Okay, I've seen SOME great gay movies, made for the gay market. I love movies where, even though the gay thing is up front becuz of a coming out or whatever, it is just a small part of the bigger whole.

RenHoek's thread about Milk, the new van Sant movie starring Sean Penn made me realise something; I kinda dislike 'gay' movies. Not Milk, which just tells the story of a great man in, I suppose, a great way, but movies made for the 'gay' segment of buyers.

Often over the top characters I cannot identify with as a gay man, as I am not myself. Coming out stories filmed by and for horny old men, of young boys frolicking through a movie without much of a story without too many clothes never touched me either.

Then there are mainstream movies, portraying gays so stereo typical even I want to beat them up. They are just one dimensional characters that get beaten up or are a vehicle for the main character to show his masculinity or something. Often the gay characters in these movies get beaten up or killed.

The Quest

So, what are the actual great gay movies? Here are a few of mine;


Beautiful Thing was amazing. GREAT acting and ALL the characters in this one get a chance to shine, making this movie so much more about first love and coming out.

The aforementioned Torchsong Trilogy is all about Harvey Fierstein. It was adapted from a play, but Fierstein was able to use the film medium to drive him points in ways not possible in the play. A search for true love and acceptance is valid in every story. When Arnold screams MOMMA! from the upstairs window makes me bawl every time.

Billy Elliott is not a real gay movie, but it is about a young boy that loves to dance, which alotta macho men think it gay. There's a budding gay character in the movie; Billy;'s best friend and I love how Billy comes to accept his friend being different in the way he does. I adore everything about this movie; the father's role, the brother's, Julie Walters' character; all so amazing.

The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert. Talking about over the top. These three ladies are all of that, but like I said before, that does not much bother me if it is just a part of a bigger story. This one is indeed flamboyant, buyt without disrespecting the characters or what and who they are, which is a hard thing to do.

So, what are YOUR favourite gay movies? And don't say Ben Hur. Fuck Ben Hur.

I don't really even know what a "gay" movie is supposed to be.


I saw something on HBO once called "Billy's Hollywood Screen kiss" or something like that. I couldn't finish it.
Same with two other movies that HBO showed the same month. One had the same feel but involved two men hooking up. All the elements where the same--straight female best friend with dumb boyfriend who the gay guy regards as an ogre, etc. etc.
I couldn't finish any of them.

I saw brokeback mountain and thought it was ok. But I hate love stories in general. And I really hate cowboys. So it sort of ruined it for me.


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The one movie on the list you pointed out was "Billy Elliot" which I didn't see as a gay movie at all. I don't even know what to call it. It was like Good Will Hunting but I didn't want to stab the main character in the face.

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[Edited 12/14/08 1:49am]

The Crying Game and To Wong Foo.

Breakfast on Pluto is why I am such a Cillian Murphy fan. Amazing movie.

The Sum of Us, about a couple of Australian guys from the 90s. But I agree with you, too many mainstream movies with gay characters always portray them as camp, effeminate and swishy and like Carson, and movies like The Birdcage and Too Wong Foo just do more to damage gay rights than push them ahead. They are funny but offensive.
Ok I agree Priscilla has drag queens, but at least they are everyday people, he (Mitzi) obviously cares about other people like his son, and the guys band together when threats like homophobia get in the way.

The Sum of Us works, because it portrays us as real people and makes the mens gayness as something normal not bizarre or alternative.

I also suggest Philadelphia, because ok if its a bit old and shows some homophobia (Eg the black lawyer) it shows human emotion when hes dying of AIDS and is thought and gut wrenching, and they are not portrayed as screaming effeminate queens hung over bitches and martinis.

Oh I forgot one of the absolute best and most relevant

Love, Valour, Compassion (Jason Alexander is outstanding here) but the best part is old British dying of AIDS, but he still manages to smile and enjoy life and yet his brother is a miserable git, as well as the complex story plot of the host man and his cheating partner whose blind.

Huggiebear said:

I didn't think To Wong Foo was funny at all.

noimageatall said:

I did not even watch that one cuz you can tell from a mile it got made for all the wrong reasons.

And The Birdcage is just a weak remake. The French original was way better, as it portrayed cabaret honestly and not like the remake, filled with disco and bad moustaches.

"Eban and charley" is a favorite of mine, the guy in black is GORGEOUS!!

noimageatall said:

Good one! Again, a movie with an actual story. The shock effect was GREAT. It was the movie where I fell in love with Forest Whitaker as an actor.

SunnySkies said:

Never heard of it, but I never go watch movies becuz an actor is judged on looks only (or where the lead actor is posing in his underwear on the poster); that's exactly what I dislike about gay cinema! Get my point!

HamsterHuey said:

Hehehe, plus the movie's got a 'pedophile' tag on IMDB, heehee. I really dislike the 'older gay/younger gay' movie. Ewwwww.

A Home at the End of the World with Colin Farell. The story follows a dozen years in the lives of two best friends. Then comes Robin Wright Penn. Sissy Spacek is wonderful as Colin's mom.

Heh, opera makes gays kiss.

Huggiebear said:

It sure was one of the first mainstream pics that showed gays fighting for their rights as something just. And I indeed loved how they tackled prejudice.

I still can't listen to Springsteen's title track without getting bawly.

HamsterHuey said:

I wasn't going to watch it, but I ended up loving the story. There were some very dramatic scenes of domestic abuse and that creepy scene where four tough kids want to rape Chi Chi. Okay...it wasn't deep or anything, but I swear John Leguizamo never looked so damned beautiful as he did at the end of that movie.

HamsterHuey said:

This was the movie where I fell in love with Dil (Jay Davidson). I was already in love with Stephen Rae.

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[Edited 2/9/09 20:06pm]

HamsterHuey said:

I get your point, but since i`m gay myself, i tend to notice if a guy is handsome.

Gay movies are usually terrible , you see we are all tragic victims or tortured souls or some such nonsense

Anyway there is an english one called " Get Real " which is pretty good but the lead characters fag hag steals the show .

Agree Beautiful Thing is a great movie , Love the mama cass moments in it

I can't belive that no one has mentioned my all-time fave gay movie yet!

Here it is:



Daniel Day Lewis had his breakthrough to stardom with this movie.






[Edited 12/14/08 5:32am]

I also really liked this one:

This one was very good, too.

Laundrette, okay. The other two seem to hold everything I hate about gay cinema. But that's okay.

I thought Colin Firth and Hart Bochner played brilliantly in this one:



In fact, I LOVED this movie so much, I wrote a piece about it in the gay paper I worked for back in the early nineties.

THIS one was alright, too.



I thought Linus Roache was kinda sexy, actually.

LightOfArt said:

Oh my. I should have included that one in the GOOD gay movies corner! GOOD choice; amazing script; great actors. Loved Mary-Louise Parker in between the Pacino's and Streeps, as well as Justin Kirk.

And HOW could I ALMOST forget:



Dan Futterman is GREAT in this one. His performance really touched me.

And here's a warm and cozy one for all the romantics out there: