Boys Will Be Beefs

Back in February it was reported that the second season of Netflix's smash hit series Beef would be about dueling couples (meaning original stars Steven Yeun and Ali Wong were not returning) and that said couples were going to be played by in one corner Charles Melton & Cailee Spaeny and in the other corner Jake Gyllenhaal & Anne Hathaway. This obviously excited me! But then the months passed and word was bandied about that our Brokeback besties Jake & Anne were not reuniting for whatever reason, and that Oscar Isaac & Carey Mulligan would be taking their roles instead. And today this has been confirmed as official, via Netflix themselves. And... as much as y'all know I love Jake and Anne... it's impossible to be angry about this swap. It's a good swap as far as swaps are concerned! I love all of these actors and will watch any combination of them go at each other. That said since it's what we're getting... let's hope Oscar & Charles "go at each other" like the lord intended. We deserve that dammit. 

Barry Keoghan Flies High

I should have known not to doubt in Andrea Arnold! I went into the Fish Tank director's latest film Bird with a bit of muted anticipation because the reviews I'd seen had been themselves muted, but I ended up love love loving the film when I saw it at NewFest last week -- and now I have written my review and you can read it at Pajiba. Starring both Barry Keoghan and Franz Rogowski -- talk about catnip to me -- along with newcomer Nykiya Adams, the film isadmittedly a stretch for Arnold, in that it's actually in the end a pretty optimistic movie (imagine that!) and it also wades further out into the realm of magical realism than she ever has before. I mention Alice Rohrwacher's movie Happy As Lazzaro in my review and that movie is very much a sibling to this one; if you've seen that movie then you'll know what I mean. Anyway go read my review and go see this movie when it's out in November! On top of everything else it's got what will inevitably be my favorite scene of the year! Here's the trailer:

Paul Mescal Getting In Gladiator Shape

The time has come for the Gladiator II workout videos! A staple of the PR push for movies where our favorite hot ass actors get into fighting shape we knew we'd be getting these for Paul Mescal beekcake-ening and sure enough, here they be. Well it's just one now but I foresee myself also making gifs out of like a Men's Health cover story video at some point in the near future and I am not mad about it. But for now just an official video!

Gladiator II is out on November 22nd -- pretty much the perfect Thanksgiving movie -- and you'll hear more from me when the time comes on it. Because oh right I saw it last night?

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Yes as I "hinted" at yesterday I was in the presence of Mr. Mescal himself, and saw the movie and the whole deal. You'll hear my opinion about the movie when the time comes but Mr. Mescal in person? All you could hope for. Funny, charming, somehow really genuine-seeming even though he's very much in the period of time where we're all staring dumbly at him not hearing a word he's saying. Honestly though I don't remember a single word he said. I was just like, "Look at that profile... those eyes... swoon..." Although I will say -- it was 80 degrees here in New York yesterday so the fact that he wore pants felt like a slap in the face. I don't care if this is a fancy movie premiere thing -- they make dress shorts now, Paul. Okay my leering aside let's hit the jump for more gifs so we can all leer at Paul together...

Five Frames From ?

What movie is this?

Since nobody guessed this yesterday

here are five more frames to help!

Can you guess the movie?

Good Morning, World

As we've become well accustomed to Behind the Blinds magazine will unload batches of photos from their photoshoots in big drops at random times for months on end, which is how we ended up with these three photos of actor Toby Wallace this morning, coming a month and a half after the first big batch. Fine by me! Entertain me with Toby every few weeks for the rest of my life. Anyway I have no idea when Ron Howard's film Eden is being released -- it played TIFF and from what I saw got good notices -- but look for him there when it is. And no doubt lots of places -- I think Toby's gonna be around for a bit. He is talented in ways that have nothing to do with his flex.

Paul Mescal Skirt Cinema

Okay well today is a half-day for me here on the sit because I am headed out to a preview screening of a certain movie, cough cough, which you might have already guessed given the extremely subtle hints I have dropped above. I should add make sure you check out my social media accounts -- all of which can be seen and followed via this link -- because the screening has a Q&A with the filmmkaer and some extremely ahem exciting members of the cast and I will surely snap some photos to share!

Keep Gay Hope Alive

A lot of people got dicked over by Joaquin Phoenix's sudden exit a couple of days before shooting from Todd Haynes next-film-to-be, but I felt especially bad for actor Danny Ramirez who was set to play the lead opposite Phoenix in the gay romance -- this could've proved a huge break for the Top Gun Maverick actor, probably akin to what May December did for Charles Melton. That shit's gotta sting  for an actor -- there are only so many chances like this that spring up in one's career, if any. Anyway Variety spoke to Ramirez today and got a few quotes from him on the debacle and he keeps it respectful but yeah, obviously he's disappointed. The choice bit though is he does not say the movie is as totally 100% dead as producer Christine Vachon has been maintaining -- when asked about the movie's chances he said, "The most recent update is ‘hopefully.'" Obviously that could be Haynes & Co, or his agent and people even, being nice to Ramirez and trying to not break his heart all at once, but let's just all choose "hopefully" today and keep the hope alive. I know Joaquin (inxplicably) brings funding but there are surely other big names who'd want to work with Todd f'ing Haynes!

