Gay and dykes, this an important week!

Fridae is pleased to announce the arrival of Kinsey, a terrific biopic about a famous scientist whose findings about homosexuality changed the way we queers live today.

Nominated for three Golden Globe awards, including Best Motion Picture (Drama), this film looks at the life of Alfred Kinsey, the man who pioneered the study of sexual behaviour and caused a sensation when he published Sexual Behavior In The Human Male and Sexual Behaviour In The Human Female in the 1940s and 50s.

His scientific studies showed that homosexuality was more common than the world had thought, that many straight men had had — yes, even in 1940s — gay experiences, and that even married women had felt strong erotic emotions for other women.

These findings not only expanded the discussions on homosexuality and bisexuality, they also helped ignite a sexual revolution in the 1960s and 1970s and would have implications on women's rights, sex education and the abortion debate.

All we lesbians, gays, bisexuals and trannies have a lot to thank Dr Kinsey for, because he changed the way the world viewed us then and now. But even more significantly, he changed the way we view ourselves.

There are also two other fabulous films opening this week — Alfie and The Aviator.

Alfie stars the delicious Jude Law and a bevy of beautiful women, including Sienna Miller, Jane Krakowski, Nia Long, Marisa Tomei, as well as the fabulous Susan Sarandon. (Never heard of the lesser-known actresses? Just look at the newspaper ads for a sneak peek at these lovely ladies.)

And if you're feeling blue because it's been raining cats-and-dogs on our little island, be thankful that at least one hot man is falling out of the sky — Leonardo DiCaprio in the fantastic biopic The Aviator.

So don't feel bad about the wet weather — stay inside the cinemas and catch these three terrific films.

Written and directed by gay filmmaker Bill Condon, Kinsey is one of best biopics of 2004 — a year that saw many other strong biopics like Ray (on singer Ray Charles), Finding Neverland (on Peter Pan author J M Barrie), The Aviator (on Howard Hughes) and of course, Alexander.

Kinsey traces the life of the great American sex doctor, Alfred Kinsey, who pioneered the study of human sexual behaviour in the 1940s, and discovered — among other things — that homosexuality is a common human trait.

The film, passed uncut by the censors here, even shows Dr Kinsey and his male assistant going to a gay bar to ask queers about their sexual experiences. It also shows Dr Kinsey later sexually experimenting with his male assistant (played by the cute Peter Sarsgaard, who goes naked for more than a few seconds).

In another memorable scene, a divorced woman meets Dr Kinsey and relates how her marriage broke down and even her children abandoned her, after she fell in love with another woman. At first, she was sad and angry, thinking that she was crazy or diseased. But after reading Dr Kinsey's groundbreaking research on lesbianism, she found her peace of mind again.

So all we queers must watch this movie, in salute to the man who helped us accept ourselves by revealing that homosexuality, bisexuality and transexuality is no less normal than heterosexuality.

The film itself is a triumphant work of cinema, with outstanding performances by Liam Neeson as Alfred Kinsey, and Laura Linney as his strong and patient wife. Both actors received Golden Globe nominations for their performances, while the film also received a Best Picture (Drama) nomination.

You can't be watching serious movies like Kinsey and The Aviator all the time. You need to balance them with light, fun and frothy movies to prevent your head from exploding.

For superficial but very stylish entertainment, catch the utterly delightful Alfie. It stars the rakishly handsome Jude Law as Alfie, a horny chauffeur in New York who just can't keep his hands off women.

Enter the beautiful women — the very attractive Sienna Miller (who's now Jude's real-life girlfriend), the equally fetching Nia Long, the shapely Jane Krakowski (Ally MacBeal's secretary), as well as two actresses who have always impressed us, Susan Sarandon and Marisa Tomei.

Alfie gets romantically involved with all these hot babe, but he eventually gets his just desserts. This movie is a remake of the 1966 classic, which turned then-unknown actor Michael Caine into a star.

Girls, you will love how good these women look, and you will hate Jude for getting his hands on them.

Boys, here's Jude in very sexy clothes — now go buy ticket.

As we mentioned, 2004 was a splendid year for biopics. And one biopic which flew high above many other movies was Martin Scorsese's The Aviator.

Its title might suggest that its subject, Howard Hughes, was obsessed about planes. But he was crazy about many other things too — women, wealth, power and hygiene.

Indeed, it is not easy to classify this eccentric man who not only created the fastest planes on earth then, but also bedded legendary actresses Katherine Hepburn and Ava Gardner.

Yet director Martin has made the film so entertaining and the subject so fascinating, that many viewers at the screening Fridae attended stayed wide awake during the 3-hour film — and whaddaya know, there were no hobbits in sight!

The Aviator received six Golden Globe nominations — the second highest after the film Sideways — including Best Picture (Drama), Best Actor for Leonardo and Best Director for Martin.

