THE 99 ESSENTIAL GAY MOVIES
a list of the most relevant, iconic, camp, historic, game-changing, must see movies of gay cinema
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- DirectorLuchino ViscontiStarsDirk BogardeRomolo ValliMark BurnsWhile recovering in Venice, sickly composer Gustav von Aschenbach becomes dangerously fixated with teenager Tadzio.simply, the art of cinema, by Luchino Visconti, one of the greatest directos of all time, based on the Thomas Mann novel, music from Mahler, Beethoven, Mussorgsky, Superb cast, and a way to create movies that are today impossible to conceive. A must for the real art lover, and cinefile.
- DirectorJim SharmanStarsTim CurrySusan SarandonBarry BostwickA newly-engaged couple have a breakdown in an isolated area and must seek shelter at the bizarre residence of Dr. Frank-n-Furter.Everybody knows the craziest musical ever done, and the funniest. And the most unapologetic one. Where are the balls today to make jewels of this caliber? ...now we are clapping insipid, feel good musicals such as LA-LA-Land...why?!? What happened to the world?
- DirectorAng LeeStarsJake GyllenhaalHeath LedgerMichelle WilliamsEnnis and Jack are two shepherds who develop a sexual and emotional relationship. Their relationship becomes complicated when both of them get married to their respective girlfriends.my hearth is still bleeding because of these two. Great film, great acting, great pain, and then the music by Santaolalla. A full immersion experience. One of the peaks of gay cinema!!
- DirectorRoss MacGibbonMatthew BourneStarsRichard WinsorDominic NorthNina GoldmanA modern interpretation of Tchaikovsky's classic tale of love, caution and fidelity.Here the swans are all males, some of which decide to become birds of prey, or parading peacocks, delicate egrets, and outlaw flocks. One of the smartest, incredible interpretations of the famous ballet
- DirectorPaul BogartStarsAnne BancroftMatthew BroderickHarvey FiersteinArnold is a gay man working as drag queen in 1971 NYC. He meets a handsome bisexual man.a must, a classic: what it meant and what still means to be gay. The dare and the courage to build a life, a career, and a family with a different voice. And what a voice, Mr. Fierstein!!
- DirectorStephan ElliottStarsHugo WeavingGuy PearceTerence StampTwo drag performers and a transgender woman travel across the desert to perform their unique style of cabaret.Drags, trans, freaks, a dog called Herpes. Tons of glitter and the most creative costumes ever created crowded in a lavender bus cutting the immense Australian desert. And Gloria Gaynor. It's heaven from start to end. Magnificent!!
- DirectorGus Van SantStarsRiver PhoenixKeanu ReevesJames RussoTwo best friends living on the streets of Portland as hustlers embark on a journey of self discovery and find their relationship stumbling along the way.
- DirectorRoeland KerboschStarsMaarten SmitAndrew KelleyJeroen KrabbéSet in The Netherlands at the end of WW II, this touching story, told in flashbacks, explores the complex and romantic relationship between an adult soldier and a displaced, lonely adolescent boy.
- DirectorNeil JordanStarsStephen ReaJaye DavidsonForest WhitakerA British soldier kidnapped by the IRA soon befriends one of his captors, who then becomes drawn into the soldier's world.
- DirectorÉdouard MolinaroStarsUgo TognazziMichel SerraultClaire MaurierThe manager of a Saint-Tropez nightclub featuring drag entertainment, and his star attraction, are a gay couple. Madness ensues when his straight son brings home a fiancée and her ultra-conservative parents to meet them.
- DirectorBlake EdwardsStarsJulie AndrewsJames GarnerRobert PrestonA struggling female soprano in 1934 Paris finally finds work after posing as a female impersonator, but it complicates her personal life when a visiting Chicago gangster finds himself inexplicably attracted to the seemingly male performer.
- DirectorJon ShearStarsDan FuttermanScott DennyPaige TurcoA series of urban legends take place around the life of a troubled man who is searching New York City for a mysterious stranger.
- DirectorEttore ScolaStarsSophia LorenMarcello MastroianniJohn VernonTwo neighbors, a persecuted journalist and a resigned housewife, meet during Hitler's visit to Italy in May 1938.
- DirectorJoseph L. MankiewiczStarsElizabeth TaylorKatharine HepburnMontgomery CliftA surgeon is assigned the case of a young woman whose aunt wants her lobotomized to cover up a family secret.
- DirectorTodd HaynesStarsEdith MeeksLarry MaxwellSusan NormanA boy shoots his father and flies out the window. A man falls in love with a fellow inmate in prison. A doctor accidentally ingests his experimental sex serum, wreaking havoc on the community.
- DirectorJohn SchlesingerStarsDustin HoffmanJon VoightSylvia MilesA naive hustler travels from Texas to New York City to seek personal fortune, finding a new friend in the process.
- DirectorJames IvoryStarsJames WilbyRupert GravesHugh GrantTwo English school chums find themselves falling in love at Cambridge. To regain his place in society, Clive gives up Maurice and marries. While staying with Clive and his wife, Maurice discovers romance in the arms of the gamekeeper Alec.
- DirectorMarek KanievskaStarsRupert EverettColin FirthMichael JennBased on the life of the young Guy Burgess, who would become better known as one of the Cambridge Spies.
- DirectorAng LeeStarsWinston ChaoMay ChinAh-Lei GuaTo satisfy his nagging parents, a gay landlord and a female tenant agree to a marriage of convenience, but his parents arrive to visit and things get out of hand.
- DirectorTodd HaynesStarsEwan McGregorJonathan Rhys MeyersChristian BaleIn 1984, British journalist Arthur Stuart investigates the career of 1970s glam superstar Brian Slade, who was heavily influenced in his early years by hard-living and rebellious American singer Curt Wild.
- DirectorJohn FlynnStarsRod SteigerJohn Phillip LawLudmila MikaëlA story of a brilliant master sergeant with a great career behind him and transferred to yet another post, his attraction to a younger man eventually overrides him, to a point where his latent homosexuality, finally emerges.
- DirectorJohn HustonStarsElizabeth TaylorMarlon BrandoBrian KeithBizarre tale of sex, betrayal, and perversion at a military post.
- DirectorJohn WatersStarsDivineDavid LocharyMary Vivian PearceNotorious Baltimore criminal and underground figure Divine goes up against a sleazy married couple who make a passionate attempt to humiliate her and seize her tabloid-given title as "The Filthiest Person Alive".
- DirectorGregg ArakiStarsBrady CorbetJoseph Gordon-LevittElisabeth ShueTwo pre-adolescent boys both experienced a strange event and later it affects their lives in different ways. One becomes a reckless, sexually adventurous prostitute, while the other retreats into a reclusive fantasy of alien abduction.
- DirectorHector BabencoStarsWilliam HurtRaul JuliaSonia BragaA gay man and a political prisoner are together in a prison. The gay man narrates the stories of two fake movies and his own life.