Brokeback Mountain (2005)

"Brokeback Mountain" is a gay romantic-drama that depicts the complex romantic and sexual relationship between two men in the American West from 1963 to 1983. The story is about ranch hand Ennis del Mar (Heath Ledger) and rodeo cowboy Jack Twist (Jake Gyllenhaal), who meet and fall in love on the fictional Brokeback Mountain in Wyoming. Ennis and Jack first meet when they are hired by Joe Aguirre (Randy Quaid) to herd his sheep through the summer. During the long months of isolation, a bond develops between the two. One night Jack makes a sexual pass at Ennis, who rejects then accepts Jack's advances. They develop a physical and emotional relationship which is cut short unexpectedly. Separating at the end of the summer, each goes on to marry and have children. Ennis marries his long-time fiancé Alma Beers (Michelle Williams) and Jack ends up in Texas, where he meets and marries rodeo princess Lureen Newsome (Anne Hathaway).

The two men reunite four years later, and Alma accidentally witnesses them kissing. Jack wants to create a life together on a small ranch, but Ennis and Jack meet only for infrequent fishing trips. At the end of a camping trip, Ennis tells Jack he has to cancel their next outing because of his job, and an argument erupts. Ennis blames Jack for "making me the way I am". Jack dies and Ennis wants to scatter his ashes on Brokeback Mountain. Sadness and melancholy pervade this "gay cowboy movie". It's a quiet, heartbreaking love story adapted from E. Annie Proulx's short story. Oscar winning director Ang Lee captures the natural beauty of Wyoming and Texas and Gustavo Santaolalla's music score helps to complete a beautiful and tragic film.

יוסי וג'אגר‎ (2002)

"Yossi & Jagger" is an Israeli film in Hebrew ("Yossi VeJager Israel") about the love affair of two Israeli soldiers. Yossi (Ohad Knoller) commands a troop of soldiers in the snow-covered mountains near Lebanon. In secrecy, he has a romantic relationship with his second-in-command officer, Lior Amichai (Yhuda Levi), who is called Jagger by everyone for his rock star good looks. The pair lead a loving, yet secret life together, going off to be alone and open with one another. One day, a Colonel (Sharon Raginiano) arrives at the base with two female soldiers. He is there to supervise a night-time ambush, which Yossi resents because of the full moon, and he fears for his soldiers' safety. Tragically, Jagger is fatally injured that night, dying in the arms of his lover, who only now is able to articulate his love for him. At the funeral reception at Jagger's parents' house, Jagger's mother mistakes Yaeli (Aya Steinovitz) for his girlfriend. She laments that she knew very little about her son, including his favorite song, which only Yossi is able to tell her.

This sociological study of two men and how the others in their unit react to their situation is based on a true story. The film did not receive production assistance from the Israeli army but proved to be so popular in Israel that it got official army showings later. Scripted by Avner Bernheimer, it was directed by Eytan Fox. The English title is "Yossi & Jagger".

Από την άκρη της πόλης (1998)

"Apo Tin Akri Tis Polis" or "From the Edge of the City" refers to "Menidi", a poor suburb on the edge of Athens, where many Cosssack Greeks live. They are called "Pontoi", ethnic Greeks from the Black Sea dispersed through the ex-Southern Soviet Union in the Stalin era. The Pontoi returned to Greece en masse after the fall of the USSR. Parents speak mostly Greek, but the teenage children speak a hybrid Russian-Greek language reflecting their lack of identity and marginalization in Greece's xenophobic society. The film is about hunky 17 year-old Sasha (Stathis Papadopoulous), a part-time construction worker and "rent boy" prostitute (since age 13) with Greek god looks. He is surrounded by all kinds of horrors: a father who slaps him around, a mother who weeps, junkie pals, and whores with black eyes. One of his friends is Giorgos (Dimitris Papadoulidis), an older pimp (maybe 20) who struts around in black T-shirts and lets Sasha have his prize whore, Natasha (Theodora Tzimou), so that Giorgos can buy another. In addition, there's a group of boys and girls whose lives are touched on. The best of this ragged lot is the only real gay character, Panagiotis (Panayiotis Hartomatzidis) , who sets Sasha straight on the subject of their evening occupation. Fearing that Panagiotis' has become so enamored of one of his patrons that he's getting fucked, Sasha says "You're a rent boy, not a faggot who takes it up the ass." Panagiotis, more cynical than his pal, replies, "Get with it. What's the difference?" Sasha's marginalization is the film's theme: the life of petty crime and prostitution which second or third class Greeks lead as Cossack Greeks.

