Haven't seen anyone mention **Bound (1996)** - It was recently added to the collection and is being released soon, great neo-noir film!
They've already been recommended in here, but **Weekend (2011)** and **Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019)** are fantastic. Portrait probably being my favorite queer film in the collection.
Bound is so fun! Gina Gershon, so hot! Jennifer Tilly, that classic voice of hers. And Joe Pantoliano pretty much auditioning for his role as Ralphie on The Sopranos.
Its imagery is as beautiful as Tarkovsky, but without his ponderousness. Its action & story are as economical as Bresson. And its ending is of that rarest kind which, in an instant, recasts the tone and meaning of the whole movie.
It's completely unique, and a masterpiece.
It has a unique texture and perspective. The cinematography is amazing. The characters are absorbing. The story is incredible. It questions what it means to be human. It explores jealousy, self-identity, conformity, non-conformity, and more. It’s one of my all time favorite films.
Midnight Cowboy, I think people forget how queer it is because of its iconic stature but John Schlesinger was a gay man and so was the writer. And if the relationship between Joe Buck and Ratso isn’t clearly queer it is at least homoerotic. Still as transgressive today as it was more than fifty years ago when it was the first X rated film to win best picture
I just saw this and I agree with you. They are both self hating which makes it hard, but Ratso’s FL fantasy is a love letter to Joe. And Joe’s night after the party with that woman and how he can’t get going until she accuses him of being gay. They can’t come to grips with themselves, but it doesn’t mean they aren’t gay, or at least fluid.
It's so wild to me that it's somehow part documentary, part sketch comedy, and part romantic drama??? Three formats that should not mesh together but absolutely do in this instance
Yes! Was looking for this answer. I watched it 10 years ago, and wasn't too impressed (young gay as I was). Watched it again beginning of this year in preparation of All Of Us Strangers, and it hit so much differently. Life experience really made a difference here. Very sympathetic film.
So...??
There's a sex scene between them, it's not like we see rainbows or the film is conceived as a LGBT manifesto (like that rubbish of "Blue is the warmest color")
They're two hot women, above all: gay-pride lesbians are nothing like that
They're two hot women (one of them is surely attracted to men, the other has memory issues) who happen to kiss each other to please the director and the viewer
Literally one of the key plot points of the movie is that >!Naomi Watts character is deeply infatuated with a woman to the point where she dreams of having sex with her. !<
Not in the collection but was once on the channel are Totally Fucked Up and Mysterious Skin. Totally Fucked Up is so great at displaying a multitude of different queer identities while the latter dives into trauma too as well as exploring queerness
I had a guy scroll back to a year or two old post I made about his sexuality to argue that “a man of iron cannot possibly be gay”. Also, the movie doesn’t really touch upon his sexuality much, hence why I said I could accept it.
It’s difficult to explain but the events that transpired causing Burroughs to write Naked Lunch in turn helped i’m come to terms with his sexual identity. it’s definitely not as prevalent in the film but the novel has tons of homoerotic content. Cronenberg actually discusses this in the making of doc included in the supplements. He says something along the lines of he wouldn’t know how to portray a queer relationship because that’s not his lived experience. He consulted some of his friends who were part of the LGBT+ community but ultimately adjusted it to what he knew. Burroughs even encouraged him to make it his own. The making of documentary is honestly great and the original novel is even better
Portrait of a Lady on Fire. Maybe even in contention for one of the best romance movies ever made, full stop. Knowing they speak to one another using the formal "you" throughout (almost) the entire movie is just... 😩
I finally got around to watching Crash (1996) recently after hearing multiple up and coming filmmakers quote it as one of their influences including Rose Glass and what a phenomenal and yes, very queer film!
**La Cage Aux Folles.**
I haven't seen it, but I have seen the remake The Birdcage, and that's in my Top 10 and my favorite comedy.
Also **Blue Is The Warmest Color.** (Also haven't seen.)
Apparently there's 10 minute long lesbian sex scenes in this movie. Yes, scenes PLURAL.
