1.“Gods and Monsters”
Ian Mckellen’s nuanced and gripping performance as James Whale, the director of such films as “Frankenstein” and “Show Boat,” is the centerpiece of “Gods and Monsters.” Director Bill Condon, in adapting Christopher Bram’s novel, has constructed a film about identity, compulsion, death and what it means to be human. The conversations between McKellen and his gardener, played by Brendan Fraser, are enthralling; through discussions of war, sex and horror films, the portrait is painted of a great artist and complex man.
2.“Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence”
“Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence” is a Japanese World War II prisoner of war film that is equally hypnotic and brutal. Director Nagisa Oshima uses the beautiful jungle locations and peaceful, but unnerving, score to great contrasting effect in this tale of cultural clash and forbearance. The differences between the British PoWs and the Japanese soldiers are brought to the surface by the arrival of the sensual and enigmatic Major Celliers, played by David Bowie in maybe his most dynamic film performance. Bowie soon attracts the attention of the young, idealistic camp warden Captain Yonoi, played by Ryuichi Sakamoto, who must come to grips with an ever-increasing attraction to an enemy he has been taught to hate.
3.“The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert”
Hugo Weaving, Guy Pearce and Terence Stamp star as two drag queens and a transsexual woman who are determined to cross Australia for a show. The film is beautifully shot by director Stephan Elliott, who uses both the Australian landscape and the vivacious outfits of the girls to great effect, creating many striking images. The film is consistently and absurdly funny, but is also a closely observed and authentic portrayal of a group of societal outcasts in search of their people and themselves.
4.“Dog Day Afternoon”
“Dog Day Afternoon” is a heist movie that could have only been directed by master filmmaker Sidney Lumet. The film is tense from beginning to end, but in a limited space and time, and Lumet explores his characters with naturalism and tenderness that is rarely seen. Bank robber Sonny Wortzik, as played by Al Pacino, is one of the great characters of American new wave cinema. His motivation for robbing the bank is to pay for his boyfriend Leon’s sex change. Though he becomes increasingly unstable, Pacino’s performance is that of a man with too much love and too little direction.
5.“Cruising”
Al Pacino plays a man questioning his sexuality, this time in veteran director William Friedkin’s story of a cop hunting a serial killer through New York’s leather scene. Friedkin’s film is intense and erotic, but the real draw is the detailed and brazen explorations of the ’80s New York gay leather bar subculture which, despite initial negative reviews, have elevated the film to a cult classic; even inspiring James Franco’s “Interior. Leather Bar,” A re-examining of the film through the lens of recreating the 40 minutes of explicit gay sex that was rumored to have been cut from the film.
6.“Gore Vidal: United States of Amnesia”
Get content from The Daily Lobo delivered to your inbox
This is a powerful and well-constructed documentary that explores the life of one of America’s most well-known public intellectuals. The film gives ample time to Vidal himself who, before he died, was interviewed by the filmmakers. Vidal, as articulate and witty as ever, discusses many of the views that made him so important in American political discourse, from his assertion that everyone is bisexual to his expertise on the corruption in our political system. Vidal is always fascinating to listen to.
7.“My Own Private Idaho”
Keanu Reeves and River Phoenix both give sensitive, nuanced performances as hustlers, one rich and clever, the other a poor narcoleptic — Gus Van Sant’s opus of betrayal, drifting and unrequited love. The film manages to meld the epic themes of its Shakespearean inspirations in natural ways congruent with the moment-to-moment lives of the homeless gay men the story follows from one town to the next in search of one thing or another.
8.“The Kids Are All Right”
Lisa Cholodenko’s film is a comedy that revolves around a lesbian couple, played by Julianne Moore and Annette Bening, and their sperm donor, played by Mark Ruffalo. Cholodenko’s writing and direction are whip smart, wry and poignant. All the characters are richly developed and given room within the story to grow, and the outstanding ensemble takes full advantage of the script and more. The result is one of the most authentic, vivid portrayals of modern romance and relationships.
9.“Crash”
Human desire, compulsion and the forms of sexuality are the obsessions of macabre Canadian auteur David Cronenberg’s 1996 film, particularly the future of human sexuality and the body in the information age. The sex in the film is often shocking, centering on a subculture obsessed with car crashes, but Cronenberg, who is a master of manipulating the body on camera, uses increasingly bizarre scenarios to explore ideas on the biology of human sexual fluidity and compulsion.
10.“Blue is the Warmest Color”
This is the latest and most well-realized European romance film. Directed by French director Abdellatif Kechiche, it is the coming of age story of Adele, played by Adèle Exarchopoulos, and her romance with the blue-haired Emma, played by Léa Seydoux. The film is beautifully shot and takes a naturalistic, sensual approach to Adele’s story. It is very convincing and long enough for both characters to develop in interesting ways. Adele’s story becomes more and more enthralling and an earnest bond is created with the characters; “Blue is the Warmest Color” is authentic, yet salient.
Nathan Reynolds is a freelance reporter for the Daily Lobo. He can be reached at culture@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @DailyLobo.
