Boom! Hold that thought

So, Imagine Me & You was on Logo the other night, and even though I had a thousand other things to do and had already seen it a thousand times, I watched it anyway. Why? Because I am physically unable to resist this film. If I don't watch it at least once every six weeks or so, I start to feel weird and unsettled. Food doesn't taste as good; my fabric softener seems to lose its effectiveness, that sort of thing. Exaggerations aside, the movie just makes me smile. Yes, it is an utterly predictable bit of trifle with an ending so corny it tests one's gag reflexes to the limit. But darn it all, it's a cute, fun, funny and well-acted bit of trifle, and the romantic leads are gorgeous and have fabulous chemistry. Plus, there's something to be said for high production values (something sadly lacking in many lesbian films, due to their indie nature). So I make no apologies for loving this movie. None!

I'll spare you the rundown of the movie and get straight to the appreciation of Rachel (Piper Perabo) and Luce (Lena Headey). From the instant they meet, they can't seem to stop flirting with each other, and it is very cute. As I said before, their chemistry was really solid. Oh, and there is a decent amount of kissing, which is pretty awesome. I don't know how others felt about this, but the fact that there was no sex scene didn't bother me a bit. I thought it was quite nice that they fell for each other without that.

Anyway, despite the aforementioned cheesiness and predictability, I do give the movie credit for throwing a couple of nice curveballs. For one, in your heart you're rooting for the guy a little bit. Usually in these scenarios, the guy is a total boor and we can't understand at all why any woman would be with him, but in the case of Hector, you get it. He's kind and charming, and completely deserving of someone who loves him. The other nice departure is that Rachel never really fights her attraction to Luce; she fights her desire to act on it. We're spared any hand-wringing over (gasp!) being attracted to a woman. We also don't have to tread a similar tired path as Rachel worries about what everyone will think, how she'll tell her family, etc. She's not concerned about any of that; all she cares about it not hurting Hector. Also, no one goes insane. Which reminds me: By playing the lovely and not-crazy Rachel, Piper Perabo redeemed herself in my eyes for that crapfest Lost and Delirious. And she and Lena Headey both get extra points for playing gay more than once in their careers. Bravo!

A sight for sore eyes

A while back, I went with a friend to see The Happening. (Which sucked with mighty Hoover power, but that's another story.) We're watching the previews, and there's a trailer that looks pretty interesting. Dark and creepy, mysterious Scottish guy, Leoben from Battlestar, Amanda Peet as an FBI agent (hot!). Then, it happens. The screen goes black, and we hear: "Scully?" "Mulder." At which time I pitch a bona fide fangirl freakout, right there in the theater. I knew the movie was coming up soon, but I hadn't seen the trailer. My friend is still speaking to me, but I wouldn't blame her at all if she wasn't.



The X Files: I Want to Believe could be terrible. The first movie was certainly a letdown. But this time, I don't really care. Why? Because SCULLY IS BACK, BITCHES! It's been far, far too long. So even if the movie is a steaming pile of crap, I feel pretty confident that I'll enjoy it. After all, what lesbian worth her salt didn't have a crush on Scully? She's brilliant, pragmatic yet deeply emotional, the skeptical scientist who sees and experiences pheomena she never thought possible. And yes, she's ridiculously, unbelievably hot. Over nine seasons, Gillian Anderson brought a lot to the Scully role, and lesbian nation thanks her for it. (She knows we love her, and she loves us back, god bless her.) I'm not sure I'm completely feeling the long hair. She's beautiful, don't get me wrong; it just seems weird and un-Scully-like. But whatever, people change. Dana Scully can grow out her hair if she damn well pleases.

I've been going through old shows, trying to get caught up. There are a lot of episodes and plot points I had forgotten about entirely (some with good reason). I'm counting on the movie to bring me up to speed, because I'm still a little unclear about how the series left it, with regard to the shape-shifters, the super soldiers, the black oil, the evil alien overlords and whatnot. I need X Files Cliff Notes. Part of that is because I had kind of checked out of the show the last couple of seasons, the Mulder-less seasons. I just couldn't get on board with it. Of course, I still watched, but not with the same kind of interest. At that point, it was basically a drinking game. You know, "When Scully and Agent Reyes throw each other an intense look, drink!" We owe Gillian and Annabeth Gish a debt of gratitude for keeping things interesting with the smoldering gazes. Even though, as a wishful thinking lesbian viewer, you know they're not going to drop everything and make out, they did their best to make it look like they might. Also, Scully was at her hottest in the later seasons, so that was nice. I mean, right?


