Knight at the Movies: Valentine's Day 'de-gayed'; Frozen; film notes - 3345 - Gay Lesbian Bi Trans News

We're Here, We're Queer but We Ain't in the Valentine's Day Trailer: I'd thought about this time of year I'd be giving you my review of Valentine's Day, this year's all-star rom-com being released to coincide with the lover's holiday ( He's Just Not That Into You was last year's ) , as the movie has been promoted heavily for months. But Warner Bros. hasn't screened it in time to meet Windy City Times' deadlines. ( Fox is doing the same thing with The Wolfman and Paramount with Shutter Island. ) Increasingly, this gun-shy attitude on the part of the studios with regard to early reviews and an insistence on review embargos ( usually until the day and, at times, the exact hour of the "official" Chicago release date ) has been a particular bane for weeklies like WCT—especially when the movies in question have already opened in New York and Los Angeles, been reviewed and have been the subject of lots of discussion on the Web.

With Valentine's Day this vexing trend is compounded by the fact that the film—which, by the look of the trailer, features multiple variations of straight couples and singles celebrating Valentine's Day—actually includes a gay couple ( played by Bradley Cooper and Eric Dane ) . But this hunky twosome are not featured together in said trailer or marketing materials for the movie. The relationship between Cooper and Dane is supposed to be a surprise reveal, which offers one reason why at least earlier versions of the trailer would suggest to audiences that Cooper and Julia Roberts are a couple in the film ( with Dane barely glimpsed and alone ) . But even Cooper, when I interviewed him last June during The Hangover press junket, had already heard that the Internet was abuzz with the news about he was once again playing gay and coupling with Dane onscreen—although he was quick to point out disappointment at the surprise being revealed.

Nevertheless, the cat has been out of the bag for over six months about the "surprise" subplot in the film and, in light of the de-gaying of recent film trailers like Taking Woodstock and A Single Man, one would have hoped Valentine's Day wouldn't have gone down the same road of gay invisibility. At least one of the trailers, posters or production stills could have thrown us a bone and shown the duo together. Our People deserve better than this, Hollywood.

Writer-director Adam Green who has specialized in the horror genre now brings us Frozen, a not-bad ( though far from great ) reason for a chilly winter night out at the movies. Three college kids ( Shawn Ashmore of the AIDS drama 3 Needles, Jamie Babbit's The Quiet and the X-Men series; Kevin Zegers who played gay in Transamerica; and TV star Emma Bell ) can't afford the price of three lift tickets during a trip to their local ski resort. But after forking over $100 they're determined to get their money's worth and they convince a none-too-bright chairlift operator to give them one last chance at the slopes before the place is closed for the night. Naturally, the chairlift is shut down and the resort quickly deserted, leaving our three stuck midair, facing the elements and who knows what else far below them in the icy, snowy cold?

Frozen is yet another variation on what happens when some irresponsible teens/college kids do something they're not supposed to and suffer major ( usually tremendously gory ) consequences. Though the set-up plays on a common, usually unspoken fear among skiers and Green keeps the suspense up for awhile, the movie could have used an appearance by Bigfoot or some other supernatural or science- fiction creature or element to its story ( a la The Ruins ) . Actually, it could've used anything, because after one character jumps and is set upon by wolves, the other two pretty much sit there and talk, argue, get frostbite and stick to the chairlift ( like the kid sticking his tongue on the flagpole in A Christmas Story ) until the last act, when one of them finally decides to take action.

Without a supernatural/sci-fi/criminal angle there aren't a lot of possibilities unlike, say, Open Water, which managed to stay terrifying because you knew at any second those sharks could come back. With Frozen, it's Adam Green who has a lot more than the elements to fend off; there's that fickle audience—bored, snappish and impatient—inclined to give his okay movie the big chill.

Film note:

—The Music Box, 3733 N. Southport, is going all out for Valentine's Day with a weekend of romantic, sexy fare beginning Friday, Feb. 12, with the midnight movie cult favorite The Room. Star Tommy Wiseau will appear in person at both the 8 p.m. and 11:30 p.m. screenings. Then on Saturday, Feb. 13, at 7:30, for the third year in a row, the Lavender Cabaret presents The Hottest Night of Winter, the return of Michelle L'amour's "Belles and Whistles" burlesque revue show. Finally, on Sunday, Feb. 14, at 2 p.m. the historic theater will present its annual Valentine's Day screening of the film classic Casablanca. Joe Savino hosts a special "Sweetheart Sing-Along" of classic love songs with lyrics projected on the screen and organ accompaniment by Dennis Scott. A portion of ticket sales for the Casablanca screening will benefit Gilda's Club of Chicago. See www.musicboxtheatre.com .

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