10 of the Sexit Gay Romantic Films You Can Watch Right Now

Contents:

• KEN HAS ALWAYS BEEN BARBIE’S GAY BT FRIEND—NOT HER BOYIEND
• IS BARBIE GAY AND WHY IS THE NEW MOVIE RATED PG-13?
• 'PASSAG' DIRECTOR NOUNC 'DANGERO' NC-17 RATG ON A FILM PICTG A GAY LOVE STORY
• A YOUNG GAY MAN MEETS A STRANGER ONLE THE SHORT FILM ‘JAMIE’ – WATCH
• WHY HASN'T THERE BEEN A GAY ACTN HERO YET?
• 10 GREAT BRISH GAY FILMS
• GAY HOLLYWOOD: 45 OUT AND PROUD LGBT STARS (PHOTOS)
• ASIAN BL - BL/GAY DRAMAS AND MOVI 1980'S TO 2021
• 2020'S BT ACTN MOVIE IS ALSO A GAY LOVE STORY

KEN HAS ALWAYS BEEN BARBIE’S GAY BT FRIEND—NOT HER BOYIEND

The film won’t say , but a post-creds punchle about Ken’s handwrg, plete wh hearts and stars surroundg his name, tells what we need to heavily implied nature of Ken’s gayns Toy Story 3 harkens back to Hollywood’s tradnal gay bt iend-type characters. In the Hays Co era, explic referenc to homosexualy weren’t allowed, so characters like Van Buren (Frankl Pangborn) 1937’s Easy Livg, Kip (David Wayne) 1949’s Adam’s Rib, or Addison (Gee Sanrs) 1950’s All About Eve stead were imbued wh effemate characteristics, offerg a glimpse outsi of heteronormativy whout explicly beg of the characters were the same—some were tty, others sweet.

While there is no way to “drs gay, ” there are several dolls that seem to suggt otherwise, such as:Fashnista Ken #193, who looks very exced to tell you about his new obssn, Troye Sivan;Travel Ken Doll, who has a satchel perfect for bathho and a purple overnight bag that lerally proclaims he’s “extra;”Ken Looks Doll, servg “I’m gonna give you a makeover”-type realns while sportg black pleather pants;This Ken, who wears the least heterosexual double nim I have a feelg the new Barbie movie will put the work to nvce that Ken is a hetero du who lov nothg life more than Barbie herself, the wrg’s already on the wall: Ken is, and always will be, Barbie’s gay bt obssg! “The key issue that Bud Light tapped to was the fact that they didn’t unrstand their re dience and know enough about them,” Hodson, a gay man, told CNN about the ntroversy that began when the Anhser-Bch beer brand sent fluencer Dylan Mulvaney a n of beer.

Gay Water might not have the ep pockets pared to s petors, like Whe Claw, but “even at small sle, pani of many siz are havg succs makg spir-based seltzers and premixed cktails,” Bryan Roth, an analyst for Feel Goods Company and edor of the alhol beverage newsletter, Sightl+, told CNN. “There’s lots of space the spir-based seltzer tegory which Gay Water n play, pecially if the brand n offer a cultural or emotnal nnectn that will feel more excg than the prospect of another peapple-flavored vodka seltzer om natnal or ternatnal rporatns,” Roth said. Set post World-War II Germany, this Atrian drama follows Hans Hoffmann (Franz Rogowski) who's imprisoned several tim for beg gay and durg his time prison shar an timate relatnship wh his cellmate, Hans Hoffmann (Franz Rogowski), who is servg a life sentence for murr.

IS BARBIE GAY AND WHY IS THE NEW MOVIE RATED PG-13?

Wolfe (Ma Raey's Black Bottom), wrten by Dt Lance Black, and produced by Barack and Michelle Obama's productn pany Higher Ground, this film is a mt-watch this year, pecially wh Coleman Domgo as civil and gay rights in Bayard Rt. Y, Tman Capote was gay, y he is portrayed as such, y shows his partner, BUT the primary foc of the film was Capote's alholism and his wrg of In Cold Blood (and that is FINE, aga, was an EXCELLENT film, jt not a LGBT film my opn).

