music and queer culture and song of the week 6:41 pm
Cazwell’s “Ice Cream Truck” has been on YouTube for a couple of months now. It was definitely the queer song of the summer!
In general, I enjoy Cazwell’s provocatively queer sexual imagery. This video is less lyrically sexually explicit and a little more explicit in its imagery than some of his past videos/singles. But I think it’s catchy and fun! It’s also definitely easy on the eyes.
I also love this remix–makes me want to dance!
books 7:27 pm
This past summer I read Regina Jeffers’s Captain Wentworth’s Persuasion, a retelling of Jane Austen’s Persuasion from Wentworth’s perspective. Originally published as Wayward Love: Captain Frederick Wentworth’s Story in 2009, this novel is a welcome addition to the ever-increasing number of Jane Austen rewrites, continuations, and adaptations.
I’ve written before about how much I like Jeffers’s previous novels, Vampire Darcy’s Desire and Darcy’s Passions. Since Persuasion is my favorite of Austen’s novels, I was eager to see what Jeffers would do with it. She does not disappoint.
Captain Wentworth’s Persuasion begins shortly after Captain Wentworth and Anne Elliot’s marriage. Napoleon has escaped from Elba, and Wentworth has been called back into service to captain a ship. Anne is with him on board when her husband is wounded during an attack on a French frigate. As she nurses him back to health, he recalls their original courtship and then their reunion eight years later. Through his flashbacks, we see the events of Austen’s novel from his point of view.
Two things immediately appeal to me about this narrative method. First, I like that Jeffers constantly moves back and forth between the past and the present. This back and forth tends to build suspense as we aren’t sure of the outcome of Wentworth’s wound. And even if we assume that Jeffers isn’t going to kill off our hero, we still don’t know where this plot will take us. I like that a lot — it makes for a much more interesting read than a straight up rewrite of Austen’s tale. Jeffers then takes the story a step further by moving beyond the war, letting us know what happens to Anne and Frederick afterward.
movies 5:57 pm
Yesterday, PJ and I went to see Ben Affleck‘s new movie, The Town, which is based on a novel, Prince of Thieves, by Chuck Hogan. Affleck directed, co-wrote, and stars in the movie, about four friends from Charlestown, Massachusetts, who rob a bank in Cambridge. When Affleck’s character decides to check up on the hostage they brief took during the robbery, he finds himself slowly becoming involved with her, which causes complications when he and his pals decide to pull one more heist. Here’s the trailer:
I really enjoyed The Town. It’s interesting that some of the movie blogs I read seem to judge every movie by its Oscar potential as if all movies are trying to win Best Picture and several acting awards. One of the things I like about The Town is that it doesn’t feel like Affleck is trying to get a Best Picture or Best Actor or Best Director nod. It feels like he’s just trying to make a good, entertaining movie. And he succeeds admirably.
music and song of the week 9:36 pm
Recently, I saw that TLA Video was having a sale on gay-themed movies, so I decided to take the opportunity to purchase two of my recent favorite gay independent films: Shelter and Socket. I watched Shelter this past Thursday and confirmed how much I like it. I also fell in love with a song on the soundtrack, Shane Mack‘s “More Than This.” Here’s a clip from the movie featuring the song:
I subsequently purchased all four of Mack’s songs on the soundtrack. Each of the songs is great, but this one seems to be sticking with me the most. I didn’t (and still don’t) know much about Mack. He’s apparently working in Nashville and Los Angeles at the moment.
I think what appeals most to be about this song is the refrain:
If this is all, if this is all we ever were
At least I loved enough to hurt
Enough to hurt
Something about that sentiment appeals to me. It’s kind of a nice way of thinking about emotional pain, I suppose — if it hurts then it must have meant something. I like it as a way of recovering the time you spent in pain — it wasn’t a total waste. Maybe you learned something by going through the hurt, but it also means that you loved enough for it to have mattered to you. I like that idea.
movies and queer culture 11:34 am
Last night PJ and I watched David Kittredge‘s Pornography, a 2009 thriller in the vein of David Lynch’s Mulholland Drive. Here’s the trailer:
Pornography revolves around a 1990s gay porn star, Mark Anton, played by Jared Grey, who mysteriously disappeared a few years after his big debut. Since his disappearance, rumors have circulated that his disappearance was due to his death in a snuff film.
The movie is in three acts. Act one depicts Anton’s disappearance in 1995. Act two jumps fourteen years to follow a journalist, Michael Castigan, played by Matthew Montgomery, who is writing a history of pornography. Castigan becomes obsessed with Anton’s story and begins to investigate what happened. The third act also takes place in 2009 and focuses on another porn star, Matt Stevens, played by Pete Scherer, who dreams the details of Anton’s story and decides to make it the plot of his directorial debut. Acts two and three become increasingly suspenseful as Castigan and Stevens become increasingly unnerved by bizarre coincidences and visions that threaten their holds on reality.
music and song of the week 7:11 am
My favorite song of the summer has been Mumford & Sons‘ “Little Lion Man.” It’s played frequently on Alt Nation in XM radio, and it’s become my favorite sing along!
Mumford & Sons is a London-based band that formed a few years ago. They’re associated with another of my favorites, Laura Marling. Their album, Sign No More, was released in February. I downloaded it from iTunes based on this track but haven’t had time to listen to it yet.
![IMG_8341[1]](https://live.staticflickr.com/8644/27753735444_2ca20d29d0_s.jpg "IMG_8341[1]")
This Gaudy Gilded Stage 