‘He was no big deal, if ya know what I mean!”- Juliette Lewis (Brad Pitt’s ex), when asked what it was like to bone the hunky thespian.
“I am the new generation of masturbator …I have masturbated myself out of serious problems in my life. The phone doesn’t pick up because I’m masturbating.” – John Mayer, Rolling Stone interview, February 2010.
ROCK HUDSON
(LA) Even with the conservative and homophobic social culture in the 1920‘s, beefcake poses of male actors were used to highlight their physical appeal in America, with gay men as their primary demographic. Handsome Hollywood stars Tyrone Power, Guy Madison, Sterling Hayden and Victor Mature lead the rise of the shirtless hunks in the 1940‘s (the same period Rubber dildos became available). While the movie magazine money shots of swimsuit-clad Errol Flynn, Rock Hudson, Tony Curtis, Robert Conrad and Robert Wagner, marked the beginning of Hollywood Man Candy in the 50‘s. Sadly, by the end of the 60‘s, when gay pornography became legal, the market for beefcake magazines collapsed.
THE DILDO AND JOHN LENNON
The large-scale manufacturing and distributing of rubber dildos was pioneered by Ted Marche in 1966.
A year later, Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J. Gleason started a San Francisco-based magazine devoted to music, politics, and pop culture. They called it the Rolling Stone.
The cover boy for the first issue was the young non-buff John Lennon, followed by Tina Turner (Issue #2), The Beatles (Issue #3), Jimi Hendrix, Donovan & Otis Redding (Issue #4), Jim Morrison (Issue #5), Fiona Goldman (Issue #6), Jimi Hendrix (Issue #7), Monterey Pop Festival (Issue #8), John Lennon & Paul McCartney (Issue #9) and Jack Goldman (Issue #10).
THE MASTURBATORY ‘MUSIC’ MAGAZINE
In the 90′s, I went through school (from kindergarten to college) in the Philippines. In the same era, somewhere across the pacific, the 1990s became a pivotal point for 3 iconic American products: the Beefcake, the Dildos and the Rolling Stone magazine.
The era marked the resurgence of beefcake magazines due to a shift of interest in male gym culture in America. The 90s also marked the popularity of the silicone rubber dildo.
The period was also a decisive time for the 30-year-old Rolling Stone magazine. It was given a facelift to appeal to younger consumers: awarding coveted covers to much younger Hollywood actors and pop stars. And, voilà! A gay teenaged boy with raging hormones, like me, was in cloud 9 .
Suddenly the musician’s microphones were replaced by hard throbbing cocks. Rolling Stone magazine, effectively competed with the modern editions of homoerotic beefcake magazines such as Men’s Workout, Exercise for Men Only, Men’s Exercise, Men’s Health and the sometimes celebrity cover boys of Playgirl Magazine.
I don’t know what the editors of Rolling Stone were smoking but they really know how to showcase the Beefcake like no one does. Every single male actor and pop star is dying to sign up! My favorite was that recent swelteringly hot and twinky Zac Efron, shot in August of 2007. It made me realize it’s a good day to be gay in the US of A.
THE TOP 18 BEEFCAKE COVER BOYS OF ROLLING STONE MAGAZINE
Rolling Stone magazine loves their white boys shirtless or wet. The magazine was not immune to the global recession, though. The Size of the ‘music’ magazine has become noticeably smaller in recent issues (or I’m just a size queen?). Enjoy my Top 18 Beefcake Cover Boys of the Rolling Stone magazine with their corresponding silicone rubber Dildos (some vibrate) of their Man Candies. Ladies and gentlemen, enjoy the goods, inch by inch.
Jann Wenner is still the editor and publisher of the current Rolling Stone editions.
