Pics of the Day

If you follow actor (and let's just drop "genius" at this point) Richard Gadd on Instagram then you know he's been unloading reams of behind-the-scenes photos from the set of his second stunning series in a row Half Man for the pasts everal weeks, all of which has been a joy to this person who 1) loved Half Man very very much, and 2) loves staring at Richard Gadd and Jamie Bell. Anyway I could have shared many shots previously (and actually did share a couple; see some very good ones here too) but this morning I am sharing these shots of the boys rolling around shirtless and kilt a'flappin' because duh. It's such a crime that Jamie Bell didn't get an Emmy nomination, urgh! Why must he go conitinually underappreciated??? Speaking of geniuses. And sexy geniuses at that -- the best kind!Anyway go watch Half Man, you owe it to yourself. It's brilliant. Even better and thornier than Baby Reindeer, I believe!

Good Morning, World

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Yes, Richard. Actually. YES.
(Y'all have watched Half Man by now right?
Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant.)

Pics of the Day

Aww these pictures are sweet -- not sure of the original source for these photos but here are a pair of set photos Jamie Bell with his co-star Tom Andrews from the shooting of the (dare I say "legendary" gay sauna scenes in Richard Gadd's just concluded series Half Man -- and a good time was had by all! Okay I honestly don't know if any character on this show was ever having a good time, especially when sex was involved, but the actors look like they're having fun anyway! See my scant few posts to date about the excellent Half Man at this link -- I may've finished it a few days ago but it hasn't stopped popping into my head at the most random of moments since, which kind of feels like being punched in the gut if I'm being honest. As good as Gadd's proven to be at excavating trauma maybe for his own sake he should try something lighter next go? I don't want to have to worry about him. But then if I could write scenes specifically for Jamie Bell to have gay group sex in a sauana worthy of Jamie Bell actually taking the role and doing that I'd write whatever I'd think would make that happen too. In summation -- let's get Jamie an Emmy! He should have several awards at this point given his exceptional talent -- I mean he should have an Oscar for his work in All of Us Strangers alone, dammit. Anyway this will hopefully just be the start of the Bell-assaince...

Half Man Says Bye; MNPP Says Birthday

I am having a not-great-day mentally-health-wise, which is an admittal I feel as if Richard Gadd of all people would understand and empathize with. So for the moment I don't have it in me to add much to what I wrote last week about the end of Half Man, the Baby Reindeer star's latest series, which just finished its six-episode run. But it's still early on in the wake of it, so perhaps something will pour outta me later this week. I'd love to hear your opinions on the series and its conclusion now though, so please share in the comments. Also I really wanted to share this video of Richard cleaning up nicely, so I am doing that. 

Anyway I'm off to another NewFest screening right this second but here's a fun thing to share -- Tomorrow is MNPP's 21st birthday! I will no doubt post about it but as I do every year (mostly) only on the site's anniversary -- if you feel up to contributing a dime or two dimes to the coffers for this site, which I make absolutely bupkis from, you can via here or over in the right-hand column. Any spare change rattled from your couch cushions -- you know, whatever you think I'm worth, or whatever, sigh -- is tremendously appreciated. See y'all tomorrow! We're 21, baby! 

Good Morning, World

I'll admit that, since I have been running perenially behind on watching new episodes of Richard "Baby Reindeer" Gadd's latest televisual masterpiece Half Man, that I began this post this morning thinking that the final episode was on tonight -- then I double-checked and no, the sixth and final episode drops on Thursday night. Who knew? Probably everyone watching it, save me. Anyway I did finally catch up over the long weekend so I am ready, so so ready, to see how Mr. Gadd lands this extraordinary ship. As with his previous series it's a helluva tonal tighrope he's traversing (alliteration!) but I've found every second of it alive and fiery and dangerous-feeling -- I think it might be even better than the Baby Reindeer program? Gadd and Jamie Bell...

