What Happens in Shelby Oaks, Stays...

Another day, another Fantasia Fest review -- this time we're talking the horror film Shelby Oaks from YouTube critic turned filmmaker Chris Stuckmann, which begins as a found-footage film and... doesn't stay that way for long. It's a movie with a thousand surprises and twists and turns up its sleeves and I mostly dug it! You can read my thoughts over at Mashable -- I tried to keep them as spoiler-free as possible but that proved impossible, so maybe wait to see the movie before reading the review. (And that won't be an issue because Neon, the house behind Longlegs, has already picked the film up for release.) The general gist of my opinion is that's it's clearly a first film in that Stuckmann has a LOT of ideas and he tries to put them all into one movie, to its detriment at times, but I look forward to seeing where he goes next very much. There's a lot of promise here. And I would love to geek out over his influences with him some time.

Everything You Ever Need To Know About Life...

 ... you can learn from:

Remember My Name (1978)

Pike: I don't bother you. I expect the same.

Emily: I don't want to bother you. 

Just wanna be friendly and talk.

Pike: I don't talk to nobody. I listen.

Emily: What's the matter, you scared of women?

Pike: Look, what do you want from me?

Emily: I want a set of clean sheets.

If you've never seen Remember My Name go find some way to see Remember My Name -- it used to be hard to see but it is streaming right now on Tubi! (Go Tubi.) Co-starring Anthony Perkins, Alfre Woodard, Dennis Franz and Jeff Goldblum and directed by Alan Rudolph (who also did Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle and Afterglow) it's a fantastic way-ahead-of-its-time character study of an extremely difficult woman, and Geraldine Chaplin gives one of my favorite performances of all time in it. So hard-edged, such a total weirdo -- I relate! I deeply relate. Anyway Miss Chaplin is celebrating her 80th birthday today and we wish her a very happy one! Oh and it also muct be mentioned that the poster for this movie rules -- I gotta get myself a copy of this:

Andrew Scott Six Times

Happy day, Andrew Scott new photoshoot! Here is our All of Us Strangers and Ripley fella for Netflix's Queue magazine -- clearly given the source this is mainly for Ripley press, given he's currently nominated for an Emmy for it. (At least the Emmys knew what's what, unlike the Oscars with Strangers -- bastards.) Anyway not that I haven't spent the last 12 months or so on an Andy high but I did just see the recorded version of his performance in Noel Coward's play Present Laughter this past weekend as well, in which he was tremendous, and so my high is even higher right now -- hell, highest even. So these photos are hittin' the spot. Yes, that spot. The spot. So y'all hit the jump and hit your spots maybe too...

Pics of the Day

These photos of fresh besties Jonathan Groff and Daniel Radcliffe (who just starred together, and won Tonys together, in Merrily We Roll Along on Broadway) visiting with the star of the Sufjan Stevens ballet-musical Illinoise (which also won a Tony) Ricky Ubeda (he plays the Sufjan surrogate) have totally made my day. There are more photos over here with more of the show's cast but these two are the ones. Groff's nerd-out is delighting me so hard. I saw the show twice -- once at the Armory and then again on my birthday after it had moved to Broadway -- and I'd go again if I could. It's absolute magic. The show runs through August 10th so y'all still have a chance to make it if you haven't!

Five Frames From ?

What movie is this?

Good Morning, World

There are three reasons I'm posting these rather ancient gifs of Russell Tovey in his briefs on Quantico circa 2017 or so -- one, I have never posted them before. Two, I was looking for something to post this morning and these were literally the first thing I stumbled on. And three, y'all left some pissy comments on my Russell post Monday and I am feeling antagonistic. All excellent reasons! Enjoy!

Cole Doman Got Me in a Haze

That is not a photo from the movie I am about to direct you to my review of, but it is a picture of the star of said movie -- it's actor Cole Doman, who you should hopefully recognize from writer-director Stephen Cone's wonderful 2015 film Henry Gamble's Birthday Party, and who stars in the queer thriller called Haze aka the movie I have now reviewed. I mentioned both Haze and Doman back in May when this film screened at NewFest but I wasn't able to catch it then -- thankfully it just screened at the Fantasia Film Fest in Montreal though, and there I did catch it. And if you head over to Pajiba you can read my review of the film, which sees Doman playing a young journalist who heads to his hometown to dig into a shuttered psychiatric hospital that left a trail of suicides in its wake. And if you really need to be sold -- the film also co-stars Sense8's own Brian J. Smith and those two go at it like gangbusters in the movie. Hot stuff!

They Call Him Kommix

I have gotten very bad at keeping up with those things called "books" -- not just reading (although like a lot of us I'm not doing nearly as much of that as I used to since the internet has fucked up my brain) but keeping abreast of the news of news ones. Hence me just discovering today that my favorite cartoonist alive Charles Burns has a new book out TODAY. It's called Kommix and it's a collection of eight covers of comic books that never were but he wished existed -- this is a very him thing to do. Anyway you can order your copy off of Amazon right this minute -- I would direct you to the publisher Fantagraphics but they're out of stock! Which isn';t too surprising, given I'm hardly the only person who worships at the altar of Mr. Burns. Gahh excited! 

Richard Madden Comes Out (Of The Gym)

We don't see Richard "Dick" Madden nearly enough these days but I feel like when we do, he maximizes the effort. (I am thinking especially of all of his beach-bound excursions with Froy boy.) Or maybe it's just that he looks like Richard Madden and so every time I see him I am just stopped dead i my tracks all over again. But it's probably that PLUS the slutty tank top. That's my version of math. Now hit the jump for as of this writing one more bonus photo (but I feel like we might see more from this, so stay tuned for updates)...

