S/D: Gay movies of arty qualities

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...Because I haven't been on this thread yet?

First gay fillum per se is Basil Dearden's Victim, starring Dirk Bogarde as a homo barrister in the days before Wolfenden, being scared to shit because bad men were bribing him with cottage photos. It's amazing. It's also on PBS affiliates about once every year, usually in a season with The Servant and other class-based dramas.

Also Paris is Burning seems to speak to/about the years I lived in NYC.

― suzy (suzy), Friday, 23 September 2005 07:16 (twenty years ago)

still no anger, suzy.

― hstencil (hstencil), Friday, 23 September 2005 07:22 (twenty years ago)

I was gonna mention movies like Victim (which is indeed amazing for a film made in 1960), Show Me Love (the best lesbian flick ever?), Beautiful Thing, etc, but I didn't think they were what Eric was after, since they're more "socially conscious" than "arty".

― Tuomas (Tuomas), Friday, 23 September 2005 07:27 (twenty years ago)

I admit I was using "arty" as something of a red herring. Beautiful Thing is a lot better than most of the other coming out teen dramas.

― Eric H. (Eric H.), Friday, 23 September 2005 08:42 (twenty years ago)

"Victim" was on Channel 4 last week, what a great 60s UK cast: Bogarde, Sylvia Syms (what a babe!), Dennis Price, Anthony Nicholls, Peter Copley, Norman Bird, Peter McEnery, Donald Churchill, Derren Nesbitt (hooray!), John Cairney (!), Nigel Stock, Charles Lloyd Pack, Frank Thornton ...

― Raymond Douglas Dadaismus (Dada), Friday, 23 September 2005 08:57 (twenty years ago)

Anger's on the astrology thread

― tokyo nursery school: afternoon session (rosemary), Friday, 23 September 2005 13:53 (twenty years ago)

ten months pass...

The grrrreat The Joy of Life hits DVD tomorrow (and it, uh, ain't just gay):

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000FP2YR2/102-1063953-7028925

― Dr Morbius (Dr Morbius), Monday, 24 July 2006 19:57 (nineteen years ago)

L.I.E. was pretty great.

still hstencil OTM about Anger, the epitome of gay "artiness"

― Shakey Mo Collier (Shakey Mo Collier), Monday, 24 July 2006 20:02 (nineteen years ago)

search: "Those Who Love Me Can Take the Train"

― Fetchboy (Felcher), Monday, 24 July 2006 20:19 (nineteen years ago)

For your lesbian, artsy s&m fix, search Maria Beatty's The Black Glove and the Elegant Spanking.

― Jena (JenaP), Monday, 24 July 2006 20:42 (nineteen years ago)

I like:

Parting Glances
The Living End
Wild Reeds
The Opposite of Sex
Gods & Monsters
Bad Education

― Tim Finney (Tim Finney), Tuesday, 25 July 2006 01:34 (nineteen years ago)

What is this board's general consensus on the movie Touch Of Pink? I loved it, but have heard of others not quite enjoying it. I thought Kyle Maclachlan was superb as the spirit of Cary Grant and actually thought Alim and Giles were great together. I don't know how "arty" the movie is, though. I know it's an "independent" film, but so was Velvet Goldmine, and I'm fairly certain that film has no place in this kind of discussion.

― Phoenix Dancing (krushsister), Tuesday, 25 July 2006 03:06 (nineteen years ago)

Sort of off topic? you know when a trad guns n ammo movie tries to crossover into artyness just by having one random gay tough guy/G? oh WOW, homothug = 'a shoot em up with heart...and some brain" "oh see, it must have been the JAIL. clever"

I want gangster movies where EVERYONE is gay!

― LeCoq (LeCoq), Tuesday, 25 July 2006 03:11 (nineteen years ago)

Oh wait, The Warriors.

