Brett Novek Acting Up

Because Brett Novek performed in director David DeCoteau’s movie Brotherhood V: Alumni, I sent Mr. DeCoteau a message asking what it was like working with Brett. Here is his response, dated January 20, 2009:

Just had dinner with Brett tonight. He’s doing great and looks better than ever. He did a great job for me in THE BROTHERHOOD V: ALUMNI and we are planning on working together again soon. Brett is a real sweetheart and is VERY serious about his acting.

In fact, Brett has already been cast in another DeCoteau movie, Nighfall, with filming in February and a theoretical release date of June, 2009.

BTW, it looks like Brett is appearing in an episode of Criminal Minds on April 8th.

Brett Novek Singing

Below is a link to a video of Brett Novek singing “Stand by Me” with actor friend Jon Fleming. Jon is known for playing the role of Adam in the gay horror soap, Dante’s Cove.

I like the Brett hairstyle, not so much the singing.

It’s good to see that Brett still has the sparkle in the eye.

Brett Novek Singing

Ryan Conklin

At the beginning of every new season of The Real World I watch at least part of the first episode to see if there are any people of interest that might give me a reason to keep watching. Unfortunately, in the previous five seasons I haven’t seen anything that would make me want to waste a minute watching that tripe. Needless to say, this made watching subsequent seasons of the Real World/Road Rules Challenge a challenge as I wondered who all of the new extra people were.

I should point out that I had been an avid viewer of the show beginning with episode one of season one, all the way through Philadelphia, with the notable exceptions of the Las Vegas sleaze-fest and the irrelevant San Diego. So I’m open to finding a cast or even a cast member that I care enough about to give me a reason to watch again.

The problem has been that the production company as been too intent on creating immediate hook-ups and excessive drama by casting mainly very loose and shallow men and women plus a couple of scary psychotics. Production lost sight of the key to Real World’s success, which is not the inane activities of the cast, but rather the gradual exploration and unveiling of the cast’s personalities. With cast members that are only a plastic veneer on an inner core of plastic, this type of character development hasn’t been possible.

Having seen the opening installments of the latest season, Real World Brooklyn, I can happily report that there is again someone in the cast who makes it worthwhile to select “record this showing” on my Tivo. That castmember is Ryan Conklin, the aspiring musician/film maker who is a former infantryman in the U.S. Army. Not only is he entertaining to watch, but he leaves you wanting to know more about him.

On of the most intriguing aspects of Ryan Conklin is his experience in the military. While he is a stereotypical soldier who doesn’t mind shooting at things and likes to blow stuff up, he’s also a creative type, who writes and sings songs and who authored a 300 page manuscript about his time in Iraq. He joined the Army because of the effect of 9/11 on him, but he leans Democrat and supported Obama. He’s rightfully proud of his service, but he doesn’t tell the Brooklyn cast about it right away because he wants make sure that others don’t prejudge him and that they have a chance to see and appreciate the full scope of his well-rounded character. These are some of the things that make Ryan a person who is compelling to be understood.

While Ryan Conklin has received cheers for his lighthearted jokes, songs and conversation, he has also attracted some jeers for his comments about transgendered roommate Katelynn Cusanelli, his initial interactions with gay roommate JD Ordornez, and his theatrics after being kissed by drag queen Peppermint. Some dullards have mistakenly and far too simplistically labeled Ryan as some kind of homophobe, but I’m not buying it. Reality TV editing makes easy conclusions for people who don’t like to think at all and in this case it gives something to glance and boo at to those kind of people who want a one-dimensional anti-gay person that they can criticize. On the other other hand, to those willing to fire a few neurons and look at the outtakes and some of the interviews, it can be seen that Ryan is pretty cool for a straight guy. It takes time for straights to unlearn prejudice and Ryan has shown he is on his way and willing to be more open in the future. Being friends with a gay man, realizing that being admired is a compliment, and even visiting a gay bar are good steps. He’s going to be fine. People shouldn’t expect a 23 year old only recently out of the army to be more than this yet.

Ryan A. Conklin has a good head on his shoulders but he also has his less intellectual side, as seen by his singing “The Tampon Song”. For this reason, I don’t mind stating that I can appreciate him for more shallow reasons as well. He didn’t have me at “hello”, but he certainly had my attention when he was lounging in his shorts, showing those hairy legs. Sustenance for the mind as well as the eyes.

Brett Novek In Brotherhood V Trailer

Someone has finally posted the Brotherhood V: Alumni movie trailer on YouTube, so now I can link to it. The movie had originally been scheduled to be released on 12/19/08, but that has been pushed back until at least February, 2009.

I like David DeCoteau’s work anyway and would have wanted to see this film no matter what, but with Brett Novek in it I eagerly look forward to it being available somewhere someday. Some scenes look steamy.

Brotherhood V: Alumni Trailer

Brett Novek In Brotherhood V: Alumni

Brett Novek stars and gets top billing in a new horror flick by one of the most renown directors of the genre, David DeCoteau. The movie is The Brotherhood V: Alumni, the latest edition in DeCoteau’s series of fraternal based fright films. The filming wrapped at end of September and the (limited) theatrical release date is 12/19/08.

