Good Morning, World

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A happy 42 to Milo Ventimiglia today, who's proven himself several times over excellent at choosing television projects that will catch on with the general public -- out of all the hit shows he's been a part of I personally only liked Heroes, and that for only about half its run (and yes that includes Gilmore Girls, which I found fairly irritating), but you have to figure dude's pretty set for ten lives over at this point with his resume o' residuals. Good on ya, Milo. (These gifs are from something called The Whispers in 2015 which was, uhh, apparently one of the missteps along the road. Just guessing since I never heard of it until right now)

Which Is Hotter?

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My boyfriend and I got into a disagreement while watching the first episode of Heroes Reborn the other night -- it wasn't over whether we were going to watch any more episodes; that we were unanimous on with a "HELL NO." No, we disagreed over whether Zachary Levi is hot or not. I'm a (qualified, not tremendously enthusiastic) Yea, while he's a Heck Nay. You can feel free to pick a side in the comments but since this is my blog we'll just assume I am correct, and move on. It's Levi's birthday today, and ever since he became a thing on Chuck it's all been about one question, for me...

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Good Morning, Gratuitous Ryan Guzman

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It's the 28th birthday of the Channing Tatum heir apparent Ryan Guzman - model check, dancer check, abs for days check. I do feel as I'm belittling Chan's charisma and actual talent a bit with this reduction to poppin' lockin' body parts, but then I haven't actually ever seen Mr. Guzman in anything! I think his turn in the new Heroes series will probably mark our first rendezvous. 

(Click here for previous Ryan Guzman posts.) But for those of you who have seen Mr. Guzman's talents in, ahem, motion, how's he fare? Is he just a pretty pretty block of hippity-hoppity or what? And hit the jump for more of the pretty pretty...

The Gods Giveth

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I don't want to go so far as to say that y'all have got me to thank for this news, but the last time I hung out with Bryan Fuller he brought up the fact that he'd been bouncing around the possibility of doing the TV version of Neil Gaiman's book American Gods and if you could've bottled the sheer ecstasy that shook my being with those words you'd have been able to power all of eternity, with nary a dip. So basically yeah this is all me. You're welcome. 

At that point it didn't sound like it was going to happen, because of rights and junk, but apparently things shifted and here we are with an honest-to-goodness official announcement from Starz that they are developing the series. Bryan will produce and write at least the pilot, while Michael Green of Heroes and will run the show. Have you guys ever read American Gods? Here go buy a copy and read it right now, I'm waiting.

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I Am Link

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--- Full Sensation - When they released the loooong list of names of people who were are going to be in the Wachowskis new show for Netflix last week my eyes must have rolled back into my head before I got to the end because I totally missed that my favorite new Almodovar piece of meat was up in there - Miguel Ángel Silvestre (who has maybe dropped the Ángel?) will be part of the enormous cast for Sense8, which sounds like it will be Joss Whedon's consciousness-linked flick In Your Eyes multiplied by eight.

--- Ferry Man -  Last week we heard that Wong Kar-wai is working on a new movie already, which he will film next year, but we didn't know anything about it (other than it will apparently star one of China's sexiest men, who's so far unnamed) - now we've got some information on the source of the movie at least, and its story. It's coming from an apparently super-popular-n-China collection of short stories called I Belonged To You, and will focus on one story called "Ferryman" about an affair between a girl and a married artist. 

--- No Hero For You - A couple of months ago it was announced that NBC was reviving its show Heroes for a mini-event type-thing like just got done with 24 on Fox (side-note: I haven't watched any of the latter yet; should I bother? i watched 24 sporadically but never really missed it that much) - now comes word that Milo Ventimiglia and his gravity-defying butt will not be a part of it. What about Adrian Pasdar and his gravity-defying butt, will they at least give us that?

--- Helter Skelter - David Duchovny is making a thirteen-episode series (brief series being all the rage right now) about the cops who were tracking Charles Manson, and Games of Thrones' gay king slash shaving-enthusiast Gethin Anthony is playing the crazy cult leader himself. 

--- Lost Stoker - If you wanna know how to make me lose my effing mind in five seconds flat tell me that the studio forced Park Chan-wook to cut twenty minutes from Stoker - what what what??? That's what Snowpiercer director Bong Joon-ho says in this interview where he's talking about his own well-documented problems with Harvey Weinstein and sure enough, mind lost. Get me a director's cut right now dammit!

--- Secret Guardian - This is one of those times when I dislike the internet's big mouth (and yet here I am contributing to it) - word's leaked on a small cameo in Guardians of the Galaxy by one of our favorite actors; only click over if you don't give a shit about knowing, I guess. I wish I'd have been able to be surprised in the theater by it, myself.

--- The Boy Bird - I love the idea of Daniel Radcliffe playing Robin opposite Ben Affleck in the new Batman stuff! And then he could kill Ben Affleck and star in Robin movies (they could just make it a Batman Beyond movie, or whatever) and we'd all be so much better off.

