And because I am apparently insane...

[wesleysgirl]

Let's do it again, only with gay themed films!

Anything goes. M/M, F/F, slashy-vibes-only. Films you liked, films you hated. Please don't hesitate to suggest something, even if you don't have time to say why you liked it or didn't like it. (Although please, *please* say whether you liked it or didn't like it. If you don't say, I'll assume your comment means that you liked the film.) Also, feel free to say you didn't like a movie someone else did.

(Warning - There will surely be spoilers herein. If you don't like them, avoid this post and wait for the master list.)


Movies I liked:

All Over the Guy - Two gay guys. Tom and Eli are unbelievably adorable, separately and together. Gah. This is one of the best gay films I've seen. Great acting, good filmmaking, very real characters. I even like the soundtrack. Tom and Eli argue so realistically.

Beautiful Thing - Very sweet. Lovely British boys and kissing. As mogigraphia said when she suggested it to me, the end scene is something utterly unlikely to happen, but it's a nice movie, although the parenting it demonstrates leaves a bit to be desired and I wouldn't suggest watching it with younger kids in the room.

Better Than Chocolate - Two young women fall in love. A fun movie with lots of talented actresses. Lots of nice kissing. Mmm.

Big Eden - This is a romance. I've heard some people say it's boring, but I think it's beautiful. It's a movie about two people falling in love much more than it's about gay men.

The Bird Cage - I like it. It's over the top, definitely.

Drift - This movie is... hard to explain, and if I were to try, I'd spoil it for people, I think. So I'll just say that I enjoyed it. Gay men. Discussions about sex. There's no bad here.

Get Real - Gay drama about a high school boy who's known he's gay for a long time, then falls in love with a jock who's in denial. Some nice scenes between the two of them, and the main bloke has a fat girl for a best friend, which is lovely. Not a typical happy ending, but it's not really an unhappy ending either. Worth a watch.

Heavenly Creatures - Kate Winslet is wonderful in this dark film based on the true story of a girl who murders her mother with her best friend's help, but it's Melanie Lynskey who really captured my heart. Angsty and overly dramatic in the way teenaged girls are.

In and Out - I know some people have mixed feelings about this movie, but I love it. I pretty much love anything with Kevin Kline, though.

The Incredibly True Adventure of Two Girls in Love - This stars Baby!Laurel Holloman, who played Justine on Angel and is now on The L Word. Two girls in high school. Very nice scenes as they get to know each other and fall in love. An old favorite.

I Think I Do - Gay movie about college roommates who meet again after several years. I didn't find either of the guys very appealing at the beginning of the movie, but they grew on me as it went on and by the end I was pleased at the happy ending. Not a great movie, but better than some.

Jeffrey - Patrick Stewart is in this. What more needs to be said?.

Latter Days - Very good film about two guys who get together despite the fact that one of the them is a Mormon and believe it's wrong. A series-of-coincidences film. I liked it, I'd probably watch it again. Happy ending.

Lilies - I don't even know how to describe this one. It's like a cross between Dead Poet's Society and Quills, with a gay relationship between two boys (told in flashback through a play put on by men in prison, so all the parts are played by men, even those of female characters. I didn't realize this at first. This 'woman' came on-screen and I thought "Wow, that's one masculine, flat-chested lady" only to realize five minutes later that, yes, it was all men.) Not the best film ever, but worth watching if you liked Quills, I think.

Lost and Delirious - A new girl at a boarding school discovers that her roommates are lovers. Very angsty, but beautifully filmed and well acted.

Maurice - Nice to look at. Pretty. Has a pseudo-happy ending, but for the most part it didn't leave me feeling all warm and cozy.

Priest - Beautiful film about a gay priest struggling with his faith for a variety of reasons. Wonderful slashy vibes in addition to erotica. Linus Roache and Robert Carlyle are gorgeous and very talented.

Touch of Pink - This was good. Two gay guys in London, one of whom isn't out to his mom. She comes to visit, so there's the inevitable 'pretending we're just roommates' thing, but this one is a little bit different than the typical. It's pretty real, the acting is very good, and there's a happy ending with smoochies. No complaints here.

Torch Song Trilogy - I found this movie so traumatic to watch the first and only time that I saw it that I've never watched it again. But it's good.

