Though I suppose their qualifier is "in a major movie."

And American. I think that's big too.

There are a lot of gay movies out there -- it's profile that's the thing.

Bedrooms and Hallways is my new favorite big gay movie. (British, of course)

It features Kevin McKidd and James Purefoy. Plus nearly every supporting actor from Four Weddings and a Funeral. Recent Rome love inspired the Netflixing. Wooo-hooo! The fella's roles are quite...quite...different in B & H. Hugo Weaving is hysterical as a real estate agent who uses his clients' homes for...uh, you know. I just loved it.

Also? McLibel, the doc about two activists who spent 15 years battling the McAntichrist for the right to criticize its Mcvilliany may not be a stellar film (not even close to Murderball, Supersize Me, Mr. Death, etc. in terms of craft)...the soundtrack alone detracts from the message...but it is well worth seeing. And too, I gave up a 25 year vegetarianism about a year ago. McLibel put me right back on the wagon. Sheesh.

I wish I could remember why Bedrooms and Hallways left me cold.

Whiny protagonist dumping James Purefoy in favor of his ex-wife did it for me.

I can see that.

That may very well have been it for me too.

I'm watching Kill Bill Vol. 2 right now, and The Bride is a refreshingly unweepy protagonist in contrast to Leo.

Note to self: If one cannot avoid making enemies with enough determination to dig themselves out of their own graves, make sure they're in pieces before putting them into one.

The last 5 minutes garnered a "Hey!" response from the assembled viewers. It did seem like a cheap cop out.

Still, we laughed outloud and long quite a few times leading up to that point. Also, the pretty...

eta: obviously more about B&H than Kill Bill, but hey...David Carradine is teh hot. okay, not

etaa: Whoa. I've never noticed my post number before. Um. Yay? Any cause for celebration...

Narnia is getting some good reviews:

The first British reviews of Disney's The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe are the kind movie ads are made of. Consider Peter Bradshaw's five-star review in the Guardian, which includes these opening comments: "The result is a triumph. It is gorgeous to look at, superbly cast, wittily directed and funny and exciting by turns. It unfolds the slim book into a rich visual experience that is bold and spectacular and sweeping, while retaining its human intimacies. I can't see how it could be done better." Under the heading "A Winter Wonderland," David Edwards comments in the London Daily Mirror: "Boasting astonishing special effects, great performances from the cast and the wickedest witch of all time, films don't get much better than this." Sukhdev Sandhu's review in the Daily Telegraph, which includes the observation that "this must be the first Hollywood picture in ages to feature baddies -- wolves, in fact -- who speak with American accents," is much more restrained, but it concludes this way: "Look at it too closely and it tends to fall down. But the same could be said for the first couple of Harry Potter films, and that series has improved hugely over time. This is a worthy opening salvo." The first reviews in the U.S. have also begun trickling in. They are not nearly so passionately enthusiastic as the British ones, but most are quite positive. Writes Carina Chocano in the Los Angeles Times: "What's best about it is that it seems real by the logic of childhood -- it looks as things should look, if kids had it their way."

I haven't even seen HP yet, dammit.

Not having read any of the books, I'm probably going to skip Narnia.

This weekend, I'll be seeing Syriana. I was very excited to see Alexander Siddig get a full-page writeup in Entertainment Weekly last week--go, Julian Bashir! I'm hoping between this film and his work in Kingdom of Heaven, he'll be getting some good roles in the next year or so. Brokeback Mountain doesn't open locally for another week or so, so I'll have to wait on that one.