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LGBTQ MOVIES TO WATCH OR WATCH AGAIN

4^th Man Out (2016)

On his 24th birthday, Adam, a small-town mechanic in upstate New York, feels it is the perfect opportunity to tell his friends and family that he is gay. Lighthearted coming-out comedy with genuine true-to-life awkwardness. (Available on Prime, Apple TV and Vudu.)

Before Night Falls (2001)

This is the story of Cuban poet and novelist Reinaldo Arenas (Javier Bardem). Raised in the Oriente Province of Cuba in the 1940s, Arenas began his life-long love of the sea and water. Leaving home as a young adolescent, he moves to Havana where he finds himself swept up in the revolutionary spirit and joins a circle of writers and artists. His first novel, “Singing from the Well,” is published in Cuba, but as Castro’s oppressive regime gathers force, Arenas’ homosexuality and political writing make him a target. After being falsely accused of molestation, Arenas is arrested and imprisoned at El Morro. Eventually released from prison after dehumanizing treatment, Arenas flees Cuba in the 1980 Mariel Harbor boatlift. After moving to New York with his friend Lazaro Gomez Carilles, Arenas’ hopes for a new life are destroyed by AIDS, and he dies in 1993, at the age of 45. (Available on Prime, Apple TV, Vudu.)

Bob the Drag Queen: Live at Caroline’s NYC (2020)

Live from New York’s famous Caroline’s comedy club, RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 8 winner Bob the Drag Queen, performs a hilarious standup set filled with personal stories about his family, race, and the LGBTQ community.  (Available on Apple TV.)

Fortune Feimster: Sweet & Salty

Southern-born comedian, writer and actress Fortune Feimster is back with her first hour-long Netflix original comedy special, Fortune Feimster: Sweet & Salty. The comedian recalls her childhood misadventures as a former Girl Scout, debutante and (disqualified) swim meet champion; her family’s complicated relationship with Hooters; and how a movie helped her realize she was a lesbian. (Available on Netflix.)

God’s Own Country (2017)

Johnny Saxby (Josh O’Connor) works long hours in brutal isolation on his family’s remote farm in the north of England. He numbs the daily frustration of his lonely existence with nightly binge-drinking at the local pub and casual sex. When a handsome Romanian migrant worker (Alec Secareanu) arrives to take up temporary work on the family farm, Johnny suddenly finds himself dealing with emotions he has never felt before. (Available on Netflix, Prime, Apple TV and Vudu.)

King Cobra (2016)

When a lonely suburban man turned gay porn producer discovers a hot, lucrative new star, he finds himself the target of rival pornographers who will stop at nothing to steal his money maker. Based on the novel “Cobra Killer.” Starring James Franco, Christian Slater and Garret Clayton. (Available on Netflix, Prime, Apple TV and Vudu.)

Maurice (1987)

Set against the stifling conformity of pre-World War I English society, E.M. Forster’s Maurice is a story of coming to terms with one’s sexuality and identity in the face of disapproval and misunderstanding. Maurice Hall (James Wilby) and Clive Durham (Hugh Grant) find themselves falling in love at Cambridge. In a time when homosexuality is punishable by imprisonment, the two must keep their feelings for one another a complete secret. After a friend is arrested and disgraced for “the unspeakable vice of the Greeks,” Clive abandons his forbidden love and marries a young woman. Maurice, however, struggles with his identity and self-confidence, seeking the help of a hypnotist to rid himself of his undeniable urges. But while staying with Clive and his shallow wife, Anne, Maurice is seduced by the affectionate and yearning servant Alec Scudder, an event that brings about profound changes in Maurice’s life and outlook. (Available on Prime, Apple TV and Vudu.)

Moonlight (2016)

The tender, heartbreaking story of a young man’s struggle to find himself, told across three defining chapters in his life as he experiences the ecstasy, pain, and beauty of falling in love, while grappling with his own sexuality. (Available on Netflix, Prime, Apple TV, Vudu.)

Onward (2020)

Onward is Disney-Pixar’s first animated movie featuring an LGBTQ character. Set in a suburban fantasy world, Disney-Pixar’s “Onward” introduces two teenage elf brothers who embark on an extraordinary quest to discover if there is still a little magic left out there. (Available on Disney Plus, Apple TV, Vudu.)

Paris Is Burning (1991)

 This documentary focuses on drag queens living in New York City and their “house” culture, which provides a sense of community and support for the flamboyant and often socially shunned performers. Groups from each house compete in elaborate balls that take cues from the world of fashion. Also touching on issues of racism and poverty, the film features interviews with several renowned drag queens. (Available on Netflix.)

The Birdcage (1996)

Set in South Beach, Florida, where Armand Goldman (Robin Williams) owns a popular drag nightclub, along with his long-time lover, Albert (Nathan Lane), who performs there as Starina. Their son Val comes home to announce his engagement to Barbara Keeley (Calista Flockhart), daughter of US Senator Kevin Keeley (Gene Hackman). The Senator and family descend upon South Beach to meet Val, his father and “mother.” What ensues is comic genius. (Available on Netflix, Prime, Apple TV and Vudu.)

THE DANISH GIRL (2015)

The Danish Girl is a biographical romantic drama film directed by Tom Hooper, based on the 2000 novel of the same name by David Ebershoff, and loosely inspired by the lives and remarkable love story of Danish painters Lili Elbe and Gerda Wegener. With support from his loving wife Gerda (Alicia Vikander), artist Lili (Eddie Redmayne) prepares to undergo one of the first sex-change operations. (Available on Netflix, Prime, Apple TV, VUDU.)

The Favourite (2018)

Early 18th century. England is at war with the French. Nevertheless, duck racing and pineapple eating are thriving. A frail Queen Anne (Olivia Colman) occupies the throne and her close friend Lady Sarah Churchill (Rachel Weisz) governs the country in her stead while tending to Anne’s ill health and mercurial temper. When a new servant Abigail Masham (Emma Stone) arrives, her charm endears her to Sarah. Sarah takes Abigail under her wing and Abigail sees a chance at a return to her aristocratic roots. As the politics of war become quite time consuming for Sarah, Abigail steps into the breach to fill in as the Queen’s companion. Their burgeoning friendship gives her a chance to fulfill her ambitions and she will not let woman, man, politics or rabbit stand in her way. (Available on Apple TV, Vudu.)

The Untold Tales of Armistead Maupin (2017)

“The Untold Tales of Armistead Maupin” examines the life and work of one of the world’s most beloved storytellers, following his evolution from a conservative son of the Old South into a gay rights pioneer whose novels have inspired millions to claim their own truth. Jennifer Kroot’s documentary about the creator of “Tales of the City” moves nimbly between playful and poignant and laugh-out-loud funny. With help from his friends (including Neil Gaiman, Laura Linney, Olympia Dukakis, Sir Ian McKellen and Amy Tan), Maupin offers a disarmingly frank look at the journey that took him from the jungles of Vietnam to the bathhouses of ‘70s San Francisco to the front line of the American culture war. (Available on Netflix, Prime, Apple TV.)

Tom of Finland (2017)

Touko Laaksonen, a decorated officer, returns home after a harrowing and heroic experience serving his country in World War II, but life in Finland during peacetime proves equally distressing. He finds peace-time Helsinki rampant with persecution of the homosexual and men around him even being pressured to marry women and have children. Touko finds refuge in his liberating art, specializing in homoerotic drawings of muscular men, free of inhibitions. His work – made famous by his signature ‘Tom of Finland’ – became the emblem of a generation of men and fanned the flames of a gay revolution. (Available on Prime, Apple TV, Vudu.)