Rando Pics of the Day

The usual 3pm brain blues are hitting me, where I just sit here going durrr at my computer screen for awhile (and yes it's different than all the other hours, asshole) -- so why not perk ourselves up with a surprise treat? I've somehow never before today seen these photos of Timmy Chalamet taken for a "Young Hollywood" issue of Teen Vogue in 2014 (when he was 19-ish and on Homeland)...

Meanwhile (or should I say men-while... no I should not) the two hot menfolk seen alongside him are Cameron Monaghan from Shameless and Ki Hong Lee from The Maze Runner. Of to be a fly in the body-makeup on that shoot! Aaanyway there's also a small video chat with Timmy over here from the shoot where he talks about dream roles blah blah blah, all while twitching his knees nervously in that patented Chalamet manner we've all come to know and enjoy so well just a few years down the road...

Morgan Spector One Time

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I thought I'd posted every picture from this photo-shoot the two times previous -- see here and then if you've got a whole lot of time to waste see here especially -- but I guess I missed this one not-to-be-missed shot. I don't remember what it was specifically that put Mr. Spector (aka Mr. Rebecca Hall) onto my mind yesterday but I all of a sudden realized with some horror that I hadn't seen him since he was on Homeland last year -- he's got several TV programs in different states of production right now though, most interesting to me and probably you is Downton Abbey mastermind Julian Fellowes' new series called The Gilded Age that's set to co-star Christine Baranski and Cynthia Nixon and Amanda Peet. So Morgan is definitely busy, at least. I just wish he was getting busy right in front of my face. So to speak.

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Let's Play in the Shadows with Logan

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Did any of you watch The Bridge, that Texas-set crime-drama starring Demián Bichir and Diane Kruger? I never did but I'm curious if it was any good now that its creator Måns Mårlind is working on a new show and he's lined up yet another killer cast. It's called Shadowplay and it's set in Berlin in 1946 and will be about an American cop, played by Taylor Kitsch, coming to town to set up some post-WWII law and order -- it already sounds like a Western and a Noir all at once right? (Thx Mac) Logan Marshall-Green, seen up top, will be playing a Nazi-hunter; joining those two will be Michael C. Hall...

... as well as German actors Sebastian Koch (who will forever and always be the Sexy Nazi in Black Book to me) and no less than Nina fucking Hoss, world-class actress of Christian Petzold flicks Barbara and Phoenix fame. Funny enough both of them have been seen on Homeland recently -- if you need good representatives of Germany look no further! (Hey maybe Alexander Fehling can show up too? Pretty please???) Anyway we'll keep our eyes on this one but for now let's just keep our eyes on Logan Marshall-Green, with five more pictures after the jump...

Hugh's Homeland Is Your Homeland

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When I write the words "Hugh Dancy reunites..." I really would prefer to follow them with "Mads Mikkelsen and Bryan Fuller for more Hannibal" or even with "Patrick Wilson for more kissing" but alas, those sentences are not for today. Rather Hugh is reuniting with his other Evening co-star and oh yeah right his wife and babymama Claire Danes, for the final season of Homeland. I guess it'll be an easier commute to the set this year. He's going to play "a savvy Washington consultant" which reads to me as "Hugh in nice suits" and I like it. Don't ask me what last happened on Homeland though -- last season's a blur. I just miss watching Miranda Otto shop online for purses, honestly. (thx Mac)

Rupert Friend Five Times

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Has anybody heard anything about the new show for that CBS All Access streaming thing (god I sound old) called Strange Angel? Our boy Rupert there co-stars in it opposite Jack Reynor and Jack Reynor's mustache...

... and it's about rockets and the occult and sex and the sexy occult rockets and nice suits, maybe not in that order? I don't know. It took me awhile to warm  to Rupert Friend on Homeland but I eventually did (scenes like this helped, as did photo-shoots like this one) and then (spoiler) they went and violently murdered him over and again (end spoiler) and I must look elsewhere for my fix. Similarly I'm waiting for Reynor to get That Role that grabs me - I did like him in Free Fire an awful lot but I still confuse him with about ten other actors. Anyway here's that show's trailer:

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The show is from the writer of Black Swan - if any of you have watched any of it tell me something! Tell me anything! For god's sake, speak! And after the jump I'll share with you the rest of this new shoot of Rupert...

