La Ley del deseo (1987)

Pablo Quintero (Eusebio Poncela) is a gay filmmaker whose erotic films become something of an obsession for youthful Antonio Benítez (Antonio Banderas). They meet at a party after the premiere of his latest movie, go home together and Antonio experiences gay sex for the first time. Pablo is considering ending an affair with his boyfriend Juan Bermúdez ( Miguel Molina), who has left Madrid to return to his home village in southern Spain. Meanwhile, Pablo’s sister Tina (Carmen Maura), an aspiring actress, is outraged when she learns that the director has used her real-life experiences as the basis of his next film. Tina is a transsexual, angry at men, raising niece Ada (Manuela Velasco), and trying to make it as an actress. She isn't the only one to have the knives out for Pablo.

When Antonio learns that his new-found lover still has feelings for Juan, he becomes very jealous. Antonio tracks down Juan, tries to rape him and throws him off a cliff. The death leads to Pablo's grief and a temporary loss of memory. When his memory returns, he learns that Antonio has taken up with Tina. The police suspect both Tina and Pablo for the murder--only a sympathetic doctor keeps them at bay. Tina decides to reveal to Pablo why she is a transexual, and announces Antonio is now her lover. Antonio holds Tina and Ada hostage in order to demand an hour alone with Pablo. A stunned and limping Pablo agrees, and experiences some tender moments with Antonio before Antonio suddenly kills himself.

This is a tragic love story of Antonio's obsession for Pablo. The mix of romantic intrigue, suspense thriller, and black comedy works very well, making it an entertaining and unpredictable film. It features direct and honest portrayals of gay relationships and stylishly homoerotic love scenes, with bizarre twists in a complex love triangle. But by today’s standards, the portrayal of gay men, lesbians, and transsexuals looks somewhat dated, with some of the characters coming across as caricatures. Bernardo Bonezzi composed the music, and Pedro Almodóvar wrote the screenplay and directed. The English title is "Law of Desire". In Spanish with no subtitles.

Little Miss Sunshine (2006)

In Albuquerque, chain-smoking housewife Sheryl Hoover (Toni Collette) brings her suicidal brother Frank Ginsberg (Steve Carell) into her dysfunctional and bankrupt family. Frank is a gay professor, an expert on Proust, and tried to commit suicide when he was rejected by his graduate student boyfriend who was in love with another man. Sheryl's husband Richard (Greg Kinnear) is a motivational speaker trying to sell his self-improvement technique using nine steps to reach success, but he is actually a complete loser. Her son Dwayne (Paul Dano) is a rebel and follower of Nietzsche who has vowed not to speak until he gets into the Air Force. It has been 9 months since he's talked. Dwayne's grandfather Edwin (Alan Arkin) is addicted to heroin and was sent away from "Sunset Manor", an old folks home. When her seven years old daughter Olive (Abigail Breslin) has a chance to enter the "Little Miss Sunshine" pageant in Redondo Beach, California, the whole family travels together in their Volkswagen van in an amusing journey of hope to make Olive's dream come true.

The film begins with Olive watching a taped beauty pageant, where the winner is shocked to hear that she won. Olive mimics the winner's shocked expression. The Hoovers drive off for California and have many adventures. Grandpa dies, but they take his corpse along in the van. Olive gets to meet Miss California, who autographs a picture of herself. At the pageant Olive does a hilarious striptease dance to the song "Superfreak", which outrages many in attendance, especially Pageant Official Jenkins (Beth Grant). Olive is forever banned from entering beauty pageants in California. Even though she was disqualified and didn't win the "Little Miss Sunshine" contest, her family congratulates her on her performance. They drive off towards the security gate, where Jenkins is waiting to pass through the security bar. The Hoovers exit through the wrong way, driving through the security bar while Jenkins looks at them shocked.

This dark comedy about a quirky, dysfunctional family is quite funny. These people drive each other crazy, don't communicate very well, but they do love each other. Music was composed by Mychael Dana and DeVotchka. Michael Arndt wrote the screenplay, and the film was directed by Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris.