LGBT+ movies recommendations

Okay so first of all, I´ve been inactive for more than a month and I don´t really have an excuse. I was too busy doing literally anything, but I´m back with lots of ideas for new posts.

Also, I wanted to make clear that I don´t consider LGTB+ a genre in movies, as many people do. I think that could even be considered homophobia, saying that LGTB+ is a genre, because LGTB+ movies are not just about people who have a sexual orientation different than the average straight character in most of the movies, these characters, who are not straight, have problems and most of these movies, which are considered LGTB+ movies don´t even talk about the whole coming out situation or whatever, it´s just characters which are in movies of different genres like drama, romance, comedy or whatever. With that explanation being made, let´s start!

So, today 28 of June is the anniversary of all the whole Stonewall riots and protests that started in 1969, so it´s pride day! Yayyy!!! Happy pride to everyone. As the title says, in this post I´ll make some movie recommendations of movies that have some awesome LGTB+ characters and talk about non-straight romances.

1. My Own Private Idaho, 1991.

River Phoenix stars in this movie as a young gay man who has to prostitute himself in order to have some money and make a living out of it. He is friends with a rich family guy played by Keanu Reeves and they become really close friends. Mike, River Phoenix, decides to start looking for his mother, who he hasn´t seen for a very long time and Scott, Keanu Reeves, decides to go with him and help him. The movie is a very depressing movie in my opinion and when I finished watching it I felt a bit heartbroken because the whole ending situation was very dramatic. The story is really interesting and I really liked the directing and cinematography, there were some really good shots, and some scenes, especially the intimate scenes, were shot in a very original way and I founded it really interesting.

2. Portrait of a Lady on Fire, 2019.

Okay, I´ve already talked about this movie in a previous post but it´s probably the best movie with LGTB+ characters I´ve ever watch so I thought it was important to add it to this list. This movie won the Queer Palm and the Best Original Script Palm in Cannes and it´s probably 2019 best movie, sorry Tarantino. This movie written and directed by Céline Sciamma starts Noémie Merlant as a young painter who has to make the portrait of a young aristocrat woman without this young woman knowing that she is being painted. These two women also have a secret romance in rural France towards the end of the XVIII century. The two actresses, Noémie Merlant and Adèle Haenel have a lot of chemistry, A LOT and the movie has some really powerful and beautiful scenes, especially the end scene (still not over it). The movie also has some really beautiful shots.

3. Booksmart, 2019.

One of my favorite teen comedies ever, first Olivia Wilde movie as a writer and director. This movie is about two teens, Amy and Molly, who on their last day of school realize they haven´t done anything risky or nasty during their teenage years and they decide to do all the things they haven´t done in one night, the night before graduation. The movie is really really funny and talks in a very honest way about friendships and decision making, it also talks about prejudice and how stupid it is to judge people without getting to really know them. Beanie Feldstein is one of the best young actresses out there.

4. The Rocky Horror Picture Show, 1975.

This classic and super bizarre musical is about a straight engaged couple whose car breaks and they are forced to spend the night in Doctor Frank-N-Furter´s mansion, which is hosting a Transylvanian convention for the creation of a creature called Rocky, which is a perfect looking blonde fitted man. This musical is really weird and funny and has amazing songs. Tim Curry and Susan Sarandon give amazing performances and the cinematography and movie aesthetic are really cool.

4. Call Me by Your Name, 2017.

Already a classic, one of the best directed movies I´ve ever seen that every time I rewatch breaks my heart. This movie directed by Luca Guadagnino stars the living legend Timothée Chalamet as Elio, a 17-year-old probably bisexual guy who is struggling with finding what he likes when he meets Oliver, played by Armie Hammer, who is a 20 something-year-old man who is spending some weeks in Ellio´s house. One of the most perfect movies I´ve ever seen, everything in this movie is great: the performances, cinematography, script, directing, music, every single thing. Probably my favorite romantic movie ever, as well with Ghost, and my favorite movie in this ranking. I think that Portrait of a Lady on Fire is superior but I still enjoy more Call Me by Your Name.

5. Moonlight, 2016.

This A24 Oscar-winning drama about the life of a black gay man living in Miami was a movie I kind of hated for a while because it "stole" the Oscar to La La Land back in 2016 but I rewatched it some weeks ago and the movie is really good. The movie is pretty sad as Chiron´s life is super hard and he struggles a lot as his mom is a drug addict and he eventually becomes a drug dealer. It´s a Boyhood type of movie, with this I mean that nothing really happens throughout the movie but lot´s of stuff happens also, with this I mean that most of the movies have an introduction, core, and end and the characters have something to achieve or they aspire to become something or to get something and that´s what the movie is about but this movie is not that type of movie, is just the movie of the life of a man, and I think that´s something pretty cool as not all movies have to have the same structure. The movie is really good as I´ve already said and the performances are really good especially the actors who play teen Chiron and adult Chiron. The cinematography is also really cool.

6. Pride, 2014.

This feel-good movie based on real events about a group of LGTB+ activists called LGSM (Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners) who start to help the mining strikes of 1984 in England. One of the most positive and happy movies I´ve ever watched that always makes me laugh. The movie is not a very complex and intelligent movie, in fact, it´s a pretty basic movie, not in a bad way but it´s also really endearing and funny. The performances are really good, Andrew Scott is in this movie, he is an amazing actor and in this movie, he makes an amazing job, George MacKay is also really good. The movie has an amazing soundtrack and the aesthetic is really beautiful and colorful.

6. Love, Simon

This super cute and romantic coming-of-age movie which I´ve already talked about on several occasions was one of the first coming-of-age commercial movies about a non-straight protagonist and non-straight romance ever and it´s probably one of the sweetest movies I´ve ever watched. I know the movie is not a really good movie and there are lots of things which could have been better but there are some scenes which make me forget all of that and love the movie, especially the mom-son chat scene and obviously the Ferris-wheel scene (WHICH IS SUPER CUTE). The movie is not a perfect movie but at the same time I feel like it´s a pretty good movie because the actors are amazing, the story is really cute and has a really good message. Also, this movie breaks a lot of stereotypes of homosexual people that the tv shows and movies always have and I really liked that.

Okay, so that was it. There are tons of movies which I haven't mentioned and I have a lot of movies in my watchlist regarding these themes so next year I´ll write about some new and less famous movies with LGTB+ characters. Also, I haven´t mentioned Blue is the Warmest Colour because of all of the controversy regarding the intimate scenes and the director.

Happy Pride!!!