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A Good Year

Learning that he has inherited his Uncle Henry's (Albert Finney) Provence estate, ruthless bond trader Max Skinner (Russell Crowe) immediately puts it up for sale. On a visit to the place, he never wavers, even as he grows nostalgic for the boyhood summers he spent there. It is only when he meets beautiful local restaurateur Fanny (Marion Cotillard) that he has second thoughts. The best that can be said about this dull, nearly laugh-free comedy, based on a Peter Mayle novel, is that the French countryside is gorgeous. As a travelogue, cinematographer Philippe Le Sourd's images are first rate. But the only things more shallow than the tissue-thin story are the characters, particularly odious Max, a stereotypical yuppie completely lacking in warmth or charm.

Grade: C-
Kinsey Scale: 1 (Crowe played a gay man early in his career in  The Sum of Us , while Finney was nearly 60 when he played a closeted bus conductor in  A Man of No Importance . Co-star Valeri Bruni Tedeschi appeared in Francois Ozon's  Time to Leave  and the queer romantic comedy  Cote d'Azur . Co-star Tom Hollander has several queer credits,  Possession  and  Stage Beauty  among them.)

Harsh Times

Jim Davis (Christian Bale) is an unhinged Gulf War vet who still manages to clean up well enough to get a job with Homeland Security. His pal Mike (Freddy Rodriguez), unemployed and emasculated by his upwardly mobile girlfriend (Eva Longoria), is Jim's all-too-willing accomplice to a laundry list of negative behavior. The two get high and voluntarily immerse themselves in crime and violence over the course of a few days, with predictably unpleasant consequences. The film is a gritty piece of macho urban-angst, much like  Training Day , writer-director David Ayer's earlier film. But this time it just feels like thuggishness for its own sake, a ham-fisted and pointless exercise in alpha-dog posturing. And Bale's out-of-control miscreant is one of the worst examples of intense over-acting of the year.

Grade: C-
Kinsey Scale: 1 (The male characters engage in typical homophobic banter, calling each other "faggot." Bale played gay in  Velvet Goldmine ; Rodriguez starred in the gay-inclusive  Six Feet Under ; and Longoria currently stars in the gay-created  Desperate Housewives .)

Stranger Than Fiction

Novelist Kay Eiffel's (Emma Thompson) latest work chronicles the life of shy IRS agent Harold Crick (Will Ferrell) as he falls in love with rebellious baker Ana Pascal (Maggie Gyllenhaal). As Kay ponders her book's ending, the very real Harold begins to hear her voice narrating his every move and determines to discover the identity of the mysterious storyteller who seems to be deciding his fate. An abundance of charm and great, good humor are this gentle, surreal comedy's chief assets. The entire cast is flat-out wonderful, particularly Ferrell. Normally so boisterous in his movies, he is sensational here, cast against type as the introverted, awkward,  quiet  Harold. The ending is a little weak, but until that point, this is a comedy that fires on all cylinders.

Grade: A-
Kinsey Scale: 1.5 (Ferrell starred in  The Producers  and the metrosexual comedy  Zoolander . Among Thompson's queer credits are roles in  Angels in America  and  Carrington . Gyllenhaal worked with John Waters in  Cecil B. Demented  and appeared in Don Roos' queer romantic comedy  Happy Endings . Co-star Queen Latifah played a lesbian in  Set It Off  and received an Oscar nomination for her role in the queer-friendly  Chicago . Gay actor Tom Hulce has a small role.)

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Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan journalist Borat Sagdiyev (Sacha Baron Cohen) - that nation's "sixth most famous man" - travels across the United States to learn about America, but his adventures mostly involve embarrassing the natives he's duped into showing him around. "Duped" because, of course, Borat is one of the characters created by comedian Baron Cohen for  Da Ali G Show . While Borat is a racist, sexist, homophobic twit who hilariously mangles the English language - he describes sex as "making sexy-time" - the real joke in this satirical  Candid Camera -style "documentary" is on the Yanks, who are unfailingly polite in the face of Borat's weirdness, and ignorant enough about Kazakhstan to take his blatherings at face value. Their discomfort and Baron Cohen's brilliant adherence to character result in one of the year's funniest movies.

Grade: A
Kinsey Scale: 1 (Borat is all about making sexy-time with the ladies, but he does wear one of the craziest thongs you've ever seen; he also wrestles naked with his producer. Another of Baron Cohen's  Da Ali G Show  creations is gay fashionista Bruno. Baron Cohen also played the gay NASCAR driver in  Talladega Nights .)

