my new plaid pants

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 His production company got Amazon to shell out seven figures for the rights to an as-yet unpublished short story called Code Black, which is about a heart surgeon who finds "himself led into a trap where his guile and genius become the only way to stop a plot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?

Today's Fanboy Delusion

Today I'd rather be...

... Jason Momoa's handler.

I've seen enough shows and movies that are about Hollywood movie productions to know that a "handler" doesn't do what I am at this moment insinuating I would do, but that's what keeps y'all coming back here -- oh, the wit! The wordplay! Dorothy Parker whomst? Anyway we got couple of promising pictures from Jason's new Apple+ series Chief of War back in April but seeing him rock that loincloth in magnificent motion? Priceless. Hit the jump for this little tidbit of footage (and more bounteous gifs of course)...

If I thought the hits were coming hard and fast yesterday I can't even keep up today -- it's barely 11am and we've already has Aaron Taylor-Johnson in just a pair of leather pants playing with a knife in bed and Morgan Spector in a sheer tank top talking about bottoming. And now we've got Jonathan Bailey rocking a lot more leather -- I guess leather is 2025's fetish-wear du jour -- for THR where he's talking his big man action role in the new Jurassic Park movie.

Phew! I haven't been this worn out this early in the day since Pride Weekend 2001. Aaaaanyway no I haven't read the interview yet but I'll go do that once I've finished posting the photos -- of course that bit me in the bum on that Morgan Spector post because I only realized he spent a portion of it talking about bottoming after I'd done my post. Oh well! The world moves too fast sometimes, even for Morgan Spector bottoming. How many times can I say that phrase? I just like saying it. "Morgan Spector bottoming." Fuck "Cellar Door." Ahem. We're here for Jonny! Hit the jump for more...

When I posted those sexy photos of Gilded Age star Morgan Spector in Rolling Stone last night I really didn't expect we'd get an even sexier photoshoot first thing the next morning but here we are! GQ saw RS's black tank top and one-upped them with a see-through one! Granted it's only two of several photos that have him wearing this exact outfit, but that exact outfit is enough to win the war. (Until tomorrow when he poses in sheer underwear, I whisper unto heaven.) (As an aside looking at these photos naturally got me thinking about Morgan's old nude scene that I giffed in this post -- good times.) Anyway blessings upon them, us, Morgan, everything. Hit the jump for the full shoot...

When we got the first image of Aaron Taylor-Johnson being Sex for YSL on Monday I figured we'd be getting more this week -- it's probably best they skipped yesterday though because yesterday belonged to Charles Melton jumping rope half-naked. That won Tuesday, and Tuesday belonged to Melton. But now it's Wednesday, it's Hump Day, and here is our humpy Aaron fulfilling his duties as the humpiest of them all, huzzah.

You know it's really a shame that Hollywood doesn't make horny movies anymore because Aaron should be starring in horny movies -- instead they keep sticking him in sexless action things and he keeps not making an impression. But I bet he could kill it as a fuckboy -- excuse me, he's a fuckman now -- in a seedy dangerous erotic thriller kind of movie. Like a Brian De Palma movie but one directed by a woman or a gay man. Alas! Those movies don't exist right now. I guess it's just the stuff of fashion ads. And here we are. Hit the jump for more gifs and the video...

Morgan Spector Six Times

I've got a short day at my desk today because I've only got a handful of hours sandwiched in between two screenings, one this morning and one this evening -- so I'm technically trying to get work done (so many Tribeca reviews still left to write). But photoshoots like this keep jumping onto my face and keeping me from it! What can be done though? Just post Morgan Spector's beautiful curly mop of perfect hair and exceptional biceps in Rolling Stone and carry on, I suppose. That's how that famous saying goes right? Anyway I'm sure you're all aware that The Gilded Age is starting back up -- has it already started? I am not sure since I've been buried in said Tribeca stuff but if I had to guess I'd guess it starts this weekend. Perhaps one of you people can set me straight. But not too straight! Then these photos would do nothing for me and what would even be the point of living if that was the case? Hit the jump for them all...

It was extremely kind of the world to give me a reason to post these photos of Josh O'Connor chilling at the beach beyond just posting photos of Josh O'Connor chilling at the beach -- I have actual Josh O'Connor news to share! It'd have been even nicer if he'd been canoodling on the beach with Paul Mescal instead of some girl, but I'll take what I can get. The History of Sound, the gay romance starring Josh & Paul and directed by Oliver Hermanus -- we've talked about this movie a couple of times, ahem -- just got a release date! It's hitting the streets on September 12th! That's only 87 days away! So if the world could continue turning until September 12th I'd fucking appreciate it, mkay? Thanks. Now with that aisde let's get back to the whole "Josh O'Connor chilling at the beach" thing and hit the jump for more several photos...

Time for another Tribeca 2025 review! I have a feeling that this one will play even better for people who are parents, but forever and proudly childless me really liked the German satire What Marielle Knows, which is about what happens when a teenage girl suddenly gains the supernatural ability to know everything her mom and dad are doing and saying at all times. Click over to Pajiba to read my review. It 100% feels like a movie that will be remade poorly here in the U.S. so try to see this original version first. It gets real dark in a very funny way, which I could see Hollywood really bastardizing and missing the entire point of.

Today's Fanboy Delusion

Today I'd rather be...

... jumping all over Charles Melton.

The wise wise folks over at Coach decided to hire actor Charles Melton to be the mustachioed face (and body) of their latest sneaker campaign and I know I keep saying this whenever anything positive and good happens lately but -- we deserve this. With all the otherwise general shittiness going on this is truly an actor using their power for good. Think of him as our version of Shirley Temple during the Great Depression. His abs are our Busby Berkeley, baby. Hit the jump for more gifs and the video...

What movie is this?

Good Morning, Gratuitous Michele Morrone

Italian actor Michele Morrone of 365 Days Netflix smut infamy has been doing a very good job raising his beefcake standing lately because this is now my second post on him in as many weeks and I don't feel dirty about it at all. Okay maybe I do feel dirty but just because he's making me think dirty thoughts -- it's not because those movies were trash anymore! More recently he was in paul Feig's A Simple Favor sequel -- playing gay! -- but given I was extremely distracted by Henry Golding's beautiful butt I didn't pay poor Michele much mind there. No more!

He's grabbed the mic back! And he's got plenty of work lined up -- most importantly and surprising nobody he's been hired by gayest-straight-man-working Guy Ritchie for a couple of episodes of the second season of The Gentlemen series opposite Theo James. And that show, despite Guy Ritchie, absolutely rules. And -- also surprising nobody -- other-gayest-straight-man-working Paul Feig booked Michele again for his adaptation of the bestseller The Housemaid with Sydney Sweeney and Amanda Seyfried. (Also sexy Brandon Skelner!)

Point being it's a good time to be an obscenely gorgeous Italian man -- who knew? Who could have guessed? Well to the benefit of us all Dolce & Gabbana did and they hired him for their most advertising, and now they are releasing a fancy hardcover book of the photos and outtakes in September, and some of those images are what you're drooling over here in between my ramblings. Huzzah, everything! What a wonderful world we live in! Nothing bad whatsoever! Hit the jump for a pile more photos so we can keep pretending...

Karl Glusman Makes Love...

... not war.

Let's Do the Brokeback Again

I can't imagine any of my readers don't already know that this year marks the 20th anniversary of Ang Lee's masterpiece Brokeback Mountain and that it's getting re-released into movie theaters for the ocassion -- in case you haven't already bought your tickets and gotten your Jack Twist cosplay prepped here is a link for the former endeavor anyway. And Focus just dropped the above new poster for the occasion as well. I like that Jack & Ennis actually get to touch now here 20 years later, as opposed to the original one-sheet (seen below). That's called progress! Anyway this movie and MNPP itself are pretty inextricably linked -- we just celebrated our 20th anniversary and my writing about Brokeback is what originally got people coming over here to visit. (Notably my pal Nathaniel Rogers at The Film Experience became a fan and so I started writing for him and yadda yadda here we are.) If you click that last link and keep scanning through the many many pages you'll see -- we've been talking these beautiful sad boys for twenty straight (ahem) years. I don't expect that to quit either. Because why? Say it with me! We don't know how to quit them!

Take a Lee Pace Lunch Break

I was a really big fan of Lucio Castro's queer romance End of the Century the first time I saw it in 2019 (here is what I wrote about it) and it's only grown better with every successive viewing. So needless to say I was pretty excited when I saw that Castro's new movie After This Death starring Lee Pace was playing at Tribeca this year! It was probably my most anticipated at the entire fest and it did not let me down -- I absolutely loved it, go read my thoughts over at Pajiba. I tried to not be spoilery but to be honest it's kind of an impossible movie to spoil because it's all about the vibe. Even knowing what's going on plot-wise won't get in the weird way of how Castro tells the story. I was enthused, to put it mildly, to see that he's already finished another movie and it played Cannes last month (and a quick scan of reviews showed me people seemed to like it) so we might get it also this year? We deserve this.

From Flow to Flames, Criterion Turns It Up to 11

Wowza this month flew by -- it feels like just yesterday we were speaking upon the movies that Criterion is dropping this upcoming August and now here's their September batch now upon us! I suppose we did have the announcement of their glorious and gorgeous Wes Anderson box-set in between -- that's a September release too, landing at the end of the month on the 30th. September is loaded to the gills though -- on top of all that Anderson (which also includes individual releases for Isle of Dogs and The French Dispatch) there are six more titles being unloaded. I guess they know people are starting their holiday shopping right about then? Aaaanyway let's get into it -- first up there's a Jacques Audiard movie I've yet to see, his 2001 movie Read My Lips starring Vincent Cassel and Emmanuelle Devos. He's an ex-con who gets hired as her assistant and who drags her into some sort of Noir-ish scheme -- I am down. I was down as sort as I saw Vincent with a mustache honestly. But speaking of sexy men in Audiard movies...

... we're also getting his 2005 movie The Beat That My Heart Skipped sdtarring prime Romain Duris as a pianist (I said pianist!) whose own shady pops is trying to drag him downward. I have seen this one and it's grand -- def recommended. You know the Emilia Perez shit aside (granted a big aside) Audiard is extremely talented and I hope he can move on to less contentious things next. It'll be nice to look upon some of these older works and remind ourselves of that.

Next up I am amusing myself by putting these two polar opposite movies beside one another -- on September 16th they're dropping Lizzie Borden's feminist punk masterpiece Born in Flames and also on September 16th they're dropping Rob Reiner's faux rockumentary classic This is Spinal Tap -- what a fucking bizarre pairing! But I love it. Watch them back to back and blow yer minds! I have to admit if forced to choose I'd choose Borden's film, which rules -- I think Spinal Tap is fine but I prefer the later Chris Guest movies if I'm being honest. Don't haze me, please!

And finally (besides the 4K upgrade of Akira Kurosawa's High and Low which sidenote might just be my favorite Kurosawa) we have the animated masterpiece that was last year's apocalyptic kitty cat spectacle called Flow -- this movie is wonderful, transfixing, magical, and I'm shocked how often it comes up day to day in my life? I was just talking about it two nights ago. Weird how often cat-apocalypses can be worked into basic conversation. But then these are weird times!

Quote of the Day

“We had a lot of sex... And then I kissed Daniel and he was so easy with it. And then I was easy with it and we were really easy with each other’s bodies and I thought, oh, it’s just that... God, I built this up and, and we had to lie naked on under the sheet for an hour every night. And it was easy.... He was the perfect [James] Bond because he’s the only person I’ve ever met who is or maybe more comfortable naked than he is dressed. He’s very easy in his body... I used to drag him to showers to make him shave because I got a stubble rash off him,... We used to pinch each others bits under the sheets to make each other laugh.”

I've posted a couple pictures before -- right here ... oh and here as well -- of Jason Isaacs and Daniel Craig performing with each other in the original British stage production of Angels in America, but these quotes from Jason Isaacs reminiscing about the experience (via) on a recent podcast are too wonderful not to share. This is turning out to be a fairly horny Monday morning huh? I guess we're all looking for expressions of life, reasons to keep going, in dark days. Keep it coming!