OK, the big movie of the weekend is the big-screen adaptation of the hit teen novel Twilight. But if the "Team Edward" fanatics and their mothers have bought up all the tickets, there are other films of queer interest opening this weekend.

Find out which after the break!

Daniel Craig and friend in Quantum of Solace

Three terrific new movies open in US theaters this weekend, and while none of them is gay per se, they're all queer-adjacent enough (not to mention that each is just flat-out awesome in its own way) for AfterElton.com readers to check out. Find out more after the break!

The weekend after The Dark Knight is a dark one indeed for moviegoers, as most studios are hiding out until the caped crusader wears himself out at the box office. But gay audiences in several cities have the opportunity to catch some gay stories from foreign locales.

No Regret

This Korean film is something of a breakthrough, being one of the first explicitly gay movies to come out of the region. The film tells the story of an orphan from the country who heads to the big city and, after losing his factory job, takes a spot as a go-go boy/hooker at a karaoke bar. (This is probably highly inappropriate, but I can't think of a better way to make karaoke more popular Stateside than by adding go-go dancers into the mix!) When his paths cross with a wealthy executive with whom he's had several professional encounters (pre-hooking), the two lock horns in a rather disturbing emotional stalemate.

I had the chance to screen the film but unfortunately the DVD flaked after the first hour ... so while I enjoyed the taste of gay Seoul (however depressing it may have been) I got, I can't speak for the movie as a whole. (Given that it's being billed as a "tragic romance", I can't imagine it ends well for the mismatched lovers.) But given the fact that gay film is in its infant stages in the Korean film market and that the "hustler tragedy" is sadly a gay cinema rite of passage, I found the film to be better than most American counterparts ... and it doesn't hurt that lead actor Young-Hoon Lee (at left in the above pic) is incredibly easy on the eyes.

Ben Whishaw and Matthew Goode revisiting 

Brideshead Revisited

What can I say, I liked this feature adaptation of Evelyn Waugh's classic novel of class, ambition and religious oppression quite a bit (I've seen it twice already, in fact). If you're in NY or LA, you can check the film out this weekend, while other cities will have to wait for the broad rollout. In the meantime, check out my coverage of the premiere and my thoughts on Sebastian Flyte's being made explicitly gay in this version, and check back next week for our full review and interviews with Matthew Goode and director Julian Jarrold. 

Two studio comedies arrive in theatres today, overpolished and shiny, like wax apples. Both also have throwaway gay characters and are not quite as funny as they would like to be.

Baby Mama
Before I get into this, let me say that I am fully on-board the Fey/Poehler Happytown Express. I have an unlimited ride pass, actually. But even my undying love for these two ladies (and willingness to forgive such atrocities as "Gays in Space" and Envy) wasn't enough to save this one for me. It's cute, sure ... but it's also overlong, achingly predictable, and just not either funny enough or emotionally honest enough to work. While both women have their great moments (improvised, maybe?), the "isn't it funny that these words are coming out of my mouth?" delivery that works for Fey on 30 Rock doesn't translate well to the big screen, and Poehler's character is so wildly uneven (even her accent comes and goes as it pleases) that it feels slapdash.

As far as gay stuff goes, there is a gay couple enrolled in the same surrogate program (run by a wonderfully loathsome Sigourney Weaver) who have a bizarre breakdown related to the fact that one of the men is "manorexic" and thinks that the extremely pregnant woman carrying his child is not merely pregnant, but morbidly obese. Okaaaay... Also, gay go-to character actor Denis O'Hare appears as the ladies' gyno. Overall the movie is cute and you'll chuckle here and there, but it's less than expected from two of the funniest women around, Greg Kinnear, Maura Tierney (I've been saying "chocolate or poop?!" for weeks) and Steve Martin (yes, he's in it, too).

Harold and Kumar Something Something 
Oh Lordy, where to start ... first off, I actually liked the original movie (a lot), and was hoping for something fun in the sequel despite the fact that I find nearly all political humor to be incredibly obvious and unfunny. I hoped that the return of Neil Patrick Harris signaled that there wouldn't be any unsavory homophobic humor and that the movie would be wacky, outlandish, and fun. In reality, this undercooked "satire" is a colossal disappointment wasting the talents of pretty much everyone involved, from leads John Cho and Kal Penn to underused supporting players like Roger Bart, Rob Corddry, and Missi Pyle.

