Alright Here's an Oscar Post

This happens every year I think, even though I block it out -- it gets to be a few days before the Oscars and they're what my movie people are talking about so I "begrudgingly" do a post about them with some of my wishes or whatever. I rightly got called out for being an exhausting hypocrite when it comes to the Oscars the last time I whined about them -- I've tried to explain the attraction / repulsion thing they bring out of me before but really there's not much to it. It's a part of the movies, love it or hate it, so I just want them to do better if they must, so I can not feel attacked while watching the show in order to indulge my fetish for staring at pretty people wearing pretty clothes. Anyway it's probably clear by now who my favorites are -- I shared my own Top 20 List of 2025 back in January, after all -- but I rattled this off-hand on Bluesky earlier so I might as well share this, my ranking of the Best Picture nominees, here on the site itself:

2026 Best Pictures nominees, as ranked by me!

1. ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER

2. MARTY SUPREME

3. THE SECRET AGENT

4. BUGONIA

5. SENTIMENTAL VALUE

6. SINNERS

7. FRANKENSTEIN

8. HAMNET

9. TRAIN DREAMS

10. F1

No big surprises there! And it's a better batch of nominees than it is worse, so that's nice -- really any of those Top 6 winning Best Picture wouldn't rankle me. Because of the way awards conversations twist everything into shit I do have to keep reminding myself that for the most part I really like Sinners -- nowhere near how much I like its main competetion for this award (and I think we'll all be shocked if it's not either Sinners or OBAA that wins), and some of its champions have gotten real fucking annoying in the past few weeks. But it's a fun movie full of terrific performances and one for-the-record-books sequence. I get why people love it so much. So let's just enjoy the movies and all of those pretty people wearing pretty clothes for a few hours this weekend! The barn's burning down around us otherwise, might as well. Gimme your rankings in the comments!

Who Wore It Best?

online polls

Kind of a surprise to see two hot up-n-comers wearing the same exact outfits on two seperate magazine covers like this! (Shout out to our pal Dennis for catching it.) I posted Connor Storrie's full Vogue shoot just last week right here -- I will share the shoot of Him and Reminders of Him (now there's a double-feature) star Tyriq Withers down below (via). Before that though I just have to add that I just right this minute learned that Tyriq and I share a birthday! I mean he's [redacted] years younger than me but we're both July 15th babies. It's just nice to have somebody besides Linda Ronstadt to celebrate with, is all! (No offense to Linda Ronstadt.) Hit the jump for all the fresh Tyriq...

Everything You Ever Need To Know About Life...

... you can learn from:

New York, New York (1977)

Francine: What's the Theory of Relativity,

that light is curved?

Jimmy: I don't know.

Francine: They say that only five people in the 

whole world, you know, know really what it's about.

Even though she's decidedly not My Thing (save brilliant Cabaret of course) I won't be Bad Gay enough to not wish Liza Minnelli a happy 80th birthday today. I've only seen New York New York one time and save Robert De Niro being hot as hell in it the movie didn't make much of an impression on me -- that said I'll probably watch it again some time since Scorsese is Scorsese. If y'all had to recommend one of her movies that wasn't the two I just mentioned which would you? I don't think I've ever even seen Arthur; if I did I was just a kid and far too young for it. Anyway -- any of you reading Liza's just-released memoir? Any good gossip?

Five Frames From ?

What movie is this?

François Arnaud Seven Times

I am amused at how the Heated Rivalry foursome have been tagging one another with the sexy photoshoots for the past several weeks -- one after another after another after another, Connor Storrie then Robbie G.K. then Hudson Williams then our boy François here rocking a vast array of fashion panties for Cero magazine today...

Truly these all go well beylond "short shorts" -- when a butt-cheek is exposed a la the iconic movie poster for I Spit on Your Grave we've wandered into new territory. I think he is literally just wearing tighty-whities in the photo below? I do think the foursome are in a playful game of one-upmanship with these shoots though, and who's the real winner? We are, of course. Hit the jump for the rest... 

Good Morning, World

Foundation actor and openly gay MNPP crush Dino Fetscher is currently playing the role of "Mary's Teacher" in the U.K version of "Oh, Mary!" -- but then you know this because I posted about it a couple of weeks ago when a hot Dino photoshoot was dropped. And then when another hot photoshoot of Dino dropped yesterday I tried to keep it contained to a post on Bluesky, lest I post photos of Dino too often. But then this THIRD photo-shoot dropped (via) and y'all...

...  I am only so strong. Look at this man! Dreamboat epitome. He was dreamboat epitome even before the stache appeared but now? With the stache? There aren't enough fire or sweatface emojis in all the land. Anyway congratulations to him on being this hot, and I'll share both of the new photoshoots of him doing just that this morning after the jump...