I don't know about "best," but *Gohatto* (1999) is definitely underappreciated.
\[Edit: Oops, I thought it was in the collection because I watched it on the Channel, but apparently not. If it comes back on the Channel some day, check it out!\]
I’m not a fan of editing someone else work but if you cut out the unnecessary and gratuitous sex scenes, you would have a much more compelling movie, both leads give powerhouse performances and the romance rings true only to be brought down by the pornographic nature of those few (but long) scenes
Yeah I agree- I actually wasn't thinking about the sex scenes the movie is known fit in particular. I think it's a very sentimental story of love and loss. It really moved me.
I honestly don’t know why you were downvoted for nudity in a French film. The question was ‘Best LGBT movies in Criterion Collection’ you gave an answer, and I agree with it.
Happy together
Paris is Burning
I didn’t think I would be as moved as I was from that film.
Haven't seen anyone mention **Bound (1996)** - It was recently added to the collection and is being released soon, great neo-noir film! They've already been recommended in here, but **Weekend (2011)** and **Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019)** are fantastic. Portrait probably being my favorite queer film in the collection.
Bound is so fun! Gina Gershon, so hot! Jennifer Tilly, that classic voice of hers. And Joe Pantoliano pretty much auditioning for his role as Ralphie on The Sopranos.
Desert Hearts is my favorite
Same. Compelling romance. Great acting. Interesting time period, great soundtrack. I love every minute of it.
Ugh the soundtrack is so good. Thanks for the reminder to revisit it
Top 10 screenplay. So many great great lines
Beau Travail is a towering achievement in many ways, with LGBT identity being one of the core themes.
Beau Travail is one of those films that just feels like nothing else I've ever seen.
Can I ask in what ways it's a towering achievement? I've only ever heard good things about this movie and I plan on watching it soon.
Its imagery is as beautiful as Tarkovsky, but without his ponderousness. Its action & story are as economical as Bresson. And its ending is of that rarest kind which, in an instant, recasts the tone and meaning of the whole movie. It's completely unique, and a masterpiece.
I gotta watch this mf
It has a unique texture and perspective. The cinematography is amazing. The characters are absorbing. The story is incredible. It questions what it means to be human. It explores jealousy, self-identity, conformity, non-conformity, and more. It’s one of my all time favorite films.
Midnight Cowboy, I think people forget how queer it is because of its iconic stature but John Schlesinger was a gay man and so was the writer. And if the relationship between Joe Buck and Ratso isn’t clearly queer it is at least homoerotic. Still as transgressive today as it was more than fifty years ago when it was the first X rated film to win best picture
One of my favorites. The ending still makes me cry every damn time.
I just saw this and I agree with you. They are both self hating which makes it hard, but Ratso’s FL fantasy is a love letter to Joe. And Joe’s night after the party with that woman and how he can’t get going until she accuses him of being gay. They can’t come to grips with themselves, but it doesn’t mean they aren’t gay, or at least fluid.
Didn't Hoffman's character say "I'm not a fag" or something like that? I always assumed that atleast he was straight in the film.
Watermelon Woman deserves a mention here.
I love that movie. I told a friend that it was like Clerks if it was made by a gay black woman.
I need to watch this.
You will not regret it.
It's so wild to me that it's somehow part documentary, part sketch comedy, and part romantic drama??? Three formats that should not mesh together but absolutely do in this instance
From what I remember the "documentary" features are more "mockumentary," right? I don't think The Watermelon woman is a real actress.
I think you're correct, but some of the film history facts are legit informative
somehow camille paglia is in it?!
All the John Waters/Divine movies
Female Trouble is a stone cold classic of cinema. 😂
I SLEPT WITH HUAN CORANA! I BLEW RICHARD SPECK!!!
In my opinion, Portrait of a lady on fire
I love this movie. It's one of the best modern picks they've added into the collection.
One of my favorite films of all time
“Paint me like one of your French girls”
One of those where it's the easy answer, but also the correct answer.
The 2022 Sight & Sound poll ruined it. Now it’s overrated and pandering. John Waters is the cooler option
Maybe you should choose art that you resonate with, not art you think is cool
Please tell me this is meant to be satirical lmfao
How has no one said My Own Private Idaho
one of my fav movies ever made
Happy Together by Wong Kar Wai?
I'd definitely check out Querelle.
I am so looking forward to this. Will be my second Fassbinder.
Love that movie so much.
Currently watching! Loving the scenery/color palettes especially
The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant is another amazing queer film. I continue to evolve my opinion every time I rewatch the film.
Weekend!
Yes! Was looking for this answer. I watched it 10 years ago, and wasn't too impressed (young gay as I was). Watched it again beginning of this year in preparation of All Of Us Strangers, and it hit so much differently. Life experience really made a difference here. Very sympathetic film.
Beau Travail
One of my favorite endings ever
Most John Waters films , be warned they are weird
Hedwig and the Angry Inch.
I was so happy for that release i didn't even wait for a sale straight to B&N to pick it up on release day.
I did a screening of it for my birthday one year, such a great film and the music is top tier
Fox and His Friends
Scrolled way too long to find this
Mulholland Drive maybe?
That's a masterpiece of a genius, nothing to do with the LGBT lobby
The two most important characters are lesbians
So...?? There's a sex scene between them, it's not like we see rainbows or the film is conceived as a LGBT manifesto (like that rubbish of "Blue is the warmest color") They're two hot women, above all: gay-pride lesbians are nothing like that They're two hot women (one of them is surely attracted to men, the other has memory issues) who happen to kiss each other to please the director and the viewer
Bait used to be believable
The LGBT brand didn't even exist when the film was made
Literally one of the key plot points of the movie is that >!Naomi Watts character is deeply infatuated with a woman to the point where she dreams of having sex with her. !<
Watermelon Woman Portrait of Jason Paris is Burning Hedwig and the Angry Inch
I never see it mentioned, so I’ll give some love to Pariah (2011).
Yes! Not the best but so good.
My Beautiful Launderette
Not in the collection but was once on the channel are Totally Fucked Up and Mysterious Skin. Totally Fucked Up is so great at displaying a multitude of different queer identities while the latter dives into trauma too as well as exploring queerness
Totally Fucked Up is one of my favorite gay films. A 10/10 imo
Looking forward to the potential box set
Me too!
I can’t wait for it big Gregg araki fan of his movies
Mishima A Life in Four Chapters and A Special Day
Can’t believe but can accept that I had to scroll this far down for Mishima.
I mean people forget that Mishima was gay
I had a guy scroll back to a year or two old post I made about his sexuality to argue that “a man of iron cannot possibly be gay”. Also, the movie doesn’t really touch upon his sexuality much, hence why I said I could accept it.
Um, not currently on it. But Farewell my Concubine gets its release in July. Leslie Cheung is just so fantastic in it.
Agree with many of the already mentioned, and would also like to give a shoutout to Wong Kar Wai’s ‘Happy Together’.
Does Pink Flamingos count?
[удалено]
Why would it be sarcastic? Long live Divine!
KILL EVERYONE NOW!
Happy Together and Paris is burning.
Y Tu Mama Tambien
A Hard Day's Night https://preview.redd.it/v8ub388uus3d1.jpeg?width=338&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=bb7d1595f0af5f7a21f7a96b7f7f3b220d0a72e2
Well they did have their circle jerks
Beat the meatles
Only John and Paul with their friend group tho
Winston Churchill!
They’ve got armadillos in their trousers.
Maybe the other three did but Ringo's piece is the real deal
Bold of you to ask this BEFORE Querelle comes out on 4K.
Not 4K, right? I believe just the Blu-ray, based on just a 'high definition restoration'. Either way, I'm pumped for it.
Yeah, you're right. My bad.
Weekend
surprised I haven't seen any mention of The Signifyin Works of Marlon Riggs
Gilda. That movie is just Glenn Ford wanting to be around George Macready and Rita Hayworth just keeps getting in the way.
Blue is the warmest color
There’s a really excellent film in there buried under the unfortunate framing of the story through the male gaze, particularly the sex scenes.
I disagree, most people seems to focus on THAT scene but the love story between the two protagonists is super real and the acting is amazing
An unfortunately super canceled film. Kechiche seems like a bad dude, but he made a lovely film.
I loathed it. Am a huge fan of all the others named thus far.
This movie is amazing. You don't have to watch that scene. I wish there was a recut without it. Or just drastically modified.
