Good Morning, World

I had neither seen nor heard of a 2008 movie called Death in Love before stumbling across this gif on Tumblr yesterday, but we're never going to ignore Josh Lucas in briefs, that's for sure. So I did a little digging on what the hell this movie is, which revealed... it's an erotic thriller about the Holocaust? So maybe there's a good reason I'd never heard of it? It's about a Jewish woman in a concentration camp who saves herself by having an affair with a Nazi doctor, and the repurcussions of this years later on her adult sons (mom's played by Jacqueline Bisset and the sons are played by Josh Lucas & Lukas Haas). Oh and Adam Brody is there too so him and Josh Lucas can dance together (as seen below) for some reason? 

I will also share with you the red-band trailer, which is super Skinemaxy, just because we've already fallen down this hole this far already -- let's keep going. All this nonsense just to ogle Josh Lucas in his underwear! We have issues. All of that said I must ask if any person reading this has ever seen this really very terrible looking movie. I am fascinated.

Everything You Ever Need To Know About Life...

... you can learn from:

You Can Count On Me (2000)

Terry: Put on your seat belt.

Rudy: It pushes on my neck.

Terry: What?

Rudy: It pushes on my neck, it's uncomfortable.

Terry: Well when someone slams into us and

you go sailing through the windshield, that's liable

to be uncomfortable, too. Now, put on a seat belt.

A happy 20 to this lovely film from writer-director-genius Kenneth Lonergan that I nevertheless haven't seen in 20 years. Did you know of Mark Ruffalo before this? There are two things he was in before it that I might have noticed him in -- Ang Lee's Ride With the Devil and the movie 54 as one of Ryan Phillippe's dweeby friends who couldn't get into the club...

... but I don't recall him making much of an impression at the time. We all knew him after You Can Count on Me though. Laura Linney on the other hand we all knew from way back, since we all went and saw Congo one thousand times in the theater. Right? Right...? Ahem. No but seriously twas  her work on Tales of the City and then Primal Fear and then her show-stopping stuff in Truman Show in 1998 which I'm sorry even against YCCOM might remain my favorite Laura Linney performance -- love it so. "Meryl" Forever!

In summation... I should probably re-watch You Can Count on Me, I have just finally been convinced by stumbling upon this photo of Mark Ruffalo and Josh Lucas wrestling with one another in it:

Now Neon Apocalypse

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You know how Horror Cinema seems to come and go in waves? Waves that end up saying tons about the anxieties of their age? There are the Atomic Age giant monster movies of the 1950s, or the Slashers of the 80s, the J-Horror and Torture Porn of the 2000s. Well I think we need to come up with a new name for the ongoing wave of horror movies we're smack dab in the center of that are attempting to capture the apocalyptic madness of our current moment in time. A little while ago I reviewed The Beach House, which is out this weekend, and briefly compared it to Color Out of Space from earlier this year, and those are two terrific examples of what I'm talking about. And you could toss the creature-feature Underwater with Kristen Stewart onto that pile for a full Lovecraftian trilogy.

Then you should see also Cam, and Daniel Isn't Real, and The Lodge, and Platform, and Gretel & Hansel, and from last year The Girl on the Second Floor and even Midsommar and The Lighthouse -- hell go back even further to something like It Follows, The Neon Demon, The Invitation.

My point is there seems to be a concerted effort at meeting the unholy inexplicability  of our modern moment via a Phantasmagoria of reality-crumbling means in Horror Cinema. Surrealism, neon-saturated hallucinations, the concept of Doubles and oodles of Cronenbergian body-horror... ooh just wait until Brandon Cronenberg's film Possessor (which should hopefully come out later this year) -- that's yet another big one. 

My point is there is most definitely a Major Theme to the Horror Cinema of this period that we'll need to step back and digest in full when we're not, you know, on fire in the middle of this real-life nightmare, and the just-released poster and trailer for what appears to be another one of this ilk, called She Dies Tomorrow, is what got me realizing it today. Written and directed by the modern scream queen Amy Seimetz (actress in flicks like The Sacrament, You're Next, Alien Covenant, the Pet Sematary remake, and many more) She Dies Tomorrow is described thusly:

"After waking up convinced that she is going to die tomorrow, Amy’s carefully mended life begins to unravel. As her delusions of certain death become contagious to those around her, Amy and her friends’ lives spiral out of control in a tantalizing descent into madness."

Kate Lyn Sheil (who acted opposite Seimetz in several of those movies I listed above) plays the lead character of Amy, and she's surrounded by an amazing cast including Jane Adams (!!!) and Chris Messina (!!!) -- also supposedly Seimetz used her paycheck from the Pet Sematary remake to fund this movie of hers, which means something good came out of that truly forgettable thing. The film's playing drive-in theaters on July 31st and then it'l hit VOD on August 7th, and here's that first trailer!

Everything You Ever Need To Know About Life...

... you can learn from:

Session 9 (2001)

Henry: Madness is just overactive curiosity. 

