Board 8 > Gauntlet Crew Ranks LGBT Movies: Spooky Halloween Edition

(+) Yeah! (+)

Man so weird that's placed so low!

---

Just a friendly reminder that boy American Pied a peach and that man would've happily eaten it.
---

I thought it was funny how the credits rolled while it was just Elio's sad face on the screen.

---

JONALEON1 posted...

I thought it was funny how the credits rolled while it was just Elio's sad face on the screen.

oof

---

33. Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!
Total score: 231

Snake - 12
Metal - 15
Inviso - 18
Johnbobb - 23
KBM - 27
JONA - 31
Charon - 33
Gen - 35
Karo - 37

Snake
If Quentin Tarantino's brain was personified it would just be an endless showing of this film. A definitive midnight drive-in classic, influencing the underground & weirdness of pop culture for decades after, White Zombie & The Cramps being two of my favorites. The characters constantly deliver snappy lines & endlessly quotable quips mixed in with surprisingly well-handled action, an early car race being a definite highlight. It has one of the best trios this side of exploitation films, & Varla & Rosie's subtle lesbian relationship ensures a permanent place in early progressiveness.

Metal
A loud, liberating byword in B-cinema, exemplifying its origins without quite transcending them in the way of From Dusk till Dawn, for example. It was initially a confusing affair, opening with a deliberately trumped-up title sequence followed by an intentionally exploitative intro scene, neither of which proved to meaningfully hint at the movie to come. Yet despite jumbled early plotting, I ultimately found it quite compelling, as it managed to effectively balance and crucially empower its many players while maintaining a joyously subversive sensibility. That empowerment was critical in preventing it from veering wholesale into the blanket fetishization of fast cars, scantily-clad women, and general eye candy so common in Hollywood action films. Indeed, even the vehicles were far more than just glorified props, and in fact, I can hardly think of a movie that better leveraged the cinematic possibilities of the automobile.

Inviso
First off, Im not sure this movie technically qualifies for this list, because there isnt any solid
evidence of homosexuality. If anything, theres more woman-on-man seduction than anything
else. That being said, from the perspective of an old-fashioned sexploitation movie, it was
enjoyable. I like the fact that you have a cast almost entirely made up of scumbags and weirdos,
so you have a couple protagonists to root for, but ultimately, you can enjoy watching Varla go
apeshit on hapless victims. Really though, what made it especially enjoyable was the fact that
you have the trio of bad girls who commit murder very early into the film, but you also have the
crazy old man and his family with a dark secret. Watching these two groups both plot against
one another, as though the other is oblivious to their intentions, added an extra layer of
enjoyment to the film. Its not high cinema or anything like that, but it was still an enjoyable
watch.

Johnbobb
Why I Chose It
FPKK is an exploitation film about three outlaw go-go dancers who get caught up in a bizarre adventure of violence, sex and deception after killing a man and kidnapping his girlfriend. While the main focus of the film is the independence of the women and their departure from gender roles, there are also more subtle LGBT themes, with implied relationships between the main three women (particularly Rosie, who is implied to be in love with the group's leader Varla). Subtle as it was, director Russ Meyer cited the audience's unwillingness to accept lesbian relationships as a main reason for the film's lack of commercial success.

What I Thought
Man I have no idea how to rank films like this, because the film is objectively pretty bad. It's poorly written and the acting is spotty and the plot is a little all over the place. And I absolutely adored watching it and absolutely plan on watching it again and again. It's a fuckin blast, with Rosie in particular just being the badass "cool girl" that completely drew me in.

KBM
Well, it was certainly very interesting to see where Quentin Tarantino clearly got a lot
of his inspiration from. But more importantly, this was just a damn fun flick to watch.
Anchored by ultra-stylish visuals and a great performance from Tura Satana in the
lead role of Varla, Russ Meyer's quotable B-movie classic still holds up as a great
low-budget thriller. I also quite enjoyed Stuart Lancaster's perfectly unhinged
performance as the old man in the wheelchair, not to mention Varla's two sidekicks
who played off of her campy performance with flair. What I didn't enjoy as much were
the two romantic leads that we're left with by the end of the movie; the kidnapped girl
and the younger brother Kirk were handily the two least interesting characters in the
film, and a little punching up of their parts (or a better actor as Kirk) could have gone a
long way. Still a wildly entertaining watch, and I'm grateful for its inclusion, even if I did
end up docking it a couple spots for being the only film on the list lacking any overtly
LGBTQ+ themes, instead relegating it all to subtext fairly typical for movies of its
time, but still something I felt I had to take into account in the context of this project.

JONA
This was enjoyable in a pretty dumb kind of way. The go-go dancers have fun attitudes and its fun
seeing if their dumb plan will work. The fight scenes are amazing. Cant believe this went under my
radar for my martial arts list.

Charon
Films where the protagonists are annoying bullies are a bit of a trial to get through for me. This one has some age on it and it shows in places, though I wouldn't say it's all bad or anything, but there are definitely campy moments which I don't really feel hold up particularly well today. The fight scenes were funny at best and while I feel the character interactions are the strongest points this film has to offer, the meat of the story just isn't that interesting and watching these tropes of characters interact with each other eventually can get tiring.

Gen
Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! is a wild ride. It's crazy to think once upon a time you could get away with showing wanton violence and even murder on the big screen but two women being intimate companions was something that could only be implied because that's just way too gratuitous and vulgar. I realize it's a revolutionary film for its time and inspired countless parodies and homages, but as I didn't grow up in the era of drive-in double features and low budget B-flicks this held little appeal for me. The editing and action were actually laughable to me. Seriously every time Varla took out an opponent with a well-placed karate chop (don't @ me, I already learned it was another style of martial art) it had me rolling.

Karo
So this is like about a group of stripper street racer girls who murder a guy and kidnap his girlfriend (both for no
apparent reason other than being dicks), then they go to a ranch and more people get killed because reasons.
The film is rife with bizarre stilted dialogue, bad special effects, and characters so poorly written that even an alt-
right conspiracy theorist wouldn't be able to believe they were real. Everybody is so unfathomably stupid, from
their cover story of having a girl bound and gagged in the backseat because she is suicidal that nobody so much as
questions, to leaving their hostage alone with dumb blonde girl and crazy rapist grandpa not only once but TWICE
oh my god.
Don't ever see this movie. Unless you are like Quentin Tarantino or something and love watching terrible shit like
this.

