James Franco has more going for him than his status as one of Hollywood's leading heartthrobs. He's currently enrolled at two of the country's most prestigious graduate schools -- NYU and Columbia -- where he's getting his MFAs in filmmaking and creative writing. The actor recently combined his two artistic loves when he wrote and directed his first student film, The Feast Of Stephen, which screened at CineVegaas 2009. An adaptation of the poem of the same name by queer poet Anthony Hecht, the movie finds Franco, once again, tackling queer subject matter.
The short film stars Remy Germinario, in his screen debut, as Stephen, a teenager watching a pick-up basketball game in New York City. According to Movieline.com,
"The only score Stephen is keeping is the number of shirtless hunks
dribbling, sweating and writhing on the court. One mop-topped stud in
particular has all the moves, nudging Stephen’s daydream into the more
erotic realm of naked boys playing hoops -- in slow-motion, natch, and
suddenly transported to a wooded glen where society’s referees won’t
blow a whistle on their hard fouls."
From there, Stephen finds himself in a park where the basketball players are engaged in pummeling him and he meets "the sustained brutality of fists, elbows, knees and blood." Franco pulls this off "with chests,
thighs and asses pressed tight in various permutations, infusing the
violence with the poem’s more visceral sense of ecstasy." The film ends with Stephen's face smeared with feces and Movieline.com claims "however demeaning and/or gang-rapey it might be ... the literally
shit-eating grin he shares with the audience at the end suggests that
even the most horrendous intimacy is better than none at all." Having done Milk, this film, and gearing up to star as queer poet Allan Ginsberg in the near future, if we didn't know better we'd say Franco is trying to tell us something.
Warm up those DVD players: Michael Lucas has finished his next porno, Men Of Israel, and it'll be released next month. The film marks a first in the gay pornographic world, as the premier Israeli film produced by major adult studio with an all-Israeli cast. Shot by Executive Producer/Co-Director Michael Lucas and Co-Director/Videographer Mr. Pam, Men of Israel features "exotic backdrops for many of the sex scenes eclectically range from the pristine desert cliffs of the Dead Sea, ancient ruins near Jerusalem dating back to over a millennium, to avant-garde skyscraper condos in the enriched metropolis of Tel Aviv," the film's press release states.
As both a director and a producer, Men of Israel is definitely the film I am most proud of,” the porn impresario says. “I firmly believe that it will bring awareness to all that Israel has to offer and will bring thousands of gay tourists to it numerous beaches, resorts, and other similar destinations. Based on all the press we have received from the Israeli media, this movie will be a milestone for the country. It’s amazing to see all the anticipation this project has created both in the United States and abroad.”
Men of Israel features five hardcore sex scenes with eight models, including newcomers Matan Shalev, Jonathan Agassi, Avi Dar, and Naor Tal, along with solo scenes, exclusive behind-the-scenes features, and documentary footage regarding the history of Israel. History lessons while you're getting yourself off? Brilliant! Someone get Lucas on the ballot for the school board. Over the coming weeks, Lucas Entertainment will be releasing a number
of images, cast interviews and outtakes through the new website
MenOfIsraelXXX.com. Scenes will be available exclusively to LucasEntertainment.com members beginning July 6, 2009, with a DVD release following on July 22, 2009. Lucas Entertainment will also release a volume of its popular Auditions line using additional scenes from the project, slated for release on September 4, 2009.
I've never been a fan of air guitar -- either playing it or watching someone else do it. There's something a little too self-conscious (and at the same time oblivious) -- not to mention geeky -- about it for me to really be able to just let go and pretend that I'm playing an instrument that I don't play -- much less an instrument that's not even really there.
But air sex on the other hand, now there's an American pastime I could get into. And lucky for me, flocks of horny, attention starved hipsters are swarming venues across this fine land to simulate doing the dirty with an imaginary partner.
Here are the simple, easy-to-follow rules:
Time: Contestants have a maximum of 2 minutes to
perform an air sex routine. This can include all phases of an air sex
encounter: meeting, seduction, foreplay and intercourse, or you can
simply cut to the chase.
Music: Competitors must perform to music, you can
either bring a CD of your performance track with you, or you can choose
from our selection of air sex music. You may also include an audio
prelude to your performance, maximum of 30 seconds.
