Everything You Ever Need To Know About Life...

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True History of the Kelly Gang (2019)

Ned Kelly: My wish for you, my dearest child, is that all the coarse words and cruelty I have related in these pages seem queer and foreign to you, like some strange tale from an ancient world. But if they do not, and you, like I, have suffered from injustice at the hand of oppressors, remember that you are a Kelly, and never forget that you were mine and that you were loved. Whatever they write about me, whatever names I am given or whatever falsehoods are attributed to me, know that much is true. So go out into the world and make of it what you wish. Write your own history. For you are my future now.

A very happy birthday to Mr. Essie Davis himself, the great Aussie writer-director Justin Kurzel -- we're huge fans of his movies which have been non-stop dissections of modern masculinity and its various elaborate grotesqueries. I am ashamed to admit that I still haven't watched his Jacob Elordi series The Long Narrow Road to the North -- have any of you? I mean...

... how have I not watched this yet? Between that and Kelly Gang and Fassbender in Macbeth -- our man knows how to make men look gorgeous when he wants to, and disgusting (Snowtown, Nitram... also the Kelly Gang) also when necesarry. That should wor well if his next project ever starts filming -- I told you about Burning Rainbow Farm all the way in January 2025 but it still hasn't filmed; not sure what's up with that. It will tell the true story of a gay couple who boult a stoner utopia in Michigan in the 90s which became embroiled in a war with the government, and it was set to star Sebastian Stan and Leo Woodall. The people demand this movie happen dammit!

The Kelly Gang's Coming Soon

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

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

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

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

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

Everything You Ever Need To Know About Life...

... you can learn from:

True History of the Kelly Gang (2019)

Sergeant O'Neil: Reminds me of a dog that I once had. It was a mangy old thing. And I am a cruel bastard, so I would whip it every which way. I'd beat on him just for looking at me. So, I figure if you hate on something for long enough, well, he just comes to love you anyway, just for those few moments when you don't.

A happy 47th birthday to the Aussie director Justin Kurzel, who's proved himself to be a real talent in the decade since The Snowtown Murders (aka Snowtown) came out and scarred us all who dared look upon it. (I saw a blue plastic tub in some random other movie the other day and shuddered with a memory from Snowtown, even though I haven't see that movie since it came out.) Well as long as he stuck to smaller stuff anyway -- I wanted to be there for Assassin's Creed but even I couldn't. But Snowtown, his stunning Macbeth film, and his Kelly Gang film, that's a fucking decade. 

And what he's got lined up is giving me a thrill, too -- his latest movie called Nitram, about Australia's worst lone gunman massacre on record, stars Caleb Landry Jones, Essie Davis, and Judy effing Davis, and just played Cannes where I saw good notices. It's out in Australia in September; not sure when we'll see it here in the States but one hopes not long after. There is a trailer, though!

Then there are three future projects he's announced that might come next -- there's the Nazi hunter flick Ruin that got announced in 2018 with Matthias Schoenaerts and Margot Robbie; there's The Siege, about the terrorist attack on the hotel in Mumbai (I would guess this one won't happen though, since Hotel Mumbai already came and went and was, I thought, actually really well made); and then there's the TV series Shantaram starring Kurzel's Kelly Gang actor Charlie Hunnam, about a heroin addict who goes to prison, becomes a doctor, gets embroiled in the mafia, so on. It's based on a semi-autobiographical novel and I know they already at least shot a pilot, as I saw plenty of photos of Charlie on the set last year...

5 Off My Head: Hoult, My Hand

Thanks to Nathaniel over at The Film Experience for reminding me that it's Nicholas Hoult's 31st birthday today! And double the thanks for reminding me of that with gifs of Nicky naked in this year's True History of the Kelly Gang. We are always, always here for him in those sock garters and nothing else. Anyway as Nat said Mr. Hoult's become one of our most exciting young actors, and it ain't just because he looks like he looks  -- Pretty Nicky's got acting talent to boot. He's shown a real spark for comedy in particular. And wigs. Also wigs! And so to celebrate his day, here, a list...

