Which is Hotter?

Both Orlando Bloom and James Marsden were pap-snapped having some fun in the sun over the holiday weekend -- both of them had just been at Cannes and both of them were photographed in Antibes, France, and on very similar looking rafts to boot! So it's a shame they weren't splashing around together! But no -- if they were together the photographers didn't seem to capture that. James was photographed with...

... French actor Benoit Magimel (from Michael Haneke's The Piano Teacher and many more) though! What a strange small world if you're rich, beautiful, and famous. Anyway if anybody can find proof that Marsden & Bloom were together send it my way -- I'm just going to force them to compete for our pleasure though:

online polls

That sorted I have several more photos of the both of them,

so hit the jump and I will share them...

James Marsden Six Times

James Marsden's new photo-shoot for W magazine is the sort of photo-shoot that the words "humina humina" and "awooga" were invented for -- if I had a cartoon wolf's eyes they'd be halfway across the table by now. (Just don't ask where I got a cartoon wolf's eyes from -- the poor blind wolf ain't talkin!) What a goddamned dreamboat though. The beauty just isn't fading with age, not in the slightest. I remember I once stood beside him exiting a Q&A for some movie of his that I don't recall and just thinking, "Jesus Christ, how can one human being be that beautiful?" And here I am, many years later, still thinking it. Hit the jump for the rest...

Good Morning, World

Happy Monday! I hope you and yours and their theirs all enjoyed their their weekends and so on, down the line. Here's an update nobody asked for -- on Friday when I posted those shots of Alexander Skarsgard's lovely little bum I mentioned I hadn't watched the last three episodes of The Stand, right? So I watched them over the weekend, and sure enough no thank you. Sigh! Oh well. At least we got some Skars-bum and this shot of a shirtless James Marsden out of it. It's something. (That's called "the glass is five percent full." I'm such a positive person.) Anyway it's Monday morning, let's get on with it. Hit the jump for a few more gifs...

Pics of the Day

Some new photos from the quickly-barreling-ahead re-do miniseries of Stephen King's The Stand have dropped over at EW -- Alexander Skarsgard and his bouffant-of-evil can be seen above (he's playing the super-creep Randall Flagg, of course) and down below is I believe our first (gross) look at Ezra Miller playing the "Trashcan Man" -- I do believe this was only a recent revelation, that Ezra was in this and playing this character, that I totally missed? Well I know now, and that's good f'ing casting for the role. You can see some more images at BD today too (thx Mac), those ones being of the promotional sort. The Stand begins airing on CBS All Access on December 17th!

Alex Makes An Entrance

I was about to start this post by saying I don't know how I missed the drop of the full trailer for the new miniseries version of Stephen King's The Stand, starring Alexander Skarsgard and James Marsden and you know a cast of thousands besides those two pretty people playing the head bad and good guys respectively, but then I realized that obviously I missed any news of note last week -- I have been awful busy with all the film fest stuff! Right, Alex?

He gets it. Anyway yes the full trailer dropped, and if you missed

it like I did let's watch it right now together!

I think they give us a glimpse or two of most everybody in there -- pretty excited about the looks at Watchmen's Jovan Adepo as Larry and Heather Graham as Rita in New York, and after Shirley I'll follow Odeesa Young anywhere... 

... and I dare any of you to say you wouldn't do whatever Alexander Skarsgard told you to do if he suddenly was right behind you, leaning over you, whispering in your ear. I'd be so screwed! Happily off to Vegas with my Sex Demon Skarsgard! Sorry, James Marsden!

I love you but this is Alexander Skarsgard with a beard, skintight jeans, and a large scorpion belt buckle. I cannot be held accountable for all the murdering I do in the name of these things. Anyway! The Stand drops on CBS All Access December 19th. Prepare your bodies.

He Believes In You

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It's only thirty seconds long but the first teaser for the re-do of Stephen King's The Stand has arrived, giving us pretty quick glimpses of several of the characters -- more than several actually, they manage to squeeze in most of the main ones, I think, including obviously Alexander Skarsgard as the big bad Randall Flagg, seen above. I'm a little surprised how little we see of James Marsden...

... playing Flagg's equal and opposite hot piece Stu Redman -- just a quick flash, by my count? But we've got plenty of time and no doubt we'll see more than 30 seconds of content before the ten-episode series hits CBA All Access on December 17th. (thx Mac) Watch:

A Very Merry Apocalypse

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We finally have word on when the new CBS miniseries adaptation of Stephen King's The Stand will arrive! Variety's reporting this version, which stars Alexander Skarsgard and James Marsden and literally one thousand other people, will hit CBS All Access on December 17th. They don't offer up any new photos with the announcement but if you missed the first batch click here. They say it will drop on the streaming service one episode per week, every Thursday, for eight weeks. So there's our Holiday Entertainment this year! Nothing says carved ham like...

QUARANTINE DAY 114 pic.twitter.com/h2z2QPmHax

— Jason Adams (@JAMNPP) July 5, 2020

... a made-for-TV Stephen King adaptation, after all. Oh I kid, I am hopeful this will be good! It certainly can't be worse than the 1994 version, which I re-watched over quarantine (after re-reading that monster of a book) and found, save a saving grace here and there, utterly unfathomably awful. And hey Variety says that King wrote the 2020 series' finale episode (not necessarily a good sign on its own since he also wrote the 1994 miniseries in its entirety) and that he added a post-novel coda that tells us What Happens Next, so that's something curious. A carrot on this particular stick.

Good Morning, World

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A very happy 44 to Hamish Linklater, who I've been very happy to see carve out a nice niche character actor career for himself ever since he first popped (and popped some more) onto my radar with Miranda July's marvelous (and weirdly at this point I think under-appreciated) sophomore movie The Future. Hamish had already been working for a decade on-screen by that point -- and probably longer on stage since he does a lot of work on stage here in New York -- but leave it to Miranda's off-kilter eye to capture him a new way.

Since then he's best been used by Noah Hawley on TV, with Fargo and Legion -- I found Legion often incoherent and morbidly infatuated with itself but Hamish was a highlight playing a scarred homosexual villain, by far. And I didn't actually mean to do another post about upcoming The Stand miniseries (see yesterday's post here) but there it was on Hamish's IMDb page -- he's playing Dick Ellis, the veterinarian turned town doctor, for an episode. It's not the showiest role but it'll be good to see his face. It always is.

Good Morning, World

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Happy Monday morning, fellow Plague survivors -- yes it's true I finally plowed through the remainder of the 1994 miniseries version of The Stand yesterday (as mentioned previously) and yes, it remained terrible through the end. Although the heightened tone of the last half did at least swerve into total camp at times...

QUARANTINE DAY 114 pic.twitter.com/h2z2QPmHax

— Jason Adams (@JAMNPP) July 5, 2020

... and that helped soften the fall a little. A little. I've still got my fingers toes and such crossed that the new adaptation with Alexander Skarsgard and James Marsden (supposedly) out this fall will right every wrong, aka every thing. Well perhaps I'm harsh -- I didn't mind seeing 1994 Rob Lowe stripped down for absolutely no reason whatsoever, although 1994 Rob Lowe is, uhh...

... not how I pictured the character of Nick Andros in the book. I'm not familiar with the actor Henry Zaga who's playing Nick in the 2020 version; he was on the shows Teen Wolf, 13 Reasons Why, and Looking For Alaska (with Charlie Plummer), none of which I watched. Anybody seen him act? Until we do let's just hit the jump and revel in the 1994 Rob Lowe of it...
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James Marsden One Time

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I mentioned this last week but in anticipation of the new miniseries (which stars James Marsden and Alexander Skarsgård, among many) I just finished re-reading Stephen King's plague book The Stand for the first time in a couple of decades, and since finishing it I've been trying to re-watch the 1994 mini-series... but man oh man is it terrible, you guys. Just terrible. 

I'm about 50 minutes into the 1994 miniseries of The Stand and it's RIDICULOUSLY BAD so far, even worse than I remember, and I remember it being bad pic.twitter.com/kW4Rnb6vnd

— Jason Adams (@JAMNPP) June 25, 2020

Unspeakably bad! I think I've made it about three hours in now and I have somewhat given up -- we'll see if I manage to make it any further. It's ruining all of my enjoyment from reading the book at this point though! And there are more important things to watch right now -- I just finally started Dark on Netflix last night, for instance. Anyway either way I'm looking forward to the miniseries later this year which will hopefully improve upon Mick Garris' train-wreck -- I don't see how it could be worse! Yadda yadda Vanity Fair has a brand new chat with Jimmy Marsden up today (which includes that picture up top) and all he has to say about The Stand in it is about its place against the current real world situation with COVID:

"I know that the filmmakers want to handle it with the utmost respect for the situation. Obviously, there's been a lot of life lost through all of this. I hope somehow it resonates in a positive way and not in a reckless way.”