The Departed

Boston gangster Frank Costello (Jack Nicholson) thinks that he has outsmarted the police when he plants his protege Colin Sullivan (Matt Damon) among the state troopers' mob detail. But the cops have a mole of their own in Costello associate Billy Costigan (Leonardo DiCaprio). When both sides realize they have a "rat" in their midst, Sullivan and Costigan race to cover their tracks before they face extermination. What could have been a lean, suspenseful thriller is a plodding, bloated mess, as director Martin Scorsese mistakenly equates a two-and-a-half-hour running time and flamboyantly high body count with an operatic epic. Nicholson is ludicrously over the top, while Damon and DiCaprio are blandly forgettable. Mark Wahlberg is the saving grace, excellent as Costigan's prickly police handler.

Grade: C
Kinsey Scale: 1.5 (Homophobic epithets are the insults of choice among cops and crooks. Nearly everyone in the cast has appeared in queer-themed movies, including Nicholson, Damon, DiCaprio, Wahlberg, and co-star Alec Baldwin. But the most interesting queer credit belongs to co-star Martin Sheen, who played a gay man in the landmark 1972 made-for-TV movie  That Certain Summer .)

Flags of Our Fathers

Marines Rene Gagnon (Jesse Bradford) and Ira Hayes (Adam Beach) and Navy corpsman John "Doc" Bradley (Ryan Phillippe) are among the first soldiers to storm Iwo Jima. Photographed raising the American flag on the island, they are hailed as heroes, an image at odds with their devastating personal experiences. Clint Eastwood pays homage to World War II's battle-scarred veterans, even as he questions the definition of heroism in this epic drama. Brutally visceral combat scenes are elaborately and effectively staged, but it is not the bloodshed that provides the most haunting impression. Instead, it is the characters' quiet courage, loyalty, and decency that resonates. This is three-quarters of a brilliant film, only losing steam in the final stretch with a wholly unnecessary, modern-day postscript.

Grade: A-
Kinsey Scale: 1.5 (There is no queer content in the film at all, but many in the film's large ensemble have played roles in queer films or plays, including Bradford, Phillippe, and co-stars Joseph Cross, John Benjamin Hickey, Judith Ivey, Melanie Lynskey, Stark Sands, John Slattery, Jon Polito, Chris Bauer, Benjamin Walker, George Hearn, and George Grizzard.)

Flushed Away

Upper-crust pet mouse Roddy (Hugh Jackman) wants nothing to do with the community of sewer-dwelling rodents he encounters after he is flushed down the toilet. That begins to change when he meets lovely boat captain Rita (Kate Winslet), but with mad crime boss Toad (Ian McKellen) after them, there is little time for romance. This lively animated family film's charms begin with the cast's appealing vocal performances, cute animals that will entrance kids, and smart humor geared to amuse grownups. Furthering its appeal is witty, computer-generated imagery, particularly the rodents' underground world that re-creates London's Piccadilly Circus in trash. And while slugs may not sound as if they would make engaging cartoon animals, rendered here as a kind of absurd Greek chorus, they are irresistible.

Grade: A
Kinsey Scale: 1 (There's no queer content, but McKellen is openly gay and has starred in multiple gay projects; Jackman won a Tony for his role as queer singer/songwriter Peter Allen in  The Boy from Oz ; and Winslet's breakthrough role was in the sapphic  Heavenly Creatures . Co-star Bill Nighy appeared in the homoerotic  Enduring Love .)

Man of the Year

Comedian Tom Dobbs (Robin Williams) makes a run for the U.S. presidency, not as a serious candidate, but to expose flaws in American politics. When he wins the election, pundits chalk it up to his superior debating skills, but software engineer Eleanor Green (Laura Linney) points to computer error. What begins as a sharp political satire transforms into a paranoid thriller with disastrous results. Whenever Williams is allowed to just riff, the movie is hilarious, and he receives excellent support from Christopher Walken as his cynical manager. It's shocking just how far off the rails this movie goes in its second half, as writer/director Barry Levinson bungles in his attempt to create suspense and as the normally reliable Linney resorts to cringe-inducing histrionics.

Grade: C-
Kinsey Scale: 1 (Williams played queer characters in  The Birdcage  and  The Night Listener . Linney has multiple queer credits, including her memorable turn as Mary Ann Singleton in the  Tales of the City  series. Walken played a gay theater critic in  Illuminata . Co-star Jeff Goldblum had a recurring role on  Will & Grace .)

Marie Antoinette

Fourteen-year-old Austrian Duchess Marie Antoinette (Kirsten Dunst) marries the future French king Louis XVI (Jason Schwartzman) and embraces the luxurious royal lifestyle. She develops such a reputation for extravagance that she earns the enmity of her subjects in the dawning days of the French Revolution. Sofia Coppola's lavish period piece looks spectacular, thanks to the shimmering cinematography, gorgeous art direction, and Versailles' stunning elegance. But Coppola never delves beneath the royal court's glittery surface, and she cannot seem to decide whether she is making a comedy of manners, a tragedy, or an epic music video. Dunst's performance is similarly shallow, making it impossible to care about this regal airhead who grows so tiresome that viewers may long for the revolution - and her comeuppance.

Grade: C
Kinsey Scale: 1.5 (A favorite topic of gossip in the court is the sexuality of the various royals - although curiously not Louis XVI, even though his problems in the marriage bed are well-known. Among the cast with queer credits are Steve Coogan, Judy Davis, Molly Shannon, Rip Torn, and Asia Argento.)

Open Season

Abandoned in the wild just before the start of open season, tame grizzly bear Boog (Martin Lawrence) and mouthy deer Elliot (Ashton Kutcher) frantically seek escape. With rogue hunter Shaw (Gary Sinise) hot on their trail, the pair makes a run for the safety of ranger Beth's (Debra Messing) garage. This first feature film from Sony Pictures Animation suggests the dawning of a new era of mediocrity. There is nothing outstanding about this family movie - not the animation quality, vocal talents, or the script. Boog and Elliot manage the neat trick of being both grating personalities yet completely forgettable, so indifferently are they drawn. Only minor characters - bouncing bunnies, a lonely porcupine, and a rude squirrel - are truly amusing, but none get enough screen time.

Grade: C
Kinsey Scale: 1 (Messing starred in  Will & Grace . Kutcher had queer-ish moments in  Dude, Where's My Car?  and  The Butterfly Effect . Co-star Patrick Warburton appeared several times on  Ellen .)

The Queen

Her Royal Highness Queen Elizabeth II (Helen Mirren) has always been a very British icon of decorum, subtlety, and privacy. But when Princess Diana dies in a car accident, that royal decorum doesn't play well with a grieving British public. Writer-director Stephen Frears brilliantly captures the turmoil of the week following Diana's tragic death, and how newly elected prime minister Tony Blair (Michael Sheen) helped coax a reluctant monarch into publicly acknowledging a loss that was devastating not only to her grandchildren but to her people. Even if you think royalty is a useless tradition of a bygone age, Mirren's performance makes Elizabeth a three-dimensional person, beset by her lifelong duties and obligations.  The Queen  offers a fascinating backstage look at public figures facing a key moment in contemporary history.

Grade: A
Kinsey Scale: 1.5 (Princess Diana was beloved by many gay people for her AIDS activism. Frears directed the queer classics  My Beautiful Laundrette  and  Prick Up Your Ears . Mirren had a lesbian affair with Kyra Sedgwick in  Losing Chase  and appeared in the pansexual extravaganza  Caligula . Co-stars Sylvia Syms, who plays the Queen Mother, starred opposite Dirk Bogarde in  Victim  (1961) - one of the very first feature films to feature homosexuality in a sympathetic light - and James Cromwell (as Prince Philip) was Roy Cohn's doctor in the miniseries  Angels in America .)

Running with Scissors

Teenage Augusten Burroughs (Joseph Cross) gets dumped by his loony mother (Annette Bening) onto her quack psychiatrist (Brian Cox) so that she can run off and "find herself" or some other 1970s pursuit. Based on Burroughs' best-selling-memoir,  Scissors  hits all the book's highlights of nuttiness - playing with an electroshock machine; Burroughs' teenage affair with a hipster pederast (Joseph Fiennes) - but writer-director Ryan Murphy forgets to provide any breathing room in between shocking incidents. The result is something like the  That's Entertainment!  of mental illness. But the film does at least provide a platform for two terrific and very different performances - Bening bulldozes over everyone and everything as Burroughs' attention-starved mommy, but Jill Clayburgh's deadpan sadness (as Cox's wife) makes her the most fascinating character in a too-frantic movie.

Grade: C
Kinsey Scale: 6 (Burroughs and Murphy are both gay, and the movie is unapologetic in its presentation of young Augusten's queerness. Bening's character has two lesbian lovers, played by Kristin Chenoweth and Gabrielle Union. Bening also starred in  American Beauty , while Cox starred in  L.I.E. )

The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause

Santa Claus - aka Scott Calvin (Tim Allen) - is expecting his first child with the new Mrs. Claus (Elizabeth Mitchell), and the whole family gathers for the blessed event, including Scott's son, his first wife, and his new in-laws (Ann-Margret, Alan Arkin). But like all holiday get-togethers, this one has its share of complications, most notably the appearance of Jack Frost (Martin Short), who wants to elbow Santa out of the way and make Christmas his own. While this holiday series has suffered from the law of diminishing comic and heart-warmth returns - David Krumholz's Head Elf from previous installments is sorely missed -  The Santa Clause 3  retains enough of the first two films' charm to make it worth taking the kids when your feet need a rest after a full day of shopping.

Grade: B-
Kinsey Scale: 1 (Director Michael Lembeck was also behind the drag-queen farce  Connie and Carla . Short played flamboyantly queeny characters in  The Big Picture  and the  Father of the Bride  movies. Ann-Margret played the mother of a gay man in the landmark TV movie  Our Sons , while Arkin co-starred in  Little Miss Sunshine  and played Grace's dad on  Will & Grace .)