Once More, With Fehling

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When I listed all the shows coming back on the air yesterday I forgot a biggie - Homeland is back this weekend! If you'd told me twelve months ago I'd care that Homeland was returning I might've smacked you senseless (what can I say, I'm testy) but the show really made up for its weak couple of seasons last year with its stellar run set in Germany. Sadly my two favorite parts of that season --  1) The German Ginger Hotness of Alexander Fehling, and 2) Miranda Otto's discount purse shopping...

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Happy birthday to Miranda Otto, whose online stress shopping this season is easily my fave #Homeland plot ever pic.twitter.com/kSw6we7ucn

— Jason Adams (@JAMNPP) December 17, 2015

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... (oh my god that gif make me so happy, I am the greatest)won't be returning this year, so let's pour one out for those two. Or in the case of Alexander pour several stiff drinks and hope he gets loose and happy, perhaps not in that order. Hit the jump for a couple more pics of him in a recent photo-shoot for L'Officiel Hommes by photographer Stefan Armbruster...

Good Morning, Torben Liebrecht

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I've been to German-speaking parts of both Switzerland and Italy but I've never actually been to Germany and I think it might be wise for my boyfriend to never ever let me go to Germany because GERMAN MEN, OH MY GOD. As if I needed yet another one to lust after the fine folks over here just this morning have introduced me to Torben Liebrecht, seen here blowing the lid off my heart-valves in a recent mini-series called Morgen Hör Ich Auf, which I think loosely translates to Listen to Morning? Am I off?

(As an aside my boyfriend is a connoisseur of All Things Elvis and we actually have that exact same Elvis bust on our bookshelves, how weird is that?)

Anyway if any readers know anything about it, or about Mr. Liebrecht, give it up! Looking at IMDb I do see he starred in the horror film Deathwatch (which I have seen and is very good and which you can watch for free on Amazon Prime) and he was also on an episode of Homeland this year? Not naked though, I'd remember him if he'd been naked. Anyway hit the jump for a couple more wonderfully, awesomely NSFW shots...

Do Dump or Marry: Meine Deutschen Lieblings

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I can't believe I'm just now seeing this -- GQ Germany did a photo-shoot and a trio of interviews with actors Alexander Fehling (he just played Carrie's boyfriend on the last season of Homeland) and Tom Wlaschiha (he's the Faceless Dude testing Arya on Game of Thrones) and Max Riemelt (he's the one who can't keep it in his pants on Sense8), you guys! It's more than I can handle, almost. I haven't even translated the interviews to read them yet but looking at the pictures I knew I had to ask you guys to Do Dump or Marry them. If you need more, you know, information, click the links on their names, and then have at it in the comments!

Rupert Friend Four Times

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(via) A happy 33 to the hunka Homeland actor.

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I Am Link

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--- Flat Front Trousers - There's a giant gallery of concept costume illustrations that didn't end up being created for X-Men Days of Future Past right over here and you've just got to scan down and see all the costumes we could've seen Michael Fassbender in but didn't. Velvet bell-bottoms! Unlike First Class this new movie dropped the ball (heh) with the Fassy bulge though - not one in sight!

--- Science Fictions - I mentioned the other day that despite my best efforts I'm now looking forward to the new Tom Cruise movie Edge of Tomorrow (I just have to keep repeating the director's name to keep myself sane); inspired by this new movie's apparent goodness, The Wire lists the new Sci-Fi Canon - movies that've come out since the turn of the Millennium worth their weight in silvery surfaces. Great list... although the absence of Eternal Sunshine is troubling.

