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Tuesday, February 21, 2006

'BJJ is like the GAYEST sport there is!'

Hey men, sorry I have not posted in a week, but I have been extremely busy working on the STRONGHOLD film reviewing interviews I've shot with wrestlers over the past two years. Brings back memories of all of the places I've been and people I've met.

In case you missed it, a sitcom called "Emily's Reasons Why Not," which died after its premiere episode in January, brought us this very funny clip on BJJ. Friends of one of the girls in the show go to her boyfriend's BJJ dojo to watch him practice, and make some hilarious comments. You gotta watch this, the guy is hot too! Sorry the show did not make it. Vic

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yYMMKIlRNCQ

Monday, February 13, 2006

'CHANGING PERCEPTIONS' IN TOP TEN

Hey, today Simon snapped a picture for me with his cell phone of the Top 10 DVDs selling at Outwrite Bookstore in Atlanta, GA, and my documentary made it there (#10). My question is, why aren't you lazy bastards on my site supporting the three months of work I put into making this historical documentary? Just kidding, no...really. Not everything has to be shirtless guys. You can watch the full thing online with your high-speed connection at http://www.wrestlemen.com/tv for only $9.95, or buy the DVD with extras at gayprowrestler.com. He's a great guy, and there is plenty of wrestling action too.

Thanks, Vic

Friday, February 10, 2006

"Into the Blue" Wrestling

Woof! I knew a month ago when I saw the cover art for this movie, featuring Paul Walker shirtless, I'd have to see it sooner or later. Well, tonight was the night and man, him and Scott Caan, who also stars in the movie, wrestle several times! At the airport, when the two longtime buds meet up, Scott jumps Paul, but Paul takes him to the ground with a reverse headlock. Caan taps out of the choke, and while Paul sits on top of Caan's crotch, Caan says "Stay there, ahhh, that feels nice." I was hooked from that point on. Then they wrestle underwater (see pic). Another time, Paul Walker holds a foe underwater with a body scissor. Sweet!

The cinematography in this movie is beautiful. Ok, Paul shirtless and wrestling made it worth it even more. I searched the internet and found this picture someone made redoing the cover art. Love it!

http://www.wrestlemen.com/blog/paulandscott.jpg

Vic

Wednesday, February 08, 2006

GAY MEDIA OUT OF TOUCH WITH GAY AMERICA

Today I wrote this article for a group of men and women that produce gay-oriented films. I wonder if any of you guys agree with me. Post your comments by clicking on the comments link below.

GAY MEDIA OUT OF TOUCH WITH GAY AMERICA
by Victor Rook (February 8, 2006)

As I sit here today, after having a brief online conversation with the managing editor of The Washington Blade, I think it's time that I speak for the millions of gay men and women that feel that the gay media does an extremely poor job of representing us. It doesn't take but one or two looks at the headlines of some of these publications to realize where they like to put the spin. Recently, I caught a blog entry from this same editor criticizing 'Brokeback Mountain', and its actors, from not publicly announcing that this is a gay movie. To him, he felt they were alienating the gay community. I watched this editor, over the weeks that Brokeback garnered many awards and acclaim, still hang onto that chip on his shoulder with every new post.

So this is what you have, a young editor, who has no clue about how important this movie is in changing perceptions of the public. The fact that these men are not swishing around is monumental in itself, and I applaud them for not promoting the movie as a gay movie, because it isn't. It's a movie about two men that have both heterosexual and homosexual relationships. So many in the gay media feel that everything must be labeled gay, or compartmentalized to be either a "gay" thing or a "straight" thing, they miss out on the big picture. They latch onto that 'g' word as if their lives depended on it. Of course, that may be the case. If they can't divide every story into a gay or straight story, they wouldn't have a publication. The world is just not that simple, sexuality is not that simple, so much so that maybe it's finally time to throw out those labels, or at least tell stories about real men and women, who identify as gay, who don't fit the stereotypes that these publications constantly promote.

And so I had a very short conversation with this editor of the Washington Blade. Three weeks prior I had sent him a press release on a documentary I produced on the first openly gay pro wrestler in the history of the sport, entitled "CHANGING PERCEPTIONS: Profile of an openly gay pro wrestler." A true story about a man who, in line with the Brokeback Mountain men, does not exhibit the stereotypes so often promoted in the gay media. Of course, this is about a real person, named Simon Sermon, who has wrestled for nearly six years in the most rural of areas in the southeastern U.S., and has changed those audiences perceptions of what it is to be gay or a gay athlete. There are no feather boas or pigtails with Simon. He goes out there and kicks ass like every other wrestler. This is truly historical when you consider the decades of false "gay" characters that professional wrestling has exhibited to us, played by heterosexual men.

Is this man worthy of coverage? Absolutely. Here's how my conversation went with the Blade editor. "Hi, what does a guy have to do to get coverage in the Blade. (smile)" Response: "How did you get my AIM name?" My response, "I opened an email I sent to you and saw you were online and took a chance at contacting you." "I don't remember getting that, resend it to me." "OK," I said. Then he blocked my IM.

You can watch a trailer for CHANGING PERCEPTIONS at gayprowrestler.com.

Sunday, February 05, 2006

WrestleMen TV Launched

Well, it looks like it's a success! Within five hours of launching the new service, I've already received two emails from people who are enjoying the videos on the site. Here's what they say: "I have to say that your site is great. I tried others that are more expensive, and couldn't get video clips etc. On this site they come in loud and clear," and "They are very good, hot as well. I have watched the 2nd and 3rd one now. Lookin forward to watchin more."

Check out WrestleMen TV where you can watch entire wrestling DVDs online at http://www.wrestlemen.com/tv .

Thursday, February 02, 2006

WRESTLEMEN TV Coming Soon...

Hey folks, I've been very busy over the past week encoding DVDs for the new WrestleMen TV feature on the site. You'll be able to watch entire wrestling DVDs online with your high-speed connection for just $9.95, and then buy them on DVD if you like them. Cool huh! I'll be putting up all six titles, including the new documentary. As we speak, I am encoding "Wrestling in the Hills of PA," the final video of the group. There will still be free clips in the Videos section of the site, but this is for full DVD Store items. They look great! So pop some popcorn, put your feet up on the desk, and enjoy men suffering in scissors, sleepers, nelsons, bearhugs, at the touch of a button.