"Από την άκρη της πόλης" purports to be an insider view of a tribal urban culture, but it's impossible to care much for these brats. For some viewers it's a tantalizing male flesh parade. Sasha's interest in boxing, for example, comes out of nowhere, simply an excuse for him to strip down. A shower scene with Sasha and Giorgos is also gratuitous. On the plus side, some of the dialogue has a charm very well suited to the subject. During one of Sasha and Natasha's jaunts through town, their cabbie neatly summarizes the film's worldview: "You go to a whorehouse and all you fuck is imported cunt. You want Greek pussy, you gotta mortgage your fucking house." Trickery saturates this film, everything from zooms and pans to blackouts that chop a scene to bits. Most annoying is a camera that tears through the landscape so fast the background becomes a blur. In one scene , Panagiotis is standing with a trick in a living room looking at the beautiful ocean view. Suddenly he disappears. Gay director Constantine Giannaris, a former male hustler himself, started out to make a documentary but eventually opted for a quasi-fictional feature. He also wrote the script. The English title is "From the Edge of the City".

O Fantasma (2000)

This Portuguese film is about Sergio (Ricardo Meneses), a young brooding and lonely man who works the night shift as a trash collector in Lisbon, Portugal. Sergio lives in the room of a run-down pension, and is alienated from life with no friends or family. Even his sexual encounters fail to engage him or satisfy his desires. He roams the city with the company's guard dog, Lord, engages in anonymous sex and tries to rebuff the advances of his co-worker Fatima (Beatriz Torcato). Sergio becomes obsessed with his neighbour's motorcycle, and then also its arrogant owner, João (Andre Barbosa), a young man totally indifferent to Sergio. The frustrated Sergio unleashes his darkest impulses, sending him down a path of violence and depravity. Sergio stalks João , eventually donning bondage gear and making the motorcyclist his love prisoner. After having his way with his captive, Sergio vanishes into the night and prowls the city's garbage dumps in a strange odyssey of sexual dysfunction and cruelty. Shot almost entirely at night, director João Pedro Rodrigues has created a haunting study of the alienation and despair that fill modern urban life, and the devastation that solitude and repressed sexuality can inflict on the psyche. This film won awards from the New York Gay and Lesbian Film Festival, Entrevues Film Festival, and others. Alexandre Melo and José Neves wrote the script. The English title is "The Phantom".

Prick up your Ears (1987)

This dark and disturbing motion picture is about the life and death of 1960's gay playwright Joe Orton. The title is an anagram play on words: "Prick up your arse". Orton (Gary Oldman) is befriended by the older Kenneth Halliwell (Alfred Molina), and while the two begin a relationship, it's not all about sex. Orton loves the dangers of bath-houses and sex in public restrooms. Halliwell, not as charming or attractive as Orton, doesn't fare so well in those places. While both long to become writers, it is Orton who achieves fame with his plays "Entertaining Mr. Sloane" and "Loot". The film tells the story in flashback, with sequences of John Lahr (Wallace Shawn) researching the book the film is based on with Orton's literary agent, Peggy Ramsay (Vanessa Redgrave). Lahr's wife (Lindsay Duncan) appears periodically though the film as his research assistant. Orton and Halliwell's relationship is traced from its beginning. As Orton grows increasingly confident in his talent, Halliwell's writing stagnates. They fall into a parody of a traditional married couple, with Orton as the "husband" and Halliwell as the "wife". When Orton is commissioned to write a screenplay for The Beatles, Halliwell prepares for a meeting with the "Fab Four", but Orton is taken away for a meeting on his own. Finally, Orton's status as a brilliant playwright coupled with Halliwell's increasing marginalization and mental instability leads Halliwell to bludgeon Orton to death and then kill himself with a drug overdose.