Maybe H&K thinks it's being "edgy" and making fun of homophobia by including lame gay panic gags (forced oral sex in prison, complete with the attempted rapist calling the heroes "fags") and bandying about words like "queers", "fag", and "c*ckmeat sandwich". And if it were done intelligently and with a modicum of skill (like, say, South Park does), I could buy that. But here it's mean-spirited and not very clever, and it will likely make any gay viewer squirm in his seat (on the opposite coast, Michael seemed to have the same reaction that I had). The racist jokes that perforate the rest of the movie are at least making a point about racism, but with the gay jokes the context is missing, and so is the satire. 

Case in point: at the very end of the movie, two gay characters (they show up literally seconds before and stick around for two whole shots) kiss as the punchline to a standard jealousy gag. I'm sure the filmmakers intended this to be a laugh, but the entire audience at the screening I attended actually booed the gay kiss. (and this is New York City!) Why would this be? Maybe because the film sets up any mention of gayness as something to be viewed with scorn? Come on, guys. Let's be a little more careful.

The two high points are Neil Patrick Harris (not just because he's gay, seriously, but because he has legitimate comedic skill ... and a unicorn) and Eric Winter, two gay-friendly actors who don't belong in this crap (likewise Bart ... interestingly, none of these guys is in any of the scenes with the gay jokes, so they likely had no idea they existed). But if you're sensitive to being the butt of a joke and not really up for a handful of close-ups of landscaped vaginas (seriously), you might want to sit this one out. 

Two films with a touch of gay intrigue pop up in theatres this weekend that we thought merited mention for those of you who have overdosed on political scandal and reality television. (You can also find trailers for both movies after the jump!)

Never Back Down
No, I'm not just mentioning this diet Fight Club drama just because it's full of shirtless men beating the tar out of one another: It actually does have a barely-there gay character, believe it or not. Before Jake (David DeCoteau vet Sean Faris) is pulled into the seedy and utterly implausible world of underground O.C. bare-knuckle beat-downs, he falls for a girl whose evil posse of plastics includes a bitchy gay guy who shows up to flirt with/sass-talk the nube, establish this new school as thoroughly "modern", and then vanish. The rest of the movie is hilariously bad but packed with more waxed skin than Madame Toussaud's (much of it belongs to Faris, who's not exactly hard on the eyes), and is easily the most violent movie I've ever seen granted a PG-13 rating. Oh, and memo to Oscar-nominee Djimon Hounsou: Hope you're enjoying the new pool.

Funny Games U.S. 
Seriously, don't be fooled by the ads boasting marquee-friendly Naomi Watts and Tim Roth in a "wicked" thriller filled with "games" - this is easily one of the most nauseating, proudly manipulative and emotionally scarring movies ever released by a major studio. (I seriously still can't believe it's happening.) Fans (victims?) of the original 1997 film (of which this is a shot-by-shot remake) will remember that there was a tiny bit of homoerotic something-or-other between the two emotionless boys in tennis whites and gloves who appear to torture the central family. And although director Michael Haneke denies that the characters are supposed to be gay, American critics are reading into this version (where the suburban terrors are played by Hedwig's pouty Michael Pitt and Brady Corbet) even more.

Do Americans just prefer their serial killers with a side of gay? Probably. But really, no one is going to walk out of this film thinking it's a meditation on gay men, as they will be too busy scrubbing their brains with bleach. I'm actually a huge fan of Haneke and think The Seventh Continent and The Piano Teacher are near-perfect, but this one has a bit too much ironic swagger even for me. Unforgettable and brilliant though it may be, be warned: ain't nothing funny about it.

Today two movies hit screens that come from very different gay directors. Though Gus van Sant and Roland Emmerich could not be more different when it comes to the types of movies they make, both have achieved phenomenal success in the film industry as out gay filmmakers.

Paranoid Park
Gus van Sant's latest film is a meditation on guilt centering a teenaged boy who accidentally kills a security guard at a trainyard and opts not to tell anyone about it. Newcomer (and Myspace-cast non-actor) Gabe Nevins stars as Alex and is in nearly every scene of the movie, and van Sant is fortunate that the kid is incredibly watchable in the role.

Despite boasting gorgeous, haunting visuals and a complex, hypnotic soundtrack (blending music and ambient sound into a highly personalized soundscape that surrounds Alex like a cocoon), the film is oddly detached and difficult to invest in. Alex is really a good guy and he means well, and it's easy to feel for the kid and his situation. But because of the gauzy, experimental feel and the lack of plot, it's not the kind of film that sticks with you long after. If you're a fan of van Sant's work, like looking at skaters (a friend on mine calls van Sant's recent string of films beginning with Elephant "diet Larry Clark"), or enjoy moody films that push the narrative envelope, definitely check it out. If not, you might be best to wait to see what the director does with Milk.