Velvet Goldmine - Sexy Ewan McGregor.

I'm putting the original UK Queer as Folk, the US Queer as Folk, and The L Word on here, too.



Movies I didn't like:

Circuit - Gay cop moves to LA, goes to clubs, does drugs.

Gone But Not Forgotten - Gay forest ranger rescues man who then wakes up with amnesia. A relationship develops between them, then amnesia-man discovers who he really is. More than once. Barely worth the rental.

Luster - Pretty gay boys. Modern. Lots of drug use. When it was over I was kind of disappointed. But at least there were some interesting moments. It had a bit of an independent-film feel to it, like the person working the camera didn't quite know what he was doing.

Red Dirt - Gay men in the south. One of them with a seriously fucked up family that includes his female cousin who's in love with him and his mentally ill aunt. It was actually a well-made movie, but the two guys *don't* end up together at the end, which made it feel like a wasted couple of hours.

10 Attitudes - Movie about a gay guy who finds out his boyfriend is cheating on him and goes back out into the world of dating. Really horrid. So boring that I stopped paying attention halfway through. Don't waste your time.

Trick - Eh. Let's just say that this otherwise cute, light-hearted, sort-of-comedy about two gay men trying to hook up co-starts Tori Spelling.

Under One Roof - Terrible. Gay guy living in his mother's house begins a relationship with a boarder she's renting to. Nothing memorable here. Cheesy porn would be a better use of your time.

Comments

[that_mireille]

Another Country. I like it, although by now I skip all the serious social commentary stuff (which is why I bought it in the first place) and just watch the pretty parts. Rupert Everett, Cary Elwes, public school uniforms.

[byrne.livejournal.com]

Nothing you don't have but god, I love Big Eden. So much.

And there is nothing at all wrong with Priest. Two very different movies, but so, so good.

[lasultrix.livejournal.com]

Two films you'll probably never be able to find:

Krampack - Spanish film, teenage boys playing around, delightfully dirty, delightfully lecherous older man, not a love story in any shape or form but a hell of a lot of fun with the dark comedy nonetheless. Brilliant.

Goldfish Memory - Irish film that came out two years ago. Lots of interconnecting lives and romances, some het, some m/m, some f/f, not to mention the gay man and the lesbian getting drunk and hooking up. All very clever and funny with a light touch but not superficial. My favourite bit would have to be the college girl seduced by her lecturer, who breaks up with him after she realises he's seduced another girl in college, who then gets seduced by a lesbian journalist, but doesn't bring it further because the journalist wants to get serious... and then uses the same line the journalist uses on her on her original rival for the lecturer's affections! (Yep, it's complicated. I should have used names. But it's a lot of fun.)

[wesleysgirl.livejournal.com]

Astonishingly, they are both on Netflix and I've added them to my queue. Thank you!! :-)

[bittersweet_art.livejournal.com]

Oh, I love Priest I cry every single time I watch it.

I also loved Bent. Clive Owen and Lothaire Bluteau, in a movie about being gay during WW2. I don't remember much of it right now, but I recently bought it, so when I see it again, I can tell you more;)

longer reply later...

[raveninthewind.livejournal.com]

My current fave: Wilby Wonderful

Re: longer reply later...

[wesleysgirl.livejournal.com]

I finally got to see this a couple of weeks ago and I REALLY liked it a lot. Thanks so much for letting me know it exists! *Hugs*

[ivy-ella.livejournal.com]

My favourite - The Wedding Banquet

[wesleysgirl.livejournal.com]

Oh my GOSH - how did I forget that? I love that movie. :-)

[varina8.livejournal.com]

Great pick. On the girls' side of aisle, I must recommend a new one called Saving Face about a Chinese-American surgical resident in NYC who's juggling her role as dutiful daughter to her widowed mother and her budding romance with a dancer. Everything goes wonderfully crazy when mom (played by the always brilliant Joan Chen) shows up on her doorstep pregnant and refusing to say who the father is.

My recs:

[zoetrope.livejournal.com]

Everyone must know this one:
But I'm A Cheerleader - A movie with a strong personality. Quirky, silly, moving and hot. Natasha Lyonne is a cheerleader, but her friends and family all think she's gay, due to her affinity with female singer-songwriters and her vegetarianism. So they pack her off to Gay Boot camp, a move that backfires when she meets brooding, sexy Clea Duvall.

A great film I saw recently was:
D.E.B.S. - A femmy spoof of the spy-film genre, with schoolgirls passing a secret test
within the SATs that determines whether they would make good spies, recruiting those that do into FBI-like body: D.E.B.S. However, when the ultimate poster-girl D.E.B. falls in love with arch criminal mastermind Lucy Diamond, her world falls apart under Lucy's determined wooing. Sexy, very funny and great SFX, definitely worth a watch.

And finally:
Wilby Wonderful - A day in the life of small island village Wilby in the aftermath of a mysterious scandal. There are many threads to this story, and the gay love affair between Callum Keith Rennie and Jim Allodi is just one of them, however it bookends the film and holds all the threads together. Callum is a simple handyman in love with Allodi, a suicidal video-store owner. Quiet, simple and very romantic.

Re: My recs:

[wesleysgirl.livejournal.com]

Clea Duvall? *Dies* I adore her.

Thank you!

[estepheia.livejournal.com]

Echte Kerle
I must have seen this one half a dozen times. I think it's cute and it has just the right amount of friendshippiness.
The story: Cop gets kicked out by g/f, gets drunk, wakes up in bed with another guy (a GAY guy, ohmygod), can't remember a thing, has no place to stay, wonders if something happened, stays with the gay bloke anyway (in the guestroom), likes the new (female) colleague, but suddenly everybody on the force thinks he's gay...

A comedy with a few very tidy solutions, cute actors, and an overall fun atmosphere. There's a cops-and-car thieves storyline as well, superfluous, if you ask me, but it makes for a few good character scenes between the hero and his colleagues. :-)

Männer wie wir - about a gay soccer player who gets told that queers can't play soccer. He tries to get together a gay soccer team. There are stereotypes, but also cuteness. I loved it, especially the three huge motorcycle gang black leather queers who lived together....

[stumbelina.livejournal.com]

Y tu mamá también - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0245574/ and The dreamers - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0309987/ are as slashy as slashy things.

Tipping the velvet in your Tv category

[castalie.livejournal.com]

For f/f: But I'm a cheerleader.

For m/m: Mambo Italiano and The Wedding Banquet.

[ahestele.livejournal.com]

Querida!

You CANNOT include f/f slash on your movie list without mentioning Personal Best. It stars Mariel Hemmingway and Patrice Donovan and does an impressive portrayal of the cameraderie and lesbiaism in women's sports. It has fallen out of favor because the ending is typical of the time the movie was made but there is LOTS of full frontal from these women. I don't about where you live but here it is a proverbial favorite only surpassed by-

Desert Hearts Another total, more PC correct favorite since the ending is more palatable, it is based on a book and this is one of the only times I maintain that the movie is better. Stars Helen Shaver and Patricia Charbonneaux(?) as a lit professor going to to get a Reno divorce and free-spirited lesbian working in a casino respectively. Some of the hottest sex scenes and a poignant mother/daughter storyline in the mix, too. I'd reccomened it.

Oranges Aren't the Only Fruit is somewhat dated but really very, very cute. A short, quirky girl falls for a suave, beautiful, French museum curator and hijinks ensue. I haven't seen this in so long the plot is sketchy but I do remember that, while I'm not sure if there is any sex, I was left with a smiley feeling.

One from this century is Prey for Rock and Roll with Gina Gershon, Lori Petty (whom I lovelovelove) and Drea DeMatteo. Done in black and white this film follows the trials of a female hard rock band as they try to get signed and deal with all their drama. Gina is bi but Lori Petty and the drummer are in a positive lesbian relationship. It is actually kind of a dark, heavy film, but a good one, I thought. Not exactly lighthearted, tho, so be warned.

One I would NOT reccomend is a grainy early/mid eighties film called Lianna only because the film quality is sub-standard at best, and I mean that literally and conceptually. Thin plot and a protagonist that got on my last nerve just from her hapless stumbling around the storyline. Watch for comparison's sake if you must but I wouldn't even try to find this one.

That's what I got!

Thanks for your recs!

