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In March, the broad comedy Blades of Glory (March 30) pairs increasingly gay-friendly Will Ferrell (check out the kiss in Talladega Nights to see just how gay-friendly) with reigning superdork Jon Heder (Napoleon Dynamite) as two disgraced figure skaters who discover a loophole that allows them to compete as a pair. Given the setting and the quasi-gay hook, expect lots of flamboyant costuming and Three's Company-style “misunderstandings” relating to the characters' sexualities.

Interestingly, the idea of two straight men playing gay for some personal gain (a romantic notion, at best) is also the basis of the fake-gay firemen comedy I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry, due out this coming July. And hats off to Ferrell for co-starring with both Sacha Baron Cohen (better known as Borat these days) in Talladega Nights and real-life figure skater Sasha Cohen (Blades of Glory) in a nine-month period. If nothing else, the man's definitely a completist.

Also offering a bit of something extra to gay audiences is David Fincher's Zodiac (March 2), which is based on the notorious San Francisco Zodiac murders from the 1960s and 1970s. Everyone's favorite gay cowboy (or the runner-up, if not), Jake Gyllenhaal, plays author Robert Graysmith (upon whose book the movie is based), who at the time of the murders was a cartoonist at a local newspaper. The flick is stuffed with great younger-generation character actors (Clea DuVall, Chloë Sevigny, Mark Ruffalo, Robert Downey Jr.) and has a pretty irresistible, if not quite dark, premise. Plus, it would be hard to set a movie in San Francisco in the 1970s and not see a bit of gay culture, at least as set dressing.

Another major release that might catch the eyes of gay viewers for the impressive physiques of its cast (although, sadly, not for its historical accuracy regarding what those physiques used to get involved with) is the action film 300 (March 9), which details the 480 B.C. Battle of Thermopylae. Given the setting and those involved (the Spartans, in particular), one might hope that an exploration of pre-Christian homosexuality might be involved, but unfortunately, 300 is proudly presenting itself as an action epic, not an historical piece.

Still, the fact that most of the men in the film appear shirtless throughout
(a nod to the source material, a graphic novel by Sin City author Frank Miller) might make this one worth checking out purely for the himbo-spotting. Gerard Butler (who wore the mask in the woeful film adaptation of The Phantom of the Opera), Dominic West (The Wire) and Lena Headey (Imagine Me & You) star.

March also brings us a few honest-to-goodness “gay movies”: films about gay people and their lives and loves. Festival hit Boy Culture (March 23) from director Q. Allan Brocka (Eating Out), explores the lives of a disaffected hustler (Derek Magyar), his roommates (Darryl Stephens of Noah's Arc and Jonathon Trent) and an older client (Patrick Bauchau) who may not be what he seems.

While the central topic of a sex worker who is unable to love may be unappealing to some gay viewers, the film has garnered praise for its intergenerational gay relationship, winning Best Film awards both at Los Angeles' Outfest and the Philadelphia International Gay & Lesbian Film Festival. And speaking of completists, Darryl Stephens is rapidly becoming one of the most frequently cast actors in gay entertainment — does this man ever sleep?

Another gay film in limited release this March is Cut Sleeve Boys, a romantic comedy focusing on the gay Chinese community of London. Ash (Chowee Leow) and Mel (Steven Lim) navigate the dating waters, experimenting in everything from cross-dressing to open relationships as they try to find love. Festival responses suggest that while the film is breezy and the ethnic angle is unique, the plot is a bit uninspired and might not be enough to distinguish it from other gay romantic comedies. But the way in which Boys challenges stereotypes about gay Asian men is also being well-received.

For those with a taste for somewhat darker subjects, Grimm Love (limited release) offers the fictionalized account of German gay cannibal Armin Meiwes (renamed here as Oliver Hagen and played by the enormously talented and rather dashing Thomas Kretschmann of The Pianist), as seen through the eyes of an American grad student studying the case (of all people, Keri Russell of Felicity).

It's not clear whether the gay themes of the real-life events are being fully addressed in the film (Meiwes engaged in a sexualized exchange with another man), but it is being distributed in the United States by Strand Releasing, a company that primarily distributes gay films. Perhaps another gay serial killer movie is the last thing the world needs right now, but positive responses from European fests (it won Best Director and a joint Best Actor prize for Kretschmann and co-star Thomas Huber at Sitges) suggest that Grimm Love is more than just a sensationalized gore-fest.

And that's about it until April. So until then, stuff your Netflix queue with old seasons of Six Feet Under and wait for the spring thaw to bring us some more films and gay story lines to enjoy.

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