Good Morning, Gratuitous Jeremy Pope

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I'm sure one of you theater fans can tell me more about the actor Jeremy Pope, who made a splash I guess on stage with the one-two punch of Choir Boy and Ain’t Too Proud: The Life and Times of the Temptations -- enough of a splash anyway that he just landed a big role in one of Ryan Murphy's forthcoming seeming dozens of Netflix series that've been announced this week. 

Specifically Pope will star in Hollywood, which Murphy calls "a love letter to the Golden Age of Tinseltown" -- he'll be playing a "gay, aspiring writer in writer in 1940s Hollywood" where he'll supposedly come face to face not only with screen legends like Rock Hudson and Spencer Tracy, but also as an actor he'll be face to face with a slew of Ryan Murphy Regulars in those roles, people like Darren Criss and Patti Lupone and Dylan McDermott and that hot boy from the trailer for The Politician that we already posted about. (His name is David Corenswet and honestly I could see him playing Rock Hudson.)

But we're getting distracted! We're like Ryan Murphy in that way. We're here for Jeremy Pope right now. Hollywood will mark only his second screen role, after playing a character called "Jerk" in last year's basically ignored horror flick The Ranger (I only recognize it because it had a terrific poster). Did anybody see that? I doubt a character named "Jerk" had a lot of substance, so Hollywood will mark our true introduction to Mr. Pope I guess. Well that plus the couple dozen photos I've gathered up this morning, which you can see after the jump...

Luca's Giving Us the Full Service

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This was not a news story I intended to write today! Or any day, ever, in my life. But here we are and Deadline has just reported that Luca Guadagnino, director of Call Me By Your Name and other Tilda-ier projects, is turning Scott Bowers' fantastical Hollywood Hooker tell-all into a movie! (thx Mac) 

This... is a lot of information. I have been talking about Bowers' book for several years here on the site -- it's called Full Service: My Adventures in Hollywood and the Secret Sex Live of the Stars, and it details how Bowers moved to Hollywood in the 1940s with dreams of acting and instead ended up turning a gas station into the premiere Whorehouse To The Stars. To call Bowers' stories lascivious is just to get the tip in.

This was, of course, used as a fictionalized backdrop for Ryan Murphy's show Hollywood earlier this year, with Dylan McDermott playing a spin on Scotty. But after the first couple of episodes that stopped being a focus of the show. Bowers' book (and the documentary that was made before Bowers died, which I also recommend) purports to share all sorts of outrageous sexual secrets of very famous people, including a ton of information about that period in gay history. Rock Hudson and the beautiful boys of super-agent Henry Willson are heavily featured in the telling (as they were also in Murphy's show). 

How much of it is actually true? Nobody seems to know. People have disputed many of Bowers' claims, especially the more outlandish ones -- were the Duke and Duchess of Windsor really whoring it up across Hollywood? -- but everybody who was there is dead, basically, and these are the kind of salacious secrets that people, especially famous people, take to their graves. 

That said I don't know if the truth matters. If the movie manages to find a way to tread the line, like I think the documentary did, between Bowers' own self-aggrandizing myth-making and the actual hidden history of the time and the place, a lot of which is more than well-documented otherwise, I think, I know, it's a fascinating and rich enough playground for movie-making. 

Here's the twist -- the script is being written by (of all people) Seth Rogen and his longtime writing partner Evan Goldberg, who're known for giving us all of the goofy man comedies like Pineapple Express, Superbad, the Neighbors movies. I like all of their movies, and I love Preacher, their irreverent comic-book TV show. And I actually think they're inspired choices -- a comic tone is maybe exactly how this story could best be told. Am I admittedly a little wary of the fact that both men are heterosexual? I might be! That said Luca's there, I trust him, and I know Seth has proven himself to be a solid gay ally. I don't think we need to worry about any "Eww Gay Is Gross" humor from them in 2020. Still those two and Luca are an odd pairing!

But now on to the most important question: 

Who the hell do you cast as Scotty Bowers?

Pics of the Day

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The first batch of official photos from Ryan Murphy's forthcoming Netflix limited series Hollywood have dropped today -- see our previous posts about the show right here -- and they have made it clearer than ever that Mr. Murphy is going to be leaning in to the version of Tinsel Town history that we heard from the juicy (and possibly made up) autobiography of Scotty Bowers, the supposed gas station gay pimp of the Golden Age.

On the left there is the gorgeous David Corenswet (who is probably the only takeaway from Murphy's series The Politician) and on the right that's Murphy stalwart Dylan McDermott -- neither's character according to IMDb is named Scotty but one of them (David, really) oughta be. That said most of the main characters seem to be made-up, while they'll be surrounded by people playing Rock Hudson, Rock Hudson's creepy super-gay agent Henry Willson (who's being played by Jim Parsons), the gossip writer Hedda Hopper, et cetera so forth.

The seven episodes of Hollywood -- which also features Patti Lupone,  Darren Criss, Jeremy Pope, Samara Weaving, Laura Harrier, Holland Taylor, Jake Picking, and Joe Mantello -- will premiere on Netflix on May 1st. So just try to survive for four more weeks, y'all! Then we'll have a new show to binge while we're trapped in our houses still. A silver lining, that. Silver... like nitrate film, or whatever! I'm clever! Oh god get me out of this house, I am losing it. Hit the jump for a few more pictures...

Meet Your New Rock

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A couple of weeks ago I told you about Hollywood, Ryan Murphy's upcoming Netflix series that'll dive into the backstage lives of a bunch of folks in 1940s Tinseltown, including lots of real actual people up to and including the movie star and most famous closet case Rock Hudson. Well now we know who's playing Rock and it ain't the dude I guessed it to be -- it'll be the actor Jake Picking, seen above. Oh and below as well, cuz why the hell are we even here talking about this if not abs?

According to his IMDb page it looks like he's played several (presumably douchey) frat-bro types in his six-year career so far -- including a "Chad," a "Kyler," and three named "Sean" which for some reason I find hysterical -- in movies like Dirty Grandpa and Goat and Blockers and the forthcoming Top Gun sequel. Those all sound right.

Also added to the cast is Jim Parsons, who'll play Rock's infamous agent Henry Willson -- there's an awesomely sleazy book devoted to Willson called The Man Who Invented Rock Hudson that I very much recommend -- we don't know a ton about what Ryan Murphy's intentions are with Hollywood but if Henry Willson is a character I think we can start to hazard a guess where he's going. I've brought that book up a few times before -- how could I not, it's so in my wheel-house -- when discussing the rumors surrounding Rory Calhoun and Guy Madison...

... who were both "discoveries" of Willson's and long-rumored to be more than just pals. And now I really need this rumor to be brought to life via Netflix, please. Don't do us wrong, Ryan Murphy! Other "discoveries" of Willson's include Robert Wagner, Troy Donahue, Tab Hunter, John Derek... the list goes on and on. Willson is mentioned a bunch in Tab Hunter's book and I think he's in Scotty Bower's infamous memoir about his prostitution business at the time as well, although it's been awhile since I read that.

I've posted that shot of Willson smiling away with half-naked Rock before but one really must post it every time Willson comes up, for obvious reasons. Anyway I don't know if Jake Picking is a good pick(ing) (sorry) for Rock or not as he's never left any impression on me in the several things I've apparently seen him in before, and I'm not entirely convinced looks-wise -- I mean he is clearly attractive...

... but is he Rock Hudson? We'll have to wait and see. Until then you can follow Mr. Picking on Instagram here if you so desire, and I assume you desire at this point. Bonus: he appears to be plenty good friends with Archie aka KJ Apa...

View this post on Instagram

That wasn’t meant to be funny uce

A post shared by Jake Picking (@jakepicking) on Jun 30, 2018 at 6:19pm PDT

Save Anna Faris Before It's Too Late!

Yesterday's NYT had an interesting article by Manohla Dargis on the dearth of women in this Summer's movie slate - yes, it's a topic that comes up year after year, but it's true year after year so it's good somebody's around still sounding the alarm. Anyway, this bit caught my eye:

"And in August, Anna Faris stars in a comedy called “The House Bunny,” in which she plays a Playboy Bunny who is ejected from the Mansion because she’s too old. In a trailer for the movie Ms. Faris’s pretty-in-pink character responds to her firing with surprise. “I’m 27!” she yelps. “But that’s like 59 in Bunny years,” a male friend explains. In Hollywood years too, he might as well have added.

I admit that I laughed at the 59 line, mostly because Ms. Faris — who could be the next Judy Holliday but without the right material will, alas, probably end up the next Brittany Murphy — tends to do the dumb-blonde thing with sizable quotation marks."

Doesn't Dargis know that equating the genius of Anna Faris with... shudder... Brittany Murphy (or at least what Brittany Murphy turned into; Clueless-era Murphy kicked ass, of course)... well that comparison kills puppies. Meanness.

