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Beefcake at Rotten Tomatoes

Themes of the Film
As examined in the (Ottawa Citizen), "this odd and colourful mix of interviews, dramatizations, re-creations and naughty homoerotic hanky-panky is made in the style-reflects-content story of Bob Mizer (played by Daniel MacIvor), the man who practically invented the 1950s idea of using muscle magazines to sell sex disguised as athleticism." At the time that this film was released, homophobia was not widely accepted in any culture. Although the magazine that Mizer ran (Athletic Model Guide) took a liking to homosexual men, "who could disguise their interest as a fascination with physical culture." However, it ended up that the magazine additionally grabbed the attention of many young women as well.

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Beefcake explores new themes of male nudity that has never been explored in film before, whereas female nudity has been part of art and film history for decades. Matt Radz of The Gazette explains that "but beefcake demonstrate, in a very graphic manner, plenty of other reasons why in the race to bare all, male nudity has always finished a very distant second." Ftizgerald puts much nudity into "Beefcake" and is a central theme of the film. The nudity in the movie is something that is dramatically different than a typical theme of a movie in the 1990s. Radz claims "Beefcake puts so many genitals on display, the title of that promising debut movie could be also used to describe this sophomore effort" Many film critics have had disappointment in the the film which is a follow up of the Hanging Garden that is "one of the few memorable movies made in Canada in this decade (1990s)."

Plot
This film looks at buff and muscular men of the 1950s in magazines and the repetitive industry that was popular in the health and fitness magazines but were primarily being purchased by homosexual men and underground homosexual communities. The perpetrator of the literature was Bob Mizer, who "maintained a magazine and developed sexually explicit men's films for over 40 years." By the end of the film, a court room drama scene is shot as Mizer attempting to run a male-prostitute ring in the early 60s. Clips of Mizer's actual films are included in Beefcake.

"This, along with breaking the male nudity taboo, make Beefcake an effective broadside in the struggle for sexual liberation"

The film has a comedic tone to it, when referring to men's body-building magazines of the 1950s specifically (REF- VAN).

Additionally, the film "includes interviews with real life models, including Andy Warhol favourite Joe D'Allesandro, as well as footage and stills from the era" (REF- VAN). The magazines were used for the purpose and pleasure of gay men and used as '(skin magazines)'.

Themes continued

"Beefcake" film was a follow up to "The Hanging Garden" also produced by Thom Fitzgerald. Dan Brown, of the National Post claims the movie is "the gay equivalent of every opening of every James Bond film ever made." Brown of the National Post, claims that there has been some pushback on the themes of the movie such as the repetition of everyone leading a double life in the film. Viewers bring up questions such as "was everybody in that town leading a double life? Between the closeted homosexuals, the secret communists, the Jews with Anglicized names and the confidential drug addicts, filmmaker after filmmaker has portrayed the City of Angels as a place where everybody has something to hide."

Awards & Nominations

 * Winner for "Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role" at the Atlantic Film Festival (1998) was Jonathan Torrens
 * Winner for "Art Direction" was awarded to Alan MacLeod and D'Arcy Poultney in 1997
 * Nominee at the Genie Awards in 2000 for: "Best Achievement in Editing," "Best Music Score," and "Best Original Song"
 * Nominee at the Verzaubert - International Gay & Lesbian Film Festival in 1999 for "Best Film"

Cast & Crew

References

Andrews, M. (2000, Apr 13). Movies: Films spotlight beefcake, S&M. The Vancouver Sun Retrieved from https://search-proquest-com.proxy.bib.uottawa.ca/docview/242707056?accountid=14701

Brown, D. (1999, Jun 18). An outstanding piece of porn history. National Post Retrieved from https://search-proquest-com.proxy.bib.uottawa.ca/docview/329528614?accountid=14701

Stone, J. (1999, Jul 09). Beefcake tribute disappoints. The Ottawa Citizen Retrieved from https://search.proquest.com/docview/240279382?accountid=14701

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0187712/fullcredits?ref_=ttpl_ql_dt_1