Terrific st wh excellent chemistry and some genuely funny moments, Fourth Man Out is a rehg gay edy that I thk many would enjoy (even the "manlit" men of this world), thanks to the rehg and likable performance of Evan Todd as the likable, awkward, r-mechanic Adam and his goofy well-meang straight "bros. Not nearly as good or funny as Borat, but the film do a good job revealg the nonsense that is homophobia (Brüno viss a gay-to-straight nverter, a group of redneck hunters, and a martial arts expert who shows him how to "fend himself agast the gays"). Yterday we posted a uple of the excellent short films BFI Flare LGBT film ftival London – Heavy Weight, about a pair of boxers who fd passn the rg, and Still Burng, about a gay man who helps his brother prepare for his first vogug ball Paris.

That clip appears The Celluloid Closet, Rob Epste and Jefey Friedman’s documentary based on Vo Rso’s study of homosexualy the movi, along wh untls exampl of how gay characters showed up, per narrator Lily Toml, as “somethg to lgh at, or somethg to py, or even somethg to fear.

'PASSAG' DIRECTOR NOUNC 'DANGERO' NC-17 RATG ON A FILM PICTG A GAY LOVE STORY

It is nowhere near a prehensive ndown of every great movie to feature out-and-proud hero and villas, or a queer sensibily, or even jt visible (and/or risible) exampl of gay life cema; we uld have easily ma this list twice as long. The performanc are staggerg: Al Paco as the ignom Roy Cohn; Jefey Wright is the sharp-wted gay nurse who tends to him; Mary-Louise Parker as a pill-poppg hoewife wed to a closeted Mormon; Emma Thompson as an imper (and sometim sassy) angel; and Meryl Streep four rol, cludg the ghost of Ethel Rosenberg.

It was still nsired a bad reer move for a movie star to play a gay role 2005, and Hollywood’s track rerd was ls than stellar when me to treatg homosexual romanc wh the same pth as heterosexual on (if emed f to tackle such stori at all). A page-to-screen take on Vo Rso’s semal book regardg LGBTQ reprentatn (and misreprentatn) the movi, Rob Epste and Jefey Friedman’s documentary prents the perfect show-and-tell plement to the late scholar’s work — you n lerally see the evolutn of cematic homosexualy as progrs om punchle to social pundry, sikick-and-stock-villa fodr to queers beg the hero of their own stori.

A YOUNG GAY MAN MEETS A STRANGER ONLE THE SHORT FILM ‘JAMIE’ – WATCH

To say that William Friedk’s thriller about a serial killer targetg gay men New York was ntroversial would be puttg dly: Village Voice lumnist Arthur Bell (whose verage of murrs the Wt Village bar scene was a partial spiratn) lled the script “the worst possible nightmare of the most uptight straight”; tablishments that had agreed to operate sudnly whdrew their support; activists dispted filmg at every turn; theaters were picketed; and one massive prott led to a traffic-stoppg s- and arrts. ) But 40 years after Al Paco’s unrver p first stepped to the Mhaft, this lurid exploatn movie has been reclaimed by gay film crics such as Nathan Lee and Melissa Anrson, noticeably for the way prents the late ’70s leather-bar scene wh an almost véré-like sense of observatn. Mixg herage-drama aspects wh outré postmorn flourish and a heightened sense of homoeroticism, the movie prents the relatnship between the two men as a polil act as much as a romantic one; Edward’s army is refashned as ACT UP-style activists, and the behd-the-scene machatns of Edward’s wife, Isabella (longtime Jarman llaborator Tilda Swton), double as a crique of Bra’s opprsive, historilly strict anti-homosexual laws.

Set on the muddy, wdswept moors of Yorkshire, Francis Lee’s but feature follows Johnny (Josh O’Connor), a young gay man leadg a ad-end existence on his fay farm, and Ghehe (Alec Sereanu), a Romanian migrant worker who to help out durg lamb-birthg season. The HIV vis h the gay muny around the same time that the personal mrr h retail shelv — which is one reason David France’s Osr-nomated film about the formatn of activist anizatn groups ACT UP and TAG (Treat Actn Group) has such a shatterg impact. Told bs and piec over 10 years — and chartg how Pl and Erik tersect and fall apart and tersect aga over time — this romantic drama is startlgly clear-eyed about the stggl of s gay characters to accept themselv as well as their partners.

Blendg readgs of his work wh sequenc of geo men tuxedos dancg and cisg each other (or posg naked), the movie specifilly plac Hugh’ verse a homoerotic ntext; the work of fellow gay wrers Jam Baldw, Essex Hemphill, and Robert Bce Nugent also acpany black-and-whe scen of gay clubs, gay celebri (keep an eye out for Bronski Beat sger Jimmy Sommerville as an angel), gay inography, and gay love. Terence McNally, who died March om plitns related to COVID-19, adapted his own Tony-wng play for director Joe Mantello, and the film is the perfect remr that McNally was one of the great chroniclers of gay love, gay relatnships, and what meant to fd a chosen fay who would support you through good tim and bad.

WHY HASN'T THERE BEEN A GAY ACTN HERO YET?

And even though director Leonte Sagan and the film’s -wrer Christa Wsloe toned down some of the more-erotic overton om Wsloe’s play, was still explicly a story about homosexualy that honored the characters’ mutual attractn.

A heartbreakgly gentle portra of a young man’s very rough life growg up gay Miami’s impoverished Liberty Cy neighborhood, Barry Jenks’ lyril send film, prented three acts, juxtapos moments of credible tenrns between men wh bursts of sual celty.

“Gay-htler die” may now seem like a Sundance cliché, but until G Van Sant’s third feature dropped dienc to the sular world of Portland’s street culture, no one had ma a movie that addrsed the subject wh such a mix of poetry and blunt honty. An experimental doc om the legendary filmmaker Barbara Hammer, this llage of personal ttimoni, gay and lbian ephemera, and a profilette of thor Willa Cather is a roundabout mediatn on, per s creator, “a reprsed and margalized history” of queer life the 20th century. And a ltle over an hour, she acplish all that and more — scen of timacy among elrly and biracial same-sex upl will sudnly give way to exploratns of homosexual persecutn Nazi Germany, or one woman’s oral history of tryg to mask her sexual preferenc durg her time the army durg World War II.

10 GREAT BRISH GAY FILMS

Pedro Almodóvar’s filmography is filled wh gay characters, gay love, gay sex, and gay sensibili — you n see his punkish late-Seventi shorts, his mpy farc (Women on the Verge of a Nervo Breakdown), his Hchckian thrillers (Matador, Law of Dire), and his melodramas (Bad Edutn, All About My Mother). The Spanish filmmaker’s latt work, however, don’t jt revolve around an agg, gay movie director (Anton Banras) reflectg on his life — ’s a highly tobgraphil look at s creator’s own relatnship wh cema, sire, and his inty as a queer artist. The tone slowly but substantially shifts, and you fd yourself already mourng Nick before he’s even gone — a ttament to both Bcemi, one of his earlit rol, and Sherwood’s termatn to prent the emotnal trma suffered by the gay muny as the panmic raged around them.

The key movie of what would bee known as the “New Queer Cema” (see also Tom Kal’s Swoon and Gregg Araki’s The Livg End), Todd Hayn’ triptych giv the story of a child who murrs an aber and mysterly disappears (“Hero”), a Fifti-style monster movie about a scientist who turns to a hio creature after drkg a “sexualy” potn (“Horror”), and a bold adaptatn of Jean Ge’s love-among-nvicts tale The Miracle of the Rose (“Homo”). And like his fellow gay filmmakers who’d artistilly e of age a world of AIDS-related afflictn and activism, Hayn’ style of storytellg was nontatnal, somewhat nfsnal, and unabashedly queer, whether he was flirtg wh genre parodi, borrowg TV tabloid sensatnalism, or phg the envelope regardg pictns of same-sex eroticism. ” Yet also serv as a ttament that y, Virgia, unrground gay culture was alive and well and credibly fabulo long before Stonewall served as a flashpot for liberatn, and a wonrful troductn to the pre-RuPl, pre-TV-h-show art of drag.

Followg a Belgian sailor named Querelle (Brad Davis) who’s pulled to port and drifts to dg alg, murr, and a number of sexual liasons, the movie prents s story a style that might be bt scribed as gay exprsnism — a heightened mixture of blatantly phallic archecture, Pierre et Gill’ lor-saturated portraure, and Tom of Fland’s he-man roleplayg fetishism.