Score: 26/100


---

Outlier Ranking
Snake - 74
KBM - 58
Johnbobb - 47
Inviso - 47
Metalmind - 44
PrinceKaro - 37
JONA - 34
Charon - 29
Gen - 20

Not a ton of movement besides Metal jumping up a decent bit, but Snake significantly extends his lead in first

---

I still find it absolutely wild that Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! outranked Call Me by Your Name, and generally that the latter dropped remotely this low. It definitely feels like a Gauntlet Crew-only type of result, even though that's not quite fair to say and even though I'm sure not complaining about it. I suppose it's also an artifact of how divided our opinions are on most of these movies, given that there's an average ranking gap of less than 10 points in over 20 ranks from here on up.

---

32. Tangerine
Total score: 221

Snake - 8
Metal - 11
Inviso - 23
Johnbobb - 25
Charon - 28
JONA - 28
Gen - 30
KBM - 30
Karo - 38

Snake
One word: humanizing. I think it's generally rare for a film to walk a fine-line between raunchy & comedic, but Tangerine strikes an amazing balance while also keeping its characters grounded & real even as things spiral out of control. I always find it interesting to see film's portray worlds too I never encounter usually, immersing myself in this underbelly of society, but in a good way that makes me remember that real people underneath whose lives are like this each and everyday. It's charming, funny, & dramatic, and to have all shot like this too gives it such an intimate feeling.

Metal
On balance, the very same factors that distinguish Tangerine - its breakneck pace, oft bouncy tone, eclectic soundtrack, and particularly its lensing - all risk causing it to devolve into a skewed soap opera of sorts, an affectation which the uncareful viewer might digest as pure small-time gloss and spectacle. Its a fate Sean Baker avoids through the empathy he shows for his marginalized characters and their lived experiences, combining with the actors performances to make their circumstances feel unfailingly real through their twists and turns. Like a fair few other movies on this list, Tangerine saves its highest note for last with an ending that perfectly caps the preceding events, lingering with me long after the credits faded.

Inviso
This is a tough one to rank because it was certainly funny at times (except definitely not the
ending, where every major character is miserable and suffering), and it had a short runtime in
which it was never really BORING. But on the other hand, it just feels so trashy that it was
difficult to enjoy the humor, and VERY difficult to enjoy the drama. Chester the pimp certainly
had the funniest personality of the film, but there were just so many screaming matches and
arguments, and a little of that goes a long way. Im not one of those people who likes watching
all-out brawls on the Jerry Springer show or anything like that, and this movie was just one of
those after another. There wasnt a single pure character in the movie, aside from Razniks wife,
and even she came across as a total pushover. So yeah, it was interesting and moderately funny,
but still tough to enjoy as a whole.

John
Why I Chose It
Tangerine is one of the most-notable trans-focused films of recent years, and is particularly important for being one of the all-too few examples of main characters that are transgender people played by transgender actresses. It's unique filming style and wide critical acclaim both add to its significance, in addition to the fact that Magnolia Pictures held an Oscar campaign for the two main actresses to be nominated, the first time a movie producer has done so for transgender actresses.

What I Thought
I started this film thinking I wasn't going to like it. Hell, like half an hour in, even though I was laughing, part of me still considered it a low-tier film. Maybe it was the off-kilter camera-phone way everything was shot, but ultimately I think that just made me enjoy the film more. By the end, just before everything gets as sad as it does, I finally realized how much I'd been smiling the whole way through. The characters are all dynamic and memorable and distinct from one another. The colors are vibrant and make everything feel so alive. And I really, really want a donut.

Charon
A random mess, but sometimes a fun mess. Not always fun really but there are definitely times here and there. The biggest issue for me was the schtick with Sin-Dee and Dinah got old a bit fast and I was left wondering why Razmik was even in the film. It's like two different movies converged and yeah sure, Razmik knew the other characters and they knew him but really, was it necessary? I really struggled to find a character to root for here despite being given plenty of options. Do I root for Alexandra, who spends most of the film as the voice of reason and sanity but is revealed to have slept with her best friend's lover within like a week? Then we get that tired "it was just once, it didn't mean anything" and she's forgiven by the end... hatred. Certainly couldn't be rooting for Razmik, a guy who cheats on his wife and even does it on a holiday when he should be spending time with this family and child. Root for Dinah or Chester? LOL. I mean Sin-Dee is like the only character I could say I liked from beginning to end and that's pretty questionable in terms of saying did I root for her. I mean, not terribly so... she was the most fun character probably but eh.

JONA
The twist of the movie was something I predicted right after the first scene but that didnt really matter
to me. The film can be pretty funny but the drama never resonated with me, except for the ending.

Gen
I actually enjoyed the gritty realism of Tangerine, but that also makes it impossible for me to root for any of the characters in it. It's incredibly well acted and the emotions are raw and real, but at the end of the day I couldn't relate to any of the characters because for one reason or another they're all kind of awful people. Everyone aside from the Armenian cab driver's wife is so self-absorbed, petty, and jealous, and only out for their own pleasure that it's detrimental to my enjoyment of the film. I guess what I'm saying is people are awful and sometimes I prefer escapism to realism.

KBM
From the buzz Tangerine got in both critical and queer circles back in 2015, I was
definitely expecting to like this one more than I did. Don't get me wrong, we're solidly
in the okay movies section of this list at this point thanks to the unusually high
average quality bar of this list, but this certainly wasn't the revelation I was hoping for.
I do appreciate actually casting trans people as trans characters; not only does it
promote realism but it certainly helps to delegitimize the idea of trans people as
delusional men in dresses but I have to wonder if this actually counts as good
representation of trans women (or sex workers, for that matter) when it's such a
misery-fest that you basically end up with the classic problem of no one to root for.
Sure, there are some funny moments Sin-Dee and Alexandra fire off some good
one-liners and the situation that develops at the donut shop at the end makes for
some good comedy but this is also the kind of the movie that you can just totally tell
was written and directed by a white man with a film degree from the way it handles its
subject matter. It's a decent enough flick, all told, but it just gave me kind of a weird,
fetishistic feeling that I just couldn't get all the way behind.


