Men on a Mission

Mitt Romney's son Matt has come under fire for a birther "joke" while campaigning for his dad in New Hampshire, but I really couldn't care less. As puddingcupbeard astutely pointed out on Gawker, the Romney sons are to gays what the Gore daughters and Bush Twins were to straights -- hubba-hubba! What I'd give to see these guys in (and out of) their magic underpants ...

Matt Romney can put his foot in my mouth anytime he wants (what?)

DNA Finds a Match in Todd Sanfield

For lots more of the muscular Michigan man, click HERE.

WikiLeaks

It's great enough that Wikipedia has a page titled "Top, bottom and versatile," featuring this illustration (file name Wiki-anal_missionary.png uploaded by "Seedfeeder"). But that it goes on to explain what a "total bottom" is, and what a "power bottom" is -- and that Wyoming is the state with the highest percentage of bottoms -- well, that's enough to make me raise my legs glass to co-founders Jimmy Wales and Larry Sanger and say, "You're the tops!"

Hanks for the Memories

While I was mildly annoyed to learn (via Brian Williams) that Colin Hanks had turned to KickStarter to fund a documentary he wants to make about Tower Records -- KickStarter is for those of us who weren't born with enormous access to the things you have, you idiot -- I'd be lying if I didn't admit that I will be the first person to see "All Things Must Pass: The Rise and Fall of Tower Records" when it finally comes out. (Did you notice a pattern in my movie-going in 2011?) I completely agree with him that Tower Records was so much more than a place to buy music, and I too equate it with so many pivotal moments in my life, like being in awe of my older brother for buying a single of "Dreaming" by Blondie when I was still obsessed with another blonde (named Olivia Newton-John), ditching high school with my friends Tina, Yuki, Deanna and Greg to hang out on Mill Avenue with the cool college kids, flipping through the imports at Tower and Zia Records on a domestic budget and buying the Phil Spector box sex at the Sunset Boulveard store below Spago to help nurse my wounds after getting my wisdom teeth violently ripped from my mouth at the nearby Beverly Sunset Medical Plaza.

Hanks more than reached his fundraising goal, and the video outline of what's in store for the film looks fantastic. See for yourself HERE.

Morning Wood

Heads-Up

Please contact me if you're the one who bought the Extra Large Baskit Burnout Jockbrief (in black) through my Amazon store. Thanks.

Playing Hookies

I don't pay for sex yet, but if Arpad Miklos wants to give me a free sample, I'm game. To nominate your favorite hooker of 2011, go HERE. The awards will be given out at the 2012 International Escort Awards on March 23 in New York City.

Read my recap of the 2010 Hookies HERE.

Krush Groove

Flattered to be included on World of Wonder's list of Internet Crushes of the Year! (Who says this old broad's lost it?!) See all the "boys" HERE.

UPDATE: Oh, and I'm a Holiday Men of Twitter man HERE!

Caption Me

Thursday (Retro) Ad Watch

Is there a Jockey in the house?

Homo Box Office: The Best Films of 2011

After considerable research, I determined I saw nearly 40 movies in 2011. While I used to blog about virtually everything I see, reviews have given way to Twitter and Facebook updates (for better or worse), so in addition to my proper Top 10, I've decided to give a brief reaction to everything else I saw. (I have not seen "The Artist," "We Need to Talk About Kevin," "My Week With Marilyn" or "Hugo.") Here we go:

"Young Adult": Cody Diablo and Jason Reitman reteamed for this unexpectedly and unflinchingly dark film that looks like a standard Hollywood comedy, but is anything but. As A.O. Scott put it, Charlize Theron might have won an Oscar for playing this monster had she not already won one for playing another.

"Another Happy Day": Barry Levinson made Ellen Barkin a star in "Diner," and now 30 years later his son Sam (reportedly Ellen's lover) gets an Oscar-worthy performance out of her, as a fragile woman who must face her emotionally detached family at her estranged son's wedding. (Think "Rachel at the Wedding" ... if it had been good.) A stellar supporting cast (Demi Moore, Thomas Haden Church, Ellen Burstyn, Diana Scarwid) nearly makes for an "Ordinary People" for the 21st century.

"Shame": Michael Fassbender gives a breakthrough performance as a sex addict in New York whose life is upended when his clingy sister shows up and needs a place to crash.

"Weekend": First-time filmmaker Andrew Haigh delivers a refreshingly forthright look at gay relationships, in this case a weekend fling between rising stars Tom Cullen and Chris New.

"Tabloid": Whoever first said "truth is stranger than fiction" must have known about Joyce McKinney -- the former Miss Wyoming accused of kidnapping and raping an American Mormon missionary in 19777 -- and director Errol Morris runs with it for the must-see documentary of the year.


"Bill Cunningham New York": A delightful and occasionally heartbreaking look at the legendary New York Times photographer.

"Making the Boys": An endlessly fascinating behind-the-scenes look at the making, aftermath and legacy of Mart Crowley's seminal "Boys in the Band."

"Beautiful Darling": Director James Rasin chronicles the life and times of Candy Darling, the groundbreaking transgender actress who dreamed of being a blond goddess movie star as a little boy on Long Island and, for a while, actually kind of was. What might have been a paint-by-numbers biography takes on a whole new dimension with the involvement of Candy's best friend and former roommate, who has a mission of his own.

"We Were Here": David Weissman and Bill Weber give us an intimate look at the earliest days of the AIDS crisis -- sort of the West Coast bookend to Larry Kramer's "Normal Heart" -- told through the eyes of five people who lived through the horror and devastation, either surviving the disease or as caregivers when few were brave enough to care.

"Win Win": Thomas McCarthy's comedy-drama about a troubled teen who is taken in by his wrestling coach's family features three of the year's finest performances in Paul Giamatti, Alex Shaffer and Amy Ryan.

Honorable mentions:

"Renee": Eric Drath's untarnished look at Dr. Renee Richards, who paved the way for transsexual but admits she didn't do it out of a desire to help others, but because she didn't like the idea of someone tennis her she couldn't play tennis.

"Page One: Inside the New York Times": While it was hard to watch at times -- it was filmed as management was plotting to eliminate my entire department -- with a step back it was riveting look at a year in a newsroom, captured as everything was beginning to unravel.

"Margin Call": J.C. Chandor's ensemble piece (Kevin Spacey, Demi Moore, Paul Bettany, Jeremy Irons, Zachary Quinto, Stanley Tucci, Simon Baker, and Penn Badgley) gives us a stomach-turning idea of what traders were doing in the days leading up to the 2008 financial collapse.

"Drive": Nicolas Winding Refn's heist-gone-wrong thriller is completely not my "kind" of film, yet was so stylish and well-made that I loved it.

"Skateland"/"The Myth of the American Sleepover": Both are perfect home rentals for those who remember being young in the '80s as fondly as I do.

"Shut Up, Little Man": Matthew Bate's belated documentary about the world's first "viral" pop-culture sensation -- which consisted of heavily traded cassette tapes made by 20-something San Francisco roommates in the late '80s who tape-recorded the fights of their violently noisy neighbors -- will certainly make you rethink about who the exploiter and who is the exploitee in today's voyeuristic world.

Also:

"Straw Dogs": Well-crafted remake. James Marsden deserves an Oscar nomination!
"Bridesmaids": Fun, but not as funny as it should have been
"Midnight in Paris': Cute, but totally overly praised.
"The Descendants": Thoughtfully made, but trying a bit too hard for me.
"Tree of Life": Pretentious waste of time.
"Beginners": Thought I'd like it, but it rubbed me the wrong way.
"Crazy Stupid Love": Good. More sentimental than funny.
"Ides of March": Well-done political thriller. Nothing surprising, though.
"Children of God": Nice debut.
"The Help": Lighthearted look at deeply disturbing topic.
"Martha Marcy May Marlene": Elizabeth Olsen is getting all the praise, but I thought Sarah Paulson was the one who delivered the breakout performance.
"Meet Monica Velour": Great idea that wasn't executed as well as it could have been.
"The Green": Good but a little melodramatic.
"J. Edgar": Standard biopic that is embarrassing at times.
"Limelight": Fun look at the man behind the legendary NYC nightclub
"Carnage": Some of it doesn't ring true, but it's still enjoyable.
"Son of No One": Something went wrong from the script to the execution.
"Thor": Crap.
"I Melt With You": One of the worst films I have ever seen.

Morning Wood

Man Tries to Shoot Wife for Spending Too Much Time on Facebook

It's hard to believe Harry Hibbs Jr. would do such a thing, he looks so normal.

