The LGBT film fest season is now in full swing and, if youâve ever been to one, picking from the crop of movies can be like taking your chances in a darkened back room: you might be left with a sore ass for very little return.
So, if youâre looking for an expert opinion on what to watch, Queerty teamed up with ThatGayMovie.com to get their personal picks of the very best queer flicks to see this Summer. Here they are, in no particular order and with trailers aplenty.
Brent Corrigan goes legit; Richard Harmon plays gay; Timo Descamps stops singing and Charlie David hopes to put âDanteâs Coveâ behind him in this sexy, time-bending thriller (I guess Matthew Montgomery was busy).
David plays a washed-up filmmaker returning to his old alma mater as a judge for the schoolâs annual film festival. After sleeping with one of the students (Harmon), who may or may not be him in some parallel time and place, he starts to see a way of altering his past and future at the same time.
Strapped was the best gay movie of last year and if you liked its blend of mystery, sexiness and surrealism, youâll probably enjoy Judas Kiss.
Making a documentary about the early days of the AIDS crisis is like climbing a mountain and director David Weissman approaches it by taking a microscope to five personally affected individuals who were there on the front line.
He includes archive footage and photographs but itâs the first hand accounts which are deeply affecting. Weissman doesnât sugar coat anything, but the overall tone of the film is inspirational rather than depressing and there is a strong message for young gays about the power of community.
This film generated a lot of buzz at the recent SXSW festival in Texas (which means the sales agents were doing their job). Former editor Andrew Haighâs sophomore effort follows two British blokes â one out; the other not so much â as they meet, shag, talk, âget twatted,â and stir some strong emotions in each other over the course of three days.
Haighâs first film, the docu-drama Greek Pete, divided opinion with some finding its year-long account of a London rent boy too scripted and hollow. Haigh seems to have found his groove with Weekend, discarding any pretense of reality and focusing on what is most personal to him.
How about we take this to the next level?
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If Tim Burton were a) a lesbian and b) still talented, this is probably the kind of film he would make. It taps those 1950s B-movie alien invasion pics to poke fun at the trials and tribulations of lesbian dating in the 21st Century as females from the planet Zots have to find sapphic love on Earth in order to save their race.
Genre-spoofing comedy films with âlesbianâ in the title arenât always a hot prospect (did anyone see âLesbian Vampire Killers?â) but CLSASS is warm, witty, irresistible and has its heart in the right place.
Smart move casting Matt Smith as Christopher Isherwood in this glossy account of the gay authorâs formative years in pre-war Berlin what with the âDr. Whoâ starâs growing queer fanbase, although rumor has it the BBC put a stop to any appearance of the Time Lordâs naked rear end. He does have one very athletic sex scene, but the film is fairly tame considering Isherwoodâs fondness for the cityâs rough trade and the fact that his real-life exploits inspired the musical âCabaret.â
The film does give Smith a chance to flex his acting muscles away from his increasingly ADHD-afflicted-English-boffin-on-speed turn as The Doctor and the production meticulously recreates a time in Berlin when long Nazi shadows were starting to cast themselves over the cityâs wild hedonism.
Last yearâs surprise documentary hit was about a pair of folk-singing lesbian twins from New Zealand and there is no reason why this fascinating film about âEnglandâs first modern lesbianâ shouldnât be just as popular as âThe Topp Twins.â
In the era of Jane Austin, when women were supposed to sit quietly in the corner and look pretty, Anne Lister was off climbing mountains, beating her male business rivals and having hot lesbian sex with the locals, all of which she documented in her secret, coded diaries.
Gay comedian Sue Perkins, âthe British Ellen DeGeneres,â traces Anneâs adventures with a light-hearted touch and a keen interest in history and wonders why we never learnt about her in school.
Ignoring the fact that this Sundance hit is virtually the same story as last yearâs criminally overlooked La Mission starring the even more criminally overlooked Benjamin Bratt, Gun Hill Road is powerful stuff and should appeal to a wider audience.
This time Esai Morales plays the tough Latino ex-con leaving prison only to find his son likes hanging with the homies, but in a different way, and worries what their macho community will make of Michael/Vanessaâs sexuality.
