Dallas Voice (Dallas, Tex.), Vol. 31, No. 7, Ed. 1 Friday, June 27, 2014 Page: 23 of 36
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Documentary about famed Dallas male strip
dub LaBare has heart... and other body parts
ARNOLD WAYNE JONES I Executive Editor
jones@dallasvoice.com
There comes a moment during the new documentary LaBare — it will
be different for everyone — when you suddenly realize something: You're
grinning ear-to-ear, and your facial muscles are beginning to ache. You
wonder: How long have I been like this? Has anyone been looking at me,
and how goofy I must seem?
Of course, no one is looking at you. There are better things to see on the
screen.
Starting in 1978, the Dallas strip club LaBare gave straight women (but
few gay men) the opportunity to ogle flesh in the way straight men had
party there — all men who do enter must be accompanied by a woman),
this might be the closest you'll ever get.
It's a disappointment of the film, in fact, that it never once delves into, or
even acknowledges, its gay appeal. LaBare is touted as the "only" all-male
stripper revue in North Texas, but that implicitly excludes gay clubs. And
perhaps, as implied, every dancer within its cast of two dozen is a hetero-
male, though... well, let's just say some of the guys might look familiar to
you.
Does that make the film bad, though? Heck, no. Nothing about LaBare is
done for decades at titty bars. LaBare became legendary, like Chippendales, homophobic, really — it just approaches its theses from the perspective of
for objectifying men for the pleasure of homy women. women interested in men, and men who like to perform for women. In that
The club thrived on upper Greenville Avenue until 9/11, when it fell on way, it makes some interesting points about male-female relationships,
hard times. It was reborn a few years later with a new location and new about the feminist position that female strippers are exploited by men (the
owner, but the same sex appeal. The formula works.
And why wouldn't it? Watching male strippers (do they
prefer exotic dancers?) work a crowd is like watching a
puppy at a dog park, sniffing and wagging its tail in joy.
They are almost hypnotically adept at seducing everybody,
even total strangers. They look their fans in the eye and
they repeat their names back to them. They smile. And they
are completely aware that they are beautiful.
Beauty could be in the eye of the beholder here. The granddaddy of the
strippers, Randy "Master Blaster," has been shaking his Speedo-clad ass
since 1979, and he's still in great shape — the longest-serving continuous
male stripper in the world, according to Guinness. But Randy is a far cry,
stylistically, from the twinkie newcomer Channing, or even the exotically
overmuscled David. There's something for every taste here.
Joe Manganiello, the actor best known for playing the often-shirtless
(and occasionally pantless) Alcide in True Blood and for his supporting role
in the male stripper feature Magic Mike, produced
and directed LaBare, and it's an impressive debut.
The film is a hoot — surprisingly funny, occasion-
ally sentimental, adequately insightful and chock
full of manmeat. And since LaBare discourages
male patrons (they're exiled to the back of the
club, and don't even consider a gay bachelor
LaBARE
Directed by Joe Manganiello.
Rated R. 90 mins. Now playing
at the Angelika Film Center
and Studio Movie Grill.
guys here don't seem exploited to me) and even makes a case
for why these guys deserve respect for their performing
skills. It's entertaining ... and the fact there's nudity is just a
bonus.
H online exclusive
To read an interview with LaBare director Joe Manganiello
and reviews of more new movies, visit DallasVoice.com.
There's an appalling lack of beefcake in Transformers: Age
of Extinction. Here's my rule: If you are gonna make a three-
hour action film with Mark Wahlberg, his shirt has to be off a minimum of 15
seconds. But this steroided Michael Bay picture, the first-ever shot with an
IMAX digital camera, is a big nothing — noisy, unrelenting action that makes
no logical sense. The tropes it trades in have no currency in the marketplace
of ideas: Wahlberg is a Caratacus Potts-like failed inventor, but he's really just
an over-protective dad; Kelsey Grammer is a Cheney-esque CIA ghost who
does everything but twirl his moustache and tie Wahlberg's daughter to the
train tracks. It's exhausting to watch the digital transformers (they don't op-
erate in a physical world, which was always the pleasure of the toys) so it's
impossible to feel for them. And why do robots
smoke cigars, speak in broken English or have beer
guts? I guess because they are war-movie stereo-
types everyone can identify with. But I can't imag-
ine anyone past puberty being fooled by this. Then
again — for better or worse—brainless movies are
what summer is about. No use in fighting it. ■
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06.27.14 dallasvoice 23
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Nash, Tammye. Dallas Voice (Dallas, Tex.), Vol. 31, No. 7, Ed. 1 Friday, June 27, 2014, newspaper, June 27, 2014; Dallas, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth706843/m1/23/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting UNT Libraries Special Collections.