Out in the Dark (2013) rating: 8/10

The technical details of how Palestinians can receive passes to visit Israel, and how some are 'recruited' to spy on other Palestinians by the Mossad is actually fascinating, but all of this happens in the middle of a slowly burning gay love story between a Palestinian and an Israeli. They leads are attractive, story is engaging, production values high. Worth seeing.

David vs Goliath by Malcolm Gladwell, rating: 7/10

You will find detractors for Malcolm Gladwell, but I find that he does write well and on interesting topics.

In this particular book, I learned a few things.
 
Being disagreeable can be an indicator of success. But you don't tend to be disagreeable unless you've had some hardships in life. (You could be disagreeable because you are a spoiled brat though.)

The other thing is roughly about police state and the legitimacy of authority. When the police state has no legitimacy, you would get rioting and resistance. Gladwell spends a couple chapters on this related to Northern Ireland.

There were a few other more points made, which though I had never really thought about them, they do seem rather more obvious:

Chasing Ice (2013) rating: 8/10

About climate change. A photographer captures time lapse of glaciers retreating in Iceland, Greenland and Alaska. In a rush? Skip to about the one hour mark for some spectacular calving.

But what to do? Conserve energy. Encourage a carbon tax.

August (2012) rating: 8/10

An ex-boyfriend, Troy, shows up again after an abrupt and devastating breakup. However, Jonathan, the ex-lover is like an addict, still wanting to get back with him despite having moved on and now getting serious and almost living with his current boyfriend.

For what is probably a low budget film, there is some very good acting and dialog. The story is full of romantic angst and drama.

Middle Eastern music throughout a movie set in LA is odd. The motivation given later is when the characters visit the hooka bar, but otherwise it sort of feels too intentional as a way to the film seem more serious.

Still I did like it as a realistic study of human nature. Plus the actors are not bad to look at. There are some sex scenes, too.

Man Of Steel (2013) rating: 8/10

I liked this movie, mostly because of the rather attractive Henry Cavill.

As mentioned by others, the early Superman storyline also has some parallels with the coming of age experience of a secret outsider, similar to a closeted gay kid. Young Superman has to keep his powers secret to avoid bringing unwanted attention to himself, especially before he was ready to become Superman. The story somewhat awkwardly shoehorns the idea that humans would not be ready to accept Superman when they learn he has such incredible powers, yet still looks like an ordinary person. There is the literal closet scene, where young superman hides from the noise and information that his powers give to him. The fence bully scene reminds slightly of Matthew Shepard, though the end result was obviously different.

Some folks complained about the action sequences being too much (too loud, etc).

The First Time (2012) rating: 7/10

Story about a high school senior who is getting nowhere with a platonic female friend. But he then meets a girl from another high school and is intrigued. Dylan O'Brien is alright to look at.

** slight spoiler **

The story involves some sexual incompatibility issues. It's pretty frank depiction of such an issue is interesting. At one point, the sidekick suggests something like "have you ever considered that you're too big?"

Safe Haven (2012) rating: 7/10

Cheesy, but not bad especially with Josh Duhamel on screen most of the time.  A typical Lasse Hallström film, in the similar vein as Dear John just with a different male hunk.  Duhamel is a better actor than Channing Tatum though.

* Spoilers *

I predicted about 15 minutes before the end, that the mysterious female friend to Julianne Hough, the female protagonist, was a ghost. Yes, the ghost of Duhamel's character's dead wife.  An interesting supernatural touch, but unfortunately heaven and all that is also brought into the story.

Psycho-Sexual: Male Desire in Hitchcock, De Palma, Scorsese, and Friedkin by David Greven; rating: 7/10

I didn't get through this whole book, but I did read a good part of the chapter discussing how a number of Hitchcock films seem to have an undercurrent of the gay vs the feminine. A male character befriends a male protagonist or even the villain and fights with a female lead for their loyalty. Greven pursues this thesis through a number of movies including Man who knew too much ('56) and North by Northwest.

I must say it's an interesting thought. Hitchcock did seem to have a lot of overtly gay characters and actors. The housekeeper, Ms Danvers, in Rebecca, the bodyguard, Leonard, in North by Northwest, the killers in Rope (taken from real life though), etc. It seems to be a topic which fascinated him, or possibly he had some personal interest in.

Anyhow, it puts Hitchcock in a new light, and could be a reason to revisit his films.