But it does worry me, and it's something I've shouted to the rooftops before - will somebody please recognize Anna Faris for the comic genius she is already? I'm beginning to sound like a broken record, but this, along with the baby seals, is one of my pet causes (Baby seals, y'all).

Somebody save Anna Faris! Our course is clear - we must all go and see The House Bunny. Yes... it co-stars Rumer Willis and one of those American Idol rejects. But... Anna Faris, y'all. She's like a thousand baby seals wearing clown noses and dipped in chocolate sauce.
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11 Days Til Hollywood

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The latest trailer for Ryan Murphy's new Netflix series Hollywood has arrived today and it's a whopper of one, pulling in at over three minutes long and giving us flashes of... well as you see above most importantly giving us flashes of a naked David Corenswet, for one. But also...

... oh right also flashes of gay Rock Hudson! And also...

... flashes of what are clearly one of George Cukor's

infamous, legendary pool parties full of boys. My god.

I know I said this when the show was first announced and then again when Jeremy Pope got cast and then again when David Corenswet got cast and then again when Jake Picking got cast (as Rock Hudson) and then again when I posted the first batch of images from the show but I don't know if ever a show has been more squarely aimed at my interests than this one. I've read all of the books it's stealing from -- the ones about Tab Hunter and the ones about Rock Hudson and the ones about their pervert agent Henry Willson and the gas station prostitute Scotty Bowers, on and on. I love Closet Case Hollywood History. Here's the trailer:

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Hollywood premieres on Netflix on May 1st!

Hit the jump for a few more gifs of note...

Wherefore Art Thou Criterion

It's the happiest day of the month, Criterion Announcement Day! Where the company called Criterion announces all of their new titles for home video release. Today's announcement takes us to the releases of February 2023, but while we'll no doubt be chilly ourselves there in the dead of winter these releases are anything but. Take for example Franco Zefferelli's 1968 take on William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, which they're dropping onto blu-ray on (awww) Valentine's Day. Anybody else watch this in English class in high school? Do they do that anymore? As much as I love the Baz Luhrmann version I really hope they're not showing that in English classes nowadays. Still, Leonard Whiting's bum was inspirational for many of us so I hope the younger generations will now get to appreciate it in gorgeous 4K. 

Also in February -- Krzysztof Kieślowski's masterpiece "Three Colors" trilogy of Blue and White and Red is getting upgraded to 4K! A grand excuse to re-watch these, it's been ages. Well I've seen Blue several times over the years as that's always been my favorite (Binoche-head that I am) but the other two could definitely use another look. And I have a feeling I'll appreciate them even more now that I've got all of these years piled on me, than I did when I was in my early 20s watching them the first time. That hits on February 7th, while on the 28th Robert Townsend's 1987 film Hollywood Shuffle is hitting the Collection. I have never seen it, which is shameful, especially since the description of the film they share -- a Hollywood satire making fun of how all 1980s Hollywood wants is "an Eddie Murphy type" -- sounds rife with possibility. 

Also getting a 4K upgrade is Richard Linklater's seminal 1993 classic Dazed and Confused, hitting on February 21st. I've never been Linklater's biggest fan but I do like Dazed - I mean it's got Parker Posey so I have to, legally speaking. I haven't seen it in many a year either -- all I really remember is McConaughey, which seems about right, as he was still fuckable then. Anyway last but hardly least on the 28th Criterion is releasing a two-film boxed-set of director Marguerite Duras films, including India Song from 1975 and Baxter, Vera Baxter from 1977. I've not seen either -- I've never seen any of Duras' work! -- but I have always wanted to and this seems a perfect introduction. I mean they both star Delphine Seyrig for god's sake! Delphine Seyrig is one of the jewels in our crown. Anybody seen these?

And The Dorian Goes To...

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A-ha! I have been dying to make that gif ever since I first saw The Favourite and this seems like the perfect opportunity -- last Friday the critics guild I'm a member of, GALECA: The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics, announced their nominations for their annual Dorian Awards, I posted them right here. Well today we've announced our esteemed winners and I think we did pretty darn great! The Favourite took our "Film of the Year" prize while Olivia Colman took Best Actress, while Can You Ever Forgive Me? took our "LGBTQ Film of the Year" award and Richard E. Grant took Best Supporting Actor from the same. 

All fine choices, and they don't stop there -- we also rallied around the great Schitt's Creek as both our "TV Comedy of the Year" and our "Unsung TV Show of the Year" prizes, AND we found room to honor Annihilation to boot! Huzzah for all that. To read all of our winners hit the jump where I'll share the whole list...

