Otto; Or, Up with Dead People

Canadian auteur/provocateur Bruce LaBruce's latest film,Otto;Or, Up With Dead People, comes out on DVD on Tuesday( 02-10-08) here in the States and this time German Leftist Radicals( The Raspberry Reich  a  flick I love!) have been replaced with gay zombies. Otto is a "zombie" who wanders the streets alone before hitching a ride to Berlin looking for answers to his former life and making friends and influencing people along the way, and some how winds up in an epic political-porn horror film called Up With Dead People!

Otto; or, Up with Dead People from Josh Posh on Vimeo.

Toxicboy : Mikel Marton

Among the my favorite young photographers working today Mikel Marton stands alone as the artist to watch in his exploration of art vs porn and the redefining of male beauty. His work extends beyond the typical beefcake poses of typical Male Nude photography ( he also shoots a series of warrior women).  He also turns the camera on himself as often as his models , which  I must say is refreshing to see a photographer  give up that safety behind the camera, though upon seeing Mikel Marton it's no wonder he doesn't mind modeling himself. The 24 year old Canadian is quite the looker. From his Toxicboy website you can see many of his photo series which blur the lines between gender and sex. The sumptuous use of light and color in with the glossy sheen of fashion editorials contrast to what we usually assume denotes pornography; the last great taboo in Western culture :a erect penis. 

"Male sexuality has become demonized in many ways, and I aim to prove that even an erect penis can be beautiful, and a sensitive, powerful artistic. My self portraits are explorative, transforming the captor into the captive. Exposing myself as I would expose other models is to give up the dominant power that many photographers thrive on. In front of the camera rather then behind the camera I take on a whole new submissive power. This idea of power exchange is quite sexual in itself, and brings a new context to the relationship between model and photographer."

My own work as an artist, both film maker and photographer deals with this very dilemma, and while we have vastly differing styles I relate to Marton's work and react to much of it emotionally. The eroticism is always present but so is the ineffable qualify and style that makes this more than your typical beefcake shots. Even when on his  more explicit blog he shoots himself as a 1950s beefcake hustler he transcends that with gay camp knowing as well as the pitch perfect eye of a well studied artist.

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Coraline

After months-years, of anticipation Portland and the world finally have seen the premier of Coraline. The stop-motion film directed by Henry Selick (The Nightmare before Christmas, James and the Giant Peach, Monkeybone, )and produced by Laika, teh Portland Oregon based animation company. Based on the young adult novel by best selling author Neil Gaiman the film is simultaneously faithful to Gaiman's weird and wonderful nightmare inducing tale while adding quirky elements (and a spare character) that make the film fresh and adventurous in it's own right. Having seen the film in the preferred manner (the brilliantly crispy digital 3D) all I can say is this film is one of the first true cinematic masterpieces of the year and is without a doubt an instant classic cementing Gaiman and Selick both as superior story tellers. In an age with a superfluous abundance of CGI animation the "dying" art of "object" Animation (now called Stop-Motion) is increasingly rare. Dating back to the master animator Ladislaw Starewicz the art of hand manipulation puppets to give the appearance of life on film a frame at a time has produced some of the most enduring works of art in cinema . Keep this in mind as you watch the trailer below. For every second of film there are 24 frames, which means the puppets and sets must be hand manipulated for each frame. 24 times to create 1 second of film. after seeing Coraline today i can assure the tireless team of animators their hard work was well worth the effort.

Wilfried Knight

Wilfried Knight , that french stud muffin former lawyer (!!) turned beefcake porn star talks here with Michael Lucas (who is the sorta polar opposite of Nice Jewish Boy) about love , life and his career. 

There's a great interview/profile of Wilfried in the December 2008  issue of Têtu for all those french speakers out there.

Beau Breedlove- STILL talking

14:45 and counting on the 15 minutes of fame folks! Not sure how much more he can possibly have to say. He's not helping anyone's cause but his own at this point. I mean there is a miniscule part of me that feels bad for the guy getting so much attention, but at the same time I can't help but feel there is something decidedly calculated about this whole mess. Here he  is chatting up the world about bedding  Sam Adams AFTER turning 18. 

Personally with the economy in the shit can and the condo's rising as the housing market crashes,favorite decades old restaurants and bars closing, workers laid off, a rise in gang violence, I mean seriously isn't there something better to focus on in Portland than who was sucking Sam Adam's dick four and a half years ago?  

Trader Joe's

I plan on singing this jaunty jingle on my next trip to the ubiquitous hipster hangout/ yuppie dinner party supply store (We live a mere 3 blocks away) . Thanks to the guys and gals over at Gaycondo for this one!

Amanda Palmer, Margaret Cho and the Danger Ensamble versus Katy Perry

Headachy and tired with quite a lot to write about Derek Jarman's utterly brilliant film of Edward II . so enjoy this in the meantime the title Says it all really but to reiterate Margaret Cho, the Danger Ensemble and Amanda FUCKING  Palmer take on Katy Perry's song "I Kissed A Girl.

