Jack Lowden Eight Times

Loverboy Jack Lowden was on the cover of The Times over the weekend and we were gifted with this new photoshoot -- there's also an interview right here which no I haven't read yet. I'm sure it's all Saoirse this and Saoirse that because don't they just make the world's most talented and hot Irish-Scottish actor couple who ever lived and blah blah blah.  Okay it's probably about his work more likely, whatever. I'm feeling snotty for no reason having to do with these people today. I love you, Jack! Don't hold it against me. (And that's the only time I'll ever use that turn of phrase with respect to Jack.) Hit the jump for all of the adorable photos... 

Jack Lowden Three Times

Obviously we're hoping that there turn out to be more than three of these photos of Jack Lowden in the new issue of Man About Town magazine (via) because one, we adore Jack -- so talented, so pretty, so Saoirse approved. But two -- this shoot so far (shot by Matt Easton) is a hot hot hot especially hot one and they gotta be more generous with these. We've been through a hell of a week (slash decade) -- prop us up, Man About Town, please!

Today's Fanboy Delusion

 Today I'd rather be...

... entering my Erotica era with Jack Lowden.

Jack Lowden Twelve Times

I am normally depressed when beautiful young actors that I crush on hard go off and get married to Some Woman, but Saoirse Ronan is not just "some woman" so I will not only allow it, Jack Lowden, I will give you both a hearty congratulations. They're one of my favorite celebrity couples, and I love the fact that they didn't announce their marriage at all -- the only reason we know it happened is that a newspaper went snooping in Scotland's govermental wedding registries (thx Mac). I don't love the invasion of privacy, mind you -- I just love that they, with typical loveliness, didn't seek out press. They seem like good true folk! And yes I am a legendarily terrible judge of character, but I still believe this to be true! 

I mean they met making a movie where Jack fucks hot boys on the side -- if that ain't romance I don't know what is. In all seriousness they are two of the finest moving-picture actors we have -- Saoirse has had multiple opportunities to prove this (and Jack produced her next, the Sundance stunned The Outrun, which very well might finally and deservedly win her an Oscar) but Jack remains deeply under-appreciated. Why nobody is plumbing his depths like Terence Davies did in Benediction I admit I remain baffled. That's truly one of the decade's best turns -- so where the hell are all of his big roles dammit? The movies are broken. 

Anyway I was just going to point you to my long-running Jack Lowden Appreciation Thread on Twitter with this here congratulations to the newlyweds, but then I stumbled upon a 2022 photoshoot of him from the magazine The Laterals that I've inexplicably never posted, and so I shall now do just that. How I missed these gorgeous photos I'll never! So go on and hit the jump and celebrate the boy (and his lady too, by way of the boy)...

Jack Lowden Fifteen Times

I can't imagine that Jack Lowden's people were happy when those photos of Aaron Taylor-Johnson romping around in his CK panties were dropped this morning, stealing as they have any attention these comparatively dour photos of Jack in Behind the Blinds magazine might've gotten. Well I'm here for you, Jack. I'm here for you, and I am here for Aaron -- really I'm here for the both of you, both at once. That's me! I'm just that open, giving, willing, et cetera. So while I show my two dudes all of that eager willingness, the rest of you can hit the jump for the photos...

Insert Jeopardy Countdown Music Here

I thought edging ourselves past Sundance would quiet things down around here, but I'm suddenly hella busy this week -- hence the tumbleweeds that've been hitting this here website every afternoon. It's February? I shouldn't be this busy in February! Anyway here is a new photo of shoulda-been-an-Oscan-nominee Jack Lowden looking exquisitely handsome to somewhat make up for my sporadic posting. I have a lot due this week to get through so expect this entire week to be like this until all that's sorted out, but next week's looking quieter. Until it isn't. Sigh. Jack Lowden take me away...

Let's Get Lowden

Feeling depressed today that Jack Lowden's performance in Terence Davies' phenomenal film Benediction (my review here) probably won't be showing up in the Oscar nominations next week, even though the work he turns in there is better than all but one of the frontrunners (that'd be Bill Nighy in Living, my favorite performance of last year, and I think Jack would be fine with me saying that). There should've been an Andrea-Riseborough-esque campaign for Jack, dammit. Saoirse whatcha doin? You couldn't drag Greta and Timmy into hosting some screenings for your beautiful beloved? (Speaking of Riseborough though -- see To Leslie, she is 100% amazing in it, again, for the billionth time.) Anyway I don't know when I will get around to naming my favorite things of 2022, if ever (still haven't done 2021!), especially with Sundance here, but I just gave you three of the year's greatest performances in this paragraph so go watch them and live, LIVE!!! Or hit the jump for four more photos of Jack (via), whatever...

Pics of the Day

In April of last year I told y'all about a show called The Gold that was being made that would have amongst its cast the MNPP ultra-threesome of Dominic Cooper, Jack Lowden, and Tom Cullen -- huz-fuckin-zah, man. Well today the first photos from the show have arrived (thanks to Emma for the heads up) and could it be??? Is that Tom Cullen in a speedo??? It is, it is! Reminds me of the time Dominic Cooper starred in The Devil's Double and rocked a speedo, so let me refresh your memories on that...

... not that I think anybody who'd seen that at the time has forgotten it. But I could honestly post a refresher of that every single day and I doubt I'd get a single complaint. (See more here, in fact.) Anyway this show just became Must See TV. What is it about, you ask? That matters, I ask back? Fine fine, it's about the true story of an enormous bank robbery in 1983 yadda yadda criminals and coppers and whatnot. It his the BBC "soon" is all that article says, so we'll keep an eye out. For now hit the jump for a few more photos of our boys...

Ismael Cruz Córdova Eight Times

If you've been watching the new Lord of the Rings series titled The Rings of Power then you ought to recognize actor Ismael Cruz Córdova from that (he plays one of the leading elves) -- I already knew of Ismael before thanks to his role (having sex with Jack Lowden) in Mary Queen of Scots, but perhaps you'd seen him on the shows Ray Donovan or The Good Wife or hey, it says he was on seven episodes of Sesame Street! How cool is that?

Anyway he's gorgeous, dreamy, just an absolutely banger, and that's before we even get into the fact that he is good, good friends with Pedro Pascal and Edgar Ramirez, as previously documented. "Good friends" with those two always seems like a euphemism to me, just saying! Anyway Ismael's gorgeousness is also on display this month in The Rake magazine -- click here for the interview, which I have not bothered to read yet. That's what lunches are for. And after the jump I've got the whole photoshoot...

Cowboys and Criminals and Coopers, Oh My

Anybody watching the Western series That Dirty Black Bag on AMC+ right now? As seen above it stars our boy Dominic Cooper in his first big role since our beloved Preacher ended a couple of years ago -- you could tell me it was a decade ago and I'd believe you given the way time's been moving, but no, Preacher ended in September of 2019. Anyway I am saving a binge of That Dirty Black Bag later on so no, I don't know the context of the above photo I took out-of-context, but I dig, I dig. 

That show's not why I'm here today though -- today I'm here for the news that Cooper is about to co-star in another limited series, this one with our other boys Jack Lowden and Tom Cullen! Based on true events of a big robbery in 1983, the series called The Gold (thx Mac) will star Cooper & Lowden & Cullen alongside Downton Abbey's Hugh Bonneville and the great Sean Harris, and in its six episodes will deal with what's called the UK's "Crime of the Century" and several years of its aftermath. There's more at the link above. I'm there with that cast of hunkery. 

Jack Lowden Two Times

Has anybody watched Slow Horses on Apple+ yet? It's the new Gary Oldman & Kristin Scott Thomas six-part series about MI5 agents that also stars our beloved boy Jack Lowden here -- two episodes premiered on that streamer over the weekend but I myself haven't gotten to them yet. Anyway Jack talks the series to Vogue today, which is where these ginger-tastic photos are from -- his luxurious hair here is straight up giving me the vapors, you guys. We're still waiting on word of when Jack's wonderful movie with Terence Davies called Benediction is getting a U.S. release -- read my review here, and then go harass somebody at Roadside Attractions to get this baby into our movie theaters already! Here is the Slow Horses trailer: 

Good Morning, World

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Jack Lowden (@jack.lowden)

If Jack Lowden says, "Morning Dip"
then you ask, "How deep?"

