Normally you need a subscription to Hulu+ to see the site’s selection of Criterion Collection films, but over President’s Day weekend, all those cinematic gems are available to watch for free on Hulu.com.
It’s a film-buff’s dream come true—and reason enough to cancel your brunch plans.
Below, check out some of the queer Criterion Collection films streaming for free through Monday. (Don’t blame us if you stay glued to the couch all weekend.)
Victim (1961)
How about we take this to the next level?
Our newsletter is like a refreshing cocktail (or mocktail) of LGBTQ+ entertainment and pop culture, served up with a side of eye-candy.
According to The Criterion Collection’s website, Basil Dearden’s 1961 noir classic was the first mainstream English-language film to have a gay lead—and one portrayed sympathetically, no less. The film centers on a married barrister (Dirk Bogarde) and other closeted London men who fall prey to a blackmailer. It’s an unflinching indictment of laws criminalizing homosexuality at a time when no one was reconsidering them.
Grey Gardens (1975)
Even if you’ve seen Albert and David Maysles’ camp classic doc about Jackie O’s eccentric relatives and their dilapidated East Hampton mansion, its worth revisiting. If you havent’ seen it, well, now there’s no excuse. Also on Hulu: The Beales of Grey Gardens, the Maysles’ 2006 follow-up featuring footage of Little and Big Edie Beale cut from the original 1975 documentary.
The Times of Harvey Milk (1984)
Long before Sean Penn and Gus Van Sant brought Milk story to the big screen, this Oscar-winning documentary examined the slain gay-rights hero’s life, career and tragic murder, with archival footage and interviews with many of the people close to Milk during his political career.
Mala Noche (1986)
Speaking of Gus Van Sant, while his gorgeous and impressionistic My Own Private Idaho won’t be found on Hulu this weekend, the director’s very first feature is. This dreamy, low-budget precursor to the 1990s New Queer Cinema is based on poet Walt Curtis’ autobiographical novel about a store clerk with a gnarly crush on a younger Mexican guy.
Chasing Amy (1997)
Kevin Smith’s boy-meets-girl flick tends to be a polarizing film: Yeah, the director’s straight-guy fantasy about a dude (Ben Affleck) who “turns” a lesbian is (sigh) problematic. But whether or not you want to parse the movie’s thorny sexual politics, its a heartfelt and entirely entertaining flick from a director whose career took turn for the douchey fairly soon after.
boring
More important films in the Criterion collection to watch than Chasing Amy:
Actually I was going to list them here, but fuck it – pretty much any film in the Criterion collection is better than Chasing Amy.
Mr. Enemabag Jones
@boring:
Agreed. I never understand what the hell Smith was thinking.
yaoming
Sorry, fellas, “Mala Noche” is only available on HuluPlus.
boring
Real talk: you really should watch F FOR FAKE, by the way.