Men's 'Vogue'

I think this cute guy's cover of Madonna's "Vogue" is best watched with the sound off, but that's just me.

 

Caption Me

Box Tops

This must be what Larry's thinking, because he hasn't come out of the kitchen since I threw an empty box in there weeks before Christmas!

Wednesday Ad Watch

Musto-Read Article

Michael Musto of The Village Voice reflects on the year's most-talked-about newsmakers --including the Occupy Wall Street protesters, the Kardashians, Trump, Sheen, Bachmann and Galliano -- in his year-end wrap-up HERE.

Morning Wood

Caption Me

(That's Brian Kenny, btw.)

Das Booty

German actor Dominic Boeer has one of the best asses on TV, SEE?

Live From New York, It's Debbie Harry!

One of the many fun things I did over the holiday break was come across the rare episode of "Saturday Night Live" Debbie Harry hosted on Valentine's Day 1981, during the season's tumultuous sixth season when the entire original cast, the writers and Lorne Michaels jumped ship and associate producer Jean Doumanian was assigned the task of recreating the hit show from scratch. Harry, at the peak of her success with "Call Me" and "The Tide Is High" having recently topped the charts and "Rapture" on its way to No. 1 the weekend she was hosting, was one of the show's first hosts/musical guests -- her acting skills having been recently put on display in the indie film noir "Union City." After an extraordinarily brief and rather goofy opening monologue -- where she introduces us to her "parents" and gets Cupid (played by newly added cast member Eddie Murphy) to shoot his arrow at a heckler calling her "Blondie," Deb holds her own in a handful of poorly written sketches, ranging from playing a lesbian living with her lover in Soho who gets a surprise visit from her clueless aunt and uncle, a sexy blonde who brings out the animal in her date, a beauty school student (opposite Gail Matthius' legendary --to my friend Mark and me, anyway -- Valley girl Vicki) and a "Girl From Joisey" (opposite Joe Piscopo's Guy From Joisey).

What's most memorable about the episode, however, is Debbie's music performances.

Always one to go against the grain -- in acts that have frequently left her fans shaking their heads -- Debbie eschews all of her hits, opting instead for out-of-left-field covers of Teddy Pendergrass' "Love TKO" and Devo's "Come Back, Jonee."

While it must have frustrated fans and producers alike, not to mention her handlers -- how do you NOT do your song that's rapidly rising on the charts when you're hosting "Saturday Night Live??? -- what a treat it is some 30 years later to see a luminous Harry command the stage, in a way that I do not recall ever seeing her do so before or ever since. Her voice has never sounded more confident than it does on "Love TKO" -- perhaps foreshadowing her collaboration with Chic on "Koo Koo" later that year? -- and later she (now dressed as a couture cowgirl) and a Klaus Nomish Chris Stein look like they might have mated moments after performing the spasmodic "Come Back, Jonee," and Lady Gaga popped out nine months later.

Abridged versions of the episode are available on Hulu and Netflix -- always missing the songs and rather inexplicably some of the skits -- but Videodrome Discotheque has all of what you're missing right here. Enjoy!

DEBORAH HARRY Hosts SNL (Valentine's Day 1981) (Full Show) from VD Party Films on Vimeo.

With Cupid (Eddie Murphy)

She's from Joisey!

As Susan the Soho lesbian with lover Liz

Introducing special musical guests Funky Four Plus One More, the first rap group to ever appear on "SNL." Harry was a fan and brought them on, with some members accompanying her on "Love TKO"

As the cool girl Tina with Vicki the Valley girl

Promo photo

Signing off. That's Denny Dillon on Deb's right, who I think was grossly underrated (remember "What's It All About, Leo?"!!!). When Jean Doumanian got axed later that season, Dick Ebersol took over and fired the entire cast, save Murphy and Piscopo. The 4' 11" actress Dillon later found success as Toby Pedalbee, the abusive yet loyal assistant on HBO's "Dream On."

Morning Wood

'Magic' Men

Here's the first official photo from Steven Soderbergh’s much-anticipated male-stripper movie, "Magic Mike." From left to right: Joe Manganiello, Alex Pettyfer, Matthew McConaughey and Channing Tatum. (Via EW)

Who'd You Rather: Novak or Marko Djokovic?

The world number one's little brother is of age now, so you can just admit you were checking him out in the players' box all these years. More photos of the 20-year-old Serbian sibling HERE.