I Quit Smoking 18 Years Ago Today

I thought it was funny when the conversation about smoking cigarettes being "cool" again reared its head last week, as I was prepping for this annual post I've been doing for eighteen years now -- if you look it up this conversation pops up about every two years and everyone acts all outraged again. And as I say every year -- smoking is bad for you! I am glad I quit eighteen years ago today! And yet I also think that it's undeniable that it just looks cool -- it's erotic, it's cinematic, it's literally "bad for you" as I just said and I'm of the mind that we'll stop being human beings when we stop romanticizing nihilism. We're always gonna be attracted to the "bad boy" archetype, even when it's Gina Gershon in Bound. (Hell especially when it's Gina Gershon in Bound.) 

Anyway I make some form of that argument every single year so's I can justify this post. Eighteen years of them now! That's wild. And no I don't miss smoking in the slightest, even if I one thousand percent understand the sould-crush that the kids are feeling so they're picking up the cancer-sticks again. I'm not judging anybody -- I get it y'all. The world's on fire -- you might as well lean in and light some drugs up off of it. With that said over the past twelve months I've gathered a ridiculous amount of pictures and gifs for y'all (over 150) so let's get to those. Hit the jump and inhale...

Tom Blyth Ten Times

I went looking to see if there was a sexy (sexy being a given, given the subject) new photoshoot of Tom Blyth just yesterday when I posted that his gay drama Plainclothes has hit blu-ray this week -- there was not a new photo-shoot yesterday, but whaddya know there is one today! Today he's been interviewed by Bustle magazine whilst sporting a sexy lil' stache as he's got a pair of interesting projects landing in the next several weeks -- there's a rom-com called People We Meet On Vacation based on a book apparently of some popularity which lands on Netflix on Friday of this week. And then there's a prison film called Wasteman that has Tom starring opposite Industry's own David Jonsson, hitting screens in February. 

Another thing I realized yesterday while posting about Plainclothes -- Tom didn't yet have a tag here on MNPP! So that's now rectified as of this here post. Congrats, Tom -- you've made it. Anyway the choice-iest bit of the interview for me (besides the moment he spells out "C-U-M" of course) was when he said that Luca Guadagnino was such a fan of his Hunger Games movie The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes that he insisted on meeting with Tom several times, and Luca admitted he'd seen Ballad three times in theaters! I loved Ballad too but Luca has such oddball taste -- did you see his Indiewire list of 2025 favorites? All over the map. (He included The Minecraft Movie ffs.) Anyway if I had the power I'd have also demanded lunch with Tom Blyth after watching him in that movie, but unfortunately I'm not Luca Guadagnino. I mourn that fact every day! All that said you can now feel free to hit the jump for more sexy Tom stache time...

Cruise This Movie

We're coming up on a year since I reviewed the movie out of Sundance -- read that review right here -- and director Carmen Emmi's wonderful and moving gay drama Plainclothes is hitting blu-ray today. Pick up your copy right here. Russell Tovey plays a cruising dude who cruises into undercover cop Tom Blyth's bathroom stall, catching his eye and all his other body parts, in 1990s Syracuse. And as I say in my review -- it sure is weird to see a period piece made about a time and a place you were a part of! Not that I was picking up Russell Toveys in the mall bathroom... unfortunately. Life would've been way easier had I been! 

Tom Blyth Eight Times

Just a quick heads-up before I run out the door for that Pillion screening I mentioned this morning that what's probably my second favorite gay movie of 2025, the 90s set drama Plainclothes starring Tom Blyth and Russell Tovey, has gotten a blu-ray drop date! It's hitting physical media on January 6th and you can pre-order it right at this link. And if you need me to make my case on why it's so good that it's worth buying read my review at Pajiba from when it screened at Sundance forever ago. And bonus, this gives me a good excuse to post this photoshoot of the beautifully pillow-lipped Mr. Blyth for Sharp magazine (via) that I missed several weeks back -- everybody wins. Hit the jump for them all...

