Everything You Ever Need To Know About Life...

... you can learn from:

Frank (2014)

Jon: He said I was cherishable, 

and he picked me to join the band. 

Clara: You are fingers being told which keys to push.

Jon: I push my own keys...

Clara: Ten little bits of bone and skin.

Jon: And I'm perfectly capable of going to my

furthest corners and composing music.

Clara: Your furthest corners?

Jon: My furthest corners.

Clara: Someone needs to punch you in the face.

A happy 43 to Maggie Gyllenhaal today! I'm not even gonna mention her brother Jake (except, you know, that time right there) because Maggie's got plans, big plans, all her own this year -- we've been posting a ton about her directorial debut The Lost Daughter, which just finished filming a couple of weeks ago -- it stars Olivia Colman and Dakota Johnson and Peter Sarsgaard and Jessie Buckley and (our biggest reason for the multiple posts) new-BFFs Paul Mescal & Oliver Jackson-Cohen. And I don't mean to devalue her acting-wise -- she's always great, always. Maybe I should fiiiiinally watch The Kindergarten Teacher in her birthday honor? I've been meaning to for two years! What's your favorite Maggie?

Everything You Ever Need To Know About Life...

 ... you can learn from:

The Kindergarten Teacher (2018)

Lisa: Talent is so fragile and so rare. And our culture does everything to crush it. I mean even at four or five, they're coming into school attached to their phones, talking only about TV shows and video games. It's a materialistic culture, and it doesn't support art, or language, or observation. Even my own children, who are great, they don't read. You know, you think maybe it's just a phase. But I worry that it's something larger. A lack of curiosity. A lack of reflection. No one has space for poetry.

I am ashamed to say that I still haven't seen this movie -- I always think Maggie's a phenomenal actress and have heard good things about this one, and good grief this quote is just... let's just say that this quote speaks to me. So I need to move it up my list! Any fans? Maggie's celebrating her 44th birthday today and we wish her the happiest! 

I saw her directorial debut The Lost Daughter -- with the astonishing cast of Olivia Colman, Dakota Johnson, Jesse Buckley, Peter Sarsgaard, Oliver Jackson-Cohen (pictured above if you need an extra push to see this), Paul Mescal, Dagmara Dominczyk and Ed Harris -- back during NYFF and it's terrific, absolutely terrific. I hate that I never got around to writing about it but that time was so busy and the film's not out until December 17th (and the 31st on Netflix) so I'll try to do it next month. Unbelievably I haven't posted the trailer yet, so here's that:

Where'd Ya Get That Gold Chain, Oliver?

A few weeks ago the actors and MNPP legends Oliver Jackson-Cohen and Normal People breakout slash rightful short shorts devotee Paul Mescal were spotted canoodling on a sun-dappled boat together...

I GUESS MY INVITATION TO OLIVER JACKSON-COHEN & PAUL MESCAL’S SEXY BOAT TRIP VACATION GOT LOST IN THE UNITED STATES POSTAL SERVICE pic.twitter.com/ycTJ4bnWaF

— Jason Adams (@JAMNPP) October 17, 2020

... and okay no they weren't "canoodling" but I got you to picture it in your head for a hot sec, didn't I? You are welcome. And they weren't so much "spotted" as they were "Instagramming themselves there in order to make spazzes exactly like yours truly have canoodling fantasies about them." And it's okay! I don't mind being gay-baited in the slightest. If it makes a dent in the centuries of women being asked to paw at each other for straight male fantasies I say so be it! I will suffer for their art.

And there are a couple of pictures of Paul in his short-shorts, just because I felt this post needed more photos. You're welcome. Again. Anyway nobody really seemed to know what the hell Oliver & Paul were hanging out for, since as far as I knew -- and I feel as if I of all people would know an otherwise if an otherwise had existed -- they'd never been spotted together before. Well now we know why! Oliver had joined the cast (thx Mac) of Maggie Gyllenhaal's directorial debut The Lost Daughter, which I told you Mescal would be starring in back in September.

Variety says that Oliver (as well as Ed Harris) joins the already-killer cast, which includes Olivia Colman, Peter "Maggie's Husband" Sarsgaard, the great Jessie Buckley... oh and Dakota Johnson baby! This movie is more than I can even. More than I can even. Here's my original post about it with the details on "what is it about" or whatever, like that matters at this point. 

Paul Mescal Seven Times

Here's some fun news I missed posting about a few weeks back -- Normal People thighs I mean actor Paul Mescal will next be starring in Maggie Gyllenhaal's directorial debut! (thx Mac) You know what that means. That means that when Maggie's brother Jake visits the set him and Paul Mescal will be within jock-sniffing distance of one another. That's what that means. Maybe they can have a Gold Chain showdown like we predicted!!! Anyway the film is called The Lost Daughter and the full cast is truly insane...

... besides Paul it will star Olivia Colman, Jesse Buckley, Peter "I Am Married To The Director" Sarsgaard, and our queen Dakota Johnson! I wrote about the movie at TFE when the majority of the cast was announced in February, aka thirty billion years ago, but the Paul Mescal news -- and more specifically today's appearance of this new photo-shoot of Paul Mescal (via) -- warranted another post, I'd wager. Let's hit the jump for all of the new photos then, since we're here anyway I mean...

Good For The Gays Again

As you might know yours truly is a member of the film critics group called GALECA, which gathers up a bunch of us LGTBQ critics so we can be all queer over movies together, like we do. It's what we live for! Anyway our annual awards, called The Dorians, were announced this week, and you know what? Gay people got taste. I wouldn't say that in all circumstances -- we have seem to have wrought those awful Housewives programs, after all -- but here, in these circumstances, we have proven it this one way. We gave our big awards to Jane Campion's The Power of the Dog (also my personal favorite film of 2021), to Flee, to the fuck-yeah performances of Kristen Stewart in Spencer (and I am aware that that one's proven divisive...

... but I am way firm in the pro camp and I'm incredibly happy we recognized her for the work number one, but she's also queer herself so, you know, gays supporting gays yo!) and Ariana DeBose in West Side Story (also one of our queer compatriots!) -- we showed taste, baby. Add on to that we gave two count them TWO big awards to Pedro Almodovar and I have no notes. No notes. These weren't all my votes (I am a sad for Kodi Smit-McPhee and Jonny Greenwood and my baby Luca) but I am not angry at any of the winners. Not even House of Gucci winning for "Campiest Film" -- I hate that movie, truly, but that prize makes perfect sense. Hit the jump for the full press release...