Beefcake (1998)

Inspired by a picture book, Thom Fitzgerald’s docu-drama Beefcake (1998) mixes fictional scenes with factual interviews to tell the story of Bob Mizer (Daniel MacIvor). Long before the Internet, he blazed a trail of skin and underground sex for almost 40 years. Mr. Mizer and his mother (eww!) built an empire by photographing and filming nude male models for “fitness” magazines from the 1940s to the ’60s. The movie covers this true account along with Mizer’s later legal battles. Plot points be damned, let’s get to the meat of the film and there is a lot of meat. With so many naked, well-defined, athletic men on screen, it will take repeated viewings to soak them all in! In other words, full frontal is the rule rather than the exception and trying to chronicle all of the flapping mandanglers is next to impossible. Yet we’ll give it a try. Check out Glen Deveau’s back, ass, shaft and sack just 13 minutes into the flick. The same can be said for Joe Dallesandro at the 58-minute mark. In between, Daniel McLaren’s balls, butt and peen can be seen after 44 minutes. At the risk of repetition, Andrew Miller, Andy Smith, and Jim Lassiter show off their junk in different scenes. But to catch a bunch of be-thonged buds in one fell swoop, fast-forward 46 minutes. That’s when you can glance at the T&A on Bernard Robichaud, Jonathan Torrens, Joshua Peace, and Marc St. Onge as they engage in a revealing photo shoot. Say cheese!