Other Rules: Unlike air guitar, there are not
many other rules. Props are allowed, teams are allowed, talking is
allowed. The only important rule is that all sexual climaxes must be
simulated, not real.
If you want to give it a go, check out the Air Sex Championship site to find out when the mock humpfest will be inserting itself (but not really) into your city.
Following closely on the heels of Showtime’s Secret Diary of a Call Girl (and that whole “Client 9” thing with former New York Governor Eliot Spitzer), Steven Soderbergh’s new film, The Girlfriend Experience, delves into the world of high-class prostitution. Shot pseudo-documentary style, the film follows Chelsea, an escort, and her personal trainer boyfriend, Chris, as they respectively navigate their relationships and work lives. With the entire world at her fingertips, Chelsea is young, savvy, and fetches $2,000 an hour for her services. The film doesn’t really focus on the more sensationalist aspects of her work life; there is little sex and the clients are not cataloged in a comical or dramatic fashion like they are in Secret Diary. Instead, The Girlfriend Experience hones in on the more commonplace aspects of the sex-for-hire business, like Chelsea’s day-to-day personal upkeep and her ambitions to grow her business online.
This dry, straight-forward delivery is familiar from Soderbergh, who utilized non-actors and improvisation in his previous film, Bubble. Whereas Bubble, set in a barren Midwestern town, was considered particularly sparse and neo-realist, The Girlfriend Experience is coated in a glamorous polish of trendy, low-lit Manhattan restaurants and to-die-for real estate. In other words, it’s lifestyle porn.
In the theatre, even downtown New York theatre, it's not every day you get to see two naked black men simulating oral and anal sex. But that's exactly what you'll get when you catch Whore Works, running through May 30 at the East Village's cozy Kraine Theatre.
The young playwright, Juan Michael Porter II, casts himself as a dancer-cum-hustler across from seasoned New York actor Bryan Webster, who plays a variety of rich older johns who hire Porter -- including one nice guy who falls in love with Porter and asks to see him exclusively, and not necessarily for cash. Can Porter's pathologically narcissistic yet intimacy-fearing character, who can't seem to cross the stage without doing an Alvin Ailey high-kick, find true love with the nice guy? Find out.
And though we'll fully disclose that the classically trained Webster is our friend, this was the
first time we've seen him onstage, and we were dazzled by how fully he differentiates a handful of very different characters, from an aging record mogul in a hip-hop tracksuit to a manic porn-obsessed sicko with handcuffs to, well, just a nice guy who gets Porter to stop pirouetting just long enough to maybe love him back.
The best thing about public sex -- besides the sex -- is that there's a good chance you might get caught doing things (and/or people) you aren't supposed to be doing a mere 8 or 56 feet from clueless, law abiding, non-sex-having citizens. It's not just the friction and the moaning that makes hooking up hot (though of course they're good too) -- sometimes it's the risk and the danger. But would public sex be as titillating if you weren't half-terrified the cops were going to show up at any second and find you romping in the bushes or fellating in the Wendy's bathroom? We may soon find out.
While having sex in public was against the law,
the park has been used for this purpose for so long that it has become
"gedoog," a Dutch word for tolerating unwanted behavior, Koffijberg explained.
Most of the sexual activity happens in the park's bushes and Koffijberg said that the signs are intended to help keep it there. "There are various groups of users of the park; people with small
children who bathe on the beaches, those who walk their dogs, gays
cruising and nature lovers," Ms Koffijberg said. "Things are arranged so that each group can relax in their own area without intruding on each other."
Now all they need is a concession cart that can roll up next to the ice cream man and sell Magnums, lube, and baby wipes.
Out: Finally, I have to ask you this because it’s been killing me for the
past five years. On the song “A Sorta Fairytale” [from the album Scarlet’s Walk] you sing about “pulling back the hood.” Are you talking about the hood I think you’re talking about? Tori Amos: [Huge smile] Oh, I want you to think whatever you want to think.
[Laughs] That is not an answer! I want you to take it there! I want you to take it there!
Because then when you sing about “tasting heaven perfectly”-- And my mom thinks it’s talking about a convertible! And you know what? Let’s just let her think that.
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