 |
8
Women The
fluidity with which women's sexuality is portrayed in this
musical murder mystery is unusual, as is the casual way
it is revealed: in a cast of eight supposedly heterosexual
women, half turn out to be something other than straight as
they alternate between insulting, accusing, and seducing each
other. |
 |
A
Family Affair The
new independent film A Family Affair is a lesbian
love story, but it's also a movie about extremes. Although
I would have been happier with a little more subtlety, there
aren't enough movies that explore lesbian life post-coming
out, and A Family Affair is a welcome addition to
the canon.
|
 |
The Aggressives
This
documentary about a group of lesbians who are masculine-identified,
but not transgender,
raises thought-provoking and important questions about gender
and sexuality. |
 |
Aimee
and Jaguar
Movies
set during the Holocaust
are always going to end badly, and they are more difficult
to watch than disaster movies since the atrocities are committed
by friends and neighbors. But as Aimee and Jaguar
(1999) shows us, even against such a tragic backdrop, love
can flourish. |
 |
All
Over Me All
Over Me is one of those films that is so realistic, it's
difficult to watch. The movie tells the story of Claude,
a solid, socially-awkward teenage girl into punk music and
in love with her best friend Ellen, a self-absorbed, volatile
anorexic just waiting for some guy to come along and treat
her like shit--which is exactly what happens. |
 |
Amour
de Femme This French film has little
to add to the bored-housewife-leaves-husband-for-another-woman
genre. |
 |
April's
Shower
April's Shower is a cute, funny and sometimes irreverent
film about a bridal shower given by single lesbian for her
supposedly heterosexual best friend--and the revelation at
the shower that the two once had more than a platonic relationship. |
 |
Bar
Girls Bar
Girls is officially The Worst Lesbian Movie in the World.
I have suspected this ever since the movie was first
released in 1995, but I recently confirmed it when a newly-out
bisexual friend visited and we had "lesbian movie"
weekend; she
was so horrified watching Bar Girls that she made
me turn it off after only thirty minutes.
|
 |
Bound
Mob
movies generally take us into a world in which men rule the
universe and women are merely pawns trying to
survive. Bound--a film about two women who
design a scheme to double-cross the mob--operates within that
same world, but quickly flips the formula on its head as the
women exploit the bravado and ego of the men around them to
achieve their own freedom. |
 |
Boys
Don't Cry and The Brandon Teena Story Transgenderism
is a complicated issue that is deeply embedded in our society’s
notions of what it means to be a man or a woman, and it cannot
be easily unraveled or understood. What The Brandon Teena
Story and Boys Don’t Cry did for transgenderism
was to reveal its existence in all its complex humanity. |
 |
By
Hook or By Crook By
Hook or By Crook is an odd little movie, but in the best
sense of the word--it has a magnetism that is difficult
to explain, and a plot that is difficult
to categorize.
It's a buddy movie about the friendship between
two gender-ambiguous characters, but it's also an indictment
of how we treat the mentally ill in our society; it's a love
story, but it's also a story about injustice
|
 |
Chutney
Popcorn Although
full of campy jokes and stereotypes, with occasionally choppy
acting and low-budget film quality, Chutney Popcorn
is an entertaining, introspective, feel-good lesbian flick. |
 |
Clara's
Summer Clara’s
Summer is situated from the beginning as a story about
a momentous summer in the life of one girl, but it fizzles
out a bit by the end, as if the filmmakers did not have the
energy to delve into the complex emotions resulting from Clara’s
first lesbian experience. |
 |
D.E.B.S.
D.E.B.S.
ultimately succeeds because it can be different things to different
viewers: to lesbian and bisexual viewers, it's a lesbian love
story in teen-movie clothing; to straight teen and young adult
viewers, a funny teen movie with a twist. |
 |
Desert
Hearts Desert
Hearts is just as interesting and compelling today as
it was when it debuted almost twenty years ago, and is a example
of the heights you can achieve even without a big budget if
you have strong actors, the right story, and a director who
knows how to pull it all together. |
 |
Drag
Kings on Tour
Sonia Slutsky’s documentary follows a group of
six photogenic drag kings on their 15-city, three-week-long
“Kingdom Come” tour, complete with motorhome mishaps
(at one point their RV falls into a ditch) and Real World-type
drama. |
 |
Eulogy
A
crude but funny film with an all-star cast playing members
of a dysfunctional family hiding decades of buried secrets--and
more than one lesbian relationship. |
 |
Everything
Relative This
movie
showcases every cliche from the bad-lesbian-movie handbook:
awkward dialogue, preachy messaging that
is about as subtle as a gay pride parade; a few bad actors;
a few really bad haircuts; and a corny sing-along to an improvised
version of a Holly Near song. But I just can't help
liking the movie anyway. |
 |
The
Experiment: Gay and Straight A
documentary produced locally in Chicago back in 2002 that
captures the debate among five straight people and five gay
people locked in a house for seven days and forced to talk
about issues around heterosexuality and homosexuality. |
 |
Femme
Fatale Femme
Fatale follows the exploits of Laure/Lilly, a self-described
"bad girl, rotten to the heart" who manipulates
and double-crosses everyone she encounters--except, interestingly,
her lover Veronica, which is where the film becomes more than
just a vehicle for bad-girl eye candy. |
 |
Fire
Many
early reviews of Fire noted that its message of female
empowerment was dated for Western audiences, but this criticism
misses the point: Fire is not about Western women.