[minim_calibre]

Bound sexy lesbian almost-noir with a kickin' ending.

Edward II weird and arty version of Marlowe's play.

Orlando more gendertwist than f/f or m/m, but still on my list.

OT

[lucifrix.livejournal.com]

My heart bursts with love for your icon.

[entrenous88.livejournal.com]

Go Fish -- the film chooses not to spend time on the typical coming-out story and just works with the realities and romantic aspects of four lesbian women dealing with relationship issues. It has a few moments that are very "Lookit! I went to film school!" (shadows and a clock ticking and blah de blah), and the acting can be a bit stiff here and there (mostly an issue of editing, I think) -- but it's just an utterly charming love story -- you root so hard for the couple to get together.

The Living End A road trip movie, with the innovation that the "buddies" are two men who have both recently learned of their HIV positive status, and take off from the law and the realities of the disease. Some of the aspects of their relationship are awkward, some violent, some bordering on misogynistic, but overall it's an incredibly moving and provocative film. Similar issues to the one above in that the acting is occasionally stilted and the film could have used better editing, but well worth watching.

[shepenwepet.livejournal.com]

"Go Fish."

A small independent film I saw years ago. I liked it then. It's about a group of lesbian friends. The ups and downs of life and dating.

[tsavoritegarnet.livejournal.com]

I think I'm a sucker for camp. I liked "Victor Victoria" and "Le Cage au faux" (which I may have misspelled -- the bird cage in french) as well as the robin williams remake of it. Also "To Wong Foo, thanks for everything, julie newmar" and the australian origional of that one. . . which I've lost the name of at the moment.

[reginagiraffe]

Pricilla, Queen of the Desert

[tsavoritegarnet.livejournal.com]

That was it. Thank you. :-)

[reginagiraffe]

I recently watched this again after not seeing since it came out (lo these many years ago).

A flaming Hugh Weaving! Eep! I will never watch LotR quite the same way again. *g*

Gay interest recs

[astarte99.livejournal.com]

I made it a habit in college to watch every gay interest film that I could find. Fortunately, I am good at convenient amnesia, since most of them are terrible. I have a spreadsheet somewhere with a listing of yay/nay (I do movie reviews for my own use for just about everything I see *is a geek*) that I will see if I can find. These are what are coming to mind ATM (most of them have already been mentioned and I am just including for additional commentary).

Taboo - Loved this film. A japanese movie about the problems that occur when everyone in a samurai training school want the same boy. Totally awesome sword work - it's firstly a samurai movie and secondarily a gay central plotline movie so the action is fantastic.

Bound - Made by the guys who did the matrix movies (and the reason I was so excited to see said movies when they came out), this is one of my favorite movies. Great casting, excellent characters, a complicated caper gone awry. Plus some hot lesbian action between the two main characters.

A Home at the End of the World - the book is fantastic, they movie is ok. Worth watching, but definitely not as good as the book. I give it a so-so rating.

Priest - which I discovered due to a certain vid at a certain slash convention. Of course I went out and bought it immediately and love and adore it. Yay.

A Touch of Pink - Cute with a side of camp. A 'my mom is coming to visit and I don't want her to know I am gay' movie. The highlight is definitely the invisible friend/mentor.

Hedwig and the Angry Inch and Velvet Goldmine are both fun and over-the-top if that is what you are looking for. Fabulous visuals and angst.

Philadelphia - needs no introduction

Angels in America - the mini series - spectacularly cast and acted. Based on the play that I loved back in the day.

Boys Don't Cry - amazing movie, Hilary Swank deserved her award

Gods and Monsters

Gia - everyone knows that I have had a thing for Angelina since back in Cyborg 2. If you aren't interested in ogling her, though, you probably won't like the movie despite it's central lesbian relationship. *lusts*

Bent - gays in a WW2 concentration camp. I haven't seen it in a few years, but I definitely remember love it for the dialog and its delivery - the fast paced really wordy kind of thing that gets me all hot. There isn't much action and it has the feel of a wordy play, so it's not for everyone.