Quote of the Day

This one demands a bit of set-up first -- Interview Magazine had Anora star Mikey Madison (seen above) chat with the French legend Isabelle Huppert in its new issue about Sean Baker's film, which Huppert was bowled over by when she saw it at Cannes (where it won the top prize) -- so far so cool. But since it's Isabelle Huppert and she's got the gravitational force of a black hole (I mean this as a compliment to Isabelle obviously) the high point of the interview, for me, was this nonsensical exchange between the two actresses:

MADISON: I want to apologize in advance if you hear barking or whining in the background. I just got a new puppy. 

HUPPERT: What’s his name? 

MADISON: His name is Jam. 

HUPPERT: James? 

MADISON: Jam. I have a cat named Biscuit, so I decided to call him Jam. 

HUPPERT: Jam, like jam? 

MADISON: Yes, like what you put on biscuits and bread. 

HUPPERT: I have a new cat myself that I’m completely in love with. 

MADISON: What’s his or her name? 

HUPPERT: Her name is very, very complicated. That’s the only bad thing about the cat. I don’t even call her because the name is unsayable, actually, so I say, “My love.”

The way Huppert can't comprehend the name "Jam" only to reveal that her cat's name is so complicated as to be literally "unsayable" is the funniest fucking thing I will see this week -- we might as well go home, this is the high point. Bless you, La Huppert!

Isabelle Huppert’s cat when you ask her name https://t.co/sc1yaehBkS pic.twitter.com/FlvPi6UN8z

— Gentleman Doofus (@GentleDoofus) October 21, 2024

Good Morning, World

Good Monday, says Ross Lynch.

Keep Running Up That Pace

Enough things coming up Lee Pace (what a phrase) these past couple of days that a Lee Pace post was demanded of me! Firstly his 2006 film The Fall from the director Tarsem has gotten a re-release in theaters  this weekend which has been wonderful news for people like me who have loved that movie since day one and the rest of you who were dummies who didn't see it but now have the chance to. It's also on Mubi but I recommend going to the theater and taking this beauty in on the big screen -- click here for wheres and whens of that -- as I did last night! And it ruled. I hadn't seen the film in quite some time but it rocked my world all over again. On that same note there is a terrific chat with Pace over at The Playlist today reflecting on making the movie so read that! And now we begin our countdown until Mubi drops the 4K disc of the film -- really hoping it lands before the holidays. 

But wait! This is not all of the Lee Pace news fit to print! Yesterday it was announced that he's joining the cast of The Running Man re-do from director Edgar Wright! I just posted about this movie earlier this week because it already gained a hot ass cast with Glen Powell and Karl Glusman and Josh Brolin set to star in it -- now with Lee it's a veritable smorgasborg of beefcake set to slip into those skintight bodysuits. Good work, Edgar Wright -- now just be gayer than usual about it, please. All of that said hey look it's a photoshoot (via) of Lee I've never posted! Let's do that! Hit the jump for that...

Luca Guadagnino's American Psycho Wait What

I fully changed my attitude toward "remakes" thanks to Luca Guadagnino's 2018 master-class on how to do them right called Suspiria -- I've always been a big fan of Dario Argento's original and I thought a remake was a terrible idea, and then Luca's version came out and he slapped my fucking mouth shut to the point where I now refuse to baldly criticize them on first glance. If an artist is willing to do something as different and interesting with the material as he did there, then by all means let the remakes happen! 

And yet! Luca himself has come to test me today! Because Deadline is reporting that Luca himself is working on remaking one of my absolute favorite movies of all time, one I love way more than I ever loved the original Suspiria -- specifically he's thinking about making a new adaptation of Bret Easton Ellis' novel American Psycho, which I am sure you are all aware Mary Harron turned into a horror comedy masterpiece in the year 2000 with Christian Bale. For god's sake I just posted a gif from that movie less than 24 hours ago!

The thing is -- American Psycho the film works so well exactly because of who made the thing. The team of Mary Harron and screenwriter Guinevere Turner gutted the book's POV and made the character of Patrick Bateman into a much deserved punchline. It's much more of a comedy than it is a horror film, althought the terror of toxic masculinity is very real and felt palpably throughout. 

And I have no doubt that Luca gets all of that -- Steven Soderbergh's favorite screenwriter Scott Z. Burns, who Deadline says is working on the new script, I'm far more dubious about. Which isn't to say I haven't liked many of Burns' scripts -- he wrote The Informant! for god's sake. But perspective is everything, especially with material this questionable, and it'd be very very very easy to slide off the mark with this. It's honestly a miracle that Harron's movie got made and ended up the way it did -- one I wonder at anew every time I think about the movie. Which is quite often here 20+ years on!

