Time To Get Obsessed With Michael Johnston

I thought I might spend 2026 feeling more in line with my fellow critics on the horror movies than I did in 2025 -- when I wasn't jiving with movies lik Weapons and Good Boy that my peers were loving -- but my reaction to Obsession, writer-director Curry Barker's extremely well recieved new horror flick out in theaters now, has me second-guessing that instinct. Ciuz I didn't like it! Okay that's a bit harsh -- there are things I do like about it and I do mention them in my review which just dropped over at Pajiba, read it. But generally I think it's not nearly as daring as it believes itself to be -- although one thing I didn't mention there that I will mention here is that the film's leading man is played by that handsome fellow seen above; his name is Michael Johnston and I guess he was on the Teen Wolf series? 

I thought we'd run out of hot guys from that show by now who would force me to once again point out I never watched that show, but here we are. Anyway Johnston is good as the lead and he is very cute and, most importantly, he is also apparently openly gay! We love that for him! And for us! And our imaginations later. (He shows off his bum in the movie and it's one helluva bum y'all.) Anyway I bring up this fact not (just) so I could talk about his bum, but because the fact that casting a gay dude in this role is itself an extra-textual point in the movie's plus column. The movie is working very hard to obliterate the sad boy mindsets of incel straight dudes, and casting a gay guy to play that part is finely subversive stuff. I still think the movie doesn't really succeed with what it's trying to do for reasons I explain in the above-linked review, but it's got stuff going for it! My thoughts are really more mid than they are hateful. And hey that's something. Also something -- Google is telling me Mr. Johnston is partnered with a filmmaker named Anthony Sellitti who you can see below and umm... my goodness.

Tie Him Up With Ribbons

Twee gay absurdist and MNPP fave (as if calling someone a "twee gay absurdist" wouldn't already imply "MNPP fave" all on its own) Julio Torres is releasing a new book this year! It's called The Perfect Gift and in it Torres shares ideas and illustrations of gift ideas -- I'm sure it will take that concept to the same sort of bizarre conceptual places that his treatises on color did in his show Color Theories. (Which P.S. is now streaming on HBO Max!) The book's out in November and you can pre-order it right here -- below is one of the pages from the book to give you an idea of what you're in for. God I love him. I gotta re-watch Problemista stat.

Everything You Ever Need To Know About Life...

 ... you can learn from:

North By Northwest (1959)

Phillip Vandamm: Seems to me you fellows 

could stand  a little less training from the F.B.I. 

and a little more from the Actor's Studio.

Granted I've seen this movie approximately one thousand times but can't you just hear James Mason purring out that rejoinder? God what a voice that man had. I've already used one of these posts a few years back to expound upon the implied homosexual connection between Mason's character and his favorite side-piece henchman played by Martin Landau, but I could go on about how James Mason is like the paltonic ideal of a Hitchcock Baddie for days. Smooth as hell, a gentleman to the end, unspooling a truly ridiculous plot via ludicrous means -- sure why not send Cary Grant to the middle of nowhere to be shot at by a crop duster? Why not, I say! Anyway Mason was born 117 years ago today -- go watch one of his movies! You will not be disappointed. He was always the man.

Five Frames From ?

What movie is this?

Good Morning, World

While the discussion I started on Bluesky (see below) on whether Dune Prophecy and Dangerous Animals actor Josh Heuston is actually a human being or if he is computer-generated rages on here's further proof via his Insta that he is indeed a special-effect. (click to embiggen) Dude is fucking unreal, good grief. I guess he's on some slutty hockey show (non-Heated-Rivalry-edition) right now? Who foresaw slutty hockey shows taking over the world? I sure didn't. Anyway I'm in one hell of a mood this morning due to some dickery from my nemesis the post office so thank you, Josh, for distracting me temporarily. Let's get this Friday over with.

Have we decided whether Josh Heuston is A.I. yet

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— Jason Adams (@jamnpp.bsky.social) May 13, 2026 at 1:13 PM

Jon Bernthal Ten Times

I thought I might save this Esquire magazine photoshoot of Jon Bernthal (which dropped earlier this week) for after I watched the spin-off Punisher episode that dropped after Daredevil finished its latest season, but... well time, man. Time! it is impossible. Never enough. I only just got to The Comeback finale last night  (masterpiece; give Lisa Kudrow her Emmy dammit) and I'm a couple of episodes behind on Half Man (and hello to the person who keeps yelling at me for not writing about that show) so this Punisher shit's just waiting for this weekend at this point. 

So I can no longer excuse keeping these photos from you! Because you obviously had no access to them until right now, as I share them, as I am the only website you visit. The only website you know of! Listen that might sound like nonsense but when the A.I. bots eat up everything else I promise you can still come over here and I'll be rambling nonsense like this alongside photos that have nothing to do with what I am talking about. That's my promise to you! Awful messy human blather. Lucky! On that note hit the jump for the photos...

Everything You Ever Need To Know About Life...

... you can learn from:

Close (2022)

Léo: Imagine that you are a very small chicken. You just hatched. You just opened your eyes for the first time. All ducks are yellow. And you too... But you are much more beautiful than the rest. You are special.

A happy 35 to beautiful gay Belgian director Lukas Dhont today! I never saw his controversial first film Girl (which has a cisgender actor playing a trans girl) but I loved his follow-up Close very very very much -- here is my review. If you still haven't seen it fix that! It's a stunning rumination on the fraught bonds between confused young boys that took me right back to the extraordinary pain and beauty of those years and those relationships of my own. Anyway checking to see what Dhont's got cooking...

... since it's been four years, my man, and I see that he has already finished his follow-up ! Indeed because I ignore Cannes stuff as much as possible I am just realizing it's screening at Cannes this very week! Never come to me for Cannes stuff y'all. I purposefully drag my feet. Anyway it's called Coward and it's about two Belgian soldiers who, during World War I find romance (I'm assuming) while staging cross-dressing theatrical performances in the field. There is a great chat with Dhont over at THR from just two days ago -- read it here. Can't wait to see this! 

Five Frames From ?

What movie is this?

Good Morning, World

A few weeks back I shared with you a photo of the front view of Noah Centineo shooting his memorable scene in the 2026 film Our Hero Balthazar -- far be it from me to deny us a back view now that it's available. (thx Mac) I still hate the existence of that shirt though. Set that shirt on fire! Bastard shirt! I mean we know you're not shy, Noah. (And that link ain't the half of it.) 

ETA the longer I have stared at this photo today (every time I scroll down the site it catches my eye anew) the more I convinced myself that I needed to face Noah off with Phil Dunster's similarly way too small and tight black briefs in Ted Lasso (seen here) -- it's the battle of the pinched butt-cheeks!

online polls

Please David Jonsson Don't Hurt 'Em

There isn't a whole lot of information to share on this project but the information we do have, which is the people involved with it, is enough to warrant a post -- Babygirl and Bodies Bodies Bodies writer-director Halina Reijn's next project is called Please and it is set to star Industry and Alien Romulus actor David Jonsson as well as a little fresh-faced somebody named Connor Storrie who you've perhaps heard of on this very website before. Oh also singer Gracie Abrams and the great Tom Burke of Living and Black Bag fame. Anyway that's it, that's all the info we got, save that Reijn's working with A24 again which makes sense. So we'll keep our eyes and ears and you know other parts attuned to this frequency to share further information down the road. For now enjoy these two very sexy photos of David! (I hope he comes back for the final season of Industry. I hated the way his gay character just disappeared. He needs to come back so he can fuck Sir Henry, dammit!)