--- Death Becomes Him - TV Line did a very Ways Not To Die thing with Bryan Fuller this week, getting him to say a little about some of the best death scenes from his death-soaked works, from Dead Like Me to Pushing Daisies to Hannibal. Once upon a time MNPP got Bryan to talk about several of those Daisies deaths, which you can see right here. Those were fun! (thanks Mac)

--- Stop Drop & Tucker - Speaking of Bryan Fuller stuff, this news is CRAZY old (it's from last August) but it totally bypassed me that sexy beast Jonathan Tucker (who recently got nearly naked on Hannibal) was cast in High Moon, Bryan's science-fiction series for SyFy. I only caught onto it thanks to Tucker's Instagram account where he posted a video of him dancing in some sort of genie garb - I think they might be filming that pilot right now? Anyway the first thing I expected to see from this show was definitely NOT that, so once again I think we can expect something surprising from Bryan coming our way.

--- And Finally I was so over-worked when it came time to write up my thoughts about Ira Sachs' glorious Love is Strange after Tribeca that I didn't do the movie justice at all, but you should know to see it, see it, see it - it's a great movie; it will probably be one of the year's best. It's out at the end of August, and we just got the first trailer, watch it here.

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I Am Link

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--- Special People Club - Everybody blew a gasket this weekend at the surprise news that NBC's one-time must-watch TV show Heroes is going to be coming back next year for a thirteen episode event, and rightfully so. Who do you think it'll center on? Will Quinto or Bell show up and be fabulous? Will Peter and Nathan Petrelli finally consummate their brotherly love? Does Ali Larter still exist? Stay tuned!

--- True Dis - I've wailed about my irritation with HBO's True Detective on Twitter but I don't think I've said much here at the blog; I find it a terribly frustrating show. Oh there's some great stuff going on for sure - Woody Harrelson's terrifics, the maybe supernatural vibe is thick and strange and compelling, and it's got astonishing film-making technique all up in it thanks to Cary Fukunaga. But it's all beaten down by an excruciating pace, some disastrously cheesy dialogue that it takes far too seriously, and scattered to superficial characterizations. Basically, go read what Emily Nussbaum just wrote about the show (beware spoilers for up thru last night's episode), she nails it to a tee.

--- Hughes Rascal - There's all kids of shockers news-wise bubbling up right now - how's this one: Warren Beatty is directing a new movie! He's actually already started making it even, so set aside your skepticism, it is happening. It's in some way about Howard Hughes supposedly, but the plot description has the main character being Hughes' assistant. And our boyfriend Alden Ehrenreich is playing that part! Oh good taste, Warren.

--- Golden Givers - Less than one week to the Oscars, and over at The Film Experience Nathaniel's ranking all of the famous folks who'll be presenting awards on the broadcast. Kim Novak is going to be there! That's too cool. I hope she talks about that time The Artist raped her. As for Best Picture statue-handing honors I think it'll definitely be Sidney Poitier don't you? Let's hope 12 Years a Slave wins then.

--- And Speaking of the Oscars, here's Michael Phillips talking about the long takes and the editing inside three of the Best Picture nominees - Gravity, American Hustle, and 12 Years a Slave. I'll give it to two of those three but Hustle's too sloppy, even for David O. Russell, if you ask me.

--- Who's There - Eli Roth's first directorial effort in several years, the jungle cannibal spree The Green Inferno, will be out in September, but he's already prepping to make a new one - it's called Knock Knock, it is about a pair of girls seducing slash terrorizing a dude in his home, and he co-wrote the script with the dudes who made that earthquake movie he starred in. Note all the usage of the word "dude" - it's a must when speaking of anything Eli related.

--- Fun Young Cannibal - The fine folks behind Bryan Fuller's Hannibal - which is back on this Friday night at 10!!! - have announced a licensing deal, meaning one day soon you'll be able to take your Hugh Dancy figure and rub him up and down on your Mads Mikkelsen figure the way god intended.
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--- And Finally the new trailer for Sam Mendes' horror show for Showtime called Penny Dreadful, starring Eva Green and Josh Hartnett and others in a League of Extraordinary Men rip-off, showed up over the weekend and it is great. Better than the first one. Scary and sexy and super duper stylish. I am totally psyched for the show now. It shows up on May 11th.

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Good Morning, World

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A happy 39th birthday to Sendhil Ramamurthy, best known for playing Mohinder on Heroes. I hated him on that show but I guess enough time's passed that we can move along. At least to the ogling portion of the program. He's been working pretty steadily ever since with roles on Covert Affairs and now that Beauty and the Beast show which I never remember is actually a thing.

