Best LGBT+ Movies

[MrsSallyAdams]

Posted: 6/8/18 at 9:44am

Rotten Tomatoes has listed the 150 Best LGBT Movies in honor of Pride month. I gave it a scan and realized I'd seen about a third of them.

Typical plots tend to involve teenagers coming out, semi-closeted couples who can't stay together, saintly men dying of aids and/or thorny relationships with ones parents. There's several good documentaries on the list too.

https://editorial.rottentomatoes.com/guide/best-lgbt-movies-of-all-time/

Any favorites? Anything you'd want to add to it?

[MrsSallyAdams]

Posted: 6/8/18 at 9:47am

Netflix just released the film Alex Strangelove. It's been marketed as Love, Simon meets Porky's but it lacks the gay romance of the former and the eye candy of the latter. The focus instead is on Alex's relationship with his female best friend. This has been a subplot in many gay films but here Alex genuinely tries to make a romantic relationship with her work despite his sexual confusion. The script is only so-so but leading man Daniel Doheny is loaded with charm.

Updated On: 6/8/18 at 09:47 AM

[kdogg36]

Posted: 6/8/18 at 5:08pm

I've always liked Dorian Blues, a non-flashy coming-of-age story with zero eye candy, but that rings true for me somehow.

I expected Latter Days to be on the list, but I see it's actually rotten. :) I thought it had gotten a better reception than that. I also thought L.I.E., which did get good reviews, would be on there (did I miss it?).

[MrsSallyAdams]

Posted: 6/9/18 at 8:00am

I enjoyed the comic first half of Latter Days. Less so the gloomy second half. I haven't seen Dorian Blues or L.I.E. but will add them to my list.

Vanity Fair's Richard Lawson recently wrote "I want a gay thing about gay adults who are relatively well-adjusted and aren't dying, that is wistful, hopeful, fun." I decided to scan the 65 films I'd seen from the Rotten Tomatoes list to see which fit that category. 

47 feature adult cisgendered GBQ men. 

17 feature a cisgendered GBQ man's death

16 end with the Adult GBQ protagonists coupled, and alive. That's 24% of the list.

6 feature Teenage GBQ protagonists coupled, and alive. 

As for "well-adjusted," I could not say.

I've posted a detailed breakdown here. It contains spoilers.
http://threepanelmusicals.blogspot.com/2018/06/lgbt-tropes-on-film.html

Updated On: 6/9/18 at 08:00 AM

[Melissa25]

Posted: 6/10/18 at 10:26am

I have always loved Desert Hearts. Great performances all around and a lot of humor.  Loved the ‘50’s Reno look.  I also thought they did such a good job with the soundtrack to this movie.  Lots of Patsy Cline.

[MichelleCraig]

Posted: 6/10/18 at 3:46pm

Thanks for posting that list... I'd forgotten about EDGE OF SEVENTEEN; really liked that movie. Now I've got a lot more from this list to check out...

[SNAFU]

Posted: 6/10/18 at 4:18pm

Jeffery has always been a favorite, because of Patrick Stewart!

 

[LYLS3637]

Posted: 6/11/18 at 10:15am

I'm partial to The Boys in the Band, The Birdcage, Call Me By Your Name, Milk, and Get Real.

I know rottentomatoes left off miniseries-- but Angels in America is up there for sure.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 6/11/18 at 5:45pm

I was surprised Beautiful Thing wasn't WAY higher on the list.  It's easily in my top 5.

[lotiloti]

Posted: 6/12/18 at 8:47am

'Lilting' ,

[John Adams]

Posted: 6/12/18 at 12:52pm

Mister Matt said: "I was surprised Beautiful Thing wasn't WAY higher on the list. It's easily in my top 5."

I was wondering if these were listed in any particular order. I agree that Beautiful Thing should have been closer to the top (if there is a top), and I also feel that Big Eden and The Broken Hearts Club, Get Real, Mysterious Skin should also be much further up the list. Although Weekend is listed towards the top at #36, I think it should be listed closer towards the top 10.