Sita and Radha’s love story and their attempt to change
the way tradition limits their lives is inspiring because
of the context in which they live. |
 |
Frida
Warning:
watching this film about the legendary bisexual
Mexican artist and socialist may lead to an intense desire
for tango lessons and large bottles of tequila. |
 |
Fucking
Amal/Show Me Love
This movie is unflinchingly honest in showing the serious
and long-term scars that teenage cruelty can create. But it
is at its most powerful in demonstrating that a kindred soul
is instrumental in helping you rise above it. |
 |
Heavenly
Creatures The
1994 award-winning film that launched the careers of Kate
Winslet and Melanie Lynskey features excellent acting and
direction, but its portrayal of lesbianism is less than fabulous.
|
 |
Henry and June In
this controversial 1990 movie based on writer Anais Nin's
diaries, Uma Thurman steals the show as one-half of a married
couple who unwittingly have an affair with the same woman. |
 |
High
Art
Writer/Director
Lisa Cholodenko has written a screenplay that doesn't just
show her characters and their lives, it meticulously scrutinizes
them, pointing out every flaw, every weakness, every strength,
every misstep. |
 |
High
Tension
This
French horror movie, which opened in theaters across America
this weekend, is billed as a "journey into the heart
of fear,” but it’s more like a journey into the
heart of homophobia. |
 |
The
Hunger
The
classic 1983 movie featuring Catherine Denueve and Susan Sarandon
as vampires--and lovers--is finally out on DVD. |
 |
I
Can't Marry You Sort
of a "Gay Marriage 101," this documentary is clearly
intended for a heterosexual audience,
or a gay audience that needs to be inspired to fight
for gay marriage. |
 |
Imagine
Me and You Piper
Perabo falls for British beauty Lena Headey in this new film
which debuted in Toronto this month. |
 |
|
 |
The
Journey The first film to seriously
address lesbian love in India since Fire in 1996. |
 |
Journey
to Kafiristan
Based on real events, Journey to
Kafiristan is a touching story of two women and their
relationship, a beautifully crafted travelogue in which the
scenery is as much a part of the narrative as the actual dialogue. |
 |
The
Joy of Life Queer
historian Jenni Olson’s film about love and suicide
in San Francisco celebrates the visual splendor of the world
we live in, as well as the very human tendency to desire. |
 |
Julie
Johnson As a working class housewife
who falls in love with science, and her best friend (played
by Courtney Love), Lili Taylor carries this film with her
characteristic flair. |
 |
Kissing
Jessica Stein
I didn't want to see this movie when I heard what it was about,
although for different reasons than you might assume. But
I was stuck in a hotel room in Vegas with time to kill and
there it was on Pay-Per-View, so I finally gave in and decided
to watch it. |
 |
Lackawanna
Blues This
heartwarming if uneven drama about a 1950s New York boarding
house debuts on HBO this weekend with a stellar cast and a
diversity of characters--including a butch lesbian. |
 |
The
Last Man on Planet Earth
An
over-the-top, sensationalistic TV movie about man-hating lesbians.
