boy culture

Oscar The Grouch

The Oscar nominations are out, and overall it's a pretty safe, pretty fair list. Some surprises to me were A History Of Violence losing out to Munich for Best Picture and Best Director nods (but the Academy does love its Judaica...along with its homosexual themes, judging from many of the front-runners) and the absence of Russell Crowe or Viggo Mortensen for Best Actor (not sure, though, who either would rightfully replace), Ziyi Zhang for Best Actress (over Keira Knightley) and Don Cheadle for Crash (over William Hurt). I was not absorbed by Brokeback fever, but I do admire that movie and loved Heath Ledger and Michelle Williams without reservation so was happy to see their work acknowledged. I got a kick out of Matt Dillon's nomination even though I haven't seen Crash. Just..."Matt Dillon, Oscar nominee." I'm glad Walk The Line was snubbed for Best Picture because that whole cheesy-biopic-as-Oscar-gold thing exemplified by the perfectly fine but markedly mediocre Ray had to stop. I would guess the winners as Brokeback Mountain (or Crash if by the time they hand these suckers out already it's Brokebacklash Mountain), Rachel Weisz, George Clooney, Philip Seymour Hoffman and...to me, the real twist is Best Actress. Reese Witherspoon is making a beeline and with her film's snub from the Best Picture category, she seems almost a lock. But Felicity Huffman is over-loved (how else to explain her Emmy for a fun but not exactly compelling turn on Desperate Housewives?) and she was extraordinary—and went to extraordinary physical lengths—for Transamerica. It's possible Reese will go from playing the role of June Carter Cash to being this year's Lauren Bacall...Other thoughts:
Memoirs Of A Geisha received six nominations in techical categories. Imagine how it could have cleaned up if it were any good? (It actually was pretty good and has inspired a new trend of auctioning off your virginity. Katie Holmes.)...Was Dame Mira Sorvino the best they could get for the announcement?...I'm so happy Dan Futterman got a nomination for Capote, because it was a really beautifully written and realized film and he is both an amazing actor (Urbania!) and a Grade-A hottie...Are
there really only three decent songs from all year? I can not believe not one of those ancient, over-madeup lyricists is nominated again this year for the zillionth time! Thankfully, that crap from the embarrassing The Producers was not nominated, despite having been penned specifically to get Oscar recognition. But Dolly Parton can buy her dress and write her speech in pen because she will win for "Travelin' Through" just as sure as shit.

Dick Flix Hix Act Like Prix

Jake Gyllenhaal and Heath Ledger acted like total idiots at the SAG Awards. Perhaps "inspired' by the drunken and equally unfunny antics of Philip Seymour Hoffman and Catherine Keener (both of whom I love as actors) as they introduced their film Capote, Jake and Heath pranced onstage, pretending to go off in the wrong separate directions. Then Heath in particular goofed his way through Brokeback Mountain's intro. Yes, awards-show TelePrompTers can sometimes offer up howlers, but the writing at this SAG Awards was perfectly good and paid great respect to the nominated films—unlike Jake and Heath. They seemed to behave as if they're already Hollywood royalty, as if the entire room was just eating them up. Guess what? You may have done good work in a good film, but you're not George Clooney and Brad Pitt yet. The proof is in the putting—and the Screen Actor's Guild put the award for ensemble acting into the hands of the cast of Crash, not the cast of Brokeback. That means Ryan Phillippe (who behaved just as stupidly at the Golden Globes) won and you guys did not. I hope Ang Lee told them later that if they were expecting a cakewalk to a Best Picture Oscar, they just may have queered the deal...Other notes: Philip Seymour Hoffman's attempt to seem like an edgy, grizzled actor by dropping the S-bomb (is S even a bomb?) in the wake of Shirley Temple Black was not exactly In Cold Blood, but it was In Poor Taste. Even for me!...If Shirley Temple Black is so fucking important, why not let her finish her speech, even if she did have a false ending?...When will Jamie Lee Curtis come forward with whatever her diagnosis is, because she has gotten increasingly manic and obnoxious over the years, to the point where I felt the crowd was on the verge of applauding when she just about fell over on her face while emerging to hand Shirley her Life Achievement Award. On the red carpet, she was railing against the hedonistic youngsters of today (she co-starred with Lindsay Lohan so she has to know what people wll infer) as if she's the second coming of Loretta Young or something, and then in her speech claimed to look forward to Shirley Temple's movies as a girl. Beat. Shirley's last film came out a decade before Jamie Lee did. I did love Jamie Lee in Transamerica, though...There are other, more positive thoughts. But they're not really worth recording. Like the SAG Awards.

An Isaac For An Isaac

Madonna wins again.

I Take It Back...I Do Support The Troops

Towleroad, like a slut at a circuit party, is again the first to pick up the hottest gay action, this time referring to the big news that a mess of marines who've appeared in gay porn flicks, probably on a site called ActiveDuty.com. The site's gone AWOL as an investigation ensues. You want the truth? You can't handle the truth! Which is that (A) a ton of fags and dykes are in the armed services, (B) a ton of them are just as great or just as lousy at their jobs as their straight compadres, and (C) don't ask, don't tell has a giant loophole since it doesn't include don't get gang-banged by and chug-a-lug your brothers in arms. The site is on inactive duty to protect the innocent. Luckily, I have a gallery of images from the site in case I.D.'ing the marines becomes a new top-secret mission. Many images appear on JuicyGoo and Adams9, the latter of which says that ActiveDuty was a 9-outta-10, "cock solid" site. Fall in! (Click on the image and watch Kody strip. Locate the original images in cyberspace or see Cody and other faves at this spot and watch the guys do to each other what Bush is doing to America.)

Sk8er Boi Toi

If Madonna's marriage collapses, it would probably be great for her career. Fans and the general public thrive on personal ups and downs (Liz, Cher, Jen) and Madonna's personal life has been way, way up for
a decade. That said, it would be sad if she and Guy were to split and shame on any fan for thinking it would free her up to tour all the time! (Hmmm...) Meanwhile, she still has an eye for the boys, as in this sk8er boi, who will apparently glide in and out of Madonna's Xanadu-themed "Sorry" video. He looks like a long-lost member of the British boy band McFly! If Madonna opens the Grammys doing "Sorry" and does it well/lavishly, it should calm the on-line flamers who feel her 3-D recreation of her recent Rolling Stone cover, unveiled at the Gaultier show, was not her best look.

O No He Dint

I'm really relieved that Oprah Winfrey, a person whose ego has its share of follies (as would anyone's when his or her ego is dissected in the laboratory that is Popular Culture) but who I respect, is finally admitting that she was wrong to defend James Frey regarding his fraudulent book A Million Little Pieces. I understand the argument that memoirs can never be 100% factual, but to take that argument and say that it's okay to invent arrests and invent treatments you had as long as the essential story is true in spirit is extreme. In this case, it seems perfectly clear the man lied not to protect anyone, not to fill in missing parts of his memory, but to build up his story in order to present himself as a heroic, larger-than-life figure. Pure self-aggrandizement, and shameless. He was shaking and deceptive on Larry King and O finally gets it.

Mudge Report

Because Drudge is so homo-neurotic, he's obsessed with Madonna, usually in a bad way since she's too much of a moonbat whereas he prefers his stars to have a touch of the wingnut. Today, he's pointing out that Madonna looked terrible and old and desperate at her surprise Gaultier visit. I won't argue that Madonna's been too thin recently, and of course some people don't like women with biceps, but she's 47 and looks ready to run a marathon so that has to count for something. To illo his point, he uses the ugly pic I'm reproducing above, which is obviously just an off shot. That's called c-r-e-a-t-i-n-g a n-e-w-s s-t-o-r-y, kids, and it detracts from any real news he breaks and any real opinions he has. Yes, even though it's "just" about some sillly star. The other picture shows Madonna at the same event. Who's "Sorry" now?--->

Above The Law

Bush and his entire admiinistration functions in a manner that suggests "we are above the law" is a corporate motto. From the invasion of Iraq to the prison scandal there, from eavesdropping on Americans to the Abramoff affair (yes, Bush himself will be personally implicated at some point—keep waiting for the photo finish, folks)...and let's not even talk about Brownie's audacious "so the fuck what?" about his job during Katrina. Now, Bush's top mine safety official up and walks out of a mine-safety hearing. Committee chair Arlen Specter was flabbergasted, saying he could not recall it ever happening. When it comes to the viability of this administration, face it: the canary just died.

Try Googling "Corporate Sell-Out"

I couldn't live without Google, but I could live without its decision to bow down low
to China's demand that they censor their content for that country's citizens. Seems like a case of cold hard cash anesthetizing the pain of doing wrong. Maybe they felt, "Hey, China is doing it anyways!" Google is good, but not infallible. After all, whenever I post bashing Condoleeza Rice, Adsense helpfully inserts "President Condi Rice" and similar ads over to your right----->

Brand Ambition

When someone convinced Madonna to go back to her roots in search of her past success, they really went all the way—she's now confirming that Gaultier (whose bullet bra for her Blond Ambition Tour in 1990 became the fashion personification of Madonna) will design the frocks for her "next show." Her re-branding strategy is working: As of today, her Confessions On A Dance Floor has surpassed the 1.2 million sold mark, making it twice as successful as American Life...and she hasn't even worked her second single from it yet. (Image from madonnatribe.com.