― LeCoq (LeCoq), Tuesday, 25 July 2006 03:12 (nineteen years ago)

There's an old flick called Becket with Peter O'Toole & Richard Burton that's about King Henry II that has gay undertones, but done in such a subtle manner so as not to offend the masses in the '60s when it was made. Anyone see this?

oh, i think that a bare-chested henry II whipping himself to a bloody pulp at beckett's tomb is pretty not-subtle if you ask me.

― Eisbär (llamasfur), Tuesday, 25 July 2006 05:11 (nineteen years ago)

re beckett: since it was based on a french play on the same subject, i've always wondered if the original play also has all of those "hey, sailor!" moments.

― Eisbär (llamasfur), Tuesday, 25 July 2006 05:12 (nineteen years ago)

I remember a movie called Sebastian, with music by Eno from the late 70s/early 80s that was pretty gay. Set in Roman times, and largley (entirely?) in Latin.

― nickn (nickn), Tuesday, 25 July 2006 05:46 (nineteen years ago)

Derek Jarman'll do that for ya.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Tuesday, 25 July 2006 11:01 (nineteen years ago)

You gotta love the French flick Funny Felix, where the protagonist is both gay and HIV positive, yet neither of those is what the movie's about.

― Tuomas (Tuomas), Tuesday, 25 July 2006 12:02 (nineteen years ago)

I mean, it's rare to see a film where HIV just happen to be something the main character lives with, rather than dies to.

― Tuomas (Tuomas), Tuesday, 25 July 2006 12:04 (nineteen years ago)

two months pass...

Kenneth Anger vol. 1 to finally be released by Fantoma in November.

http://www.fantoma.com/fantoma.html

― Eric H. (Eric H.), Sunday, 1 October 2006 02:00 (nineteen years ago)

directors to search:

george/mike kuchar
kenneth anger
jim hubbard
tom chomont
lawrence brose
james broughton
joel singer
jerry tartaglia
jack smith
willard maas
chantal akerman
su friedrich
barbara hammer
marlon riggs
john greyson

― joseph (joseph), Sunday, 1 October 2006 16:33 (nineteen years ago)

Some of my favorites:

Mala Noche
My Own Private Idaho
Naked Lunch
Wild Reeds
Water Drops on Burning Rocks
Tropical Malady

― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn (Alfred Soto), Sunday, 1 October 2006 18:02 (nineteen years ago)

I liked But I'm a Cheerleader a lot

― Bob Six (bobbysix), Sunday, 1 October 2006 18:38 (nineteen years ago)

I know it's an "independent" film, but so was Velvet Goldmine, and I'm fairly certain that film has no place in this kind of discussion.

very puzzling that this is the only (wrongheaded) mention of todd haynes on this thread. don't pretty much all of haynes' movies fit exactly this description?

― gypsy mothra (gypsy mothra), Sunday, 1 October 2006 19:11 (nineteen years ago)

I can't wait to see how the Dylan pic fits the criteria (no snark intended, by the way).

― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn (Alfred Soto), Sunday, 1 October 2006 20:28 (nineteen years ago)

yeah. well, maybe in the way that t.h.'s movies are all about identity in various ways (which always seems at least implicitly tied to gayness, and explicitly in a lot of them). dylan's a good case study in the creation and manipulation of identity, and also the way it can be a trap, etc. (i assume that's the point of having so many different actors play the part.) anyway, i'm looking forward to that movie.

― gypsy mothra (gypsy mothra), Sunday, 1 October 2006 20:41 (nineteen years ago)

also david lynch possibly has a place in the discussion, homophobe tho he may be. mulholland drive is on logo a lot, and he also seems like one of the most obvious descendants of kenneth anger, cinematically.

― gypsy mothra (gypsy mothra), Sunday, 1 October 2006 20:44 (nineteen years ago)

how is Lynch a homophobe? I admit: homos exist for him for fetishizing purposes (eyeliner, feyness, white powder, "In Dreams").

― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn (Alfred Soto), Sunday, 1 October 2006 20:50 (nineteen years ago)

well yeah, homophobe might not be fair. i'm mostly thinking of the dean stockwell character there, who's kind of a poison-queen archetype (and lynch's archetypes tend to be kind of reactionary in general). but at the same time, the first time i saw scorpio rising i thought, "wow, david lynch has seen this movie a hundred times."

― gypsy mothra (gypsy mothra), Sunday, 1 October 2006 21:00 (nineteen years ago)

After several dozen screenings, I still can't say for certain that Dean Stockwell IS gay -- or whether it matters. He's just a mincing weirdo, the most outrageous element in that most outrageous of scenes.

― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn (Alfred Soto), Sunday, 1 October 2006 22:26 (nineteen years ago)

Anyone familiar with this new Mexican director Julián Hernández? His A Thousand Clouds of Peace... was really something -- like early Van Sant, only more elliptical, and he's got one that just opened in NYC, Broken Sky, that sounds like it will attract tons of Chelsea boys (for the young Latin flesh) who will go to sleep (from all the pining and wandering, 140 minutes' worth).

http://slantmagazine.com/film/film_review.asp?ID=2552

Kenneth Anger in person at an hourlong screening of his 'essentials' next Saturday night at the NY Film Fest (tix still available):

http://www.filmlinc.com/nyff/program/avantgarde/kennethanger.html

― Dr Morbius (Dr Morbius), Monday, 2 October 2006 13:02 (nineteen years ago)

three months pass...

wow, Two Drifters is outrageous and deadpan. Less sex than O Fantasma but even more pervy, it's true. Strangest needledrop score too -- Andy Williams to Bright Eyes!

― Dr Morbius (Dr Morbius), Saturday, 6 January 2007 19:48 (nineteen years ago)

I wonder if Jackass 2 belongs here?

― Eric H. (Eric H.), Saturday, 6 January 2007 22:37 (nineteen years ago)

That Kenneth Anger thing is coming to the Walker in Minneapolis soon. I should go!

― Eric H. (Eric H.), Saturday, 6 January 2007 22:38 (nineteen years ago)

what's the deal w jackass 2?

― teeny (teeny), Saturday, 6 January 2007 22:57 (nineteen years ago)

NEWSIES

― Abbott (Abbott), Saturday, 6 January 2007 23:05 (nineteen years ago)

(x-post) It's sort of a weird crypto AIDS movie in which gayness is surpressed with self-imposed body abuse. Until the finale, when the thin line is crossed and it sucks big time.

― Eric H. (Eric H.), Saturday, 6 January 2007 23:06 (nineteen years ago)

'Boys in the Band' is great at conjuring up a long-gone past.

― Bob Six (bobbysix), Sunday, 7 January 2007 12:49 (nineteen years ago)

well, so is Private Idaho

― Dr Morbius (Dr Morbius), Monday, 8 January 2007 15:50 (nineteen years ago)

jackass 2 may be gay, but it sure isn't arty.

― the original hauntology blogging crew (Enrique), Monday, 8 January 2007 15:51 (nineteen years ago)

There are a bunch of similar-ish French gay arty movies, generally about confused young working class men who get their kit off and have angst re their masculinity/ sexuality/ hottness etc etc

I am thinking of Presque Rien (studenty bloke has failed suicide attempt and thinks back to holiday gay romance that lead him to it), Le Clan (hot brothers have various types of angst), Wild Side (pre op tranny brings her two boyfriends to help look after her sick mum) etc. They are all quite slow and elliptical but worth watching

― Mark Co (Markco), Monday, 8 January 2007 16:14 (nineteen years ago)

yeah, Le Clan had its moments but was mostly worth it for the beefcake (directed by one actor from Wild Reeds, starring another -- same with the similarly meh Full Speed).

xpost

New print of Becket about to show in NYC.

― Dr Morbius (Dr Morbius), Monday, 8 January 2007 16:21 (nineteen years ago)

Oh man, I LOVE Newsies but my sister got dibs on the VHS copy. I surrendered it for the tape of "Treasure Island" with Charleton Heston and 16 year-old Christian Bale.