My 5 Favorite Nicholas Hoult Performances

Peter, The Great

Nux, Mad Max: Fury Road

Kenny, A Single Man

R, Warm Bodies

Harley, The Favourite

Runners-up: About a Boy, Equals, Kill Your Friends,

True History of the Kelly Gang

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What are your favorite Nicky perfs?

This Gang's Got Bang

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I am always excited when Snowtown and Macbeth director Justin Kurtzel has a new movie coming out -- yeah okay sure Assassin's Creed was his last one and it was awful, but did you guys SEE those two other movies I mentioned? Every director's allowed a misfire, especially when they try to wrestle ye olde infernal video-game monster to the ground, Fassbender or no along for the flop.

Anyway what I'm trying to say is I was excited about True History of the Kelly Gang before I heard that there's a scene where Nicholas Hoult wears nothing but sock-garters. I really was! But these two new images from the movie, of Hoult's co-stars George MacKay -- our big gratuitous post about George was the first time we mentioned this movie at all -- and Charlie Hunnam below, are even more of a thrill. I mean not "more" than imagining Nicholas Hoult in only sock-garters. Nothing's more thrilling than imagining Nicky in only sock-garters. But these costumes are promising a thrill themselves!

Waters Flows Freely

Knew about these a few days ago but now I can link to them properly, instead of tweeting out a low-res image -- John Waters' Top 10 list for 2020 has arrived! Every year the Prince of Puke himself gifts us with his favorite films via Art Forum magazine, and every year they turn out to be the most delightfully idiosyncratic picks, as you'd expect from the man who filmed Mink Stole giving Divine a rosary-job inside an actual church. Atypically this year I've seen all but two of his eleven choices (he has one tie) -- usually that percentage is even more askew, but maybe my abilities to properly scout out the weird stuff beforehand are getting better. Huzzah, I'm comin' for ya, John!

As for what I haven't seen I haven't watched Aaron Sorkin's The Trial of the Chicago 7 yet (John always loves a courtroom drama about political terrorists), and I hadn't even heard of Netflix's true-crime doc American Murder: The Family Next Door. Any of you seen it? I would link to all of my reviews of his other picks, most of which I've reviewed already, but I don't want to spoil the surprises if you haven't seen the list yet. You can find any reviews of mine then at this link as always, where they're listed in alphabetical order. And now I'd just like to thank John for giving me an opportunity to post a couple pictures of Charlie Hunnam & Nicholas Hoult in True History of the Kelly Gang, a gift I'll always grab at. See lots more back here!

George Mackay, World

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Had a plumbing emergency -- no that is not a euphemism -- this morning so I'm running late late late; thankfully I have this picture of the 1917 star on hand to make quick work of our "Good Mornings" before the Morning is no more. This shot is via WSJ's "Young Hollywood Portfolio" (thanks Mac) which also contains a nice shot of Hereditary actor Alex Wolff worth clicking over for if you care. As for George I see him now and I'm no longer thinking 1917 I'm now thinking about True History of the Kelly Gang, which is in theaters in Australia and then hitting online in eleven days...

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Pic of the Day

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A sane person would've just edited this morning's George Mackay post, wherein I spoke of the movie True History of the Kelly Gang, to include this new photo of Charlie Hunnam in said film (via), but I don't think anybody's confused whether a sane person's running this joint or not. See all of our THOTKG coverage at this link while I close my eyes for five minutes and imagine a bearded Charlie Hunnam wearing a uniform and riding up on a horse to offer me flowers.

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Seb Sees Rainbows

I don't know what's more exciting -- the news I'm about to share or the fact that Sebastian Stan finally cut his hair off! (I am of the mind that he looks much hotter with shorter hair.) Let's tell the news and then you can decide for yourselves -- Sebastian is going to star in the new movie from Snowtown / Macbeth / True History of the Kelly Gang director Justin Kurzel! (And I know Kurzel is married to the great Essie Davis but the man has a very bisexual eye when it comes to making his leading men look sizzling hot.) Based on the true story told in the book called Burning Rainbow Farm (and that will be the film's title) it tells the tale of two gay men...

... named Tom Crosslin and Rollie Rohm who built a hippie stoner utopia in Mighigan, only to go to war with the government over it. I guess it was a big story that got obscured by 9/11 but I have never heard about it -- have you? Anyway Gay Sebastian! Who do we think will play his boyfriend? I'm not sure who's who in that picture above but I have to assume Seb will be the stoner on the right. Oh and further Seb news -- in that same link he says he's also going to star in the next movies from Romanian master Cristian Mungiu (probably best known for the movie 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days but I love love loved his last film R.M.N.) as well as Danish superstar Christian Tafdrup (who made the original Speak No Evil). The man has taste!

Let There Be Essie

Ahh that photo of Essie Davis is making me swoon! Somebody needs to give her a glamour girl role, stat. I mean I love her playing, uhh, complicated mother figures (haha understatement) as much as the next Babadookian (I just made up that word but it stays), but look at her! I wanna see her do something camp -- get her in the Knives Out sequel as a "Madeline Kahn as Mrs White" type, for god's sake. 

Anyway sorry I got distracted by that fabulosity -- listen I know Essie Davis has been a big deal on the Down Under for a very long time and she's probably done glamorous roles in her long career, and if she has I would love for one of you who've been there to witness to point me in the right direction. My experience with Essie has been all post-Babadook, which has gifted us with the complicated mother in Babyteeth, the complicated mother in True History of the Kelly Gang, the complicated Mother Superior in Lambs of God (man I loved that series -- seek it out if you can), and now...

... the complicated and then some mother in The Justice of Bunny King, which is playing Tribeca, and which I just wrote up for The Film Experience, click on over for my thoughts. And yes as seen above it co-stars the also terrific Thomasin McKenzie, who's also become one of my faves over the past couple of years. You'd be wise to seek this one out!

Good Morning, World

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I wish I had gotten to see True History of the Kelly Gang in a theater instead of at home -- I've had trouble writing about it (but then, in case you hadn't noticed, I've been having trouble writing about everything since this *gestures at everything* began) and I think my thoughts might've been more concrete had I been consumed by the movie in the way movie theaters have a habit of making happen. At home, on my TV, I think it lost something -- what should have felt monumental... didn't. It felt like a puffing out of the chest but not an actual honest to goodness chest, know what I mean?

I'd like to give it a re-watch though, and not just -- not just -- because Nicholas Hoult and Charlie Hunnam and George Mackay form a Transformers-like tripod of exquisite male beauty within the thing. Justin Kurzel's proven himself a challenging, surprising filmmaker every time up to bat and I think there's a chance I could connect with it better on a second go-round. All of the pieces are there. The costumes, the mythic staging, the Shakespearean bonkers of it all. We will see.

Anyway I'm not actually here for THOTKG even though I just talked for two paragraphs about it and even though these gifs you see here of Nicky Hoult are from that film -- I'm here because Nicky's series The Great with Elle Fanning premieres on Hulu tomorrow, tomorrow, tomorrow, and I wanna tell you...

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I can’t remember if I’m embargoed or not on The Great but let me just say that Elle Fanning and Nicholas Hoult owe it to all of us to get married and have lots and lots of gorgeous tall talented babies, for it is the beautiful future we all deserve

— Jason Adams (@JAMNPP) May 11, 2020

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... it's fucking dynamite. I was fairly certain it was a show made for me when I posted about it the very first time and then even more sure when we saw the first full trailer (here) but I have indeed seen the show now (all but the finale, that is) and it's My New Favorite Thing. It lives up to the trailer and more -- it's thigh-slappingly funny, stuffed with sumptuously outrageous costumes and characters (there's a deep bench of people doing very funny work) and indeed I could just stare at Elle & Nicky for a thousand more hours. I love this show like I love chocolate cake or oral sex. Chocolate cake AND oral sex, even.

Hoult here in particular continues to prove himself to be one of our best young actors -- this leans pretty hard into what he was doing with The Favourite (not a surprise given it's from The Favourite's writer) but why fix what's not broken? Give me a million shows and movies where he plays a contemptible shit-heel in ridiculous wigs (and, uhh, less -- cough cough keep an eye out for the sixth episode and you shall be rewarded) and I will sign up every goddamned time.