We haven't run an Out at the Movies in a few weeks because ... well ... there hasn't been much gay stuff out there. There are no "gay movies" of note this weekend, either -- but there are two movies with decidedly queer sensibilities that may do in a pinch.

Hot Fuzz
Much has been made of this British action comedy (from the guys behind the brilliant Shaun of the Dead) and its admission of the inherent homoeroticism of "buddy movies" -- and I'm happy to say that it's all dead on the money. Fuzz spoofs movies like Lethal Weapon, Point Break, and Bad Boys 2 while at the same time paying them the utmost respect -- and as a result the film's two heroes, recently displaced London cop Nick Angel (Simon Pegg) and bumpkin cop Danny Butterman (Nick Frost) have what can only be described as a heterosexual love affair.

The men do everything together, including fall asleep on a couch with their heads together while watching the hilariously homoerotic Point Break. When Angel learns that it's Butterman's birthday, he literally runs out of the station to buy him a plant. There's no love interest for either of the men -- and while they're clearly not gay, they also clearly love one another and aren't ashamed of it. So while we may not have a gay film here, we have an action comedy that boasts an impressively progressive attitude toward male bonding entirely without any gay panic. Supporting turns and cameos by Cate Blanchett, Bill Nighy, Peter Jackson, Billie Whitelaw, and Edward Woodward also don't hurt -- and while the movie works much better in the first half (which is more like an Agatha Christie mystery than an action movie), it's still a fun ride with a great sense of humor.

A few gay-themed movies in theatres this weekend -- here's a rundown.

Blades of Glory
I caught this one earlier this week and was really impressed by the way that it avoided gay-baiting and celebrated male-male intimacy -- something that I really didn't expect from a dumb comedy about figure skating (the film also mines the intrinsic homoeroticism of its central joke for all it's worth). If you want to read more, check out my review.

Peaceful Warrior
Victor Salva (who brought us the insanely homoerotic Jeepers Creepers movies and Powder) brings us this based-on-a-true-story sports movie about a gymnast (Scott Mechlowicz from Euro Trip) going through a spiritual awakening with the help of a stranger named Socrates (Nick Nolte). One critic called the movie "a screwy mash-up of The Karate Kid, The Celestine Prophecy and an Abercrombie & Fitch catalog." Could be a hot mess -- but with hot gymnasts involved, we might be able to forgive.

Race You to the Bottom
Terrible title, I'm sorry, but reviews of this relationship road movie are encouraging. Amber Benson (Tara from Buffy) and Cole Williams play colleagues who are both cheating on their boyfriends with one another. But a trip to wine country might mean the end of the philandering couple -- especially when ex-boyfriends, ecstasy, and internalized homophobia come into play. Sounds kind of like Sideways meets Threesome -- here's a clip from the film of the two attractive leads dancing around:

This weekend we've got a few honest-to-gosh "gay movies", a few wretched-looking family films (what the @^&$ is a "Mimsy"?!), and bunch of hot men in Speedos. We'll leave it to you to decide which are worth your time. Oh, who are we kidding?!

Boy Culture
This tawdry tale of a hustler (oh God not again...) and his roommates was a hit at gay fests ... but then again, so is anything with a lot of shirtless men in it (I'm sorry, but it's totally true). Our reviewer found Culture to be a disappointing outing from director Q. Allen Brocka (who helmed the enjoyable Eating Out), but the film has gotten some positive -- if qualified -- notices (in his positive review, Film Threat's Phil Hall admits that it's a "guilty pleasure"). Here's a trailer for ya:

Colour Me Kubrick
This gonzo, garish "based on a true-ish story" pic about a middle-aged, alcoholic queen who pretends that he's director Stanley Kubrick is pure camp. John Malkovich is hilariously over-the-top as the conniving central character, but the film doesn't offer much beyond his unhinged performance -- check out my full review for more info.

Pride
Reviews of this based-on-true-event sport story are mediocre, with most critics praising the charismatic cast (which includes Terrence Howard, Tom Arnold and Bernie Mac) and damning the formulaic script. But let's be honest, fellas: there's primarily one reason that this film is temping our tummies:

Hot men in banana hammocks, harder and more often.

Otherwise, as online reviewer TheMovieBoy puts it, it looks like "Pride is a generic title for a generic movie".