boy culture

Guydar

Boy Power

I'll be taking baby steps back to more regular blogging, though I'm pleased to say I had a post a day during my recent holiday absence. To kick things off, here are some links regarding the film version of Boy Culture's year-end status...some of you liked it, some of you really liked it:

Lawrence Ferber of Frontiers in L.A. places Boy Culture among "the year's—if not decade's—standout queer offerings":

The Mad Professah Lectures and John Demetry's Revolution To Revelation both have Boy Culture on their Top 10 lists.

Richard's Space has the film in his Top 15.

My pal Kenneth of Kenneth In The 212 gives the movie an honorable mention.

Blogger BlakFoxx calls Boy Culture his #1 fave gay DVD of 2007...and that definition includes films like Notes On A Scandal! Queer Verve has BC in the Top 5 DVDs.

Boy Culture was also listed in various year-end round-ups for queer cinema, though some were annoying to me (they assessed the film rather dismissively, in my opinion taking it for granted in a year that brought us I Now Pronounce You Chuck And Larry and Wild Hogs); one year-ender of note was The Washington Blade's.

I'll be doing my own film wrap-up for the year once I feel I've seen enough of the potentially award-worthy movies to be versed. I did see eight or nine movies over the holidays, several of which blew me away, so that was a big help. I need to check out at least a number of the following: The Orphanage (unfortunately, mostly pedestrian The Others-esque thriller that is barely above average let alone reminiscent of del Toro), American Gangster, There Will Be Blood (unless I'm forgetting something, this is my #1 of the year...really spectacular, moving, creepy and it has to win Best Actor), The Diving Bell And The Butterfly (lovely, impressionistic handling of an unfilmable subject), Persepolis (liked it), No Country For Old Men (generally respected it but it was not my favorite), Once (boring-as-shite, even if ultimately sweet...a bad argument for watching instead of listening to music), Away From Her (very affecting Alzheimer's romantic drama with Julie Christie knocking me out—a great directorial turn by Sarah Polley), Across The Universe (nice enough love story, fairly inventive, went down easy), Before The Devil Knows You're Dead, 3:10 To Yuma (a solid, satisfying western with a really committed performance by Christian Bale but a lackluster Russell Crowe), Atonement (exquisite, surprisingly modern take on a Merchant & Ivory-type historical romance), The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford, Lars & The Real Girl (surprisingly endearing, offbeat movie with absolutely great performances from the leads and the supporting players—I was in awe that they kept interesting what could have been a one-trick pony from beginning to end), God Grew Tired Of Us, Charlie Wilson's War (shockingly...very enjoyable!), La Vie En Rose (slightly hard to follow biopic, but still quite good, with a knock-out performance from Marion Cotillard) and I'm Not There.

Across The (Mr.) Universe.

Meat, The Press

Jake Gyllenhaal on and in Esquire (December 2007). Maybe he looks so playful because he knew he'd be sandwiched between less famous and/or less cute actors on an issue devoted to geniuses and innovators. I'll have to see Rendition eventually:

Jake joins the cub club.

Gerard Butler's "Man Candy" is like a stocking stuffer at the end of OK! (December 24, 2007). His money quote is, "I'm not a rough lover," which the reporter notes is delivered with a twinkle in his eye:

His man candy is undoubtedly sticky if improbably sweet.

As I'm about to post next, Complete Woman (February/March 2008—talk about post-dating to seem fresh!) is the worst magazine just about ever. But not ever, because of this full-page "CW Eye Candy" page featuring late-blooming James Marsden. Hot from Hairspray, he's coming up next in the highly anticipated chick flick 27 Dresses. "To me, being romantic is original," the Oklahoma native says, and by "original" I'm hoping he means "rough":

Marsden's Oklahomoerotic beach pose.

German/Boy Love Assocation

Open end gay shopping...can't be beat! A German ad for Boy Culture, with an emphasis on Marco Dapper and Eating Out 2: Sloppy Seconds:

Boy Culture Is Here!

Here! ("Gay Television. No Apologies," don't ya know!) begins airing Boy Culture for the first time December 10th (tomorrow! or today! or just December 10th! depending on when you read this). Maybe it'll be like Bad Girls on LOGO and be on 24/7!

Take note of your options:

Choose your time:

Proceed:

Taking pictures of this—the description is so tiny yet it made sure to include my name—was my, "Mama! Mama! There's a black person on TV!" moment.

The Shirt Off His Back

I want this T-shirt for Christmas!

He looks like Derek Magyar and Jonathon Trent's love child!

The List Is (In The) Life

Let me count the ways.

TÊTU (November 2007) is back with another shamelessly grade-A (what the "A" stands for, I'll let you guess) issue, this one graced by Greg Vaughan's shoot of 24-year-old Buffalo native Tobias Hayduk. I feel like they keep topping themselves with great-looking models. If you topped yourself month after month, would you even leave the house?

I'm partial to boxers despite finding their profession reprehensible (or because?), so Nicolas Wagner's "Boxing Club" has a lot to offer, including this sexy look at a pair of (pretend) pugilists so stoked they seem to be dodging and weaving in the locker room instead of out in the ring:

There is also a cool portfolio entitled "Homogénique" which covers a history of homosexuality in photography, including gems from the Athletic Model Guild, Tamotsu Yato, Walter Pfeiffer, William Gedney, William Thomas and Lehnert et Landrock. For my money, the best two are a stunning 1938 portrait of Jean Marais by Raymond Voinquel that looks shockingly modern, and 2004's The Lady's Favorite by Alex Aleixo, which juxtaposes a vintage Greta Garbo pose with thoroughly modern beefcake:

This is actually a very reflective kind of issue in that it contains a totally engrossing, 40-page feature on the "1,001 Secrets of Gay Culture." This amounts to a list of who's who and what's what about being gay—and while I'd love to not read this list and do my own (I used to make lists endlessly as a younger person), I couldn't resist it.

From gay to Z.

The categories are lingo, people, cultural leaders, movies/books/music, life & style, sex, politics and TV, and the choices are amazingly thorough (I had hoped Boy Culture—the movie—would make it in, but only one 2007 release did).

Points of interest:

The list is not ascending or descending but the first item listed is "bear" and "clone," "rice queen" and "down low" all make the first page.

Heroes include Sir Ian McKellen, Jimmy Somerville and Derek Jarman.

Gay icons begin with Sylvia Vartan (well, it's a French mag) with Madonna coming in next (at #45—not her only appearance on the list), and interesting names like Kathy Bates (specifically for Misery) and Kathleen Turner (specifically for Serial Mom) mingling with expected folks like Liza Minnelli, Marlene Dietrich and Bette Midler.

Queen Latifah is included on the list of openly lesbian celebrities...

Lesbian icons include Sigourney Weaver, Sharon Stone and Louise Brooks (yes, it's that complete).

Miss Piggy, Jimmy Somerville & Madonna.

Among inspirations, Miss Piggy shares a page with Cher, Blondie and Catherine Deneuve, while they also have two funny lists called Bisexual Before Being Gay (Boy George, Andy Bell, Freddie Mercury) and Bisexual Before Being Straight (David Bowie, Prince, Lou Reed).

A clever use of space puts the faces of Tom Of Finland's drawings next to Rock Hudson and Cary Grant—who look right at home.

Jobriath, George Platt Lynes's work & Ian McKellen as a PYT.

Photographers—who could take over our pop culture entirely at the rate we're buying expensive magazines full of racy pictures of hot men—honored include George Platt Lynes, Wolfgang Tillmans, Bruce Weber and Robert Mapplethorpe, but Jim French's shot of Tony Ward in next to nothing scores a half-page.

Animation that makes the cut includes Dumbo, Bambi, Happy Feet and Rick & Steve: The Happiest Gay Couple In All The World.

Music is thorough enough to include Brandy & Monica’s “The Boy Is Mine,” Big Fun, the Megatone label and Jobriath.

Noteworthy queer albums are by artists as diverse as Kim Carnes, k.d. lang, Carole King, Bronski Beat and Dan Hartman, while books encompass everything from Billy Budd to The Lost Language Of Cranes.

Jake, Dumbo & gerbil.

You’ll find Richard Gere’s gerbil cohabitating with Butt Magazine, AussieBum soaking in Evian, poppers, cock rings and jockstraps. Jake Gyllenhaal is just outside Stonewall, Magnum P.I. is right behind Noah’s Arc, and the entire list ends on an Absolutely Fabulous note.

Buy this issue for sure.

And after the jump, the full list of 100 gay (non-animated) movies. I can live even though Boy Culture missed out because it’s in good company: Parting Glances, Desert Hearts, Midnight Cowboy and Mädchen In Uniform failed to appear as well!

He Just Plays One

There is a great, thoughtful Boy Culture review at Andy's Film World, and the comments are worth reading, too. Nice to hear that Jonathon Trent successfully jammed some gaydar systems out there. I know he will take a lot of non-gay pride in that.

Culture Club

Hey, remember Boy Culture? That's the book and movie from which this, my personal blog, gets its name. Reviews of the DVD are still coming in, such as this nice blurb from Attitude's October 2007 issue:

And the (happy) 10th anniversary issue of Instinct (November 07) contains this lovely, BC-centric TLA ad—it's true that the movie makes a great holiday gift. It's even about a ho, ho, ho:

Seconds

Today, November 6, is the second anniversary of the launch of Boy Culture, the blog. It's been...time-consuming. Rewarding. A pointless distraction. Deeply useful. Fun. Exhausting. Frustrating.

Here is a list of links to some posts of which I'm particularly proud. I guess it means I'm either very happy with my work or I've stuck with this a lot longer than I thought I would, but I honestly could not comb through all the posts to pick my absolute favorites.

Please click on a few and keep reading.

iPHONE: The Big Apple As Seen By The Little Apple: My iPhone (Ongoing)

ME: Sudden Death (October 29, 2007); Museum Quality (July 2, 2007); A Mickey Mouse Vacation (June 10, 2007); Play Balls (May 18, 2007); Missouri Loves Company (May 12, 2007); Death Becomes Here (April 30, 2007); Stocky (February 20, 2007); Café Belinda Carlisle (February 3, 2007); D-Lite Full (January 17, 2007); Ooh, You’re An Angel (December 22, 2006); In Your Eye (November 8, 2006); Towering Inferno (September 11, 2006); Sold! (August 23, 2006); Bearing My Soul (July 27, 2006); Prescription For Disaster (April 21, 2006).

ART: Rosie O’Donnell’s Art: Malignant Or Benign? (October 12, 2007).

BOOKS: Fumbling Toward Divinity: The Book Of Craig (January 28, 2007); Tab Hunter: Blond Had Less Fun (November 9, 2005); Farley Granger Was Cute. Real Cute. (April 17, 2007).

MOVIES: The Kite Runner: Zing Go The Strings (November 5, 2007); Parting Glances: Hard Looks (November 1, 2007); Eating Out 2: Guilty Treasure (July 16, 2006); Another Gay Disappointment (July 24, 2006); Over-The-DePalma (September 15, 2006); Dream A Little Dreamgirls (November 30, 2006); Notes On A Scandal: Women On Bottom (December 6, 2006); God Bless Marco Dapper (November 20, 2006).

BOY CULTURE: It’s A Boy Culture: A Full Account Of How The Story, The Novella, The Novel & The Movie Were Born (April 16, 2007); Better Dead Than Red: Critic Smack-Down (April 9, 2007); Q. Allan Brocka: Direct Order (March 23, 2007); Derek Magyar: Using “X” As A Weapon (March 16, 2007); Darryl Stephens: Finding Out (March 9, 2007); Jonathon Trent: “Joey” To The World (March 2, 2007); Left Reeling: Boy Culture Goes Home (November 5, 2006); Outfest Part 6: Good-Boy Is Forever (July 25, 2006); Outfest Part 5: In/Out (July 24, 2006); Outfest Part 3: You’re Projecting (July 23, 2006); Outfest Part 2: Screen Queen (July 16, 2006); Outfest Part 1: Get Made, Fucked (July 15, 2006); TriBeCa Is For Boy Lovers (April 30, 2006).

CURRENT EVENTS: The Jury Is Out (Of They Minds) (September 19, 2007).

DEBBIE HARRY & BLONDIE: Absolutely Necessary (August 3, 2007); Rip Her To Shreds (November 6, 2005).

THEATER: Die Mommie Die!: Matricidal Tendencies (October 14, 2007); I Used To Have Fred Weller’s Home Phone Number (March 31, 2007); It’s A Wonder-Full Life (November 5, 2007); Not A Fran (February 14, 2006).

GAY: The Thomas Roberts Affair: Truth Or Bare (September 11, 2007); Bette Midler: At The End Of Her Rope (November 6, 2005); Larry, Larry Quite Contrary: That Craig Man (August 28, 2007); Cindy Adams’s Family Values (August 26, 2007); From Superbad To Superworse (August 21, 2007); Shooting The Star: Gay Is Okay (July 25, 2007); Bareback Words (July 13, 2007); The Terminator: An Ex-Gay Works Our Last Nerve (July 4, 2007); Isaiah Washington: Knight’s Derider (June 28, 2007); A Meaty Discussion: Putting the BLT In LGBT (May 28, 2007); Gay Movies Are Big: It’s Their Audiences That Got Small (March 19, 2007); Divine Madness (April 11, 2007); Extra Outings (September 2, 2006).

MADONNA: Lite Years (April 13, 2007); Absolutely New Regrets (April 3, 2007); Being Madonna (November 9, 2005); Confessons Of A Dance Whore (November 9, 2005); Island Of Lost Soul (April 13, 2006); Women Can Be Total Assholes, Too, Bro: Part 1 (June 3, 2006); Women Can Be Total Assholes, Too, Bro: Part 2 (October 11, 2006); Live Bait—Madonna On Tour: Part 5 (July 22, 2006); Live Bait—Madonna On Tour: Part 4 (July 19, 2006); Live Bait—Madonna On Tour: Part 3 (July 4, 2006); Live Bait—Madonna On Tour: Part 2 (July 1, 2006); Live Bait—Madonna On Tour: Part 1 (June 29, 2006).