Question for the gay men on the board

[JLagow]

Posted: 1/10/04 at 3:57pm

Hi. Just curious. What are your favorite gay movies and why?

[Auggie27]

Posted: 1/10/04 at 4:26pm

"Sunday Bloody Sunday"

The screenplay is masterfully economical, lean n'mean, leaving much unsaid, and much room for the actors' exploration. Considering when it was made (71), it still holds up beautifully. And Peter Finch -- a one-man cinematic antedote to the cliched gay male characters on screen the past 30 years -- has both quiet strength and vulnerability, and even stophisticated middle-aged charisma. He breaks my heart every time.

[BillFinn]

Posted: 1/10/04 at 4:28pm

"Come Undone" The beach scene. No explanation needed.

[tpdc]

Posted: 1/10/04 at 7:15pm

Beautiful Thing, because it's funny and romantic and I love Mama Cass.

Good to see you at this site, JLagow.

[jrb_actor]

Posted: 1/10/04 at 9:23pm

Films dealing heavily with gay issues/characters that I love:

fav - Hedwig and the Angry Inch
Far From Heaven
Stonewall
Torch Song Trilogy
The Birdcage
Priscilla: Queen of the Desert
Chasing Amy
Jeffrey
Kissing Jessica Stein
Bound
Philadelphia

[MasterLcZ]

Posted: 1/10/04 at 9:55pm

I don't see gay movies. I can't relate to most of them.

[broadwayguy2]

Posted: 1/10/04 at 9:57pm

I like Trick.



I want to go see this new indie film called Latter Days.

[jrb_actor]

Posted: 1/10/04 at 10:06pm

Trick was good--Tori Spelling really was great in it!

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 1/10/04 at 10:30pm

I mean it when I say Tori should have gotten an Oscar nod for the french fry scene in Trick.

I'm with JRB on his list, except I wasn't crazy about Jessica Stein (although Jackie Hoffman was great) or Philadelphia.

I would also add:

The short film "Trevor." The incredible French film "Ma Vie en Rose/My Life in Pink," (PLEASE see it if you haven't!), John Greyson's "Lillies," and "Zero Patience" (an AIDS movie musical, no lie! With the late Michael Callen as HIV!). William Friedken's "Cruising" was attacked at the time of its making and release, but it's really good and nowadays it plays gay film festivals.

I would also have to give the nod to several fantastic documentaries, among them "The Times of Harvey Milk," "Life and Death on the A-List," and one of my favorite films of 2002, "The Cockettes," which deals with a crazed drag theater troupe in San Francisco in the '70s that still influences everybody from your Harvey Fiersteins to your Hedwigs of this very day.

[jrb_actor]

Posted: 1/10/04 at 10:38pm

I do need to see Ma Vie En Rose!!!! And, yes, let's not forget the docs:

allow me to add Wigstock and Paris Is Burning

(Loving Namo)

Posted: 1/10/04 at 10:46pm

The fact that a film might be considered "gay" is not a primary reason it would interest me. Regardless of one's sexuality the Merchant Ivory film MAURICE (mor-ris) is far superior to most listed so far, in my opinion.

MA VIE EN ROSE is also particularly winning.

Nothing beats Monroe and Russell in GENTLEMEN PREFER BLONDES, or Jackson, Bates and Reed in WOMEN IN LOVE.

Talk about eclectic. LOL

Broadway Bulldog

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 1/10/04 at 10:52pm

I forgot about Paris is Burning, JRB. A pleasant reminder. It was very exciting when it was relased in 1990. I really thought Jennie Livingston was going to direct a lot more, but she did no other films, as far as I know.

And then there was the scandal three years later when Dorian Corey died and the mummfied corpse of her dead boyfriend was found in her closet. THAT could've been Livingston's second docu.

[jrb_actor]

Posted: 1/10/04 at 10:53pm

Well, you do bring up a good point, BB--why should a film have to be labeled "gay". However, in the midst of a civil rights movement, one tends to label per group still fighting for representation. It is, indeed, becoming less and less of a "genre" as gay characters have been finding a place in "regular" cinema just like in "regular" life. Hopefully soon, we won't need our own section at Virgin Megastore or Blockbuster. =)

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 1/10/04 at 11:01pm

I think all the discussions of "what's a gay film?/what's not a gay film?" and "is this film good for the gay movement or bad for the gay movement?" are particularly played out. I just felt like responding to the question JLagow asked without having to qualify my personal uniqueness: "Oh, I am discerning and tasteful and would never see a film just because it's gay blah blah blah." Sometimes I wonder if people who repeat the same old cliches think we think they're the first person to voice them?

Oh! I just thought of another one: Todd Haynes's "Poison." Man I loved that movie, based on stories by Jean Genet.

[tpdc]

Posted: 1/10/04 at 11:10pm

I agree with JRB & Namo's choices especially POISON, STONEWALL, HEDWIG and LILIES. A local theater company staged a well received production of LILIES a few months ago here in DC.

[tpdc]

Posted: 1/10/04 at 11:10pm

I agree with JRB & Namo's choices especially POISON, STONEWALL, HEDWIG and LILIES. A local theater company staged a well received production of LILIES a few months ago here in DC.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 1/10/04 at 11:21pm

Brent Carver was phenomenal in that movie. I love the John Greyson films I have seen, including Urinal. I knew he had done a few "Queer as Folk" episodes, but checking IMDB I see he made a movie of the excellent Dale Peck novel "The Law of Enclousures." And that the incredible Sarah Polley is in it.

I would never have even realized that if JLagow hadn't started this thread. Thanks, J!

[jrb_actor]

Posted: 1/10/04 at 11:25pm

I would like to add the British Queer As Folk--I know it's TV, but I saw it in a theater at the Houston Gay & Lesbian Film Festival. It is incredible!

[papalovesmambo]

Posted: 1/10/04 at 11:35pm

and from the breeder of the bunch..."the naked civil servant"

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 1/11/04 at 12:01am

Day-yum! I LOVE that movie. I saw it on TV in my teens and it really changed my life. It made me confront my internal femmie-phobia and the scene where Quentin Crisp is surrounded by the sailors and you think they're going to beat him up... one of my all time favorites. Good call, pap.

[Phantom2]

Posted: 1/11/04 at 12:18am

Is this a trick question?

Posted: 1/11/04 at 12:53am

Yes, it is.

Answering the question does not make one automatically gay.

Bulldog

[broadwayguy2]

Posted: 1/11/04 at 1:00am

who made up that rule?? It just ruins the whole thing...

[Phantom2]

Posted: 1/11/04 at 1:18am

I can hear the lesbians coming!

[broadwayguy2]

Posted: 1/11/04 at 1:21am

Good. Maybe Rodie can help me hang this shelf.. I never was one gifted at using power tools.