It's the familiar story of two brothers who are polar opposites of each other: One (Shin Ha-gyun) is timid and studious, while the other (Korean supertwink Won Bin, the stuff of many gay men's fantasies) is rebellious and unruly.

The former always tops his class. Meanwhile, the latter is always courting trouble — if he's not courting girls. The tense relationship between the two brothers gets worse with age.

The movie is somewhat sentimental and predictable, but if you enjoyed Brotherhood Taegukgi, which played last year and also starring Won Bin, you will enjoy this.

The Sea Inside is a touching and profound film by Alejandro Amenabar (The Others), Spain's most talented gay director after Pedro Almodovar (Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!).

Based on a real-life story, it is about an ex-sailor who is paralysed after a tragic diving accident. After spending 30 years imprisoned in his own bed, he petitions the Spanish government to allow him to kill himself. But his requests are repeatedly denied.

Although the film doesn't centre on a gay character, we queers will be able to relate to its message of self-determination: That each person should have the right to decide how he/she wishes to live his/her life, without the interference of others. Don't miss it.

The wonderfully watchable actress Annette Bening, a.k.a. Mrs Warren Beatty, received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress (Musical or Comedy) for her role as Julia, an ageing theatre actress in the 1930s.

Tired of her life and looking for some inspiration, Julia embarks on an affair with a much younger man (Shaun Evans). The very handsome Bruce Greenwood also stars as Julia's gay admirer.

If you're an ageing queen yourself, then you'll also find plenty in the film to rejoice and think about.

Yes, we love to see gay and lesbian characters in movies. But this is outright ridiculous:

Billy Boyd (who played the cute hobbit Pippin in The Lord Of The Rings movies) has lent his voice for the character of Glen-Glenda, a sexually-confused plastic doll who kills human beings.

In this sequel to 2002's Meet The Parents, an engaged couple have arranged for their parents to meet. His parents are the free-spirited, happy-go-lucky Bernie (Dustin Hoffman) and Roz Focker (Barbra Streisand). Her parents are the no-nonsense Jack (Robert) and Dina Byrnes (Blythe Danner).

Barbra is absolutely hilarious in her silver screen comeback, gliding about sensuously as the sex therapist Mum always eager to dispense her sex advice. Yes, the jokes are somewhat cheap, but it is Barbra, Dustin and Robert who make them memorably funny.

In this elegant, honest and heartbreaking drama, two married couples who are frustrated with their spouses and themselves, embark on an affair with the other's partner.

This film is based on two novellas, We Don't Live Here Anymore and Adultery, by Andres Dubus. His short story In The Bedroom was turned into a extraordinary Oscar-nominated film in 2001 starring Sissy Spacek. So if you loved In The Bedroom and other intelligent family dramas like You Can Count On Me, don't miss We Don't Live Here Anymore.

All you campy musical fags would loooove this film adaptation of Andrew Lloyd Webber's stage musical. It is soooo over — over-confident, over-baked, over-the-top, over-acted, overdone. But if that's how you like your musicals — with big sets, big costumes, big hairdos, big numbers — then you won't be disappointed.

The young, beautiful and very talented Emmy Rossum won a much-deserved Golden Globe nomination for her role as the singer Christine, who is torn between two men — the hideous phantom living in the sewers and the handsome aristrocat. Check her out — she really can sing.

For art film lovers, we also recommend you watch Hirokazu Kore-eda's powerful and heart-wrenching drama, Nobody Knows.

It tells the story of an impoverished 12-year-old boy Akira (Yuya Yagira) who is left to look after his younger siblings in a spare apartment, while his irresponsible mother goes off with various boyfriends. Portraying the gradual and painful loss of childhood innocence, Yuya won the award for Best Actor at this year's Cannes Film Festival.

You're always guaranteed of a rollicking good time with Hong Kong superstar Stephen Chow. Kung Fu Hustle combines slapstick humour, computer-generated images (CGI) and martial arts to give you pure and breezy entertainment.

Stephen plays a wannabe gangster in 1940s China who unwittingly sparks off a full-out war between the villagers of Pig Sty and the notorious Axe Gang.

Don't miss this.

After making 114 movies in 22 years, Heavenly King Andy Lau was finally honoured with the Golden Horse Award for Best Actor for his charming performance in A World Without Thieves.

Andy and co-star Rene Liu play a thieving couple who cheat and rob their way across China — sort of like Bonnie and Clyde. But when the duo meet an innocent country bumpkin who believes that there are no thieves in this world, the two are compelled to assess their lives.

As every gay man who watched Korean films My Tutor Friend and Volcano High would recall, Kwon Sang Woo is the gorgeous star with the hot body to die for. He is back on our screens in a lighthearted drama about a Catholic priest who falls in love with a feisty and beautiful young woman (Ha Ji Won) — despite being bound by vows of celibacy.

The story is also rather predictable and dull, so we don't recommend you see it unless you're a diehard Kwon fan.