I hadn't even realized that Brad Anderson's phenomenal little horror gem here  had never been released onto blu-ray, until just now reading the news that it is finally being released onto blu-ray! It'll be out in August (which will mark the film's 15th anniversary). This also makes me realize I haven't watched this movie in quite some time, and I gotta right that. It's so, so good. Funny how much of the film I can immediately conjure up in my mind's eye - this is one that doesn't let go. The scene with Josh Lucas in the basement! Ahh!

Everything You Ever Need To Know About Life...

... you can learn from:

American Psycho (1999)

Bateman: Do you know what Ed Gein said about women?

Van Patten: Ed Gein? The maitre 'd at Canal Bar?

Bateman: No, serial killer, Wisconsin, the '50s.

McDermott: So what did he say?

 Bateman: "When I see a pretty girl walking down the street

I think 2 things. One part wants me to take her out, talk to her,

be real nice and sweet and treat her right."

Van Patten: And what did the other part think?

Bateman: "What her head would look like on a stick." [laughs]

Today is the 15th anniversary of American Psycho. It was released in over 1200 theaters on April 14th 2000 and made a little over 7 million in its opening weekend, coming in at 6th place box-office-wise.

Look at all that crap. WTF is "The Road to El Dorado"? Anyway give or take an Erin Brockovich it's clear which movie's won in the long run.

I had planned on really celebrating this anniversary this week, but then last week happened and it's not gonna happen, I've got too much else to do. But I'd love to hear your thoughts on Mary Harron's masterpiece. Above and beyond Christian Bale's hot ass, even.

Who Wore It Best?

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poll by twiigs.com

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Have you guys read this long article about Tom Cruise (thanks to Nat for the heads-up) over at LA Weekly talking about how the internet killed (or tried to kill) his career? It made me a little bit crazy, even if it made a lot of fine points. We're so much better off with a million little holes poked in that crazy man's privacy cloak, is all - am I really supposed to mourn for no more Rain Mans? Anyway both those pictures up there are from this gallery of actors in uniform - this is how to celebrate Memorial Day, y'all.

Josh Lucas Five Times

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Josh Lucas Loves His Twinks

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You'd have thought he'd have learned his lesson with Jonathan Tucker in The Deep End but he's kept it up anyway, pawing at Jamie Bell in Undertow and Adam Brody in Death in Love. (And that's not counting Ryan Phillippe in The Lincoln Lawyer, who was too old for "twink" status at that point, even if he was once King of the Twinks.)

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poll by twiigs.com

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Oh and Happy Birthday, Josh!

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Josh Lucas Four Times

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Do Dump or Marry - The Lincoln Laddies

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I'm so desperate for The Lincoln Lawyer to come out already so I can stop being forced to sit through its damn trailer every time I go to the movies. It makes me crazy! Not in a good way. With McConaughey winking every time the camera cuts to him and that moment when we're supposed to feel the screen-scorching intensity of the stare-down between him and Ryan Phillippe that comes off like being slapped in the face with a wet piece of cardboard and then William H. Macy's horrible swooping bouffant. Ugh! Awful. It makes me want to cut myself.


So if it looks so bad to me why the hell am I devoting a post to it, you ask? Well first off fuck you I can devote posts to whatever I want. How dare you try to rule me! I am a wild stallion (take note of that statement, Michael Fassbender), untamed. Anyway secondly on Monday I did a "Do Dump or Marry" post for Kellan Lutz and Joe Jonas and Zac Efron who were outfitted and posed together at a Calvin Klein show during Fashion Week and they all three are so much the same type, and it got me thinking that several times in the history of my DDM series I think it's been a choice between three similar types. And then I saw this trailer again and chuckled about how Matthew McConaughey, Ryan Phillippe, and Josh Lucas could all possibly be the exact same person, and yet here they are in a movie together. So it's perfect! Choose between the three blond dudes please and maybe confronting this movie so directly will make it go away.

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I Am Link

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--- Fassy's X Factor - I almost gave this a post of its own yesterday but decided the image is too tiny to bother giving it that much weight just yet - the first image of the X-Men Muppet Babies popped online and over to the left in the film image is the one that matters most, Fassy as Lil' Magneto. Also, James McAvoy as a young Dr. Xavier.

--- See Lots of Evil - Any of y'all see the 2008 Brit-horror flick The Children? It was about some sort of virus making teeny little tots turn murderous on their parents, and it was a lively little thing. Here's my review. Well its director Tom Shankland is lining up his next movie - it's called Dark Corners and it's a blind lady in danger flick. Hopefully it'll be better than Julia's Eyes, the new Spanish take on this well-told tale, which I didn't like much at all.

--- Fangs For Nothing - I have no idea if this movie will be anything worth watching, but the first images from Vampire, in which cute boy Kevin Zegers plays a you-guessed-it vampire, are over here. It co-stars Keisha Castle-Hughes (remember her?) and Rachel Leigh Cook (don't remember her, please). And then here is a clip from it. I don't know. Kevin Zegers is cute, give me a break.

