The clip above is "Pure," an action movie montage from professional film editor Jacob Bricca. In his words, it's a "meditation on genre, a commentary on visual cliches, and a celebration of the visceral pleasures of cinema." Sounds a little like master's thesis mumbo jumbo to me, but the final product is worth a look. It is interesting to notice the "predictability of certain images" as he cuts from fifty (or so) modern action films. (link)
Note the swagger, the stride, the sideways glance of the contemporary tough guy. Then watch all hell break loose. Including explosion-propelled jet skis -- and helicopters flying at extremely low altitude. Watch out! Oops, too late.
I won't suggest that these films are for straight guys only, as a previous post on destructoporn identified fans on both sides. But this is obviously also a study in modern masculinity. So, where are the women? Well, few of them are cut in just after the three minute mark. Was it me or were they all screaming in terror? Ugh. I get the trappings of the genre, but that point seems a little dated given how deconstructed that stereotype has become in the post-Buffy age. Especially considering that a few of the clipped films already have great examples of ass-kicking female protagonists.
I guess I get the bigger point. But if Pure is "commentary on the ubiquity and predictability of certain images in contemporary cinema," then why do I fall for these films again and again? The good ones anyway. Speed 2 and the first Matrix film might share a few visual cues, but one is rubbish and the other is art (please tell me you can guess which is which, GG).
Any proven formula will have repetitive elements, right? Who said "All art is derivative"?
For our readers who don't click with the action genre, I have recently become aware of the Mo Movie Measure (or Bechdel Test) which allows some lesbians (and many women in general) to screen films and watch only those that meet the following criteria:
1) there are at least two female characters 2) who talk to each other 3) about something other than a man
Good luck with that. I'm sorry it's so hard. Seriously.
I don't have that many rules. And by the way, action is not the only genre that I dig. But I'm still not ready for the Merchant-and-Ivory-a-thon that GG keeps threatening to put together.
Readers?
--Straight Guy
UPDATE: Almost forgot to mention the Samberg/Ferrell spoof: "Cool Guys Don't Look at Explosions."LINK
Last evening was the Gay Pride Parade in my neighborhood. Remind me to drag you along next year. I can just see it: With my luck, you would get hit on, while I would get ignored.
What does a Pride parade say? Says we have it all, in who we are, and how we live. We have kids who love us, we have parents who love us, we have religion of every flavor, we have political candidates whoring for votes, we have sports teams (more wrestling singlets!), we have men's choruses, we have banks whoring for customers, we have mega gyms, we have drag queens and bars. Let's face it, if you've got a bank, a bar, and a drag queen, what more can you ask for? Especially on a Saturday night.
Mostly, we have Mardi Gras beads. Every color of the rainbow.
It was all fun. I enjoyed hanging friends. Saw some guys I hadn't seen in ages. Fun. Maybe next year I won't stay to the bitter end. The end of a pride parade is like when the lights come on at closing time in a bar. Not pretty.
This was on the back cover of Entertainment Weekly. Don't look right at it! You'll burn your retinas! Two questions: (1) What's the target audience demographic for this show, again? And, (2) where's my SPF 45 sunscreen?
Does this look "real" to anyone?
Oh, note to copywriters: There are lots of options other than "love" them or "love to hate" them. How about something in "not falling for it" or the "intrigued but intimidated" range?
Nice try Showtime. Still not enough to make me switch from HBO, even if Bill Maher is taking the rest of the summer off.
Here's some news related to your popular June 3 post on the McDonald's gay-friendly video playing in France.
I take exception to Planet Homo's criticism that the boy doesn't come out to his father at the end of the commercial. Let's get real: 1.) We don't know what comes next between the dad and son. 2.) He's a teenager, cut him some slack. 3) It's a fast food commercial, not a civil rights smack down.
An edgy New York artist (aren't they all) is self-publishing a photobook named "Cleavage."
Don't purchase without a closer look, straight guys. These photos are actually the exact opposite of female front cleavage. Figure it out.
Oh, geez. I just noticed that this is only Volume 1.
--Straight Guy
P.S. The link takes you to KickStarter which gives creative folks a limited time window to find financial backers for their projects. Great idea. Go, interwebs, go!
Summer is upon us. I love summer. I love long warm days, lots of sunlight, dinner and drinks al fresco, morning coffee on the balcony, polo shirts and cargo shorts, and, especially, the beach
Alas, the beach means, well, the beach . . . which involves bathing suits. For me, bathing suits are terror-invoking. This is where straight men, at least in the minds of gay men, get off easy. Women can't possibly look at men with the same judgmental eye as another man. Maybe I'm wrong here. I know that women size up men, but it's not like they have a user's perspective. Don't women see body hair in awkward places and just assume there's nothing to be done? Gay men know differently.
I hadn't yet thought about what I'll look like in a bathing suit this summer. Fred Mertz came to mind. But, hope springs eternal. Then the this New York Times article pounced upon me and my innocence was lost.
There are many varieties of jokes that go something like this one, from Bill Maher:
"Somehow bigotry won out here, even in liberal California. We voted to outlaw gay marriage. ... But I have to stand with the gays on this. Gay people, I think, have every right to insist that they will not be happy until they're allowed to be miserable."
There's some truth in that. It's easy to get married. The hard work comes later.
Wow, McDonald's of France! Where does the story go from here?
Men's Wearhouse: You had me with your improved production values and high-concept manvertisement. Then you go and bring back the tacky spokesman/CEO and flush all of your new cred down the toilet.
Shall we take a field trip for some burgers and slacks, GG? (And I pray that's not a metaphor for anything...)
--Straight Guy
P.S. I'm sorry to say that the folks at Super Sexy CPR did exactly as I predicted and just launched a sexy Heimlich Maneuver video. The thrill is gone. Once was enough.