--- Speaking of I've seen Michel Gondry's Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind at least a thousand times (at least) but Michael C still managed to find a couple of little easter eggs in the movie that I'd never noticed before in this list of 20 Details You Might Have Missed in the movie. I never saw those dots on Joel's forehead!

--- A Man For Violence - James Ransone, who will always be to me that boy that choked himself while jerking off in Ken Park, has just joined the cast of Ti West's In a Valley of Violence, the upcoming Western thriller with (sigh) Ethan Hawke & John Travolta.
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--- Shades To Rest - Charlie Hunnam told Life & Style magazine that it was "heartbreaking" that he had to drop out of the Fifty Shades of Grey movie... I suppose that's a nicer sound-bite than "I dodged a bullet there," so good word choice, Charlie. He says he'll go to the premiere if they invite him, or he'll buy a ticket on opening weekend - I will be your date, Charlie! (And I will put out.)

--- Bombs Away - Every time I see a new trailer for the Wachowski's upcoming flick Jupiter Ascending my jaw drops a little bit lower at how unfathomably UGLY the movie looks, from Channing's bleached hair and elf ears all the way up to the mish-mash of color and clutter they built their gigantic worlds out of. So the news that it's been picked up from its release date in mid-July and kicked wildly away to next February only surprises me in that the studio's making such a public display of no faith.
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--- Central Intelligence - That beautiful bald eagle called Corey Stoll is going to be on the fourth season of Homeland! He's playing a big CIA uppity up in Pakistan. I am sure he will wear dark colors and say things very firmly and ooh Carrie that rascal she won't listen to him and it'll be frustrating yet kinda sexy, jazz hands.

--- Big Bear - Inception co-stars Leonardo Dicaprio and Tom Hardy (Tom for the win) are probably going to work together again, this time with one of my least favorite of all the directors, pointless miserablist Alejandro González Iñárritu. The project is called The Revenant and it's about a 19th Century fur-trapper mauled by a grizzly bear and then robbed (not by the grizzly bear, but by people - people do the robbing) who then seeks revenge on everybody (bear probably included). Anyway make Hardy the star and ditch the director and I'm there!
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--- Strange Touch - Horror director Scott Derrickson made the snuff-thriller Sinister (pretty good until the ghost kids!) and has the cops-versus-demons flick Deliver Me From Evil coming out soon (with a super hunky cast), so naturally his next project is probably going to be a gigantic Marvel superhero movie. It sounds like he's pretty much confirmed for Doctor Strange. If any of the Marvel movies need a horror touch, that's the one I guess. The terrifying portion of this news is the rumor that Jared Leto is possibly going to play the lead. Don't do this to me, Marvel. Please I beg of you. In related news, Marvel can't get anybody to sign on to Ant-Man now that they fucked it all up with Edgar Wright.

--- And finally Nicolas Winding Refn introduced the brand new transfer of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre to the crowd in Cannes the other week, saying that seeing the movie at Cinema Village in NYC when he was 14 made him want to be a director, and now there's video. Watch below! I can't wait for this transfer to screen here in New York.
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Good Morning, Quinn

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Finally caught up with Homeland last night - I've been running a couple episodes behind on everything this season. Well everything but American Horror Story, I seem to be right there to watch that fresh every week, somehow. Anyway it was nice to see Rupert Friend get exploited again (you may recall he flashed his business at Carrie last year, remarking hilariously to her, "Like you've never seen a dick before." He won my heart immediately! 

Anyway it's F. Murray Abraham that he's strutting around half-naked in front of this time, and judging by the way F. Murray watches him walk away, F. Murray's seen a dick or two in his lifetime as well. F. Murray, ya ol' dog! Hit the jump for all the caps.
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I Am Link

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--- Spy Guy - We were very happy to hear that Rose Byrne was teaming up with her Bridesmaids co-star Melissa McCarthy for that lady-spy movie called Susan Cooper (written and directed by Bridesmaids Paul Fieg too) - but now that we're hearing that Jason Statham is also joining the cast as another spy? Oh my god, my entire body is tingling.