"Prick Up Your Ears" was to be the title of an unreleased play by Orton, a name suggested by Halliwell, who had provided most of Orton's titles throughout his successful years. Director Stephen Frears, who also made the gay-themed "My Beautiful Laundrette", balances our sympathies for both the protagonists while the leads give standout performances. The screenplay was written by Alan Bennett, based on the book by John Lahr.

Gods and Monsters (1998)

Set in 1957 Los Angeles, James Whale (Ian McKellan), director of FRANKENSTEIN (1931) and THE BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN (1935), has retired and lives with his housekeeper Hanna (Lynn Redgrave), who disapproves of his gay lifestyle. Whale has suffered a series of strokes that have left him fragile and tormented by memories of his past, growing up as a poor outcast, his World War I service and working in Hollywood as a director. He indulges in his fantasies, reminiscing of gay pool parties and toys with a starstruck fan who comes to interview him. Whale also battles depression knowing his life is slipping away and the diagnosis that his stroke damage grows worse, at times contemplating suicide.

Whale: Hatred was the only thing that kept my soul alive. And amongst the men I hated... was my dear old dumb father, who put me in that hell in the first place.

Whale befriends his handsome and muscular gardener, ex-Marine Clayton Boone (Brendan Fraser) and the two begin a friendship. Boone agrees to pose for Whale, is reluctant to remove his shirt, but does so. Whale begins sketching and the two begin talking about their lives. Clay researches Whale's film career, and is impressed. His girlfriend speculates that Whale is just an old fruit pretending to be famous to have sex with him. Hanna confirms that Whale is homosexual and Clay leaves when Whale talks about the young men who've posed previously. Boone, impressed with Whale's fame, watches THE BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN on TV as others mock the movie. He questions his friendship with Whale and Whale's intentions. After assuring Whale he is straight, Whale says he has no interest in him.

Hannah: Poor Mr. Jimmy. There is much good in him, but he will suffer the fires of hell.
Boone: Oh yeah?
Hannah: That is what the priests tell me. His sins of the flesh will keep him from heaven.
Boone: Hell, everybody's got those.
Hannah: No. His is the worst. The unspeakable. The deed no man can name without shame. What is the good English? All I know is bugger, he's a bugger, men who bugger each other...
Boone: A homo?
Hannah: Yes, you know...

Boone: No, I don't have a girlfriend.
Whale: Why not?
Boone: You have to kiss some ass to get a piece of it.
Whale: My life is a game of strip poker. Want to play?
Boone: You must think the whole world is queer.

Boone storms out when Whale graphically discusses his sexual history, then later returns with the agreement that no such discussion will occur again. Boone escorts Whale to a party given by gay director George Cukor (Martin Ferrero) hosted by Princess Margaret (Cornelia Hayes O'Herlihy) where a photo op has been arranged with Whale and "His Monsters", Boris Karloff (Jack Betts) and Elsa Lanchester (Rosalind Ayres). It starts raining and the two return to Whales' home. Whale realizes he is but a footnote in cinematic history, which only worsens his depression and uses a sudden rain storm as an excuse to leave.

Back home Whale persuades Boone to pose nude for him and uses the opportunity to make a brazen advance on Boone. Whale puts a gas mask on Clay, kisses him and touches his penis. Predictably, Boone becomes enraged and attacks James, who confesses that this was his plan all along, to use Clay as his means of assisted suicide. He begs Boone to kill him to relieve him of his suffering. Boone refuses, puts Whale to bed then sleeps downstairs. The next morning Hanna is alarmed when she can't find Whale, prompting a thorough search. Boone finds Whale floating dead in the pool, as a distraught Hanna runs out clutching a suicide note and orders Clay to leave.