To All The Gays I've Loved Before

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Back in January of this year I told y'all how I'd been lucky enough to get accepted to GALECA: The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics - you can read that right here, along with a look at last year's winners for our annual Dorian awards (which were deservedly Call Me By Your Name heavy -- hey I did my part). Anyway don't know if you noticed but it's Ye Olde Awards Season again, and we're gearing up for another round of making out voices heard. This is the Society's 10th anniversary, and you should follow GALECA on Instagram or on Twitter where we'll be celebrating all ten years of winners, and rolling out our prizes at the turn of the new year...

... the 2018 winners will be announced on January 8th, to be specific. It's all coming up so fast! Point being I'm super excited to get to voting (I get screeners now, like an actual professional!) and if y'all have any recommendations for things I should consider before the end of the year, pour your FYCs on me here in the comments. 

And you can read through the entire press release about this year's Dorian Awards, with all of the categories we'll be voting on and all of the relevant dates (although you'll be hearing from me more when the time comes, have no fear), right after the jump...
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Queer Kisses For Antonio & Co.

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When I posted my five favorite nominations yesterday for the Dorian Awards -- aka the annual prizes given out to movies of merit from the LGBT critic's guild GALECA, of which I am a member -- I knew the winners announcement was imminent, but it turned out to be really really imminent, showing up about half an hour after I posted that post. I'm glad I posted it beforehand though, since if I'd posted it after it might have seemed like sour grapes given nearly none of my picks ended up winning. Good things won! (Mostly.) We had plenty of love for Portrait of a Lady on Fire and I love that we gave Antonio Banderas Best Actor for Almodovar's Pain and Glory. 

And I very much like Parasite (my review), which strolled off with five prizes including Best Film and Best Director and Best Supporting Actor -- do I think Parasite is just a liiiiiittle overrated? I have said as much previously, yes. But far worse things can float to the top when it comes to consensus, and Parasite is nobody's bad movie. Anyway I'm the most happy we gave Florence Pugh an award, which was the one of my wishes that came true. Hooray for Florence! Hit the jump for the entire list of winners, and big gay congrats to them all...

I Am Link

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--- Super Wolf - Now that he's been cast it totally makes sense that Tyler Hoechlin is playing Superman on The CW's Supergirl series (thanks Mac) - I don't know why his name didn't occur to me when the word was going around that the show was looking to cast the role in the first place. Supergirl is run by Greg Berlanti, the openly gay dude behind basically all of the DC superhero shows on the small screen, and it's clear he learned some vital lessons from watching the Teen Wolf series which co-starred Hoechlin. Anyway Tyler is sure gonna fill out that suit nicely!

--- Drinking Buddies - Orlando Director Sally Potter is about to start filming a new movie, which is cause enough to celebrate, but wait til you get a load of her cast - Kristin Scott Thomas, Patricia Clarkson, Emily Mortimer, Cillian Murphy, Timothy Spall, Bruno Ganz, and Cherry Jones! That is a mad good buncha actors, people. The film is called The Party and much like the Peter Sellers movie of the same title is is set at a party. Imagine that.

--- Gods in the House - The first two pictures from American Gods have arrived! See them over at EW. The adaptation of Neil Gaiman's book, which we've already talked about a billion times, is being shepherded onto the small screen by no less than Hannibal and Pushing Daisies mastermind Bryan Fuller himself, so we expect greatness. In the picture you can see Ricky Whittle (dear lord look at Ricky Whittle) as Shadow Moon and Pablo Schreiber as Mad Sweeney the leprechaun; at the link you can see a couple of shots of Ian McShane in character too.

Oh and in the past couple of days there's been several roles cast, all men of color - the gorgeous Omid Abtahi (I've had a crush on him for ages) is playing Salim, while Orlando Jones and Demore Barnes have been cast as Mr Nancy and Mr Ibis, respectively. And here below is a picture of Omid, who you'll probably recognize from one of the thousand times he's been asked to play a terrorist (like Homeland or 24, for example):

--- The Ol' Oak Tree - The first poster for A Monster Calls, one of my most anticipated movies of the year, has arrived - get a look at it over at STYD. This movie is based on the heartbreaking and beautiful children's book by Patrick Ness, which I highly highly recommend. The film stars Sigourney Weaver, Felicity Jones, Toby Kebbell, and the rich deep baritone of Liam Neeson as a tree. Watch the trailer over here if you missed it.