... are giving tremendous performances and I hope that this show proves as popular with the awards bodies as Reindeer did, although its hook of this tortured homo-erotic (homo-deranged?) friendship ("friendship"?) between two extremely damaged boys to men isn't as hooky as that earlier show's was for a wide audience, I don't think. Still it speaks very clearly to me, and I think a lot of queer men -- the self-hatred and abuse we're willing to not just accept but even eroticize... it's a show that's saying a lot very clearly and efficiently and with great humor and I hope that Gadd keeps dropping truth bombs every couple of years on us like this. What a talent. All that and I wanna climb right up and mount him there on that bench-press -- feeling fortunate and thankful for you, good Gadd sir. So what is everybody thinking of Half Man? 

One Month Til Half Man

Half Man is Richard Gadd's upcoming follow-up to Baby Reindeer and it's hitting HBO one month from today, to the day -- I shared some photos and the plot synopsis et cetera from it when it all first dropped last August but the gist is they play estranged brothers whose relationship is followed across decades. And since Gadd's all beefed-up and all the headlines I've seen lately from him have been about "masculinity" I have a feeling that's what it's dealing with. Anyway I am very much looking forward to this, and that just-dropped poster above only underlined that feeling -- I very much wanna watch those two rassle. In all seriousness Jamie Bell is so freaking under-appreciated it's annoying so I'm hoping some of Gadd's golden boy magic rubs off on our favorite tiny dancer man. 

Pics of the Day

HBO has just released the first images of Rochard Gadd's follow-up to the smash hit Baby Reindeer -- and yes that's Gadd beefed up on the right side of that photo, if you can believe it. The series is called Half Man and it stars Gadd opposite the extremely talented and underrated Jamie Bell as "brothers" (they put that in quotes but don't explain why so I'm guessing they're adopted or foster care kids) -- here let me just cut and paste the entie logline:

"Half Man follows estranged “brothers” Niall (Jamie Bell) and Ruben (Richard Gadd). When Niall's estranged “brother” Ruben shows up at his wedding, it leads to an explosion of violence that catapults us back through their lives. Spanning almost 40 years from the 1980s to the present day, Mitchell Robertson and Stuart Campbell portray Niall (Robertson) and Ruben (Campbell) in their younger years, in a series that explores the highs and lows of Ruben and Niall’s relationship, from meeting them as troubled teenagers to witnessing their falling out as adults – with all the good, bad, terrible, funny, angry, and challenging moments along the way. The series will capture the wild energy of a changing city – a changing world, even – and plumb the depths of what it means to be a man."

I like most everyone else devoured Baby Reindeer and was absolutely wowed by it (if any of you hated it please share; I just realized I never read a single bad word about the series except those coming from Gadd's real-life stalker). Anyway I'm sure Gadd is feeling the sophomore pressure to deliver, but having Jamie Bell as his co-star is certainly a big boon right outta the gate. And if this gets Jamie Bell some much deserved awards recognition at last I'll be so very pleased! (He should have gotten nominated for an Oscar -- hell he should have won an Oscar -- for All of Us Strangers.) Here are two more photos they released:

Half Man doesn't premiere until next year.

Okay So Who Watched Baby Reindeer?

I just finished Netflix's buzzy hit Baby Reindeer from creator and lead Richard Gadd (as seen above) last night and... I don't have much in the way of coherent and put-together thoughts on it quite yet but it hit me like ten tons of bricks, basically over and over again anew with each episode. Although nothing I experienced was as outrageously harsh as what Gadd went through the show definitely reminded me of some negative codependant experiences I went through early in my coming out journey -- one adult woman that I worked with back in high school tried really hard to get me to, uhh, inseminate her, and that was an uncomfortable one for sure. But it wasn't just the main stalker storyline that hits so hard -- it dug up a lot of the deeply self-destructive behavior one indulges one's self in before you allow yourself to come to grips with yourself. I talked about some of that when I wrote about Call Me By Your Name for the first time, but there's plenty more where that came from and this show was pinpoint precise in its excavation of that un-fun kind of self-abuse. Where you don't think you're worth any more than degradation. Just an astounding and brutally funny (emphasis on brutal) program and if you haven't watched it yet, do.