--- Old Lady - Inspired by the news that Laura Dern is going to play Reese Witherspoon's mother in a new movie (despite the fact that she's all of nine years older), at The Film Experience Nat takes a look at all the viable older actresses out there not getting nearly enough work because Hollywood sucks for older women. I'm happy Dern got a job, at least.

--- Night Walkers - Chris Evans is going to star in and direct 1:30 Train, a movie about a dude who meets a lady on a train and they spend some real-time together falling in love a la Before Midnight movies - the lady in question will be played by infamous Star Trek boob-popper Alice Eve.

--- Berlin Stories - Run Lola Run director Tom Tykwer is going to make a twelve-part series for German television called Babylon Berlin, which will be based on the writings of "Volker Kutscher and centre on the figure of Inspector Gereon Rath who hails from Cologne and arrives in the Berlin of 1920s, the epicentre of political and social changes of those years." (Shades of Berlin Alexanderplatz much?) Tykwer's making a movie with his Cloud Atlas star Tom Hanks first though, called A Hologram For the King.

--- The Nicky Show - Channing Tatum just sold a sitcom to CBS - not for himself to star in; he will produce and his good friend Nick Zano will star. Yeah the same Nick Zano who got his guts sucked out through his ass in the Final Destination movies. I want to hear more about his and Channing's close friendship. Click here and here and here and here and here for lots of Nicky.

--- More Most Ghost - Tim Burton might actually really direct the sequel to Beetlejuice, which will star Michael Keaton. That's nutso. Course the Tim Burton of Now is not the Tim Burton of the 1980s, so perhaps we should be horrified by this idea? If they hire Winona, I promise to be good.

--- Queen's Fella - I finally caught up on Homeland last night, and right while I was watching it I saw the news that Damian Lewis is going to co-star with Nicole Kidman in Werner Herzog's long-gestating biopic Queen of the Desert, so that was weird.

--- High Enough - There are two big mountain-climbing movies coming our ways apparently, and The Playlist does a good job sorting out what's what - on one of them Tom Hardy had to drop out and might be replaced by Benedict Cumberbatch, while a host of hotties are named as his possible co-star; on the other Jake Gyllenhaal, full stop.

--- Wood Nymphs - Yesterday over at The Film Experience I wrote up the news that Ellen Page and Evan Rachel Wood are set to play sisters in Into the Forest, which is adapted from a book that sounds up my alley - they must survive together as the world falls apart.

--- Big Gun - Michael Fassbender's Kiwi Western Slow West with Kodi Smit-McPhee started filming this week, so hopefully we'll start seeing set pictures of Michael Fassbender in slim cowboy pants and/or chaps any time now.
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Who Wore It Best?

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On the left, probably my favorite shot of Jessica Chastain in Kathryn Bigelow's film Zero Dark Thirty. On the right, the image they're using of Claire Danes to promote the upcoming third season of Homeland on subway posters, as snapped by yours truly. I dunno - do you think the folks at Homeland are trying to make a connection?

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poll by twiigs.com

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I Am Link

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--- Wooden Delivery - Vin Diesel will be voicing the plant man called Groot in Marvel's upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy; Groot's one of the main characters, a Guardian, but breathe a sigh of relief that we won't have to look at the lumpen potato headed Diesel since the character will be CG, and apparently all Groot ever says, the few times he speaks, is "I am Groot" like he's Timmy on South Park.

--- Scary Carrie - Chloe Whastherface says that the Carrie remake got delayed from this Spring to this Fall in order to make the movie "darker and scarier." Well I guess that means they put more of her in it then. Nothing scares me more than that!

--- Vid Genius - EW chatted with director Mark Romanek about some of his old music videos, brilliant stuff like "Closer" and Fiona Apple's "Criminal," and got him to talk about making them. 

