderson movies go. I hope that Kate shares the screen with Timmy Chalamet or Tilda Swinton! My mind would kaboom. Anyway this makes two movies Kate & Saoise are starring in together this year -- back in December we told you about the lesbian romance Ammonite that they're leading from the director of God's Own Country, which is a thing we are needless to say absolutely slobbering over. 

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Experience the Team Experience

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The annual "Team Experience" Awards -- voted on by all of the contributors to The Film Experience, including yours truly -- have been posted for the films of 2018, and you can see them right at this link. Although one of my faves didn't make the cut (pour one out for Ben Whishaw) I'm still especially happy with our Supporting Actor picks, which made room for Alessandro Nivola's shattering performance in Disobedience (which I lobbied for enthusiastically earlier last year) as well as Nicholas Hoult's delightful fop turn in The Favourite. Two of the year's absolute best. See all our winners here!

Five Frames From ?

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What movie is this?

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