Good Morning, World

Alexander Ludwig here, writing to tell you that I just can't let your host Jason leave bed quite yet this morning, and so he'll be posting a bit later than usual today. In a few hours, probably. If he can move by then. Well it's either that or he's got a screening to go to and that's what is keeping him offline, but let's all go with my first option just cuz it's more fun for everybody. I'm entertained, anyway.   

Harris Dickinson Seven Times

For a second I was sad to see that Harris Dickinson didn't nab a Golden Globe nomination this morning for his work in Babygirl -- even though his leading lady Nicole Kidman did -- but then I remembered these are the Golden f'ing Globes we're talking about, so who the fuck cares. (Not a question - a statement.)  They also didn't nominate the best performance by any actor this year -- Marianne Jean-Baptiste in Hard Truths -- so her and Harris should go paint the town red that night together, take their sexy talented two-some on the road and live it up like the rock stars they are. That'd be a May December romance for the record books! Anyway I'm more enthusiastic about this Harris photo-shoot than I am anything having to do with the Globes so let's celebrate these! Hit the jump for them all...

Our Black Doves Babies

This one totally snuck up on me -- I didn't know the Netflix series Black Doves starring Ben Whishaw and Keira Knightley as spy buddies was even a thing until this past weekend, and then within 24 hours of me knowing it was a thing I had binged the entire damned series. Anybody else find themselves in similar circumstances? The show was impossible to turn off once I'd started it and suddenly whoosh my whole Saturday was gone. Here is the trailer:

Not since itty bitty Sarah Michelle Gellar kicked ass as Buffy have I had to set aside my disbelief that a stick figure (or in this case a pair of them) could rough up so many bigger bads, but it was worth it -- what an entertaining and enjoyable (and gay gay gay!) show this is. I mean our super-spy gets fucked in the bum in the first episode -- bless you, Ben Whishaw. This show was manna from ye heavens. Watch it if you haven't yet! It's set at Christmas too so it's a perfect holiday treat. 

The Final Destination Has a Date

I am pretty sure the above poster is fan-art, but given we don't have any official posters or images for the next installment in the Final Destination franchise I am just going to share it anyway because we have news to share on that front! Today Final Destination: Bloodlines got a release date! it's coming out on May 16th 2025 so scribble that shit in your calendar right now. Since it's been awhile since we've heard much, let's catch up -- this the sixth entry in my favorite horror movie franchise of them all is coming to us from filmmakers Zach Lipovsky and Adam B. Stein who made the 2018 horror flick Freaks (which I suppose I should catch up with before watching their FD movie so I can know what I should be expecting -- it is on Netflix.) I don't recognize any of the actors that are listed in the cast of the film on IMDb but that's par for the course -- the exception being Tony Todd, and I am curious if our man managed to film his role as William Bludworth, the Coroner who intones about Death's Design in every one of these movies, before he sadly passed? 

That would be an incredible send-off if so, so I sure hope they made that happen. Anyway as I theorized back in March when the subtitle was revealed it seems safe to guess this movie might be about people related to people in the original five films -- that makes sense to me, since a thread that's been raised by the films before is Death's Design being mucked up by babies being born by people who were supposed to die, et cetera. All of that is really just plot gibberish though -- the excuse for why we're there, which is the elaborately plotted death scenes, and I hope they used the fourteen years (!!!) between films to plan some doozies. One cool thing to note -- the movie will be released in IMAX! So let's make these set-pieces big and wild, baby! Cannot wait. 

Five Frames From ?

What movie is this?

It's The End of the World As We Know It

Any fans of Joshua Oppenheimer's documentaries The Act of Killing and The Look of Silence up in here? I count myself as one, a big one, and so I was cautiously optimistic about his new movie The End starring Tilda Swinton, Michael Shannon, and George Mackay -- my caution stemming from 1) it's a musical and y'all probably know I approach that genre with repidation, and 2) it didn't get that striking of a reception from critics when it played at TIFF and Telluride earlier this fall. Nor did it this past weekend when it hit theaters -- it sits at around 50% on Rotten Tomatoes right now. Except I liked it! Count me among the glass-full half of that 50% -- my review went upnat Pajiba yesterday and you can read it right here if you like. I mention this in the review but the movie it most reminded me of was The Umbrellas of Cherbourg, another musical that bucked the system and made of me a fan. (Indeed Cherbourg is probably my favorite movie musical of them all so Oppenheimer was clever to aim for those vibes.) Anyway I totally get why reception's mixed but don't be surprised if you see this baby end up inside my Top 10 of the year, is all I am saying. 

Good Morning, Kelvin

A good Monday to one and all, which we will christen with this very fine new photoshoot of actor Kelvin Harrison Jr. for Numero Netherlands magazine -- I didn't know that he was voicing Lil' Scar (who goes by the name "Taka" pre-scar) in Barry Jenkins' forthcoming The Lion King prequel Mufasa, which isn't quite enough to make me excited for Mufasa; if Barry Jenkins directing it isn't enough to make me excited nothing would be. (Did y'all see Barry basically saying, "Get me the hell out of here already" in an interview last week? LOL cash that check and run, my man!) But hopefully that translates into Baryr making a real movie with Kelvin because I think he's a wonderful actor and they could probably make flesh-and-blood magic with one another. Anyway speaking of flesh (you saw that one coming right) this photoshoot has some and we're rather pleased with that fact so hit the jump and feel the Kelvin...

John Waters Makes His Cinema 2024 Picks

Why am I at work today? Why didn't anybody tell me it was a holiday? Today is the day that John Waters releases his annual Top 10 list and I'm sitting at my desk staring at my computer? I should be slurping egg nog and making Xeroxes of my ass or something. (That's how you celebrate holidays, right?) Anyway click over to Vulture for the full list from the Prince of Puke himself (he stopped writing for Art Forum but I can't remember why; it was something shitty the magazine did though?) Per usual there are picks I adore (I think our final lists will share three titles this year!), picks that I abhor, and unseen picks that go onto my list to see ASAP. Nobody does it better.

Five Frames From ?

What movie is this?

Good Morning, World

Whenever a movie that matters around these parts has a staggered release into the world I feel like I'm a broken megaphone, yelping the same white noise out over and over. So it goes with Luca Guadagnino's Queer, which I saw and loved months ago at NYFF (and reviewed right here) and which got a limited release last week and which is getting a slightly bigger release this weekend. I know I've posted about it a dozen times in the past dozen days but I am nothing if not a good cheerleader when I wanna be. Also a good cheerleader? Actor Drew Starkey, as seen in this brief video for British GQ (via) -- he's getting me excited anyway! And I assume there will be some photos to come from this photoshoot but for now, please enjoy this video of the shoot and a very good morning to each and every one of you:

Pure Love Centipede

Heads-up that Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross' score for Luca Guadagnino's film Queer will apparently be dropping on all of the streaming services at midnight tonight! That's the playlist above (via). No word on a physical release yet but let's keep our fingers crossed -- that said this one admittedly doesn't have the pop appeal of their score for Challengers (which we all know got not one but two stellar vinyl releases this year) and so I have my doubts, especially given we're still waiting for proper releases of their music from Bones & All and The Killer. Sighhhhhhh.

Bruce LaBruce's Movie Premiere Sex Party

Why is the UK getting all the sexy fun stuff this year? First it's Kit Harington's penis -- now queer punk underground filmmaking legend Bruce LaBruce is turning the premiere of his new pornographic art movie into a sex party. The movie is called The Visitor, and it is his XXX-rated take on Pasolini's film Teorama -- that tale as old as time where a hot stranger comes to stay with a family and proceeds to fuck every member of the family, the end. 

On January 11th the film is opening in the U.K. with an "Immersive Cinema Experience" at "an undisclosed location" where attendees will be tossed into a series of spaces recreating scenes in the film that "aims to revive the participatory culture of historical porn theaters." Normally this wouldn't be my scene (I am a shy little wallflower) but fuck it the world is falling apart -- given what is happening in the U.S. this January maybe I should just get on a plane. Or maybe BLB can be kind enough to take this traveling sex circus on the road. We're gonna need things to keep our minds (et cetera) occupied next year, man! Anyway below is the trailer (the film doesn't have a U.S. date yet) and then hit the jump for the full press release...

Colman Domingo Thirty-Two Times

I really wanted to be a little more enraptured with the movie Sing Sing than I ended up being -- it really hasn't stuck with me (although yesterday's news that one of its fine actors finally got exonerated was very cool). But I'll be happy if Colman Domingo manages to score another Oscar nomination for Best Actor anyway, just on the principle of getting more openly gay actors overdue recognition at that backwards instutition. And Colman is terrific in the film, which I suppose is a thing that matters to them as well. (More or less.) Anyway I shared a few photos from Colman's hella fine cover shoot for Variety a couple of weeks ago but now that I have seen there are more photos (via) I obviously feel the need to share them too. So here we are! And there the photos are after the jump...

Five Frames From ?

What movie is this?

Pic of the Day

Saw this new photo from Luca Guadagnino's film Queer going around this morning and hadn't seen it before -- well I had seen this image before obviously since I've seen the film more than once already. But I hadn't seen an official release unto you, the people, until now. And it's an image worth sharing! That is the film's stars Drew Starkey and Daniel Craig obviously -- this comes from the "controversial" last act of the film that seems to be leaving a lot of people flummuxed for some reason that remains inexplicable to me. Here is my review if you'd like to read my thoughts -- I'm sure I get into what I think "it all means" in there. Honestly Guadagnino is a filmmaker whose wavelength is so close to my own that I personally don't really get the confusion but we can't all be me, boy genius. (I do hope you get I'm being a smart-ass about myself here.) Sorry I'm just irritated I saw a critic call the movie "pretentious" last night and nothing riles me up faster than that meaningless word. Calling something pretentious translates in my ears to "I am lazy and didn't feel like engaging with something difficult." There are exceptions of course -- where there's no there there under the outwardly higher aims. But to look at Queer's  enraptured heartache and see emptiness boggles my brain too far, so I am just going with the " lazy and didn't feel like engaging with something difficult" definition in this case. All of that said Queer is getting a wider opening starting this weekend, I hear -- I guess it was just NYC and LA this past one. So go on and get! Maybe you too can find it pretentious!

Good Morning, World

Suns up, guns up.

Today's Fanboy Delusion

 Today Id rather...

... be sword fighting with Paul Mescal.

Five Frames From ?

What movie is this?

Good Morning, Billy

A photoshoot of Billy Magnusson for Men's Health magazine should be slightly more gratuitous than the one we got last week if you ask me -- he is Billy magnusson dammit! But as I just said, he is Billy -- we'll happily slobber all over whatever Billy wants us to slobber all over. And you can tell him I said that too! (No really -- please -- somebody tell him that I said that.) Hit the jump for a couple more of our pretty Billy boy...

Take An Adam Brody Cake Break

Adam Brody being adorable with cake while wearing big fluffy sweaters -- what more does the world need on a cold December afternoon? Everything might be shit everywhere else but there is comfort right here, at least. These photos are for Stylist magazine (via) and I really feel as if they are in their miniscule way making the world a little bit of a better, brighter place, so let us live deliciously. Hit the jump for the shoot and a video of said shoot...