 

--- Sad Clown - Considered one of the holy grails of lost films, Jerry Lewis' Holocaust comedy The Day the Clown Cried was only ever saw by a few people - a few totally horrified people - before being erased from existence. Oh I'm sure there's a copy sitting in Jerry Lewis' vault, just waiting for an Oceans 11 like heist... anyway a little leak of footage showed up on YouTube recently, and The Playlist has the details. Ho ho ho Holocaust!

--- Eyes On Autumn - The Playlist dumped a slew of images from upcoming movies right here - there are several from Gravity (I saw the new trailer on IMAX this weekend and oh my god why can't I be watching this movie right now???), and Prisoners with Hugh Jackman and Jake Gyllenhaal, and Snowpiercer, and so on.

--- Hugh Jeans - And speaking of Hugh, this collection of shots from behind the scenes of the new X-Men movie set features several shots of Hugh Jackman in era-appropriate jeans, and since the era we're talking is the 1970s, you'll want to click on over right quick.

--- Ad Man - Over at The Film Experience Nat's been taking a look at some of the high-profile Fall movie trailers that've shown up lately with his "Yes No Maybe So" way of doing such things - click here to read his take on Spike Jonze's Her, click here to read his thoughts on the Judi Dench vehicle Philomena, and click here to see what he thought of the Monuments Men trailer, which is Geroge Clooney's latest star-studded directorial effort.
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--- Government Takeover - I might not watch this since I don't need to convince myself to keep watching Homeland and I'd rather keep a mind fresh from spoilers about where things are headed, but here's the trailer for the upcoming third go-around with Carrie and Co. The show's back at the end of September.

--- Oh Bay - Forgot to mention this last week - Final Girl has picked a new Final Girl Film Club choice for the month of August - it's Mario Bava's highly influential 1971 proto-slasher Bay of Blood, which the Firday the 13th films ripped off pretty shamelessly, amongst others. The date to participate is August 27th, put it in your calendars! I've previously done a Thursday's Ways Not To Die for that movie, in case you're curious.

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Quote of the Day

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I implore you go read this entire interview with Mike White (thx Mac) wherein he talks about Enlightened in terms of tone and plot and its relationship to those other lady-centric shows eating up all of the chat-space (that'd be Homeland and Girls). It will all just underline and circle and star and highlight every good thought you've had about this very smart individual. I couldn't respect him more. Here's him speaking about the difficult task of embracing his thorny heroine...

"I wanted to start with [what some might consider the ending]. At the end of a movie, they get married or they walk off together and you go, “Well, what happens then?” That’s where life really starts. It’s like you can have your numinous experience and you could dramatize that [as the movie "Eat, Pray, Love" did]. But I felt like it would be more interesting to look at what happens when you come back to your reality with all of these evangelistic notions of what goodness is or how to live, and then try to apply it to a world that isn’t really interested.

And honestly, I also think that the fact that it is a woman as the center of the show created a certain kind of [response]. It was just interesting for me to read some responses, because I think there’s something about “that kind of woman," a woman who is this kind of New Age spiritual seeker. You could tell that there was a certain percentage of the audience that, sight unseen, was like, "This is not for me." Or gave it five minutes and were like, “She’s not Julia Roberts.” She’s a woman who is still flailing. And it was interesting how there was this real strong aversion from certain quarters to her character."

The show still hasn't been renewed for a third season - Girls got its renewal like five seconds into its second season and both shows began airing on the same night, so, you know, eep. He basically asks us out here in the world with a soapbox to holler about how good the show is and let HBO know if they cancel it we will come to get the with pitchforks and pitchfork-related accoutrement, so that's what I'm doing. Accoutrement, dudes! Beware!
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Quote of the Day

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Enlightened starts its second season this weekend, you guys! I couldn't be more excited. Really I couldn't, somebody call the doctors, my heart is dribbling out of my eye sockets. There's an article about the show at the New York Times (thanks Mac) but its tone worries me - it's all about the show's low ratings and how HBO really went above and beyond giving it a second season. I mean I was surprised when they did give it a second season, but I'd gotten past it - I just want to enjoy the show, man! Don't get me freaked out right here beforehand about outside junk. Anyway here's how series creator and all around genius Mike White responds to criticisms that the show and its unlikable heroine Amy (played so brilliantly by Laura Dern) is kind of a difficult fit for broader audiences:

"I was watching ‘Homeland’ last year and people were nuts for that show and I was thinking, ‘She’s as annoying as Amy."

