The Tim Kramer Memorial Auditorium
I love movies. No matter how old I may be, I am still amazed at the ease with which film can manipulate my emotions. Unless the casting is truly bone-headed, I can generously forgive screenwriters who leave chasms in ill-conceived plots. Give me a big-budget Hollywood star vehicle, or a delicate human drama from an independent visionary. And put it on a GREAT BIG SCREEN.
I tend to enjoy films that feature complex character development. I abhor gratuitous homophobia ("Bird on a Wire" is a wretched example). I also have little patience with films about the emotionally stifled ("The Accidental Tourist," "The Age of Innocence," "Remains of the Day"), regardless of any other laudable characteristic these movies may possess.
Here is a random list of my favorites:
World and Time Enough* (1994, Eric Mueller)
Together Alone* (1991, P. J. Castellaneta)
Maurice* (1987, James Ivory)
My Own Private Idaho* (1991, Gus Van Sant)
Casablanca (1942, Michael Curtiz)
All About Eve (1950, Joseph L. Mankiewicz)
Beauty and the Beast (1991, Gary Trousdale, Kirk Wise)
The Opposite of Sex* (1998, Don Roos)
Proof* (1992, Jocelyn Moorhouse)
Edward II* (1991, Derek Jarman)
*Details on these films, and many others, can be found at PopcornQ, "The Ultimate Online Home for the Queer Moving Image" at PlanetOut.
The photo accompanying this section is a miniature version of the wallpaper file for my computer's desktop. The original image came from a promotional site for the movie "The Run of the Country" (a small independent film about a volatile relationship between an Irish widower and his son). Following a similar procedure that I used on the picture of my former wallpaper model, I downloaded the original file, then used Photoshop to convert the grayscale tones into the tritone mode (a blend of gold, rose, and black) that you see here. I must have experimented with colors and percentages and curves for two hours, but the results are worth the effort.
I stumbled across the still when I used an Internet search engine for URL's featuring information about actor Matt Keeslar. Why Matt Keeslar? I can say with confidence that Mr. Keeslar has the most beautiful face I have ever seen. How did so much magnetic perfection end up on one head? Although he has proven that he can act, Matt would still be mesmerizing if he did nothing but sleep in front of someone's worshipful, vigilant camera. Where is Andy Warhol when you need him? Oh, yeah...dead.
I could have spent a lifetime temporarily infatuated with one inferior celebrity after another until my friend Douglas and I went to see "The Last Days of Disco." Matt was part of the ensemble cast and by far the easiest on the eye (even leaving Kate Beckinsale in the dust, and that's quite a feat). Since he knows my type, Douglas watched for my response to tall, handsome, eccentric "Josh." As we left the theatre he could see on my face that I was smitten, and my gushing about Matt's sex appeal confirmed what he suspected. My instant infatuation provided enough ammunition to my friend for weeks worth of teasing.
You might remember Matt from the made-for-television film "Thanks of a Grateful Nation." If you watch NBC's "Law & Order" (and you should), he portrayed the maternally dominated half of an incestuous pair of serial killers. He was also the lead of the recent Hallmark Hall of Fame movie, "Durango." In addition to film and television, he has performed Off-Broadway in Nicky Silver's "Fit to be Tied" in the role of Boyd, the kidnapped Radio City Christmas Angel. Watch for him in Gregg Araki's next project, "Splendor," which will probably tour the film festival circuit throughout the upcoming year. I'm no fan of Mr. Araki or his homophobic Celluloid propaganda, but before I die I have to see Matt in his buff-bodied, bleached-blonde, and fully-dysfunctional glory.
"Weak in the presence of beauty" indeed
I rented "The Run of the Country" last year. The director must have been as enamored of him then as I am now. One scene features a post-swim wet underwear moment that provided a impudent perspective of his anatomy formerly witnessed only by his mother and primary care physician (or some other intimate relationship in his real world).
I've since grown more accustomed to the ecstatically torturous arrangement of his features on my desktop, but I was not sure at first if using M. K.'s photo for wallpaper was such a great idea. Every time that face flashed onto the screen, my heart lurched. I was almost afraid to turn the computer on! I had to shield my eyes with my hand and peer between my fingers until I could cope with his face at full strength (well, that's a slight exaggeration).
Tim Kramer
So beautiful, so well endowed, so full of mischief....
You leave behind a void that cannot be filled.
Lobby/Permanent Collection/Temporary Exhibit
Sculpture Garden/Topiary Maze
Wellbutrin Cafe/Gift Shop
Audio Guide