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Saturday, March 17, 2018
Love, Nick Robinson
'He's done keeping his story straight.'
I haven't seen 'Love, Simon' yet, but am excited to after reading some of the reviews. I have however loved it's star Nick Robinson for awhile. I first featured Nick on FH after crushing over him after seeing Jurassic World. (Homo Erectus) I of course, also had to feature his butt baring nude scene in 2016's Being Charlie. (HERE:) Not only incredibly hot, Nick is a talented actor with a compelling everyman quality which both connects with, and interests film goers.
Love, Simon is really a break through in gay cinema, no matter how good, or bad it turns out to be. There have been great gay themed films for decades (most in the 'foreign film' section when there was a Blockbuster, but few reached a mass audience. Even Oscar nominated films like Call Me By Your Name and Brokeback Mountain, were not marketed to mainstream audiences like Love, Simon. In part it's because it's a teen film ad in part because it's romantic comedy, but I have never seen a film with a gay lead character so heavily promoted on television before.
Again, I am not thinking Love, Simon is going to win any academy awards, but at the same time, it's often smaller, less acclaimed projects, ones that are able to reach more people that often make the biggest impact. The movie is not just playing in art theatres, or in just LA and New York. The thought of groups of teens, average kids from different parts of the country, heading to the theatre on a Friday night to see the latest Greg Berlanti film, just as they would any other teen comedy, is both a quietly normal, yet really great thing.,
Being Charlie (2016)
A Vintage Vantage: James Franciscus in Beneath the Planet of the Apes
'The only good human... is a dead human!'
I have loved the original Planet of the Apes movie since first seeing it when I was a kid. Although I have watched, and appreciated the recent remakes, those 70's actors in masks and costumes were more real to me as a kid than the computer generated apes in the recent versions. I tend to stay away from sequels, and never really watched any of the sequels of the original, I may have seen clips, or parts on TV, but it wasn't until a few weeks ago that I gave one a try.
The movie was Escape from the Planet of the Apes, (1971) the second sequel in the series. It was character driven more than plot and action driven and I found myself really drawn in, especially with the performances of Roddy McDowell and Kim Hunter. The movie had little action, and only three (and then two) ape characters. Their 'strangers in a strange land' journey was compelling and the performances made it worth my journey in.
At the beginning of the film, a few scenes from the second movie, Beneath the Planet of the Apes (1970) were shown to fill viewers in. The clips, including actor James Franciscus in a loin cloth, had me DVRing an upcoming airing on one of my movie channels. In some of the promotional photos, Franciscus reminded me of Carrie Fisher in Return of the Jedi. If I had any photo shoppe skills whatsoever, I would have put the loin clothed actor in front of Jabba the Hutt.
Although I recognized his name, I don't think I had seen Franciscus in anything before watching this flick. The movie itself was so so, pretty good until they finally got 'beneath' to a silly science fiction story that put the power of the original film in jeopardy for a minute or two. Thankfully, the odd underworld seems to have stayed in this film, and not infiltrated others in the series.
Franciscus did make the viewing enjoyable as he remained in his loin cloth for about half of the film, running, jumping and rolling around throughout. Not sure what to expect, but there are two more 70's sequels I look forward to checking out.
Feels So Right: Stephen Eriksen by YogaBear Studio
'The past few years of my life I’ve realized more and more that I’m very big on exhibitionism.'
It is always a joy when I'm able to feature the work of David from YogaBear Studio. David's imagery not only captures incredibly hot men, they also capture a spiritual element that can be keenly felt within his work. In part it's the incredible locations utilizes, open spaces with not only visual beauty, but also a timeless quality with pieces of the land's history adding an added depth and layer to his imagery.
This spiritual element isn't just something viewers enjoy. So many of the models that David has shot have shared how they felt ad experienced it as well. When I was recently back on David's site I was instantly drawn to his work with 23 year old model Stephen Eriksen. Stephen has a an incredible body, one he knows how to pose to perfection. Stephen's beautiful blue eyes light up in front of David's lens. Then, there's Stephen's sexy long brown hair which he uses beautifully as an extra element with whatever emotion he is expressing.
'I've had long hair once before but not ever this long! I first had long hair in 8th grade to my shoulders, but only kept it long for about a year. This time around I've been growing it for about 3 and a half years now, but making sure I get it trimmed every 4-6 months, to keep it more healthy! It is a struggle to deal with sometimes but it is definitely worth it. I love how it adds another little extra to each photo as well, it's like a photo shoot prop, but one that's built into me! Haha'
In addition to his physical allure, Stephen also seemed to strongly embody the spirituality of the experience and majesticness of his surroundings. There was an energy that seemed to flow from seamlessly between earth, land and body and Stephen magnificently embraced the erotic power of being completely naked in his wondrous playground under the heat of the California sun.
Stephen looks completely comfortable, and he gives most of the credit to David. Stephen had posed nude before, but his work with David was only his third time taking it all off in front of the camera. The first time, was with a local photographer who was in the beginning stages of learning. Although they got some awesome shots, working with David was on an entirely different level.
'My third nude photo shoot EVER was with David and I could not be anymore thankful that it was with such a kind-hearted, easy going, and peaceful soul. He is a very mellow person, and so am I (usually, at least! haha), so we got along perfectly!! I was really intimidated coming into the shoot though, because I had only shot with the beginner photographer, but then here I was about to shoot with someone who has his whole website up and everything. His personality immediately calmed my nerves though, and in my head I was like okay he's just another human out here on Earth just having a good time and enjoying life ya know so why was I so anxious?'
As comfortable and free as Stephen appears, being completely naked in front of others is something he says he had to grow into. It began when he was 19 and started going to a local nude beach about 15 minutes from where he was attending university. Being nude in front of the strangers on the beach was't really a big deal for him, if he had any reservations, it was getting nude in front of his friends who joined him at the beach. As you can clearly see though, Stephen clearly got over his initial reservations, and it didn't take long however, for him to become totally relaxed.
'I like to be free and have my clothes off if possible. Not like all the time but I do enjoy being naked. It just turns me on so much and feels so right. The past few years of my life I’ve realized more and more that I’m very big on exhibitionism, which is pretty evident now with all my things I have going on between nude modeling and my other content I do.'
Stephen enjoyment of being in front of the lens is clear, and that energy flow certainly had a positive impact, turning him on for much of the shoot. So much so, it was an enjoyable challenge finding images where the energy wasn't surging up within him. There are over 150 plus images from their two day shoot, including both location and studio shots on David's site HERE: Just click on 2018 to see much more of David's shots of Stephen.
'As for final images, oh my they blew me away... beyond words! David did SUCH a wonderful job on this. He was also extremely helpful and suggested poses for me to show to the camera, and little techniques to keep your body open so that the lighting will hit it at a certain angle so that it will make the picture a lot better. He is an awesome teacher. I can't wait to shoot with him again!!'
In addition to Stephen's page on YogaBear Studio's site, you can also check out more his modeling work on Model Mayhem HERE: Stephen's exhibitionist side has also led him to some solo video work (HERE:) and some live cam work on Chaturbate. If you want to see him live, check out his page HERE:
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