Recs on things to avoid:
-Better than Chocolate (which I considered to be a cautionary tale in letting Canadians make lesbian films)
-Broken hearts club (painful to watch)
-To Wong Fu thanks for everything (way too over the top for me)
-Princesa- boring
-Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil - ridiculous movie, even Kevin Spacey couldn't save it

Re: Gay interest recs

[astarte99.livejournal.com]

Err.. Sorry about the skipped commentary

Gods and Monsters - Ian McKellan as a not-entirely ok gay man. Interesting friendship with the gardener, whatever his name was. (It's been a while.)

Also - I just realized that I forgot Pricilla Queen of the Desert, which is the only super camp movie that I like.

Another one to add to the so-so category is Kissing Jessica Stein. Mainly because I dislike movies where straight girls experiment and then go back to being straight. ('Tis a sore spot.) But them getting together and working through the awkward stage of not knowing what to do is awesome. If not for the ending I would give it a thumbs up, so keep that in mind.

Re: Gay interest recs

[moonlettuce.livejournal.com]

Interesting friendship with the gardener, whatever his name was. (It's been a while.)

Brendan Fraser.

Although, I nearly typed Benton Fraser there. Which is an entirely different mental image ;-)

Re: Gay interest recs

[astarte99.livejournal.com]

Oh yeah. Thanks. And yeah that would certainly be quite a different mental picture. *squints*

Re: Gay interest recs

[sam-gamgee.livejournal.com]

Those are some good recs. I watched Bound in a film class and as part of the introduction, my professor said, "This is the movie the Wachowski brothers did before they figured out they could do The Matrix."

And I enjoyed Broken Hearts Club, but then again, I was probably there more for the pretty than the plot. :-P

[oolongtea.livejournal.com]

Hight Art.

Ally Sheedy and Rhada Mitchell are very hot.

[emella.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure this goes, but Murder by numbers. That movie was one step up from being two boys making out. The whole way through it I was wondering why they weren't like kissing.

[emella.livejournal.com]

Forgive me, it's early and I'm sleepy and my inner valley girl likes to slip out.

[felisblanco.livejournal.com]

Thank you. Think I've tried 2-3 times to ask people for gay film recs and I got maybe three. *sulks* Anyway...

Almost every movie by Pedro Almodóvar especially:
La ley del deseo or Law of Desire featuring Antonio Banderas as an obsessed model/actor
La mala educación or Bad Education about young love and molestation in a Catholic school.

And if you like seeing men in drag or transvestites, Almodóvar should be at the top of your list because there's hardly any film by him that doesn't feature at least one. lol

Oh and for boy/boy/girl threesomes:

Threesome obviously. Only film I ever found any of the Baldwin brothers hot.
Y tu mamá también Two teenage boys go on a journey with an older woman.

[sufie58.livejournal.com]

My Beautiful Laundrette with Daniel Day Lewis. He's a young guy working for an Asian man who owns a laundrette, becomes friendly with the son - sounds awful, I know, but well worth watching - honestly.

[http://users.livejournal.com/tesserae_/]

Oh, yes, this was one of my favorites - funny and bittersweet, and there's just no bad to early DDL.

[tsuki-no-bara.livejournal.com]

already mentioned:

high art - i think the straight-girl-discovering-her-inner-lesbian part is kind of secondary to the rest of the movie, but it's very interesting and not exploitative, and hey, ally sheedy as an adult! :D

wilby wonderful - the gay subplot is one plot of many, but it's very sweet and low-key and the last scene between the two men made me squee

gods and monsters - ian mckellen is fabulous and brendan fraser is wowhot, but it's ultimately very sad

heavenly creatures - peter jackson's first serious film! :D ie, not a splatter movie. and CREEEEEPY. but really really good, and the effects are neat, and did i mention the creepy?

priscilla, queen of the desert - campy as shit, hysterically funny. "just what the world needs - a cock in a frock on a rock." heh. plus, agent smith!

not mentioned, but possibly very hard to find:

enkort enlang - danish movie in which one half of a gay couple falls in love with his sister-in-law. (and sleeps with her, too.) very funny, kind of slapstick, some very touching moments and some ouch, and a fairly unrealistic ending, but i really liked it, and the fact that mads mikkelsen is the cheating gay boy has nothing to do with it, really. *innocent look* his boyfriend hits him with a piece of toast. (i think the english translation of the title is shake it all about.)

not sure what to think:

my own private idaho - keanu reeves and river phoenix as gay hustlers. i remember it being very arty and not necessarily in a good way. river phoenix fans might enjoy it, tho, because he's always good

[viciouswishes.livejournal.com]

Far From Heaven - Loved the filming and excellent acting. A wife finds out that her husband is gay. Set in 1950s. Parrell themes of husband loving a man and the wife falling for a black man. Makes me cry. A lot.

