Gay Cinema

[peteinportland]

This is the thread to talk about all queer-related cinema: gay, lesbian, bi, transgendered, queer friendly, anything related. You can suggest a movie, pan a movie, discuss a movie's impact on you or the broader community, talk about upcoming projects in queer cinema, or discuss any queer themed movie in detail. If this thread is popular and grows, we might add some more threads on this subject to help narrow the focus.

[peteinportland]

And first post is mine. Here are some queer themed movies that I love:

Torch Song Trilogy
Beautiful Thing
Speedway Junkie
My Beautiful Laundrette
The Bird Cage
Mysterious Skin
Three Dancing Slaves
Its My Party
Philadelphia
Kissing Jessica Stein

[Carissa]

Beautiful Thing and Jeffrey are two of my favorites.

[maisie12]

I originally posted about this moviein the other thread....I just had to mention it again since I cannot stress enough how amazing this film is...it is without question THE closest I have seen to BBM in its depiction of the two lovers' relationship ---in this case, based on a true story involving gay Argentinian gangsters/robbers who were killed in a hail of gunfire following a long period of hiding out in Uruguay. It is absolutely a film that, like BBM, eschews gay stereotypes and shows them as two people who found a deep and abiding love in the unlikeliest of places and times.  I really cannot even begin to list how many similarities there are --in theme, not in terms of the style of film it is (very dark, noirish, and a bit seedy) --to BBM.

[alexandra]

Beautiful Thing is lovely, and My Beautiful Laundrette is wonderful. I think I saw the original french version of the Bird Cage, which was La Cage aux Folles (sorry if that's the wrong spelling), and really liked that, too.
Torch Song Trilogy, that was good.

I've read really good reviews of the Argentinian gangsters thing, but havent been able to find it anywhere.

Another Country had some nice moments.

Bound was really good, and I really liked Lianna but apparently it's considered not pc enough, and the girl was too pretty or something, which is oddly reminiscent of some of the criticisms Brokeback Mountain has been getting on some gay boards, according to a thread here.

Desert Hearts was fairly good, but not as good as the book. The one funny thing I remember hearing about it was, that of course, as is normal when filming, the scenes were filmed out of order. So, the scene where the women kiss for the first time was filmed after a lot of the steamier scenes which happen further on. It's meant to be a quick, nervous peck, but they'd apparently got so used to the kissing already, and found it not at all unpleasant, that it became a lengthy, passionate kiss instead.

Oh, and Like It Is, about the boy who's a boxer leaving his home and travelling to London, and falling in love with the music producer guy, that's really nice too.

I could probably think of more but I'm sure I've bored people enough!

alexandra

[bluemoon]

I originally posted the following in another thread.  But this seems a more appropriate thread.

The best movies with a gay theme I have seen are "Gods and Monsters" and "Happy Together".

"Gods and Monsters" is the movie with the most complicated and richest story, whose main characters are gay. It is directed by Bill Condon, who also wrote the screenplay for "Chicago" and directed "Kinsey".  Beside its gay theme, it is also about creator and his creation and about unfinished and lost dream.
http://movies.yahoo.com/shop?d=hv&cf=info&id=1800018999

"Happy Together" is the movie that is very romantic in both its form and core and whose main characters are gay.  Director Wong Kar Wai, who also directed "In the mood for love" and "2046", was not afraid to explore the gay topic with his artist license.  Unlink Lee who is very cautious about what the straight audience might or might not accept, the sex scene is honest and revealing.  Beside its gay theme, it is also about self discovery and resolution.
http://movies.yahoo.com/shop?d=hv&cf=info&id=1800022193

[Nado]

Beautiful Thing was probably the first gay-themed movie I ever saw. I remember sobbing uncontrollably during the forest scene where Mama Cass sings, "You've Got to Make Your Own Music even if no one else sings along..."

Its My Party was poignant. Eric Roberts did a terrific job - loved the fact that he brought on his longtime pal, Marlee Matlin, onto the show as his sister.

[adamblast]

Mysterious Skin is the film that had me most captivated before Brokeback.   Gordon-Leavett is just amazing in it--talk about a brave gay performance by a straight guy.  He risked a hell of a lot more than our dear Heath & Jake.  He's Oscar nom material in the next year or two, I hear, getting some of the meatiest parts in town now. 

[mary]

So has anyone seen 'Imagine You and Me'?
I'd heard nothing about it until I saw a review in the LA Times. It apparently opens in selected cities today. The story is of two women in love.  It's sounded so-so from the review but my favorite part of the review:

The film has received an R rating from the MPAA, which seems a little silly considering that it features the kind of chaste smooching we've become accustomed to from Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks. Perhaps we must be content that we're at a point in time when a same-sex fairy-tale ending — the antithesis of the tragedy of "Brokeback Mountain" — will otherwise likely pass without a ripple of controversy.

You can read the complete review here:
http://www.calendarlive.com/movies/cl-et-imagine27jan27,0,6301686.story

[peteinportland]

I saw Transamerica today. GO SEE IT! It is a great buddy film with BBM. It is the first film I've seen in the theater since BBM and it was a perfect next film. Felicity Huffman does a great job, and her son played by Kevin Zegers is hot (and is bi and shown in a gay sex scene). It has some of the same broad themes as BBM and a great country soundtrack (including a kickass song by Dolly Parton). It also has a lot of funny moments, and I laughed out loud a lot.

Great film. Great acting. Another wonderful queer film in 2005!

[Mr. Wrong]

I was watching the Celluloid Closet and they had a clip from a movie called Red River. And man was Montgomery Clift hot hot hot!!! I would have liked to see him as Jack! Anyway, I recommend Celluloid Closet. It's very interesting to see how we (Gays) have been portrayed in older films.

Jason

[mary]

Went to see Transamerica last night. Thanks for the recommendation pete, I'd been meaning to see it but just hadn't gotten there yet.  I really enjoyed it - Felicity is great and I see what you all meant about young Mr Zegers. The theater was packed, it was a very upbeat audience - lots of laughter and clapping. As we left, the BBM showing next door was letting out too.  The audience mood was quite a contrast with the Transamerica audience mood. 

I commented to my husband that I'd almost forgotten what it was like  NOT to cry at the end of a film, since seeing Transamerica marks the first time in almost 2 months that I've gone to see any film but BBM.

[canmark]

Re: Transamerica. Like BBM, I think it's a film you have to see to believe. While BBM is saddled with the "gay cowboy movie" moniker which fails to acurately portray what kind of film it is, Transamerica (a MTF transexual travels cross-country with his/her newly discovered male prostitute son) sounds like an arty drama, which it's not. It's a delightful, touching, mainstream-ish movie about building family bonds. I've seen it 3 times and love it. Hopefully kudos for Felicity Huffman will induce more people to see it. And hopefully it'll get decent distribution. Right now it's still pretty limited.

Re: Jeffrey. I was disappointed in this film, in part because I loved the play so much. I saw the play in New York, San Francisco and Tokyo, and read the published version, and think it's really good. Somehow it lost its edge when it was turned into a film. Does anyone else think that?

Two of my favorite gay-themed films, The Sum of Us and Beautiful Thing, were based on plays (which I never got to see). Has anyone ever seen a production of these?

Has anyone seen The Hanging Garden? It's a Canadian film about a formerly obese young man who returns to his rural Nova Scotia family to deal with family issues involving homosexuality and a suicide attempt. Very good... and not as depressing as my description makes it sound. In fact, it won the people's choice award at the 1997 Toronto Film Festival.
http://www.filmreferencelibrary.ca/index.asp?layid=44&csid1=78&navid=87&fid3=555&offset=
http://www.mgm.com/title_title.do?title_star=HANGINGG

[Carissa]

Re: Jeffrey. I was disappointed in this film, in part because I loved the play so much. I saw the play in New York, San Francisco and Tokyo, and read the published version, and think it's really good. Somehow it lost its edge when it was turned into a film. Does anyone else think that?

I saw the film first and with such a fun crowd that I loved it.  I only saw a local community production that was in the town gay bar when I was at college.  It was very good too.

[aceygirl]

So has anyone seen 'Imagine You and Me'?
I'd heard nothing about it until I saw a review in the LA Times. It apparently opens in selected cities today. The story is of two women in love.  It's sounded so-so from the review but my favorite part of the review:

The film has received an R rating from the MPAA, which seems a little silly considering that it features the kind of chaste smooching we've become accustomed to from Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks. Perhaps we must be content that we're at a point in time when a same-sex fairy-tale ending — the antithesis of the tragedy of "Brokeback Mountain" — will otherwise likely pass without a ripple of controversy.

You can read the complete review here:
http://www.calendarlive.com/movies/cl-et-imagine27jan27,0,6301686.story

I kinda wanted to see this despite the mediocre-to-bad reviews (the NYTimes review was pretty  merciless). Isn't it silly that otherwise PG-13-rated sex scenes get an R when they're between same genders? 

I only wanted to see "You and Me" because, well, Piper Perabo definitely appeals to the bi girl in me. She was in the previous box-office disaster lesbian flick "Lost and Delirious," about boarding-school girls in love who are torn apart by one girl's fear of homophobia (gee, theme sound familliar?) I thought Piper was actually pretty good in that movie. Her career overall certainly seems to be of the "rated mediocre" sort (Coyote Ugly, Cheaper By the Dozen). But she's finding a niche in these foreign-made lesbian films, and I like those, even if they're not great cinema. 

However, I'll probably wait and rent this one on DVD...