Oh and One More Thing...

... this photo of Joe Alwyn & Jack Lowden. That's all. Bye.

A Taste of Sassoon

We still don't have a trailer or a U.S. release date for Terence Davies' forthcoming flick Benediction with a lovely Jack Lowden in the lead (playing the real-life WWI-era gay poet Siegfried Sassoon), but we've got a poster now so it can only be a matter of moments until we have those other things I think. I reviewed the film right here when it screened at TIFF -- I love love loved it. So stay tuned for more whenever they decide to give us more...

You Are Not My TIFF Reviews

One more review out of the Toronto International Film Festival to link to -- here is my take over at Pajiba on the Irish horror flick You Are Not My Mother, which (spoiler alert) you should keep your eyes on the lookout for, because it's terrific. I'll presumably help you out and share info on its release whenever that's a thing. Anyway I don't know if I'll be reviewing anything else from TIFF at this point, now that I'm already well into NYFF press screenings, so I should quick round-up what else I did review! Here goes:

Benediction -- reviewed here

One Second -- reviewed here

DASHCAM -- reviewed here

Zalava -- reviewed here

Dug Dug -- reviewed here

After Blue: Dirty Paradise -- reviewed here

Petite Maman -- reviewed here

Kicking Blood -- reviewed here 

The Guilty -- reviewed here

Mothering Sunday -- reviewed here

The Hell Where Youth and Laughter Go

My most anticipated movie out of TIFF -- since I wasn't able to virtually screen either Dune of Last Night in Soho anyway -- was Terence Davies' gay poet biopic Benediction, and I am very happy to report that it did not disappoint! My review went up at Pajiba this afternoon, check it out right here. God I loved writing about this one. Anyway that new photo from the set seen above was shared by Jack Lowden on his Instagram earlier today -- that's him alongside his co-star in cattiness Jeremy Irvine, of course. No word on when this movie is getting an actual U.S. release yet, but I will surely keep y'all informed. Beautiful and moving motion picture, this one.

Quote of the Day

"Personally, I don’t go to the cinema anymore. When you make films, you become aware of the music, the acting, where the camera is, and in British films, there’s a lot of the same people in all of them, so you just see a collection of mannerisms. It’s so bad, you think, “I can’t watch this.” Jane Austen films, I refuse to watch. They are paralyzingly boring. The Brontes are much better. There’s a bit more sex to them. Once you start making something, it’s impossible not to see the structure. You just sit there calling out the shots — close up, close up, back to wide, and now another close-up or over-the-shoulder shot."

Today Variety has a chat with the director Terence Davies up, here on the precipice of his film Benediction, about the gay poet Siegfried Sassoon and starring Jack Lowden in the role, premiering at TIFF -- I have said one or two or twenty things about that movie, and I am incredibly excited to see it in a few days! The first clip from the film also premiered on Deadline over the weekend, you can watch it right here. If I could embed the video here I would, apologies for making you click a link, all that jazz. Here's a gif from behind-the-scenes though (and no I have no idea where this footage is):

Everything You Ever Need To Know About Life...

... you can learn from:

The House of Mirth (2000)

Lily Bart: If obliquity were a vice, 

we should all be tainted. 

Mrs. Peniston: Only someone without family

could make such a vulgar remark.

Lily Bart: Aunt Julia, you are my family.

I was talking about the director Terence Davies on Twitter the other week after watching his terrific gay coming-of-age flick The Long Day Closes for the first time (highly recommended) when it came up that I also had never seen his adaptation of The House of Mirth -- well I still haven't, but I have plans to now, as it's one of the films screening as part of The Paris Theater's reopening here in NYC, which I told you about a couple of weeks back. (That screening is actually sandwiched right in between two screenings of Call Me By Your Name, and you know I plan on going to both.) This is all good preparation for when Davies' new film, the WWII-era gay poet romance Benediction, starring Jack Lowden, premieres at TIFF next month -- I have already talked about Benediction quite a bit here. 