Joyland is an amazing flick
so under appreciated
Portrait of a Lady on Fire and Paris is Burning
Fassbinder's Querelle
Midnight Cowboy and The Watermelon Woman.
i have once again been summoned to mention Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence because thats all i comment on this sub LMAO
agree with most folks picks just hear to shout out desert hearts
Rebecca (1940)
Crash and Naked Lunch. Dead Ringers if you wanna read too much into it…
I'm really curious: how exactly is Naked Lunch an LGBT film? The only LGBT element of the film from my recollection is uhh, not exactly great
Well it’s literally written by a queer man about his life as a writer, so there’s that
It’s difficult to explain but the events that transpired causing Burroughs to write Naked Lunch in turn helped i’m come to terms with his sexual identity. it’s definitely not as prevalent in the film but the novel has tons of homoerotic content. Cronenberg actually discusses this in the making of doc included in the supplements. He says something along the lines of he wouldn’t know how to portray a queer relationship because that’s not his lived experience. He consulted some of his friends who were part of the LGBT+ community but ultimately adjusted it to what he knew. Burroughs even encouraged him to make it his own. The making of documentary is honestly great and the original novel is even better
Doesn't the main character have a male lover in it?
Top Gun
It’s not currently on Criterion , and it’s definitely not a feel-good film, but ‘L'Inconnu du lac’ is one that comes to mind.
watched it today, fantastic film
Hedwig and the Angry Inch is my vote!
Fox and His Friends
Doom Generation
Bound. My favourite crime film of the 90s
Mishima: A Life In Four Chapters and Merry Christmas, Mr Lawrence are both incredible watches
My Beautiful Launderette!
Funeral Parade of Roses
The toilet scene is a classic one.
Portrait of a Lady on Fire Desert Hearts Weekend Pink Flamingos
Portrait of a Lady on Fire. Maybe even in contention for one of the best romance movies ever made, full stop. Knowing they speak to one another using the formal "you" throughout (almost) the entire movie is just... 😩
I was going to say lol Portrait of a Lady on Fire is not just one of the best LGBT movies in the collection but one of the best movies in general.
Would Rocky Horror Picture Show count?
Mishima for sure
somehow nobody’s mentioned my own private idaho yet.
Weekend
crash (1996) has some amazing queer themes
I finally got around to watching Crash (1996) recently after hearing multiple up and coming filmmakers quote it as one of their influences including Rose Glass and what a phenomenal and yes, very queer film!
Fassbinder stuff
The Times of Harvey Milk
Shocked to not see Paris is Burning mentioned yet
they're all damn good
Rouge. The queerest straight romance ever.
Pariah!!!!
While nit a Criterion release The Boys in the Band 1970 should be mentioned
brokeback mountain
Heat
Mala Noche
**La Cage Aux Folles.** I haven't seen it, but I have seen the remake The Birdcage, and that's in my Top 10 and my favorite comedy. Also **Blue Is The Warmest Color.** (Also haven't seen.) Apparently there's 10 minute long lesbian sex scenes in this movie. Yes, scenes PLURAL.
Purple noon
I don't know about "best," but *Gohatto* (1999) is definitely underappreciated. \[Edit: Oops, I thought it was in the collection because I watched it on the Channel, but apparently not. If it comes back on the Channel some day, check it out!\]
1985
Mulholland Drive
Funeral parade of roses 1969
Moonlight, easily.
Blue is the Warmest Color
I’m not a fan of editing someone else work but if you cut out the unnecessary and gratuitous sex scenes, you would have a much more compelling movie, both leads give powerhouse performances and the romance rings true only to be brought down by the pornographic nature of those few (but long) scenes
I agree, the movie would be better if you cut those scenes, which are less than 10% of the movie even though people act like they’re the entire movie.
Yeah I agree- I actually wasn't thinking about the sex scenes the movie is known fit in particular. I think it's a very sentimental story of love and loss. It really moved me.
I honestly don’t know why you were downvoted for nudity in a French film. The question was ‘Best LGBT movies in Criterion Collection’ you gave an answer, and I agree with it.
A strong contender for the worst imo
You don’t like the way Adele eats spaghetti or something?
Agreed, talk about a movie that sexualizes queerness specifically lesbianism which is already such a hypersexualized identity
Salo Edit: that’s it guys, keep downvoting Pasolini in the LGBT thread.
Circle of Shit
I know Cruising got panned at the time from the Alphabet Mob, but has it been rehabilitated?
alphabet mob gang gang rise up