_____________________
18. Ricky Martin, popstar (made in 1971)
_____________________
17. Lil Wayne, rapstar (made in 1982)
_____________________
16. Eminem, rapstar (made in 1972)
_____________________
15. Tom Cruise, superstar (made in 1962)
_____________________
14.Mark McGrath, popstar (made in 1968)
_____________________
13. Taylor Lautner, teenstar (made in 1992)
_____________________
12. Ashton Kutcher, moviestar (made in 1978)
_____________________
11. Orlando Bloom, moviestar (made in 1977)
_____________________
10. The Jonas Brothers, popstars (Kevin Jonas was made in 1987, Joe Jonas in 1989, & Nick Jonas in 1992)
_____________________
9. Johnny Knoxville, jackass (made in 1971)
_____________________
8. Johnny Depp, superstar (made in 1963)
_____________________
7. Brad Pitt, superstar (made in 1963)
_____________________
6. John Mayer, popstar (made in 1977)
_____________________
5. David Duchovny, tvstar (made in 1960)
_____________________
4. Justin Timberlake, popstar (made in 1981)
_____________________
3. Zac Efron, teenstar (made in 1987)
_____________________
2. Gavin Rossdale, popstar (made in 1965)
_____________________
1. Keanu Reeves, superstar (made in 1964)
________________________
THE HONORABLES
________________________
Related Entry:http://naiveboy.com/2009/10/08/the-ten-male-beauties-of-all-time-by-photographer-navo/
Jeremy Renner, George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Nicholas Hoult, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Peter Sarsgaard, Sam Worthington, Til Schweiger, and Michael Fassbender
I don’t have time to prepare 10 Best Films of ’09, I have dozens of blog entries in-line for January, and like the Fantastic Mr. Fox I have thousands of things to do, so many pictures to take, so many pages to write, so many dinners and coffee chats to catch, but my love for movies prevailed. TOP 10 films have popped out everywhere and everybody have their own favorites, movies that they can relate to and films that moved them. That’s why you will rarely see “Hangover” in a 60-year-old film critics top ten, and “A Serious Man” on a 15 years old’s list, the teens and tweens that controls MTV will surely crown “Twilight Saga: New Moon” as the best movie of 2009 (or the best film ever made, totally) and the 30′s, 40′s, 50′s, to 90′s dudes and duddettes behind the Academy Awards might lean towards “Precious” (not Golem’s “precious”), but I think it’s the subliminal message that’ll tick on the grand dads and grand moms’ subconscious before they vote (they voted for “Lord of the Rings: Return of the King” win after all, and that was a great choice). Thats why they should put more teens and tweens in those Oscar jury so films like “Hangover” and “500 Days of Summer” won’t be snubbed, Oscar’s too serious and MTV’s so lame.
Anyone who’s following DANGEROUSLY NAIVE somehow know by now that I’m a 28-year-old photographer by profession who loves to post Top 10′s of whatever, whenever I get the chance and I’m also working on a fantastic novel (a literary masterpiece that’ll soon be adapted into an Oscar-winning film, I can daydream right?), yes most people email me asking to just keep my day job and shut up. But if you know me, the possibility of shutting up is bleak, unless you continuously feed me potato chips or chocolate chip cookies. So for those who care to know, my Top 10 films below passed my checklist of tasteful cinematography, and set design, the novel writer side of me (considering three of the films below are adapted from novels and a memoir) the films should have a solid screenplay, sprinkle it with great thespians and auteurs voilà MY VERY OWN TEN BEST FILMS OF 2009.
_______________
1. The Hurt Locker
“War is a drug,”and I’m addicted Ms. Kathryn Bigelow. One of the best war movies ever made, and by far the best of the recent dramatizations of the Iraq War, considering hundreds of important war movies have already been created, yet in 2009 from a usually male-dominated genre a female director delivered, it’s really quite impressive. Hot Lead Actor (Jeremy Renner): triple check (drool), Well-acted: check, Great Ensemble: check, Intensely Shot: check, Action Filled War Epic: check, Solid Screenplay: triple check, Oscar Contender: triple check.
Genre: Action | Drama | Thriller | War
Cast:
Jeremy Renner – SSgt. William James
Anthony Mackie – Sgt. JT Sanborn
Brian Geraghty – Spc. Owen Eldridge
Guy Pearce – Sgt. Matt Thompson
Ralph Fiennes – Contractor Team Leader
David Morse – Colonel Reed
Evangeline Lilly – Connie James
Director: Kathryn Bigelow
Screenwriter: Mark Boal
Producer: Kathryn Bigelow, Mark Boal, Nicolas Chartier, Greg Shapiro
Composer: Marco Beltrami, Buck Sanders
Studio: Summit Entertainment
_______________
2. 500 Days of Summer
Narrator: This is a story of boy meets girl. But you should know up front, this is not a love story.
And it lived up to its promise of honesty, wit, charm, originality, freshness, cleverness, creativeness, chemistry and broke out of the love story cliché’s that is Hollywood. From the drawing board to the final work (excuse the pun), Director Marc Webb and gang had created a burst of visual feast, like Woody Allen’s NYC in “Manhattan” (1979), Downtown LA has never looked so good, I almost want to move back there. Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Zooey Deschanel, and the film’s soundtrack are unforgettable. Oscar Nominations? I’m definitely rooting for them.
Genre: Comedy | Drama | Romance
Cast:
Joseph Gordon – Levitt as Tom Hansen
Zooey Deschanel – Summer Finn
Geoffrey Arend – McKenzie
Chloe Moretz – Rachel Hansen
Director: Marc Webb
Screenwriter: Scott Neustadter, Michael Weber
Producer: Mark Waters, Jessica Tuchinsky, Mason Novick, Steven J. Wolfe
Composer: Mychael Danna, Rob Simonsen
Studio: Fox Searchlight Pictures
_______________
3. Up in the Air
Ryan Bingham: How much does your life weigh? Imagine for a second that you’re carrying a backpack. I want you to pack it with all the stuff that you have in your life… start with the little things…
The Walter Kirn novel adapted brilliantly by screenwriters Jason Reitman, and Sheldon Turner, beautifully mounted by director Jason Reitman and led by the charismatic performances of George Clooney(drool), Vera Farmiga, and Anna Kendrick. Oscar Contender? The Sky’s the Limit.
Genre: Comedy | Drama | Romance
Cast:
George Clooney – Ryan Bingham
Vera Farmiga – Alex Goran
Anna Kendrick – Natalie Keener
Jason Bateman – Craig Gregory
Director: Jason Reitman
Screenwriter: Jason Reitman, Sheldon Turner
Novel: Walter Kirn
Producer: Ivan Reitman, Jason Reitman, Jeffrey Clifford, Daniel Dubiecki, Tom Pollock, Joe Medjuck, Ted Griffin
Studio: Paramount Pictures
_______________
4. Fantastic Mr. Fox
Mrs. Fox: This story’s too predictable.
Mr. Fox: Predictable? Really? Then, how does it end?
Mrs. Fox: In the end, we all die. Unless you change.
Hottie George Clooney: triple check (drool), Meryl Streep: check, Enchanting Tale: check, Severed Fox Tail: check, Creepy Puppets: check, Art History: check, Fury Little Animals: check, Roald Dahl Novel: check, Wes Anderson: triple check, Highly Stylized Animation: triple check, Oscar Nominations: What’s not to love? triple check!
Genre: Animation | Adventure | Comedy
Cast:
George Clooney – Mr. Fox (voice)
Meryl Streep – Mrs. Fox (voice)
Jason Schwartzman – Ash (voice)
Bill Murray – Badger (voice)
Producer: Wes Anderson, Allison Abbate, Jeremy Dawson, Scott Rudin
Composer: Alexandre Desplat
Studio: 20th Century Fox
_______________
5. An Education
Miss Stubbs: You seem to be old and wise.
Jenny: I feel old. But not very wise.
A star-making performance of Carey Mulligan as a 16-year-old schoolgirl’s charming coming-of-age tale set in London. Faithfully adapted by Nick Hornby from the memoirs of the well-known British journalist Lynn Barber. Peter Sarsgaard is hot as always, and one of my favorite actors in Hollywood in years. Oscar Contender? Educated guess is YES.
Genre: Drama
Cast:
Carey Mulligan – Jenny
Peter Sarsgaard – David
Olivia Williams – Miss Stubbs
Alfred Molina – Jack
Dominic Cooper – Danny
Rosamund Pike – Helen
Director: Lone Scherfig
Screenwriter: Nick Hornby
Memoir: Lynn Barber
Producer: Finola Dwyer, Amanda
Composer: Paul Englishby
Studio: Sony Pictures Classics
_______________
6.Inglourious Basterds
Lt. Aldo Raine: You probably heard we ain’t in the prisoner-takin’ business; we in the killin’ Nazi business. And cousin, Business is a-boomin’.