And I say all of this with Luca's new film Queer very much at the front of my brain -- I reviewed that yesterday and it's as good as anything Luca has ever made. The man is killing it right now. I should not doubt in Luca. He's proven that time and time again. And the man can direct some horror! And I should also keep in mind that Luca attaches his name to a thousand projects that never get made, so maybe this will go the way of his Brideshead Revisited or his Lord of the Flies movies. Or maybe he'll make a movie of the musical! I love the American Psycho musical!

I am just... listen, in the Deadline article the head of Lionsgate is quoted saying they're thrilled to have a filmmaker like Luca coming on board this "potent and classic IP" and I know that quoite isn't Luca's fault and he would never put it that way but that dude needs to read the room. "Classic IP" rings all of the alarm bells of terror. So..... thoughts???? Help me out here, people. I am bewildered. 

It's Blitz!

I am not sure yet if this is my final NYFF 2024 review or not -- we'll see if inspiration keeps raging over the weekend and into next week or not but I am on a little bit of a roll if I do say so myself -- but today my thoughts on Steve McQueen's upcoming WWII drama Blitz, which closed NYFF this year, landed on Pajiba -- click here to read them. I appear to've dug the movie more than many critics I've read -- it's lean into melodrama suited me just fine, thank you very much -- but it's not without its issues in that it feels like it would've made a better miniseries than movie. I wanted more, basically! Anyway you don't have long to wait for this one -- it's hitting theaters on November 1st and then Apple will drop it on their streaming platform around Thanksgiving. Here is the trailer if you haven't seen it already:

Let's Spread Some Rumours

I don't think I called it this in my review (what, am I supposed to go re-read my review to check?) but I have taken to calling on social media Guy Maddin's new movie Rumours with Cate Blanchett and Alicia Vikander "the funniest movie of the year" and I mean it -- also I should have said that in my review if I didn't, I could've gotten on the damn poster or trailer or something. I am so bad at this job. Wait what are we talking about? Right, Rumours -- Rumours is out today! Here is a link to my review that I apprently refuse to re-read and here is a link to the film's trailer -- yes the same trailer that does not include my quote that may or may not be in said review. Did you hear that this movie is the funniest movie of the year though? Somebody said that and it's totally true. Go see this thing! Zombies jerk off! Cinema!

Today's Fanboy Delusion

 Today I'd rather be...

... getting my hands dirty with Chris Hemsworth.

So... what's the white stuff, Chris?

Barry Keoghan Six Times

Happy birthday, Barry! Barry is 32 today. And not that I had a heap of time since Saltburn to fall out of my Barry Keoghan infatuation but I find it heftily reignited after seeing him in Andrea Arnold's latest film Bird at NewFest earlier this week -- more on that movie soon but he's really wonderful in it (as is the movie as a whole)...

I cannot believe all I’ve seen have been mixed reactions to this movie— I fucking LOVED it. BIRD is top tier Andrea Arnold, funny and observant and surprisingly sweet with what might be my absolute favorite scene of the year pic.twitter.com/8DfcdOTw5U

— Jason Adams (@JAMNPP) October 16, 2024

... and I know per usual posting Barry snaps I'll get a lot of "he's so funny lookin'" comments but please know I am judging you harshly for those every time because you apparently have no room for "extraordinary talent" in your sexy calculations -- when somebody's as good as what they do as Barry is at acting they level up like 300% sexy-wise, in my eyes. Also... I like funny-lookin. It's called "character" y'all. Anyway yeah Bird is super, stay tuned for my thoughts on Bird, and hit the jump for this new shoot...

Five Frames From ?

What movie is this?

Good Morning, World

How nice of Synonyms and We Are Who We Are actor (and dancer) (and MNPP fave)  Tom Mercier to grace our morning with an NYC-themed dance routine (via) -- I knew he was in town and man alive do I wish I'd stumbled on this happening. 

Today's Mood

Drew Starkey Two Times

Have you read my Queer review yet?

You can read it right here at Pajiba.

I know I just posted it but I am, let's say, fixated.

Yeah. Fixated.

Queer is Here (Well My Review Anyway)

The time has come! I toiled over this one for a bit but my NYFF review of Luca Guadagnino's latest, the William S. Burroughs' adaptation Queer, has dropped today -- click on over to Pajiba to read my thoughts. My extremely positive thoughts (surprising precisely nobody). This (like Nickel Boys) is another NYFF movie I made sure to see twice before writing about it and I was extremely glad I did because it benefitted from a re-watch. But then I'm of the mind that nearly everything benefits from a re-watch -- well if you're going to write about it anyway. I didn't even make it halfway through Deadpool and Wolverine before giving up and I won't be "re-watching" that shit nonsense. But Queer is another ball of wax! I'll be re-watching this one a hundred times over. All that said -- Queer is out in limited release at Thanksgiving! Because nothing says "movies with the fam" like Daniel Craig snowballing sperms into Drew Starkey's mouth. In all seriousness I really fretted and sweated over this one, so please click on over to read -- I'm pretty proud of it. Thanks!