Favorite LGBTQ2S+ Films

[Batgirl0202]

I'm sure this could be said for a lot of the larger states in the US, but California seems to me more like a country in and of itself; both culturally and economically. Not to pigeon hole the areas too much, but you have the LA area which has a very strong entertainment industry; including arts, sports, food, beach areas, etc. Orange and San Diego counties have a strong technology sector and a lot of theme parks. When you get to the Bay Area (San Francisco, San Jose, in particular) you have world renown wine country and the probably even more well known Silicon Valley and a very left leaning political bent. Move inland to the central valley and you have one of the world's largest producers of agricultural products; most especially fruits, nuts and dairy. If you were to look at the world's largest economies, California would rank 5th in the entire world; just behind Germany and just in front of the UK. Culturally, there is a very wide variety of people and opinions; and there's a lot of us; almost 40M people. This is almost 1/8 of the population in the entire US.
What does this all have to do with our favorite LGBTQ movies? Nothing really........ , but San Francisco is one of the Meccas of the gay community and a very fun place to visit; if you have money. LOL. I was fortunate enough to live in the city, have visited many friends I have there frequently, and love it there.

Thanks for the intel - sounds like a cool place to visit...

It's wild to think there's more people in one US state than in the entire country of Canada. I guess if people have a choice they'd rather live in sunny California than in the frozen North

 

[Prison Mike]

I love visiting CA but wouldn’t want to live there permanently…just way too expensive.

 

[InCali]

I love visiting CA but wouldn’t want to live there permanently…just way too expensive.

Housing prices in particular are just out of control. I went in with 2 of my college friends years ago and bought an old beater house on the westside of Santa Cruz down near the beach. Had I not done that, I would have been priced out of the market. We did a lot of work on it ourselves and eventually bought each other out and moved. I got a place for a good price (they were getting a divorce LOL) down by the Yacht Harbor and one of my friends had just gotten his contractor's license. I only had to pay him $30/hour as long as I got him lunch, a 12 pack of Budweiser, and a small bag of pot daily. Since I knew "people" who were, shall we say, cultivators, it cost me virtually nothing.

When I sold that house, I took the money, bought a house in LA, and made more improvements. It's now worth more than I ever imagined and is like 80% of my "wealth". You can't touch a rental in our area, even studios, for under $2300/month. Moving here isn't much of an option for most people; although there are some more affordable places to live inland, but it's so freaking hot, it's ridiculous.

Produce is cheap (and very good) in SoCal though.....it's mostly grown in Mexico or the central valley of California and shipping costs are minimal.

 

[Prison Mike]

Housing prices in particular are just out of control. I went in with 2 of my college friends years ago and bought an old beater house on the westside of Santa Cruz down near the beach. Had I not done that, I would have been priced out of the market. We did a lot of work on it ourselves and eventually bought each other out and moved. I got a place for a good price (they were getting a divorce LOL) down by the Yacht Harbor and one of my friends had just gotten his contractor's license. I only had to pay him $30/hour as long as I got him lunch, a 12 pack of Budweiser, and a small bag of pot daily. Since I knew "people" who were, shall we say, cultivators, it cost me virtually nothing.

When I sold that house, I took the money, bought a house in LA, and made more improvements. It's now worth more than I ever imagined and is like 80% of my "wealth". You can't touch a rental in our area, even studios, for under $2300/month. Moving here isn't much of an option for most people; although there are some more affordable places to live inland, but it's so freaking hot, it's ridiculous.

Produce is cheap (and very good) in SoCal though.....it's mostly grown in Mexico or the central valley of California and shipping costs are minimal.

I would have done it just for the beer and pot

 

[InCali]

I would have done it just for the beer and pot

If you had done that, you could have lived in the semi separate one bedroom unit with a kitchen rent free, down by the Santa Cruz yacht Harbor for at least a couple of years.

 

[KaijuDude1992]

You guys have pretty much listed all the best ones so there isn't much else I could add although I wish I could have seen more of them but Bound is definitely a personal favorite of mine.

Jinnifer Tilly and Gina Gershon ooze so much sexiness in that movie that its crazy, but Brokeback Mountain is probably one of the few films that has gotten a visceral, emotional reaction out of me.

Its a great movie, but its also really sad and somber and I can't help but feel bad that for so many years people treated it like a joke and made fun of it as the gay cowboy movie when its so much more than that.

 

[Batgirl0202]

If you had done that, you could have lived in the semi separate one bedroom unit with a kitchen rent free, down by the Santa Cruz yacht Harbor for at least a couple of years.

