OutFest Picks 25 Life-Changing Films

In honor of their 25th anniversary, OutFest has selected 25 GLBT movies that "changed our lives" in the past 25 years.

Ranging from mainstream hits to independent favorites, foreign films to documentaries, they are (in chronological order):

• Making Love (1982)
• The Hunger (1983)
• The Times of Harvey Milk (1984)
• My Beautiful Laundrette (1985)
• Desert Hearts (1985)
• Parting Glances (1986)
• I've Heard the Mermaids Singing (1987)
• Law of Desire (1987)
• Maurice (1987)
• Longtime Companion (1990)
• Paris is Burning (1990)
• Tongues Untied (1990)
• My Own Private Idaho (1991)
• Poison (1991)
• The Crying Game (1992)
• The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (1994)
• Go Fish (1994)
• The Celluloid Closet (1995)
• The Incredibly True Adventure of 2 Girls in Love (1995)
• Beautiful Thing (1996)
• Ma Vie en Rose (1997)
• High Art (1998)
• Boys Don't Cry (1999)
• Hedwig and the Angry Inch (2001)
• Brokeback Mountain (2005)

What is always fun about lists like these is to do a breakdown of the numbers, which provides an interesting way to look comprehensively at the films represented. Thus, OutFest's list includes:

• 9 films from the 1980's.
• 14 films from the 1990's.
• 2 films from the 2000's.
• 4 documentaries.
• 2 foreign language films.
• 1987 and 1990 are the most represented years, with 3 films each.
• Rob Epstein is the only director with two films on the list: The Times of Harvey Milk and The Celluloid Closet.
• A total of 7 Oscars were won by 5 of the films, but no Best Pictures (damn you again, Crash!).

As for the breakdown of what's G, L, B or T:

• 15 films with gay subject matter.
• 8 films with lesbian subject matter.
• 7 films with bisexual subject matter.
• 6 films with transgender subject matter.

The only film to feature all four is, naturally, The Celluloid Closet.

Links via OutFest.org.

The Advocate Goes to the Movies

In conjunction with their 40th anniversary poll to find the top 40 "Gay Heroes", The Advocate is also giving readers a chance to name their ten favorite queer movies from the last 40 years.

Of the 40 films nominated, such usual suspects as Brokeback Mountain, Boys Don't Cry and Personal Best are present. Sprinkled in among the foreign fare (Before Night Falls, Law of Desire) and indie faves (Go Fish, Poison) are such Hollywood pap as In & Out, The Birdcage and Philadelphia, not to mention the just plain awful Mulholland Drive. Missing in action? Latter Days, Edge of Seventeen, Victor/Victoria, Trick, Cabaret ...

My personal top ten from this list is as follows (and illustrated above):

• The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert: Aussie drag beats American drag (The Birdcage) every time.
• Beautiful Thing: I like my young love to end happily (My Own Private Idaho, I'm talking to you).
• Bound: I admit, I need to see more lesbian movies, but this one made me want to be a lesbian.
• Brokeback Mountain: Goes without saying.
• The Crying Game: The second most well known gay movie for straight audiences, after Brokeback.
• Longtime Companion: Narrowly ahead of Parting Glances and miles ahead of Philadelphia.
• Making Love: The first Hollywood film to get it (mostly) right.
• Maurice: As British films go, more romantic then Sunday Bloody Sunday.
• My Beautiful Laundrette: See above, add Daniel Day Lewis and champagne.
• Transamerica: Regarding transsexual themes, this one was a close call with Hedwig and the Angry Inch.

Click here to vote for your own ten movies, plus your TV favorites and, for the guys, the hottest hunks of the past four decades. As for the ladies, there are no ladies to vote for (as of now). Note to Advocate editors: it is wise not to anger the lesbians.

Results will appear in The Advocate's 40th Anniversary issue and I will cover it here as well.

UPDATE: If anyone has the results of The Advocate's 40th Anniversary polls, please email them to me at my Hotmail address, located in the sidebar below my profile. It would be greatly appreciated!

Links via Advocate.com.

Priscilla, Queen of Broadway?

At first glance, The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert may not appear to be the ideal choice for a stage musical. Sure, musical numbers abound in the film fave, but these are drag queens, so the songs are all lip-synced. And who wants to hear "I've Never Been to Me" sung by a dude in a dress?

Alas, the producers of the hit Australian stage version came up with the perfect answer: cast three "divas" to belt the disco classics. Add three fabulously coifed and coutured men to play our heroines Mitzi, Felicia and Bernadette (the roles originally played onscreen by Hugo Weaving, Guy Pearce and Terence Stamp). Then have the boys lip sync to the live singing. It is a very theatrical conceit that works, if the big "I Will Survive" number (seen here on the Aussie version of Dancing With the Stars) is any indication.

Fans may also want to take a look-see at the official site of the production from down under, where you can play the "official" Priscilla, Queen of the Desert: The Musical game. Yes, I said game. You maneuver the big silver bus through the Outback, picking up stray stilettos and hormone pills (!) while avoiding wandering wombats and kangaroos. All the while, a medley of 70's hits is blaring in your ear, so you may want to turn down the speakers while your driving. I swear, it is the gayest game since "Mystery Date".

As would be expected, there is now talk that Priscilla may pack up her bus for Broadway, following in the footsteps of fellow Aussie export, The Boy from Oz, another musical gayer then most.

Which leads us to "Armchair Casting- Broadway Edition": what three Broadway "divos" do you see as the leads? I would say Gary Beach was born to play Bernadette. Beach has donned drag in The Producers and La Cage aux Folles, so why stop him now? Leave your thoughts in the comments section below.

Click here to purchase The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Deserton DVD from Amazon.com.
Links via Imdb.com, YouTube.com, PriscillaTheMusical.com and Towleroad.com.