Hokum If Ya Got 'Em

Since I fully refuse to watch horror movie trailers anymore doing these posts where I share horror movie trailers always feels kinda ridiculous -- no I haven't watched this, and honestly I suggest you don't either, but here it is anyway! That said I'm in a real staring-at-the-wall kinda head-space today so this is at least getting my fingers typing. The horror movie trailer in question today is the one for Hokum, director Damian McCarthy's extremely-anticipated-by-me follow-up to Oddity -- does that make it sound like it's a sequel, calling it a "follow-up"? I just mean it's his next movie. Anyway! Hokum stars Adam Scott and it's out on May 1st and I swear to you this is literally all I know about it and all I want to know. I've sort of gleaned from the press materials that it involves a spooky hotel. And I'm good! I was good for everything Damian McCarthy after I watched Oddity honestly (read my review here) because that movie fucking rocks. The movie McCarthy did before that, called Caveat, also rocks, but a little less than Oddity -- Oddity's honestly one of my favorite horrors of the decade. Point being McCarthy is a big up-n-comer as far as I'm concerned and I have very high hopes for Hokum. Fingers crossed. And with that here is that thing you definitely should not watch, then:

Five Frames From ?

What movie is this?

Good Morning, World

Look who popped his head outta his hidey-hole (aww that was Froy's nickname) the other day on Insta -- Richard Madden, the Games of Thrones and Eternals actor who seems to've decided on a generally low profile ever since those things, for reasons unknown. That makes him sound like a groundhog -- hey if Richard Madden making an appearance predicts six more weeks of something, what would that something be? Give me some answers in the comments...

I Dream of Jacob

I was glancing through Tom and Lorenzo's fashion run-down of Jacob Elordi's styles choices this wards season this afternoon -- which reminded me of that astonishingly beautiful gray coat he wore to the Gothams and I swooned anew -- and suddenly I remembered what I over-shared with y'all the last time I posted about Jacob Elordi and... uhhh... now I am fatally distracted again. Funny how one can have such a vivid memory of a non-occurance -- thank the heavens for dreams, the only thing keeping us going these days. Anyway it also reminded I hadn't posted anything from this recent shoot our Oscar-nominated babygirl graced us with, so enjoy. Have a good night. Try to dream about Jacob. Trust me. It helps.

Can You Survive Sexy Taron Egerton?

2026 is, if nothing else good, at least looking like those of us who like looking at Taron Egerton will be fed well -- I already told you about his aptly-titled comedy Everybody Wants To F*ck Me, but I missed the news of the action-thriller called Apex he's in and seen pictured above giving us something to sink our eyes into (via thx). It's a survival thriller that sees him playing the antgonist to Charlize Theron -- it's from Baltasar Kormákur, the Icelandic director of Everest, forever known as the movie that stupidly cut Jake Gyllenhaal's nude scene. Maybe he'll make it up to us this time?

I'm always keeping those fires burning, I am! Anyway this ism out on Netflix on April 24th -- I hope it's good, I hope it's entertaining, I thinkm we all could use a good entertaining action-thriller starring Charlize and Taron right about now. Right? That sounds good. Oh and Eric Bana is in it too, I guess! I just re-watched Hanna last week and man that awesome movie made me miss Eric Bana. (Remember those wet long-johns? JFC.) Let's hope he's more than just the inciting incident of the Charlize's guy who gets killed to prove what a threat Taron is before Charlize kicks his butt. Anyway here's a trailer:

Adam DiMarco Seven Times

Rather attractive actor Adam DiMarco has moved on from his star-making turn on the second season of The White Lotus to having a main role on the series Overcompensating (which is coming back for a second season) as well as in the buzzy upcoming A24 horror flick Undertone -- he has done all of those things and yet it's this V Man cover that sees me here, finally posting about him again. I like what I like dammit! No but seriously seeing him on that cover yesterday reminded me of two things. One, I haven't mentioned that the great Vincent Cassel joined the next season set in France, and that shall not stand. I'm guessing he's playing the concierge role but just because they're always gay on The White Lotus and I'm always on the look-out for some gay Vincent Cassel.

And two -- no one named for the new season yet has been someone who's played a character from an earlier season and that's making me sad. Are y'all fans of the recurring character thing? If no, would you be if it didn't have anything to do with Jennifer Coolidge's character this time? I imagine some people feel the Tanya / Greg thing's been played out -- personally I'd love for DiMarco's character Albie to show up with Haley Lu Richardson's Portia again, which would probably entail some more Tanya stuff but if we got to see Adam clenching his butt-cheeks whilst orgasming again wouldn't it be worth it? I thought so. Anyway pictures, we got pictures, hit the jump for pictures...

New Directors 2026 Ahoy

One of my biggest upsets at Sundance this year was missing out on Leviticus, a queer horror film from Australia about conversion therapy and starring Mia Wasikowska -- since I was covering the fest remotely I tried you have no idea how hard I tried to get my hands on a screener but twasn't to be. Anyway I was glad the film was a hit at the fest and immediately got snatched up by Neon, with the intention of releasing it on June 9th, so I didn't have too long to wait -- well now I've got even less time to waste away without it because Leviticus just got announced as the Opening Night Film at this year's annual "New Directors / New Films" festival here in NYC that the fine folks at FLC and MoMA put on together. Hooray for me! The fest, which will run from April 8th through 19th, just this morning announced their full 2026 line-up today and I'll share it down below -- highlights slapping me across the face right off the bat are that and John Early's film Maddie's Secret, which premiered at TIFF last fall and has the comedian satirizing classic Lifetime thrillers and Influencer Culture and could not sound like more my jam. Hit the jump for the full line-up...

