Yahya Abdul-Mateen Nine Times

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The Watchmen and Candyman star Yahya Abdul-Mateen II is featured in the new issue of GQ -- you can read the interview here, although it's the pretty standard "Oh shit I am starting to get famous all of a sudden" chat so I wouldn't go into it expecting to be riveted. (I did appreciate finding out he's 6'3" though.) But the pictures are riveting, in their way, so let's stare at those after the jump...

Yahya Abdul-Mateen Twelve Times

Several more photos of Watchmen and Candyman star Yahya Abdul-Mateen for Essence magazine have arrived to go with the two I shared yesterday -- if you missed it that post also included the new Candyman trailer -- and as you can see, they're something. He's something. And the photos really capture that... something. (Read some of the interview here.)

Aaanyway as usually happens on Summer Thursdays I hit a wall about 2 this afternoon and've been whiling my time away wastefully on Twitter ever since -- I got a lot done this week, but I am now done myself! Y'all have a great weekend and as always if you see something you like, tell me about it in the comments. And to see this specific something that we all like hit the jump for the Yahya...

Yahya Abdul-Mateen Nine Times

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The new Candyman movie just recently climbed onto a bee's behind and flew off down the calendar a little further still -- first it was supposed to come out last month, then it was September, and now it's October 16th. We'll see if that sticks -- honestly not sure I will sit in a movie theater at all in 2020 at this point. But at least GQ magazine (the Middle East edition) was kind enough to gift us this new photo-shoot (via) of the film's leading hunk Yahya Abdul-Mateen to tide us over. (I would also recommend re-watching that recent animated tease for the movie, just because it's drop-dead gorgeous, but maybe that's just me.) Hit the jump for the rest...

Yahya Abdul-Mateen Two Times

Thanks to Essence for these new snaps of Aquaman and Watchmen and future Candyman star Yahya Abdul-Mateen (see another one here) -- so many "men" in his movie titles! But in news related to the latter one a brand new trailer for that long delayed horror sequel from director Nia DaCosta dropped this morning, and I'm not going to watch it myself (that gorgeous animated one they released way back was plenty enough to get me all the way excited while not spoiling anything to boot) but maybe you wanna, so here it is:

The new Candyman now has a release date of August 27th -- I could've sworn it was hitting in July but I guess I missed them moving it yet again? Anyway I'm glad, I will hopefully be more inclined to going into movie-theaters by late August (even though I have been a couple times I'm still mostly avoiding it at this point), because I'd love to see this on a big-screen. For now let's make due with ten new photos from the film that I've got for you, right on after the jump...

Before the Fury

Big news in the post-apocalyptic landscape today, my dears -- George Miller's officially announced that Fury Road prequel about Charlize Theron's character called Furiosa, which has been chattered about for a bit! And... no, it doesn't have Chris Hemsworth taking over the role for Charlize Theron. I just wanted to use that picture of Chris Hemsworth. Chris Hemsworth is indeed in the cast though, which is new news -- it's not like I'm pulling a Chris Hemsworth photo out of my ass. [Ed. - No comment.] He'll be playing... oh we don't know, some man who'll have dust on his clothes though, I am sure. It won't be a younger Tom Hardy, since that wouldn't make any sense, visually or story-wise. 

Anyway! Getting to the rest of the point -- Anya Taylor-Joy is taking over for Theron as the younger Furiosa, and that's terrific casting, good for her. She'll probably get to have both of her arms even -- will we see the moment she loses her arm? I wouldn't exactly reel with shock if that was a part of the plot. Also joining Miller's world of insanity is Watchmen star Yahya Abdul-Mateen, and y'all know how we feel about him. Hey maybe him and Chris can dare I say play a couple? The Mad Max world could use some queerness that's not just Mel Gibson's ass in leather pants and Tina Turner's slinky-earrings.

I'll admit I'm sad we're not going to see more of Charlize and Tom Hardy but given the nightmare they all endured on that set I can't say I'm surprised. And as wonderful as they both were in the film -- and those are some Class-A-Plus Action Movie star-turns -- the Mad Max movies live and die by their directorial vision and with George Miller there symphonizing the mayhem I am ticket-purchased this very day. What I'm actually most sad about is NO NUX!!!

Good Morning, World

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(via) Have we all watched the first episode of the new season of Black Mirror on Netflix, the one titled "" yet? If you haven't avert your eyes, I'm bout to get up in it. It stars Anthony Mackie and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, aka Falcon from the Marvel superhero movies and Black Manta from the DC superhero movies, as best buds from way back who find a new way to, uhh, appreciate one another inside a virtual reality game. I've only vaguely noticed some downbeat reactions to the new season on Twitter so I'm not sure where people stand really but I personally thought this was a terrific hour of storytelling -- surprising and funny and way more hot than I would've thought at first glance, and a lot of that heat came from seeing dude up top, Ludi Lin aka a former Power Ranger (class of Dacre Montgomery's), treated like a right proper piece of meat. This episode was built for any of us who've ever wanted to yank down the waist of the pants the Mortal Kombat character we're playing, and I imagine we are legion.

Kisses At Max

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I had to wish Sense8 and Free Fall actor Max Riemelt a happy birthday with a simple single tweet on Tuesday (see down below) because I couldn't find any substantial news about what he was up to to justify a post here on the site, even though I'd have preferred the latter -- I will always prefer taking my long and luxurious time when it comes to Max, as he should well know. So I'm a little annoyed that the Wachowskis waited until two days after his birthday to announce that he's joined the cast of their new Matrix sequel -- as what we of course don't know, but he'll probably wear Cool Sunglasses, jaaa. A month ago I told you that Jonathan Groff had also joined the film -- other co-stars include Watchmen big fella Yahya Abdul-Mateen and fellow Sense8 actor Toby Onwumere, plus OG Matrix-ers Keanu & Carrie-Anne. 

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Happy birthday to Sense8 star Max Riemelt!
Check out our Max archives here: https://t.co/sH2UsPR05m pic.twitter.com/4j3G7Xbf7h

— Jason Adams (@JAMNPP) January 7, 2020

Pics of the Day

Michael Bay's film Ambulance starring Mr. Gyllenhaal premiered in Paris this weekend -- I'm surprised at what a staggered release the film is having; it's out there this week but not here in the U.S. until April 8th? Maybe COVID is making global travel an issue, by which I say good, stagger that shit, we don't need Jake being a plague super-spreader. Anyway that above is a glimpse of what he wore to that premiere, although zoomed in because I really wanted to focus on the detail of what appears to be a shiny gold mesh undershirt? Why would you wear something potentially that sexy and hide it so much? Unbutton that shirt more, ya bastard! That there above is the best picture I could find of the thing showing itself, out of many -- once he ditched the overcoat the undershirt weirdly became even less obvious. Anyway...

... a few new photos from Ambulance were dropped over the weekend as well, so I will share them too. Especially since they manage to get Jake and his co-star Yahya Abdul Mateen so close, something the red carpet sadly didn't muster -- they kept their female co-star Eiza González wedged between themselves like a homosexual vibe deterrent. I guess it's only appropriate for a Michael Bay Movie red carpet. You'd think that the No Homo vibes would every so often swing around to Very Homo vibes like Guy Ritchie Movies do, but no, Michael Bay Movies remain eternally wholly depressingly hetero, even with something potentially gay-ish like the roid-fest of Pain & Glory. Yawn! 

Very happy Jake Gyllenhaal is hosting SNL again in April, but def bummed they didn't get Taylor Swift as the musical guest pic.twitter.com/7TfH0PirdG

— Jason Adams (@JAMNPP) March 21, 2022

Before I get to the other Ambulance photos though I should share the other Jake news of today -- he's going to host SNL on April 7th! Sadly they didn't take my advice and have his ex Taylor Swift do music -- chaos, I want chaos! Camila Cabello is the musician on tap, which should be perfectly nice and boring and chaos-free. Yawn again! Be the chaos agent we crave, Jacob! Hit the jump for three more new Ambulance photos...

Yahya Abdul-Mateen Twelve Times

Well I wish we were watching the Candyman remake right now too, but we aren't, Blanche. We aren't. So we'll make due with these nice photos of its star Yahya for the new issue of W Magazine -- you can read whatever the hell they talked about over here. Or you can just hit the jump for the photos alone and be lazy like me...

