Last night, fellow Utility Player Shane and I decided to have a churl date and see the premiere of the latest in comic book action films - X-Men:First Class. As of late, the Marvel movies have either been a hit or a miss. For example, X-Men Origins: Wolverine still leaves a terrible taste in my mouth every time I mention it whereas Thor made me feel all warm and tingly inside. Erring on the side of caution, we decided to get there ridiculously early to ensure a prime sitting location and noticed that the theater in downtown Reno was packed beyond the telling of it with adolescent teeny-boppers - as we were walking in I noticed a number of them had textbooks sprawled across the seats in a vain attempt to multi-task. I applaud your effort to study for finals while seeing a movie, but come on, you're fooling no one. Not surprisingly, the movie was 95% filled with men, which is so beautiful. Whether you are gay or straight, we all have a desire to see fantastic explosions, inspiring mutant powers, and ridiculously hot people in tight uniforms. So in many respects, X-men will serve as the forum to bridge the gap between straight and gay men.

X-Men: First Class is a breath of fresh air - receiving an impressive score of 86% on RottenTomatoes.com - and is certainly a film that fans can be excited to see. The movie is a creation story; establishing the memorable personas of Professor X - played by James McAvoy - and Magneto - played by the gorgeous Michael Fassbender. Magneto's story begins in Nazi-controlled Poland. When taken from his parents at the concentration camp, Magneto's rage and sorrow consumes him and he shows an impressive display of power. This draws the attention of Nazi researcher Sebastian Shaw - played by Kevin Bacon - who molds Magneto into a perfect weapon and serves as a catalyst for the rest of the story. Juxtaposed to this plot line is the story of Charles Xavier, who befriends a young Mystique, and works to earn his doctorate in genetic mutation research. This movie sets the stage for all the other movies establishing the emergence of mutants into our society, the initial fear and rejection of humans to change and how the "X-Men" can to be. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed the movie. I am not as much of a comic book nerd as Shane - who was a little disgruntled by the minute details that the directors and production staff decided to alter. Literally the conversation went as follows:

Ginger: I thought the movie was amazing! I love the storyline and characters, so much better than the last 2 X-Men movies!

Shane: I liked it a lot .... but I didn't love it

Ginger: Why not?

Shane: Well ... Banshee in the original comic books is Irish - I mean they got the Ginger part right, but at that point why not just make him Irish. Darwin was Mexican not Black and that's not how Professor X actually loses his ability to walk ...

Ginger: .... nerd

Here are my top five reasons that you need to see X-Men: First Class

(1) Let's be frank, it's an X-Men movie; we love the characters, the franchise, and the special effects. Most people will go see this movie because it is an X-Men movie ... as they should

(2) If you have seen the other movies you'll appreciate the cameo appearances by other characters and suttle references they make throughout the film.

(3) Kevin Bacon ... I now have another movie to use for 6 degrees of separation

(4) The possible slightly gay relationship between fellow mutants Havok and Darwin ... this might be one of those times where I am reading too much into the movie ... but I read the sub text, I know it's there.

(5) Michael Fassbender, as I previously mentioned, is so ridiculous hot I cannot even handle. Coupled with that, Emma Frost was perhaps the sexiest and fiercest villainess we have had in a while. I have never seen someone pull off so many stylish white outfits or rock so much fur before in my life .... I want to be Emma Frost for Halloween.

Yeah me ... and every other gay man and sorority girl after seeing this movie.