Tuesday, June 24, 2025

Say Good Night, Aaron


I'm running to a screening but that shouldn't keep y'all 
from enjoying this new photo of Aaron Taylor-Johnson.

Pics of the Day


In March of last year I told y'all that Karl Glusman had been cast opposite Samara Weaving in a heist thriller called Eeenie Meanie -- then a few weeks later I shared a photo of Karl topless on the set that made me even more excited. Well now we have our first official looks at the movie and...

... they are still speaking my language! (via) Hopefully this is his costume for a majority of the movie. Anyway the news is also saying that this movie is going right to Hulu on August 22nd -- hopefully we get a trailer soon so we can really gauge what we're working with. Not that I'm not already sold. Hit the jump for more Karl...

Everything You Ever Need To Know About Life...

 ... you can learn from:

Sorceror (1977)

Nilo: When the money's up, 
I'm just as good as any of you.

Back in March when Criterion announced that William Friedkin's film Sorceror was getting a 4K release from them -- which it has, today this very day! -- I admitted this movie was only a recent  favorite since I hadn't until a few years ago. But in that brief time it's become much loved by me -- I've now seen it twice on a big screen and if this movie doesn't have you holding your breath you must be dead already. It's wonderful is my point, a top-notch thriller, and I can't wait to check out Criterion's 4K restoration. On a related note I heard that Barnes & Noble's annual summertime Criterion sale starts this Friday! So get your wish lists prepped!


Great Moments In Movie Staches


If you've looked at social media in the past two days you've no doubt seen everybody listing their "Top 10 movies since 2000" lists thanks to a feature in The New York Times making the rounds -- I'm not doing that! I'm not breaking my brain with that list right now. So don't get your hopes up. (Or the opposite I suppose since I don't know how you personally feel about my opinions!) What I am pointing out though is that I think a full 75% of the lists I've seen have had Wong Kar-wai's 2001 masterpiece In the Mood For Love listed on them, which is just and good and correct. And it reminded me that this movie is getting a theatrical re-release for its 25th anniversary! At least in NYC (on June 27th) and LA (on July 4th) but you can click here to check for other locations and times. And they'll also be screening alongside it the hard-to-see short film In the Mood For Love 2001! That one also stars most-beautiful-people Tony Leung and Maggie Cheung, just in different roles -- apparently WKW had intended to do a entire trilogy of ITMFL films but didn't (unless you count the bits in his movie 2046 anyway). You can watch the trailer for both the main film + this short at this link, but as you can see here Tony Leung has a mustache and wears a pink shirt so your eyes might melt outta your head from the hotness. You've been warned!

Pedro Pascal Thirty Times


Pedro Pascal is Vanity Fair's cover-boy for the month what with his big Marvel movie coming out soon and he is looking every inch the swoon in the photoshoot. And you won't believe it but I actually read the interview before posting this time! I wanted to make sure he was still "not talking about his private life" before I did because who knows, perhaps we'd have something to actually report out of it! 

Well we don't. Nothing to report still! He's still "not talking about his private life." What a waste. I will share with y'all the actual quote on this subject from the piece though so you don't have to read the entire thing if you don't feel like it at this point:

"As we wait for the check, we talk about some of the realities of fame. For instance, the internet’s real-time dissection of his coffee order, his vacation reading, and—since, as [Chelsea] Handler said, people of every kind are horny for him—why he doesn’t talk about his own personal life in the press. “I always feel perplexed when I’m identified in whatever form of media as a ‘highly private person,’ because that’s the opposite of me,” he says. “I’m very unprivate in my private life. I just know that personal relationships are such a complex thing to navigate even without having this enormous lens on them.” "

I'm shocked it even came up, honestly -- usually it seems the topic is avoided completely. Whatever, man. We've got Jonny Bailey, I guess. ALL THAT ASIDE it's actually a great profile -- the reason I get so annoyed with Pascal on the "personal life" front is because I find him charming and handsome and intelligent and thoughtful otherwise and I'd like to enjoy him unconditionally without having to go into a rage every time someone calls him an "ally." I know y'all always leave a lot of comments about him being over-hyped when I post about him, but I think he's a natural star. Everybody in the piece who cites his "sad eyes" are right -- perhaps he doesn't want to let on why they're so sad. Alas. Imagine what could be! For now what will be will have to just be this hot photoshoot I guess, so hit the jump for the entire thing... 

Five Frames From ?






What movie is this?

Good Morning, World


I'm just gonna say it:
Bad Bunny seems the Fruit Loop type.

Monday, June 23, 2025

Dog Bites Girl


Super news today (no not the whole World War 3 thing) -- the horror flick When Evil Lurks is getting a sequel! Loved this when it dropped in 2023 -- here is my review -- but I haven't seen it since and something tells me that its apocalyptic vibe would really land on a re-view so might re-watch this tonight in this news' honor. Fans of this movie out here? I already own it on 4K but I've found myself extremely tempted to pre-order Second Sight's upcoming 4K edition anyway because Second Sight releases the most gorgeous sets around -- it's so perfect!


Frankly Dear Give a Damn


It's time for another Tribeca Fest 2025 review from yours truly -- this time I'm tackling the Best Doc winner Natchez, which takes a look at the titular town in Mississippi which earns its tourism dollars off of Ye Olde Antebellum Mansions within its borders. Click here to read my thoughts at Pajiba in full but the baseline is it's a really fantastic documentary and I hope it gets far and wide play because it tells its dark story accessibly and with sharp humor that should hopefully cut the "Heritage not Hate" bullshit off at its knees. 

Five Frames From ?






What movie is this?

Good Morning, World


What better way to kick off a new week -- maybe our last week on Earth? Hmmmm, something to think about! -- then with some video of David Corenswet getting into Superman shape via his trainer  Paolo Mascitti. If ever we needed to believe in a superhero, am I right? Alas we've just got a very pretty actor flexing his butt. but it's better than not even having that so I say enjoy. Smoke em while ya got em. Hit the jump for our hero...

Thursday, June 19, 2025

Lewis Pullman...


... putting the "Pull man" in Pullman.

Flex Yo Lex


As much as I enjoy the photoshoots that Nicky's done alongside his Superman partner David Corenswet (and enjoy them I have) I'm certainly not sad to get a Nothin-But-Nicky shoot too. And this one from Empire magazine feels like the perfect place to leave us soaking for the weekend. Our boy looks good in Kryptonian green, doesn't he? (I'm going to be so torn deciding on who to root for in this movie.) Anyway tomorrow's a Summer Friday for me but there's a good chance I'll drop some Tribeca reviews over the three-day-weekend anyway -- yes the fest's ended, but I do still have more of those coming! I am just as ever running behind, behind, and behind some more. So do stay tuned. And do have a good weekend. And do stay sane, if you can. And as a reward you can hit the jump for the fresh hot Nicky-ness now at hand.. 

Rage Against the Hype Machine


It is starting to feel as if I'm destined to be a curmudgeon about the horror movies people are digging this year, but really it's only actually been two at this point -- there was Dangerous Animals a couple of weeks ago and now there's Danny Boyle's long awaited zombie catch-up 28 Years Later, which hits theaters this weekend and which most other critics seem to be loving. Unfortunately I cannot in good conscience agree! Here is my review at Pajiba. I think the movie looks great and I think Ralph Fiennes is having fun and that's really almost all that worked for me? The kid's fine, I guess. My issues aren't to do with him. I just don't understand any of the people calling it "scary" or even "tense" as I found it to be neither of those things. But even more brains-boggling to me are the people thinking there's genuine emotion or any kind of profundity in this thing -- it's no deeper than a hollowed out eye-socket. I cannot fathom the people I heard around me sniffling emotionally during its last act -- I don't consider myself dead inside. I cry real easy most of the time! But not here. These are shallow unrealized duds of characters being moved around willy-nilly without a single thing of purpose to say -- I am good and truly baffled by some of the reviews I'm reading. You can only give something so much credit for trying something different when it thoroughly fails at what it's trying. Oh well! I'm a fan of the first two movies and generally Boyle as a filmmaker so here's to hoping the next one is better. At least Cillian Murphy will supposedly be back.

Pumpin' With Jai


Believe me -- if I could find a better quality copy of the above photo of Jai Courtney flexing & flashing them abs for Men's Health magazine I would share it -- as of right now it's just the photo they put before his new workout video for them loads and so I couldn't even get a copy without that spinning circle in the middle of it. I feel humiliated, betrayed. What did we do to deserve this treatment, Jai? Is this because I gave your killer shark slash serial killer movie Dangerous Animals a thumbs down in my review? I said YOU were good in it! Sigh. It's hard, being a critic. At least we get this brief moment in the video:

So all's not lost. Actually since it's a several-minute-long video of Jai Courtney working out in a sleeveless tee and shorts lots isn't lost, when it comes right down to it! Naturally I told myself as I watched the video "I ain't giffing all of that! That'd take ages!" And then as I continued to watch it my brain was like, "Well you can at least make a couple gifs..." And then by the end I start making the gifs and next thing you know an hour's passed and I've got several dozen gifs piled up on my desktop. Oh well! My psychosis is to your advantage, per usual. Hit the jump for uhhh yeah 40 or so more gifs (I'm deranged) and also the video itself...

Five Frames From ?






What movie is this?

Good Morning, World


Nico Greetham and Charles Melton ask
that you to have a very nice Thursday. 
Do it for them!

Wednesday, June 18, 2025

A New Queer Action Man


One of the best and most underrated directors working right now is Jeremy Saulnier, the man behind Blue Ruin, Green Room (my favorite), and Rebel Ridge. And so when he gets a new project rolling we sit up -- well we're sitting up twice as fast and twice as high today because Deadline is saying his new thriller will star out gay actor Cory Michael Smith (of May December and Saturday Night fame)! Just say yes to queer leading men! The film is called October and A24 is producing it, and all they'll say about the story is that it's "a fugitive thriller set during Halloween." That's it. And that's all I need. Sold!

Jake News! Jake News!


That there is a picture of Jake giving his final bow at Othello's final performance last week -- and no I never saw it since tickets cost a billion point five billion dollars apiece, marking the first time I missed Jake on stage in NYC. Boo hiss whatever they didn't get any Tony nominations I got my revenge. I'm not here to dance on that bitter grave though -- I'm here because there's Jake News! Jake News! His production company got Amazon to shell out seven figures for the rights to an as-yet unpublished short story called Code Black, which is about a heart surgeon who finds "himself led into a trap where his guile and genius become the only way to stop a plot that threatens both his family and the nation." Mkay. Could be fun! A tight little real-time thriller hopefully -- something a la Red Eye is what I'm picturing. Doesn't sound like a lot of opportunity for Jake to cry in the shower but I'm sure he'll have them write a scene in. He's good like that. 

Five Frames From ?






What movie is this?