Not In Flames, But In Mist

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I've mentioned it on social media here and there but I've been re-reading Stephen King's The Stand for the past few weeks in quarantine  -- nothing like diving right into Plague Fiction during a plague! Coincidentally I actually finally finished the book last night, timed pretty much right to the end of said quarantine as I returned to my office, and now tonight I plan on  starting up and re-watching the 1990 miniseries... which I remember as being somewhat terrible? We will see. (I'm very much looking forward to the new version with Alexander Skarsgard and James Marsden later this year, though.) Anyway all of that nonsense went and got me in a Stephen King mood pretty hard, and so this week's edition of our "Great Moments in Horror Actressing" series over at The Film Experience is devoted to one of the great King cinematic villains, Marcia Gay Harden's turn as Mrs. Carmody in The Mist from 2007. She's so great at being so awful, is't she? Boo hiss, chef's kiss!

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Good Morning, World

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I'm sure some of you people dig the show Dead To Me -- I have heard people speak well of it. Even though I dig Linda Cardellini and Christina Applegate well enough I haven't seen a second of the thing myself -- I know I say this about ten times a week but there really is just too much content to keep up with; even a stay-at-home pandemic hasn't gotten me caught up and I think that proves the content, it's untenable. Anyway my eyes did perk up when I heard James Marsden was showing off some James Marsden on the latest season of the show and it looks like they put their James Marsden to good use! Hit the jump to use James Marsden good...

Everything You Ever Need To Know About Life...

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

Everything You Ever Need To Know About Life...

... you can learn from:

The Box (2009)

Martin: Sir? If you don't mind my asking... why a box?
Arlington: Your home is a box.
Your car is a box on wheels. You drive to work in it.
You drive home in it. You sit in your home,
staring into a box. It erodes your soul, while the box
that is your body inevitably withers... then dies. Whereupon
it is placed in the ultimate box, to slowly decompose.
Martin: It's quite depressing, if you think of it that way.
Arlington: Don't think of it that way...
think of it as a temporary state of being.

I put these anniversaries into my calendar with the intention of maybe re-watching one or two of them before the anniversary arrives but I very seldom do that, because my brain is actually in my ass. It's true. Look it up. Maybe I should start putting these anniversaries into my calendar two weeks early -- the only way anywhere is to hold my ass-brained hand. 

Anyway on that note a happy 10 to Richard Kelly's film The Box, which I saw ten years ago and never since. I hated it at the time but I didn't know that me hating it would stop Richard Kelly from ever making another movie ever again, so I kind of regret that hate. Plus I did get to stand a foot away from James Marsden in the flesh at the screening I attended, which I vividly remember down to the molecule here to this day. Way more than the movie, which has like... NASA? And some more wormholes? I don't know.

Ever since those whispers in September that Kelly might come out of retirement (dude is 44) to make a movie about Twilight Zone creator Rod Serling I have been thinking of doing a little Richard Kelly film-fest consisting of that whopping three-picture output of his... wow, that'd take me all of an afternoon. How could I ever manage? I don't know if it's translating onto the page but there is a lot of sarcasm dripping off this post. A lot. I'm in a mood this morning. Hopefully Frank Langella will show up at my door with half his face ripped off and make things interesting.

I Stand For Skarsgård

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I realize that's a slightly aged picture of Alexander Skarsgård but it's a slightly aged picture of Alexander Skarsgård that I have never seen before so it's a slightly aged picture of Alexander Skarsgård that I will share with today's brand new un-aged great big Alexander Skarsgård news. Today it's been announced that Alexander Skarsgård is going to play the big bad Randall Flagg in the forthcoming CBS All Access 10-episode adaptation of Stephen King's The Stand. I guess Alex is jealous of his brother's turn as "a Stephen King personification of evil" and wanted in! Flagg was played by Jamey Sheridan in the 1994 miniseries...

I know some people like the 1994 version but I always felt let down by it -- here's to hoping they manage better this time around. But there's more news, news that I apparently missed. I guess James Marsden was cast awhile back to play Stu Redman, who's basically more or less the leading man of the sprawling story; he was played by Gary Sinise in the 90s version.

Other actors attached to the project include Amber Heard and Owen Teague and Daniel Sunjata and Whoopi Goldberg as Mother Abagail, and the list will definitely grow and grow since The Stand is King's most sprawling epic of all. That said I haven't sat down and read The Stand since high school -- it's so goddamn long! Who has that kind of time? Has anyone read it lately?
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Good Morning, World

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I think I just stumbled upon a shot from Jai Courtney's ad campaign for Bonds underwear that I missed back in 2015? I had to scour through our previous posts extensively, with a squinched up eye and a sweaty microscope -- not a hardship! -- but I'm coming down on yes, yes I missed this one. What a goddamned blessing! For all of our previous posts on this heady subject click here or click here or click here or click here or click here. 