Needless to say, we didn't like it. |
 |
Laughing
Matters This
new documentary of four prominent lesbian comedians--Marga Gomez,
Kate Clinton, Karen Williams, and Suzanne Westenhoefer--is both
entertaining and educational. Not only does it provide a window
into the struggles and successes of these women over
the last twenty years, but it's laugh-out-loud funny, too. |
 |
Laurel
Canyon The
chemistry between Alex (Kate Beckinsale) and Jane (Frances McDormand)
builds slowly and realistically, so that when Alex and Jane
finally kiss, you're emotionally rooting for them, even if intellectually
you're recoiling at the the thought that Alex is kissing her
boyfriend's mother. |
 |
Lianna
A woman's journey from an unhealthy, unfulfilling marriage
to independence is the heart of Lianna, one of the
few films in the 80s to treat lesbianism positively. |
 |
Little
Man
This new documentary by Claire of the Moon director
Nicole Conn about her premature son's struggle to live raises
ethical questions and tugs on your heartstrings. |
 |
Lost
and Delirious The
overall message is clearly and powerfully delivered,
and the romantic and sexual relationship between Paulie and
Tori is well-handled and realistic - unfortunately, too
realistic for many lesbians. |
 |
Maedchen
in Uniform The
themes of forbidden love and double-standards in this classic
1931 German film about the relationship between a student
and her teacher are still resonant today. |
 |
Making
Grace
A lesbian couple's efforts to have a child are effectively
chronicled in this new documentary. |
 |
May
While
May is not without some of the usual horror-movie
clichés, overall it presents interesting commentary
on love and acceptance. |
 |
Monster
There
are few surprises in Monster, a dark, harrowing film
about an ill-fated lesbian relationship that
doesn't just ruin the lives of the two women involved, but
the lives of many others, too. |
 |
My
Mother Likes Women A decidely un-funny
Spanish comedy about three sisters dealing with their mother's
new female lover. |
 |
My
Summer of Love A
haunting and lyrical film about first love between teenage
girls from two different worlds. |
 |
The
Opposite Sex: Rene's Story This
new documentary airing on Showtime is stunning in its frank
and often unflattering portrayal of female-to-male transgender
Rene and the surgery that he undergoes in his journey to become
“a whole person.” |
 |
Oranges
are Not the Only Fruit This
BBC adaptation of the classic Jeanette Winterson novel is
rich and layered, but it's also a classic and
simple story of a young girl's struggle to accept her sexuality
in the face of religious fanaticism. |
 |
Pretty
Persuasion
While this new drama about a manipulative teenager is not
as sharp as Election or Heathers, Evan Rachel
Wood delivers a powerful performance as a feral creature,
quietly dangerous to everyone around her. |
 |
Prey
for Rock and Roll This
is a powerful film about perseverance through sheer
determination, and how sometimes simply surviving can be defined
as success. And although it tells the
story of a female rock band, it's really a gritty,
realistic, and disturbing meditation
on the pervasiveness of violence against women in our culture.
|
 |
Producing
Adults This
new Finnish film is not your typical coming-out story, but
a more realistic look at romance in all of its heartbreaking
complexity. |
 |
Radical
Harmonies This
entertaining documentary chronicles the groundbreaking work
of women in music, from Ronnie Gilbert and Gwen Avery to Ani
DiFranco and The Butchies. |
 |
Rent
Idina Menzel and Tracie Thoms shine as the lesbian couple
in this movie adaptation of the musical. |
 |
Same
Sex Parents A
film about bridging the communication breakdowns that happen
between kids and parents over sexuality. |
 |
Savage
Roses This
lesbian love story between a Latina gang member and a young
mother gets points for its original subject matter, but the
film's good qualities are almost completely overshadowed by
the production quality of the film, which is so poor it renders
the film almost unwatchable. |
 |
Saving
Face This week, the 2005 Sundance
Film Festival was host to the U.S. premiere of the romantic
comedy Saving Face, the first American theatrical
release featuring an Asian American lesbian couple. And it's
good! |
 |
Shelter
Island Despite
some really lovely cinematography featuring the landscape
of Long Island, Showtime's new lesbian movie Shelter Island
is undeniably bad. Promoted
as an “erotic thriller”
with sex(y) scenes between Ally Sheedy and Patsy Kensit, the
film's eroticism is weak at best, and its thrills minimal.
|
 |
Tipping
the Velvet For
those who have read Sarah Waters’s absorbing and dramatic
novel, the BBC version will be both satisfying and strangely
different; for those who haven't, it will be very entertaining
and romantic. |
 |
Transamerica
Felicity
Huffman chases an Oscar with her enlightened portrayal of Bree,
a pre-op MTF transgender person. |
 |
Treading
Water The
premise of the movie is a young woman's struggle to deal with
her mother's unwillingness to accept her lover. This is where
Treading Water is at its best--in recreating the
subtext and silence that hangs thickly in the air in so many
white, upper-middle-class American homes, particularly around
issues of lesbianism.
|
 |
The
Truth About Jane Alternately
cheesy, angsty,
humorous, and occasionally melodramatic, The
Truth About Jane has all the hallmarks of a classic coming-out
narrative combined with excellent acting and a positive if
overly preachy message. |
 |
Unveiled
This new romantic drama is one of only a few films that explores
the difficulties of expressing lesbian identity in parts of
the Middle East. |
 |
Wave
Babes The
new movie Wave Babes is supposed to be a spoof on Blue
Crush and the whole beach-movie genre, but it ends up being
more cheesy than satirical. Which doesn't mean it isn't worth
watching, as long as you're in the mood for campy humor that
veers between smart and silly in the same scene. |
 |
When
Night is Falling Patricia
Rozema's When Night is Falling is a coming out story
told through lush cinematography and a passionate and compelling--if
racially problematic--love story. |
 |
Wild
Side
Anne Heche and Joan Chen steam up the screen in this little-known
dark drama from 1995. |