Room for one more?

 

[Batgirl0202]

Its a great movie, but its also really sad and somber and I can't help but feel bad that for so many years people treated it like a joke and made fun of it as the gay cowboy movie when its so much more than that.

Beautifully said

Maybe I'm a Pollyanna but I honestly feel that films with a queer context are being taken much more seriously now in mainstream society. But at the time of Brokeback's release, there was an annoying tendency to patronize and ghettoize films like this so they would be more easily relatable to audiences.

I remember the jokes about this being "the gay cowboy movie", where in reality Brokeback Mountain is actually sensitive, insightful, tragic, human, and in many ways, universal. It's encouraging to see so much support and appreciate for such a beautiful film.

 

[Deck Rickard]

Watched Fire Island recently and it definitely deserves to be on this list.

A few others…

May
What Keeps You Alive
Jennifer’s Body (hell, I liked it)

 

[Batgirl0202]

I've got Fire Island scheduled for a watch over the Canada Day long weekend, which also conveniently overlaps with the Fourth of July long weekend for all you Americans out there...

Another recent addition to Disney+ I'm also eager to watch is The Thing About Harry. This one looks interesting too...

And on a side note, for those of you who have Peacock, the Queer as Folk reboot drops soon too

 

[Deck Rickard]

Yeah I have to watch the new Queer as Folk. On that note, one of the stars (Jesse James Keitel) also appeared this week on Star Trek: Strange New Worlds and she was AWESOME.

 

[Batgirl0202]

Yes I am shamelessly resurrecting my own thread here

I recently saw Fire Island and really enjoyed it. I expected a raunchy good time but what I didn't expect was to be educated also. Maybe I'm naïve but I didn't realize that racial and class divides were as prevalent in LGBTQ2S+ culture as in the rest of society at large. Interesting...

Anyway check this one out if you get a chance. Highly recommended.

 

[CaptainWagner]

Yeah, I really enjoyed Fire Island as well. Really fun reimagining of the story with some very talented guys I hope show up a lot more in the future.

 

[Deck Rickard]

Yes I am shamelessly resurrecting my own thread here

I recently saw Fire Island and really enjoyed it. I expected a raunchy good time but what I didn't expect was to be educated also. Maybe I'm naïve but I didn't realize that racial and class divides were as prevalent in LGBTQ2S+ culture as in the rest of society at large. Interesting...

Anyway check this one out if you get a chance. Highly recommended.

Glad you liked it, Batgirl. Also, please do keep resurrecting this thread. Doesn’t have to be Pride Month to discuss good queer cinema!

Also, have you seen the new Queer as Folk yet? I binged it all in a couple days. Fantastic show. Great characters, and the New Orleans setting makes it even better.

 

[Batgirl0202]

Glad you liked it, Batgirl. Also, please do keep resurrecting this thread. Doesn’t have to be Pride Month to discuss good queer cinema!

Also, have you seen the new Queer as Folk yet? I binged it all in a couple days. Fantastic show. Great characters, and the New Orleans setting makes it even better.

Agreed Deckster! There are so many great LGBTQ2S+ films out there. No need to ghettoize this topic into one month a year...

I haven't seen Queer as Folk yet, but it's definitely on my radar. I did watch the original British version on Prime and loved it. I'd like to see the American remake (2000 version) but none of the streaming services here in Canada seem to carry it

We do have access here to the new version so I'll binge the entire thing when I get a free weekend!

 

[Deck Rickard]

Agreed Deckster! There are so many great LGBTQ2S+ films out there. No need to ghettoize this topic into one month a year...

I haven't seen Queer as Folk yet, but it's definitely on my radar. I did watch the original British version on Prime and loved it. I'd like to see the American remake (2000 version) but none of the streaming services here in Canada seem to carry it

We do have access here to the new version so I'll binge the entire thing when I get a free weekend!

Cool. Yeah, I’ve never seen the British version and have only watched a bit of the first American remake. I’ll have to binge them both at some point.

 

[Batgirl0202]

Cool. Yeah, I’ve never seen the British version and have only watched a bit of the first American remake. I’ll have to binge them both at some point.

The British version is great. It's short - only 10 episodes spread over two seasons - and it will definitely leave you wanting more. It actually feels sort of incomplete, like the storylines could and should have continued for another couple seasons or so. Definitely ahead of its time.