Anyway I was looking for Jai pictures not for my own perverted needs (this once) but rather to attach to the news that Jai just got attached to a new thing, a limited-event Aussie TV drama about immigration called Stateless that Cate Blanchett is starring in. (Happy belated, Cate!) The series will also star Dominic West (ugh I don't like him) and Handmaid's Tale wonder Yvonne Strahovski, you can read more about its plot at that link. And I'm sure, with a cast like this, it will eventually make its way to the US.

Oh and this is besides the other limited-series TV event that Cate Blanchett announced yesterday -- did you hear about the Phyllis Schafly thing with the truly crazy cast? You need to read that if not.
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Reading the names MELANIE LYNSKEY CATE BLANCHETT ROSE BYRNE ARI GRAYNOR JAMES MARSDEN SARAH PAULSON TRACY ULLMAN MARGO MARTINDALE in such a small tight space just gave me a full stroke

— Jason Adams (@JAMNPP) May 14, 2019

Good Morning, World

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Quick note: I've got Tribeca screenings this morning so we'll be blog-quiet until later today. That said... hello, good morning, hey did you hear that Vincent Cassel just joined the cast of Westworld for the third season? That's the sort of casting news that sounds obvious in retrospect -- like you find yourself asking yourself if he hadn't already been there on the show the entire time. Of course they're not telling us anything about his character yet, and I'll be goddamned if I can recall literally anything about how the last season ended -- anybody? But Ben Barnes and Rodrigo Santoro and James Marsden all need a boyfriend if you ask me, so...

Good Marsden, World

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I'm running behind this morning thanks to, guess what, the New York City Subway System, you got it right, hurrah, and bonus I was stuck on an un-air-conditioned train for half an hour, double bonus, wheee, anyway I am running late and so here are some pictures of James Marsden (via, thanks Mac) real quick while I try to get my shit together. Hit the jump for several more...

Lay Me Down In the Tall Grass

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Twas way back in 2015 we first heard that Stephen King's story In the Tall Grass (co-written with his son Joe Hill) was being turned into a movie for Netflix by director Vincenzo Natali (he of Cube and Splice and many an episode of Hannibal too) -- well it only took three years but today comes fresh hot news, emphasis on hot, that this week's banner boy Patrick Wilson has taken the leading role! (thx Mac) Supposedly James Marsden was gonna do it, but he's been swapped out. Imagine James Marsden or Patrick Wilson being your choices in life! Phew! Anyway ITTG is about a brother and sister who get lured into some (you guessed it) tall grass in Kansas by a strange noise and dun dun dun discover they might be trapped. I mean sure monsters or whatever but if you're trapped in a field with Patrick Wilson... can it really be that bad? I guess we'll find out.

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The Moment I Fell For... James Marsden

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The teen horror film Disturbing Behavior starring Jimmy and Katie Holmes (and a great little turn from Nick Stahl) was released 20 years ago today and I'm sure I saw it opening weekend in college because I saw all the horror films opening weekend in college right then. In fact they often held preview screenings for us privileged kids - I know I saw Scream 2 and I Know What You Did Last Summer that way so it's possible the same happened for DB. 

Anyway I'm trying to recall if I knew who Marsden was before this movie - he'd done a bunch of TV like The Nanny and Party of Five and Blossom, so it's possible I'd seen him one of those places. He had also done some modeling...

... that I very well might have been aware of, ahem. But I certainly knew who he was after this movie, and apparently so did Bryan Singer because just two years later Marsden got cast as Cyclops in the X-Men movies and we've been blessed with Jimmy ever since.

Any fans of Disturbing Behavior? I honestly haven't seen it since it came out so you'll have to tell me if it holds up - I remember thinking it was decent at the time, but clearly not enough to re-watch it dozens of times like some of its contemporaries, aka the Scream movies and the Ryan Phillippe shower scene in I Know What You Did Last Summer. Speaking of...

... while researching this post I read that Marsden apparently turned down Phillippe's role in 54, which came out this same summer (exactly a month later actually) and I wonder what that story is. It's easy to project some career-based homophobia onto that - Ryan had already played gay stuff at that point in his career but Marsden took a few more years; tell me if I'm wrong but I don't think he did anything gay-ish until 2004's The 24th Day with Scott Speedman?

James hasn't shied away since though, giving same-sex a spin in movies like The Heights and The D Train, so he's forgiven. And I like watching Ryan Phillippe in 54 anyway so that turned out okay. So next up for Jimmy, between Westworld seasons anyway...

... is the Sonic the Hedgehog movie (man I don't know, don't look at me), which funny enough he was just spotted on that set today - see more pictures over here. He is playing a police officer, it seems, and... not a Hedgehog. That's probably for the best.
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