Hottie Brad Pitt: triple check (drool), Hottie Michael Fassbender: triple check (triple drool), another Hottie Til Schweiger: triple check (drool), Quentin Tarantino Movie: triple check, Fresh and Fearless Rewriting of History: check, Nazi Monster (Chrisophe Waltz): check, Knife Wielding American Commando: check, Genre-Blending Thrill Ride: triple check, Revenge Served Cold: check, Utter Violence: check, Blood Spatters: check, Oscar Contender: triple check. Now the big question is for a straight guy like QT, how does he come up with the hottest ensemble of actors? Pitt, Fassbender, and Schweiger in one movie, Hunk Heaven: triple check.
Genre: Drama | War
Cast:
Brad Pitt – Lt. Aldo Raine
Mélanie Laurent – Shosanna Dreyfus
Christoph Waltz – Col. Hans Landa
Eli Roth – Sgt. Donny Donowitz
Michael Fassbender – Lt. Archie Hicox
Diane Kruger – Bridget von Hammersmark
Daniel Brühl – Pvt Fredrick Zoller
Til Schweiger – Sgt. Hugo Stiglitz
Director: Quentin Tarantino
Screenwriter: Quentin Tarantino
Producer: Lawrence Bender
Composer: Ennio Morricone
Studio: Miramax Films
_______________
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tcUTv3LH3ss
7. A Serious Man
Rabbi Marshak: When the truth is found to be lies, and all the joy within you dies…
The Coen Brothers most mature and greatest film to date, returning to their homeland of the Minneapolis suburbs to tell a story of Larry Gopnik (Michael Stuhlbarg) who strives to be a good man. A virtuoso lead performance, great supporting cast, perfect blending of dark humor -the Coen Brothers way, and beautifully photographed and mounted. Oscar Contender? Seriously yes.
Genre: Comedy | Drama
Cast:
Michael Stuhlbarg – Larry Gopnik
Richard Kind – Uncle Arthur
Fred Melamed – Sy Ableman
Sari Lennick – Judith Gopnik
Aaron Wolff – Danny Gopnik
Director: Joel Coen, Ethan Coen
Screenwriter: Joel Coen, Ethan Coen
Producer: Joel Coen, Ethan Coen
Composer: Carter Burwell
Studio: Focus Features
_______________
8. Avatar
Jake Sully: Everything is backwards now, like out there is the true world and in here is the dream.
What is a Top 10 without the “A” word, yes the “A” word, you guessed it… the world’s beloved Avatar. Although more impressive on a technical level than its screenplay, 3D effects bring the audience into the alien world, it’s an imaginative, absorbing filmmaking nonetheless. James Cameron still has the gift after more than a decade since the maiden ship sank. I never heard a photographer who doesn’t love this pure Cameron Visual Masterpiece, he’s a movie-god and Sam Worthington is a sex-god. Oscar Nominations? Are you from another planet?
Genre: Action | Adventure | Sci-Fi | Thriller
Cast:
Sam Worthington – Jake Sully
Zoe Saldana – Neytiri
Sigourney Weaver – Dr. Grace Augustine
Giovanni Ribisi – Parker Selfridge
Director: James Cameron
Screenwriter: James Cameron
Producer: James Cameron, Jon Landau
Studio: 20th Century Fox
_______________
9. Sin Nombre
“The greatest sin of all is risking nothing.”
A dark, bleak and violent movie, part harrowing immigration tale, part gangster story, for a début by writer/director Cary Fukunaga, it’s quite impressive. Sensitive, insightful and deeply authentic. An Oscar Contender? A possible dark horse, I’m rooting for them.
Genre: Adventure | Crime | Drama | Thriller
Cast:
Marco Antonio Aguirre – Big Lips
Leonardo Alonso – Policía Judicial
Karla Cecilia Alvarado – Marera
Director: Cary Fukunaga
Screenwriter: Cary Fukunaga
Producer: Amy Kaufman
Studio: Focus Features
_______________
10. A Single Man
Isherwood, Ford and Firth film is beautiful and the art direction impeccable, powerful performances especially of its lead. The last time I saw Colin Firth was in Bridget Jones Diary and his performance in this film is truly inspired. I love Julianne Moore, I love Nicholas Hoult, I love Matthew Goode, and I love Tom Ford. Will Oscar love them too? Mr. Firth has more chance.