If ever a comment deserved a "LOL!" that is the one. I say we schedule a Dern vs. Danes freak-out-off! Oh I want that so hard.

Good Morning, Keira

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This scene of Keira Knightley and Aaron Johnson and Aaron Johnson's most terribly impressive bum is brought to you by Joe Wright's recent Tolstoy adaptation slash sadly under-loved here in awards season flick Anna Karenina. 

I liked AK quite a bit you may recall. And not just because of this shot (though it didn't hurt). You know I give Amanda Seyfried a lot of shit for all the fine men-folk she's rubbed her bits up on but Keira 's really giving her a run for her money. That shot above immediately reminded me of a very similar shot of Keira lounging around in bed with Dominic Cooper in The Duchess.

(see more here) And of course she's rubbed her period-appropriate bustles up on Michael Fassbender and James McAvoy and Orlando Bloom and Edgar Ramirez (daaaaamn Edgar) and so on. And then in real life she's been with the model Jamie Dornan (who MNPP's loved for ages) and Homeland's Rupert Friend (who I finally find cute now how he looks on Homeland).

In summation, what a lucky goil.

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I Am Link

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--- Bless Nicole - Over at The Film Experience, Nat got to interview Nicole Kidman! How he kept it together to ask such a bunch of great questions I'll never know but he did, and it's one of the best chats with her I've ever read - they talk mostly about The Paperboy and how she managed to come up with the insanity that is Charlotte Bless, but other favorites - like Birth! - get some unexpected but much deserved love too. (Sidenote: I was super tempted to photo-shop Nat's head onto Zac Efron in that picture.)

--- Bad Girl - The title of Kristen Wiig's next movie has been changed from Imogene to Girl Most Likely... uh, no. Not a good change. It sounds like a Kate Hudson movie now. Change it back, please. Oh I'll still see the movie of course. It's scheduled for mid-July.

--- Death Masque - Over at Stale Popcorn Glenn just watched Roger Corman's terrific Masque of the Red Death, and gives some thought to its Phantom of the Opera influences and vice versa. And speaking of, Roger Corman has announced he is remaking several of his old Poe movies from the 60s, including Masque. He says he's excited to update them with the new technology available today. (As if the old creaky lo-fi nature of the originals isn't 95% of their interminable charm.)

--- Snow Queen - We'd been hearing about Disney's next animated movie Frozen for so long that it seems weird to me that they've just cast Jonathan Groff to voice the male lead, but I guess that's the way animation goes. Kristen Bell's been slated to voice the main character for awhile. Add in Idina Menzel as the evil Snow Queen and yup, this is some gay shit.

--- Carrie Forth - Sean T. Collins tells us the best moments of the second season of Homeland; he was harder on the show than I was, but its second season definitely had some real problems and became something the astonishingly good first season didn't seem to be heading towards, to my sadness. It seemed more intent on its characters the first season; this time around it was more about bizarre twists and turns that never really added up. 

--- Go Boom - I haven't watched the trailer for Seth Rogen and James Franco's end of the world comedy This Is the End yet, but here it is if you want to. I just hope they don't go making Edgar Wright's end of the world movie The World's End seem redundant. There's plenty of room for all the apocalypses, fellas!

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Pic of the Day

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(via) Hey look it is James Franco and Jason Statham covered in each other's body fluids, hooray! At least I'm assuming it's a fight between the two of them they're filming, since they sound like antagonists from the film's description. Which is awesome. Read about it here. I am very much looking forward to this picture. I am curious if they'll keep the Homefront title though since, you know, Claire Danes owns that Home[fill-in-the-blank] shit right now. Oh god, now I have this in my head: