THE VOICE OF CHICAGO'S GAY, LESBIAN, BI, TRANS AND QUEER COMMUNITY SINCE 1985

The explanation is by now a familiar one: Studios have increasingly hedged their bets against potentially less-than-rhapsodic reviews and stinging word-of-mouth by screening movies mere days before opening ( this policy has a flip side—no early raves either ) . For a weekly like Windy City Times, with our Wednesday publication date, that means many of the films you'd like reviews of from my queer perspective are screened past WCT deadlines. To offset that, in some cases, we've posted reviews online or the following week in our print edition ( and will continue to do so ) .

In the meantime, however, though we have no Salt on the menu today ( sorry—couldn't resist ) , there are a batch of queer-related DVDs that are wonderful enticements for staying out of the summer heat and plugging in the ol' DVD player that I'd like to recommend.

The first, of course, is not only 2009's best queer-themed film but also one of the year's best movies, period. That would be, naturally, Tom Ford's directorial debut, A Single Man, with the stunning Colin Firth in his Oscar-nominated role. Julianne Moore, Matthew Goode and Nicholas Hoult co-star in this dazzling, stylish film. The DVD contains a brief making-of featurette that, not surprisingly, is as fashionably done as the film itself.

A quartet of offbeat films with lesbian characters or themes are now available on DVD. The first is the erotic thriller Chloe, in which Liam Neeson, Julianne Moore and Amanda Seyfried form a very sensual triangle. The love scenes between Moore and Seyfried are muy sexy ( and here's another shout out for Moore's funny, moving performance in The Kids Are All Right—her second lesbian role this year, not to mention her work in the gay-themed A Single Man—keep up the good acting choices, Julianne! ) . Next up is The Runaways, the grungy biopic of the mid-'70s girl punk band of the title, with Kristen Stewart playing lesbian rock goddess Joan Jett and Dakota Fanning as her sometime lover Cherie Curie. Swedish actress Noomi Rapace burns up the screen as the bisexual title character in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, another sexual thriller—this one much more intense, with a lot more typical mystery elements than Chloe. And while on the subject of woman-on-woman love scenes, Hannah Free, the lesbian romance starring Sharon Gless that was locally filmed and produced, provides plenty of sizzle amongst its more sobering moments. It's out from Wolfe Video, which specializes in distributing queer-themed movies.

Wolfe has two other eagerly awaited releases by gay audiences. For those of you who missed the theatrical release of 8: The Mormon Proposition—Reed Cowan and Steven Greenstreat's documentary about the Mormon Church's behind-the-scenes involvement in the campaign to overturn same-sex marriage in California—it's now on DVD, and is highly recommended. Wolfe also has released the gay film-festival favorite Pornography: A Thriller, a David Lynch-like gay murder mystery thingy that features some very hot men involved in some very odd goings-on.

For classics fans—and I am a big one—there are two major releases from the inestimable Criterion Collection, both from the British directing-producing team of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger. First up is the rapturous, newly minted print of 1948's The Red Shoes, which finds the titian-haired Moira Shearer as a ballet dancer torn between her gay-in-all-but-name impresario and discoverer and her young composer husband. The second is 1947's Black Narcissus, which stars a young Deborah Kerr, who comes to a nunnery high up in the Himalayas and finds herself torn between physical and spiritual desires. There is a heavy, heavy lesbian undertone present throughout the film ( embodied by the character of Kerr's subconscious competitor, Sister Ruth, a fellow nun played by the over-the-top Kathleen Byron ) . Both films are drenched in color and steeped in melodrama, making them gloriously entertaining. As with all Criterion releases, the DVDs include a bevy of welcome, exactingly detailed extras.

Finally, a bit of whimsy: The all-too-brief but still hilarious '60s sitcom The Mothers-In-Law, which starred queer audience faves Kaye Ballard and Eve Arden as the title buttinskys, is finally making its DVD debut after much legal wrangling. Locally based distributor MPI has released the DVDs, which includes all 56 episodes spread over eight discs. The I Love Lucy writers and production company Desilu were behind most of the episodes, and the show has the same pratfall wackiness of Lucy. A new interview with Ballard, one of the few remaining cast members, is included among the extras.

Film note:

—Vincent: A Life in Color, the charming documentary by local filmmaker Jennifer Burns that focuses on the life of Vincent P. Falk, Chicago's own "Riverace"—thanks to his propensity to twirl one of his Technicolor suit coats while standing on the State Street bridge, to the delight of passing tour-boat patrons below—returns to the Gene Siskel Film Center, 164 N. State, July 23-29 by popular demand. The film reveals that there's a lot more depth to this local legend—who is legally blind and gay—than his colorful appearance might suggest. Both Falk and Burns will be present for audience discussion during various screenings throughout the return engagement. Check out www.siskelfilmcenter.org .

Check out my archived reviews at www.windycitytimes.com or www.knightatthemovies.com . Readers can leave feedback at the latter website.