Do It For Captain America

It's proving exceptionally difficult for me to get any work done today with everything happening in this country -- i.e. its quick descent into absolute fascism ya know, no big whoop -- and so looking at the clock I'm tossing my hands in the air and giving up on fighting the tide. A bunch of hateful morons handed the keys to our country to the same man who tried and failed to flush democracy down the toilet four short years ago, and now we're reaping the collapse we deserve for it. I can't write anything entertaining right this moment. I just have to go scream into a pillow, hug the people I love, and prepare to scream myself hoarse at the protest happening on Saturday -- if you missed my earlier post on that click here. As for the movies opening this weekend Celine "Past Lives" Song's latest Materialists starring Pedro Pascal, Dakota Johnson, and this hot slab of America's Ass pictured here is -- despite the attitude I get from commenters on here whenever I've posted about it! -- worth your time. It's not as good as Past Lives was, but it's way more sticky and weird and unexpected than its typical rom-com trailer would have you believe. Anyway that's the sum total of coherent thinking I can type right now. Please everybody be safe, go to a protest this weekend, and fuck up the fascists. America's Ass is counting on you!

Today's Fanboy Delusion

Today I'd rather be...

... appreciating art with Russell Tovey.

Five Frames From ?

What movie is this?

Just Say No Kings

The only King I recognize is Derek Jarman's film Edward II (pictured above), and so I'm going to use a slice of its beefcake the way Derek intended -- to grab your attention whilst sneaking in a political message. This Saturday there are over 2000 protests scheduled around the country to combat President Nazi's little limp-dick birthday celebration happening, and I expect my MNPP'ers to represent! Click here for an interactive map where you can zoom in and find the one nearest yourself. I'll be scampering about NYC where no big surprise it'll be massive, but as that map shows you there are ones happening in the smallest of towns everywhere. I was proud to see how many are happening in the red farm-town districts of Upstate New York where I grew up -- there's basically one happening in every other town! It's wild. Anyway going to a protest and being among like-minded and mad-as-hell people is exceptionally good for one's mental health -- we're in this together and this is a great big opportunity to exercize our democratic constitutional rights in the face of genuine fascism. There are so many more of us than there are of these small pathetic creeps. Let's show them. 

Good Morning, World

A happy 40th birthday to lil' Davey Franco today -- not so little no more, I suppose, but that's an older picture of him I'm using since it's morning related and I don't believe I've posted it before so Lil' he can stay this particular morning. Have you been keeping up with his Body Horror movie Together co-starring his life-parnter Alison Brie that's out at the end of July? A new poster poped up this week and I think there have been trailers but I have avoided everything because, to quote our beloved Aunt Sassy, I don't need to see that. I just need to see the movie, thank you very much. I figured out what it was about just from the title and the vague description of the plot when I read about it ages ago and everything else they're dropping will just rob me of its presumed pleasures now. I have patience. Except I don't. I'm gonna go email its PR reps right now and find out about screenings, scuse me...

Nothing Comes Between Me & My Alessandro

Finally I get to post about Papa Nivola! No offense to adorable Sam his son who's taken over Hollywood twinkdom with his turn on The White Lotus but Alessandro will always be my bread and butter, so I couldn't run here quick enough when I saw the news that not only does he have a new role... he's got a new GAY role. He's going to be playing none other than the one and only Calvin Klein in Ryan Murphy's upcoming miniseries American Love Story, about the whirlwind romance between John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette. Bessette was working as Klein's publicist in 1992 when she met John-John -- speaking of if you missed my post about model Paul Kelly who's playing JFK Jr. click here and familiarize yourself with that hotness. 

I guess there's a little bit of a physical resemblance between Alessandro and Calvin, something I never would've picked up on without this casting -- anyway you slap him in a white tee and jeans and let Alessandro do his thing (his thing being "act real good") and it'll work. And calling this a "gay" role is probably a bit of a stretch that will never meet those expectations because Calvin was of course married to Kelly Klein during this period, and also one assumes his personal life isn't going to be the focus of his scenes. But who knows! Leave it to Ryan Murphy to insist on a scene where Calvin is fitting Marky Mark for his tighty-whities.

(Which we should note was happening in 1992 on the dot!) But just in case the show doesn't have time for a Marky Mark excursion you can count on me to include a gif, at least! Ahhh those were the days. Anyway another nice side-effect of this casting news is I found this photoshoot of Nivola for Contents magazine that I somehow missed last fall around the time The Brutalist was landing -- read the chat here. Or hit the jump for all the as ever fine Papa Nivola pictures...

Harris Dickinson Five Times

I should be working on reviews today since I'm screening-less but my brain's just kind of begging me for a day of durring it for awhile and accomplishing nothing, so here we are. Thankfully these lovely photos of lovely Harris Dickinson appeared, thereby making my job (or you know my "job") that much easier. I like the shaggy hair on him? Right? He looks lovely. Yes I used "lovely" a third time. Can you tell my brain needs a rest now? Hit the jump for the rest of these yes I said it again lovely photos...

Viva Ponder

One of MNPP's best cyber friends from way way back is the great and legendary Stacie Ponder, who's been running her horror blog Final Girl for... well exactly 20 years today! That's right -- MNPP just celebrated our 20th so Stacie and I started writing on Ye Olde Internet about a week and a half apart in 2005. I don't remember when Stacie and I became aware of each other's sites but it can't have been but a couple years into that and we immediately cyber-bonded as awesome gay people and fans of horror. If y'all know Stacie from Final Girl or from her podcast Gaylords of Darkness or her on-going Twin Peaks podcast "The Detective and the Loglady" then you know she's the bee's knees already -- if not, get aquainted! And it's the perfect time because she's just kicked off a brand new podcast called Final Girl After Dark! It promises to be basically an audio version of her site, and you can test it out because she's already dropped the first episode today. So go wish her site a Happy Birthday and go listen to her new podcast! We adore Stacie and think you will as well. I mean I probably wouldn;'t have ever seen Cathy's Curse if not for her and my life was barren fetid stank without that!

Today's Fanboy Delusion

 Today I'd rather be...

... in need of rescue. 

Save me, David Corenswet! You're my only hope! My pants have fallen off and only you can do something about it! Pardon me my Superman fan fiction here -- Entertainment Weekly dropped their big Superman issue this week (the movie is out in exactly one month!) and every photo of David Corenswet, in and out (ahem) of costume, was like a slap upside the face with a fistful of kryptonite. 

Sight unseen I hope this movie is good and successful because 

I need to continue staring at David Corenswet for a very long time. 

All About Andrea

In between all of the many, many, many Tribeca screenings I've been to over the past several days I did actually manage to drop a review -- click over to Pajiba to read my thoughts on Dragonfly, the latest tour de Andrea Riseborough. She remains one of my favorite actresses working today and this movie offers plenty more fuel for that fire. Oh and her co-star Brenda Blethyn ain't no slouch! Good pretty solidly fucked up movie.

Five Frames From ?

What movie is this?

Good Morning, World

If any one would like to spend their morning helping me figure out wtf is going on with that tattoo on Michele Morrone's lower business you're more than welcome -- the actor shared these pictures on his Insta yesterday and I was like, "Oh hot... oh... huh??" Even the one on his chest -- something about a parade? What is happening? Perhaps they're not for me to understand. They're a secret message to someone else. And yet! These were dropped in public so I feel implicated somehow. Are these my red or blue pills? My white whale? Are Michele Morrone's cum gutters the looking glass? Anyway hi, happy Wednesday. I'm back from several days of Tribeca screenings and uhhh obviously worse for the wear. Let me go contitute myself with some coffee and Cheerios and we'll talk shortly. Hit the jump for more of this abdominal markings mystery...  

Good Monday, World

Jonathan Bailey says Happy Monday!

 

As for me, I say that too -- but I am say that you should remember that I told you on Thursday I'll be in screenings for the Tribeca Film Festival most of today and tomorrow. I should be back here posting like normal come Wednesday though. Still there's no reason we can't have some Pantsless Jonathan Bailey this morning anyway. As a little treat.  

And People Wonder...

... why I will love Dakota Johnson forever.

Sam Nivola Five Times

Rather than leave you all weekend staring at my disappointing take on the Jai Courtney Shark Movie whenever you open the site, let's have a happier event on top -- The White Lotus' twink du jour Sam Nivola's new photoshoot for Dust magazine. He was photographed by the great Ryan McGinley so the photos are the good stuff (I got them off RM's Insta since Dust doesn't seem to have a link, at least not yet) -- I don't know if this is it or there might be more coming, but y'all make due. Oh and P.S. the Tribeca Film Fest begins today so I'm gonna be in screenings off and on for the next week so posting will be erratic. We'll see how it goes when we get there! Hit the jump for the rest of this tight little shoot anyway...

Maybe the Dangerous Animals Were Us All Along

I have been relentlessly hyped for Dangerous Animals, the "Jai Courtney murders people with sharks" movie since it was announced in May of last year -- how could I not be? That description has everything. Jai Courtney. Murder. Sharks. These are my interests boiled down to their essence. Just glance through our archives and you'll see all my ceaseless yapping. So anyway now the movie's in theaters today, the critics have been raving, and... y'all I didn't like it. What? How??? I even watched the movie twice just to make sure! I thought maybe the first view might've been a fluke because I had a really annoying woman sitting next to me at the screening who kept talking through the entire thing -- seriously if your deep insights amount to, "Oh he's dead" maybe keep that shit to yourself? -- but unfortunately the second viewing only cemented my first negative opinion, and even harder. 

Jai himself is a lot of fun, but the rest? Ooof. So yeah go read my review at Pajiba for the all of the gory details. I'm feeling extremely alone on an island with this opinion, too -- like I said as of right now this movie has a positive 88% on Rotten Tomatoes. But I'm right. Since it pains me to say it so much I have to be! It just never threads the needle it needs to between dumb and fun. The script is legitimately and deeply bad (dialogue that made me want to permanently deafen myself) and the movie takes itself stupidly serious. And I hate hate hated the two lead characters that weren't Jai. What a sad day for us all. Well at least we'll always have The Loved Ones, director Sean Byrne. Onto the next...

Just finished a review sort of eviscerating a movie I was really looking forward to and I thought I liked fine on a first watch - we critics can be unwieldy beasts

— Jason Adams (@jamnpp.bsky.social) June 4, 2025 at 5:21 PM

I Always Feel Like Somebody's Watchin' Me

My favorite movie from Sundance this year was the queer-ish thriller Lurker starring Archie Madekwe (Saltburn) playing a rising pop star and Théodore Pellerin as the fanboy who worms his way into his inner circle -- the movie really keeps you on your toes and both the leads (as well as Havana Rose Liu from Bottoms) are absolutely ace. Here is my review of it. Today they dropped the trailer...

... and the poster (see the bottom of this post) since the movie is hitting screens on August 22nd so prepare yourselves! Honestly maybe don't watch the trailer, as it gives a lot up. Just listen to me! Why isn't that enough for you? Have I literally ever steered you wrong? Each and every one of you agree with me 100% of the time and I won't hear otherwise.

Seriously though -- everybody is terrific in this movie but this is sort of the role that Pellerin (an actor I've loved in everything I've seen him in to date) was kind of born to play... which maybe seems like an insult, given the role? But the boy nails it so he shouldn't care. (It probably says more about me than it does him to be honest.) But yeah he's so great in this -- just utterly cuckoo delicious. Will probably be one of my, if not the most, favorite performances of the year. So slap this bitch on your calendar, yo. And hit the jump for a couple more gifs from the trailer of note plus that poster...

Five Frames From ?

What movie is this?

Leave No Ma Behind

I don't know if any of you missed the news yesterday that Octavia Spencer is returning as Ma in Ma 2: The Ma-ening, but I wouldn't want anyone to go without that news so here I am making sure you don't. Yes I made up that title but clearly -- clearly -- that needs to be the title. I am available for script supervision, Octavia! I'm cheap! (Cheap as fuck.) Here is my review of the first movie -- here is the bit that really sells the movie, I think:

"Ma is superficially ninety minutes of ridiculousness and fun, a goof where Missi Pyle gets plowed over for a lark and Luke Evans' peekaboo cock is put to excellent prop use; where a lewdly photographed teenage boy does a gratuitous striptease and Allison Janney gets put in a dog cage."

So let's hope they know the movie they're making and 

they go for it again. Welcome to the Ma Rennassaince! 

Good Morning, World

I had something else planned for our last "Good Morning, World" post of the week this week but when I woke up this morning and opened my phone the first thing social media greeted me with was Jonathan Bailey strutting around in straight boy drag -- plus a skirt! -- for GQ and voila, our fortunes were altered. Doesn't this shoot feel like a somewhat purposeful choice though? To make him come off just a little itty bit butcher as he becomes the leading man in an enormous Hollywood franchise? But then...

... there are also shots like this and I feel as if I should rein in that talk. Not that nominally hetersexual menfolk a la Oscar Isaac and Morgan Spector haven't been rocking the skirt lately as well. Just shots like this...

... feel like such a sudden put-on to me. He's like chugging beer and eating chips in the video -- we're more than halfway to Tradie Porn here. Yes I might be American but I still gleefully know what Tradie Porn is thank you very much. And I think Jonathan certainly knows what it is as well. I don't know. It's early and I'm trying to think too much. Let's just look at the pictures! Hit the jump to just look at the pictures...