Gay-Friendly Blu-rays (5 Viewers)

[cinemiracle]

I watched two great gay films this week: THE BLOND ONE from Argentina and GRETA from Portugal . BLOND ONE has some full frontal nudity. GRETA is a very moving story of an elderly gay man who adores Greta Garbo so much that he calls himself Greta..If only the USA could produce gay movies as good as these two.

 

[Mark-W]

Entirely likely. I'm not familiar enough with anything Woody Allen does to speak intelligently about his films. I'd just rather artists make their own thing and not make it "the gay X" or "the black Y" or whatever.

I completely agree.

Here is something that made me laugh and think of you in the best of ways!

 

[Jason_V]

I completely agree.

Here is something that made me laugh and think of you in the best of ways!

I probably shouldn't have watched that at work cuz I'm laughing so much I'm hacking up a lung. Thank you, sir.

 

[MatthewA]

GRETA is a very moving story of an elderly gay man who adores Greta Garbo so much that he calls himself Greta..If only the USA could produce gay movies as good as these two.

Europe is a generation ahead of the US on gay rights so they get better movies about gay subject matter.

While we're on the subject, why don't we worship and adore actual gay men? I'd rather listen to Johnny Mathis, Peter Allen, and Barry Manilow, the two of whom who are still living I've even seen in concert, than any of the current crop of female singers. Or male ones for that matter. Nothing against Liza, Barbra, Judy, Bette (musically anyway), but I really wish gay men would be the target of that kind of adulation from other gay men.

Definitely. There was a time when we were so starved for gay cinema we WOULD go to see things just because "it's gay!" but I'm thrilled we've come so far that that is not "simply" enough anymore.

It was never enough for me. I was more than willing to support those whom I believed earned it, but even I have my limits. There are gay entertainers I won't support just like those of any other sexuality that I don't support for the same reasons: they either lack talent or get on my nerves, or both: they get on my nerves because they lack talent. Hype - talent = annoyance.

 

[Will Krupp]

It was never enough for me. I was more than willing to support those whom I believed earned it, but even I have my limits.

I'm sorry Matthew, but I wasn't referring to gay artists per se, I was talking about there being a time, specifically the early to mid 90's, where everybody I knew (myself included) would flock to any "art house" crap that might give us a glimpse of "gay on film." I'm too much of a lady to bring up the titles at this late date but I think we all have an idea what I mean, lol.

 

[MatthewA]

Now I see what you mean. Growing up in North Carolina, we didn't get the most esoteric stuff outside of the highest-profile arthouse releases (Wilde, Get Real, et al), but I remember The Birdcage and In & Out playing to packed houses. This was a place that was racially segregated less than 50 years ago, and now they showed gay movies from mainstream studios while the smaller ones played what few arthouses they were. That was a big deal. Obviously we didn't get as much as they got in Boston, but to get any open homosexuality on screen in the non-Urban South was and is a sign of progress. Some of the other stuff theaters there didn't want to show were still you could find in video stores back then, and very little of that is up for streaming today. It sounds like the worst of them you could safely skip, and the same things wrong with them were wrong with any other type of movie that just does not work. But I always believed that. If anything, the bad ones made me skeptical that the good ones would live up to the hype.

 

[Will Krupp]

Obviously we didn't get as much as they got in Boston, but to get any open homosexuality on screen in the non-Urban South was and is a sign of progress.

I don't want to misrepresent. I moved to Boston as an adult in 2004 (when I was 35) but I didn't grow up there. I was born and raised in Wilkes-Barre PA. Some of those movies, now that I think of it, were definitely on video, though we had an old movie palace turned into a civic center that thought it was "arty" and would show movies when there weren't any live shows or concerts scheduled. There was a surprisingly large gay community in Wilkes Barre (I still can't figure out why, maybe something in the water?) and we thought we were very progressive, lol. Let's just say I doubt I would sit through something like SWOON again any time soon.

 

[MatthewA]

I didn't realize you didn't grow up in Boston. I have relatives in Framingham.

What about Welcome to the Dollhouse? Does that count if the female lead came out as a lesbian years after the fact and the boy in that movie got bullied by bullies who called him a f----t? We got that in Chapel Hill.

 

[Joel Arndt]

I don't want to misrepresent. I moved to Boston as an adult in 2004 (when I was 35) but I didn't grow up there. I was born and raised in Wilkes-Barre PA. Some of those movies, now that I think of it, were definitely on video, though we had an old movie palace turned into a civic center that thought it was "arty" and would show movies when there weren't any live shows or concerts scheduled. There was a surprisingly large gay community in Wilkes Barre (I still can't figure out why, maybe something in the water?) and we thought we were very progressive, lol. Let's just say I doubt I would sit through something like SWOON any time soon.

