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gay movie recs?
Tonight I have been gravely disappointed by the two gay-themed movies I rented with my roommate. I'd seen Forgive and Forget before, but I'd forgotten the ending was so utterly grim, making gayness look like a guarantee of loveless isolation and coming out look like the worst mistake a person can make.
Regular Guys (Echte Kerle) started out funny and enjoyable, but it ended with a tedious reiteration of the main character's heterosexuality that negated the emotional bond, not to mention the sexual tension, he'd developed with another man. The film also tried to pull a happy ending out of a hat by having another character come out as gay (and claim to be the rejected gay guy's new boyfriend) in the last two minutes. What is this emotional coherence you speak of?
Why is it so damn difficult to find gay movies that (a) end happily, (b) don't end in Surprise Heterosexuality, (c) are well-written and well-acted?
Anybody have recs for gay (male) non-documentary movies that meet those criteria? I have a horrible feeling I've already seen all the ones that exist. Films I have seen include: The Adventures of Felix, The Adventures of Priscilla Queen of the Desert (the gay characters are tangential, as I recall, with the focus on the straight trans woman), Beautiful Thing, Big Eden, Edge of Seventeen, Get Real (not actually very happy anyway), Jeffrey, Like It Is, Maurice, My Beautiful Laundrette, The Sum of Us, and Wild Reeds (also not very happy). [ETA: also The Wedding Banquet.]
Your help is appreciated.
Regular Guys (Echte Kerle) started out funny and enjoyable, but it ended with a tedious reiteration of the main character's heterosexuality that negated the emotional bond, not to mention the sexual tension, he'd developed with another man. The film also tried to pull a happy ending out of a hat by having another character come out as gay (and claim to be the rejected gay guy's new boyfriend) in the last two minutes. What is this emotional coherence you speak of?
Why is it so damn difficult to find gay movies that (a) end happily, (b) don't end in Surprise Heterosexuality, (c) are well-written and well-acted?
Anybody have recs for gay (male) non-documentary movies that meet those criteria? I have a horrible feeling I've already seen all the ones that exist. Films I have seen include: The Adventures of Felix, The Adventures of Priscilla Queen of the Desert (the gay characters are tangential, as I recall, with the focus on the straight trans woman), Beautiful Thing, Big Eden, Edge of Seventeen, Get Real (not actually very happy anyway), Jeffrey, Like It Is, Maurice, My Beautiful Laundrette, The Sum of Us, and Wild Reeds (also not very happy). [ETA: also The Wedding Banquet.]
Your help is appreciated.
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Seconding the Strachey movies (though they are not, IMO, as fun as the books), Trick, and Shelter. Dante's Cove (and its spinoff the Lair) are very very very gay and definitely queer-affirming, but also very bad, but bad in the way where it's kind of hilarious to keep watching.
...maybe Velvet Goldmine? Everybody likes Velvet Goldmine, right? Okay, the ending is kind of sad. But there are glitter aliens.
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