GAY HOLLYWOOD: 45 OUT AND PROUD LGBT STARS (PHOTOS)

A massive, Osr-nomated crossover h, Tomas Gutierrez Alea and Juan Carlos Tabío’s film prented a softer, more tolerant treatment of homosexualy by the Cuban ernment (Diego and David share a platonic hug at the end) that was seen as progrs by some and a savvy public-relatns move by others. German wrer-director Frank Ripploh semitobgraphil movie remas a landmark bee refed to prent the “posive gay image” so many advoted for to achieve acceptance by straight people — stead, celebrat the art of beg a sexual outlaw. Long before G Van Sant’s bpic would share Milk’s story wh the general public, there was Rob Epste’s Osr-wng documentary on the man who beme known as the Mayor of Castro Street, which retrac Milk’s story as he moved om New York to the Bay Area, beme volved neighborhood polics and the gay-rights movement, and eventually found himself a posn to affect policymakg on a granr sle.

Riggs keeps thgs personal but purposefully wins his lens on the subject as well, brgg other queer black voic, highlightg gay dancers and poets of lor, submtg evince that pop culture has tradnally emasculated black men, and openg up about homophobia among the larger Ain Amerin muny. Wrer-director Andrew Haigh’s timate drama has been lled “the gay Before Sunrise, ” a parison that’s both a pliment — like Lklater’s movie, revolv around the power of nversatn and enjoyg the extend pleasure of someone’s pany — and an oversight that don’t que do jtice to the movie’s strengths. Documentarians Nancy Adair, Andrew Brown, and Rob Epste’s oral history of gay life giv close to two dozen men and women a chance to tell their stori — and lets the participants share their personal perspectiv on everythg om g of age to g out, om love to heartbreak, om -parentg wh their partners to fg their own paths.

The lack of gay actn stars through the '70s and '80s should e as no surprise, nsirg gay people were classified as havg a “psychiatric disorr” by the Amerin Psychiatric Associatn om 1952-1973 (at which pot "gay" was downgrad to mere "sexual orientatn disturbance.

ASIAN BL - BL/GAY DRAMAS AND MOVI 1980'S TO 2021

By that pot, if the hypothetil filmmakers are any good at their jobs, the dience would be sold on his actn hero chops to the pot that even the most reluctant viewer would e around on the ia that gay guys n save the plane om terrorists, too. Stuff like Glass Onn and Our Flag Means Death have done well at utilizg the eventual reveal approach, the former by wag until the sequel to slip a quick scene of gay domticy and the latter by lettg the dience assume they’re watchg jt another se of queer-bag before actually havg Steed (Rhys Darby) and Blackbeard (Taika Wai) profs their feelgs for one another and kiss. It’s a mp classic wh hilar l but more importantly, featur an inic performance om Michael Greer, one of the first openly gay actors to appear major Hollywood The Gay Deceivers on Tubi TVGayby (2012)Based on the award-wng short film of the same name, Gayby tells the story of a straight hot yoga stctor named Jenn and her bt iend Matt, a gay ic-book wrer.

2020'S BT ACTN MOVIE IS ALSO A GAY LOVE STORY

A few d homosexuals n be found  Aled Hchck’s early work (check out the swishy drsmaker 1925’s The Pleasure Garn), while Ivor Novello’s films play up the flamboyant star’s androgyny, playg very odd, allegedly heterosexual men  The Lodger (1926) and The Man whout Dire (1923). Victim (1961)Dirk Bogar, an actor who never acknowledged the mours of his homosexualy durg his lifetime, took a real reer risk playg a lawyer who, followg a strg of blackmail attempts agast gay men, begs to realise his own sexualy. It took another 10 years before partial crimalisatn took effect wh the Sexual Offenc act 1967, which allowed homosexual acts, private, between two men over the age of 21 – many feel Basil Dearn’s film helped liberalise attus and pave the way towards tolerance towards gay people.

The Leather Boys (1964)The Brish ‘kchen sk’ dramas, foced around workg-class liv, that prevailed the late 50s and early 60s ocsnally ntaed sympathetic gay characters, such as Murray Melv’s stunt  A Taste of Honey (1961) and Cicely Courtneidge’s ageg actor  The L-shaped Room (1962).

It’s a super play, but the film jt about tmps , thanks pecially to the performanc – Glen Berry retired om actg, Stt Neal played another gay role  The Bill, while the scene-stealg Lda Henry beme a fixture on Bad Girls and EastEnrs.