― Laurel (Laurel), Monday, 8 January 2007 16:24 (nineteen years ago)

xpost

Le Clan was pretty ridiculous in the amount of nudity in it, not that I was complaining. Agree that Full Speed was pretty meh

Presque Rien is probably the best of the ones I mentioned and also stars that same actor (Stephane Rideaux?).

― Mark Co (Markco), Monday, 8 January 2007 16:27 (nineteen years ago)

yes, Rideau -- he's good in Wild Reeds and always a visual treat.

― Dr Morbius (Dr Morbius), Monday, 8 January 2007 16:29 (nineteen years ago)

Is he gay? He was rather fetching in the awful American-style-artiness of Come Undone.

― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn (Alfred Soto), Monday, 8 January 2007 16:31 (nineteen years ago)

I'm not sure but yes, he is v foxy. He seems to be typecast as gay rough trade anyway. He was in an Ozon film too, though I haven't seen it yet.

That other Ozon film about the bloke dying of cancer (Time to Leave) = another arty gay type film

― Mark Co (Markco), Monday, 8 January 2007 16:38 (nineteen years ago)

The Ozon film is so bad I had to throw up with embarrassment, not least for what he does to Jeanne Moreau.

― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn (Alfred Soto), Monday, 8 January 2007 16:44 (nineteen years ago)

oh foo! Moreau is not allowed to go makeupless a la Dench?

― Dr Morbius (Dr Morbius), Monday, 8 January 2007 16:49 (nineteen years ago)

Skipping 326 messages at this point... Click here if you want to load them all.

Watched ‘Departure’ starring Alex Lawther. Lovely film, some truly incredible camera moments

― a tv star not a dirty computer man (the table is the table), Wednesday, 24 December 2025 18:33 (five months ago)

Also Lawther is a great actor!

― a tv star not a dirty computer man (the table is the table), Wednesday, 24 December 2025 18:34 (five months ago)

'Heartstone' was good, sort of in the same vein as 'Close' but rather than the Belgian countryside, the setting is rural northern Iceland. Some of the shots were incredible— boys wandering fields next to cows as huge mountains loom in the near distance, desperate local chip shops where the teens gather as the site of fights, kids playing in a spring. Made me want to go to Iceland. (But yeah, fair warning: while the more sensitive/gay of the two boys doesn't die in 'Heartstone,' the ending is rather wrenching)

― a tv star not a dirty computer man (the table is the table), Wednesday, 31 December 2025 03:15 (five months ago)

one month passes...

Watched a few things in the past few weeks, some of which I rather liked:

Fireworks (2024), which is a character-driven but also rather beautiful in its shots of the Italian countryside. Boys fall in love, families disapprove and sabotage their affair. Inspired by true events, apparently, and not happy ones. Won't give more away. The inclusion of extended moped scenes also, of course, recalled <<Les roseaux sauvages>> in a way that I'm sure was intentional.

Beach Rats (2017) is Harris Dickinson's debut, and is a delirious film about a closeted, shiftless young man living near the Coney Island boardwalk. It's crushing and woozy, and Dickinson does a great job both acting and being naked in it. (Honestly, he is insanely hot in this film, the sort of guy I have always lusted after).

\And right now I am in the middle of Plainclothes (2025). I was wary of this film because I thought it might be copaganda, but it proved my skepticism unfounded. The struggles of the protagonist are so intense and anxiety-inducing that I am glad that I often take breaks when watching films at home— I will finish it tomorrow.

― a tv star not a dirty computer man (the table is the table), Tuesday, 24 February 2026 02:23 (three months ago)

Of the first two, I highly recommend Beach Rats. The other is lovely, but nothing that most of us haven't seen before.

― a tv star not a dirty computer man (the table is the table), Tuesday, 24 February 2026 02:28 (three months ago)

The star of Beach Rats would play opposite Nicole Kidman in 2024's Babygirl.

― The Luda of Suburbia (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 24 February 2026 03:15 (three months ago)

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