Anyway, going back through those episodes, I'm finding that my favorite Scully moments are the humorous ones. Like the episode where the Lone Gunmen trick her into going to Las Vegas, and she gets roofied and spends half the episode giggling, lolling around and calling Langly "cutie." Or "Bad Blood," which involves Texas vampire shenanigans, or the one that's shot like an episode of COPS. She and David Duchovny always played off each other very well, but that really came through in the funny moments. At the risk of sounding like a weirdo, I also have to point out that Scully is never more beautiful than when she cries. And homegirl went through some shit, so she cries a lot. If I can find a good screencap, I'll post one later. But in the meantime, here's another old-school shot for good measure.

UPDATE: The movie sucked. It was a thrill to see the Mulder and Scully again and I'm really glad I saw it, but it was not a good movie. Well, it was for a while, then it devolved into some gay Frankenstein bullshit that I'm not even going to get into. Sigh.

Oscar makes my month

For the better part of February, I have had what can only be described as the winter blues. I am so sick of the cold and the sleet and the snow, I don't want to go anywhere or do anything. I wasn't even as fired up for the Oscars as I usually am. But bless Oscar's little heart, he picked up my mood considerably last night. When the best actress award went to Marion Cotillard, who was beyond amazing as Edith Piaf in La Vie en Rose, my friend Heather and I yelled so loud, we scared the shit out of her roommate's poor little dog. (Sorry, Rigby.) I thought to myself, "The only thing that will make me even happier is if Once wins for best song." And then it did! I contained myself, so as not to give poor little Rigby a stroke. But oh my gosh, I was so happy. A day later, I'm still thrilled. Since last summer, I've been telling anyone who will listen that Once is a beautiful, beautiful little movie. It's pretty rare that a boy-meets-girl story touches my heart so deeply. Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova, neither of whom has done any acting before, were so real and wonderful in their roles. The scene in the movie where they first play music together is goosebump-inducing.

So you'll forgive me for getting goosebumps all over again when, after getting cut off prematurely, Marketa Irglova was brought back out to accept her award. Her speech, about art and hope and perseverance, was heartfelt and moving -- just like the film.

Speaking of Portia ...

Today is Super Tuesday, which means that for a newspaper editor such as myself, things are very, very busy. But I am never too busy to go trolling the web for exciting news of the non-political variety. Which is how I learned via Kristin on EOnline that the cast of Arrested Development has been approached about making a movie. Please allow me to clear my throat and proclaim, squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!! I love the Bluths so very much.

I love them when they're fighting.

I love them when they're drinking.

I love them when they're poorly impersonating chickens.

I love them, I love them, I love them. I wasn't ready when the show got canceled. Really, until 30 Rock came along, I wasn't sure I would ever fall head over heels for a TV comedy again like I did with Arrested. I realize this is in the embryonic stage of filmmaking, but I can't help getting wildly excited. Long live the Bluths!

Wanted: Ingenue. Must not sleep with gross older dudes

It snowed here yesterday, so today I commenced my first driveway-shoveling of the season. That activity pretty much wiped me out (well, earlier I went to the gym and then went bowling, so that may have had an effect). At any rate, I'm all cozy on my couch, drinking some eggnog and ready to wax dorky on cute girls.


I'm pretty fired up to see Juno, starring Ellen Page, an attractive young actress who intrigues me greatly. Don't you just love her voice? I haven't seen her in very many movies, but she was so excellent in Hard Candy, you couldn't watch it without thinking the entire time, "Man, this kid is the real deal." I figure since she was in every scene of that film, that's plenty of evidence to prove she's got chops. And if she's as good in Juno as I'm hearing, then she just might step up and fill the My Favorite Young Actress void. I had to let Evan Rachel Wood go, so the position has been empty for a while. Wood was my favorite for quite some time, and I still think she's immensely talented and will have an incredible career. But dating Marilyn Manson? Seriously? No. Just ... no. I mean, I think he's basically harmless (and not nearly as interesting or subversive as he thinks he is), but he is way too old for her. And not attractive enough. That's right, I'm exactly that shallow. I am firm in my belief that a girl as lovely as Wood should not be sleeping with Marilyn Manson. Gross. I know it's absurd, but I suppose part of me will always see Evan Rachel Wood as Jessie Sammler, kissing Katie Singer in the attic (you know what I'm talking about, Once and Again fans). Thinking about her with a creepy older dude just sets my teeth on edge.

But I digress. Ahem. I have no such unreasonable iconic-teenage-lesbian hangups with Ellen Page. Only hope for a bright future. Oh, and a couple of other non-Page reasons to be excited about Juno -- it also stars Arrested Development alums Jason Bateman and Michael Cera (yay!), plus the one and only Allison Janney. We all know how I feel about that. Whee!

In closing, a moment from happier, more innocent times: