Hey, everyone. ”Moriarty” here.

I'm working on my review of MILK right now, and it's interesting... as Oscar season heats up, and as I'm mainlining movies all week every week, it seems like some of them are sticking with me. MILK is one of those, and I look forward to seeing what happens with it in terms of the national dialogue when it comes out later this week.

For now, check out this enthusiastic review from "Mr. Sideshow":

Gus Van Sant’s “Milk” is one of the most perfectly timed films I’ve ever seen. Its release date and its subject matter are insanely prescient, so much so that it seems pre-ordained. It also happens to be a masterpiece.

The film chronicles the life of Harvey Milk, the first openly gay man elected to public office. His life was previously chronicled in the Oscar-winning documentary “The Times of Harvey Milk” and his is a remarkable story. A deeply closeted Wall Street banker, Harvey moves to San Francisco soon after his 40th birthday and becomes a central figure in the gay rights movement. He recognizes the need for organization and for displaying kindness and decency instead of anger and rancor in pushing the movement forward. Eventually, he rises in rank from community organizer to elected office (sound familiar?) and, as City Supervisor, moves to fight Proposition 6, a California state measure that would remove the rights of homosexuals across the state (again, sound familiar?). I won’t tell you how it ends in case you don’t already know but I will say that the timeliness of the film’s themes is astounding throughout.

I should note that part of my opinion of the film was shaped by the reality of the situation our nation faces at this moment. As I drove to the screening, I was slowed by traffic due to the protests in West Hollywood against the passing of Proposition 8, a ban on gay marriage, a right Californians have held for six months. As I was watching the protest scenes in “Milk” and knowing that the same thing was happening now, less than a mile away, I got chills and felt a little ashamed. Ashamed that I wasn’t out there with them, protesting not for myself, since I have the right to wed whomever I choose, but for my roommate, for my brother, and for my countless friends who just had their rights snatched away, their state rights removed by a church-based movement. This is the same prejudice Harvey Milk was fighting and it is the same fight that is happening today, right now, 30 years later.

They couldn’t have known things would explode in this way, right on the eve of the film’s release. They simply set out to make the best, most honest film they could about the life of an important spokesman for civil rights. Boy, did they succeed. Gus Van Sant has always been a fascinating director. He’s made excellent mainstream films like “Good Will Hunting” but also smaller, more experimental, yet no less powerful films like “Elephant” (worth checking out if you haven’t, it won the Palme D’Or at Cannes ). Granted, he also did the extremely ill-conceived shot-for-shot remake of ‘Psycho’ but, however you may feel about the film, you can’t deny it took balls to attempt. ‘Milk’ is, to me, his best and most assured film. It’s thematically consistent, funny and yes, powerful. The film makes use of intercutting period documentary footage throughout. Sometimes coupling this with a low grade film stock (they use 16mm and possibly even 8mm in places) and handheld camera work affords the film a breathtaking sense of authenticity and the kind of experimental improvisation you often see in the works of early filmmakers (see the shallow focus love scene). It’s exhilarating to watch.

Every single major actor in this film puts out Oscar-caliber work. Emile Hirsch, Diego Luna, and James Franco are all stellar. Josh Brolin, in particular, is devastating in his role of Dan White, a fellow Supervisor who struggles to come to grips with his stance in the ever-evolving moral landscape of his city. There is one scene with a very drunk Dan White confronting Harvey that is a doozy. I won’t ruin it for you but watch for it. You won’t soon forget it.

Then there’s Sean Penn as Harvey Milk. In the coming months, you are going to hear a lot about this performance, all the way up to Oscar night, where he will be favored to win. Mark my words. It is as impressive a transformative performance as Daniel Day-Lewis’s Oscar-winning role from last year. Outside of acting, Sean Penn has a soft-spoken, demure voice and way of presenting himself. He often speaks in a low, near-monotone and never reveals what cards he’s holding. The person in this film is not Sean Penn. It is another soul entirely. It would be easy to turn a portrayal of Harvey into a flamboyant caricature but Sean Penn presents a very honest and believable person who wears his heart on his sleeve and isn’t afraid to stand for what’s right, hitting every note perfectly. You simply have to see it and after you do, check out Penn’s Oscar-winning performance in ‘ Mystic River ’. Talk about range. You won’t believe it’s the same actor.

The bottom line is that people should see ‘Milk’. You’ve probably already decided whether or not this film is for you and that’s fine. I don’t think it’s going to change an evangelical’s stance on homosexuality and, due to the subject matter and sex scenes, extreme homophobes need not apply. The message for them will unfortunately get lost in their juvenile revulsion to the subject.

Then, who is it for, you may ask. I don’t think the film exists to convert people (if it does, of course, all the better). Rather, I think the film is for those out there who already support the cause, who believe in a brighter future and who have faith that people are good at heart and that, in order for our society to move forward, inequality and discrimination can not persist. Harvey was a man whose primary message was hope (again, sound familiar?) and the film shares that vision. This is a film that should inspire people to go out to these protests, make their opinions heard and show that they are not afraid to be who they are. Harvey believed this, saying, “if a bullet should enter my brain, let it destroy every closet door.” That was thirty years ago and here we are, still protesting, still fighting, and still hoping. You have to start somewhere though and hope’s not bad. In the words of Harvey , “You gotta give them hope.”