Good Morning, World

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It's the 48th birthday of Adrian Pasdar, who gets continued happy birthday wishes from me on the strength of his incesty vibe with Milo Ventimiglia on Heroes and for Near Dark, even though he seems to have graduated to doing voice-over work at this point in his career. Oh, and also for having a spectacular bum. That helps. Keeps the memory fresh. And hey look below it's a picture of him standing in front of book-shelves in just a towel! We know how that does it for me. See more of him here and here.

Good Morning, World

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A little vintage Adrian Pasdar on Heroes this morning in honor of his 47th birthday today. Odd how I try to play off something as "vintage" that only aired like three or four years ago. I'm being ridiculous. Anyway see more Adrian here. It's worth it for this NSFW shot alone. Or this one! I miss his incestuous vibe with Milo.

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Quote of the Day

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We posted that image from The Munsters rebootening earlier today but EW has more of an interview with Bryan Fuller up now. He talks about the genesis of his idea for the show (seeing the Tim Burton exhibit at MoMA) and when asked about his Hannibal Lecter show being a remake of sorts as well I especially loved what he had to say:

"I’m personally, as an audience member, not afraid of remakes. I’m afraid of bad remakes, which is unfortunately more commonly the case. Which is why I think people get up in arms when they see a remake idea — “Oh, they’re remaking something that’s been done before, what hackery, there’s no original thoughts in Hollywood.” But there’s a great quote that no art exists without the art before it. We’re doing our work to make our versions distinct and respect their source material. One of the things we did so well in the first season of Heroes is we delivered on each of those [superhero] metaphors. When you come to The Munsters and have Herman — who’s essentially a zombie in a constant state of decay — and he’s married to a woman who doesn’t age, there’s something very poignant there. These stories will surprise audiences."

Hmm have I ever been guilty of the "up in arms" thing? Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Not that I've been strictly anti-remake - I wrote a list once about the right ways to do it. But he's right. It just tends to take a Bryan Fuller to get it, and unfortunately the world isn't stuffed with Bryan Fullers.

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File This Under Unexpected And Awesome

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And cross reference it with: well goddamn I need some alone time after watching this. I missed Dirty Girl - Juno Temple goes on a road trip with her gay friend, hijinks et cetera - when it was released for like five seconds (it did get a release, right? I remember the trailer and I thought it looked good but then poof, forgot) but now that I've seen this clip of Heroes and Final Destination 5 actor Nicholas D'Agosto giving the gay dude the full strip treatment I curse myself for missing it and have moved it right to the top of my Netflix queue (it's out on DVD next week). Did I say clip?

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Huge thanks to Michael (follow him on twitter!) for this. The clip is where it's at because watching this thing in motion is what eyeballs were invented for, but I went and took some caps anyway because it certainly don't hurt. 

Ya see? Does that hurt? I mean if it hurts it only hurts so good. 

See a whole bunch more after the jump...

Who Wore It Best?

The Bell-ified bikini?

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poll by twiigs.com

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I don't think I've pointed it out since noticing it around the time they crammed her into one for Heroes, but Kristen Bell has been put into a lot of bikinis in her career. She doesn't seem to mind, and she certainly shouldn't be shaped like that, but it's still a... theme, you might say. If you got it flaunt it and Kristen Bell has got it and then some. Here at MNPP we do adore her and we can't wait for her new TV show, bikini or no bikini, so we wish her the happiest of 31st birthdays today!

Happy 34, Milo Ventimiglia

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Aww remember when Heroes was a thing? That was brief. At least we'll always have the Bryan Fuller scripted episodes to cherish. Anyway according to his IMDb page Milo's still actively working so good on him. But I think he and Jason Behr should team up for a Supernatural-ish show where they're brothers in a world filled with [fill in the blank with something spooky] but the twist is instead of being total cock-teases like Padackles are these brothers totally do it, all the time. It's genius! Hand me my Emmy now!

Pics of the Day

Well thanks, PopWrap! I just lost an hour of my life scanning through this giant collection of pictures from the Awkward Family Photo Booth at a couple recent Cons. But it was worth it, oh was it worth it. A bunch of Buffy and Battlestar stars, amongst many others, posing with their fans... oh to be there. I totally would've posed just like this lady:

Anyway here are a couple more I grabbed, and definitely check out Jarett's choices at PopWrap, he's got some fantastic ones. Wonderful!

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Happy 45, Adrian Pasdar

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Wow I haven't thought about Heroes in ages. Did it end? I don't even know if the show ended or not. As soon as Bryan Fuller skedaddled so went I. Still when I saw it was Adrian's birthday today I was filled with warm remembrances of wishing he and his pretend-brother would make out every time I watched the show. Ahh, memories. Here's some Milo and Adrian, and then some Adrian without clothes on, you know the usual...

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James Kyson Lee Nine Times

Anybody watch Heroes anymore? I stopped when Bryan Fuller left.

And judging by its ratings, I don't think I'm alone.
Still, Ando's worth ogling for a moment, I'll wager. (via)

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