But to get to the point of this post: we are wishing a happy birthday to the great Gillian Anderson today! Legend of small screen and the stage -- and here I'll remind you that her Blanche Dubois remains the best live performance I have ever seen -- but I think Mirth remains the biggest, meatiest film role she's ever had, right? As well known as she is she really hasn't had much of a film career, which at this point seems like more of a choice than not. She's been racking up the statues for her Thatcher turn on The Crown this past year, and next comes a role in the second season of my beloved The Great, opposite Elle Fanning and Nicholas Hoult -- that show dropped a teaser over the weekend and you'd best believe I shrieked when Anderson popped up! Watch below:

Fancy Boys

I've been keeping hard track of Terence Davies' forthcoming old-timey gay flick Benediction ever since I first heard tell of it being a thing way back in January of 2020 -- a thing that was going to star hot-ging Jack Lowden as the WWI-vet turned poet Siegfried Sassoon and Jeremy Irvine as his gay boyfriend famous-actor Ivor Novello. You can see all the posts so far here. Anyway it's just been announced the movie will premiere at the Toronto International Film Fest in September, and with that announcement came these two new and official photos of the boys wearing tuxes and looking gorg. I approve this message!

Jeremy Irvine's One Man Gay Agenda

I am of mixed mind on the subject of LGBT characters requiring LGBT actors to portray them, but at a certain point it gets a little much for a not-out actor to keep taking on like one thousand gay roles without saying anything, and so I have to admit I am side-eyeing the news that actor Jeremy Irvine, who threw the first brick at Stonewall according to Roland Emmerich, is probably going to play Alan Scott, the openly gay Green Lantern character in the forthcoming HBO Max series. Yes this is the same series from Greg Berlanti that recently cast Finn Wittrock as another Green Lantern -- there will be time-jumping apparently...

"Scott was Earth’s first Green Lantern, who, true to the comics, is a gay man. He was created by Martin Nodell and made his comic book debut in 1940. A train engineer by trade, Scott derived his powers from a mystical green lantern crafted from a mysterious meteorite. He later joined the Justice Society of America, and in universe-hopping adventures would sometimes team with members of the Green Lantern Corps, including Hal Jordan. Based on the DC Comics property, the show was first announced in 2019 and was ordered to series last year. The story spans decades and galaxies, beginning on Earth in 1941 with Scott, and then heading to 1984 with cocky alpha male Gardner and half-alien Bree Jarta. They’ll be joined by a multitude of other Lanterns — from comic book favorites to never-before-seen heroes."

And, listen. If it was just the one role (this year) playing a gay man maybe I wouldn't say anything. But Jeremy Irvine is ALSO playing a gay man in Terence Davies next movie called Benediction, which I've talked here about several times before -- he's playing Ivor Novello, real-world sexually-conflicted movie-star and the lover of this film's main character, the poet Siegfried Sassoon (who's being played by Jack Lowden, current boyfriend of Saoirse Ronan and future boyfriend of me). This is just getting to be a lot without addressing the pink elephant in the room, Jeremy!

I'm not the biggest fan of poking around in an actor's personal life -- I gave up most gossip of that sort awhile back and it's suited me just fine. I have no idea if Irvine is actually gay or not, and I'm not trying to shove him out of any closet if he is. Maybe -- and this is hardly a stretch! -- the Roland Emmerichs and Terence Davies and Greg Berlantis of the world just like to stare at Jeremy Irvine. Like I said -- not a stretch! I sure like to stare at Jeremy Irvine myself. 

But I feel as if we've traveled passed the rainbow rubicon with this dude at this point -- especially after the vociferous pushback that Stonewall got for feeling so white and weirdly un-gay (not to mention terrible, just terrible) -- and Jeremy Irvine needs to have some kind of a talk with us all at some point in 2021. I look forward to it, Jeremy! And until then we'll spend some more time doing what we normally do, just sitting quietly and politely and staring at you, after the jump...