Today's Fanboy Delusion

Today I'd rather be...

... putting my feet up with George Mackay.

I have a feeling I'm being impatient sharing these shots of George in Esquire (via) -- I think more will show up once the article attached to them does and I should probably wait until then to post them with that link... and yet here we are. All of this True History of the Kelly Gang stuff hitting in the past week (didja see Nicholas Hoult in his sock garters this morning?) has me overexcited -- I'll update this post with more pictures and a proper link once that arrives.

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And The Clock Strikes Nicky

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Today was one of them days where I just sort found myself staring at the wall for awhile... I'm sure we're all having those days now and then... more than usual, I mean. Anyway hence the quietude here on the site -- I didn't have anything much to say! And I still don't. But I do have a quartet of new Nicholas Hoult photos to share (via Vanity Fair) that are selling his show The Great with Elle Fanning, which I showed you the new trailer for yesterday; coincidentally Nicky's movie True History of the Kelly Gang (with Charlie Hunnam and George Mackay, which I went on and on about for awhile there) is out on streaming today as well, so it's a real Nicky Time To Be Alive. (Nuthin new there.) Hit the jump for the other three photos...

Good Morning, Jude Law

Our good boy Jude has a couple of movies out this fall -- there's The Order, his FBI versus the white supremiscists thriller (co-starring Nicky Hoult) from Snowtown and True History of the Kelly Gang director Justin Kurzel, and he has Eden, Ron Howard's film telling the true (weird, very weird) story of a group of bohemians and scientists clashing in the Galapagos in the 1920s. I have seen both of these movies, and they are both totally solid entertainments -- from Kurzel, who I revere, a "totally solid entertainment" is less than what I expect. While from Howard it's the opposite since I generally think he's become a terrible director. So a "totally solid entertainment" from him is a step up! 

Either way they're both serious adult movies worth watching, although I doubt they'll make much of a splash in the current entertainment landscape -- well except for Jude showing his dick in Eden. There have already been headlines about that! Anyway point being Jude has stuff coming out (heh, indeed) so he's on the cover of British GQ this month and these are the photos. I haven't read the interview yet so I don't know if he talks about them, if he talks about his penis, or what. So I did it for him. You're welcome, Jude. Hit the jump for the photos...

Pic of the Day

The first official photo of Charlie Hunnam in the forthcoming limited Apple+ series Shantaram has been unveiled via EW (thx Mac), and I was a little surprised in their entire write-up EW never mentioned director Justin Kurzel, who worked with Charlie on True History of the Kelly Gang previously and who I'd for some reason convinced myself to be the creative force behind this show. Wishful thinking, turns out! Kurzel did direct a single episode out of the seven episodes total, but otherwise the show -- an adaptation of Gregory David Roberts's semi-autobiographical book about a former heroin addict falling in love in Bombay in the 1980s -- is coming from The Punisher producer Steve Lightfoot and a bunch of people I'm not familiar with. Well I hope it's good -- we do love our Charlie here at MNPP. See all our previous posts on the series here -- Shantaram premieres on Apple on October 14th.

Pics of the Day

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You shouldn't expect too much coverage of this fall's Toronto Film Festival from yours truly here at MNPP because 2019 marks another year where I didn't apply for press accreditation because I'm a dingbat, and now that they're announcing what they're screening I just feel filled with rage and inadequacy (or I should say more rage and inadequacy than is usual) and even thinking about TIFF will make me crazy for the next few months. But they did indeed announce a bunch of line-up today, you can scan through all the movies right here -- they're screening the fall's must-see's like Justin Kurtzel's True History of the Kelly Gang (that's our boy George MacKay in the lead role up top, starring opposite Charlie Hunnam and Nicholas Hoult)...

... plus Bong Joon-ho's Parasite, Marielle Heller's A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood (we just posted that trailer yesterday), the Safdie Brothers Good Time follow-up Uncut Gems, The Witch director Robert Eggers' latest heavy period horror flick The Lighthouse, Cannes' ecstatically reviewed Portrait of a Lady on Fire, Rian Johnson's Knives Out (trailer here), new flicks from Almodovar and Soderbergh and Noah Baumbach and Taika Waititi and on and on and on. Whatever you guys! You're just showing off now. Check out them all at this link.