--- Remakecrimes - The gloriously riveting 2007 Spanish flick Timecrimes is apparently still getting the remake treatment, says Deadline. The man who wrote Searching For Bobby Fischer and Schindler's List, Steven Zaillian, is working on the script. Not bad. You know if they make it something new I'd be very excited to see another take on the story. It's a twisty enough tale that I get something new from every time I watch it, and it'd be simple to spin the story off in any number of ways and keep true to its spirit. But will they? Or will they just make the same movie minus pesky subtitles? Hmm I wonder.

--- The Lindbergh Babe - Isn't it weird that Josh Lucas seems so in demand right now? He's just sort of bee there for a dozen years now, but lately his name's all over junk. Not that I mind. I like to gaze upon him, especially when his clothes are doffed. I don't think he'll be doffing any clothes as Charles Lindbergh in Clint Eastwood's J. Edgar Hoover movie though.

--- Frontways - It's been approximately fifteen thousand years since Alexander Payne's last movie Sideways came out, so it's good to see he's not sitting on his can anymore. His movie with George Clooney is finished, and he's lining up his next film. It's called Nebraska and it's a father-son road-trip movie where the father's convinced (but no one else is) that's he's won the Publisher's Clearing House sweepstakes. Sounds like an Alexander Payne movie to me. I just hope there's room for Margo Martindale somewhere in it.

--- Mr. TeeVee Man - Rob Thomas, not the singer but the genius-man who gave us Veronica Mars and Party Down, has a new project on the horizon - a little-league centered comedy for FOX called Little In Common. He's also working on Temp, a show about temps, for NBC. Gimme all of this!

--- The Beautiful Peoples - If you wanna talk about the fashions at the Golden Globes this past Sunday, then check out The Film Experience's twin posts on the fellas and the ladies. Nat does such a lovely job with these lineups every time.

--- Westeros: The Primer - If you've been wondering what the hell these Song of Ice and Fire books are that I've taking to yapping about with stuttered urgency over the past several months, then let me direct you over to my bud Sean T. Collins spectacular post explaining the series to those considering a glance. He made me want to start the series all over again by the time he was through. They really are must-reads; I must insist you all pick them up. I finished the fourth book A Feast For Crows just last night, meaning I'm now joining in with the rest of the series' fans in patiently awaiting for the fifth book. I can only hope that the HBO series coming in April will get the wheels moving.
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Six Men Enter...

Oh look what we have here, it's a bunch of actors vying for the same role! We all know what these sorts of situations make me wanna do - pointless polls! Six fellows are rumored to be up for the lead in Timur Bekmambetov's Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter film. There are three older chaps that we're all familiar with, and three younger newer fresher slabs of meat that might be new to us.

The elders are Adrien Brody, Timothy Olyphant, and Josh Lucas. No need to explain their varying appeals I don't think. The younger studs are as follows.


On the left is Benjamin Walker. He got a lot of buzz on Broadway for playing in another renegade take on a President, Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson. I even did a post ogling him a couple of months ago. He is a seriously strapping young gentleman. (He's also, shh, my pick for the role, all apologies to Timothy Olyphant I still love you Timmy!) Then there's Oliver Jackson-Cohen there in the middle. Very pretty. Is in the next Anna Faris movie. Finally there's James D'Arcy at right. Also a lovely young man to look upon. He was in Master and Commander and several horror films - Exorcist: The Beginning, An American Haunting - that seemed too dismal to bother.

So now I ask you!

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poll by twiigs.com

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Good Morning, World

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You Have The Right To Remain Sexy!

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I shouldn't bother ever making plans to ever suffer through Law Abiding Citizen, right? It's total crap? Although as I explained over at The Film Experience last week, my entry into the glorious world of HD television has been riddled with instances where I've been unable to change the channel from something that's totally shite because the HD makes everything look so damned good - this past weekend's example: I sat through half an hour of Stealth... man it was so so awful, but I sorta wanted to lick Josh Lucas' face. Anyway! I posted so much leading up to Citizen's release regarding the scene where Gerard Butler is roughed up by some SWAT whilst in his altogether that I feel a need to see it through here to its end. Its end meaning his end. Rear, that is. Plus, I kinda called Gerry a liar when he crowed about how often he shows off his arse, and he should consider this a step towards us making (out) up. Maybe if he makes a movie worth seeing again, we can talk. Though it's not looking good on that front, no sir. Plus, dontcha know, he's gotten fat. Anyway, the pics! (via)

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Here's A Buncha Josh Lucas For No Reason

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A couple of random things placed Mr. Josh Lucas into my brains today. First inspiration was seeing this news that he's joined the cast of Life as We Know It which is unfortunately not a big-screen remake of that failed television series with Piz and Sean Faris but rather just a movie with that Heigl person and The Duhamel and the one with the big boobs on Mad Men. I am presumably unwise to immediately be wishing for scenes of the two Joshes wrestling naked Women In Love style. But I wish it all the same.

And secondly, from there I was reminded of some shots from Lucas's recent film Death In Love that had made their way onto the internet just recently that I hadn't posted, including him bare-assed and almost making out with Adam Brody (not at the same time, sadly):


(via) Anyway! From there it was a downwards spiral (so much of my life is spent in one of them!). I felt like looking at more Josh after that. And perhaps you might looking at Josh some too. It's the perfect lunch-time companion! So here.

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