Great Moments in Movie Shelves #200

It's out 200th "Great Moments in Movie Shelves" post! So why not celebrate with something we all love -- namely Wes Bentley standing butt naked in front of some bookshelves in American Beauty. I know the love affair with this film has crumbled over the past two decades but I think we can all still agree that Wes Bentley could get it. Even if he wanted to ramble about the existential thrill of plastic bags or what-the-fuck-ever. That infamous plastic bag speech was actually what got this movie onto my brain this week -- I re-watched Todd Solondz' movie Storytelling a few days ago and that movie has a great joke at that speech's expense that I got a chuckle out of. Timely stuff! Anyway in summation you should re-watch Storytelling because it rules and you should hit the jump to see Wes Bentley's butt because it also rules...

Good Morning, World

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I'm sure I'll be posting more Zac Efron when the Neighbors 2 trailer drops at some point today, but I realized last night - when I was posting about the teaser of the trailer for Neighbors 2, naturally, because what are we but a Zac Efron Blog these days - that I had these couple of shots of Zac in We Are Your Friends sitting on my computer, so let's just deposit them. We Are Your Friends is that LA DJ Culture movie that Max Joseph from Catfish directed, which summarily dropped off the face of the Earth. But hey we got these pictures of Zac and Wes Bentley looking like they were going to make out out of it, so I'm good.

Who Wore It Best?

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Thanks to this Tumblr for putting the images 

together and making me go, "DUH, post that poll."

(And see more of Wes' scene right here.)

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Good Morning, Horror Hotel

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Sorry we're getting a late start this morning, I have been here slaving away for you all this time, making the terrible traumatic sacrifice of wasting away my hours staring at all of the butts that were on American Horror Story: Hotel last night - Finn Wittrock, Cheyenne Jackson, Wes Bentley, hell they even carted in some male model (anybody know his name?) to join the butt party --  seriously, what a martyr I am! I expect sainthood, you monsters. Anyway I'm not going to say much and I'm going to throw all of these after the jump because some of you might not have watched the episode yet, it is less than 24 hours old. If you haven't watched it yet, put on your 3D Butt Glasses because butts be popping...

Today's Fanboy Delusion

Today I'd rather be...

... bending like Bentley.

Sorry it's taken me so long to get around to these shots of Wes in this past week's episode of American Horror Story! I'd actually forgotten all about this until today's news broke that the show is getting another season, at least, for sure. I've more than made up for my tardiness with an excess of giffening though -- special attention paid to his butt and what I'm pretty sure is a glimpse of cock-sock...

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... and now hit the jump and wallow in Wes with me...

Good Morning, World

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We got the teeniest tiniest bit of Wes Bentley skin on this week's episode of American Horror Story -- when they showed the parental warning for the episode and there were a whole bunch of letters missing I could be heard shouting "Where's my Sexual Situations and Nudity???" across town, and sure enough, it was a shy one. Why so shy, Wes? Later in the episode when Wes walked around in a perfectly tailored tuxedo looking all kinds of chic and haunted I felt somewhat sated, but still. For a good previous gratuitous bout of Wes-ness click here; he's proven not so shy in the past so I hope as the season progresses so does his exhibitionism. And hit the jump for a few more caps from this scene...

Good Morning, Hotel

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Well American Horror Story: Hotel premiered last night -- what did we think? I found all of the Matt Bomer nudity perfectly agreeable! Naturally we'll be sharing all of that here. But what of the rest? I think there is the possibility for entertainment - I am intrigued by the characters and the place. 

But I don't know if I was really "entertained" by last night's premiere in itself. I was surprised by what an influence Seven appears to have been on the season; less so by all of the references to The Shining and The Hunger. A lot of the actual violence (rape by silver unicorn dildo, for instance) felt crammed in. (Sorry, I had to.) It was best when it was soaking us in the atmosphere of the place.

MVP, even besides all of the bare ass, was probably Bomer, because somebody's been taking strutting lessons (probably from Denis O'Hare) and I found his newly liberated looseness refreshing. Wes Bentley was good too - I look forward to him being dragged into the sexy sexy muck. Anyway before it gets too bright outside tell me what y'all thought and let's hit the jump for the pics...

