Other gay-themed movies

[JCinNYC2006]

A lot of my favorite gay-themed movies are adapted from plays.  The Sum of Us and Beautiful Thing have already been mentioned (BT was my all-time favorite until BBM).  I love two others that come from plays from the 70s and 80s: The Boys In The Band and Torch Song Trilogy.

I know BITB is seen as a kind of relic and full of stereotypes, but it's actually pretty good.  The characters are pretty diverse, and it talks about a lot of different issues.  The two characters in a relationship explore the intimacy and monogamy issue.  Living in the closet and self hatred are major themes too, and I think it's pretty well acted.

When I was 18, I saw Torch Song Trilogy on Broadway and it was a real awakening.  I really enjoyed following Arnold's story, and it also has monogamy as an issue as well as raising kids and gay identity.  Whether you enjoy the movie depends on how much you like or don't like Harvey Fierstein, since it's pretty much his show.  But the rest of the cast is quite good too, including Matthew Broderick and Anne Bancroft.

One other movie I Netflixed recently was A Very Natural Thing.  Again, I was so surprised by this little known flick from the 70s and how it really looked at the challenges of making relationships work in a gay, urban setting.  I guess all three movies have that in common, that they take place in NYC, and since I live here I guess I relate more.  As Larry McMurtry pointed out that's another place that BBM is different in that it's in a rural setting.

I can't think of any others right now, but I love giving gay movies a try.  So many turn out kind bleh, but the gems are worth checking out.

Juan

[Impish]

One other movie I Netflixed recently was A Very Natural Thing.  Again, I was so surprised by this little known flick from the 70s and how it really looked at the challenges of making relationships work in a gay, urban setting.
Juan

OHMYGOD!

I saw "A Very Natural Thing" when it came to my local theatre in the seventies.  I think I was in San Diego at the time, which would make it 1973 or 1974.  It was a big deal because it made it into mainstream theaters, a first (I think) for a gay love story.  I was a gay activist at the time, and we worked hard to publicize the film.  Of course, it seemed only gay people went to it, and it bombed at the box office...

But I had totally forgotten about it. If I'm thinking of the same movie... do you know the cover art for the film?  Was the marketing poster a picture of the two lovers frolicking in the ocean surf?

How did you come across it?  Is it on DVD?

[JCinNYC2006]

Yeah, I Netflixed it and made a copy.  No extras or anything, and the movie has a grainy, VHS quality, but I was surprised by how much I got into it.  Yeah, that's the cover for it, they're like in the water.  I don't remember how I heard of it, maybe from the book version of The Celluloid Closet.

Juan

[Impish]

Just now finished my first viewing of the French film "Just a Question of Love."  I loved it, really, really loved it.

Our Aussie friend, Chris, and I have been discussing a book called "Covering," and the issues it raises for us. 
"Just a Question of Love" is about a relationship in which one man hasn't come out to his parents, and the other insists that he do so, and how this conflict threatens to break up their relationship.

And guess what, Chris?  The one who is covering has a compelling reason to do so.  I won't spoil it by saying any more, and in fact, the reason is not treated like a big secret or twist in the plot.  My point is that this film makes the guy's decision to remain in the closet not only understandable, but reasonable and right, at least in some ways.

So I learned a thing or two, and that's what I liked about the movie most of all.

Check it out!

[Phillip Dampier]

Here are 2 more I've seen: Longtime Companion, which was OK, and "Fun down there" which was truly awful! I notice too that the dreadful "bird cage" is missing from the list, along with the European "Cage aux Folles" 1,2,3 versions, a bit better than the American. And going way back, there are two with gay elements: Teorum and Something for Everyone. If you want stray further off stream Archangel, by Guy Madden has a gay scene (and is one of my favorite movies of all time).

Birdcage was right up there with Bewitched as Most Unnecessary Remakes.  It was awful.  I saw it in theaters and it was embarrassing.

The original La Cage aux Folles is playing again on Starz/Encore and is also available for viewing from their Vongo movie service.  Except they have been showing the annoying dubbed version instead of the English.  La Cage is another one of those movies that I don't relate to at all in my real life.  I also was rapidly irritated by the Bollywood-technical-quality soundtrack with cheesy 70s music.  But otherwise it had its moments.  The sequels were not that great, but it's been several years since I've seen them.

[Impish]

A big (34!) shipment of films just arrived, of which a few have gay-related themes, so look for additions to my list above in the coming weeks, and posts about my reactions to them as I view them.

One of them is the original "La Cage aux Folles," (in the original French) which I saw with my parents when it first appeared in theatres.  While I didn''t identify with it in any way, I loved it for its comedy, and so did my folks.  They too knew it had little to do with me, one of the advantages of being out to them. 

We could laugh because there was no fear of being "tarred with the same brush."

[Phillip Dampier]

A big (34!) shipment of films just arrived, of which a few have gay-related themes, so look for additions to my list above in the coming weeks, and posts about my reactions to them as I view them.

34 Films!!!  Are these rentals or do you have more cash than Tom Cruise?  Wow....  I have Netflixed myself out last year in grabbing movies that way.  These days, most of the films I see are on pay cable before I fall asleep at night.  Most of them aren't good enough to stay awake for.

[Impish]

34 Films!!!  Are these rentals or do you have more cash than Tom Cruise?  Wow....  I have Netflixed myself out last year in grabbing movies that way.  These days, most of the films I see are on pay cable before I fall asleep at night.  Most of them aren't good enough to stay awake for.

I collect films, so I own them.  So far, I have 285 films in my library.  I usually order 7-10 movies a month, so that shipment of 34 was my biggest order so far.  It was a promotion of "buy two, get one free" choosing from a list of over 900 movies all priced at $9.42.  I jumped on that sale!

[rightstar]

I actually liked one of the Cage aux Folles sequels better than the original, but I forget which one. The two men demonstrated love for each other by walking to embrace in front of people holding guns on them, or something like that. At any rate, for a brief moment they actually seemed like they had a real love, instead of a buffoon-clownish relationship.
Boys in the Band--yikes! I saw that one on stage when I was 18 and dealing with being gay and boy did it depress me. Everyone I was open to was telling me it was  look into my future, and I believed them, at the same time knowing that there was nothing I could do, or would do, to avoid it. I am sooooo thankful everyone was wrong.
Another long ago movie was a French one called Pourquoi Pas. It was actually about a menage a trois, but I recall being moved by the affection between the men. Don't know if it would hold up well now.
I think The Talented Mr Ripley has also been overlooked. Tom Ripley is not exactly a role model,  though.
And did anyone mention Wonder Boys? The first time Tobey Maguire stuck in my mind!

[Impish]

I saw "Gone But Not Forgotten" last night.

It was one of the worst movies I have ever seen.  It's so bad that it can't even fit into a "so bad it's good" list.

The script was simply awful, and I felt sorry for the actors struggling so hard to make something of it.  The few scenes in which the actors  seemed authentic, the editing was so choppy that it interfered with the pacing of their dialogue and all their effort was destroyed.

I started laughing when it was over, laughing in embarrassment for the entire production.  I hope the director chalks it up to experience and will go on to better things.