Tom Blyth & Russell Tovey Eighteen Times

Somebody at Man About Town magazine must've been a really big fan of the movie Plainclothes -- as was I! -- because not only did they gift us with that sexy photoshoot of Russell Tovey that I shared back at the start of October but then they went and dropped a shoot of Russell with his on-screen gay lover Tom Blyth together, and then today an entire shoot of Tom all by himself! We truly admire their obsession. Anyway with all I had going on this month I shamefully hadn't posted the duo shoot yet so now that we have this opportunity we're snatching it -- hit the jump for them all...

Plainclothes and Pretty Boys

Gay movie alert! Plainclothes, the movie where Tom Blyth plays an undercover cop who falls for suburban daddy Russell Tovey in 1990s Syracuse, is out in theaters today -- I reviewed this awhile back, read my thoughts here. Big fan. Oh and if you wanna find a theater near you where it's playing this link should help. 

Yessir Mister Plainclothes

Sure enough as mentioned in our last post the trailer for Plainclothes has also arrived today -- the closeted cop drama starring Tom Blyth and Russell Tovey is hitting theaters on September 19th and you can watch the trailer down below. Here is my Sundance review of the movie, which hit me with a whallop given it's set in Syracuse New York in the 1990s aka where and when I grew up and got good and gay. A really special movie, and Tom Blyth and Maria Dizzia as his mom in particular give wonderful performances. Watch it!

Okay here's one more gif, just cuz:

Tom Blyth Two Times

Speaking of more cinematic excellence getting slotted into the fall movie season, we've now got official word on Plainclothes, the 90s-set gay drama starring Tom Blyth as a closeted cop hunting gays in mall restrooms and Russell Tovey as the hot one he catches and immediately starts humping -- it's hitting theaters on September 19th. I reviewed the movie during Sundance -- read that right here. It hit home since it's literally set where and when I grew up, as I get into in that review, but Blyth in particular is excellent and has probably forever won my heart thanks to his charming and conflicted performance. Also proper love must be given to the great and always underappreciated Maria Dizzia who plays his mom. This movie is definitely far too small to eke out big awards attention I think, and that's a shame -- both of their performances will very much be amongst the best of the year according to me. Anyway we don't have a trailer for this yet but I expect we will soon enough so stay tuned.

NewFest Pride Coming in Hot

Playing catch-up with some terrific news that dropped earlier this week -- the line-up for NewFest's summertime series "NewFest Pride" dropped and the mini-fest (which runs here in NYC from May 29th to June 2nd) will get include my favorite film I saw at Sundance earlier this year, the gay drama Plainclothes starring Tom Blyth and Russell Tovey! Here is my review of that movie -- granted as I say there this movie was kinda sculpted in my image given it is about being gay in Syracuse in the 1990s and I was all of those things once upon a time. How could I resist? I love it when things are about me, after all! But the entire weekend is stacked with gay goodies -- I missed the Olivia Colman and John Lithgow drama Jimpa when it screened at Sundance and that's the series' opening night film... I do wonder if Lithgow will attend and if he will have to answer for his shitty comments about the whole Harry Potter debacle? He might wanna steer clear of a room full of queers right now. Anyway if you're going to be in town I always recommend going to NewFest events, they're always a great time with an enthusiastic audience and they've got an excellent batch of programmers working for them. And if you wanna see the entire line-up and buy tickets hit that link, or if you just want to see the entire line-up and press release on their own hit the jump for them...

Pics of the Day

While we (impatiently) wait for Plainclothes, the 90s-set gay drama starring Tom Blyth and Russell Tovey to hit theaters -- although my waiting is probably less impatient than your waiting since I have already seen the movie thanks to Sundance, and reviewed it right here -- that movie's leading man Tom Blyth, who is excellent in it, has news of his next project to share. Specifically some photos he took in Senegal where he just finished shooting Claire Denis' next one titled The Cry of the Guards. It also stars Mia McKenna-Bruce, Matt Dillon, and Isaach De Bankolé, and here's how Variety describes it: "The story unfolds over the course of one night near a construction site in Senegal, where a group of workers are confronted by a man seeking justice for his brother’s death at the site." Sounds like a Claire Denis movie! Anyway post-Plainclothes I'll be following Blyth pretty much anywhere but a Claire Denis movie isn't a hard sell at all. Hit the jump for a few more of his photos...