Speaking of Swoon, I did enjoy reading costar Craig Chester's memoir, Why the Long Face?

 

[Will Krupp]

Speaking of Swoon, I did enjoy reading costar Craig Chester's memoir, Why the Long Face?

I'll look into it!

 

[MatthewA]

It seems like this writer-director was trying to crib from Woody Allen. It has been quite a while since I saw this, but I remember thinking there were elements that felt like he had seen "Husbands and Wives" and tried to make a gay version.

Not to backtrack too much, but it eventually hit me: reminded me of Marshall attempting to sell a Woody Allen homage to New Yorkers at a Student Film Festival on United States of Tara. Even that used the same credits font. That would be like me trying to copy John Waters — in an era when real life is doing a good enough job of it itself — and sell it to a Baltimore Film Festival.

 

[Will Krupp]

Is anyone watching the new season of THE CROWN?

I nearly fell out of my chair to see Josh O'Connor (Johnny Saxby in GOD'S OWN COUNTRY) as young Prince Charlies (of all people.) Talk about a different role, I didn't even recognize him at first! Of course he's adorable, very much to the manner born, and ultimately very appealing. His performance is like night and day to the one we were all talking about last year (He doesn't spit on his dick even once)

I realize that his being born in Cheltenham in the Cotswolds and being a descended from a famous "tea family" (the Buntings) likely puts him closer to Charles than to Johnny in temperament, but only really having GOC as a frame of reference makes the whole thing a little jarring, lol.

 

[cinemiracle]

Is anyone watching the new season of THE CROWN?

I nearly fell out of my chair to see Josh O'Connor (Johnny Saxby in GOD'S OWN COUNTRY) as young Prince Charlies (of all people.) Talk about a different role, I didn't even recognize him at first! Of course he's adorable, very much to the manner born, and ultimately very appealing. His performance is like night and day to the one we were all talking about last year (He doesn't spit on his dick even once)

I realize that his being born in Cheltenham in the Cotswolds and being a descended from a famous "tea family" (the Buntings) likely puts him closer to Charles than to Johnny in temperament, but only really having GOC as a frame of reference makes the whole thing a little jarring, lol.

I am still watching series 2 of THE CROWN.Truly the best tv series of the year from any country in my opinion.

 

[KeithDA]

Of course he's adorable, very much to the manner born, and ultimately very appealing.

So well connected, he's very much 'to the Manor born', darling...

 

[Will Krupp]

So well connected, he's very much 'to the Manor born', darling...

I decided to use the original Shakespeare. I meant that his acting was so flawless as to assume the part he was playing was second nature. He was ALSO 'to the manner born' in GOC which makes it all the more surprising.

But I DO love Penelope Kieth so I had an internal debate about which one I wanted to use before typing it, so there's that!

 

[KeithDA]

As a ‘Keith’ myself, I’m sure Penelope’s spelling is the same. Sorry - it’s the schoolteacher coming out....

 

[Will Krupp]

As a ‘Keith’ myself, I’m sure Penelope’s spelling is the same. Sorry - it’s the schoolteacher coming out....

Heheh. I wasn't expecting a debate, but the phrase (as per Shakespeare's Hamlet) was originally "to the MANNER born," referring to someone with a history or natural instinct as to how things are done in a certain set of circumstances. The phrase "to the MANOR born" didn't come about until sometime around the 1850's and was likely a comic play on words regarding the original phrase to denote someone born to wealth and privilege. It's the second usage that appeared as the title of the 1979 Penelope Keith TV series for great comic effect (and it's a wonderful show.)

 

[PODER]

I watched two great gay films this week: THE BLOND ONE from Argentina and GRETA from Portugal . BLOND ONE has some full frontal nudity. GRETA is a very moving story of an elderly gay man who adores Greta Garbo so much that he calls himself Greta..If only the USA could produce gay movies as good as these two.

GRETA sounds like a fascinating film, but I can't seem to locate any movie by that title with that description. Would you share the UPC code, Cinemiracle, or anyone else who has it? I'd like to add it to my collection.

 

[Malcolm R]

https://www.deepdiscount.com/greta/850010363059

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9477532/?ref_=fn_tt_tt_3

 

[PODER]

https://www.deepdiscount.com/greta/850010363059

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9477532/?ref_=fn_tt_tt_3

Thank you so much! With several films called GRETA, and
none that I could find with the Greta infatuation mentioned, I was truly stumped. I now look forward to enjoying it!