Do Dump or Marry: Heartbreak Hotel

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There is a chance that I have asked this exact question before but I'm not even bothering to go back into the archives and see because now we have pictures of Matt Bomer, Wes Bentley and Evan Peters all standing nicely in a row so we're asking, whether redundant or not -- Do Dump or Marry them in the comments!

I don't know why Evan Peters was in costume at the American Horror Story: Hotel premiere while nobody else seemed to be -- I guess he digs his look? I like the look - Sleazy Dandy is a good look. 

In related news last night I complained about wanting a nice quality copy of the new ad for the show, which premieres tomorrow night, so I could make a gif from a shot of Matt contained therein; well  didn't have to wait long, thankfully...

You might say I am looking forward to this.
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Hotel Hunks Getting Checked Out

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The first real teaser trailer for American Horror Story: Hotel -- meaning it's the first one with footage of the folks who are acting in it -- has arrived, and it's the usual fashion horror hybrid we've come to love... for a few episodes and then grow exhausted by. 

I kid, I kid, I am of course pretty excited about Hotel, even if every season devolves into chaos and nonsense like clockwork. How could I not be with the man factor turned up to eleven this year - we get glimpses of Matt Bomer, Cheyenne Jackson, Evan Peters, Finn Wittrock (way too quick with the Finn, though), Wes Bentley, and whoever that Sexy Disco Jesus is that Angela Basset's dragging around on a leash.

I hope he's actually on the show! Anyway you can watch the trailer over at BD and then here after the jump I capped the shots of the fellas, come along with me and Cheyenne to see the rest...

The Hotel Gang's All Here

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EW has got American Horror Story: Hotel on the cover of its new issue and besides the articles with lots of juicy details they're also sharing the first looks at what Ryan Murphy's troupe of actors will be looking like this go-around, and it is something!

Look at Finn Wittrock! Good lord that's... a lot to unpack. I'm guessing the season is set in the modern day because of the fashions, although you know, these looks are...

... timeless? No timeless isn't the word I'm looking for. More like... horrible. Horrible is probably the word I'm looking for. God the Los Angeles or Las Vegas is just dripping from it. At least Wes Bentley & Matt Bomer look human. And Evan Peters has a certain....

... fussy dandy quality that makes me think we might finally get him gay this year. I also always prefer him dark-haired, as we've well-documented, and this is the darkest they've gone with him yet. Anyway there are more pictures over there, of Kathy Bates and Naomi Campbell (!!!) and Sarah Paulson and Angela Bassett, oh my.

So what do you guys think?

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Wake Up Wes Bentley We Love You

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Bless the front page of IMDb for bringing this trailer to my attention when otherwise I'd have probably missed it given its small stature -- Wes Bentley and Kate Bosworth are starring in Amnesia, the new film from Michael "Twin Falls Idaho" Polish (thing I also just learned: Polish is married to Kate Bosworth), which looks like his typically stylized take on Misery. And yes what that means is lots of wounded Wes looking forlorn whilst oft shirtless and strapped to a bed. We have a bingo.

Although nothing he's done has struck with the blunt force of those beard-swirls in The Hunger Games I'm pleased as punch that Wes has been working working working over the past few years - I sure do like watching him.

As an aside, have any of you watched Final Girl yet? It's mostly Abagail Breslin's show but Wes slinks around looking all sultry like here and there and the movie maybe tries two hundred percent too hard but there's some good stuff happening. It's interesting, at least. It's nice that Wes is trying to make interesting movies. Nice! God, I'm so wise today. Anyway here's Amnesia's trailer...

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And here's a nice shot of his butt in the trailer, just cuz...
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Zac Efron is Not My Friend

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I wouldn't say no to Zac Efron being my friend though! Anyway the trailer for We Are Your Friends, the movie that has apparently Zac Efron and Wes Bentley sharing all kinds of long lingering stares at one another, has dropped, and it's got several moments worth observing. The aforementioned lingering stares for instance - remember when Zac & Wes were seen hugging it out with all sorts of beyond-bromance bursting from their eyeballs? Yeah it's all over this.

This is the movie that hot dude from Catfish directed; no not the furry hot one, the gray-haired hot one called Max. He and Zac were also seen being half-naked and friendly on this movie's set... basically that set was the place to be for a bit, it seems.

Oh and Shiloh Fernandez is there too,
being all.... ShilohFernandezy. Here's the trailer:

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And after the jump a few more caps of note...