Pics of the Day

Put your lips together and make your best annoying ambulance siren sound, because I've got two new photos from Michael Bay's Ambulance for you today (via) -- a look at co-stars Yahya Abdul-Mateen and Jake Gyllenhaal above (and yes your mind should now be shrieking, "KISS! KISS! KISS!") and a look at solo Jake (unless you count the titular role as a character in the film, which maybe we should) down below. Ambulance is out on April 8th -- if you missed the trailer watch the trailer right here. (click to embiggen)

Hey Via Yahya

Hey! Yes, you. Just checking in whilst in between virtual Sundance screenings with this photo that the actor Yahya Abdul Mateen was kind enough to share on his Insta today (click to embiggen). I am indeed still buried in the watching of and, presumably, the writing about, Sundance -- I'm doing far far better on the previous than the latter, as you can see by comparing this Letterboxd list of things I have watched (at thirty-three as of this writing) with my Rotten Tomatoes page of things I have as of yet reviewed (at, uhh, two right now). I subscribe to the notion that you binge everything you can while you have it and then write about it after, although you should definitely expect more over the weekend and through next week obviously. Okay that's all I got right now. Back to the watching grind -- I'll be posting proper-like Monday! Have a delicious weekend...

Hot Rod Gyllenhaal

I did not watch the Super Bowl (as I have already made snottily clear in another post) but on Insta I did see Jake Gyllenhaal posting a commercial for his forthcoming Michael Bay movie Ambulance (out on April 8th) that aired during the game, and that was literally all I saw of it? Nobody online seemed to be talking about it at all. Anyway here it is:

I'm clearly of a mixed-mind when it comes to this trailer being met with what appears to be a shrug -- I will obviously see this because it stars Jake! And also Yahya Abdul-Mateen. But I don't really want to encourage Jake to go down this "I star in Michael Bay action movies" road either. So... we'll keep this all on the down low. There that is. Don't tell your friends. But do tell them about this new photoshoot Jake did for Esquire Italy -- this is worth talking about. Hit the jump for the whole thing...

Hooray For Yayha

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I love learning things via Patrick Wilson's lips -- oh that all of life were in that place! Today PW tweeted his congrats to Aquaman co-star Yahya Abdul-Mateen, who's just landed one of the "lead roles" in the fourth Matrix film opposite Keanu Reeves and Carrie Ann Moss. No words on who the role is but since we're all wondering where the hell Laurence Fishburne's character is perhaps Yayha will be related to that. 

Anyway we're all about to be seeing Yahya everywhere (and ain't nobody got any problem with seeing him everywhere, I think -- click through our previous posts on him to get a few reasons why) since he's in the forthcoming Watchmen series and he's in the Candyman reboot and he's in Aaron Sorkin's next film The Trial of the Chicago Seven amid a very all-star cast. (pics via Yayha's Insta, which is well worth a solid follow)

You Actin' Kinda Shady

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The last time I checked in with the Jordan Peele produced Candyman reboot was when Aquaman villain actor Yahya Abdul-Mateen (seen above via his Insta, bless) joined the cast, and we thought that he might be replacing Tony Todd as the hell-minded hook-hander. Nope! Word last night broke that Tony Todd is returning.... but maybe for just a cameo? It's still unclear but here's what Todd himself had to say:

"Out of the blue I got a phone call from Jordan Peele. We’re still waiting for the contract, but the way he explained it to me was that it’s gonna be applause-worthy moments. That’s his words. No matter what happens with that, it’s gonna just put renewed attention on the original.”

We do have word though, which was missing when I first reported this, that Yahya is playing "an artist who becomes obsessed with the bloody legend; Teyonah Parris is his art dealer girlfriend." So it will be set in the art world, which connects it nicely to the horrific urban murals and graffiti of the original. We also know that Chicago's Cabrini Green projects from the original film have been gentrified out of existence -- it's now a hip fancy neighborhood, and Peele smartly plans to focus on that. Or he does along with the film's director Nia DaCosta anyway -- I probably keep giving Peele too much of the credit, but he is the Horror Man wearing the big Horror Pants of the moment after all.

Today's Fanboy Delusion

Today I'd rather be...

... rearranging Dr. Manhattan's atoms. (via)

The only thing better than this set selfie of Yahya Abdul-Mateen shooting Watchmen would be if his co-star James Wolk was sitting on his lap wearing his little villain panties. 

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Pics of the Day

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Today we have been gifted with several new shots from the new Candyman movie -- click over here for more. I just grabbed the ones showing off Yahya Abdul-Mateen since... well you know. Watch the trailer here. Candyman is still supposed to come out on October 16th, 2020 -- so will you be its victim?
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I Wanna Watchmen Again

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Although it is admittedly a fictional entertainment and therefore should not be granted the weight of these real-world counterparts HBO's beautifully-done Watchmen series (starring among other Yahya Abdul-Mateen, pictured here) is hitting blu-ray tomorrow and the timing on this probably couldn't be better -- yesterday was the 99th anniversary of the Tulsa Race Massacre which it shone a light on, and then there's, you know, everything... else. Everything else happening in the world, in this country, right now. I'm not telling you it's a good replacement for getting actively involved in your communities right now -- here is a list of bail funds around the country that you can donate to right this second for one -- but for the in-between times I do think Watchmen turned out to be shockingly smart on the subject of the fucked-up race relations in this country and so if you missed it when it aired now would be a good time to give it a shot. You might learn something, you might see James Wolk strip his clothes off to reveal some ridiculous underpants -- why not both? On that note I've got more shots of Yahya for us after the jump as inspiration...
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Choke Me Out, Jake

A second trailer for Michael Bay's forthcoming action movie Ambulance starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Yahya Abdul-Mateen dropped today (see the first one here) as we speed towards its U.S. release on April 8th -- Jake & Yahya play life-long friends who rob a bank and after some hijinks of the explosive sort end up commandeering an ambulance to make their escape -- cue yet more explosive hijinks, and then double that no doubt. The new trailer is pretty goofy (it involves a lot of Christopher Cross' legendarily cornball song "Sailing") and makes me feel slightly less despairing about Jake forcing me to see a Michael Bay movie -- there is also a shot...

... in the trailer that is quite plainly of Jake & Yahya's body-doubles and not the actors themselves that had me going, "Who in the hell...???" This shot comes right before the one you see up top so it's definitely supposed to be Jake & Yahya's characters... but that is quite plainly neither Jake nor Yahya. I actually find this old-school bait-and-switch pretty endearing though? It's better than the awful CG faces they're always plopping onto stunt-doubles that float five inches off the place where a person's face would normally be! That shit's the literal worst. Okay, watch the trailer if you care to here:

The Other Aqua Men

The first trailer for James Wan's long-delayed super-sequel Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom has arrived and jumping right into what matters most there's not a single second of Jason Momoa flesh to be seen, but both the villain Black Manta played Watchmen star Yahya Abdul-Mateen (seen above) and Aquaman's brother played by the great Patrick Wilson...

... at least know what's up. Anyway this movie is out in December and people were feeling weird that no footage had been released -- well here it is. 

I liked the first Aquaman movie pretty well -- compared to the other dreck that DC was dropping it was fun and it had one of my favorite sequences in any superhero movies, ever (the "Trench" sequence) so I will probably go see this even though DC is such a disaster and Superhero Movies are so far past their expiration point for me besides. (Not that I won't go see David Corenswet as Superman because duh.) Anyway if you have an opinion on this trailer let her rip in the comments, while I share a few more gifs after the jump...

Yahya Abdul-Mateen Two Times

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I realized today I haven't posted nearly enough here on the site about the astonishment that is HBO's Watchmen series -- at least not since we got to stare at Jake McDorman's black-and-white buns a couple of weeks ago -- but I also realized this as I've spent all day today avoiding spoilers for last night's episode, since it's the first one I haven't been able to watch the night of. So nobody spoil last night's episode, please! I'm going to try to watch it tonight. I know Yahya figures in heavily already, so I offer these old photos of him (via) as a distraction. And you can click here to see plenty more photos that we've posted of this big fella in the past.