For those who are familiar with and like DeCoteau’s work, you will probably not be disappointed in the viewing experience that this movie will provide, especially seeing Brett get the usual DeCoteau treatment. For those not familiar, let me say that whereas the average horror film has women walking around and being chased while inexplicably in their underwear, DeCoteau helps to balance the playing field by showing far more realistic scenes of men hanging around and being terrorized while wearing only their boxer briefs. HoYay!

Synopsis: “Who killed Leslie on prom night? Was it the hunky high school football star, his pretty girlfriend, the mean-spirited flirt, the prankster, or the juvenile delinquent? Or, were they all culpable? Ancient grudges surface as the mayhem spreads amongst the most popular and attractive students at Sunnydale High.”

Granted, it is low budget, but it’s still a movie and Brett getting a starring role is a big deal. Whether the movie comes to your city or not, you must see this movie. From what I have seen on the trailer, you will like it.

Janice Dickinson New Models

With the start of each new season of The Janice Dickinson Modeling Agency, there comes the inevitable introduction of new models. It is a situation that generates mixed emotions. On the one hand, it is interesting to see some new faces and to wonder how they will change the dynamics of the show. On the other hand, the addition of new models indicates that some of the previous models have been replaced and for those who remain, there will be less air time as they are forced to share Janice’s love and attention with the newcomers.

It would be nice if the show could keep a core cast from year to year so that the characters could grow and the audience could get to know them better.

One of the most popular of the new models for season four is Martin Ritchie. Martin Ritchie brings a new intriguing aspect to the show since he is deaf and speaks through an interpreter. Martin is also happy and gay, so the viewers have another definite gay model to talk about rather than just speculating about all the others.

New model Chandler Maness is a actor-model that appears to be a real actor and not another lame wannabe.

Paul Vandervort is a diminutive print model who appears to have been cast because of an overly developed chest and abs. I’m not sure if it is ethical for the show to capitalize on obsessive/compulsive gym junkie behavior.

I don’t know what to think about new model Gavyn Michaels yet. He actually looks like a male model. It’s not the first time that one has appeared on JDMA, but it is an unusual occurrence.

Little Raj Happy At Last

When Raj Bhavsar returned from the Beijing Olympics to his home in Texas, he was met by a large group of family, friends, and well-wishers. Houstonians came to the airport to let him know how proud they were of his accomplishments and how well he had represented them and his country. A banner read, “Fairy Tale Team!”, “Raj’s Remarkable Journey!”

I would agree that Raj Bhavsar’s journey has been remarkable, although for those that knew what the American team was capable of, it was not so much fairy tale as it was the conclusion of an inspirational movie script.

Seeing the welcome party, Raj remarked that it was just starting to sink in that he really is an Olympic medalist.

With a little goading, Raj pulled his bronze medal from his bag and displayed it for the crowd. When asked how he felt to receive the medal on the award platform he said, “You know, I wanted to cry but I couldn’t, because I was just so happy. You know, it was just all smiles.”

That’s a sentiment shared by many Americans as they saw a great gymnast and role model receive the award that he had deserved for so long.

In an interview with India-West newspaper Raj is quoted as saying, “I think my story is very uplifting for people. In life, it doesn’t really matter where you come from, how much money you have, what your title is in life. Sometimes, life is gonna give you lemons, and we are all taught to make the lemonade, but sometimes we’re never really told how, and I believe I have assembled a formula for picking yourself up and dusting yourself off and starting over and dreaming again. I believe that that message can uplift people, and I think some day I would love to share it with people. If it means public speaking, or writing some articles or a book, then I would love to do that, because I think my mission in life is to uplift the human spirit.”

It would be great to hear Raj Bhavsar do motivational speaking as he has an amazing story to tell.

See Olympian Raj Bhavsar for more background information.

Boudia And Finchum’s Splash Makes Us Wet

The American 10m platform divers at the Beijing Olympics are getting people excited. One reason is that they have medal potential in the individual event. The other reason is that a lot of people are finding the pair of Thomas Finchum and David Boudia to be very attractive and a convincing reason to watch barely covered men jump off a three story platform and hurl themselves towards the water at 30 miles per hour. Unfortunately, their swimsuits appear to be held on with superglue because that huge resulting impact has not been enough to dislodge the swimsuits one bit that we could see in the underwater shots. Therefore we will try to be content with focusing on the diving skills.

David Boudia, a 19 year old from Noblesville, Indiana. usually does a list of six dives that equals the highest degree of difficulty ever recorded. The list is rated even more difficult than that of Greg Louganis. More importantly, the collective difficulty of Boudia’s list of dives is even higher than that of the Chinese divers, who had won all seven gold medals at the Beijing Olympics up to the last event, which is the men’s 10m platform. Boudia’s total degree of difficulty is 21.0. That ties Sascha Klein, a 22-year-old German who won the World Cup, for the highest ever. When Boudia can do a superior job executing, the DD and execution gives him a good opportunity to medal.

American divers haven’t won any Olympic medals since Sydney. No male American diver has won a medal since the 1996 bronze on 3-meter by Indiana University graduate Mark Lenzi. With no U.S. medals won in 2004, the Indianapolis based USA Diving organization moved the national training center to Indianapolis and encouraged the country’s elite divers to move there to train together. We haven’t seen medal payoff yet, but things are definitely looking better.

It should be noted that both Boudia and Finchum have been compared to the great Greg Louganis. Boudia has been featured in an ESPN The Magazine bio titled “The Next . . . Greg Louganis?”

Speaking of Louganis, there is a lot of speculation on the internet about either Thomas Finchum or David Boudia being gay. Sports with an artistry component tend to engender that kind of commentary about their male athletes. They are both still too young to be publicly labeled on orientation yet, so people should back off.

For more information on Thomas Finchum and David Boudia, see also: Trick Wire: Boudia, Finchum Both Want To Be The Top: Some Gay Sensibilities

**********
In the preliminaries for the 10m, David Boudia and Thomas Finchum finished sixth and seventh with 481.70 and 477.00 points, respectively, which secured them a spot in the semifinals. Whew! The top 18 advance. In the semifinals the field will be trimmed to 12. Zhou Luxin of China led the qualification with 539.80 points. Australia’s Matthew Mitcham was second, with 509.60, and Russia’s Gleb Galperin third, with 499.95.

**********
In the semifinals, David Boudia finished fifth and seventh with 491.55 and 474.95. That put them comfortably in the top 12 that advanced to the final.

**********
Alas for the Americans, in the final it was not to be. Matthew Mitcham pulled out all of the stops and did an incredible sixth dive to grab the gold. With a 3.8 DD he received 4 10’s and 2 9.5’s to get an astronomical score of 112.10 for it. That was enough to push him in front of China’s Zhou Luxin, who had a terrible sixth dive (for him) and who then got the silver. Russia’s Gleb Galperin had a very impressive 6th dive, which placed him above China’s Huo Liang and earned Galperin the bronze.

It’s sad that there will be no more Boudia bend-overs shown in high-def for awhile.

American boys
dive in short of vertical
Cry, Indiana!

On to 2012.

Dumais Is Short In Beijing But Still Big

Troy Dumais, America’s best hope for a medal in the men’s 3m springboard, finished in 6th place for his third Olympics in a row. Being 6-6-6 in anything is not the best situation to be in, but at least Troy has a good quality about him. He’s big in the sport of diving. Like really, really big. See under the cover coverage of Troy Dumais and Alex Despatie at the Olympics for more explanation.

America’s other entry, Chris Colwill, brought up the rear in 12th (last) place.

The Sino-stoner impersonation team of Qin and Chong finished 1st and 3rd, while Canada’s biggest diver (and again I stress big [see above link]) Alexandre Despartie finished 2nd for the silver.

Rounding out North America, Mexico’s Yahel Castillo ended in seventh place. Yahel is big everywhere. Especially nicely in the badunkadunk.

Horton And Artemev Put U.S. In The Money

In the artistic gymnastics men’s team competition at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, the United States was able to earn a bronze medal through superior achievement by Jonathan Horton, solid performance by Raj Bhavsar and a nerve-wracking clutch routine by Alexander Artemev.

Among other things, Jonathan Horton’s high bar routine was stunning and his triple twisting double layout dismount was absolutely breathtaking. After doing his twists while hurdling towards the ground, Horton manged to stick his landing as if the floor was a super-magnet and his feet were made of iron. The mat and Horton’s feet locked and his 5′1″ body wasn’t going anywhere except to an erect display of triumph.

Raj Bhavsar did everything he needed to do to show that he had always deserved to be representing America, delivering his usual high quality results. This despite his age and the mind games that USA Gymnastics have played with him in selecting the Olympic team.

Sasha Artemev came through when he needed to, on his specialty apparatus the pommel horse, in the last rotation, as the last American to perform. The American’s medal chances rested on Artemev’s shoulders and it was anything but certain on how well Artemev would do. He had had widely inconsistent performances on the horse in 2008, at the national championships and the Olympic trials. Would he be the dazzling gymnast he has shown he can be or would he be the choking goat that cost him teammates a third place finish? Fortunately for all involved, except for the fourth place Germans, Artemev was on top of his game and wowed the crowd. It was enough to ensure the U.S. team would stand on the medals platform.

Alexander Artemev and Jonathan Horton also qualified for the all-around competition and two of the finals for individual apparatus (Artemev on pommel horse and Horton on horizontal bar).

In the all-around, Horton finished 9th out of 24. He was 4/10s of a point away from a silver medal. If he could have gotten even a middle of the road score on his lowest apparatus, the pommel horse, he could have easily gotten second place. Artemev ended up in 12th.

Three days later in the pommel horse final, Artemev finally flung himself off of the apparatus in what may become known as the Artemev Fling, as he does it so often. Fortunately, it occurred on the apparatus final and not during the qualifications or team final. He finished 7th out of 8. While it would have been nice for an American to win a medal, Louis Smith’s bronze was the first individual medal in gymnastics in a 100 years for Great Britain, so he and his country probably needed it more.