5 Off My Head: The Steak F*cker Supreme

The sparkling vampire with the iconic up-do is celebrating his 40th today! Robert Pattinson aka RPattz is officially the big four-oh, slamming the door not just on twinkdom but twunkdom altogether. Which is fine by me because our man just keeps getting better and finer with age -- I don't care what people are saying about his wonky accent work in The Odyssey or Dune 3 trailers, as I love it when Rob gifts us a wonky accent. Remember his Pepé Le Pew accent work in The King? 

You probably don't remember that, because who remembers The King. But it made that entire movie spring to life, it did, I swear. Anyway I'm going to finally give you my list of five favorite performances now, and lemme tell you -- one of these is a favorite quite possibly entirely due to the accent he adopts for the film. (I won't say which one and it could go for several but I mean one specifically and if you've seen it you probably know what one I'm talking about.) Anyway it took some time (I still haven't seen a single Twilight movie) but I've fully come to love it whenever Rob shows up anywhere -- I do miss...

... the interviews where he'd gleefully spit out nonsense like how he really jerked off on camera because he couldn't fake an oh-face for that Gay Salvador Dali movie he made, but I guess he's 40 now. He has to be semi-respectable. Hehe "semi." Well clearly turning 40 didn't make me grow up! Take note, Rob!

My 5 Favorite Robert Pattinson Performances

Connie, Good Time

"You know what, tonight, as fucked up as it is, I just think... I think something very important is happening and it's deeply connected to my purpose. And I think that you are somehow connected to it as well. I mean, do you feel me at all? Or do I just sound like a total faggot?"

Thomas, The Lighthouse

"Goddamn yer farts! You smell like piss, you smell like jism, like rotten dick, like curdled foreskin, like hot onions fucked a farmyard shit-house. "

Jackson, Die My Love

"Maybe if I spend a little less time with my hands down my pants and a little more time writing, maybe I'd write something, maybe."

Monte, High Life

"The sensation of moving backwards even though we are moving forwards, getting further from what's getting nearer, sometimes I just can't stand it."

Samuel, Damsel

"Regular horses don't have names,
they're just, uh, you know, regular."

-------------------------------

Runners-up: Mickey 17, The Lost City of Z,
Cosmopolis, Maps To the Stars 

 So what are your favorites?

Pics of the Day

I keep thinking that The Four Seasons is a T.V. show about the music group... which I guess just makes me look old. It's not -- it's a relationship dramedy on Netflix from producer Tina Fey about three couples who are close friends whose lives are upended when one dude (played by Steve Carell) leaves his wife for a younger woman. Anyway Out magazine cover hunks Colman Domingo and Marco Calvani play another one of the couples on the series and you can read how that all happened in their chat at the link -- I didn't know that Calvani is married to Brazilian actor and also-hot-as-hell fucker Marco Pigossi (seen in the films Bone Lake and High Tide recently). I love the story involves all of these hot gay people "hanging out" -- I know how to read between the lines! (Orgies. I am picturing orgies.) Anybody watching this show?

Five Frames From ?

What movie is this?

Good Morning, World

I'm back! Did you miss me? I think Jacob Elordi missed me because he spent the entire week sipping his juice (Shelby!) and freeballing it rhythmically in wait. I'm not gonna tell him to stop, though -- are you? Nobody needs you to stop, Jacob. Just keep going, my boy.  Anyway hi! Let's all try to get moving again... 

  

The Boys in the Bland

Much like Jake Gyllenhaal & Henry Cavill seen there on the set of Guy Ritchie's forthcoming In the Grey my instrument sometimes requires rest too -- honestly, based off nothing but the trailers and the fact that this movie is not being screened for critics, I'm still not convinced my big furry boys were working themselves ragged even when the film camera was turned on and pointed at them. But the comparison stands -- as mentioned this morning I'm taking a week off to visit family slash friends upstate and so this post is it until next Wednesday. And hopefully this wee break will refresh my enviable prose and dashing wit a bit while I'm at it. Or, you know, perhaps I will find either of those things for the first time in my life. Anything's possible! Have a nice seven days and no I don't at all mean that in a "The Ring" curse sort of way, I promise. Bye!

