We swear, straight men are getting gayer and gayer by the day.

First, an English bloke named Mark Simpson coined the term “metrosexual” in the 1990s to define the vain heterosexual man. Then came a flurry of almost-gay-but-not-gay terms like “manbags”, “manscara”, “bro-zilian”, “boyzilian”, “buddymoon”, “man-crush” and “mandate” – as if adding “man” or “boy” in front of a word instantly made it more masculine.

Along the way, someone else coined the term “bromance” and a slew of bromantic movies began to appear ( Superbad, I Pronounce You Chuck & Larry, The 40-Year-Old Virgin ). Movie writers quickly changed the classic term “buddy movies” to “bromances”, and applied it retroactively so now even Lethal Weapon, Point Break, Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid, and Fight Club are considered bromances.

It was only a matter of time before Hollywood produced the most unabashed, overtly bromantic movie of them all. It’s called I Love You, Man and it opens this week.

Doing away with the classic characteristic of a buddy/bromantic movie – namely, action – I Love You, Man is a chick flick for guys. It’s about two straight men (Paul Rudd and Jason Segel) who meet, share many laughs together, get into a fight, and then hug and make up. It’s warm, fuzzy and funny. In short, it’s a hoot.

There are two other new movies this week: Trail of a Panda from China and Nobody To Watch Over Me from Japan .

But you’ve probably made up your mind already which of the three you want to watch…

I Love You, Man

In recent years, there has been quite a bit of “bromance” in the movies. Bromance – let’s be clear before someone gets the wrong idea – refers to love and loyalty between heterosexual men. There’s no sex involved, except maybe in very rare cases where the men are pissed drunk, sharing the same bed and open to experience.

The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Knocked Up, Superbad, I Pronounce You Chuck & Larry, Harold & Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay and, hell, even The Lord of the Rings trilogy were centred on the bonds between men (or hobbits). And what with Hollywood waking up often to read about gay marriage in the L.A. Times, it’s not altogether surprising that the issue of male love would become the stuff of Hollywood comedies.

In I Love You, Man, the most bromantic comedy to date, Paul Rudd plays a man who is sweet, sensitive and smart – the sort that most straight girls want to meet. He is about to marry a nice girl (Rashida Jones from The Office) but he soon realises that he doesn’t have a male friend to be his best man. Unlike other guys who grew up awkward around women, Paul has long been comfortable around women. It’s men he has a problem with.

And so begins Paul’s desperate – and desperately funny – efforts to find a man. He goes on a few “man-dates” but they turn out disastrously. He then meets Jason Segel (from How I Met Your Mother), an overweight and insensitive slacker who burps loudly and lives in man-cave. Could he be Mr Right?

Directed by John Hamburg, I Love You, Man is hilarious, especially to an LGBT audience. Some jokes become double- or triple-edged when filtered through our gay sensibilities, and a running gag about Paul’s favourite film Chocolat is priceless. There is subversive pleasure in watching two straight blokes explore their deepest feelings for each other, while Paul’s fiance and family – including his gay brother – cheer them on.

In a blockbuster season replete with big-budget spectacles, this charming and compassionate bromance is easily the must-see of the month. In recent years, there has been quite a bit of “bromance” in the movies. Bromance – let’s be clear before someone gets the wrong idea – refers to love and loyalty between heterosexual men. There’s no sex involved, except maybe in very rare cases where the men are pissed drunk, sharing the same bed and open to experience.

The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Knocked Up, Superbad, I Pronounce You Chuck & Larry, Harold & Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay and, hell, even The Lord of the Rings trilogy were centred on the bonds between men (or hobbits). And what with Hollywood waking up often to read about gay marriage in the L.A. Times, it’s not altogether surprising that the issue of male love would become the stuff of Hollywood comedies.

In I Love You, Man, the most bromantic comedy to date, Paul Rudd plays a man who is sweet, sensitive and smart – the sort that most straight girls want to meet. He is about to marry a nice girl (Rashida Jones from The Office) but he soon realises that he doesn’t have a male friend to be his best man. Unlike other guys who grew up awkward around women, Paul has long been comfortable around women. It’s men he has a problem with.

And so begins Paul’s desperate – and desperately funny – efforts to find a man. He goes on a few “man-dates” but they turn out disastrously. He then meets Jason Segel (from How I Met Your Mother), an overweight and insensitive slacker who burps loudly and lives in man-cave. Could he be Mr Right?

Directed by John Hamburg, I Love You, Man is hilarious, especially to an LGBT audience. Some jokes become double- or triple-edged when filtered through our gay sensibilities, and a running gag about Paul’s favourite film Chocolat is priceless. There is subversive pleasure in watching two straight blokes explore their deepest feelings for each other, while Paul’s fiance and family – including his gay brother – cheer them on.

In a blockbuster season replete with big-budget spectacles, this charming and compassionate bromance is easily the must-see of the month.

In Japanese with subtitles

Cathay exclusive

We live in an age of information - some would say, too much information. A sensational, videotaped act can be uploaded on the Internet and watched by millions within a day. A slip of the tongue by someone famous can be blogged about instantly - and bitched about for days. In this regard, the title of the new Japanese film is beautifully double-edged. Nobody To Watch Over Me suggests the solitude of the central characters. But the obvious irony is that the public and the media can't get enough of them.

Nobody To Watch Over Me begins with the arrest of a boy for the murder of two girls. The police does not release his details. But the media quickly finds out who he is and starts camping outside his family's house. Meanwhile, inside the house, his teenage sister (Mirai Shida) and his parents watch helplessly as their lives dramatically fall apart.

As hundreds of reporters and photographers turn into one massive mob, thousands of Netizens post their comments on forums and blogs. Some accuse the parents of negligence, while others absolve them. A policemen (Koichi Sato) assigned to protect Mirai finds it harder and harder to shield her from the ravenous throngs...

In the first half of the film, writer-director Ryochi Kimizuka skilfully depicts the mass hysteria surrounding the case, as well as the panic and distress it causes the family. Shot in a gritty documentary style, there is no denying the impact and relevance of the film's first hour, which accurately chronicles the media currency of our time. Unfortunately, the film slowly gives way to a more conventional melodrama, undermining all the potent drama that has gone before. Even strong performances by lead actors Mirai Shida and Koichi Sato fail to lift the mediocre ending.

This is not a must-watch, although students of sociology and mass media may find much here to mull over.

In Mandarin with English Subtitles

GV exclusive

First Kungfu Panda (2008), then Panda Diary (2009), and now Trail of the Panda. Believe us when we say, there’ll be more movies about these black-and-white furballs, these national treasures of China, now that China is fast becoming an economic powerhouse.

The latest panda drama stars 10-year-old Chinese-Japanese actor Daichi Harashima as an orphan who lives with a kind old man (Zheng Xi) in the wilderness of Wolong , Sichuan . When the pair find a panda family in the forest, they decide to tell a scientist (Feng Li) about their discovery. But the scientist decides to take one of baby pandas away for research instead. It is now up to the boy to save our cute baby panda…

Trail of the Panda was shot against the stunning backdrops of Siguniang Mountain , Balang Mountain and Wolong Giant Panda Nature Reserve in Sichuan Province in early 2008. Without a doubt, there’s plenty of Nature’s beauty to feast your eyes on. But as a film, Trail of the Panda is disappointingly childish and simple. It may please kids and nature lovers, but it may bore everyone else to sleep.

You may, however, still want to watch it for the Wolong scenery. Parts of it were destroyed in the Sichuan Earthquake in May 2008 which killed more than 70,000 people as well as one of the pandas in the movie.