All That Glitters is Golding

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Speaking of actors who're showing up in all the fashion magazines Crazy Rich Asians star Henry Golding (who's about to get his own tag here on the site I guess, given how many posts he's racked up in the past month) I totally missed this one from May in Esquire UK, even when I did his big gratuitous post, so let's right that wrong, and use these photos to accompany some hot new news -- Henry's playing gay in his next movie! In a chat with NewNowNext (thx Mac) he talks a a little about Monsoon, which is what it's called:

NNN: Growing up in England, what was your introduction to the LGBTQ community?

Henry: I was a hairstylist, so the environment I grew up in, it was normal. My upbringing was, “Be good unto others, be kind, stay healthy, and be happy.” [My parents] never set barriers. And being surrounded by that community, I saw it for what it is: a very loving, inclusive community. The thing is, it’s so normal for me; it’s weird when people ask me about it, it’s strange they’re asking me something so obvious. You don’t realize there are some people who are still affected by all this crap. I felt so strongly about it that in my third film [Monsoon] my character is gay. I wanted to portray a character with heart—and the fact that it’s his story that shines through, not the fact that he’s gay. He has this wonderful relationship, but the truth of the matter is the material really lends itself to his journey.

NNN: What else can you tell me about Monsoon?

Henry: It’s pretty darn steamy. And it’s really, let’s get back to the story, let’s not make the headlines if it’s an all-Asian cast, or if it’s a female story. Let’s just have it for what it is.

Pretty Darn Steamy sounds promising! Gathering up a little more info from IMDb I see that Monsoon is from writer-director Hong Khaou, who made the really lovely gay Ben Whishaw film Lilting - did y'all see Lilting? I apparently never properly reviewed the film, which is a shame - it's totally worth seeking out if you haven't caught it yet. I did post the trailer here though, and then separately some gratuitous gifs of Ben and his handsome co-star Andrew Leung....

Anyway we'll be keeping our eyes out for Monsoon, clearly! No idea when that will but if you need Henry now you're in luck -- he has the Blake Lively & Anna Kendrick thriller (directed by Paul Feig, of all people) called A Simple Favor out this very weekend - I haven't seen it yet but I'm totally there, it sounds like a trashy good time. Okay hit the jump for more Henry and his shelves (oh and these are super HQ so click them to embiggen while you're at it) then...

Henry Golding Four Times

Good effing grief, I can't believe I whiffed on there being more photos from Henry Golding's cover-shoot for Attitude Magazine than the two (admittedly exquisites ones) I posted back on the 11th! That's what I get for being distracted. "That" being "rewarded with more Henry Golding being drop dead stunning" that is. I'm honestly fanning myself with a piece of paper looking at these photos. I don't know what we did to deserve this beauty but I feel privileged and honored! And speaking of...

... NewFest, New York's premiere queer film festival opens today, and they've got Henry's gay movie Monsoon available for watching. I plan on reviewing it soon-ish, along with as many of NewFest's line-up as I can get my grimy paws on (and I introduced y'all to some highlights not long back) but I really recommend Monsoon straight off the bat  -- it's from the director of Lilting with Ben Whishaw (which we were just talking about for Ben's 40th birthday earlier this week) and it makes for a really perfect companion piece. But more on it later! Right now check out all of NewFest's line-up over here (mostly virtual, so even if you're not in NYC you can watch!) and stay tuned for reviews coming from yours truly today and through the next eleven days, as the fest runs through the 27th. Okay okay, now we can hit the jump for three more definition-of-breathtaking photos of Henry "Golden" Golding...

What's New NewFest

During my day off yesterday NewFest 2020 went and dropped their full line-up for this year's mostly virtual fest, so today I play catch up! If you've heard all of this already, well you can go to hell. This is for the rest of us. (Not really, I love you!) (Unless you want to go to hell, in which case have at it. I prefer a cooler climate personally.) Anyway NewFest runs this year from October 16th through 27th and we already knew the big Opening Night film was Francis Lee's Ammonite -- see that post here -- so we'll focus in on some smaller but no less exciting stuff! But first, their trailer:

As you see there... hella gay. Right? So gay! I mean I know that's the idea but why they gotta rub all that gay in our faces? I mean when they could be rubbing the gay in our other places, obviously. Don't give my face all the attention, NewFest! That reminds me -- one year ago at NewFest I turned around to talk to my boyfriend at an after-party for one of their screenings and my boyfriend had literally been replaced by Chris Evans. No seriously -- that happened. If only I'd known then what I knew now! By which I mean Chris Evans definitively has a penis and I was about to be locked inside my apartment for eight months. 

