ABOVE: One of the last surviving physique stars is 90 today.
BELOW: Keep reading for Aviance ailing, Show Palace remembered and more ...
ABOVE: One of the last surviving physique stars is 90 today.
BELOW: Keep reading for Aviance ailing, Show Palace remembered and more ...
We She-Devil fans are legion ... (All images by Matthew Rettenmund, unless noted)
I was thrilled Monday to have a chance to experience a 35mm print of Susan Seidelman's wildly underrated film She-Devil. Even better, Seidelman was there to sign her juicy memoir Desperately Seeking Something. Better still, it was hosted by comedy genius Julie Klausner.
The marriage of Klausner, of Difficult People fame, and Seidelman, the woman who gave us Desperately Seeking Susan, was perfection. And as a total surprise, She-Devil's writers — Barry Strugatz and Mark R. Burns, who also wrote Married to the Mob — were in the house.
“I've always thought that women like us should stick together” — comedy geniuses, that is.
Susan with a coupla he-devils — writer Mark R. Burns & Barry Strugatz
She-Devil received wildly mixed reviews at the time of its 1989 release. It had generated maximal publicity thanks to Seidelman's habit of casting unexpected women in unorthodox roles — think Madonna in Desperately Seeking Susan, Ann Magnuson in Making Mr. Right and here, both Roseanne Barr in a movie, any movie, and Drama Queen Meryl Streep in her first all-out comedy.
Susan with her partner Jonathan Brett, a producer on She-Devil
The buzz worked against it — expectations were sky-high for Streep and critics were ready to devour Roseanne, who was stepping out of her comfort zone into a feature, and a darkly funny one at that.
The promotional images for She-Devil were shot by Patrick Demarchelier, is all. (Images via Orion)
But I would argue that She-Devil is a rare film that has aged not only well, but in reverse. The over-the-top tone, reminiscent of '50s monster movies in some of its humor, is far more familiar to us now, more readily digestible. This film's spiritual children, Death Becomes Her (1992) and especially The First Wives Club (1996), have retroactively paved the way.
Bonus Track, a new queer coming-of-age rom-com from director Julia Jackman, hits all the right notes — and unless you're stone-hearted, will make your heart sing just at a time when we could all use it.
Based on a story by screenwriter Mike Gilbert and actor Josh O'Connor (who makes a hilarious cameo), the film follows George (Joe Anders), a high schooler who longs to be appreciated for his musical talent, and who is such an unpopular nerd he hasn't even gotten around to figuring out how to handle being gay.
School is disrupted when Max (Samuel Small), the famous son of a pair of iconic, divorcing musicians, arrives for class — his mom has relocated to town, seeking a refuge from the paparazzi.
Max's appearance comes right after George has received dismal grades and a dire prediction for his future from teachers and his dad (Jack Davenport), though his mom (Alison Sudol) sees hope, and wisely points out, “It's who you know,” even if you don't know them quite yet.
George is flabbergasted when Max singles him out and vibes on the simple beat that has driven him to distraction all year, the beginning of a musical partnership and, in spite of peer pressure, a first-love story.
Things take a turn when the tabloid press rears its ugly hear, and the boys have to decide where their hearts lie.
This sort of romance has been done before, but it's done awfully well here, with achingly innocent performances by the leads, an innovative, beats-driven structure and engaging subplots involving George's squabbling parents and his queer teacher (Susan Wokoma).
(P.S. Prepare to be jolted, but it takes place in 2006, making it a period piece. Hey, 19 years is a long time ago — keep in mind that American Graffiti, from 1973, was about 1962!)
Bonus Track is on Cable VOD and Digital HD platforms from today.
Let’s kick off 2025 right by checking out the hottest dicks from 2024! It was a great year for nudity in movies and television, and tons of actors took the plunge by going frontal. We love it when an actor is so confident and comfortable in his own skin that he takes it all off on camera. You could say that some of these men are downright cocky. Here are the best dicks from 2024 ...
Her happiness, the something borrowed (Image via Neon)
In a relatively quiet year, at least one blockbuster and a dozen or more small films captured my imagination. More than ever, films are going to be a refuge from the insanity of the world — and here are Boy Culture's picks for the best movies of 2024 to be just that:
ABOVE: HBD to Don Johnson, hottest trade ever.
BELOW: Keep reading for that Trump movie, gay history and more ...
Be still my heart! (Images & video by Matthew Rettenmund)
Nobody has invited my gay ass to any of the zillions of Wicked screenings, but I was so pleased to be invited to an elegant reception for Luca Guadagnino's Queer, adapted by Justin Kuritzkes from the (in)famous William S. Burroughs (incomplete) novel of the same name.
The film is a dense, lush, sensual adaptation that boasts memorably committed, earthy performances by Daniel Craig (as Lee, an obvious stand-in for Burroughs himself, right down to a fantasy sequence in which he, um, accidentally shoots his lover to death) and Drew Starkey (as the young, persuadable man with whom he is smitten).
I was surprised by the preponderance of CGI — every animal in the movie, scenes involving multiple vintage cars — but more than anything I was taken aback by how Kuritzkes and Guadagnino have reimagined Burroughs's work, especially via a SPOILERS long interpretative dance sequence meant to mimic an ayahuasca excursion.
I feel the movie is better than the book and was able to tell Craig so. He was very pleased to hear that. I was also super excited that the screening's celeb viewers included Patti Smith and Morgan Spector with Rebecca Hall. I, of course, wanted to just snuggle with Morgan, but he's so B I G and intimidating, I instead sidled up to Rebecca and timidly told her how obsessed I am with her film Christine. She said, “It's a good one!” Then she mentioned the studio is out of business and I should buy the Blu-ray, as it is in danger of becoming a lost film!
Check out Queer, in theaters now, and the entire Q&A below:
(Image via SallywoodMovie.com)
Sallywood is Xaque Gruber's totally bonkers, no-budget comic docu-drama about what happens when a starry-eyed young man from Maine relocates to Hollywood to make it in show business and promptly runs into his idol, THE Sally Kirkland, the star of the 1988 film Anna.
Feeling like a blend between Sunset Blvd. and Mike Nesmith's Elephant Parts, the film bizarrely follows Zack (Tyler Steelman) and his new boss Kirkland — playing a version of herself — as they attempt to navigate ways for her to attain her former glory, or at least to make enough money to get her car fixed.