The film closes roughly a decade in the future. In an epilogue, Clay has a son who enjoys watching THE BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN on TV. His son is skeptical of his father's claim that he knew Whale but is impressed when shown a sketch of the Frankenstein monster signed, "To Clayton Boone. Friend?". Clay gives his son the sketch for the Frankenstein monster. He then takes the trash out, and begins walking like the Frankenstein monster.

One of the most critically acclaimed films of 1998 and winner of several awards including the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay, GODS AND MONSTERS is a speculation about the final days of James Whale (1889-1957), the director of SHOWBOAT (1936) and 20 other films of the 1930s and '40s. He was openly gay and said "I'm an artist, and don't have to put up with this s**t". Hollywood disagreed, and he was out of work. The movie is humorous but ultimately rather sad, a touchingly affectionate film that succeeds on many levels. A loving tribute to James Whale, it is a richly moving drama about loneliness, memory, and the passions that keep us alive. The title comes from a line in THE BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN with Dr. Pretorius toasting Dr. Frankenstein: "To a new world of gods and monsters." This film is about Whale and his straight gardener Clay Boone, usually considered his murderer by those in the know, but not in this Hollywood movie.

The cast also includes: Lolita Davidovich (Betty), David Dukes (David Lewis), Kevin J. O'Connor (Harry), Mark Kiely (Dwight), Jack Plotnick (Edmund Kay), Matt McKenzie (Colin Clive), Todd Babcock (Leonard Barnett), Brandon Kleyla (Young Whale), Pamela Salem (Sarah Whale), Michael O'Hagan (William Whale), David Millbern (Dr. Payne), Amir Aboulela (The Monster), Marlon Braccia (Starlet), Jesse Long (Assistant Director), Owen Masterson (Camera Assistant), Lisa Vastine (Librarian), Kent George (Whale at 25), David Fabrizio (Photographer), Jesse James (Michael Boone), Lisa Darr (Dana Boone), Paul Michael Sandberg (Sound Man), Judson Mills (Young Man at Pool), Arthur Dignam (Ernest Thesiger), John Gatins (Kid Saylor), Curtis Harrington (Cukor party guest), Sarah Ann Morris (Daisy), and Richard Pines (Bar Patron). Carter Burwell composed the original music. Bill Condon wrote the screenplay from Christopher Bram's 1995 novel "Father of Frankenstein" and also directed.

Circuit (2001)

John Webster (Jonathan Wade-Drahos), is a gay cop who moves to LA and discovers the gay Circuit Party scene in West Hollywood. He temporarily moves in with his cousin Tad (Daniel Kucan), who is living with his ex-boyfriend Gill (Brian Lane Green) and his new boyfriend Julian (Darryl Stephens). Tad is a filmmaker shooting a documentary on circuit parties and Julian DJs at the parties. Gill takes John to a party in the Hollywood hills, where he meets Hector Ray (Andre Khabbazi), a hustler who is battling mounting insecurities over his looks and age. John and Hector become friends and Hector introduces John to the world of circuit parties, illicit drugs, and Bobby Ross (Paul Lekakis), an exotic dancer and model who performs at circuit parties. Bobby is HIV-positive but asymptomatic. Gino (William Katt) is involved in a number of business ventures, including running circuit parties, and plans to kill Bobby because he wants his life insurance money. Also performing at the club is comedian Nina (Kiersten Warren), living in her car, so John invites her to stay with him in his trailer. The story goes on and on and on until Bobby's farewell performance at the annual Palm Springs White Party. Gino arranges for Hector to murder Bobby with poisonous "poppers". In bed together Bobby says to Hector, "You saved my life tonight," and Hector replies, "More than you'll ever know." Hector kills himself on his 30th birthday, in one of the best death scenes in cinema history. Six months later, John, Gill, Nina, Tad, Louise and others gather for the premiere of Tad's documentary.

"Circuit" was filmed over a six month period in digital video, and circuit party music inspired and guided the structure of the film. The soundtrack is mono, with incidental music by Tony Moran. It's a good movie, perhaps too long for some viewers. Written by Gregory Hinton and Dirk Shafer, who also directed.