The Hours and Times (1991)

In 1963 John Lennon (Ian Hart) flies to Barcelona with the Beatles manager Brian Epstein (David Angus) for a weekend of relaxation. On the flight they meet stewardess Marianne (Stephanie Pack). Lennon flirts with her and gives her their hotel telephone number. He asks Epstein about gay sex and says he thinks about it sometimes, but believes it would be painful. They play cards and Epstein tells Lennon he is surprised that he mentioned it because the situation between them is hopeless. Lennon says that he finds Epstein charming but does not want to have sex with him, and is angry because everyone they know thinks they are having a sexual relationship. He goes to bed and receives a telephone call from his wife Cynthia. She says that she misses him, and Lennon says that he misses his son Julian.

Lennon and Epstein go to a gay bar and meet a Spaniard named Quinones (Robin McDonald), married but gay. He is invited back to the hotel where the three of them have drinks. After some friendly conversation he leaves early. Epstein is angry with Lennon, calls Quinones a fascist, and says that nothing matters because he can’t have the one thing he wants. He goes to bed and confides in Miguel (Sergio Moreno), the hotel boy. He asks Miguel for a blowjob but then says he is only joking. Later he talks to his mother (Unity Grimwood) on the telephone.

The pair look around Barcelona and Lennon takes photographs of Epstein. They discuss Lennon’s relationship with Cynthia, but he does not like talking to Brian about it. Lennon has a bath and plays the harmonica. Epstein enters, sits on the tub, and Lennon asks him to scrub his back, which Epstein starts doing. Lennon kisses Epstein, who undresses and gets into the bath. They kiss a little more, then Lennon abruptly gets out of the bath and leaves the room. Epstein finds him smoking in bed, and Lennon says he is not angry but can’t put into words what he is thinking. The telephone rings, it is Marianne, and Lennon tells her to come up. Epstein is angry, Marianne arrives, and Brian leaves. Marianne asks Lennon why Epstein is upset, and they argue. She says that she can see they care about each other but she thinks Lennon torments Epstein. They dance to a Little Richard record.

Lennon asks Epstein about his first time in Barcelona. Epstein says he was sent there by his mother a couple of years previously following an incident where he was robbed and blackmailed by a man he met for sex. Following the trial, he was forced to see a psychiatirst and his mother sent him to Spain. Two months later he met the Beatles. Epstein tries to get Lennon to promise to meet him in Barcelona in ten years, no matter what they are doing. He agrees to at least remember the arrangement. Later, Epstein lies awake in bed with Lennon sleeping next to him. He remembers a time when he took Lennon to his special place, the roof of his family’s store and told him how special the time they spent together was to him.

This indie film, shot in black and white, captures the intimacy and intensity of a friendship that would soon be diminished by Beatlemania. Controversial and provocative, it is a fine contribution to gay cinema. Ian Hart's resemblance to Lennon is so uncanny he went on to play John Lennon again in the film "Backbeat". It must be noted that the real John Lennon said, "It was never consummated. But we did have a pretty intense relationship." Christopher Munch scripted and directed.

Milk (2008)

"Milk" opens with archival footage of gay history that may shock many people. During the opening credits, a barrage of vintage film clips reminds us that only 50 years ago gay men, lesbians and transsexuals were subjected to violence, harassment, physical abuse, arrest and humiliation by those that citizens look to for protection: the police and judicial authorities. Using flashbacks from a statement recorded late in life and archival footage for atmosphere, this film traces Harvey Milk's career from his 40th birthday to his death.

Dianne Feinstein (Ashlee Temple) announces on November 27, 1978 that Supervisor Harvey Milk (Sean Penn) and Mayor George Moscone (Victor Garber) have been assassinated. Milk is seen recording his will throughout the film, nine days before the assassinations. The film then flashes back to NYC in 1970, the eve of Milk's 40th birthday and his first meeting with his much younger lover, Scott Smith (James Franco). Milk and Smith move to San Francisco hoping to find acceptance of their relationship. They open Castro Camera in the heart of Eureka Valley, a working class neighborhood evolving into a predominantly gay neighborhood known as The Castro. Frustrated by the opposition they encounter, Milk uses his background as a businessman to become a gay activist, eventually becoming a mentor for Cleve Jones (Emile Hirsch), the ex-street hustler who created the NAMES Project AIDS Memorial. Early on, Smith serves as Milk's campaign manager, but his frustration grows with Milk's devotion to politics, and he leaves him. Milk later meets Jack Lira (Diego Luna), a sweet but disturbed young man. Just like Smith, Lira cannot tolerate Milk's political activism, and eventually hangs himself.

After two unsuccessful political campaigns in 1973 and 1975 to become a City Supervisor and a third in 1976 for the California State Assembly, Milk finally wins a seat on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 1977 for District 5. His victory makes him the first openly gay man to be elected into major public office in the US. Milk then meets fellow Supervisor Dan White (Josh Brolin), a Vietnam veteran and former police officer and firefighter. White, who is politically and socially conservative, has a difficult relationship with Milk, and grows resentful of the attention paid to Milk by the press and his colleagues.

White and Milk manage a working relationship. Milk attends the christening of White's first child, and White asks for Milk's assistance in preventing a psychiatric hospital from opening in his district, possibly in exchange for White's support of Milk's citywide gay rights ordinance. When Milk fails to support White, he feels betrayed, and he is the only one to vote against the gay rights ordinance. Milk also launches an effort to defeat Proposition 6, an initiative on the California state ballot in November 1978. Sponsored by John Briggs (Denis O'Hare), a conservative state legislator from Orange County, Proposition 6 seeks to ban gays, lesbians, and anyone who supports them from working in California's public schools. It is also part of a nationwide conservative movement that starts with the successful campaign headed by Anita Bryant and her organization "Save Our Children" in Dade County, Florida to repeal a local gay rights ordinance. On November 7, 1978, after working tirelessly against Proposition 6, Milk and his supporters rejoice in the wake of its defeat. The increasingly unstable White wants a Supervisor pay raise, but does not get much support, and shortly after supporting the Proposition, resigns from the Board. He later changes his mind and asks the city to rescind his decision. Mayor Moscone denies his request, after having been lobbied by Milk to do so.

On the morning of November 27, 1978, White enters San Francisco City Hall through a basement window in order to conceal a gun from metal detectors. He requests another meeting with Moscone, who rejects his request for re-appointment. Enraged, White shoots Moscone and then Milk. The film suggests that Milk believed that White might be a closeted gay man. "Milk" ends with an aerial shot of the candlelight vigil held by thousands for Harvey Milk and Mayor Moscone throughout the streets of the city.

Harvey Milk is now a gay icon. What he started lives on, so the movie ends on a hopeful note. Milk was a a frail human being, idealistic, funny, complex, tender, and gentle. He is the subject of Randy Shilts' biography "The Mayor of Castro Street", and the 1984 Oscar-winning documentary "The Times of Harvey Milk". This near-perfect motion picture makes its point without ever being preachy, while remaining true and accurate regarding the historical and biographical facts. It received 8 Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture, winning two for Best Actor in a Leading Role for Sean Penn and Best Original Screenplay for Dustin Lance Black. Danny Elfman composed the music score, and Gus Van Sant directed.

Next Stop, Greenwich Village (1976)

Larry Lapinsky (Lenny Baker) is an aspiring actor in his early 20s who leaves his Brooklyn home, overbearing mother Faye (Shelley Winters), and hen-pecked father Ben (Mike Kellin) and moves to Greenwich Village, a few subway stops away. This is the Village of 1953. Bob Dylan and the folkies won't arrive here for years, and even the beatnik scene isn't yet in full bloom. But it is the hippest place in town, filled with counter-culture artist types, and Larry settles right in. Very quickly he gets entangled with a group of free spirited friends, discovers adult romance with foxy girlfriend Sarah (Ellen Greene), deals with life's problems and triumphs, and hardest of all, copes with his mother.

Shelley Winters is brilliant as the ultimate Jewish mother. When Faye weeps over the radio singing of Jussi Bjorling, vowing to hear him in person at the Met, or unconventionally jitterbugs with a black gay guy at a Greenwich Village party she crashes, we feel affection for her despite her cluelessness and manipulations. Bernstein (Antonio Fargas), a black flamboyantly un-closeted homosexual is asked by Faye if he's Jewish, and he replies, "No, darling, I'm gay."

Writer-director Paul Mazursky's autobiographical "Next Stop, Greenwich Village" is a film of considerable charm and appeal. Lenny Baker, who made only a couple more films before dying of cancer in 1982, is fine in the central role--an actor playing an actor. The movie is smart and well-observed, with humor and warmth, along with an improvisational feel. It also tends to play very real, especially the scenes involving the two young lovers. It's a classic film about youthful ambition, betrayal, tragedy, and a never-ending surplus of hope. While most directors wind up knee-deep in schlock when making a movie about their youths, Mazursky keeps his focused on honesty. Bill Conti composed the music.

The Anderson Tapes (1971)

In this crime thriller, career burglar John "Duke" Anderson (Sean Connery) is released from his latest prison term of 10 years. He renews his relationship with his old girlfriend Ingrid (Dyan Cannon), who lives in a upscale apartment block in NYC. Anderson decides to burglarize the entire building. He gets financing from a Mafia boss and gathers his four-man crew, including Haskins (Martin Balsam) a vintage 1970s gay stereotype, and old ex-con drunk William "Pop" Myer (Stan Gottlieb), whom Anderson met in jail, and who is to play concierge while the real one is bound and gagged in the cellar. What Anderson doesn't know is that every move he makes is being monitored and taped by several law enforcement agencies, who hope that he will lead them to the Mob kingpins. "The Anderson Tapes" boasts an impressive supporting cast, many of whom play against type, including Alan King as the aging and infirm Mafia don Angelo. It was the first major motion picture for actor Christopher Walken, who appears as "The Kid."

Less welcome is a man the Mafia foists onto Anderson: the thuggish "Socks" Parelli (Val Avery) , a psychopath who has become a liability to the mob and, as part of the deal, Anderson must kill him in the course of the robbery. Anderson is not keen on this since the operation is complicated enough, but relunctantly agrees. The agents, cameras, bugs, and tracking devices of numerous public and private agencies see almost the entire operation from the earliest planning to the execution. As Anderson advances the scheme he moves from the surveillance of one group to another as locations or individuals change. The movie goes on and on and on and finally in a shootout Anderson kills "Socks" but is himself shot by the police. The other robbers are killed, injured or captured, but none get away with it. "Pop" gives himself up after a while of letting the police believe that he is the real concierge.

In the course of searching the building, the police discover some audio listening equipment left behind by the private detective who was hired to check up on Ingrid. While organizing the robbery Anderson met various people who were under similar surveillance for other reasons by various government agencies. To avoid embarrassment over the fact that they failed to realize what was going on and that some of the tapings were illegal, the agencies order the tapes to be erased.

This fast paced movie is slick, humorous, experimental at times, with a notable performance by Martin Balsam as the gay Haskins. Direction is flashy, but it fails to explain the tapes very well, although it addresses the influence of surveillance on modern times, as well as the lack of co-ordination between government agencies. Sean Connery's performance helped him breakout from being stereotyped as James Bond. The screenplay was written by Frank Pierson, based on the best-selling 1970 novel of the same name by Lawrence Sanders. Quincy Jones composed the music score, and Sidney Lumet directed.

Any Mother's Son (1997)

One night in 1992, Allen Schindler (Paul Popowich), a 21 year-old navy sailor serving on the USS Belleau Wood, was on shore leave in Sasebo, Japan. He was followed into a public restroom and beaten to death. While given a military funeral, it was still a full two months after his brutal murder that his mother, Dorothy Hajdys-Holman (Bonnie Bedelia), discovered that her son had been killed by two of his own shipmates. "They beat him to death." she says, "They beat him beyond recognition!" Dorothy becomes even more distraught when the representatives of the US Navy refuse to provide her with full details on her son's murder.

Then a newspaper reporter informs Dorothy that her son was gay, and that this might have been the reason he was killed. But the Navy has nothing to say about it, the entire matter will be swept under the rug, with Dorothy remaining as much in the dark as the rest of the world. A deal had already been made with one of Allen's killers, who after a secret court-martial was given what amounts to a legal slap on the wrist. Dorothy comes to grips with her own homophobia in learning to respect who her son was. Radicalized by the incident and its aftermath, she joins forces with a crusading journalist to force the Navy to reveal the whole truth--and she will not allow the court-martial of Allen's other assailant to be conducted behind closed doors. "I don't think people really know that the assailant served only 78 days, and he didn't even get a dishonorable discharge. My son signed papers saying they could give him a dishonorable discharge just because he declared he was gay," Dorothy said. "Is our country saying that it is a bigger crime to be gay than to help kill somebody?"

One of the most controversial and widely-reported true stories of the early 1990s is dramatized in this made-for-cable movie. The upshot of this high-profile case was the creation of the Service Members' Legal Defense Network, assuring that no branch of the armed services would ever again be able to conspire to cover up a major crime. Dorothy Hajdys-Holman served as the film's technical advisor, while the US Navy refused to cooperate. "I am the one who named the movie. I wanted people to realize that Allen could be any mother's son," Dorothy explained. "Any Mother's Son" made its Lifetime cable network debut on August 11, 1997. Pray for Rain composed the original music, Bruce Harmon wrote the screenplay, and David Burton Morris directed.

My Fellow Americans (1996)

Former US Presidents Russell P. Kramer (Jack Lemmon) and Matt Douglas (James Garner) have spent the past 30 years hating each other. The film begins with the Republican Senator Kramer of Ohio winning the Presidential election, narrowly defeating Democratic Indiana Governor Douglas in a very close race. We hear Kramer's trademark speech, "Our dreams are like our children ... " He says he hopes their stay in Washington is for a long time to come. The movie then skips forward four years, to Douglas' landslide win over the incumbent Kramer, who says 80 million voted against him. By the end of his first term, Douglas is well-known for his infidelity. The funniest sequence finds the two blundering into a small-town gay pride march and falling in step with a marching band of Dorothys from ''The Wizard of Oz", strutting to an arrangement of ''Over the Rainbow.'' After being safely escorted from the parade to Cleveland by a gang of black-leather-clad women on motorcycles, Kramer says that he was wrong, he should have allowed gay enlistees into the military.

The film skips forward another four years, to where Kramer's former Vice President William "Bill" Haney (Dan Aykroyd) defeats Douglas. Haney's Vice President Ted Matthews (Heard) is widely seen as an idiot and becomes an embarrassment for the Haney administration. Haney detects a scandal brewing and tries to nail it to the previous administration. Haney agrees to resign, while Douglas and Kramer are introduced to the sniper who saved them, who turns out to be a gay man they had encountered earlier in the film during a Gay Pride parade in West Virginia. Kramer and Douglas, one-time political opponents, are thrown together, and the film goes on and on and on. It concludes with Matthews set to begin a prison term and Douglas and Kramer, running on the same ticket as independents in the Presidential election, arguing over which of them will be the nominee for President. Douglas first takes the podium when he throws a dollar on the floor to distract Kramer. As Kramer bends over to pick up the dollar, Douglas takes the mic and says: "My fellow Americans," presumably to announce himself to be the nominee, and causes Kramer to swear in front of the crowd, when the film cuts out mid-sentence.

Many call this "The Odd Couple Goes to the White House." Lemmon and Garner play ex-presidents in this comedy, each of them having served only one term as chief executive. The best jokes are in the first five minutes. We meet both men living life after the White House, Kramer making speeches for whoever will pay his large fee, while Douglas writes relevant books no one reads. Any time they show up at the same function, they insult each other like snarling schoolboys. Comedy comes largely from the series of cheap shots and snide recollections the two hurl at each other. The feel-good part comes from their bonding over shared experiences as past presidents. This political thriller builds as the hired guns keep trying to assassinate the ex-presidents.

"My Fellow Americans" is a bit goofy, but it's a good farcical spoof with just enough plot twists to keep it from becoming entirely predictable. Funny at times, yet after the brief introduction it goes downhill, becoming yet another road movie traveled by characters who hate each other. As the jokes get dumber and cruder, the movie may become tedious for some viewers. The DVD contains production notes, theatrical trailer, bloopers, optional Spanish and French soundtracks, optional full-screen and widescreen presentations, and Dolby audio. William Ross composed the original music. E. Jack Kaplan, Richard Chapman, and Peter Tolan wrote the screenplay. Peter Segal directed.

Holiday Heart (2000)

Holiday Heart (Ving Rhames) is gay drag queen who performs at a night club. He is talented, tough, compassionate, and a Christian. After his boyfriend dies he befriends down on her luck, drug addicted Wanda (Alfre Woodard) and her young daughter Niki (Jessika Reynolds). Heart offers them a stable home and becomes a much needed father figure for Niki. However, Wanda becomes addicted to drugs again and after a series of bad relationships, begins one with successful drug dealer Silas (Mykelti Williamson), who is homophobic and chauvinistic. Silas gives Heart money and insists that he stay out of their life. Heart agrees and prepares to visit Paris, France.

Both Silas and Wanda leave Niki alone. Silas has to go away on a "business" trip, while Wanda becomes a prostitute to feed her drug addiction. Heart takes care of Niki and raises her as his own daughter. Under Heart's guidance, Niki is baptized at the local Church and graduates from elementary school with honors. Soon after, Silas reenters their lives, and is thankful for what Heart has done. He has been getting a house in Florida ready for Wanda and Niki, but is still earning a living by selling drugs. Heart and Silas become a sort of "odd couple" as Niki begins junior high school, with Silas more willing to respect and tolerate Heart.

After bringing Niki along on one of his illicit sales, she runs away and bumps into her mother, who tries to prostitute her in order to get more drugs. As a result of the incident, Silas leaves Niki in the care of Heart. Niki begins to rebel as an angry teenager, but Heart lays down the law with some tough love. Just before Christmas, Wanda appears at the gay nightclub where Heart works and wants his help in getting clean and sober. The two walk to Heart's car, with a bike for Niki, only to be attacked by some of Wanda's former drug associates. As a former boxer, Heart manages to beat them up, but not before one of them runs over Wanda with their car. A few months later, Niki is home from Spring Break and visiting her mother's grave with Heart. Silas has returned and informs Niki and Heart that when they get back from a trip to Paris, he has a surprise waiting for them.

This made-for-TV film is a deeply moving and compelling story involving an unusual cast of characters. The film's desire not to sugarcoat things makes for some tough scenes and a less-than-happy ending. It features very good acting by Ving Rhames, Alfre Woodard, and Mykelti Williamson, and has uniformly favorable comments from viewers. Cheryl L. West wrote the teleplay adapted from her own stage play. Stephen James Taylor composed the music, and Robert Townsend directed.

Deadfall (1968)

Henry Clarke (Michael Caine) is a jewel thief and a recovering alcoholic hiding out in a sanitarium, trying to get close to his next mark, the wealthy Salinas (David Buck). One day he's visited by Fe Moreau (Giovanna Ralli), who entices him with an offer to work with her and her husband on their next heist to pull off a diamond robbery in the home of a rich aristocrat. After meeting Richard Moreau (Eric Portman), Clarke decides to work with them, partly because he's attracted to Richard. Then it's revealed that Richard is attracted to Clarke. He begins an affair with Fe when he realizes that Richard is an out and proud homosexual with Spanish lover Antonio (Carlos Pierre). What follows is a perverse game of sexuality and thievery, culminating in a startling revelation that rocks this romantic triangle, and which disastrously affects the climactic heist.

We have to figure out what the relationships are between Clarke and Salinas, as well as with Fe and Richard. There is a revelation that Richard is Fe's real father, and that they had a sexual relationship in the past. The film makes much of the perverse nature of their relationship, and something is so obviously wrong with it that the audience can only reach the most salacious conclusions concerning the couple. "Deadfall" refuses to clear up the central mystery of Richard's past Nazi activities, and much agonizing is made of it by Clarke and Fe. They even introduce the character Fillmore (Leonard Rossiter) who starts to clue us in on Richard, but then the filmmakers just drop the whole idea--and Fillmore. Maybe he was the victim, along with other major plot points, of severe post-production editing. And we're never given a clear understanding of why Richard takes his own daughter for a lover, as well as his wife.

In this Hitchockian suspense film everyone's motives are hidden, and by the time they're revealed, we have ceased to care about them. The film is 120 minutes long and could have benefited from some editing. There are too many scenes of characters looking mysteriously at each other, while we try to guess their feelings and what they're thinking. Basically, "Deadfall" is pretentious psychiatric nonsense wrapped around a heist movie. Caine's acting is not his best, but Portman shines here. Despite the pretentious dialogue he's given, he steals every scene he's in. John Barry composed the original music, somewhat derivative of his later 007 music--particularly "You Only Live Twice". Bryan Forbes wrote the screenplay derived from Desmond Cory's novel. Bryan Forbes also directed.

Flirt (1995)

"Flirt" takes place in New York, Berlin and Tokyo, with each segment using the same dialogue. The three-part film is about desire and commitment: a lover has to choose whether to commit to a partner who is returning home. In each case there are other people involved, an ex-partner and someone else in a permanent relationship.

Part 1 is set in New York in 1993. Bill (William Sage) is a handsome ladies' man whose girlfriend Emily (Parker Posey) is about to leave for a vacation in Paris. Once there, she warns, she might hook up with an old lover unless Bill commits to her within the next 90 minutes. Standing in a phone booth, he listens to Emily try to talk him into making a marriage proposal. After they hang up, Bill is on the line with Margaret (Hannah Sullivan), making the same sort of demands Emily had made to him. Reality and fantasy start to merge as three homeless men begin advising Bill in a restroom about his love life. Bill loves Emily and also Margaret, the wife of his close friend Walter (Martin Donovan). Running into him in a bar, Bill finds Walter carrying a gun and threatening suicide. His wife has left him and he accuses Bill of having designs on her. During a struggle for the gun, the weapon goes off, grazing Bill's face. As he is painfully stitched up in a hospital emergency room, he is encouraged to think of something pleasant and murmurs his sexual fantasies to the attendant nurses, who are clearly aroused. Then he dashes off for the airport.

Part 2 is set in Berlin in 1944, where the preceding story is recycled among a group of homosexual characters. The main character is Dwight (Dwight Ewell), who has a similar experience with his lover. Dwight is a saucy young black American who swivels around in black leather pants and a gold shirt while weighing his relationship with Johann (Dominik Bender), an older German art dealer. Dwight's latest crush is Werner (Jacob Klaffke), a middle-aged German painter who has just left his wife Greta (Geno Lechner) in a state of suicidal depression.

Finally, the trilogy ends in 1995 Tokyo, where we watch a mime troupe distill Hartley's narrative to its dramatic essence. The final flirt is Miho (Miho Nikaidoh), a Japanese dance student whose boyfriend, an American film maker, is about to go to Los Angeles. When rumors of Miho's flirtation with her dance teacher, Mr. Ozu (Toshizo Fujiwara), drive Ozu's wife (Chikako Hara) to threaten to shoot herself, Mr. Ozu asks Miho to dispose of his wife's gun, and Miho finds herself pursued by the police and arrested for possession of a deadly weapon.

The emergency room sequences are completely different from one another. Where Bill is fawned over with discreet lust, Dwight is treated with calm detachment, and Miho with frantic desperation. Although the sexual fantasies that the characters use to distract themselves from the pain of Novocaine injections are very different, they share the image of "spooning," which they explain is lying curled up side by side with their lovers

This is a very personal film that has something universal to say. It is stylistically bold without being gaudy, excessive, and makes the same plot interesting three times. The cute gimmick of repeating the same situations in three different locations with three different casts makes the film a three ring circus: NY, Berlin, and Tokyo. The setting may change, but the questions are the same. Acting performances are not the best, with the exception of Dwight Ewell, who plays Dwight in the Berlin portion of the film. There is some light comic realism and absurdity. In the funniest recurring set piece, each flirt impulsively blurts out his romantic confusion to a bunch of strangers and is given advice that is amusing and contradictory. Hal Hartley and Jeffrey Taylor composed the original music, and Hal Hartley wrote the script and directed. In English, German, and Japanese with English subtitles.

The Delta (1996)

Lincoln Bloom (Shayne Gray), an upper middle-class Jewish kid almost 18 years old, leads a straight life most of the time in Memphis, TN. He has a girl friend Monica (Rachel Zan Huss), goes to dances, and jokes with the guys. But he also has a secret life, in which he's drawn to dark places where he has sex with men he doesn't know. One night, while visiting a gay video arcade, he connects with Ming Nguyen (Thang Chan), aka John, a Vietnamese-born gay man, in his 20s probably, whose father was an African-American US soldier. John invites Lincoln to spend some carefree time with him, and Lincoln takes him to his father's boat. Along the way, John shares his life story and sense of frustration at not belonging in either his homeland or America.

John then convinces Lincoln to take the boat into the Mississippi delta, where setting off some fireworks out of season precipitates betrayal and revenge. After an entire day of hanging out together at various port towns along the river, the pair get in trouble with the police, resulting in a violent falling out. Lincoln returns to Memphis in his boat, looks up Monica, and faces his father's wrath. Meanwhile, John makes his way home as best he can, settles back into his routine as a layabout, and finally seeks out another sexual encounter, with an unexpected conclusion--a murder. We are left with his act of murder without ever understanding what drove him to it, or what really makes him tick. After 95 minutes the film simply ends without a proper resolution.

In this dreamy gay-themed quasi-documentary, the dialogue seems largely improvised, lending the story a certain authenticity. But the movie is muddled and doesn't know what to do with the central relationship, wasting too much time on other subjects. It should have made the storyline with the couple a lot more intense and interesting. When the story lurches into violent melodrama, the sudden change feels like an attempt to yank together its dramatic strands to make a coherent statement. But the change is too abrupt. The end result is a film that's intriguing but frustrating, and leaves too many loose ends dangling. It's a piece of entertainment, which show gays as purely dysfunctional human beings. Directed by Memphis native Ira Sachs, who cast the semi-autobiographical "The Delta" with non-actors after searching the pool halls and watering holes of his hometown for several months. Sachs wrote the screenplay, and Michael Rohatyn composed the music.

Only When I Laugh (1981)

Georgia (Marsha Mason) is a successful Broadway actress who is alcoholic and has bad relationships with men. The film opens with her successful 90 day rehabilitation at an expensive Long Island rehab clinic and her return to Manhattan and to her two best friends. They are Jimmy (James Coco), a gay actor who drowns his sorrows in food, and Toby Landau (Joan Hackett), a beautiful bitter socialite whose main achievements are the rich men who have fallen in love with her. When we first meet Georgia, she is a voice in the dark behind the opening credits talking to her psychiatrist. ''The funny thing,'' Georgia says, ''is that I don't particularly like drinking, but I like bars. I like the people you meet in bars. I don't like the taste of liquor, but when I drink I'm very funny. At least, that's what people tell me later.''

A number of crises are waiting for Georgia when she leaves the clinic. Her teenage daughter Polly (Kristy McNichol), whom she neglected as a child, wants to move back in, though they still have to repair their relationship. Polly has the kind of wisdom given to teenagers in farces. Former boyfriend David (David Dukes), a writer and heel, has just penned a new drama that he wants her to star in--a fictionalized version of their often-combative relationship. Off-screen there is also Georgia's ex-husband, who has remarried. Basically, the story is about a vain alcoholic Broadway actress who tries to stay sober while dealing with the problems of her teenage daughter and her friends, and a gay actor relegated to small roles in third-rate shows.

This drama by Neil Simon is not one of his typical comedies, though there are moments of humor in this moving and uplifting film. Using 15 lines from ''The Gingerbread Lady,'' his 1970 Broadway failure, Simon has written an upbeat, often funny and occasionally harrowing story about an alcoholic. It's one of his best, and it's been treated with care by Glenn Jordan, a television director whose first theatrical film this is. All the main actors are outstanding and earned many award nominations. Marsha Mason is excellent, and the film is impressive and unforgettable. David Shire composed the original music.

The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999)

Tom Ripley (Matt Damon) is a young man struggling to make a living in NYC in the 1950s. While working at a party playing the piano, he is approached by wealthy Herbert Greenleaf (James Rebhorn), who believes him to be a school friend of his son, Dickie. Greenleaf asks Ripley to travel to Italy to persuade Dickie to return to the US. Ripley agrees, even though he did not go to Princeton and has never met Dickie. He is offered $1,000 to carry out this job. In Italy Ripley meets Dickie Greenleaf (Jude Law) and his girlfriend Marge Sherwood (Gwyneth Paltrow), and quickly ingratiates himself into their lives. Over time Dickie begins to resent Ripley's presence and growing dependence, especially after he learns that Ripley has been lying about their days together at Princeton. Ripley's feelings are complicated by his desire to maintain the wealthy lifestyle Greenleaf has afforded him, and by his growing sexual obsession with his new friend.

As a gesture to Ripley, Greenleaf agrees to travel with him on a short holiday to Sanremo. The two hire a small boat and go sailing. They begin arguing while on board, with Dickie rejecting and mocking Ripley. Enraged, Ripley attacks Dickie, smashing him with an oar that kills him. Ripley then sinks the boat with Dickie's body on board to conceal his crime. When the hotel concierge mistakes Ripley for Greenleaf, Ripley realizes he can assume Greenleaf's identity. He takes on Dickie's signature and passport, and begins living off his allowance, while at the same time carefully providing communications to Marge to make her believe that Dickie has deserted her. "I feel like I've been handed a new life," he says. Greenleaf's old friend Freddie Miles (Philip Seymour Hoffman) visits Ripley at what he supposes to be Greenleaf's apartment in Rome. He is immediately suspicious of Ripley. When Miles discovers Ripley's scam, Ripley murders him and dumps the body.

Ripley's life becomes a cat and mouse game with the Italian police and Greenleaf's friends. He must alternate between Dickie Greenleaf and Tom Ripley. His predicament is complicated by Meredith Logue (Cate Blanchett), a wealthy heiress he met while traveling to Italy, who believes Ripley to be Dickie. Ripley eventually resumes his own identity, forges a suicide note in Greenleaf's name, and moves to Venice. Soon Marge, Herbert Greenleaf, and private detective Alvin MacCarron (Philip Baker Hall) confront Ripley. Marge suspects Ripley of involvement in Dickie's death, and Ripley plans to murder her. He is interrupted when Marge's friend, Peter Smith-Kingsley (Jack Davenport), enters the apartment.

