Good Morning, World

I'm not going to post a bunch of caps of Ben Hardy in The Voyeurs -- a Rear-Window-esque erotic thriller starring him and The White Lotus actress Sydney Sweeney that just hit Prime Video today --  because I haven't been able to watch the film myself yet! And given the fact that TIFF is now officially in full swing I'm not sure when I will. But you're welcome for that one above, and there are more out there on the internet if you know where to look. For now I'll just share the trailer below just in case you have no idea what I'm talking about -- and I wouldn't blame you if you don't given our general glut of content; I didn't know this was a thing until this week myself! And I will also share with you a (second) reminder -- TIFF is not happening, I'm about to be very very busy. Very very! Don't expect a lot from me. (In general, a good rule.)

Who Wore It Best?

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The actor Ben Hardy (see more here) is celebrating his 28th birthday today on the back of his biggest hit to date - Bohemian Rhapsody, a truly godawful movie, is nonetheless a box office smash having just strutted past 700 million dollars this weekend. Hopefully watching it inspires at least a few people to go read about the real Freddie Mercury, nothing like that film's ugly miserable concoction.

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Sidenote: BR is getting dropped on blu-ray in about five weeks and they just announced today that the film's one highlight, the Live Aid performance, will be on the disc in full. So you can just watch that and skip everything else. (Or better yet just go watch the video of the real Queen's performance!) But that puts the BR a shocking full 150,000,000 above Hardy's previous Bryan-Singer-Joint, the shoulda-been-way-more-successful X-Men Apocalypse, which had Ben picking up his pair o' wings off of the previous Angel and Also-Blonde-Ben Ben Foster. But hmmm I do wonder if we've got an opinion on who wore those wings best...

bike trails

Today's Fanboy Delusion

Today I'd rather be...

... unleashing the Beast.

Why oh why is there no shot in the movie that I can remember (AND I WOULD REMEMBER) that shows off how excellent everything going on with Nicholas Hoult's costume below the waist was? This is a crime, Bryan Singer! A CRIME.

Anyway long long after I have forgotten anything of substance from X-Men Apocalypse (which shouldn't be that difficult, given its relative substance-less existence) I will remember pretty much each and every frame from this behind-the-scenes blooper reel from the forthcoming blu-ray, which shows that even if it wasn't showing up on screen everybody was having a great goofy time on this set. Oh and that Nicholas Hoult wants to unleash the beast as well...

... it would seem. But I couldn't pick a favorite moment if you held a gun (or Nicholas Hoult's dick, even) to my head - is it Nicky's bulge (it's probably that) or is it him and Tye Sheridan pawing at each other's spandexed bits and pieces...

... or is it Ben Hardy's back muscles...

... or maybe this bit...?

I saw a bunch of headlines yesterday saying that there's a deleted scene from the movie that shows Apocalypse could've been a lot more fun and I haven't watched that yet but this, this video, this is clearly what we should have been watching. Just go right ahead and give us two hours of these actors hanging out in their costumes gaily goofing off next time, please.
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In summation...

Rock Hard Granite

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We're overdue a 21st Century version of Backdraft -- and by "a 21st Century version of Backdraft" I mean "a movie where fetishized hunky firefighters take long communal showers and have sex on top of their fire-engines, you know, the meaningful stuff" -- so today's news of the movie titled Granite Mountain is hitting me in the right spot. The film, directed by Tron's Joseph Kosinski, already had such stalwartly hunky names as Josh Brolin and Taylor Kitsch and James Badge Dale attached, but today it adds a pair of sweet-cheeked fresh-faces to its roster - seen above that's Alex Russell (once of Chronicle, more recently of "making out with Sullivan Stapleton" fame) and down below that's Ben Hardy (he was Angel in the new X-Men movie but more importantly he got sweaty on a pummel-horse for a photo-shoot). Shouldn't they be hiring people who puts fires out, not start them?

Ben Hardy Ten Times

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I was just reading through this article at Vulture asking why the buzz surrounding the new X-Men movie seems damp, and then I thought about actor Ben Hardy and... well, I knew how the hype felt...

We alerted you to the young Mr. Hardy and his, you know, finer qualities way back last year when he got cast in the role of Angel for the new movie -- now he's got on his big boy pants (even if they're a wee bit snug) and he's making the covers of magazines, like this here photo-shoot for Attitude. (thx Mac) Hit the jump for the rest...

Do Dump or Marry: X Twinks

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Ever-youthful X-Men director Bryan Singer is turning 50 years old today, and so it only seems fitting to celebrate such a feat by, well, immersing ourselves in some nubile boy flesh. (He gets older but they somehow stay the same age.) The latest PYTs making the next Mutant Movie a smorgasbord of dewy lips and resiliently silky skin are Tye Sheridan (playing the young Cyclops), Ben Hardy (playing the young Angel) and Kodi Smit-McPhee (playing the young Nightcrawler). Take it upon yourselves to make like you're Hugh Jackman in his on-set trailer and Do Dump or Marry the latest X-Twink Contingent in the comments...

Putting The O God Yes In Magneto

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One of the things I've been missing whilst being away the past couple of weeks is the glut of X-Men: Apocalypse stuff that's been dropped - pictures of shoulder pads and stonewashed jeans left and right! I'm focusing in on the shots of Michael Fassbender here naturally, but you can see more here and here and blah other places. Other places! I like the look they're giving Magneto this time around though - he looks all burly in his plaid. And this other shot...

... with that out-of-focus yet clearly built-as-fuck steelworker silhouette in the background reminds me of that scene in The Simpsons where the coal mine becomes a dance club - "We work hard and we play hard." You better bring it, Bryan Singer!

Oh and I should add this art-work of Brit-twink Ben Hardy's mutant butt-cheeks donning his Angel costume-to-be because really that's what we watch these spandex-fests for ain't it when it comes down to the brass tax of it all?

I Am Link

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--- Big Gay Something - Say what you will about Judd Apatow (which was very easy for me in the wake of the godawful excruciating This is 40) but he's really taken to using his Hollywood powers for good, putting his muscle behind getting interesting female voices (Lena Dunham and Amy Schumer) out there, and now he's doing the same for The Gays - he's producing a big comedy that Girls star Andrew Rannells is writing with his (super hot) boyfriend Mike Doyle. Deadline doesn't mention the fact that Doyle & Rannells are together but I sure as heck-fire will. Anyway I go back and forth with Rannells (he can make me laugh, but at what cost?) but this sounds big-leagues, outside of the usually awful gay movie-making ghetto, so we should pay stand to attention. There's no word on what the damn thing is about, though.

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--- More Super - Although they proved they can make great sequels to movies that didn't need a sequel with the Toy Story films, I feel safe in saying that the only Pixar movie that's ever begged for a sequel is The Incredibles (still my favorite Pixar movie) so hearing that Brad Bird is working on the script for The Incredibles 2 finally has me very smiley inside. And outside! And in between! I don't know what that means exactly, just go with it.

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--- After Darth - Hayden Christensen has signed on to play the legendary pool party game inspiration Marco Polo, in an apparently big-budget fantasy epic co-produced with China. Rob Cohen, the auteur behind The Fast and the Furious as well as this year's epic J-Lo-in-danger flick The Boy Next Door, is directing. And I love that THR says that Christensen has got "a reputation for being choosy" with this news. Choosy like fucking store-brand peanut butter.
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--- Who's True - The first trailer for the new season of True Detective has dropped, and it's a bunch of famous people walking around, staring, and shoving. Totally accounted for is Colin Farrell and Colin Farrell's gigantic mustache, though. The show's back in June, which surprised me; I figured the wait (as much as I am "waiting" for this and not "dreading" it, give my less-than-enthusiastic reaction to the first season) would be slightly longer.
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--- Dark Wings - Here's a bunch of superhero movie junk that dropped today in one quick swoop - here's the first good look at Jamie Bell in full Thing rock regalia in the Fantastic Four reboot; it is indeed criminal how they are covering up that adorable boy again. Here's some concept art of Bryan Singer's new favorite twink Ben Hardy in angel wings for the new X-Men movie, proving we were all correct in assuming that boy was Angel to a tee. Oh and there's a glimpse of Daredevil's red costume in this new teaser; I think it looks unbearably silly but I guess no more so than every superhero costume's ever looked on a real human being.
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--- Billy Boys - I've apparently been very very bad keeping up with the casting on Ang Lee's new movie Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk - we caught it when that cute newcomer Joe Alwyn got cast in the lead, but according to The Dissolve since then the names that have also signed on include Steve Martin, Kristen Stewart, Garrett Hedlund, and now Vin Diesel and Chris Tucker. Wowza what a weird fascinating cast.
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--- The New Flesh - A few months ago I wrote a post about all the Frankensteins that were about to be coming our way - well we've just gotten our first glimpse of the Monster that inspired that post: STYD has the first picture from Bernard "Candyman" Rose's Frankenstein, which stars pretty pretty boy (not looking too pretty there though!) Xavier Samuel as the big bolted lunk in a modern retelling of the tale, with Carrie Anne-Moss and Danny Huston as the Doctors who make him that way. The movie premieres in Brussels at their film fest this weekend.

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--- Her Hotel - I've probably missed some announcements since I last posted about Matthew Bomer & Cheyenne Jackson and then Wes Bentley all booking leading roles in the upcoming season of American Horror Story but I do believe that yesterday's word that Kathy Bates is coming back gives us our first Grande Acting Dame of the show. (No, Gaga does not count.) Ryan Murphy says she's "running the hotel" so I hope that makes her the main character a la Lange. Also I hope she holds a sledgehammer at some point.
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Bryan Singer Don't Give A F....

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He will see you and your side-eyes over him having Nicholas Hoult and Evan Peters and Kody Smit-McPhee and Tye Sheridan all in his next X-Men movie, and he will raise you one super-twink Ben Hardy. Shazam!

Hardy was on the British soap EastEnders -- he apparently just left because clearly he's got bigger fish to fry. There's no word on what character Hardy is playing but they're saying it's a role "significant to the X-Men universe." He'd probably make for a fine Angel (Ben Foster played Angel in the crappy third movie for director Brett Ratner, which Singer's gone to great lengths to erase right out of existence.) Anyway I've been meaning to post some pictures of Ben Hardy ever since he covered Attitude magazine and set off the chickenhawk alarm heard round the globe, so hit it for a few more...