Writer/director Rashaad Ernesto Green went hunting among New Yorkâs coolest club kids for an unknown to play the part of the transgender son and found the striking form of Harmony Santana who steals the film Ă la The Crying Game.
Mixing farce, colorful melodrama, queer themes and horny, older women this full bodied Italian dramedy sometimes feels like the kind of movie Pedro AlmodĂłvar used to make before he went all serious, and that is no bad thing, even if it feels a tad dated.
It all revolves around a large, pasta peddling family headed by a strict, conservative pappa who expects his offspring to take over the family firm. Things donât run to plan and, as Oscar Wilde might say, to find out one son is gay might be considered a misfortune, but twoâŚ
âThe Big Gay Musicalâ turned out a lot better than it sounded and this time director Casper Andreas has the source material in Andy Zefferâs funny/tragic novel about a hot, young it-boy who moves to L.A. with dreams of movie stardom and ends up working on gay porn sets and servicing rich Hollywood clients.
Actor Matthew Ludwinski looks a lot like a younger Zeffer (he plays Adam Zeller in the movie) and the fun is in guessing which bits are based on the authorâs real-life experiences. I wonder if Ludwinski will have a bittersweet exposĂŠ to write a few years down the lineâŚ
Iran is a political hot potato right now and this Tehran-set (but Lebanon-filmed) love story between two teenage girls is potentially incendiary stuff in a country where their relationship could mean the death penalty.
Despite this ever present threat, first time writer/director Maryam Keshavarz manages to turn a lot of common preconceptions on their head in this surprisingly sensual film and shows two rebellious and defiant young people dreaming and dealing with stuff just like teenagers everywhere, itâs just they have to hide it deeper underground.
QJ201
In Gay Lit class in the mid 90’s we read Anne Lister’s Diaries. Fascinating, but a damn long read.
dazzer
Wonder why they aren’t pairing the Anne Lister documentary with the BBC drama about Lister starring Maxine Peake. It was a great drama.
Frank
In that Judas Kiss clip, Brent Corrigan is so stunningly gorgeous he looks like he could possibly be the first gay porn star to get a legit career. As his porn work has shown, the camera loves him. He could play Zac Efron’s little brother. Woof.
ChrisC
WOW! ‘Circumstance’ looks amazing!
matt
so glad to see richard harmon play gay! thought he was great in AMC’s The Killing and super cute!
Hannah
I’ve seen Loose Cannons. Its pretty good. Its definitely worth a look.
gina
Let’s try again and rephrase your description of Gun Hill Road:
“It’s about a Latino family in the Bronx coming to terms with having a trans daughter.”
Kaitlyn
Ugh “Christopher and His Kind” was so good. Matt Smith is brilliant both in this role and as Doctor Who. Love him.
danzrr
@dazzer: We’ve already paired “The Secret Diaries of Miss Anne Lister” with the doc, “The Real Anne Lister” in last year’s Frameline34: the San Francisco International LGBT Film Festival đ
http://www.frameline.org/festival/film/detail.aspx?id=2077&FID=47
Aside from “Loose Cannons” and “Circumstance,” I’ve already seen all of the films featured and they’re fantastic! Great choices!
ousslander
@Kaitlyn:It does look good and love him as The Doctor.
Coffee&Chicory
The leading women in Circumstance are INCREDIBLY pretty
Brian
Only 3 Lesbian movies out of 10?? There are a ton out there including the comedic burlesque romp Fishnet starring Eating Out’s Rebekah Kochan.
emaa
Looking forward to seeing many of the films you have listed. I am especially looking forward to seeing Gun Hill Road.
I am suprised that you didn’t have Fishnet on your list. It was a fun and quirky lesbian film with plenty of humor and hot chicks.
MOlly
UMMM… where is FISHNET !?! The best lesbian comedy!
Reynalda Oberski
Really nice read! http://www.gamesfor.co Would you mind if I link back to this article?
Rooney
Lesbian Vampire Killers was on TV last week, one of the worst pieces of shit movies I’ve ever seen (I didn’t watch until the end, I’m not into pain). And false advertising. This one? I will give a shot.