Wes Bentley Thirteen Times

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I check the internet fairly often for new Wes Bentley photo-shoots (as one does -- see here and here and here for mighty fine proof) so I was surprised to see today that several had somehow slipped right on by me unnoticed. For shame, for shame. But hey what we lack in punctuality we make up for in excess. (click to embiggen)

I'm riding high on Wes today after watching him in Kristen Wiig's new comedy Welcome to Me over the weekend; I'll write up thoughts on that film soon but let it be known that Wes Bentley's totally adorable in it and it was nice to see Wes get to play adorable; he's usually leaned on for weird instead, but he's quite capable of the former. Quite. Hit the jump for ten more quality pics...

Wes Checks In

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So apparently Ryan Murphy's decided to cast nothing but gorgeous men with black hair and light eyes for the next season of American Horror Story (and I certainly can't argue with such choices) - on top of Matt Bomer & Cheyenne Jackson he's just tossed the beautiful & talented Wes Bentley to the heap.

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Thrilled to announce Wes Bentley will be a series regular on AHS: Hotel.
— Ryan Murphy (@MrRPMurphy) March 17, 2015

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Bentley had a small role in the last season as a two-faced Victorian ghost (oh, this show); he also previously  worked alongside Cheyenne on Murphy's not-picked-up HBO show called Open, which was supposed to be some kind of sex-drama, and which I still mourn every time the memory's unburied. Just transfer all those sexy scenes to Hotel, please!

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I Am Link

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--- Hugh Bot - There's a new trailer for Neill Blomkap's Chappie out (you can watch the previous one over here) and I'm still not convinced that turning Sharlto Copley into a CG robot was the best use of his, you know talents, but we'll see. At least Hugh Jackman's bad-guy trousers seem tight so there'll be something for me to look at. In related news I will be seeing Hugh Jackman's play The River this weekend! I hope it's just ninety minutes of him flexing his biceps.

--- Witch Off - I remember liking Gregory Maguire's book of Wicked way way back in the day, when that kind of thing still seemed clever, but I've never seen the stage musical - it's always sold out and/or only at full-price, plus the commercials they show here in New York make the music sound like a bunch of screaming. I'm good, thanks! Anyway I'll probably see the movie if they ever make it, because I have to see movies I don't have tons of interest in sometimes (hello Into the Woods), and it's closer than ever - EW says that Stephen Daldry, director of Billy Elliot, has been working on it for awhile and we might see the movie by 2016. This movie will be SO BIG; it's crazy they've waited this long to do it.

--- Deep Creek - Judging a book by its cover, or rather judging a YouTube clip by its boring cover-photo, I'm guessing that the first footage from Battle Creek, the new series written by Breaking Bad's Vince Gilligan (with a pilot directed by Bryan Singer) doesn't have Josh Duhmale's dick anywhere in it so I'm not in a big rush. But y'all do and watch it and tell me if I'm being shortsighted. I mean, Bryan Singer did shoot it. Here's a link to some nice shots of Joshie on the set, though.

--- Little Woman - My first instinct upon reading that Reese Witherspoon's re-teaming with Election director Alexander Payne is elation... for a second, and then I remember all the crap Payne's been making for the past several years, and oh my heart sinks. But Election's so good that a little bubble of hope escapes all the same. The movie's called Downsizing, back in November Matt Damon had joined the film as the lead; it's a satire of some sort about a man shrinking himself or something. It's probably going to be a preachy Honey I Shrunk The Kids, basically. Alec Baldwin, Neil Patrick Harris and Jason Sudeikis have also joined the cast.

--- Burning Love - How strange to find two hunks heating up the live-action Pete's Dragon movie, of all places - Wes Bentley and Michael C Hall have both joined the film, along with Robert Redford and Bryce Dallas Howard and some newcomer kid nobody's heard of. Maybe Wes and Mike are playing the kid's two dads and there'll be a scene of slow tender lovemaking lit by the smoky glare of the dragon's nostrils. You know, for kids.

--- Winter Queen - Berlin's Film Fest is coming up soon and over at The Film Experience Nat's taking a look at the first image of Juliette Binoche (oh Juli) rocking her best Zhivago fur in Nobody Wants the Night, which is the opening night film. I would watch a remake of Zhivago starring Juli - don't you dare say she's too old for the Julie Christie part, she is Binoche, she is right for every part!

--- And Finally, DH has got several new pictures from Marvel's Ant-Man in a gallery over here; I'm kinda keen on the shot below of Paul Rudd standing beside his costume but mostly because I'm pretending that he's not wearing any pants. We make our own fun. Click here for that shirtless shot of Paul in the trailer.

Clarke Cups Christian

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After watching its first trailer I still don't know if Terrence Malick can win me back to the fold with his next movie Knight of Cups or not (I disliked The Tree of Life so much that I never bothered to see To the Wonder, which wasn't helped out by the presence of Ben Affleck or the promise of even more spiritual upchuck), but I do know that that shot of Christian Bale (looking somewhat cleaned up, huzzah) and Jason Clarke (always looking just right) is up my alley. It was just announced the movie will play the Berlin Fest in February; if nothing else I am sure Cate Blanchett will be terrific and Wes Bentley will look cute. Here's the trailer:

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I Am Link

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--- What A Dick - Have you guys read what Jared Leto has to say about the rumors that he might play The Joker in the DC villain-fest Suicide Squad? If you haven't be prepared to want to rend yourself limb from limb and set fire to your eyeballs once you do, because it's the word "insufferable" distilled to its brain-searing essence. There was a hot minute when he was squeezing his junk on stage where I got confused, bewildered, the lights were all in my eyes and those old familiar stirrings stirred... well I'd like to thank him for talking me back from the ledge with his insipid fucking obnoxiousness once again. Please someone make him go away.

--- Liked Mike - Here's my Understatement of the Day: We lost a major talent in Mike Nichols, y'all. In some ways it feels like an outlier that I'd mourn the director of so much Broadway stuff, but as Joe Reid gets across in his wonderfully observed run-down of what a great adapter Nichols was, his focus ran the gamut far and wide enough to bring us all under the umbrella. I was thinking of doing a list on him but I don't think I will have the time; anyway Silkwood is probably my favorite of his work. My love for Silkwood runs very very deep.

--- Big Bentley - On the opposite end of the spectrum from Leto's unhinged ego here we have a nice little chat with Wes Bentley (thanks Mac), who seems genuine and grateful to have gotten his groove back after busting that terrible drug habit that sidelined his career for so long, and who comes off as humble, imagine that.

--- Last Wives Club -  Well now there's a great big question mark about what director Steve McQueen's doing next - we know he's working on that series for HBO, for one; then yesterday we heard he is making a bio-pic of Paul Robeson. And today comes word via Variety that he's adapting the ITV series called Widows, which is a thriller about the widows of four criminals coming together to finish the crime that killed their hubbies. I mean that sounds like fun, I want him to make that, he needs to have some fun. (Not to mention Michael Fassbender could definitely fit into this one somehow.)

--- Nobody Loves An Albatross - I still haven't watched the original but I'll take any excuse to post about Idris Elba these days (as I proved yesterday) - his well-liked series Luther is being rebooted for US television, with the original folks (Idris included) producing. And the BBC is actually bringing the character back, as played by Idris, for a two-part miniseries. What I wanna know is, when is No Good Deed coming out on DVD? I can't believe I missed it in theaters; I need that shower scene!

--- Wand Lovers - Speaking Of the Beeb (and I feel like I'm talking about British television a lot lately) they are apparently adapting the massive magician fun-time book Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell, I had no idea. They've already released the first image from it! Have any of you read the book? I did when it was a big deal when it came out in 2004 (has it really only been ten years?) and I remember liking it, but I don't remember a ton about it now. Remembering how gigantic that book is I even wonder now the hell I ever read all that.

--- A Knight's Tail - And speaking of Idris again, the role he was momentarily mentioned for in Guy Ritchie's King Arthur movie starring Charlie Hunnam, that of Merlin, has gone to Djimon Honsou, so I guess Ritchie had a visual in mind for Merlin. But I'm down with Djimon, anyway.

--- Future Past - This seems like an odd fit - Paul Greengrass, he of the Bourne films and Captain Phillips, is planning on adapting George Orwell's 1984 into a new movie. I suppose the story's timeless but I do feel like it presents a problem, adapting a work about the future that's set in our past at this point, right? It feels like it's a thing that now has to be addressed. Anyway I haven't read 1984 since high school, how about y'all?

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