Genre:Drama
Cast:
Colin Firth – George
Julianne Moore – Charley
Nicholas Hoult – Kenny
Matthew Goode – Jim
Jon Kortajarena – Carlos
Director: Tom Ford
Screenwriter: Tom Ford, David Scearce
Novel: Christopher Isherwood
Producer: Andrew Miano, Robert Salerno, Chris Weitz
Studio: Weinstein Company
________________________
Honorable Mentions:
Thirst
Broken Embraces
Food Inc.
Two Lovers
Drag Me to Hell
The Road
Paranormal Activity
Antichrist
Sunshine Cleaning
The Hangover
District 9
Zombieland
Watchmen
Precious
Star Trek
Up
________________________
Related Entries: http://naiveboy.com/2009/11/12/i-want-to-have-sex-with-mr-tom-ford-by-navo/
The widely misunderstood and misinterpreted Mr. Charles Caleb Colton (1780–1832) is well-known for his eccentricities. An English writer held up by scholars as an example of someone often quoted, yet rarely understood. Colton’s forgotten work includes books and collections of epigrammatic aphorisms and short essays on conduct, like Lacon, or Many Things in Few Words, addressed to those who think., Lacon, Vol. II, The Conflagration of Moscow, An Ode on the Death of Lord Byron, and an unpublished poem of 600 lines called Modern Antiquity, all of which has phenomenal popularity in Colton’s time. In the present-day Colton is one of the most quoted author since the twentieth century, and on the book Lacon, volume I, no. 183 is one of my most favorite quotes of all “Imitation is the sincerest of flattery.”
Like the Englishman, Mr. Colton I feel I am widely misunderstood and misinterpreted sometimes, and I seek refuge on books, books give me a high that no opium in the world can ever give, no critic in the world can ever sabotage, books don’t judge, it’s just there to nurture you, and to heal you, now I sound like a hippie, but being a “photographer” who shoots men with six packs or eight packs (its fun) like the rest of the fashion industry, I can’t help but feel “shallow”, especially when most of the people around you quotes “Madonna” and “Ana Wintour” like their “Jesus Christ” or “Buddha”, excuse the pun.
ROLL WITH THE PUNCHES, TOMORROW’S ANOTHER DAY
I’m working now on a novel that channels my creative energy, my juicy life experiences, my fantasies, my hopes, and my secrets into a book, I’m working with a published fiction author/ghostwriter and an editor to help me polish what I wrote and just hope it pays off. I remember writing about my mother for a short story contest back in highschool, if it’s any sign at all, I bagged the first prize, and I remember the judges actually thought it was written by a senior when I was a sophomore at that time, it was the same ART WEEK, I also got the first prize for a painting competition. And now I am a photographer who is trying another chance into that route I never took back in highschool. Filipino’s are known for being over-achievers, and thats how I grew up, to always give my 100% in everything, to be the best version of me, and I assure you it is a bittersweet struggle, the story of my life. Another thing Filipinos are known for, “they are all fighters”, they thrive on adversity, “Roll with the punches, tomorrow’s another day” like in the movie Jerry Maguire. The greatest and the most literal symbol of those punches is the island nation’s great 21st century hero, he is a fighter who always roll with the punches of life, known to boxing fans and aficionados of the world as “Pac-Man” and the cover boy of the latest Time Magazine Asia Edition, the unstoppable force in the boxing world, Manny Pacquiao. One of the inspiration for the latest cover of MATE MAGAZINE that I took in L.A. and out this month as their year ender for 2009, with the actor/model Marco Dapper.