---

Karo
So here we have like random clips from the Jerry Springer show spliced together with videos from some taxi-based
reality show in an apparent attempt to break the record for the most uses of the word 'fuck' in a single film.
It of course is shot on someone's goddamn cell phone because wow man it's so artsy to have your movie look like
blurry shit.
The story, or what little can be called as such, is that this chick gets out of prison only to find that her pimp
boyfriend has been cheating on her with another girl so she embarks on a journey to go beat down her skanky ho
ass. Did I mention that the protagonist is a sex worker? Yes, a literal hooker is throwing a tantrum about infidelity.
That's like Donald Trump complaining about twitter toxicity.
But really, I dont want to watch a movie about whiny self-centered prostitutes any more then I would want to
watch a movie about child rapists. If I want to see an hour of trashy people screaming at each other I'll just watch
Big Brother and call it a day.
Ultimately, Tangerine the movie ends up like tangerine the fruit - leaves a bad taste in the mouth and pretends to be
something bigger than it actually is.

Score: 24/100

---

Outlier Ranking
Snake - 98
Metalmind - 65
KBM - 60
Inviso - 56
Johnbobb - 54
PrinceKaro - 43
JONA - 38
Charon - 33
Gen - 22

Metal continues his upward shoot, jumping all the way from 8th to 2nd after just 3 rankings, meanwhile Snake continues to increase his already sizable lead

---

^5 to Metal

---

It's too bad CBYNM was universally praised upon release and now it seems fashionable to hate it, it's such a gorgeous film.

Here's my unofficial ranking, let's see

1. Blue is the Warmest Color
2. Boys Don't Cry
3. Brokeback Mountain
4. Milk
5. Call Me By Your Name
6. Moonlight
7. Midnight Cowboy
8. A Single Man
9. The Hours
10. Dallas Buyers Club
11. Black Swan
12. The Imitation Game
13. Mulholland Drive
14. Chasing Amy
15. Tangerine
16. Thelma
17. The Talented Mr. Ripley

(huge huge gap)

18. Bruno
19. Another Gay Movie

Black Swan would be 2nd in a normal ranking, but this is an LGBT ranking

---

linkhatesganon posted...

CBYNM

Call By Your Name Me

---

Johnbobb posted...

Call By Your Name Me

Tipsiness will do that to you, yes!

---

Snake5555555555 posted...

^5 to Metal

^5 Snake! We've been on a roll of late, excepting Call Me by Your Name I guess.

linkhatesganon posted...

It's too bad CBYNM was universally praised upon release and now it seems fashionable to hate it

Is it really? I've always gotten the sense that most of those who've seen the movie are passionate in their affection for it, thus making our general disdain stand out in contrast, though that might just be a consequence of the circles I travel in.

---

to be honest this is the first I've seen of people disliking the film, I expected it to be a top contender in this contest


---

Hey now, tangerines are great fruits what in the hell Karo.
---

31. Pariah
Total score: 214 (tie)

Metal - 9
KBM - 12
JONA - 14
Gen - 16
Charon - 23
John - 33
Snake - 35
Karo - 35
Inviso - 37

Metal
Maybe its fair to accuse Pariah of being overly difficult to follow and being presented in a fashion too stylized for its own good at times, but that seems to be the point in this case. I view it as an innovative gambit in cinema reduced to the single central goal of delivering moments, and the associated feelings, as theyre remembered rather than as they happen. On those terms, all its elements are executed well enough to render Alikes story simultaneously true to life and truer than life, hitting home in a way unthinkable for a more conventional effort.

KBM
This was an honest-to-god five-tissue movie for me. Heartbreaking and gorgeously
performed, this story of a Black lesbian who comes of age in an unaccepting
household thrives on its specificity. There's no individual thing about it that you
haven't seen done before elsewhere, but everything it does it does so well, and
comes together so well, that the film becomes greater than the sum of its parts. This
is an incredibly moving film, especially thanks to its ending. Great acting as well,
particularly from Adepero Oduye in the lead and Kim Wayans as her mother.

JONA
Just a great coming-of-age story with engaging family drama and a great lead performance.

Gen
I can't explain why exactly, but Pariah resonated with me. While I never questioned my sexuality as a young black woman, I suppose I can relate to feeling like I had to hide certain aspects of myself from my peers and family. Alike feels like a truthful representation of a character in that regard, and her journey to accept herself as she was meant to be is touching. Sharonda, Laura, and Bina are all fantastic supporting characters too, and though Bina did Alike dirty I sympathize with her because she too is still finding herself, but unlike our protagonist she's just not willing to be honest about what she is and that's something to pity instead of scorn. I only wish the parents of Alike and Sharonda were as open and honest as their daughters because they really needed to work on themselves and their failing marriage before worrying about the future of their lesbian daughter. The interactions between them were rough to watch, not gonna lie.

Charon
An inoffensively tame film with a likable lead character and some likable side characters to go along with her. I liked Laura as the stereotypical "butch" friend and I really liked Alike's dad, he was cool and rather different than most parental figures in these films. Sort of like that medium of "doesn't hate you for this, but isn't really going to tell you he's good with it". He has a lot of good moments and presents the scenes he's present in with a positive light. Her mother is played to despicable excellence by Kim Wayans; a character you really love to hate I think, though they let you decide if she's really to blame for her inner hostility given her husband is cheating on her. The thing about this film and what stops it from being in my top half is that it simply doesn't do enough original to make that happen. It's safe, and while there are moments, sadly what I'll remember most about this film is that is cold opened with "My Neck, My Back" out of nowhere and I burst out laughing. Still, it's fine.

John
Why I Chose It
Not a hard choice; it's a super highly received film simultaneously tackling black family culture, gender identity and, of course, sexuality. While it managed to score the Excellence in Cinematography Award at Sundance, what's more impressive is the onslaught of awards it took home from the African-American Film Critics Association, the Black Reel Awards, the Black Film Critics Circle, and the NAACP Image Awards.

What I Thought
I really wish I liked Pariah more. It's got some good performances, some good cinematography, but ultimately it's just kinda boring. I knew exactly where the film was going from pretty early on, and then it went exactly there, and I just needed more from it than that.

Snake
A serviceable but trope filled drama largely carried by our main protagonist, Alike. It's technically solid, but the parents felt extremely generic to me aside from the end when the mother refused to accept her for who she was. That actually felt real and gritty, not a typical Hollywood happy ending, and that definitely saved the movie a few points from me.

Karo
This girl likes to wear boy clothes and is friends with a lesbian so of course her mother has an aneurysm because
fuck these idiot boomer imbeciles. Mommy attempts to nip this behavior in the bud by forcing her into a friendship with a girl from a conservative religious family, who then promptly fucks her. Any potential of continuing the relationship is stymied by the church girl stating she is not 'gay gay, I'm just doing my thing'. Her thing apparently is having sex with women but no thatisnt gay at all c'mon girl seriously.
This is a larger problem with the film as a whole, everyone acts so bizarre, inconsistent and uncommunicative that
it is impossible to care about them or the story or even follow it.
We even see this affect the base plot, like does the protagonist just hate girly things and want to express herself in a more tomboyish way, or does she want to be full transgender? Even after finishing the film I still had no clue whatsoever (according to wikipedia it is the former).
This is just not a good movie, and I feel the inexperienced director is largely to blame.

Score: 38/100

Inviso
There are movies on this list that are handled with a very serious tone, but they still have that
movie quality that allows the viewer to step back and think this is just a story being told. In
cases like these, normally the story being told is interesting for one reason or another, hence
being made into a movie. But then you get the movies like Pariah, which feel less like a film
narrative and more like watching a slice of life. And the problem with slice of life stories, as Im
sure I mentioned multiple times in our two anime rankings, is that theyre boring and not
compelling. Yes, there is conflict in this film, because Alikes mom is a raging bitch and Alike
is unsure of her sexuality as a lesbian. But I just dont care. Its not the kind of dynamic plot
that is enjoyable to watch, and everything is so gritty and realistic that its like watching a family
fight when youre at their house for dinner. This just wasnt even remotely my cup of tea as a
result.


---

Outlier Ranking
Snake - 102
Metalmind - 87
KBM - 79
Inviso - 62
Johnbobb - 56
JONA - 55
PrinceKaro - 47
Charon - 41
Gen - 37

and Snake becomes the first to hit triple digits


---

Here's how my list is looking a quarter of the way through:

Yes
1-3: ???
Yeah
4-8: ???
9: Pariah
10: ???
11: Tangerine
12-13: ???
Sure
14: ???
15: Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!
16-21: ???
Ok
22: ???
23: My Beautiful Laundrette
24-28: ???
Meh
29-30: ???
31: Call Me by Your Name
32-33: ???
34: Glen or Glenda
35: ???
Nah
36: Sunday Bloody Sunday
37: Bruno
38: Blue is the Warmest Color
39: ???
No
40: Another Gay Movie

Yes, my tier names are in fact essentially arbitrary, what of it? Likewise, my tier boundaries are distinctly porous except between 39 and 40.

---

Still holding on to 4 members of my bottom 10 I think, kinda high for me at this stage. Hoping #39 is dropping soon. That said my top half is still intact and survives being eliminated in the bottom fourth, pretty good.
---

30. But I'm a Cheerleader
Total score: 214 (tie)

Inviso - 9
JONA - 20
Metal - 20
John - 24
Gen - 25
Charon - 26
KBM - 26
Karo - 26
Snake - 38

Inviso
This was a fun little satire movie. I liked the overexaggeration of characters and themes
throughout the film, because it just made for a fun viewing experience. Starting out with a
character whos blatantly a lesbian in her actions and mannerisms, only for her to be so nave and
sheltered that she has no idea that shes actually batting for the other teamits just funny. Its
amusing to see a character so vapid that they dont realize that theyre outside of societal norms.
Its also amusing to see just how much of a complete failure the gay conversion therapy concept
is, because everyone in reality knows its bullshit, but seeing the movie lampoon its impotence is
just delightful. Also interesting is seeing Dante Bosco in a non-Zuko live action role. Thats all
I have to see. Its just quirky and fun without being super heavy-handed about the subject
matter.

JONA
I found there to be a lot to like in this movie so I was kinda surprised to see how low the Rotten
Tomatoes score was. The relationship between Megan and Graham was quite nice and they had good
chemistry. The whole cast is pretty fun and memorable. Mary Brown is delightful in her disciplinary.
They run with the ideology of the camp and somehow make it funny despite how horrible it is. The
movies charming and funny and even if it doesnt do anything mind-blowing, its a good time.

Metal
Unsubtly and in fact quite intentionally a candy-colored, optimistic, arguably over-the-top take on its central story, deliberately set in Anytown, USA. Its an approach which serves to highlight the absurdity and humor in general without entirely excising the nuance, allowing for a surprisingly breezy and enjoyable watch, complete with a suitable soundtrack and a fairly touching if rather obvious ending. Amateurish filmmaking, predictable writing, and a general episodic quality at times don't detract that much from my estimation, thanks in part to suitable performances all around. Alas, what was bold in 1999 is practically self-evident now, yet this movie holds up well for its fun factor. (version watched: American)

John
Why I Chose It
One of the two films on our list to tackle the heavy subject of gay conversion camps, and definitely the more light-hearted of the two. While it inititally was poorly received, over time it's become a favorite among gay fans and critics for its willingness to poke fun at homophobia and gender constructs, its unique production style and its homages to the films of John Waters. Director Jamie Babbit also accused the MPAA of homophobia after they initially rated the film NC-17.

What I Thought
Want some really terrible emotional whiplash? Watch But I'm A Cheerleader and Boy Erased back to back. This movie walked so Orange is the New Black could run years later. It's kinda nice to see a ridiculous take on conversion camps (given that they are ridiculous concepts to begin with). We've got a "converted straight" RuPaul, we've got Zuko, it's just a precious time.

Gen
While I realize But I'm a Cheerleader isn't meant to be taken entirely seriously, I rather enjoyed its themes about love conquering all. Come on you can't tell me that ending with the cheerleading chant wasn't adorable... Honestly I don't have much to say about this entry. I enjoyed the supporting cast a bit more than the main duo of Megan and Graham despite the lack of focus on them. They really provided the comedy in a way other satires on this list could not.

Charon
Stupid, but in a charming sort of way. It's sort of as if Another Gay Movie was done but with less crude humor and more likable characters I think. It's a pretty simple film with elements of more serious, and less serious, movies combined to give you this sort of middle of the spectrum final product. It deals with conversion therapy in a much more light-hearted way that other films on this ultimately will but never beats you over the head with crude or lewd moments. I appreciate it for this approach and enjoyed it much more than I figured I would coming in.

KBM
Okay, so this movie has a few pretty obvious flaws. It's not as funny as it wants to be
(I rarely laughed out loud), the satire is way too broad and obvious to be effective, and
the visual style is so over-the-top campy that it'd make Emory from The Boys in the
Band blush. That all said, I found this pretty damn charming, despite itself. I always
love Clea DuVall, and she's great as always, and has a lot of chemistry with Natasha
Lyonne, while RuPaul is unrecognizable and gets a lot of the funniest moments in the
movie. And sure, a lot of the plot might be pretty cookie-cutter romcom fare, but it's a
nice breath of fresh air to see a good gay movie with a happy ending, no matter how
predictable it may be. It's certainly no masterpiece, but I liked it.

Karo
So a bi-curious cheerleader gets sent to a gay 'conversion' camp for really arbitrary reasons and ends up converted...
to a hardcore lesbian.
Yes, the film does takes a very heavy piss on conversion therapy, but this practice doesnt need to be made fun of, it
needs to be ended. A movie that gives the perception that these places are just some kind of goofy but mostly
harmless conservative christian summer camps does not really help facilitate things.
It's like making a comedy about the holocaust and being hey wow we're making these Nazis look really idiotic
while they are stuffing Jews in the showers so its ok right?
It is a pretty funny movie, but I do not feel right about laughing at this subject matter, and you should not either.

Score: 63/100

Snake
I appreciate this movie for trying to tackle the extremely problematic issue of conversion therapy, with some satirical jabs, however I really thought the acting was way too overdone and to be honest I didn't find most of it very funny.


---

Outlier Ranking
Snake - 110
Metalmind - 97
KBM - 83
Inviso - 83
JONA - 65
Johnbobb - 62
PrinceKaro - 51
Charon - 45
Gen - 42


---

Well, so much for those key similarities between my ranking and Snake's after that difference from 44 spots in just two movies! Naturally, I was typically premature to leap at something to comment on.

---

To be fair the way Jared kisses Megan would be enough to turn any girl lesbian. Eww!
---

29. Tomboy
Total score: 212 (tie)

Metal - 2
John - 7
Karo - 15
Snake - 25
Gen - 28
KBM - 31
Inviso - 34
Charon - 35
JONA - 35

Metal
Superlative in its unfailingly immaculate balance (tonal and otherwise) of always feeling as surprising and unscripted as life itself without verging into the realm of obvious fiction, an accomplishment all the more impressive given its time-worn basic premise. It makes every moment worth treasuring, each one imaginative and lived-in, tender and bracing, quiet and significant all at once, and the cumulative result of all that quite greatly affected me. Of course, it would be shallow to solely credit Tomboys script for its unflinchingly realized cinma vrit honesty - its acting, cinematography, and direction in general are all crucial, and all are likewise executed as well as they need to be at all times. It all adds up to the film I only wish several others on this list could have been, even some I enjoyed quite a bit.

John
Why I Chose It
One of the most significant films to date about gender nonconformity and gender identity in children. Despite its relatively small release, it was nominated and won quite a few awards, particularly in gay and lesbian film festivals. To date it's one of the very few films to tackle this subject, and is possibly the most acclaimed while doing so.

What I Thought
Gotta say I'm surprised how strongly this film has stuck with me. Initially, I expected this to be pretty similar to Ma Vie En Rose, only with a child identifying as a boy instead of a girl. And while there are elements of that, Tomboy takes it considerably farther, really diving into the subject of body dysmorphia. This isn't just a girl who enjoys dressing like a boy, Laure/Mikael legitimately just finds constant discomfort within a female body, making every attempt to rectify that not only in public, but in the much more private moments looking in the mirror. The ending is heartbreaking, with the child ultimately being forced to identify as a girl to avoid backlash from their mother and their community. In addition, it displays one of the most wholesome and positive portrayals of a sibling relationship I think I've ever seen.

Karo
A young girl takes the opportunity presented by moving to a new town to experiment with her gender identity and
present herself to the neighborhood children as a boy.
If there is a place this movie shines it is in the performances of the child actors, particularly the one playing the
titular tomboy. Like there is no way anyone would peg this character as being played by a girl if the movie hadn't
up and told us beforehand.
I would have liked for there to be a little bit more to the story, and a better ending than 'you're a girl, so get over it,
yo', but it is charming in its simple way and I certainly enjoyed watching it.

Score: 72/100

Snake
A great portrait of growing-up, presenting the struggles of coming into your own while still trying to fit in with your peers. There's a lot of opportunity here for Mickael/Laure to bounce off other characters, always feeling like their on the verge of being accepted before a new monkey wrench is thrown into the occasion. The scenes of bullying are extremely heart-breaking though.

Gen
I recognize Tomboy is an important film highlighting the struggle gender non-conforming youths endure to find acceptance and ultimately happiness in their lives. However I'm left confused and a bit conflicted due to some of the intricacies of Laure's actions. Perhaps it's because my mindset is limited in this regard, but I don't know whether Laure decided on a whim to pretend to be a boy or if she/he actually wanted to identify as one. Apparently this is by design, according to the writer/director, to make the character relatable to a wider audience. Regardless the highlight of the film for me is Laure's/Mickal's relationship with her family, particularly that of her/his sister Jeanne. While I highly disagree with the mother's course of actions after uncovering her child's deception I feel like it came from a sense of frustration, maybe even desperation, and not from embarrassment. This didn't make it any easier to watch.

KBM
The mixed messaging in this movie threw me off hard. I think, in trying to have it both
ways, by trying to create a film that's relatable to cishet women, trans men, and
everyone in between, the filmmakers sacrificed some much-needed clarity of
purpose. Setting aside some surface similarities, a cis girl who's a tomboy and a trans
or gender-nonconforming child's experience are ultimately two very different
experiences, which felt conflated here. And that really is my problem with this movie
it's all very surface-level. There's no real insight to be had; everyone already knows
that people who don't perform the gender roles that are expected of them get treated
differently, often shittily, but that seems to be the only statement this film exists to
make. Also what is it with this movie's obsession with Mikel's body? Why did we
have to see them get out of the bath and expose their genitalia? Why so many
lingering shots of their crotch in the scene with the Play-Doh packer? It just seems
unnecessary and almost even a bit TERF-y. By the end, it seems like the movie has
decided that Mikel is meant to be Laure after all. I can't deny that Zo Hran
gives a great performance in the lead role, but (as is certainly evident by now) I just
can't come to grips with why this movie was made in the first place. Also fuck the
mom character, I really hated her guts by the end. The sister, on the other hand,
started out irritating but ended up pretty cool.

Inviso
This was just boring. Im already somewhat (or maybe more than SOMEWHAT) anti-foreign
films, and the LEAST a foreign film can do is keep my attention. This did not do that. In fact,
for the first half of its runtime, the movie danced around the central message, as if we really
needed it to be a big, secret reveal when it turns out that shy Michael is really Laure. Honestly?
Without that reveal, its just a boring movie about a boring boy who faces no conflict as the new
kid in town, and quickly integrates within a circle of friends. Thats it. And even when the
audience learns about Laure, its still another half an hour before the truth is revealed to the
characters that matter. By that point, the movie is just about over, and it just ends. Theres no
action beyond the reveal, and the plot falls completely flat. Even for a short movie, its just
really, really dull.

Charon
This movie was about nothing and nothing of much note happened; that's how I felt. I feel like there were ideas around but it ultimately led to nothing much of interest taking place. It's like, you have this idea of a girl moving into a new neighborhood and assuming the gender identity of a male, since no one in that location knows she's not. At this age she can look and play the part pretty well. I kept waiting for the pay off to this build and I feel like what happened fell a little flat to me. Basically everyone was told the truth and that was it. I don't really know what I was expecting I suppose, I just found myself very bored and uninterested.

JONA
This ended up being mostly boring for me because a lot of the movie is just Laure passing off as Mickael
with not much conflict until Laure gets found out. The movie doesnt really lean anywhere on the
identity of Mickael, which is the point, but that also makes it not really noteworthy. It just feels bland
and safe on how the subject matter is handled.


---

Outlier Ranking
Metal - 124
Snake - 114
Inviso - 88
KBM - 85
Johnbobb - 84
JONA - 71
PrinceKaro - 65
Charon - 51
Gen - 43

Metal continues his massive upward climb, not only becoming the 2nd to hit 3 digits, but catching up to and passing Snake by a solid ten point lead


---

Big wow at Call Me By Your Name and Pariah doing so poorly. I didn't expect either of those to be Top 10 contenders, but I definitely didn't expect them to be Bottom 10.

On the other hand, I pretty much figured based on stuff I saw people saying in the Discord chat that I was going to be a bit disappointed with how low BITWC would end up. But like I said in my write-up, I do totally get not liking that one. CMBYN surprises me, though - even my boyfriend liked that movie when I took him to see it in theaters, and he really isn't one with a lot of patience for slow, artsy dramas.

28. Mulholland Drive
Total score: 212 (tie)

Snake - 1
John - 3
JONA - 7
Inviso - 29
Karo - 31
Metal - 32
KBM - 32
Gen - 38
Charon - 39

Snake
A master piece in ever sense of the word. A strange film with the magic only Lynch can deliver. It's far from the easiest film to figure out, but that's what makes it so appealing: peeling off those outer layers to expose a deeper core. Lynch's visuals have never been better, his music choice never creepier or more haunting, his Hollywood is personified, a nightmare world that entraps any & all who may enter, perfectly encapsulating what makes Lynch's worlds so dreamily appealing: his mix of nostalgia, deception & reverence that many fall prety too. Unlike many other films on the list, Lynch also uses its lesbian characters with understanding & pure curiosity, I'd argue it even permeats all aspects of the film from its cinematography to score. It's a perfect marriage of many ideas that Lynch pulls off with aplomb.

John
Why I Chose It
Pretty much any Lynch movie is signficant enough to earn a spot in any list it qualifies for, but especially one as bizarre and unparalled as this. While this may seem like a film that is quite easily thriller first and LGBT second, its themes regarding the characters' queer identities have been thoroughly studied, with many critics noting the interweaving of the themes throughout all aspects of the film. Themes aside, the film is one of the most notable, acclaimed and talked about thrillers of its time,

What I Thought
bruh I'm not gonna be the one to try and explain why one of David Lynch's best movies is such an instant classic; it just is. Best lesbians doing crimes movie on the list, and that's not an easy competition.

JONA
I could definitely see why someone wouldnt like this movie. It can be confusing and nonsensical. That
just made me more drawn into the mystery though. I just found it really fascinating. The second part of
the movie gets even more nonsensical but it also has a bunch of reveals and references to first half. The
movie is just a really intriguing experience with a bunch of mind screws and I love it for that.

Inviso
This one was just too weird for me. At two and a half hours, I need a bit more of a coherent
narrative. I THINK Ive pieced it together, but then there are still parts that confuse me. Its
justtheres a lot going on and I dont understand it. And I know non-sequential storytelling is
a thing, but it WORKS in a movie like Pulp Fiction, because all the scenes are relatively self-
contained. With this, I have no idea if Diane is really supposed to be Bettys future, or if theres
some kind of time loop where Rita/Camilla keeps wandering back to find Betty/Diane, only to
make her jealous and lead to an assassination attempt. It also doesnt help that you have inserts
like the cowboy and the diner guys and the hitman, who dont feel like theyre integral to the plot
of the main characters (well, I guess the cowboy and the hitman are after a fashion, but still).
This was just trying too hard to be artistic for my tastes, and it wound up falling flat for me. It
had some potential, but it just didnt deliver on any of that.

Karo
A naive canadian girl befriends an amnesiac woman who escaped from a car crash who is apparently being chased
by people maybe and something happened on this street for some reason and what the hell is this shit.
There is a sense of mystery surrounding the story, but there is no focus and things are very prone to meander, and
do so a lot. The movie's central intrigue never really amounts to much, and the story is constantly riddled with plot
twists that never really go anywhere except up the director's ass.
Did Betty kill the other girl? Did she kill herself? Are one or more of the main characters ghosts and/or time
travelers? Was Betty eaten alive by shapeshifting zombie grandparents? Why is that even a question I have to
fucking ask?

Score: 50/100

Metal
Some have evaluated this film, dense as it is with avenues of possible interpretation or non-interpretation, as David Lynchs masterwork, while others have blasted it equally vocally as abysmally abject nonsense. Naturally, that divisiveness has led to all sorts of authors offering a profusion of takes over the year; of all those Ive personally read, I like A. O. Scotts the most: Its tangled story will be experienced by some as an offense against narrative order, but the film is an intoxicating liberation from sense, with moments of feeling all the more powerful for seeming to emerge from the murky night world of the unconscious. The only problem I have with it is that sense is one of the few things I dont consider liberation from intoxicating. So instead, have a single-sentence description of my own that makes about as much sense as the movie itself: The sound and the fury, also known as The Shining of Oz in Hollywood.

KBM
I love me some David Lynch, I really do. Blue Velvet is one of my favorite movies,
and Twin Peaks has, for all its flaws, become one of my favorite shows. I can rewatch
Eraserhead ad nauseum. Mulholland Drive, for me, represents Lynch taking a step
too far into his own Lynch-iness. I certainly liked it a little more this time around than
when I first watched it in high school (if we were just doing this list based on my
memories of how I felt about it then, this would be #39 easily). Naomi Watts is great,
she's got electric chemistry with Laura Harring, and there are a lot of really interesting
individual scenes, moments, interactions, and themes to talk about in this movie. But I
just can't help but be frustrated by the film's weird refusal to just
stick to a narrative. I'm not necessarily even asking for coherency here but there's
just too much going on here, with too many characters, coupled with one of the most
baffling third acts you will ever see in your life. The first half of this movie was
famously made as a pilot for a new TV series, and I think I genuinely would have liked
the show that pilot was setting up to slowly come to know these characters,
hopefully see more of Robert Forster than just a random scene at the beginning
before he disappears from the movie completely, and a gradual realization over a
season or two that the things we think we know about these characters and their lives
aren't necessarily real. There's a lot of promise in that premise. Unfortunately, as it is,
the fever dream that Mulholland Drive devolves into is just a bit TOO weird and out-
there for me. I enjoy the Lynchian stylism, and I can certainly laugh at the weirder
parts that don't make any sense, which are also interesting to read theories about, but
ultimately, watching this movie is just a frustrating experience for me that I don't find
as enjoyable as I wish I did.


---

Gen
Mulholland Dr. is just one of those movies that's more fartsy than artsy to the point that it feels like a troll film to me personally. It's as though the director told each actor to intentionally underperform or over exaggerate to come across as amateurish as possible. Events unfold in such a manner where I expected them to culminate in these characters meeting with each other in some meaningful way only for several plot threads to never resolve and others to tangle incomprehensibly. I didn't find it engaging so much as frustrating and overlong.

Charon
If only this movie was about a doctor as Genny originally thought; I felt like I needed a psychiatrist after completing this dreadful experience. This is just one of those movies that irritate me, and I'm irritated I couldn't rank it last like I wanted to but objectively, that just wasn't possible no matter how I tried to rationalize it. There's little more I dislike than a film I can literally feel the writer/director/whoever looking at me as I watch it and saying something like, "You just don't understand". I really feel it with this movie. This is one of those pretentious films some asshole makes to lord over the world. It's way too long, at the end of the story you are left with only questions and the acting... I know the actors here must have been told to perform their roles badly because I know Naomi Watts isn't this damn bad most of the time. I know if this film has any defenders it will be something along the lines of, "Well, this movie just makes you think about what it really means". The problem with movies like this to me is that I feel like anyone can go on a bender and write them. I like storytelling that you know, tells a story. A story is a constructed piece that has elements to it, and this film ignores a lot of those elements for reasons I can't really understand. Is this a parallel universe? An alternate reality? Time travel? Amnesia? Limbo? All of the above? I think the absolute worst part for me was right at the end when we get that stupid ass "silencio" shit to end it. That is some high level "this is art" crap, and I despise it.


---

Outlier Ranking
Snake - 141
Metal - 128
Johnbobb - 109
JONA - 92
Inviso - 89
KBM - 89
PrinceKaro - 68
Charon - 62
Gen - 53

sorry Snake


---

Out of the 20ish movies I've seen from the last, this would have been my last place.

I hated that movie so much.

---

TotallyNotMI posted...

Out of the 20ish movies I've seen from the last, this would have been my last place.

I hated that movie so much.

Had you seen Another Gay Movie?
---

27. Dallas Buyers Club
Total score: 208 (tie)

Inviso - 5
Charon - 9
Gen - 12
Karo - 17
JONA - 27
Snake - 31
John - 34
Metal - 35
KBM - 38

Inviso
Im a big fan of movies that have a running undercurrent of the law and business and politics in
their overall plot. That sort of story just appeals to me because I think it allows me to feel like
Im watching something more intellectual. Now granted, Ron Woodruff is not an intellectual.
But I think thats part of the movies charm. Hes a normal guy, perhaps even a bit more white
trash than one would expect, and we get to watch him grow and change as a person, rising to the
occasion to fit the moment. When diagnosed with AIDS, he fights for his own survival, and
parlays that into a business that helps to guarantee the survival of countless others. Its also nice
to have him share an experience with the LGBTQ+ community, effectively allowing him to find
common ground and get over his homophobia. Its just a really interesting story to watch, and
the characters, while rough around the edges, are still really likable.

Charon
An interesting one considering the main character of the film is actually not presented as part of the LGBT culture, which I believe makes it unique to this list entirely. Wonderfully acted by Matthew McConaughey, this film shows us the path of a character that's stricken with a disease that became synonymous with the community at the time and how he dealt with being labeled as something he was not (though according to reports he actually WAS bisexual in reality). The thing I liked most about this film was seeing the growth of the main character as events happened around him; to go from stereotypically southern and ignorant to a well-versed, accepting man that at the very end was only interested in helping the community that he had been raised to so despise. As a southern person myself, I connected with this character because he broke out of the mold that is so easy to be formed into here in the American South.

Gen
I'm not a big fan of Matthew Mcconaughey, but he gave a helluva respectable performance in Dallas Buyers Club; and honestly I felt the same about Jared Leto, who's almost unrecognizable in his supporting role. As this one is loosely based on a true story, it's fascinating to think that people could have once been so ignorant about a disease like AIDS. Also fascinating is the character growth of our protagonist who begins as more than a bit of an asshole, and, as he learns more about the disease ravaging him and gets more involved with the people it affects, evolves into a clean and (mostly) sober empathetic and selfless being. It's a touching journey, and I only wish Rayon and all the people who inspired her character could've seen it through to the end. Unfortunately the sad reality is that not everyone can be saved, but it was thrilling to watch Ron evade the FDA, DEA, law enforcement, and medical practitioners for as long as he did. What a wild ride!