Sorry I am really getting off track here. NewFest! We love NewFest! You can see their entire line-up on their website, I'm not gonna go through the whole thing because per usual they have an extensive line-up covering all the queer bases. But the titles that leapt right out at me are Alan Ball's Uncle Frank...

... which I've already posted about previously because it stars Paul Bettany and we love Paul Bettany, especially when he's not under all of that Vision make-up and wearing a mustache. That one is screening at the Queens Drive-in, what a thrill, outdoors and shit. And another one that leapt out at me was...

... Francois Ozon's Summer of 85, aka another one I've posted about before. Several times actually, as I tend to love Ozon films and this one looks like he took a lot of inspiration from Call Me By Your Name. See my previous posts, including its trailer, at this link. Oh and they're also showing Monsoon...

... aka The "Henry Golding plays gay" movie, previously posted about here -- this is from the writer-director of the lovely Lilting with Ben Whishaw. And I've already seen Monsoon and I'll have more to say about that closer to... not right now. Monsoon is getting a release in early November. Of course those are just some big titles -- there are loads more, including some fascinating looking docs (NewFest always has killer docs), one about Keith Haring and one about Truman Capote & Tennessee Williams, among many many others. Again check them at NewFest's website -- tickets are on sale right now!

Always Bet On Golding

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While it's his gay role in the film Monsoon, from the writer-director of Lilting, that I'm most looking forward to for Henry Golding -- and as an aside hey look I found a picture of Henry and his co-star Parker Sawyers in the film that I'd not seen yet:

-- it's good news as well to hear he's signed on for two new movie projects this week. They're both action type movies -- the first one's called The Inheritance which he co-wrote, but we don't have any info on besides it's an "action adventure." The second movie though we've got more about because its script was on the "Black List" -- it's called Harrington's Greatest Hits and it's about "an elite but aging assassin that gets a contract put out on him by the arms-dealing father of an ex-target." I love that he's playing "aging" roles already, at the ancient age of 32. Good grief. Look at this decrepit old man, how does he even support himself:

Bisexual Lighting: The Movie

We have a U.S. release date for Nicolas Winding Refn's first movie in a decade y'all! Her Private Hell will be opening on July 24th thanks to the stellar folks at Neon -- this will be after it bows at Cannes this month for those bastards who go to Cannes. (Fuck you, bastard people.)  I've posted about this movie a lot previously because duh -- we fucking worship NWR. But this thing's also got one of his most gorgeous casts (which is saying a lot given his last movie that had both Alessandro Nivola and Karl Glusman in its cast) -- Sophie Thatcher, Charles Melton, Havana Rose Liu, Diego Calva, Drive My Car star Hidetoshi Nishijima, Parker Sawyers aka...

... the beautiful man who had lots of sex with Henry Golding in the movie Monsoon. Also the model Lola Corfixen and the oldest person in the cast, one Dougray Scott, who nevertheless remains very much fuckable at 60 years old. And listen -- not every movie needs to star a cast of nothing but hotties. But I do look at the ones that do -- the ones being shot by a hyper-stylist like Refn especially -- as extra special gifts. Let's hope that NWR used his decade off making the most gloriously obtuse and sexy disturbing television shows since Twin Peaks as perverted fuel for this big-screen return!

Henry Golding Three Times

The one-two punch of Henry's hot photo-shoot for Attitude magazine (those short shorts!) and his lovely little gay movie Monsoon (which is screening at NewFest right now and which I will hopefully get a review for up today) has punched my Henry crush into overdrive these past couple of weeks -- these shots are from his recent chat with the NY Times, and while they could clearly use more short shorts I sure will post them, stare at them, lick my computer screen all the same. If I have to die from COVID because I licked my computer screen because of Henry looking so hot then so be it! I will die as I lived! Dumb and horny!