The American version was actually filmed right here in Toronto (standing in for Pittsburg), using actual landmarks and institutions from Toronto's gay community! I hope it shows up on a streaming service sometime because I'd love to watch it

 

[Deck Rickard]

The British version is great. It's short - only 10 episodes spread over two seasons - and it will definitely leave you wanting more. It actually feels sort of incomplete, like the storylines could and should have continued for another couple seasons or so. Definitely ahead of its time.

The American version was actually filmed right here in Toronto (standing in for Pittsburg), using actual landmarks and institutions from Toronto's gay community! I hope it shows up on a streaming service sometime because I'd love to watch it

Haha I didn’t know that about the American version… having spent a lot of time in both Pittsburgh and Toronto, I know those cities look NOTHING alike, lol. Both are great places though.

It’s always funny when they try to get a city to stand in for another one and yet use really recognizable landmarks of the city they’re actually filming in. Like The Boys supposedly takes place in NYC but is filmed in Toronto and Vought Tower is just a CGI’d version of Roy Thomson Hall.

And then of course, you have Marvel using Georgia to double for every location on the planet.

 

[Batgirl0202]

Haha I didn’t know that about the American version… having spent a lot of time in both Pittsburgh and Toronto, I know those cities look NOTHING alike, lol. Both are great places though.

It’s always funny when they try to get a city to stand in for another one and yet use really recognizable landmarks of the city they’re actually filming in. Like The Boys supposedly takes place in NYC but is filmed in Toronto and Vought Tower is just a CGI’d version of Roy Thomson Hall.

And then of course, you have Marvel using Georgia to double for every location on the planet.

LOL good points. Hollywood studios love to film in Canada because of the relative weakness of our dollar against the greenback...

Another interesting factoid about the American version of QAF - they only filmed in Toronto during the winter. I guess they figured the snow would hide the obvious differences between Toronto and Pittsburg

 

[Deck Rickard]

LOL good points. Hollywood studios love to film in Canada because of the relative weakness of our dollar against the greenback...

Another interesting factoid about the American version of QAF - they only filmed in Toronto during the winter. I guess they figured the snow would hide the obvious differences between Toronto and Pittsburg

Pittsburgh*, my friend. The “h” on the end is why Pittsburgh natives are periodically referred to as “Burghers.”

But yeah, maybe the snow covered up the obvious differences lol. That way people might not notice a Tim Horton’s doubling for Primanti Bros.

 

[Deck Rickard]

Peacock just released a trailer for They\Them. Looks like it’s a little derivative of Get Out but I’m here for anything that portrays conversion therapy as barbaric and psychotic. Plus, Kevin Bacon.

 

[Heretic]

Blue is the Warmest Color is one of the best comic book movies of all time...but, even as a straight guy who doesnt mind seeing two beautiful women making out, it would be even better if it severely cut down on those long sex scenes. I cant believe Im saying this...but a heavily edited for sex version of it would possibly be THE best comic book movie ever.

 

[CaptainWagner]

Peacock just released a trailer for They\Them. Looks like it’s a little derivative of Get Out but I’m here for anything that portrays conversion therapy as barbaric and psychotic. Plus, Kevin Bacon.

This looks pretty good. And yeah, anything where conversion therapy is the villain has my backing.

Just wish it wasn't stuck on Peacock.

 

[green]

Some of my favorites I didn't see mentioned.

A Single Man
My Own Private Idaho
Maurice
Rocket Man
Orlando
Victor/Victoria
I'd also give a shout out to the original Tales From the City mini-series...(though I suggest you read Maupins books!)

 

[3rdstone]

Back in around mid 90s there was a lot of buzz about an Australian produced feel good movie called The Adventures Of Priscilla, Queen Of The Desert (goddamn long titles lol). Of course I had to watch it and highly enjoyed it. Back then the only actor I recognized from the cast was Terence Stamp; A well known British actor from various films, and for me most of all (of course!) playing frakking General Zod in Superman II! And to no surprise Stamp delievered as hell as expected (IIRC Stamp's character actually knocked some dude out lol).

When I rewatched it circa 10 years later, I laughed my ass off. Dat cast: Apart from Stamp we had Hugo Weaving, Guy Pearce etc. Those actors were totally unknown in my part of the world back in the 90s.

Now it's been yet lots of years, and I'd love to rewatch it today. However - and I of course don't know for 100% - but I feel like most of these actors were "just acting like queer characters" back in the 90s. In 2022, I'm not sure how that would feel, when today queer roles like that naturally would demand/require queer actors. Would like to hear some comments on that.