But Behind the Candelabra at #28? (sheesh...! I wouldn't have even included that one on the list).

...and God's Own Country (#5) is just the British version of Brokeback Mountain (#48), although I still enjoyed that movie.

hmmmmm... 

[SonofRobbieJ]

Posted: 6/12/18 at 2:10pm

Two of my favorites, Maurice and Mysterious Skin, would be muuuuuch higher on the list.  

I just watched God's Own Country and thought the first part was a slog, but I ended up being quite moved by the end.  I, too, was thinking it was a British Brokeback, but I think it kind of was the anti Brokeback.  The character of Johnny isn't at all closeted, which is revealed slowly throughout.  So his damage was a little more interesting to me.  I liked his journey as he warmed to the intimacy Gheorghe was showing him throughout.  I don't know that I'd put it in my top 10...but then again I f*cking love Broken Hearts Club (though by no means think it's a great film). 

[TotallyEffed]

Posted: 6/12/18 at 2:37pm

Weekend is an absolute masterpiece.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 6/12/18 at 2:48pm

I think I need to try Weekend again.  I remember seeing it when it was released on DVD and finding it rather dull, but it might have just been my mood at the time.  Either that or it's the Tree of Life/Boyhood of LGBT cinema.

[Jay Lerner-Z]

Posted: 6/12/18 at 3:02pm

This is 150 of this one writer's favorites. Which if fine, but hardly definitive. It doesn't even make any sense according to Rotten Tomatoes' own rating system. No way were 4 of the top 5 best ever made in only the last two years. I liked them both, but Call Me By Your Name was quite boring, and Moonlight quite frigid. Too frigid to be at No.1. A Fantastic Woman does absolutely deserve its top 5 placing, though.

Off the top of my head, two that I have enjoyed but weren't mentioned - Viva and Out In The Dark.

 

[LYLS3637]

Posted: 6/12/18 at 3:12pm

Holding the Man surprised me quite a bit. It's a stunning Australian film based on a true story and available to stream on Netflix!

[MrsSallyAdams]

Posted: 6/27/18 at 10:23am

In a similar vein, here is a collection of films starring gay/bi+ teen protagonists with capsule reviews of each.

https://the-avocado.org/2018/06/24/lgbt-movies-teen-male-protagonists/

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 6/27/18 at 11:17am

I’m happy that MYSTERIOUS SKIN made the list, however I much prefer THE LIVING END, if we’re talking about Gregg Araki’s films. I’d even put DOOM GENERATION on the list before SKIN. But I have a real soft spot for those low budget early-mid 90s anarchistic gay films that were the antithesis to the “I have AIDS and I’m so sad about my life” films that dominated the genre.

Updated On: 6/27/18 at 11:17 AM

[Mildred Plotka]

Posted: 6/27/18 at 1:00pm

I just watched Alex Strangelove on Netflix. It’s a lot of fun. Highly recommended.

[Huss417]

Posted: 6/27/18 at 3:15pm

I watched the documentary Believer earlier this week. I thought it was very good.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=texdaF_uPTE&frags=pl%2Cwn

[SmoothLover]

Posted: 6/28/18 at 5:00pm

Another vote for Jeffery! One of my favorites has always been Trick. Two charming leads and the Village has never looked more enchanting at sunrise. Although it is not a gay movie per say I loved Camp. And as far as TV goes Tales of The City was a 10.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 7/2/18 at 5:53pm

I watched the documentary Believer earlier this week. I thought it was very good.

Now I need to see that.  I'm seeing the band on tour next weekend.

[Huss417]

Posted: 7/2/18 at 7:08pm

Mister Matt said: "I watched the documentary Believer earlier this week. I thought it was very good.

Now I need to see that. I'm seeing the band on tour next weekend."

Mister Matt. I still think about the documentary. Some of the kids stories pull at the heart strings but also how some of these kids are truly brave.