Everything You Ever Need To Know About Life...

 ... you can learn from:

Blue Sunshine (1977)

Man Fleeing Discotheque: There's a 

bald maniac in there, and he's going bat shit!!

Please tell me y'all have seen Blue Sunshine before? I only saw it last year for the first time thanks to the fine folks at Synapse Films who put the movie out in 4K -- and we're posting about it today because they're just today released a standard edition of their previous fancy limited edition set -- and I immediately mourned all the many years I had lived without Blue Sunshine in my life. An absolutely bonkers 70s freak-out in the best sense.

It tells the story of a group of people who took bad acid in their hippie days and then a decade later their brains start melting and sending them into psychotic rages -- a tale as old as time, of course. It is needless to say wildly over the top and a heap of fun -- if you're feeling like you're losing your mind these days I can't recommend this movie enough, which will actually for the briefest of moments make you feel sane again. Or sane in comparison anyway. Big fan!

Five Frames From ?

What movie is this?

Good Morning, World

It's been far too long (five entire years in fact) since we've had a moment to check in with dreamy French-Algerian actor Salim Kechiouche (you probably know him from Blue is the Warmest Color, if nothing else) -- apparently somebody decided to turn Jacques Audiard's 2009 masterpiece A Prophet into a T.V. series? And that's what these are from. Salim doesn't play the Tahar Rahim role (that's a newcomer named Mamadou Sidibé) but then I've no idea how closely this series hews to the movie.If I've got any French readers in the house please fill us in. For now we'll do our thing are stare at Salim being his hot naked self after the jump...

He's Giving Us Woodall

I never saw Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy because I have never given a fuck about those movies -- should I, as a noted Leo Woodall lover, bother? The above gif of him soaking wet in a white button-down cradling a puppy makes me think there may be something in it for me. In related ignorance, is anybody watching Leo's new series Vladimir with Rachel Weisz? Should I watch that? I can no longer make decisions for myself apparently, but earlier today I saw...

... this footage of Leo wanking in a bathroom stall and I decided that maybe I should prioritize Vladimir as well. I'll just have myself A Day of Woodall this upcoming weekend. Sounds like a better way to spend my time than thinking about our imminent Armageddon anyway. Sigh. Where was I? Oh right, Leo. Sweet Leo. Did you hear the rumor that Leo might be playing the younger version of Viggo Mortensen's character Aragorn née Stryder in The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt For Gollum? That would be one way to make me watch yet another unnecessary Tolkein movie. 

Is Calling This 'In The Gay' Too Obvious?

I'm old enough to remember there being an internet rumor like twenty years ago that Jake Gyllenhaal and Henry Cavill were boyfriends for a minute -- that said I'm also old enough to have forgotten any and all context for said rumor. But I definitely remember thinking, "Oh my god that's hot" and at least that much has stuck with me all these decades. Anyway I hadn't thought of that rumor in ages, not until the two were cast opposite one another in Guy Ritchie's new movie called In the Grey, and there they are -- the theoretical exes -- in all their glory. Also...

... leave it to Ritchie to introduce their characters in the just-dropped trailer as prison bunkmates. Any dirty fantasies I'm having about the casting in one of his movies, Guy's gonna get there first. Anyway in general I've never been a Ritchie fan but since I loved his Netflix series The Gentlemen and I liked his last two movies The Covenant (which starred Jake) and The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare (with Henry) well enough, we're on good terms right now. Better than usual. Add on a cast that also includes Rosamund Pike (!!!) and I definitely have higher expectations than I ought to for this. We'll see. 

In the Grey is out on May 15th. And in summation,

here is a gif of Henry Cavill sitting in tight pants:

Joe Alwyn Four Times

As a person who felt some of my earliest "you're different from the other boys" stirrings staring at Jordan from New Kids on the Block, I will always have a thing for guys wearing overalls without anything underneath -- if Joe Alwyn had taken this look one step further and undone one of the straps I'd probably be on the floor right now. Anyway these are modeling photos for Luca Guadagnino's favorite J.W. Anderson (via) and you can see three more after the jump...

Everything You Ever Need To Know About Life...

... you can learn from:

Certfied Copy (2010) 

Elle: After we've seen so many copies of something over so many years, we're not all experts who can stand before an original and understand it. It takes our breath away. Therefore, without the existence of copies, we wouldn't understand originals.

Happy birthday to one of the world's greatest living (or dead) actors Juliette Binoche. I just listened to the "This Had Oscar Buzz" podcast episode on this movie of hers last week, so I've really been jonesing to re-watch it -- it's been a couple years now. I like to take a couple years between watches because I swear to you it feels like a totally different movie every time I do. Just an incredible film, with what might be Binoche's greatest performance. Which, if you've seen a few of her performances, is clearly saying a lot. She is never bad!