Gay-Friendly Blu-rays (2 Viewers)

[Mark-W]

It didn't show us anything we haven't seen (or read) before, but I really enjoyed it, too. I agree with you that the performances are uniformly good and that it invokes a great sense of period. I count it as a win.

My mother appreciated that the whole thing was framed from the wife's perspective as she reads the journals. None of the revelations were surprising, but I liked that even

Spoiler

as the wife had grown as a person, her husband was still stuck very much in the 1950s in not wanting anything to change even if he was leading a mostly unfulfilling life. This isn't a closeted gay man that has become a homophobe, but he is a man so resistant to any changes from the status quo that he prevents love from coming into his life.

. That was fresh even if the story is not covering fresh material.

Apparently this is based on E.M. Forester's life. He never married and had a long term relationship with a married policeman and even moved in with the couple after he had a stroke.

Forster was known to have had several gay relationships, which had to be kept undercover for fear of the law, but the greatest of them all, Roberts wrote, was with a policeman: “For 40 years, EM Forster and the policeman Bob Buckingham were in a loving relationship. Buckingham was 28, Forster 51, when the two met. They shared holidays, friends, interests, and – on many weekends – a domestic and sexual life in Forster's Brunswick Square flat.” However, just like Charles and Diana, she noted: “This was a relationship in which there were three people.”​

The True Story of 'My Policeman': How E. M. Forster and His Lover Inspired Harry Styles' New Film

The pop star's second starring role has just arrived in cinemas

www.esquire.com

Their ashes were mingled together before they were scattered.​

queerplaces - Robert “Bob” Buckingham

www.elisarolle.com

 

[Will Krupp]

All good points, Mark, and some interesting information about Forster that I was previously unaware of, so thanks!

As for this:

My mother appreciated that the whole thing was framed from the wife's perspective as she reads the journals.

I also appreciated the slow, dawning realization on her part that

Spoiler

she is actually the villain of the piece. We understand her hurt at the time, but she had her own reasons for keeping the status quo and commits an act of unforgivable revenge that darkens her own life as much as it does theirs.

 

[Will Krupp]

However, just like Charles and Diana, she noted: “This was a relationship in which there were three people.”

Which is funny because, prior to this, Emma Corrin's claim to fame for American audiences was as Diana on season four of The Crown. Poor thing is going to get a complex if she keeps playing characters married to men who would rather be elsewhere!

 

[EricSchulz]

Goodbye Seventies (2022)
This is DEFINITELY a “give it a chance“ movie. I didn’t really know anything about the movie before watching it. It’s an excellent homage to both seedy low budget movies and gay porn of the 1970s. Brad, a dancer with thoughts of making it big, has an accident and decides to become a filmmaker after he’s unable to dance. He and his best friend Vinnie hang out at trashy gay bars, the bathhouse and an “art” theater where the all male audience gets off to indie movies playing. Brad decides he can keep - no, EXPAND - the audience by making and showing “artistic“ gay porn. The film follows Brad and his entourage for almost a decade, through success, failure, AIDS, drugs, relationships and more. The movie PERFECTLY captures the look and feel of the movies of that era. The sound is tinny, the acting bad and horrendous dialogue. But it works! What Young Frankenstein was to Universal horror movies this is to 70s low budget filmmaking. 3.5/5

 

[KeithDA]

some interesting information about Forster that I was previously unaware of, so thanks!

PN Furbank's biography of Forster is 'the bible', Wendy Moffat's has the sex but this Guardian article is another good summation of the triangle that inspired the novel (and film):

EM Forster and his 'wondrous muddle'

For several decades EM Forster was involved in a love triangle with a policeman and his wife – an unconventional arrangement in which the novelist found happiness, writes Bethan Roberts

www.theguardian.com

 

[ptb2017fr]

Once A Year On Blackpool Sands is a love story also set in 1950s England, 1953 in fact, just after the Coronation, so I was five! It’s about two brave guys, both coal miners, a lesbian pair, a guest house landlady, and a grandmother who together bravely walked along the front at Blackpool holding hands, kissing, hugging each other, The first steps towards gay pride.it has a bitter sweet 80s end, the main story makes you proud Small but beautifully made film, well worth seeing.

 

[ptb2017fr]

And while it’s not a gay story new BBC TV series S.A.S Rogue Heroes has so many gorgeous men in it it might as well be! Second World War tale of the start of the crazy division of the British Army. Really great series. And did I mention it’s full of gorgeous men!

 

[ptb2017fr]

I’ve had a lot of gay themed movies sent me these past few weeks. Animals a Belgian film about the homophobic murder of a young man a few years again isa hard watch the victim is charismatic, struggling to get his Muslim family pto understand, he is in a loving relationship for four years he hasn’t dared to introduce to his family. One night he rescues a girl from a car load off boys arrasing her, and they offer him a lift if he can show them where to find some girls. But they realise he’s gay take him outside the city, strip I’m, beat him, torture I’m an kill him. My criticism is that instead of detailing the horrible things done, and seeming to relish reenacting them, it should have been about finding and punishing the killers.

 

[ptb2017fr]

I have a few other ready to go Chinese film Adonis which looks promising, a Spanish one from 2015 A Cambio de Nada (Nothings Changed, and Operation Hyacinth, a Polish film I’ve heard lots about.
Then we have When We Rise, probably taken from what happened when Lance Black and Tom Daley see each other! Still Lance wrote the series about gay pride. So it’ll be good,

 

[Will Krupp]

Then we have When We Rise, probably taken from what happened when Lance Black and Tom Daley see each other! Still Lance wrote the series about gay pride. So it’ll be good,

I'm curious to know what you think of that once you see it. I saw it when it aired as a TV Event about five or so years ago. For my part, I found it a little preachy and "finger waggy," like it was intended to educate straight audiences rather than be a story for us to enjoy. That's just me, though, and I be interested in another opinion.

