416 posts categorized "ME"

Apr 04 2025
Coming Out Again: James Ivory Attends Paris Theater Screening Of New MAURICE Restoration Comments (0)

*SPLASH IMG_5836(Image by Matthew Rettenmund)

It was a bit of a dream come true (again! I attended a similar event nine years ago) when I found myself at NYC's Paris Theater for a screening of the new 4K restoration of Maurice.

The 1987 film, lovingly adapted and expanded from the posthumously published novel of the same name by E.M. Forster, looks more spectacular than it did when I saw it nearly 40 years ago.

I had just moved to Chicago to attend the University of Chicago, and snagged a job in the legendary Fine Arts Building on Michigan Avenue. On the first floor of the building was an arthouse theater, and that is where I saw Maurice was playing. It was the first gay-themed film I watched in public.

S-l1600I vividly recall buying a single (confirmed bachelor?) ticket. I felt the same mix of bravado and terror as when I bought the book The Gay Book of Days at B. Dalton Bookseller at Genesee Valley Mall in Flint, Michigan, a year before. Coming out via commerce.

I recall several other single, mostly old, men in the theater with me, and I remember being emotionally overwhelmed by the film, which traces the stunted passion of turn-of-the-last-century English Cambridge boys Maurice Hall (James Wilby) and Clive Durham (Hugh Grant), which dies due to Clive's fear of being exposed. It follows Maurice, who is presented as a gay everyman and a sponge for social data on homosexuality and general social expectations, as he attempts to come to terms with who — and what — he is. Explosively, he falls madly in love with Alec Scudder (Rupert Graves), a sultry and much better-adjusted gay man who knows what he wants and has no problem indulging in it.

I bought a movie poster for the film at a college fair that sold posters for kids to decorate their dorm rooms, I sketched Hugh Grant's show-stopping hair and I mooned over the film's deeply affecting score by Richard Robbins.

At the Paris this week, I was pleased to get to meet the evening's moderator, Ira Sachs, a ballsy filmmaker whose devastating 1996 gay romance The Delta came out not even 10 years after Maurice, but was a much more modern, and bleak, drama, one that's never left me in the same way Maurice hasn't. He also directed the film Keep the Lights On (2012), about a gay couple whose passion is deteriorating due to drug addiction, and the universally acclaimed 2023 film Passages, starring Franz Rogowski and Ben Whishaw.

Sachs was very sweet, so that was a good start.

James Ivory with Matt fixed 4 3 25IMG_5854(Image by Matthew Rettenmund)

Once inside, reliving Maurice was extremely satisfying. It's just a perfect film for me. The conversation between Sachs and Ivory was interesting, with Ivory — who is turning 97 in June! — sharp-witted. Dumb questions galore, and when one guy asked if he had any great loves (um, maybe Ismail Merchant, whose name is all over all of Ivory's work?!) and then said he assumed Ivory had many, the director hilariously retorted, “Why do you think that?”

IMG_5855Everyone liked my vintage still. (Image via Merchant Ivory)

Right after, Mr. Ivory was happy to sign autographs and pose for photos. I was grateful to be able to tell him what the film meant to me, and he said, “I'm glad it was there for you.” A very nice young woman took a photo for me — my God, it makes such a difference not to do a selfie.

A great night.

Check out the Q&A below:

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Apr 01 2025
ALL I WANT TO DO IS TALK ABOUT MADONNA — And So I Did Comments (0)

Madonna-ghosttown-boyculture(Image via Warner Bros.)

I spent an afternoon talking with the boys of All I Want to Do Is Talk About Madonna — and you will never guess what we talked about!

Specifically, the episode was about the Queen of Pop's shamefully ignored single “Ghosttown” (2015), which came and went in spite of being a beautiful, sweeping song on par with a lot of her greatest work. It was vintage Madonna — which fans always claim she doesn't do anymore — and yet was ignored by radio. It even had a spectacular, cinematic video.

But we talked about a lot of other stuff, too.

Listen to the episode on Apple/iTunes HERE, Spotify HERE or visit their podcast page HERE.

 
Mar 29 2025
DESPERATELY SEEKING SUSAN Turns 40 Comments (0)

C55d61cb1fc271e6177b3609646bc1d2Even Susan's boots were desperately sought. (Image via Orion)

My favorite movie, and one of the best of the '80s, is Desperately Seeking Susan.

Many forget this film is not a guilty pleasure, and it's not “the Madonna Movie” (though Pauline Kael noted Madonna's “dumbfounding aplomb”), but a critically acclaimed, faultlessly witty screwball comedy that miraculously resuscitates that genre from the '30s in an '80s package that happens to include historically important footage of a long-lost NYC.

The film oozes style, has a jaw-dropping cast (you haven't lived until you've experienced Laurie Metcalf's Leslie Glass) and was listed among 1985's Top 10 by many critics.

Rosanna Arquette won a BAFTA for it!

Today, this exquisite film is 40 years old, which seems as unlikely as getting amnesia thanks to a bump on the head — and losing it thanks to another.

6 *Susan Seidelman Mark Blum Rosanna Arquette Aidan Quinn with Matt editA cherished celeb selfie: Me (R) with Susan Seidelman, the late Mark Blum, Rosanna Arquette & Aidan Quinn in 2010 (Image via Matthew Rettenmund)

As many of you know, I'm keen on attending starry events, but my all-time favorite occurred 15 years ago, in September of 2010, when the 25th-anniversary screening of Desperately Seeking Susan attracted its director, Susan Seidelman, its producers and writer, as well as Arquette, Aidan Quinn, Robert Joy, Mark Blum and quite a few others from the cast. Even its original publicist, Reid Rosefelt, showed up.

That evening, I was in the front and made sure to film as much as I could. I was relatively new to doing such a thing, but made do with my 2010 digital camera. I'm in the process of sprucing up the clips, trying to make them sound as decent as possible, and reposting on social media — and I'm sharing a bunch here ...

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Mar 18 2025
Barracuda Lounge Memories Comments (0)

With the news of NYC's Barracuda Lounge closing after 30 years, I was reminded of when Boy Culture did a little promo event there in 2007.

Here it is, 18 years later.

 
Mar 10 2025
Gay Rumors About Little Marco Rubio + What Might End Trump + Menendez Brothers Face New Setback + ICE To Deport Legal Citizen Over Alleged Anti-Semitic Speech + MORE! — 12-PACK Comments (0)

Butt-booty-ass-ballet-male-guys-sexy-hot-boycultureThe Nutcracker? SWEET! (Image via video still)

ABOVE: Key moment from THIS video.

BELOW: Keep reading for an unfortunate mug shot, gay rumors about Little Marco and more ...

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Dec 25 2024
MERRY CHRISTMAS & HAPPY HOLIDAYS & A HAPPY 2025! Comments (0)

Scan 2(Image via Mel Roberts, though an unusual image for him)

Have a very vintage-gay Christmas and ...

Santa spanks(Image via Athletic Model Guild)

... a slappy New Year!

 
Oct 16 2024
Gay Art Of The 1990s: BOYS WILL BE BOYS Comments (0)

Scan 28(Images by Matthew Rettenmund)

I don't know what possessed me, but a photo album I used to create a little gay art book that's been sitting in my apartment for 30 years cried out, so I scanned it and uploaded it on my Substack, along with a short essay about my past as an artiste.

I don't know — I'm still happy with this little book. It's found art and not a measure of my technical skills, but it's interesting and I think would interest me if I saw something similar for sale.

If nothing else it's so, so, so 1990s queer NYC. Those club invites! I used to chop 'em up and use 'em to death.

Check it out here — I really appreciate your subs. It's $8 a month to start. I also post a lot of stuff that is totally free, so please don't hesitate to also just sign up with your email and have a meander around.

Scan 1

 
Sep 08 2024
Pause And Connect Comments (0)

Happy Sunday!

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