Movies

June Brings Us Tom Cruise’s Ex-Wife and Ellen’s Ex-Roommate
It also brings us Dustin in drag and River lusting after Keanu

Moulin Rouge.

With Moulin Rouge, director Baz Luhrmann is attempting to make the musical fresh again; as his co-writer Craig Pearce explains, "We deal in big, strong gestures. The scenes have to build to such an extent, with the characters getting so high on the energy, that they can’t do anything else but sing!" • All this singing may not be exactly gay, but Moulin Rouge certainly has its queer pedigree in order: One, it stars Nicole Kidman, just-exited ex of Tom Cruise (who can’t seem to dodge those pesky gay rumors). Two and three, it also stars Ewan McGregor and John Leguizamo–the former played gay in openly gay Todd Haynes’s The Velvet Goldmine, and the latter looked damned good in a dress in To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar. Four and five, openly gay singer Rufus Wainwright sings "Complainte de la Butte," and McGregor belts out "Your Song," a little ditty written by one-time Eminem "partner" Elton John. Six, well, it is a musical, for chrissakes! • Starts June 1 nationwide. –Blase DiStefano

Big Eden.

Tom Bezucha’s first directorial effort won highest honors in each of America’s top three gay film festivals–Los Angeles, New York, and San Francisco. Big Eden is the story of a New York artist coming home to the Montana of his youth to care for a sick grandfather. Turns out the artist, Henry Hart (played by Arye Gross, who was Ellen’s roommate on Ellen), left Montana years before over his unrequited love for Dean Stewart (Tim Dekay, best known as "Bizzaro Jerry" from Seinfeld). Just as the train wreck between Henry and Dean begins to recur, Pike Dexter (Eric Schweig from Tom and Huck and The Last of the Mohicans) is surprised to find himself falling for Henry. Love triangle in Montana. • Starts June 1 at the Angelika Film Center as part of Houston’s annual Gay & Lesbian Film Festival. –John W. Stiles

Tootsie (1982). Michael Dorsey (Dustin Hoffman) is an unemployed actor who has a reputation for being difficult to work with. The solution? Put on a wig, makeup, a dress, and heels, change your name to Dorothy Michaels, and get a job on a soap opera. Michael doesn’t tell his girlfriend (Teri Garr) that he’s Dorothy; Dorothy falls in love with coworker Julie (Jessica Lange); and Julie’s father (Charles Durning) falls in love with Dorothy! • 8 p.m., Saturday, June 30, @ the Houston Lesbian & Gay Community Center, 803 Hawthorne. Donation requested. –BD

My Own Private Idaho. Taking its inspiration from William Shakespeare’s Henry IV, director Gus Van Sant’s 1992 follow-up to Drugstore Cowboy stars River Phoenix as Mike, a narcoleptic street hustler, and Keanu Reeves as Scott, a runaway rich kid. Fueled by nostalgic recollections of his long-lost mother, Mike sets off on a tragic journey to find her, meanwhile pursuing an ill-fated romance with Scott. • June 9 & 13 at 7 p.m., June 10 at 9 p.m. @ Rice Media Center, Rice University campus, entrance #8, University Blvd. at Stockton. Tickets $5. More info: www.ruf.rice.edu/~cinema. –Kristian Salinas