April 29, 2015 · By Chris Parkhurst
Watch
10 best gay films of 2014 available on iTunes
2014 shaped up to the a good year for gay cinema. Now those films (and a few past favorites) are available on iTunes for you to rent or buy. We’ve compiled a list of the best films and ranked them. Get watching!
1
Pride
It’s the summer of 1984 – Margaret Thatcher is in power and the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) is on strike. At the Gay Pride March in London, a group of gay and lesbian activists decides to raise money to support the families of the striking miners. But there is a problem. The Union seems embarrassed to receive their support. But the activists are not deterred. They decide to ignore the Union and go direct to the miners. They identify a mining village in deepest Wales and set off in a mini bus to make their donation in person. And so begins the extraordinary story of two seemingly alien communities who form a surprising and ultimately triumphant partnership.
For anyone not familiar with 80s Britain, it was a time similar to the US that saw an ultra-conversative regressive prime minister wage an ideological war on the values and institutions of the left. The 80s saw a major cultural shift in Britain as gay pop-culture and music, the generation of children raised in the 60s & 70s come of age; think Culture Club, Pet Shop Boys and the club scene. Gay rights were not being won overnight, but slow progress was being made, despite prime minister Thatcher. She was battling the coal miners, and a small group of gay activists from London realized they shared a common enemy. In supporting their fight, they helped build acceptance outside their safe London bubble.
2
The Imitation Game
Personally I thought Imitation Game should have won more awards this year but the film lost out many times to The Theory of Everything (the irony that Benedict previously did a Hawking biopic). Alan Turing’s contribution to the war effort went unknown for decades, while his conviction, suicide and more importantly his impact on modern computer science was well known. Benedict brought a wonderfully complex character to screen, one audiences may have found cold and distant. Yes the film exaggerated some parts of history in an effort to add more drama to the story, but it’s a wonderful story of an important figure in history who happened to be gay. Crucially the movie tells this story without being yet another gay film; it’s who he was and lead to his tragic end, but doesn’t dim his impact.
&at=1l3v5iu
3
Love is Strange
John Lithgow and Alfred Molina play Ben and George, a couple who after 28 years together, finally marry at a city hall wedding in Manhattan. On return from their honeymoon, however, George gets fired from his job as a choir director for a Catholic high school. Unable to stay in their small apartment, the two are forced to move in, separately, with a nephew and his family in Brooklyn, and the two gay cops next door. A multi-generational story of love and marriage, Love Is Strange depicts the delicate nature of any two people trying to build a long life together, and the possibility of love to grow deeper, and richer, with time.
4
Yves Saint Laurent
Unlike the other major biopic on our list, The Imitation Game, this unrestrained drama examines Yves Saint Laurent’s love life head on—especially his relationship with boyfriend/business partner Pierre Bergé, who kept the genius designer from self-destructing. Pierre Niney plays the young YSL, a gifted actor. Appropriately it is in French with English subtitles, but it just wouldn’t be right not using the language of love.
In the same year two films about YSL were released, the above Yves Saint Laurent and Saint Laurent (sadly not yet available on iTunes) which instead stars French heart-throb Gaspard Ulliel (the face of Chanel Bleu, Hannibal Lecter in Hannibal Rising, the hot love interest Manech in A Very Long Engagement).
5
The Way He Looks
Leonardo and Giovana are best of friends, like all teenagers they yearn for more independence from their parents, dream of going abroad and to experience love’s first kiss. Gabriel, the new boy at school quickly becomes friends with them both, but ultimately three becomes a crowd. Being blind, who will Leonardo give his first kiss to?
6
The Normal Heart
The early days of the HIV-AIDS crisis in 1980s New York City is the focus of this searing HBO Films drama. Adapted from Larry Kramer’s Tony-winning play, the film provides an unflinching look at the nation’s sexual politics as gay activists and their allies in the medical community fight to expose the truth about the burgeoning epidemic to a city and nation in denial. Directed by Glee creator Ryan Murphy, The Normal Heart has a stellar cast including numerous out gay actors Matt Bomer (White Collar), Jim Parsons (Sheldon from The Big Bang Theory), Jonathan Groff, along side Mark Ruffalo, Julia Roberts, Alfred Molina and Taylor Kitsch. It’s a must watch film.
7
Lilting
Lilting is a touching, intimate film about finding the things which bring us together. In contemporary London, a Cambodian Chinese mother mourns the untimely death of her son. Her world is further disrupted by the presence of a stranger. We observe their difficulties in trying to connect with one another without a common language, as through a translator they begin to piece together memories of a man they both loved.
8
Free Fall
Marc’s life goes into a state of free fall when he develops feelings for his male police partner, Kay. Torn between the life he knows so well and the exhilaration of this new adventure, Marc finds his world rapidly spinning out of control. Part of a new wave of powerful German cinema, ‘Free Fall’ is a riveting drama that tells the dramatic tale of a man who finds himself outside the clear-cut boundaries of his world and provides a moving portrayal of what happens when life plans crumble and there is no way left to fulfill the needs of the people you love.
9
Test
Set in the free-spirited San Francisco of 1985 in the early years of the AIDS epidemic, Chris Mason Johnson’s ‘Test’ follows young aspiring dancer Frankie (dancer Scott Marlowe in his acting debut) as he confronts the challenges of being an understudy in a modern dance company where he’s taunted to ‘dance like a man!’ Frankie embarks on a budding relationship with hunky Todd (Matthew Risch, HBO’s ‘Looking’), a veteran dancer in the same company and the bad boy to Frankie’s naiveté. As Frankie and Todd’s friendship deepens, they navigate a world of risk, but also a world of hope, humor, visual beauty, and musical relief.
10
Pit Stop
In this compelling drama, openly gay Ernesto (Marcus DeAnda) and closeted Gabe (Bill Heck) grapple with the sad tribulations of being gay in a small, working-class Texas town. Reminiscent of such classic rural gay love stories as Big Eden and Brokeback Mountain, Pit Stop achieves an understated tone of authenticity rarely seen on screen as it shows a tender, beautiful slice of gay American life. This festival hit is an uplifting love story about male intimacy, the heartache of unsuccessful relationships, and the transformative power of love.
Looking for more films? Here’s 10 more…