Near the end of the film, private detective MacCarron reveals that Mr. Greenleaf has decided to give Ripley a portion of Dickie's income with the understanding that certain details about his son's past not be revealed to the Italian police. Ripley goes on a cruise with Smith-Kingsley, his new gay lover, only to discover that Meredith Logue is also on board. Logue knows Ripley only as Dickie Greenleaf, and Ripley realizes it will be impossible to keep Smith-Kingsley from discovering that he has been passing himself off as Greenleaf, since Peter and Meredith know each other. He cannot solve this dilemma by murdering Logue, because she is traveling with a large family who will notice her disappearance. The movie concludes with a sobbing Ripley killing Smith-Kingsley to protect his secret, and returning to his cabin alone.

This psychological thriller features outstanding acting by the entire cast. It was filmed mainly in Italy with famous landmarks in the cities of Rome and Venice being used as a backdrop for the narrative. The musical score by Gabriel Yared is evocative and moving. Anthony Minghella wrote the screenplay, adapted from the acclaimed 1955 novel by Patricia Highsmith. Anthony Minghella directed.

The Dresser (1983)

Set in 1940 England during the blitz, Sir (Albert Finney) is the aging star and manager of a Shakespearean stage company, leading his troupe of women and men too old or damaged to fight. All the young actors are in uniform, hospital, or dead. Sir gets by with the help of his dresser Norman (Tom Courtenay) a fussy, loyal, very English "nancy-boy" man behind the man, maintaining a desperate hold on his good humour even as his life is coming apart in shreds as Sir disintegrates. Norman deals with the egomaniacal old ham in the early stages of senility. The show must go on, despite bombing raids, Sir's collapse, and other difficulties. Sir and Norman act like an old married couple. While Norman is evidently gay, he is not the only one. The often talked about but never seen Mr. Davenport-Scott is the other, and the reason for his disappearance seems to be he was detained by the police for homosexual activity, a criminal offense in England at the time.

The film details a close and touching relationship as the dresser remains in the background while enabling the once great actor to continue his work. Mainly this is the story of two men, one an artist who is used to taking what he needs from those around him, and the other who gives his life over to that man. Though we see other people, the film is really a duet between Sir and Norman, his personal assistant, who gets him into costume and into shape to go onstage each night. Sir is on his last legs and Norman is his cheerleader, his parent, and whipping boy. Finney captures the proud insecurity of this aging ham, whose career has never quite matched his expectations but who convinces himself each night that a performance in the provinces is as important as playing London's West End. As far as the complaints that Finney chews the scenery a bit, just remember that he's playing an aging, egotistical scene-chewing actor. It's not a happy film, but it is a great backstage tale.

This film is an adaptation of the West End London and Broadway hit by Ronald Harwood. He based the play on his experiences as dresser to distinguished English Shakespearean actor-manager Sir Donald Wolfit, who is the "Sir" in the play. "The Dresser" was first presented on March 6, 1980, at The Royal Exchange Theatre. The movie features well-timed direction, a sturdy plot, and very good acting. James Horner composed the original music, Ronald Harwood wrote the screenplay, and Peter Yates directed.

Alive & Kicking (1997)

Tonio (Jason Flemyng) is an arrogant narcissistic dancer with an artistic temperament who has lost his mentor, best friend, and lover to AIDS. He is a shameless flirt who stalks about like the young Rudolf Nureyev. Tonio has AIDS, but refuses to take drugs to fight the disease lest they interfere with his dancing. The story is set in 1995 London, so makes no mention of the new protease inhibitors that have rendered thousands of AIDS patients asymptomatic. A fatalist, Tonio has decided to keep on dancing for as long as he can, too proud to let his HIV-positive status interfere with either his career or his love life. Tonio is an obnoxious queen at times. But most of the time he is a man who lives by dancing. Although he denies it, he escapes through dance.

One night at a disco, Tonio meets Jack (Antony Sher), a stocky, balding older psychotherapist with a large AIDS clientele. These two opposite personalities begin a wary courtship that eventually lands them in bed. In the stormy love affair that develops, Jack, who is HIV-negative, proves as needy and vulnerable as Tonio. A heavy drinker who has absorbed too much of his dying patients' rage, he is prone to throwing nasty drunken tantrums, angry over the deaths of so many of his patients. The heart of the movie is an exploration of the relationship between these two volatile, complicated, self-absorbed individuals. Their love story is set against the identity crisis of Tonio's mostly gay dance company, whose cranky founder, Luna (Dorothy Tutin), seems to be suffering from Alzheimer's disease. A running subplot that follows Tonio's friendship with a lesbian dancer named Millie (Diane Parish) feels tacked on, and a scene where they try sex is quite silly. You don't believe for a second that people as aware as these two would fool themselves into attempting such a childish experiment.

"Alive & Kicking" is the first screenplay by noted playwright Martin Sherman ("Bent") and the second feature to be directed by Nancy Meckler, whose debut film "Sister My Sister" won critical acclaim around the world. It has its weak and even embarrassing moments, but the performances of Jason Flemyng and Anthony Sher are excellent, and the entire cast is great. Peter Salem composed the original music.

If You Only Knew (1999)

Gen-X loser Parker Concorde (Jonathan Schaech) is a shy, aspiring writer who works as a telephone psychic by day and lives a lonely existence by night. When his apartment burns down he must find a new one. At first he stays at the home of his womanizing buddy Jack (James LeGros), who lives by the credo that "New York is a dessert tray of beautiful women." Then Parker meets beautiful Samantha, (Alison Eastwood), who is looking for a roommate for her fabulous loft in the Village. Samantha is a painter who dreams of studying in Paris and has a habit of getting involved with the wrong men. When they bump into each other in a Manhattan flower shop, it's love at first sight for Parker. Samantha has an affordable room available, and she likes having male roommates--but only if they're gay. Desperate, Parker decides to take the plunge, and passes himself off as a gay friend of a friend. An inevitable comedy of errors ensues, as Parker desperately tries to keep Samantha from learning his two secrets: he's not gay, and he's in love with her. But his romantic plans are frustrated when she keeps setting him up with her other gay friends.

This sweet romantic comedy features appealing and compelling characters. It's cute, lighthearted, entertaining, clean, and funny, with heart and a good story. Viewers comments are uniformly very good. One example: "This happens to be one of my favorite movies! I've seen it many times, and every time I love it even more. For the most part I think that this has happened to all of us. You try to be someone you're not to get something that you could have easily had if you were yourself. But each person has their own opinions and I love this movie, and recommend everyone to watch it." Bill Meyers composed the original music, Gary Goldstein wrote the screenplay, and David Snedeker directed.

Oi! Warning (1999)

Janosch (Sascha Backhaus) has problems at school and despises the lifestyle of his bourgeois mother. He runs away from home to his friend Koma (Simon Goerts), whom he had met at a holiday camp. Koma is an Oi! skinhead (punk-skinhead) who has little political motivations, preferring a lifestyle of partying and binge drinking, and enjoys skinhead and punk rock music. Janosch is struggling with his sexual identity, attracted to Koma, who doesn't seem to notice. Koma and his girlfriend Sandra (Sandra Borgmann) are expecting twins soon, but Koma invites Janosch to stay in their nursery for the time being. Before long, Janosch has cut off his hair and immersed himself in skinhead culture, but he finds little outlet for his homoerotic desires. Sandra wants Koma to change his ways. She blows up his secret hideaway with dynamite, but this only angers Koma, who blames this on the punks he had a fight with previously.

Sandra decides to find Janosch a girlfriend, specifically Blanca (Britta Dirks). However, while she takes a strong liking to him, he is not attracted to her. Janosch becomes aware of a group of self-styled "modern primitives" who modify their bodies with tattoos and piercings and encourage free sexual expression. He gets to know a few of them and becomes physically involved with Zottel (Jens Veith), a punk who earns a living with small circus acts at wealthy people's parties. The two fall in love. However, the skins regard the primitives as their enemies, and Koma is not at all happy with Janosch's new friends or the open acknowledgement of his homosexuality. Janosch's happiness ends when Koma attacks Zottel and kills him. In a fit of fury, Janosch grabs a brick and slays Koma.

This movie is the directorial debut of the Reding twin brothers and took about five years to film, mostly due to financial constraints. It is shot in black and white, underscoring the film's gritty feel. The film won the German Camera Award and an emerging talent award at the L.A. Outfest. Tom Ammermann composed the original music, and Ben Reding and Dominic Reding wrote the screenplay. In German with English subtitles.

Bully (2001)

Bobby Kent (Nick Stahl) is not a nice guy. He often beats up his best friend Marty Puccio (Brad Renfro), abuses Marty's girlfriend Lisa Connelly (Rachel Miner), and he rapes Lisa's friend Ali Willis (Bijou Phillips). There isn't a lot to do in the suburban Florida town where Bobby and his friends live. They play violent shoot-em-up video games, work at the Pizza Hut, go surfing at the beach, and cruise in their hot rods. But mostly, Bobby and his friends have lots of sex. The film is drenched in graphic shots of barely legal naked teenagers. Sexual identity is an undercurrent in Bobby's story: he watches gay porn while he rapes Ali, and he forces Marty to dance with him at a gay club. Some of the other teenagers think that Bobby and Marty are a couple.

Marty is fed up with his best friend's twisted ways and Lisa couldn't agree more, so they plan to murder Bobby with a group of willing and unwilling accomplices. In the midst of their plotting, they find themselves contemplating the possible aftermath of the crime. They decide to kill Bobby because he's a bully who has hurt and angered them, and also because they're bored and desensitized to violence. After much drug use and a failed attempt at murder, they hire a supposed hitman (Leo Fitzpatrick), but as the story progresses it becomes apparent that he is just a tough-talking teenager. Initially, some in the group dismiss the plan as a lark, but eventually, they all come to the realization that they will go through with it, particularly when they lure Bobby out to a nearby swamp where he is attacked with knives. Marty slits his throat. The hitman beats Bobby's head in with a bat, then forces Derek (Daniel Franzese) to help him throw the body in the swamp. Several days later they are all arrested by the police. At the end of the film, subtitles show the prison sentences that the teenagers received.

This dramatic thriller is based on actual events, the true story of Bobby Kent, a bossy Florida teenager who was beaten to death by a group of his peers in 1993. The screenplay was written by David McKenna and Roger Pullis, who adapted Jim Schutze's 1998 book "Bully: A True Story of High School Revenge". The soundtrack features many songs. Director Larry Clark takes a hard look at the lives of some confused American teenagers.

Bound (1996)

Corky (Gina Gershon) is a lesbian who just got out of prison after having served 5 years for what she calls "redistribution of wealth", or stealing. She was betrayed by her female partner and therefore has a severe lack of trust in those around her. Corky takes a job as a painter and plumber in a Chicago condo building and soon meets sexy Violet (Jennifer Tilly), who's the girlfriend of Caesar (Joe Pantoliano), a money launderer for the Mafia. The couple live in the condo right next to the one where Corky works. The attraction between Corky and Violet is immediate, and it isn't long before Violet seduces her. Later, Violet overhears Caesar and his Mafia buddies beating and torturing Shelly (Barry Kivel), a man who has been skimming money from the business. Corky knows trouble when she sees it, but that doesn't stop her from giving in to Violet's manipulations. After Shelly is shot and killed by Johnnie Marzonne (Christopher Meloni), the son of Mafia boss Gino Marzonne (Richard C. Sarafian), Caesar returns to the apartment with a bag of bloody money.

Soon Violet makes the suggestion to her new lover that they steal two million dollars of the Mafia's money, allowing Caesar to take the fall for its loss. What a deal--two million dollars, plus Violet. How could anyone say no to that? Of course, nothing goes according to the plan as all hell breaks lose with Caesar doing just the opposite of what the two ladies had expected. Then there's the question if Corky will once again be betrayed by the woman she cares about. Anything can happen before the ending is reached as betrayal, torture, and murder become the norm. Caesar finds out and is about to kill Corky, but Violet arrives and pulls a gun on Caesar. He tells Violet that he knows she will not shoot him, and she replies, "Caesar, you don't know shit", then kills him. In the end Violet drives off hand-in-hand with Corky.

This provocative neo-noir crime thriller offers a grab bag of genres: gangster movie, comedy, sexy romance, and crime caper. It's scary, funny, sexy, suspenseful, with plenty of action, and is not for the squeamish. The script is sharp and fresh with many twists in it. There are a few violent scenes, and some people might find the lesbian sex scene offensive. Described as explicit and steamy, it is actually tasteful, discreet and realistic. Don Davis composed the music score. The film was written and directed by the Wachowski Brothers, Andy and Larry Wachowski.

Another Country (1984)

Guy Bennett (Rupert Everett) and Tommy Judd (Colin Firth) are two handsome young men attending an English boarding school during the 1930's. Bennett is openly gay, while Judd is a Marxist. Bennett falls in love with James Harcourt (Cary Elwes) and the pair embark on a homosexual affair, but do not conceal their mutual affection. The hypocrisy of the other boys attending the school, many of whom are also having affairs, eventually drives the couple to extreme measures. Judd meanwhile, finds that as a Marxist, his beliefs are in direct opposition to the role he is offered as school prefect.

One day a teacher walks in on Martineau (Philip Dupuy) and a boy from another house engaged in mutual masturbation. Martineau subsequently kills himself because of the shame of having been found in a homosexual embrace, and chaos erupts as teachers and the senior students try their hardest to keep the scandal away from parents and the rest of the outside world. The gay scandal however gives the army-obsessed house captain Fowler (Tristan Oliver), who dislikes both Bennett and Judd, a welcome reason to scheme against Bennett to keep him from becoming a "god"-- a school name for the elite pupils of the school. Fowler is able to intercept a love letter from Bennett to James Harcourt. Bennett agrees to be punished so as not to compromise Harcourt.

Meanwhile, Judd is reluctant to become a prefect, since he feels that he cannot endorse a "system of oppression" such as this, and has a memorable, bitter speech about how the boys oppressed by the system grow up to be the fathers who maintain it. He eventually agrees to become a prefect in order to prevent the hateful Fowler from becoming Head of House. This never comes about, however, because Donald Devenish (Rupert Wainwright) agrees to stay at school and become a prefect if he is nominated to become a god instead of Bennett. Devastated at the loss of his cherished dream of becoming a god Bennett comes to realize that the British class system strongly relies on outward appearance and that to be openly gay is a severe hindrance to a career as a diplomat. The epilogue of the movie states that he emigrated to Russia later in his life, after having been a spy for the Soviet Union. Judd dies fighting in the Spanish Civil War.

Part coming-of-age film, part social commentary, this award-winning drama is loosely based on the life of Guy Burgess of the Burgess/McLain "Cambridge spies" incidents. The ending seems abrupt, and questions remain unanswered with nothing resolved. But it was suitable for its intended theatrical medium, and is one of the factors that ensures the film's endurance. It poses thoughtful inquiries that still deserve contemplation. Michael Storey composed the original music, Julian Mitchell wrote the screenplay from his own stage play, and Marek Kanievska directed.

The Mexican (2001)

Jerry Welbach (Brad Pitt), a part-time thief trying to go straight, is given two ultimatums. His mob boss Bernie Nayman (Bob Balaban) wants him to travel to Mexico to get a priceless antique pistol called "The Mexican", and deliver it to a mysterious buyer. The other ultimatum comes from his feisty girlfriend Samantha Barzel (Julia Roberts), who wants him to end his association with the mob. As collateral to make sure he comes through with the goods, Samantha en route to Las Vegas is kidnapped by burly guard/assassin Leroy (James Gandolfini) who isn't quite what he seems. Samantha eventually discovers that Leroy is a homosexual after catching him staring at a man. Jerry figures that being alive, although in trouble with his girlfriend is the better alternative so he heads south of the border. Finding the pistol is easy but getting it home is a whole other matter. The pistol supposedly carries a curse--a curse Jerry believes, especially when Samantha is held hostage by gay hit man Leroy to ensure the safe return of the pistol. Jerry soon has his hands full with bandits, bloodshed, and a grizzly hound dog that vanishes and reappears with amusing regularity.

Jerry is kidnapped and winds up in the presence of local mobster Arnold Margolese (Gene Hackman). Margolese explains that he wants the pistol so he can return it to its rightful owner, the descendant of the gunsmith. Jerry agrees to return the pistol to the aging descendant, and is taken back to his hotel room. Bernie, however, is already there, demanding the pistol in exchange for Samantha. When it is discovered that she is in the trunk of Jerry's car, he explains she is the only one who knows its location. Bernie opens the trunk, revealing a very irate Samantha wielding the cursed pistol. After a brief standoff, Samantha fires the pistol, causing a small gold wedding ring to fall out. Bernie stands still for a moment, apparently unharmed, but then reveals a bullet hole in his neck that kills him. Jerry then takes the ring, proposes to Samantha, and the two begin their trip back to the United States.

This is an unusual mixture of romantic comedy, thriller, and road movie. There are many moments to lighten the fast-paced journey of the film--the multiple flashbacks to the story behind the pistols are quite entertaining, and the quirky characters chasing Jerry and Sam definitely add something to an eclectic mix of personalities. The plot takes a few strange twists and livens things up with a few sideline stories and characters and some great acting from Pitt. Alan Silvestri composed the original music, J. H. Wyman wrote the screenplay, and Gore Verbinski directed.

Object of My Affection (1998)

Social worker Nina Borowski (Jennifer Aniston) is a young bright woman who lives in a cozy Brooklyn apartment. Nina's older step-sister Constance Miller (Allison Janney) and her husband Sidney (Alan Alda) have a party where Nina meets George Hanson (Paul Rudd), a young handsome first grade school teacher who is gay. Nina complains to George about her step-sister who is constantly trying to fix her up with somebody from high society, completely ignoring the fact that Nina has a boyfriend. She invites George to move in with her just hours after they meet. As their friendship progresses, she learns she is pregnant, and wants George to act as father to her newborn, much to the consternation of her overbearing boyfriend Vince McBride (John Pankow), who wants marriage. Nina wants independence. George and Nina share an apartment, a taste for tuna casserole dinners, and a devotion to ballroom dancing. They love each other, even though George is gay. George will do anything for some affection, but is he ready to become an unwed surrogate dad?

Everything is perfect until Nina finds out that George had a girlfriend in high school. One afternoon George has a phone call from his ex-boyfriend Dr. Robert Joley (Tim Daly), who tells him how much he has missed him and invites him for the weekend. George is confused but agrees to go. Nina feels threatened and gets jealous. George and Dr. Joley do not get back together but George meets Paul James (Amo Gulinello), a young actor and the two fall head over heels in love. Nina is very sad and cannot control her emotions. They start arguing and at George's brother's wedding Nina tells George about her feelings for him. George who loves Nina as his best friend tells her that he wants Paul. A few hours later Nina gives birth to a beautiful girl she names Molly (Sarah Hyland) and asks George to move out of her apartment before she gets home from the hospital. The end of the film takes place at George's school. All of the characters go to see Molly in a play.

This hip, multilayered comedy takes itself too seriously, although there is some genuine emotion buried in the script. It's not that the relationships are unbelievable, but the story lurches forward from one stilted setup to another. Characters take on major life changes without explanation. However the performances are good, and Rudd does not play a gay stereotype. George Fenton composed the incidental music. Wendy Wasserstein wrote the screenplay adapted from the book of the same title by Stephen McCauley, and Nicholas Hytner directed.

Carrington (1995)

"Carrington" is the true story of the unusual love affair between two nonconformists in Victorian England: boyish painter Dora Carrington (Emma Thompson) and gay author Lytton Strachey (Jonathan Pryce). Carrington is a young English artist who is part of the Bloomsbury Group, a circle of bohemian British writers and artists that includes Virginia Woolf and E.M. Forster, when she meets Strachey in WWI England. Before meeting Carrington, Strachey inquires who the "ravishing boy" is and discovers that it's a woman. Surprised, he finds himself captivated by her, and they begin a 17-year relationship. Their first meetings and the strange attraction that would bind them for the rest of their lives are sketched out in the first few scenes. Although platonic due to Strachey's homosexuality, the passionate bond was nevertheless a deep and complicated one. Strachey is a quiet, dry witted, reserved writer in his 30s when he meets Carrington, who is 15 years younger and still a virgin. Having found her intellectual soul mate, she finds herself indulging in sex with many young attractive men to forget her love for the distinguished author, whose physical love she will never have.

When Carrington develops a more physical relationship with soldier Ralph Partridge (Steven Waddington), Strachey welcomes him as a friend, although Partridge remains somewhat uneasy, not so much with Strachey's lifestyle and sexual orientation as with the fact that he is a conscientious objector. Strachey and Carrington eventually move in together and have a series of offbeat sexual experiences with other members of the group and sometimes even with the same man. Carrington even marries another man, yet their relationship endures until Strachey's death years later.

This touching and intelligent film features excellent acting. Pryce was honored as Best Actor at the Cannes Film Festival for his performance. The music score of the film was composed by Michael Nyman, primarily based on his String Quartet No. 3. Christopher Hampton wrote the screenplay based on Michael Holroyd's book. Christopher Hampton also directed.

The Adjuster (1992)

Insurance Adjuster Noah Render (Elias Koteas) works with people who have suffered the loss of their homes and other disasters in Canada. He gets a little too involved with his clients, taking advantage of their vulnerability to control their lives--while only having superficial interactions with his own wife Hera (Arsinée Khanjian), who secretly videotapes the porn films she watches for a government censor board. There are various other characters who come into contact with the pair and sexual fantasies are the main theme that drives the story forward. "Was this a purebred?" Noah asks a gay couple whose dog still smolders in the ashes of their apartment. When another couple, Bubba (Maury Chaykin) and Mimi (Gabrielle Rose), poses as part of a film crew who want to use Noah and Hera's house, Noah moves his family into the motel where he houses his displaced clients, bringing his separate worlds too close together. The ending quotes from "The Sound of Music" in a comic horror finale. One of the main characters--unable to "play house" anymore decides to burn down the Insurance Adjuster's house he has rented, and starts singing "My Favorite Things" as he proceeds to extinguish them all.

There is very little plot, but this sex comedy does have some very memorable characters and it has a good climax. Though initially mysterious and distanced, "The Adjuster" builds to a sense of loss and sorrow. As in his earlier films, director Atom Egoyan explores how people evade and contain the traumas in their lives. Wicked, darkly funny, sexy, it's perhaps the most successful critique of consumer society ever filmed. It's a strange, repetitious, surreal, confusing, disturbing, and hilarious film. Not all viewers like it, of course. Mychael Danna composed the original music, and Atom Egoyan wrote the screenplay and directed.

Pink Narcissus (1971)

"Pink Narcissus" is a drama visualizing the erotic fantasies of incredibly handsome male prostitute Pan (Bobby Kendall). Between visits from his keeper, or john, he is alone in his apartment and fantasizes about worlds where he is the central character. Obsessed with his own beauty and youth, he escapes the realities of street life through intricately choreographed fantasies. He portrays a Roman slave boy and the emperor who condemns him, a matador, a wood nymph, and the keeper of a male harem for whom another male performs a belly dance. Characterized by bright colors and highly stylized sets, props, and costumes, this film shows that the fantasies allow him to escape the harsh realities of his life in a creative slice of gay erotic cinema.

This cult classic is very highly regarded for its artistic production values, and less for its narrative. The movie was mostly shot on 8 mm film with bright lighting. Aside from its last climactic scene, which was shot in a downtown Manhattan loft, it was produced entirely (including outdoor scenes) in a small New York apartment over a seven year period (from 1963 to 1970) and released without the director's consent, who therefore had himself credited as Anonymous. It was not widely known who had created the movie, and there were rumors Andy Warhol was behind it. In the mid-1990s, writer Bruce Benderson, who was obsessed with the film, began a search for its maker based on several leads and finally verified that it was James Bidgood, who was still living in Manhattan and was working on a film script.

In 1999, a book researched and written by Benderson was published by Taschen about Bidgood's body of photographic and film work. The French DVD of "Pink Narcissus" includes the 2000 documentary "The Queer Reveries of James Bidgood". Bidgood's unique kitschy style has been imitated and refined by artists such as Pierre et Gilles. Written, produced, filmed, and directed by James Bidgood.

After Hours (1985)

Yuppie NYC office worker Paul Hacketts (Griffin Dunne) has "a very strange night" when he meets Marcy Franklin (Rosanna Arquette) at a coffee shop after work in SoHo, and gets her phone number. He calls her, she asks him to come over, they discuss Henry Miller, then things take a turn for the bizarre. His money flies out the cab window and he is stuck in SoHo. It turns into a waking nightmare when one mishap after another strands him in a hostile neighborhood in his quest to return home before morning. Two leather gays are shown kissing, a sure sign that there's something radically wrong. He finds himself the accused suspect in a string of burglaries in the neighborhood, becomes the object of a witch hunt by a posse of SoHo denizens, and can't find a way to get back uptown.

Paul spends the rest of the night trying to get home, dealing with angry cabbies, dead women (and their bartender husbands), clumsy catburglars, quirky sculptresses, unstable waitresses, condescending bouncers, and irate mobs led by ice cream truck drivers. The most offbeat character is neurotic Julie (Teri Garr) and the moment when Paul uses his last quarter to play Peggy Lee's "Is That All There Is" and dances with June (Verna Bloom) while an angry mob searches SoHo for him is an inspired bit of lunacy. Strangely, the seemingly disconnected events are interwoven in unusual and unexpected ways.

This black comedy becomes increasingly surreal. Many will find the jokes clever and funny. Others may find the film an excruciating series of staged circumstances setting up a sadistically cruel dark nightmare of horrors. A few lines of dialogue are so poorly written they remind you how unbelievable the thin story really is. But forgive the film these few lapses--overall it's a wild, entertaining ride with great performances, including a cameo by Cheech and Chong. The film is based on a screenplay that Joseph Minion wrote as part of an assignment for a film course at Columbia University. Howard Shore composed the original music, and Martin Scorsese directed.

Bloodbrothers (1978)

This hard hitting yet sensitive film is about a blue collar family living in a working class neighborhood in the Bronx, and the ups and downs that they go through. The De Coco's are an Italian/American family with two sons. Thomas Stony (Richard Gere) is torn between being a construction worker and working as a recreational assistant at a local hospital. In the hospital Stony want's to help young children with severe emotional problems like his younger brother Albert (Michael Hershewe), who is constantly being harassed by his mother Marie (Lelia Goldoni) and father Tommy (Tony Lo Bianco).

Uncle Louis Chubby (Paul Sorvino) is a combative and drunken construction worker, following in the footsteps of his younger brother Tommy. Macho in the extreme, these guys have no time for the sensitive moral quandaries of Stony and Albert. Tommy's womanizing leads his wife to try to have an affair with weirdo Jackie (Raymond Singer), who lives in their apartment building. When Tommy finds out about this supposed affair from a phone call from Jackie's mother, he goes haywire and almost kills Marie and ends up in the hospital with an emotional breakdown.

There is a subplot involving bartender Banion (Kenneth McMillan) who cannot reach out to his gay son. He threw his son Paulie (Bruce French) out of the house when he found out that he was gay. Chubby tells his friend Banion a moving story about his own son who tragically died in infancy. Almost in tears Chubby explains how he loved and looked after his nephew Stony as the son he lost. Chubby tries to get both father and son back together later by going to Buccellati Jewelry on Fifth Avenue where Paulie works to get him to attend his father's birthday party. Paulie not only refuses to show up at the party but doesn't even want to sign a birthday card for his father that Chubby gives him. Stony decides to leave home with his younger brother Albert for good. In an attempt to say goodbye, he has an emotionally packed confrontation with his father and uncle, one of the best of many great scenes in the movie.

This overblown soap opera races from childhood anorexia to adolescent sexual trauma via wife-battering. Stony, as the school drop out who wants to be a social worker but comes up against his father, is fine, but his performance is mangled by the movie's glorification of the macho ethos. The pacing is less than ideal and the film is halfway through before it becomes clear where the story is going. Broader social and personal issues in the film are never satisfactorily developed. As an acting showcase it is good, but overall it's not so good. "Bloodbrothers" is a moving and tragic film with a great and stirring musical score that shows that there is nothing uninteresting about working people. Elmer Bernstein composed the original music. Walter Newman wrote the screenplay from Richard Price's novel, but made too many changes to its source. Robert Mulligan directed, and also recut the 116 minute film to a 98 minute version.

The Next Best Thing (2000)

Abbie Reynolds (Madonna) and Robert Whittaker (Rupert Everett) fall into an amorous embrace on a fateful 4th of July after a few too many martinis. Robert is a landscaper and gay, which complicates things. Abbie is a yoga instructor who confesses a few weeks later that she is pregnant. Six years later, Robert, Abbie, and their son Sam (Malcolm Stumpf) are living together peacefully and happily--that is, until hunky investment banker Ben Cooper (Benjamin Bratt) starts making eyes at Abbie, throwing their alternative family into disarray. The relationship of a gay man, straight woman, and child falls apart when Abbie falls in love with Ben and wants to move away with him and Robert's little boy, Sam. A nasty, full-of-surprises custody battle ensues between Abbie and Robert.

This comedy-drama was a critical and commercial flop. Madonna won a Razzie award for worst actress, and the film was nominated for other Razzies including Worst Director, Worst Picture and Worst Screenplay. Critic Roger Ebert gave the movie 1 star, stating: "The Next Best Thing is a garage sale of gay issues, harnessed to a plot as exhausted as a junkman's horse." The inept screenplay has cardboard dialogue that sounds like first-draft material--including wailing by Madonna about how she can't find a man, and a gym-buffed Everett complaining about gay male body image.

The movie stumbles from domestic comedy to custody-suit tragedy when it takes a bizarre left turn in the third act. Any statements about new definitions of family are buried underneath these events, which provide teary courtroom outbursts for both leads. Everett has a quick way with a one-liner, and Madonna is more relaxed than she's ever been in a film, but they are just in front of the camera with no help from the supporting cast. Music from the movie is a soundtrack including two songs by singer Madonna, "American Pie" and "Time Stood Still". Tom Ropelewski wrote the screenplay and John Schlesinger directed.