NAVO: COPYCAT OR PAYING HOMAGE
I love the sadomasochistic film “Fight Club” (1999) based on the Chuck Palahniuk novel that starred Brad Pitt as Tyler Durden and Edward Norton as The Narrator, this film adaptation will always be on my top ten list of best movies in the last decades, I also love the David Cronenberg car-crash fetish film “Crash” (1996) based on the J.G. Ballard novel starring James Spader as James Ballard. Fire is also an important element in the novel that I’m working on, obviously I’m in the mood of burning things, creatively I’m on my “arsonist mode”. The Steven Klein Cover of Justin Timberlake for Arena Homme Plus that never got published to respect the 9/11 attack, they published an alternate cover without the US flag icon, and noted that along with the first cover choice on the inside page with this explanation. Now the million dollar question is, am I a copycat or paying homage? Let the years where my true inspirations talk, Fight Club was released 1999, Crash was 1996 and the Steven Klein’s “Alternate” Arena Homme Plus Cover was on 2001 (a pivotal year for most of us), whether Mr. Klein have seen Brad Pitt’s Fight Club and David Cronenberg’s Crash, one thing is for sure, Mr. Klein worked with Brad Pitt several times and I’m 100% sure he has seen it. Does Film, Magazines, Books and People inspire me?, YES. Do I love Steven Klein’s work?, YES. Is there a lot of “COSMOPOLITAN Magazine educated, PEREZ HILTON wannabeebloggers” out there? YES. Did I pay homage or I ripped off a Steven Klein? You’ll be the judge of that, along with the people who judged, misunderstood, and misinterpreted the man who coined “Imitation is the sincerest of flattery.”
http://www.stevenkleinstudio.com/www/index.html
http://www.mate-magazine.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manny_Pacquiao
RELATED ENTRY: http://naiveboy.com/2009/11/09/american-history-xxx-the-censored-works-of-mr-steven-klein-by-navo/
In an article “America should kill its celebrities”written for houstonianonline.com on the Viewpoints section by Randy Goins on February 15, 2005. I’m fascinated to hear from people who shares the same sentiment. If your “that kind” of celebrity he’s talking about, you’ll say he’s bitter, for the intellectuals they don’t even know who are we talking about, for the public we might feel cheated, but we can’t resist the antics and entertainment of a generation of train wrecks we love to watch with our kids.
Read his full article below.
The United States is so obsessed with the rich and untalented, it’s sickening.
People seemed to know more about the American Idol candidates than the two guys in the last presidential election. The tsunami disaster in South Asia was almost eclipsed by the larger tragedy of Jennifer Aniston and Brad Pitt’s breakup. Most citizens have no idea what social security money will be available when they retire, but know exactly which rapper has what in their “crib.”
The alternate world in which celebrities live would, in theory, anger the educated. Actors make millions for playing pretend. Athletes make millions for playing a game, when they aren’t injured. Musicians make millions for singing songs they usually didn’t write. The median salary for a plumber in Houston is about $37,000 a year.
What is wrong with this picture? Actors, athletes and musicians entertain people, while plumbers make sure your toilets work. What do you value more, being entertained or not having a yellow ocean infested with fecal U-boats in your living room?
Most Americans, it seems, would rather be entertained, since no one ever questions this injustice. And it’s no secret that celebrities make millions for essentially making a career out of Little League or karaoke. We’re reminded of it every day when we turn on our televisions and catch an episode of “VH1′s The Fabulous life of…”, “MTV’s Cribs,” or “E!’s It’s Good To Be…” Each day, regular people are reminded that they had to search for change in the couch just to buy Ramen noodles while Lindsay Lohan was deciding whether to purchase the $175 Von Dutch hat or the $250 pair of aviator glasses (in case you’re worried, she bought both).
Do Americans enjoy being reminded that they work themselves to death to make half as much money as the amount Keanu Reeves spent for a colonic? Apparently so, as people are now lifting the disgustingly rich to celebrity status.
Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie are ultimately making fun of hard-working, blue collar Americans when they bumble around as airport employees. The two venereal disease-ridden, trust fund babies thumb their nose at the working class, but people keep watching their show. Thanks to reality television, any wealthy and bored idiot can become a celebrity by exhibiting their audacity and ignorance in front of television viewers. There’s even a show on MTV now where snobby, rich girls make asses of themselves planning their “Sweet 16″ parties. If there was ever a reason to create a squad of time-traveling abortion doctors, that would be it.
Maybe celebrities are paid so much because their lives take attention away from the real issues and problems with this country. Distracting the citizens of the United States requires a hefty paycheck.
Something needs to be done. America should rise up against its overpaid celebrities. We need to round them up, drain their bank accounts and divide the money up between the middle and lower class.
Better yet, pay should be adjusted to the importance of the job. Plumbers should make millions while Britney Spears and Jaime Kennedy would make $37,000 annually. Instead of paying copious amounts to those who shovel out crap, we should respect those that keep it going down the drain.