Pic of the Day

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Here is a very pleasant set photograph of Charlie Hunnam in (and semi-out of) his costume with his True History of the Kelly Gang director Justin Kurzel (via, click it to embiggen) -- as we've seen in the trailers that've been released he gets even more out of that costume in the movie. Probably not as much out of his costume as Aaron Taylor-Johnson does in A Million Little Pieces, which we just posted this morning and you'll excuse us if it's haunting out brain today -- but hey Charlie's in AMLP too, so there is indeed overlap. I wish Charlie had played the role Giovanni Ribisi did so that shower scene would've been him and Aaron rolling around instead, but I'm not going to complain. I could not possibly.

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The Order of Men

I know that Justin Kurzel, the extremely talented director of Snowtown, Nitram, True History of the Kelly Gang, and the Macbeth with Michael Fassbender, is partnered up with Aussie queen (and Babadook mamma) Essie Davis. But every time he starts casting a movie and it fills up with hot dude after hot dude I... look askance. That's all I am saying. The dude casts his movies like he's me casting a movie. And on that note Deadline has word (thx Mac) that his next flick, a crime thriller called The Order, will star Tye Sheridan, Jude Law, and Nicholas Hoult. And let us recall that the last time Kurzel worked with Nicky, this happened...

That said we should perhaps temper our expectations this go-around since The Order doesn't exactly have a plot that screams sexytimes, as evidenced by this plot description:

"The film adapts the book The Silent Brotherhood by Kevin Flynn and Gary Gerhardt, which chronicles the escalating crimes of the titular white supremacist domestic terror group. It’s set in 1983 amongst the series of increasingly violent bank robberies, counterfeiting operations and armored car heists that frightened communities throughout the Pacific Northwest. As baffled law enforcement agents scrambled for answers, a lone FBI agent (Law), stationed in the sleepy, picturesque town of Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, came to believe the crimes were not the work of traditional, financially motivated criminals, but a group of dangerous domestic terrorists, inspired by a radical, charismatic leader (Hoult), who are plotting a devastating war against the federal government of the United States."

Even though there's no mention of Tye Sheridan's role there it's impossible not to have half the script written, guessing where he fits in -- a young dude who falls under Hoult's entrancing but evil spell, but is torn, Jude Law tries to make him see the light, yadda yadda. It'll be interesting to see Nicky play a terrifying villain type though, right? He's been so hot and friendly lately. Even that dickhead Peter on The Great isn't meant to be utterly terrifying. 

Which is Hotter?

Today we wish a happy 48th birthday to the great Aussie director Justin Kurzel, who's batting a nearly perfect score from where I stand. I say "nearly" because his big foray into Hollywood, his Assassin's Creed adaptation, didn't work at all, save valiant efforts by all involved. But look at the other movies under his belt from the past eleven years -- Snowtown! Macbeth! True History of the Kelly Gang! Nitram! (I still haven't seen his segment in the anthology film The Turning.) 

Those are all terrific movies with a strong directorial voice and vision -- he has already fulfilled the promise of when Snowtown knocked me out in 2011 and then some extra left over. There sure aren't many male directors doing a better job dissecting toxic masculinity in our current moment...

... and that he does it, at least partially anyway, by shooting all of his leading men like I would shoot all of the hot leading men that he keeps hiring? And then even more, you add on the fact that he is married to the queen Essie Davis? We got ourselves a king here!

He's also got a pile of killer projects on the immediate horizon lined up -- his sci-fi flick Morning with Benedict Cumberbatch and Laura Dern! (That one is already filmed.) His limited series Shantaram with Charlie Hunnam! (I believe that's also been filmed, at least partially.) And then there's Ruin, his WWII flick with Margot Robbie and Matthias Schoenaerts -- there hasn't been an update on this one in awhile so it might not be happening, but let's will it to be! Justin Kurzel filming Matthias is a thing I definitely need in this life. Anyway in Kurzel's honor -- and to fill a distinct lack of Michael Fassbender posting recently -- let's do ourselves a poll...

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