Trailers

Here's a smattering of Film Trailers that I think function as art on their own weather they promote the story or provoke the audience the marriage of image and sound in these brief clips are to me, ecstatically effective and evocative.

Take a look at these four clips and their use of the music. 

Revolutionary Road / Nina Simone

Watchmen / Smashing Pumpkins

Chansons D'Amour (Love Songs) /various films a musical

Marie Antoinette / New Order

Død Snø (Dead Snow)

Finally a film involving Nazi's  I'm eager see this year (oh besides the Reader, which I've yet to see sorry Ms. Winslet, though I did see Revolutionary Road). Død Snø is a huge hit in Norway and Finland and a massive draw at festivals here in the states. It's a horror-comedy involving Zombie/ghost Nazi's and a group of winter sport loving Scandinavians on holiday.  I have to admit having seen clips it's both gruesome and satirically funny. However the trailer below is down right terrifying. So the faint of heart be warned.

Christian Bale freak out REMIXED!

A brilliant remix by Revolucian of Christian Bales on set melt-down on Terminator:Salvation  with just a touch of Barbara Streisand thrown in for good measure

Annie Lennox: Shining Light

Annie Lennox has recorded and release(in the UK) a cover of Ash's Shining Light.  Check out the video for the track here!  

(For Matthew Kern)

Dollhouse!

On Friday February 13th at 9 pm EST/8 central see Fox start the process of making up for canceling the FUCKING BRILLIANT Firefly with Joss Wedon's (Buffy the VampireSlayer, Angel, Firefly/Serenity) latest creation Dollhouse starring none other than the other slayer herself Faith , Eliza Dushku . Check it out!!!!!

Homophobia In Portland!! Update 4

So here's a quick update to the case involving my husband, PSU, and some homophobic rent-a-cops.

We went to court and were offered a bullshit plea bargain, which we tossed back at them, thanks but no thanks.  Court was "set over" or rescheduled by the DA until Feb. 20th. for pre-trail.

for more info on previous posts check out:

The Press Release

Update 1

Update 2

Update 3

Michael Phelps Smokes Pot...um so

Okay I'll keep this brief cause all we really care about is Michael Phelps in a  speedo or less. this guy hasn't been allowed a mature moment of life since he was about ten years old. Time for him to smokes some pot, tap some ass and stay up past eleven p.m.  He needs some time to run around with his friends away from mom (no matter how awesome she is-no offense Ms Phelps-we at Digging to China do in fact think you are awesome). He should be careful though as this is a country where everyone is out to tear down a hero and are totally hypocritical about their own lives versus  So hey Mikey do us and your self a favor , smoke pot in your bedroom , or in the tub like a civilian and not the Olympian you are.

Oh and if you must get caught shocking the puritans, let it be getting naked PLEASE!

Morrissey's 7 incher

I'm Throwing My Arms Around Paris , the new single from Morrissey from his up-coming Years of Refusal has  rather fun and provocative art accompanying it, a naked Moz and band mates with strategically placed 7 inch singles. It's nice to see Morrissey having fun.

(for Jaime Henderson!)

Bloc Part - Talons

Enjoy the british critics' faves and queer darlings Bloc Party and the video for the single Talons from their third lp Intimacy. 

Logan McCree (pt2)

So here's a quick vid of Logan McCree talking about his MANY tattoos And a bit from a  documentary about the DJ, iconic Porn Star and Mr. Leather! I've had a lot of feed back about Mr. McCree (real name Philip Tanzer) so here's a bit more of the beauty.

Aciphex (Rabeprazole Sodium)

Sarah and Duncan are about two of the best friends anyone can have. and though they live on the East coast and I on the West we literally talk EVERYDAY! Sarah and I share a love of academic lit theory, stop-motion animation, and apparently potty humor . THIS is from Sarah , and was too good not to share, this is A very real Television ad for (Rabeprazole Sodium), which is used to treat Acid reflux. 

THE SELBY: Thomas Dozol and Michael Stipe

Artist Thomas Dozol and his boyfriend Michael Stipe (yes THE Michael Stipe) Invite the Selby readers into their home, answers some questions and show off some great art. I particularly enjoy amidst the eclectic collection Michael's random Warhol (Flowers, 1968 is it?), and a copy of Accelerate (which is incredible!). So I really Like the Selby a lot but drug my feat writing about it, and a few other things and got scooped by OMGBlog on the Stipe and Dozol bit as they list OMG in their links. DAMN IT!

Well enjoy and be inspired by "interesting people in their own places"

Tara and Bella: Elephant and Dog in LOVE!

Well This made me tear up a little. Bella and Tara have formed the most amazing bond that no one can tear apart, nor explain. Watch and enjoy, if you have a heart. These two could teach teh rest of us alot