God, what is about John Cusack? Seeing photos of him still makes me sigh like a schoolgirl with an impossible crush. Is it the Lloyd Dobler thing? I think that’s part of it – John Cusack played the sweet, vulnerable boyfriend so beautifully in Say Anything, and there’s an entire generation of women who will always get moist for Cusack on that role alone. But it’s more than that for me. He’s just… a different kind of actor. If Cusack was coming up in today’s Hollywood as a young actor, I doubt he would even be able to find his footing. They just don’t make parts for sensitive, intelligent, dry, interesting men these days. And don’t start yelling about Sparkles, either. John Cusack had that sparkly quality, but he was able to maintain a “man’s man” appeal too – dudes LIKE John Cusack and women love him.

Anyway, these are new photos of Cusack in Moscow, where he’s doing some early promotion for The Raven. He plays Edgar Allen Poe in a fictional story about Poe acting like a crime-fighter, trying to take down a deranged serial killer. For real. I don’t even know what’s up with Cusack’s career these days. I guess Hot Tub Time Machine bought him some Hollywood love (that was a huge hit, right?), but seriously – Poe? Here’s the trailer:

It doesn’t come out here in America until the end of April. God knows, this could be a huge hit. ???

Just look at Lloyd Dobler.

Photos courtesy of WENN.