The Hours - F/F mostly, with side-role m/m. I love this movie. But a lot of people don't.

Kissing Jessica Stein - F/F It's a cute romantic comedy, but I'm really on the fence at whether I would call it a good movie.

The Truth About Jane - F/F A girl's coming out story. Also on the fence.

Frida - F/F Has a little bit about Frida Kahol's attraction with women

Chasing Amy - F/F with hints of M/M. I love Kevin Smith and find this movie hilarious, but I know many gay people who are insulted by it.

All About My Mother - Mostly about drag queens and prostitutes, so no sex. But a very well done movie and very touching. In Spanish.

Gay movie recommendations

[kittygoslingp.livejournal.com]

The Opposite of Sex starring Christina Ricci, Martin Donovan and Lisa Kudrow is excellent. CR is a MD's wild, slutty half-sister who comes to stay with him and his boyfriend after their father dies. She seduces and runs away with said boyfriend and then her half-brother (accused of molesting one of his pupils at school) takes off after her with his best friend, a brilliantly acerbic LK, who is in love with him. Great dialogue and an unpredictible plot, highly recommended.

[(Anonymous)]

When Night is Falling - Christian college professor Camille is drawn to circus acrobat Petra.

Btw, has anyone mentioned the Rocky Horror Picture Show yet?

-kelmendi

[run-atreyu.livejournal.com]

Ooh, good thread (also, hello!)

Two recs to add:

Show Me Love, a Swedish film about two young teenage girls who find themselves attracted to each other. Very lovely, although it's been a while since I've seen it so I can't remember much else.

Not exactly gay-themed but cross-dresserish. Ma Vie en Rose (in French) about a young boy who likes wearing his mothers clothes. Very funny, from memory.

[dancetomato.livejournal.com]

Most of my favorites are already listed, but the one that randomly popped into my head was "Deathtrap" from 1982. Putting it on this list is a spoiler for the twisty whodunit, but it's not precisely a gay film. It stars Michael Caine and Christopher Reeve.

I use an Y Tu Mama Tambien icon, because I discover that I am criminally lacking in a Priscilla icon. An oversight that must be remedied.

[sam-gamgee.livejournal.com]

I definitely agree about Big Eden - it was such a good movie. And The Incredibly True Adventure of Two Girls in Love - I loved that movie. I also really like Jeffrey because, like you said, Patrick Stewart. Plus, Michael T. Weiss. I wonder what the cashier at the video store thought when I exchanged Peter Pan (I got two copies for Christmas) for this movie. Actually, I agree with most of your assessments.

I will add Urbania. It's a rather dark movie, but really good.

And also Different For Girls. Although this deals with someone who's gone through the MTF transition, it's a very good plot and very well told.

[kitane.livejournal.com]

So many films I've seen and loved! Two I didn't like:

Kiss Me, Guido - Apartment seekers, "GWM" does not mean "Guy With Money"
Flawless - Robert De Niro (homophobic stroke victim) and Phillip Seymour Hoffman (pre-op drag queen)

uhmmm

[(Anonymous)]

Party Monster,The Color Purple, Monster (christina ricci,its a bout a serial killer. that is the name of it right?), Wild Things,Nieve Campbell and Denise Richards makin out. Don't ask me plot cause all I remember is them making out in a pool and it was oh so hot. Thats it off the top of my head,its late lol

[spiked-oktober.livejournal.com]

Normally I just lurk and read round the Angel fandom, as I write somewhere wholly different, but this topic caught my attention.

Am rather surprised it seems no one's mentioned The Sum of Us with Russell Crowe and Jack Thompson, unless I'm blind and have missed it. Quite a lovely film, actually, about an Australian father who's rather a bit too supportive of his gay son at times. Runs the gamut from quite funny to tearful. Definitely a very touching film, I'd recommend.

Regards,
Oktober