--- Brain Drain - I haven't gotten a chance to read this one yet but The New York Times spoke with Charlie Cox about his currently-running play Incognito (oh I am sure they got a Daredevil question or two in there, if they know what's good for them) - you can read it over here. (Thanks Mac) There is a picture of him attached, to make the words go down smoother. I saw this play a couple of months ago and didn't love it, to be honest, but Charlie (everybody) was good.

--- Number Twos - I was going to just post this brief update (or rather non-update) from Winona Ryder about how she has no idea what's happening with Tim Burton and the Beetlejuice sequel right now (thanks Mac) but then I read this article at THR today talking about how Hollywood's current big problem is "Sequels That Nobody Wants" and I found that to be much more interesting a thing to share. And if that's the mindset that might put the brakes on a Beetlejuice 2 happening, honestly. Especially with the Burton connection, what with the Alice in Wonderland sequel being the reigning King of the Flops and all. Happy Childhood Memories be damned, I'd probably be willing to give up a Beetlejuice cash-grab if Hollywood promised to stop shitting out sequels. (HA.)
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Nothing Comes Between Me & My Alessandro

Finally I get to post about Papa Nivola! No offense to adorable Sam his son who's taken over Hollywood twinkdom with his turn on The White Lotus but Alessandro will always be my bread and butter, so I couldn't run here quick enough when I saw the news that not only does he have a new role... he's got a new GAY role. He's going to be playing none other than the one and only Calvin Klein in Ryan Murphy's upcoming miniseries American Love Story, about the whirlwind romance between John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette. Bessette was working as Klein's publicist in 1992 when she met John-John -- speaking of if you missed my post about model Paul Kelly who's playing JFK Jr. click here and familiarize yourself with that hotness. 

I guess there's a little bit of a physical resemblance between Alessandro and Calvin, something I never would've picked up on without this casting -- anyway you slap him in a white tee and jeans and let Alessandro do his thing (his thing being "act real good") and it'll work. And calling this a "gay" role is probably a bit of a stretch that will never meet those expectations because Calvin was of course married to Kelly Klein during this period, and also one assumes his personal life isn't going to be the focus of his scenes. But who knows! Leave it to Ryan Murphy to insist on a scene where Calvin is fitting Marky Mark for his tighty-whities.

(Which we should note was happening in 1992 on the dot!) But just in case the show doesn't have time for a Marky Mark excursion you can count on me to include a gif, at least! Ahhh those were the days. Anyway another nice side-effect of this casting news is I found this photoshoot of Nivola for Contents magazine that I somehow missed last fall around the time The Brutalist was landing -- read the chat here. Or hit the jump for all the as ever fine Papa Nivola pictures...

I Am Link

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--- Fierce Hairdo - It's just a teaser but I can already say with true and honest conviction that I am already infatuated with Jessica Chastain's villainous-seeming hint of blonde roots thanks to this look at them on the Death and Life of John F. Donovan poster via director Xavier Dolan - see the whole thing here. That said I want to see more of Kit Harington on the final poster - perhaps wearing jeans? - because of course I do. In case you missed that recent batch of pictures from the movie, click here. Donovan is supposed to be out sometime early next year.

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--- Undead Director - The rumor we heard last month has now been confirmed - David Fincher's next movie will be the sequel to World War Z, starring once again his hot ass muse Brad Pitt. This will be Fincher's first film since 2014's Gone Girl so fine, whatever it takes to get him in the director's chair in. A Fincher Zombie Movie is certainly something to wrap one's head around, anyway.

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Pretty sure that FINN WITTROCK & DARREN CRISS having sex together is the Ryan Murphy equivalent of "crossing the streams" pic.twitter.com/296oGwbHyi

— Jason Adams (@JAMNPP) June 21, 2017

--- Fashion Freak Out - I think the above tweet pretty much sums up my feelings on this news but let's fill in the actual details - Finn Wittrock has been cast in the Versace season of American Crime Story. He will be playing Jeff Trail, the first victim of Andrew Cunanan, played by Darren Criss. (See the first pictures from the show here.) I haven't read the book this is all based on so I might be wrong - EW describes Trail as a "friend" of Cunanan's, so maybe they won't have sex? Come on Ryan Murphy. Ya can't jerk me around like this. "True Story" be damned!