 

[ptb2017fr]

Didn't realise it was that old. Thought it new!

 

[Kenneth_C]

I watched a gay film last month called Hypochondriac. (It's available digitally. There is no physical release that I'm aware of.)

Will is a young, gay, Hispanic man, who works in a pottery studio, has a boyfriend, and seems relatively stable. But when his mentally-ill mother reenters his life, the childhood traumas he suffered at her hands begin to manifest themselves in physical symptoms and frightening hallucinations (often involving a Donnie Darko-esque wolf costume).



The trailer emphasizes the horror aspects of the story, but I thought it was even stronger as a character study of someone who is affected by mental illness and spiraling out of control. Will, who is played by the charismatic Zach Villa, is such a sweet and interesting character that you root for him to overcome his demons and find the help he needs.

It's a disturbing movie that will not be to everyone's taste, but I found it to be captivating. And, ultimately, it doesn't matter what Will's sexuality is. That is not the focus of the story. He just happens to be gay. I think that is something we've wanted to see in movies for awhile.

 

[PODER]

I just watched the 1970 western THERE WAS A CROOKED MAN, with Kirk Douglas and Henry Fonda. It takes place, for the most part, in an Arizona desert prison, and contains two gay subplots, which I certainly wasn't expecting! Pretty boy Michael Blodgett (BEYOND THE VALLEY OF THE DOLLS) is openly hit on by a prison guard, who says he can make things either easier of harder for him. That subplot is wrapped up quite quickly. But the relationship between longtime romantic partners Hume Cronyn and John Randolph is a major part of the film, and has a wonderfully happy ending. Directed by Joe Mankiewicz, he's well worth watching, although it was cut by the studio, down from 165 minutes to 126.

 

[uncledougie]

I just watched the 1970 western THERE WAS A CROOKED MAN, with Kirk Douglas and Henry Fonda. It takes place, for the most part, in an Arizona desert prison, and contains two gay subplots, which I certainly wasn't expecting! Pretty boy Michael Blodgett (BEYOND THE VALLEY OF THE DOLLS) is openly hit on by a prison guard, who says he can make things either easier of harder for him. That subplot is wrapped up quite quickly. But the relationship between longtime romantic partners Hume Cronyn and John Randolph is a major part of the film, and has a wonderfully happy ending. Directed by Joe Mankiewicz, he's well worth watching, although it was cut by the studio, down from 165 minutes to 126.

I saw this film upon its initial release and found it refreshingly different from most westerns and certainly not what was typically expected from the director or stars. I’ve never know a longer print to exist either theatrically or on home video. It would be interesting to see certainly, but I wonder if elements cut even still exist anywhere. I did especially take note of the Cronyn/Randolph relationship, though can’t recall if contemporaneous reviews made mention of it or not. It also had a great supporting cast besides the gentlemen mentioned. Glad you caught up with it and gave it a shout out.

 

[Joel Arndt]

I just watched the 1970 western THERE WAS A CROOKED MAN, with Kirk Douglas and Henry Fonda. It takes place, for the most part, in an Arizona desert prison, and contains two gay subplots, which I certainly wasn't expecting! Pretty boy Michael Blodgett (BEYOND THE VALLEY OF THE DOLLS) is openly hit on by a prison guard, who says he can make things either easier of harder for him. That subplot is wrapped up quite quickly. But the relationship between longtime romantic partners Hume Cronyn and John Randolph is a major part of the film, and has a wonderfully happy ending. Directed by Joe Mankiewicz, he's well worth watching, although it was cut by the studio, down from 165 minutes to 126.

Peter, thanks for the heads up. There Was a Crooked Man was not on my radar...until now. Mankiewicz is one of my favorite directors and the cast is excellent, so I just purchased the Warner Archive Blu-ray on Amazon for only $13.30+tax! Looking forward to seeing this.

 

[Will Krupp]

Peter, thanks for the heads up. There Was a Crooked Man was not on my radar...until now. Mankiewicz is one of my favorite directors and the cast is excellent, so I just purchased the Warner Archive Blu-ray on Amazon for only $13.30+tax! Looking forward to seeing this.

It's currently running on HBOMax, if that's any help!

 

[ptb2017fr]

I saw this film upon its initial release and found it refreshingly different from most westerns and certainly not what was typically expected from the director or stars. I’ve never know a longer print to exist either theatrically or on home video. It would be interesting to see certainly, but I wonder if elements cut even still exist anywhere. I did especially take note of the Cronyn/Randolph relationship, though can’t recall if contemporaneous reviews made mention of it or not. It also had a great supporting cast besides the gentlemen mentioned. Glad you caught up with it and gave it a shout out.

I’ll never forget Michael Blodgett taking a bath!

 

[davy2]

I'd like to see PSYCHO BEACH PARTY, HEDWIG & THE ANGRY INCH, and all of John Waters' movies released.

Charles Busch is hilarious in Psycho Beach Party, and I love everything by John Waters, especially his commentaries

 

[davy2]

I hear the Lawrence of Arabia disc is a good one.

Ties with one other movie as my #1 favorite of all time.

 

[Joel Arndt]

It's currently running on HBOMax, if that's any help!

Sure, it does. Thanks Will, I have HBOMax, but for 13 bucks I was willing to support another of WAC's fine physical releases.