Madonna Extreme

Madonna New York, NY - July 3, 2006 BY   ED GONZALEZ At the height of her public controversy, Madonna appeared to have only the gay fringe's support. Her daring made the rest of the culture turn its back—a tragedy because she was never more exciting and vital than in the years between her “Like a Prayer” video and  Erotica  album, her only full-length masterpiece (two if you count Abel Ferrara's  Dangerous Game ), refusing to flatter a racist, sexist, and homophobic hegemony by challenging and rewriting its modes of coercion and domination. Which is to say, this was the only time Madonna was radically ahead of the curve, devoted to flattering more than just her own ego by defending and mainstreaming the vibrant ethos of the gay subculture, all the while getting funky for those too scared to do so. Madonna is not so deep anymore, but her Confessions Tour at least inspires audiences to bump n' grind. Only one other time, after the release of  American Lif...

credit:   Pud Whacker  

July 02, 1990   Vol. 33   No. 26 He Still Leaves 'Em Breathless By Elizabeth Sporkin After Talk That He Was Past His Prime, Lady-Killing Warren Beatty Has the Best Revenge: A Hit in  Dick Tracy  and Co-Star Madonna on His Arm Madonna , as villain Breathless Mahoney, is offering Warren Beatty's comic-strip crime solver  Dick Tracy her help and her body as a package deal. "Tell me you want me," she implores in the wide-screen moonlight. "Tell me you want it all."  The virtuous Tracy does not yield to temptation, but superstud Beatty, as a good friend of his once said, "has a wonderful time getting what he wants." Accordingly, he won both  Madonna 's help and her heart during the filming of this summer's biggest cinema gamble. The far-famed pop princess agreed to work for scale, just $1,440 per week, thus helping producer-director Beatty keep the cost of Dick Tracy down to $30 million (a relative bargain). What...

The accompanying  music video , directed by  Alek Keshishian , was filmed in June 1992 at  Raleigh Studios  in  Hollywood, California  and  Malibu Beach . It premiered on  MTV  on June 30, 1992, a day before the release of  A League of Their Own . The video shows a man viewing a photo album, as Madonna sings in different settings from within the various pictures. Scenes from  A League of Their Own  also appear on the album during the song's instrumental break. As the video ends, the man having reached the end of the album, then scrolls backwards through the previous pages. The video was commercially released in 2004 as a bonus feature on the 2-disc special edition DVD of  A League of Their Own . According to Rettenmund, unlike most music videos related to film soundtracks, "This Used to Be My Playground" did not give emphasis on having shots from the film in the video itself. Instead Keshishian and Madonna c...

“I like challenge and controversy – I like to tick people off,”  Madonna boasted, tossing her head and flashing a mischievous half-smile. The 27-year-old pop star was sipping a diet cola in a conference room at the New York offices of Warner Bros. Records. She appeared almost demure in a pink-and-blue flowered dress and a very short haircut inspired by the late-50’s gamine look of Jean Seberg, Audrey Hepburn and Leslie Caron. Gone along with most of her hair was the heavy makeup and jewelry that made last year’s Madonna resemble a contemporary street version of Marilyn Monroe in “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.” “After awhile I got sick of wearing tons of jewelry – I wanted to clean myself off,”  Madonna said flatly.  “I see my new look as very innocent and feminine and unadorned. It makes me feel good. Growing up, I admired the kind of beautiful glamorous woman – from Brigitte Bardot to Grace Kelly – who doesn’t seem to be around much anymore. I think it’s time for that ...