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--- Bald As The Moon - Whiplash director Damien Chazelle is following up La la Land with a movie about the moon landing (based on this book) and I guess the first person cast was (of course) Ryan Gosling as Neil Armstrong, but now even better - Corey Stoll has joined the cast to play his fellow astronaut Buzz Aldrin! Although one thing that always bothers me about realistic space movies is those great big bulky un-sexy astronaut suits, so let's hope they find a work-around for that with Corey. Maybe we'll find out that Buzz was always naked in the shuttle? Why not? Anyway Kyle Chandler and the great Jason Clarke have also joined the cast so this thing's turning into a real Outer Space Stud Fest.
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--- Bite Off - The two gents behind Benedict Cumberbatch's Sherlock series are next teaming up to reboot his shadow Victorian contemporary, a fellow called Drac. Dracula, that is. Hey it's got to be better than that Jonathan Rhys Meyers series, which totally wasted both Thomas Kretschmann and Oliver Jackson-Cohen in thankless supporting parts. (I'd support their parts, hardy hard hard.) Anyway this won't be striking any time soon, they say, but it will be released in intermittent movie-length bursts just like Sherlock is.
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--- Corporate Hammer - Reading through the nutty plot description of Sorry To Bother You, an upcoming movie that Armie Hammer has just joined the cast of, it's hard not to think this is proof that the success of a movie like Get Out does have immediate positive repercussions:

"The film is about a black telemarketer with self-esteem issues who discovers a magical key to business success, propelling him to the upper echelons of the hierarchy just as his activist comrades are rising up against unjust labor practices. When he uncovers the macabre secret of his corporate overlords, he must decide whether to stand up or sell out."

I mean... that doesn't get green-lit without Get Out, right? But thankfully it has. Anyway as for Armie I am guessing he plays an executive or such. For such a beautiful blond rich straight white dude Armie sure does like diving into stories about queer people and people of color a lot, doesn't he? Good on him. (thanks Mac)
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--- Fallen Feelings - The next Jurassic Park movie (I know we're supposed to call them "Jurassic World" movies now but I'm good, thanks) has gotten its subtitle and its first poster today - the film will be called Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom. Yeah, okay, sure. I wish I could be more excited - this being the franchise that turned me into a movie maniac in 1993 and all - but the last movie was such bollocks, and I've only grown to like it less and less with time. Anyway Jeff Goldblum is returning so there's that. I will try to be more enthusiastic... eventually... I promise. Fallen Kingdom though? I don't know. It's so clunky.
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--- The Godfather of Gorey - Eli Roth is going to turn an Edward Gorey illustrated book into a movie! I am surprised that Hollywood hasn't turned to Gorey's stuff before this - it makes sense. Gorey did only illustrate this one though -- it's called The House With A Clock In Its Walls and it was written by John Bellairs in 1973; I guess it's one book in a 12 part series so who knows, perhaps Eli has found his Lord of the Rings. In less thrilling news the movie will star Jack Black, who gets on my last nerve 98% of the time, so there's that. Anybody read it?
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--- And Finally the movie called God's Own Country is a gay drama that got a bunch of rave reviews at Sundance and Berlin earlier this year (from what I recall people often lumped it in with Call Me By Your Name, saying it was the better and sexier of the two) - it's out in the UK (where it's from) on September 1st and there's now a trailer and here it is:

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My Second Dorians

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Last year was my first year as a proud member of GALECA: The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics, and when everything turned up Call Me By Your Name in their year end awards the Dorians (see our post on 2017's winners right here) I felt pretty good about all that... unsurprisingly given our predilections. Well today the 2018 Dorian nominations have been announced and as is fitting for a year sans a consensus pick like CMBYN my feelings this year as I scan through our choices are more complicated. 

I mean I suppose I should've prepared myself for the Star is Born love (siiigh) and for the Rami Malek nomination (triple siiiigh) but the placement of The Favourite's leading ladies (Emma Stone and Rachel Weisz) in the Supporting categories is frustrating - I really hoped we'd do better than the other groups on that matter. Category Fraud must end! Just know that I personally voted for Olivia Colman in Supporting, where she belongs.

There is a lot to love in the nominations for sure - Ben Whishaw and Toni Collette and ROMA, oh my! It's just that I actually see very few of my weird little babies accounted for this year in the final tally, but then I suppose that's a typical side effect when you average out hundreds of voices - the quirks get sanded down and a consensus forms, no matter how free the year's felt from one. Point being I'll get to work a little harder on our Golden Trousers Awards (aka The Pantys) - which believe it or not after several years of laziness on my part are actually in the works right now - so you'll know who I personally fought for the hardest. And you can hit the jump for the Dorian Award nominations (the winners are awarded on January 12th) and official announcement...