Travelling the world in the 90′s, I saw the great influence of American Pop Culture wherever I go, Tom Cruise’s 1986 TOP GUN poster stapled on a barber shop in Boystown, Pattaya-Thailand, Brad Pitt’s 1994 Legends of the Fall poster in a “mostly censored” movie rentals in Al Khobar-Saudi Arabia, Leonardo Dicaprio’s life-size cardboard cutout in the streets of Lan Kwai Fong-Hong Kong, 90’s Jason Priestley and Luke Perry of 90210 all over the notebook covers of teenage girls (and boys) in my highschool in Manila, I have to confess I bought my first Tiger Beat with River Phoenix cover to wrap my textbook for my drudging calculus class.
James Dean (February 1931 – September 1955)
In “a fun experiment” by Irina Aleksander on her article “The New Male Beauty” (June 23, 2009) for The New York Observer. She suggested that the latest “It boys”sort of look alike– High School Musical’s Zac Efron, Twilight’s Robert Pattinson, Gossip Girl’s Chace Crawford, Star Trek’s Chris Pine, Hairspray’s James Marsden, Fantastic Four’s Chris Evans and the list goes on, and she calls it the NEW MALE BEAUTY: those wide-set eyes, the narrow nose that flares up at the tip just so, the childish puffy cheeks and the not-too-rugged jaw lines, topped with carefully placed strands of layered hair. (http://www.observer.com/2009/style/new-male-beauty)
Although I agree with her that this twenty-something James Dean doppelgänger’s has been dominating the box office and prime time tv this decade, whats new? Since James Dean starred in Rebel Without a Cause (1955), he’s reincarnation’s in the “Male Beauties” of the 60’s (Warren Beatty), 80’s (Tom Cruise), 90’s (Leonardo Dicaprio) has always been prominent. The 2000’s Young Hollywood cannot deny that “another swoopy-haired, pretty-faced actor dominating the box office” has started in the 50’s. Although I was born in the 80’s and Tom Cruise was the king, I acknowledge that on my list of top 10 Male beauties of all time, it’s a not a Mr. Pattinson or a Mr. Efron topping my list- its the original, Mr. Dean.
River Phoenix (August 1970 – October 1993)
The American film actor who starred in Gus Van Sant’s 1991 Semi-documentary footage of Seattle street hustling “My Own Private Idaho” is one of the reason I fell in love with american filmmaking, not only its sexiest Homosexual road movie ever made, its casted perfectly with beautiful talented stars all at the top of their respective games. The film’s success solidified Phoenix’s image as an edgy actor with leading man potential, without even trying, he is the most authentic reincarnation of James Dean’s beauty and talent in the 90’s.
Brad Pitt (December 1963)
Yes, it’s not a surprise Mr. Pitt’s in the list, hailed as one of the world’s most sexiest men over and over in some top 10 list all over the world. But I can’t help but put him in this one, because am only human. Most of my favorite movies of all time are starred by Brad Pitt, and three of the sexiest and most beautiful characters that the silver screen ever produced he had played – J.D., the cowboy hitchhiker who seduces Geena Davis’s character in the 1991 road movie “Thelma & Louise”, as Louis de Pointe du Lac in “Interview with the Vampire” (1994) – the most referenced vampire of this decades’ teen vampires and Tristan Ludlow in the 1994 drama “Legends of the Fall”, how can I resist?
Johnny Depp (June 1963)
There is something so mysterious about this American actor that I find so mesmerizing and beautiful, after 50 films and running, from “A Nightmare on Elm Street” to “What’s Eating Gilbert Grape” from “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas” to “Pirates of the Caribbean”, he just makes me ask for more.
Joe Dallesandro (December 1948)
Aesthetically speaking if the Greek philosophers will have a perfect mold for the male beauty, it will be “Little Joe”s face. Thanks to Andy Warhol, the 70’s underground films will always have their nude James Dean. Although he never become a mainstream film star like Mr. Dean, Mr. Phoenix, Mr. Depp and Mr. Pitt –Mr. Dallesandro is a sex symbol of the 20th century in his own right, and an iconic beauty on my list. Like Mr. Phoenix he starred as as a beautiful teenage street hustler in the 1970’s film Flesh and hailed as one of the 10 most beautiful men Scavullo had ever photographed. As a photographer how can i disagree?
Gabriel Aubry (January 1976)
“Quick, name one male model.” asked by Lauren Streib on her article “The World’s Most Successful Male Models” (May, 07 2008) for Forbes Magazine. Gabriel Aubry, Mark Fisher, Marlon Teixeira, Jon Kortajarena, and Greg Knudson and yes, Fabio doesn’t count. In my personal list of Top 10 Male Beauties of all time, it only make sense that half of them are models and three out of five are signed with Wilhelmina Models in New York City. All five of them have the movie star good looks minus the Zoolander ego that plagued most male models this decade.
Signed to Wilhelmina Models in New York City, the only male model to ever appear on the cover of Uomo Vogue while appearing in 4 different campaigns at the same time, in the same magazine. Aubry is a Canadian male model, that has been the face (and body) of blue chip clients like Gianni Versace, Calvin Klein, DKNY, and Valentino, achieved supermodel status after modeling for Hugo Boss.
Mark Fisher (January 1976)
One source of male beauties for me back in college are the men’s fashion magazines, I have converted my room in a mini-magazine library and nobody can avoid all the muses for more than four decades of the legendary photographer Bruce Weber, Mark Fisher is my favorite. Mr. Fisher is an American model best known for his campaigns for Abercrombie & Fitch, Polo, Versace and Ralph Lauren. In my book he is one of the original male models that carries the James Dean charm without even knowing it.
Fisher was born in Detroit, but grew up in Atlanta and considers himself a little boy from the South.
Marlon Teixeira (September 1993)
Signed to Wilhelmina Models in New York City, Teixeira appeared on Dior Homme Campaign, the provocative Diesel Ad shot by Terry Richardson, the face of the 2009 Christian Dior Summer/Spring collection to name a few. The brazilian beauty is half Portuguese and has Indian and Japanese origins and at the very young age and early of his career he is becoming one of the top working male model now.
Jon Kortajarena (May 1985)
Those chiseled cheekbones, full pout and sexy stare has placed Spanish male model on my top 10 male beauties, signed to Wilhelmina Models in New York City, Kortajarena has been the face of Just Cavalli, Tom Ford, Bally, Etro, Trussardi and now on his film debut on the upcoming directorial debut of designer TOM FORD “A Single Man” (2009) with Colin Firth, and Julianne Moore.
Greg Knudson (November 1978)
Whenever people ask me who’s my favorite model I ever photographed, this American male model, native of california always come to mind, I never thought I’ll ever meet a real life James Dean in my lifetime, but I did, and his body covered by Oriental tattoos of his gang membership in his teen years, a troubled teen like the characters that James Dean, River Phoenix, Johnny Depp would usually play in their films and his striking resemblance to Brad Pitt is uncanny.
Excerpt from my book Acknowledgement “STARK”: I remember buying my first photo book, Just Between Us by LA photographer Greg Gorman, when I was in Fine Arts college majoring painting. I will never forget that, because I had never before spent so much money on a book; but that day and from this day on I knew it was all worth it. The moment I saw Greg Knudson on the book cover in the display, I considered him the most beautiful person on the planet, and I still feel he is.
When I shot him in LA last year—8 years after I bought the book—Greg told me I might be the last photographer he would ever work with since he is thinking of retiring; he has worked with most of the top photographers in the 1990’s. Now he is gracing my photo book, and I am elated.
Dangerously Naive is a new photoblog by Lope Navo, a globe-trotting, published photographer/artist/nomad's thoughts, musings, and rumblings about the things he's passionate about - photography, films, books, characters and life's work in progress.
http://navostudios.com/
info@navostudios.com
Disclaimer:
Dangerously Naive PhotoBlog claims no credit for any images featured on this site unless otherwise noted. All visual content is copyright to it's respectful owners. If you own rights to any of the images, and do not wish them to appear here, please contact us and they will be promptly removed. Dangerously Naive is in no way responsible for, or has control of, the content of any external web site links. Information on this site may contain errors or inaccuracies, the site's proprietors do not make warranty as to the correctness or reliability of the site's content. Email us at info@navostudios.com for further questions and concerns.
James Dean
Mark Fisher
Greg Knudson