Cruising For An Emotional Bruising

I've made it pretty clear here on the site that it's been a rough week or so for me and y'all have been very kind in wishing me well, I appreciate it. And I only bring it up now again because part of what was weighing on me was writing a movie review of all things -- sometimes writing is a blessing and frees you of things and sometimes it's hard as fuck and makes you root around in shit you don't feel like rooting around in. And it was more of the latter when I wrote up my thoughts on the gay drama Plainclothes starring Tom Blyth and Russell Tovey this week. The movie is good, mind you! It just stirred things up and this wasn't the best week for that. Anyway click on over to Pajiba to read the review. Some of the stuff that comes up in there I've mentioned in other pieces before so if you're long-time readers it'll sound familiar. Anyway Plainclothes -- terrific and well acted stuff! The end. (For today.) 

Smoke All of Them If Ya Got Them

Quiet day, I know -- what little of it I haven't spent doom-scrolling I spent working on a really difficult-to-write Sundance review (and yes that photo of Tom Blyth seen there above is a clue) and then suddenly it's 4:30 somehow. Just a hard day all around but don't worry about me -- I'll manage to pull myself out of this gloom eventually so I can get back to distracting y'all from it. We all need a good wallow now and then -- especially these days. Let yourselves wallow! Just promise yourselves it's temporary because we need each other, now more than ever. 

I am having trouble writing, getting up, putting one foot in front of the other. Existing feels absurd

— Jason Adams (@jamnpp.bsky.social) February 11, 2025 at 11:09 AM

Quote of the Day

As we put 2024 behind us officially and move on to the year's first film festival with Sundance kicking off today, let's look at one of our most anticipated titles premiering in the next two weeks there -- Plainclothes, Carmen Emmi's film about a closeted police officer (Tom Blyth, seen above for V Man magazine -- more photos here) falling for a hot dude (Russell Tovey) he arrests for cruising a Syracuse restroom. 

It's got everything! Hot men! Gay sex! Upstate New York! It's like my autobiography y'all. In all seriousness I posted about this movie the second it was announced and I'm extremely happy it's one of the few titles on my most-wanted Sundance list that's doing virtual screenings so I will actually be able to see it! (Pour one out for Ira Sachs' new movie with Ben Whishaw and Rebecca Hall which I will not be able to see -- SIGH). Anyway there's a chat with Blyth about the movie in Variety today and because sex scenes get all the clicks they talked Plainclothes' sex scenes between the two fellas and here's what he had to say:

"We had an amazing intimacy coordinator, Joey Massa. I’ve worked with a lot of intimacy coordinators and they’re always amazing. Sometimes I feel they’re called in when the scene isn’t even that intimate just because everyone these days is rightfully trying to correct the course and make sure that everyone’s protected. Sometimes you’ll have a kissing scene and you go, “We probably know how to do this.” But this was genuinely intimate stuff. It was really intimate, really vivid, and Joey was incredible. It felt very organic. It felt like we rehearsed it in a way where I think Russell and I both were made to feel confident and comfortable enough that we could lead it. I think it works best when the actors feel emboldened to be able to take control of the choreography and make it feel organic."

I do like the sound of "really intimate" don't you? Those are the kinds of phrases that make my happy places get happy in the first place. Anyway stay tuned for my thoughts on Plainclothes in a couple of weeks -- the virtual screeners don't drop until the end of the fest so it'll be a bit but there's no way I won't have thoughts on this!

Christian Cooke One Time

I haven't had the opportunity to see Christian Cooke in anything in too long a time (and yes that means I still haven't watched the western series That Dirty Black Bag that he co-starred in with my boy Dominic Cooper a couple of years ago, shame on me) but that will clearly change soon, as he's just co-starred in the gay policeman drama Plainclothes opposite Russell Tovey and Tom Blyth. I told you about this previously (of course I did) a few weeks back -- the entire movie has shot already, which I know because it shot in Syracuse near where I grew up and so I kept tabs on that in case its shoot overlapped with my trip upstate for the eclipse (it did not). Anyway the photo above (via, click to embiggen, thx Mac) is an excellent reminder that Christian Cooke should always, always be in front of me (or behind me, I am not picky) and I am real glad we'll be rendezvousing again shortly. Bring it on, Plainclothes! And in related news:

Obsessed with Russell Tovey trying to tag Luca Guadagnino in Insta stories showing off his bulge pants at the Challengers premiere pic.twitter.com/FA0I8SJpwQ

— Jason Adams (@JAMNPP) April 11, 2024

Arrest Me, Russell Tovey

Tom Blyth, who starred in the far far far better than it needed to be latest Hunger Games movie (my review) as well as Terence Davies' final masterpiece Benediction, is making a gay movie with Russell Tovey! And they're making it in upstate New York, like twenty minutes from where my Mom lives? WTF. It's called Plainclothes and it's shooting in Syrcause with a first-time writer-director named Carmen Emmi and here is how Variety describes it:

"Set in the ’90s and inspired by true events, a working-class undercover officer is tasked with entrapping and apprehending gay men, only to find himself drawn to one of his targets."

So not only is it set where I'm from (more or less) but it's set there during a time when I lived there? Oh I am going to have to keep an eye on this one, even beyond the Tom Blyth and Russell Tovey  cop-perp fuck-fest. Even beyond that! Do we think Russell is playing the cop? I feel like Russell would be the cop but maybe that is just me remembering his hot mustachioed turn in American Horror Story...

Tom Blyth Always Lands on Top

If any of you went to see the new Hunger Games movie The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes this past weekend then you maybe found yourself smitten with its leading man Tom Blyth, which these photos via VMan magazine seen here will make understandable to those of you who did not go and see the new Hunger Games movie this past weekend. Me, I went and saw the new Hunger Games movie this past weekend, and, uhh, me smitten. Not that that's the reason I just gave the movie a positive review at Pajiba -- click here to read it -- but it didn't hurt. Especially since his performance is so strong -- this should prove to be a real calling card for him! I remember liking him in Terence Davies' film Benediction but that role was small -- here he props up a half-dead franchise on his shoulders and he brings it right back to life. And as I say in that review this very well might be the best Hunger Games movie of them all? And who saw that coming in 2023? Hit the jump for a dozen more photos...

Pics of the Day

Oh and speaking of beautiful actors in uniform (as I just was five minutes ago) former Dunkirk Twink and current Saoirse beau Jack Lowden has just shared with us this the first photograph of him in the movie Benediction, a movie which we're real excited about! We posted about it back in January when it was first announced (ha, remember January? Me neither) -- it's the new film from Terence Davies, and it has Jack playing WWI-fighter turned poet Seigfried Sassoon. The important bit being that Sassoon was gay and had an affair with the actor Ivor Novello, which brings me to the following news which I'd missed until now...

... that Novello will be played in the film by the actor Jeremy Irvine. In fact I'd guess the following photos that Jeremy posted five weeks ago on his Insta were probably from the filming of this (Deadline reports today that filming has just now ended, after COVID delayed everything) giving us a look at him in character:

Also of note! Siegried Sassoon also had an affair with an actor named Glen Byam Shaw, who was Ivor Novello's former lover -- it's not really surprising that these things got incestuous, because things still get incestuous in the gay community even now and it's far far easier to find other homosexuals now than it was back then. Anyway Shaw is a character in the film too, and he's being played by Tom Blyth, a relatively new young actor, but Blyth's Instagram offers us a look at him in character too:

With a little digging you can dig up half a film these days! 

Alongside this photo Blyth shares this info:

"I was going for DiCaprio in Gatsby but [Jeremy Irvine] reckons I captured more of a “Richard E. Grant in Withnail And I”... which is, y’know, a bit less flattering and makes me question my imitation skills."