Niels Schneider Eight Times

I am officially convinced as of today that somebody who works at Behind the Blinds magazine reads MNPP because if this photoshoot of French beauty Niels Schneider (via) isn't directly Me Bait then I don't know what. I don't know what! Well, theyb got me. The pretty French boy shirtless and smoking got me. And speaking of -- everybody congratulate Niels because he now officially has his own tag here on the site. Shocked it took me this long seeing as how he was stunning me fifteen years ago in Xavier Dolan's first movies, but better now than never. Anyway the rest of this shoot -- which I will warn you up front isn't as much of a thrill as these two photos seen here up top; too many baggy clothes dammit! -- is after the jump, so jump on 'em...

Five Frames From ?

What movie is this?

Good Morning, World

Now this is a good way to start a day! Here is some footage of Mr. Jonathan Bailey grooving out in his trailer during the filming of Fellow Travelers -- obviously taken during the 1970s period of the series, given his sexy disco daddy look. I be swooning. Give this man the damn Emmy just for this!

Jack Lowden Twelve Times

I am normally depressed when beautiful young actors that I crush on hard go off and get married to Some Woman, but Saoirse Ronan is not just "some woman" so I will not only allow it, Jack Lowden, I will give you both a hearty congratulations. They're one of my favorite celebrity couples, and I love the fact that they didn't announce their marriage at all -- the only reason we know it happened is that a newspaper went snooping in Scotland's govermental wedding registries (thx Mac). I don't love the invasion of privacy, mind you -- I just love that they, with typical loveliness, didn't seek out press. They seem like good true folk! And yes I am a legendarily terrible judge of character, but I still believe this to be true! 

I mean they met making a movie where Jack fucks hot boys on the side -- if that ain't romance I don't know what is. In all seriousness they are two of the finest moving-picture actors we have -- Saoirse has had multiple opportunities to prove this (and Jack produced her next, the Sundance stunned The Outrun, which very well might finally and deservedly win her an Oscar) but Jack remains deeply under-appreciated. Why nobody is plumbing his depths like Terence Davies did in Benediction I admit I remain baffled. That's truly one of the decade's best turns -- so where the hell are all of his big roles dammit? The movies are broken. 

Anyway I was just going to point you to my long-running Jack Lowden Appreciation Thread on Twitter with this here congratulations to the newlyweds, but then I stumbled upon a 2022 photoshoot of him from the magazine The Laterals that I've inexplicably never posted, and so I shall now do just that. How I missed these gorgeous photos I'll never! So go on and hit the jump and celebrate the boy (and his lady too, by way of the boy)...

Pic of the Day

And lo a new photo of half-naked Paul Mescal in the 

Gladiator sequel was released, and it was good.

Five Frames From ?

What movie is this?

Good Morning, World

Russell Tovey had a big weekend, I guess
it's only natural he'd want to show off some.

Don’t wanna miss Pedro Pascal and Russell Tovey date night pic.twitter.com/CJD6AeEOod

— Jason Adams (@JAMNPP) July 26, 2024

Makin Like Dornan

Just as in these new photos of Jamie Dornan here at the beach I find myself with a sudden holiday before me -- mine isn't quite so liberating though cuz my office is taking a half day because everybody got COVID and shit. I have myself so far tested negative, fingers crossed. Anyway along with our scheduled Summer Fridays this means when I leave in about half an hour I'm all of a sudden gone til Monday. I know! How half-assed of me! That said I will be doing plenty of work over the next four days -- although I'm back from Montreal I'm still consuming Fantasia Fest movies + prepping reviews and you'll surely see some of that soon. But for now, I be ghostin. Have a good weekend and wish me continued COVID-negativity please...

Five Frames From ?

What movie is this?

Pic of the Day

Well there they are -- our first look at Marvel's first spin on the Fantastic Four! Pedro Pascal, who will be playing Reed Richards aka Mr. Fantastic, shared the photo on his Insta this morning -- joining him are Vanessa Kirby as the invisible girl Sue Storm and Joseph Quinn as her hot-pants brother Johnny, and then The Bear star Ebon Moss-Bachrach sandwiched between those two (and maybe don't get used to his face since he's playing Ben Grimm, the man eventually made of rocks). I wish them well -- it'd be cool to have a good Fantastic Four movie dang it! I am a little worired that the director Matt Shakman  is mainly from T.V., but he did direct some of The Great so that's a point in his favor at least. Plus this movie also co-stars Natasha Lyonne, John Malkovich, Julian Garner, and the voice of Ralph Ineson (daddy from The Witch) as Galactus so I let's try to stay optimistic. 

Good Morning, World

I wrote a post once about how often Jake does "being sad in the shower" scenes (and yes it was stuffed with images, of course it was, so click on that link) and I kept thinking about that watching Presumed Innocent, his Apple+ series that just had its finale this week. Because there was a scene of him showering in nearly every episode -- either running on his treadmill or showering after said run or both, or one one wonderful ocassion dropping his grays weatpants after his run and giving us a great show. 

Anyway my point is I will miss the Weekly Jake Gyllenhaal Shower Program -- it was great while it lasted. (I have a feeling the already announced "second season" will center on different characters, but I guess we'll see.) But was it though? Great, I mean? The showering was - the show itself was really just fine. Sometimes riveting and well-acted (no I am not talking to you, O-T Fagbenle -- you are in prison for that voice) but mostly just kinda there. (And I agree with my pal Dustin at Pajiba on the ending they picked.) But the show did give us lots of fleeting shots of Jake vigorously humping, and for that we cannot, we will not, totally dismiss it.