Today's pornography

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— Jason Adams (@jamnpp.bsky.social) May 6, 2026 at 12:26 PM

Scarjo the Scapegoat

Kee-rist there's a lot of big awesome movie news dropping today! I already told you that both Jennifer Kent (here) and Charlie Kaufman (here) announced their new movies -- well let's make it a triple cuz now we've got word on Ari Aster's! He's back with A24 for his Eddington follow-up because of course he is, they good people who don't toss him in the trash because that movie lost a lot of money -- perhaps it's the fact that he's bringing a little somebody named Scarlett Johansson along with him? At least some studios are still in the business of banking on stars -- will this be her first movie with them since Under the Skin? Anyway of course we know nothing about the plot, but we do have the title -- it'll be called Scapegoat. I dare y'all to come up with what you think the plot of an Ari Aster movie called Scapegoat starring Scarlet Johansson might look like in the comments. I'm going to be away for a week so that gives you time...

The Grandier High Witches!

We've got updates to yesterday's movie-nerd-rupturing news that Ken Russell's 1971 masterpiece The Devils has gotten a 4K restoration and it will premiere at Cannes later this month -- it's going to play in U.S. movie theaters too! It's getting a one week theatrical engagment on october 1th and there's the poster above -- the poster calls this "The Director's Cut" and they sent out more detail via their press release:

"Assembled from the original camera negative, this new 4K restoration presents Ken Russell's definitive vision of THE DEVILS by referencing the edit he privately constructed in 2004. KEN RUSSELL'S THE DEVILS is the uncut and unfiltered theatrical experience that Russell always envisioned - and the first time the film will be presented restored and in 4K... This new 4K restoration of Ken Russell's masterpiece was assembled from the original camera negative. The film's sound has been remastered from original English Composite 35mm Mag Film, transferred at 96kHz, plus other original film elements in selected spots as needed. "

Granted it's only been twenty-four hours but this news is still breaking my brain -- I can't believe the White Whale has been speared! While not confirming confirming a physical media release I hugely doubt we need to worry about that at this point -- now that it's not a one time Cannes thing I fully expect a 4K disc down the road. Hopefully in time for the holidays so every one of us sickos can gift our families The Devils in their stockings! Anyway they also sent along some images from the restored film and prepare to have your eyes blown back through your heads after the jump...

Plug Her In, Plug Her In

I'm glad that Yellowjackets actor Sophie Thatcher has broken out from that show -- she was immensely watchable even in movies like Heretic and Companion, both of which I personally found extremely underwhelming. I wasn't in the majority with those opinions, most people seemed to love those movies, but they both felt half-baked to me. But not her work in them! She's great. So I'm glad she's the star of the new Nicolas Winding Refn movie, and I am extremely happy about this morning's new news -- she's going to star in the new movie from The Babadook director Jennifer Kent! Okay the thing I am excited about is that Jennifer Kent is making another movie -- it's been EIGHT YEARS since The Nightingale y'all (make that make sense) -- but Sophie can ride that wave. The movie's called The Girl Who Was Plugged In (which yes could've been an alternate title for Companion) and it's based on a 1974 sci-fi novella by writer  James Tiptree, Jr, and... yeah this is very Companion-adjacent sounding through and through:

"The surreal dystopian tale revolves around a woman who loses her soul to technology in an effort to be loved. Thatcher plays disfigured, suicidal young protagonist P Burke who is hired by a mega tech corporation to virtually operate a beautiful but brainless ‘flesh body’ called Delphi, grown in a lab with the sole purpose of influencing the masses and selling products. "

But I have no doubt Kent will make her own thing, and Companion will entirely slough off our brains watching this. And I'd be fine with that! Doesn't feel like a massive loss to me.