Karo
So a homophobic white trash redneck asshole contracts AIDS in what can only be described as sweet sweet karma.
Now that he actually cares about something because it affects him, he illegally smuggles drugs from mexico and
sells them to his fellow AIDS patients.
While competently made, what really holds this film back is a main character I have zero sympathy for. The only
reason I want him to succeed with his scheme is that it might save the life of someone who actually deserves it.
I am all for seeing change in a protagonist over the course of a film, but honestly Ron doesnt really change
significantly. Wow, he doesnt want to lynch gay people anymore? What a saint. He still is a belligerent asswipe
who is rude to everyone and rants about medical conspiracy theories like some right-wing blogger and I believe I
speak for everyone when I say 'will you just shut up, man?'

Score: 69/100

JONA
Matthew McConaughey and Jared Leto brought great performances but the movie never clicked for me.
I recognize the quality in this movie but maybe I was not in the mood, but I never found it engaging or
appealing.

Snake
The performances are fantastic, par for the list at this point. Yet, I don't think it's the strongest story being told here. I know it's based on real events, but as dramatized in the film, I think tries too hard in a few places, attempting humor especially that doesn't really work. McConaughey & Leto though ARE superb, and their chemistry sublime. A solid emotional center really does the film well too, overall it's a good watch just not the best on this list by a long shot.

John
Why I Chose It
Ultimately there was no way to not include the first film to win an Academy Award for an actor playing a transgender character (though, of course, it was not a transgender actor, which only added to critcism of the film after Leto's performance was flooded with praise). The praise for and controversy around this role (and the significance of the transgender community in the film) brought a lot of much-needed attention to transgender issues, even if the focus on McConaughey and Leto potentially overshadowed it.

What I Thought
What is a pretty inspiring story is ultimately brought down by inconsistent performances. That's the struggle with trying to put great performances in films. When one performance is excellent, it makes it that much more obvious when another is less so. Matthew McConaughey gives perhaps the best performance of his career, while Jennifer Garner just COMPLETELY phones it in. Ultimately I felt like the movie was more about trying to show that McConaughey and Leto could act than it was about the actual story at its heart. Years later this movie still just doesn't hold the intended impact for me.

Metal
Promising from the get-go, Dallas Buyers Club proceeds to slowly squander that initial intrigue by devolving into yet another clichd, questionably accurate grassroots figures versus the system story complete with a jerk of a protagonists transformation by his cause. Uninventive filmmaking hardly helps sustain the drama in a film that treats its major LGBTQ+ character to an unceremonious offscreen death mentioned almost in passing. Ill concede that Matthew McConaughey does quite effectively inhabit his role, something which even most of this movies fans have in turn conceded is the one great reason to watch it.

KBM
Mehhh. Not much more than a paint-by-numbers Oscar-bait movie about the AIDS
crisis, I was baffled by this movie's reception in 2013 and I'm still baffled today. Critics
fell over themselves to praise Jared Leto's opportunistic portrayal of a trans woman,
and though his performance is admittedly pretty good in a vacuum, by 2013 it was
well past time that actual trans people get trans roles. Meanwhile, Matthew
McConaughey straight-up won his Oscar for the wrong 2013 film he was way better
(and gave a much less standard McConaughey performance) in the movie Mud (to
say nothing about his performance the next year in Interstellar which blew them both
away). As for the actual content of the movie, like I said, very paint-by-numbers,
baby's-first-queer-acceptance story. I suppose it would be an okay recommendation
for someone who's just starting to learn about queer issues and the history of AIDS
and such, but even then, you can do much better than this trite, mediocre effort.


---

Outlier Ranking
Snake - 145
Metal - 136
Johnbobb - 116
Inviso - 111
KBM - 100
JONA - 92
Charon - 80
PrinceKaro - 78
Gen - 68

Not much movement here, but a perfect positoning knocks JONA down a few spots as Vis and KMB both hit triple digits.

---

Johnbobb posted...

He still is a belligerent asswipe
who is rude to everyone and rants about medical conspiracy theories like some right-wing blogger

A bit harsh considering there was truth to what he was saying.
---

26. Chasing Amy
Total score: 208 (tie)

Snake - 7
KBM - 16
Karo - 18
JONA - 18
Charon - 21
Gen - 21
Inviso - 32
John - 36
Metal - 39

Snake
One of my absolute favorite Kevin Smith movies. It shows a wonderful portrait of the 90s, a geek's wet dream fantasy that evolves into this deep, emotional roller-coaster of romance, bromance, & comedic drama that just never stops being magnetizing and compelling. The ending boy is brutally emotional, & it has one of the best Silent Bob monologues too. Just a fantastic film with plenty of rewatch value.

KBM
This was a pleasant surprise a movie I wasn't expecting to like that was good
enough that it made me want to dive into the rest of Kevin Smith's filmography.
Though it's not without its problems (Jason Lee's assholery is sometimes a bit too
much, and I found myself cringing HARD at the scene in which Joey Lauren Adams
delivers a painful, minutes-long monologue in the rain that could easily have been
summed up in four words: I guess I'm bi), Chasing Amy managed to be more
thoroughly entertaining than I ever would have guessed from a movie that, on the
surface, seemed like it was just going to be a movie about Ben Affleck falling in love
with a lesbian and converting her into heterosexuality through the power of his dick.
I cannot tell you how fucking relieved I am that that's not what this turned out to be. In
fact, this was a surprisingly multi-layered look at sexuality, with some genuinely very
funny sequences. The way the story bookends at the NYC ComicCon, and the fact
that Affleck doesn't get the girl after all, but not in a tragic way, really works for me.

Karo
These two comic book creators striving to market worse superhero characters than Arm-Fall-Off Boy meet a
lesbian artist and immediately try to flirt with her and ask her rude intrusive questions about her sexuality.
This is meant to be funny but it is actually just cringey and all I can think is 'this girl is so cute why does she put up
with these assholes?'
The film has some truly incredible lines of dialogue but is held back by male leads that are obnoxious and utterly
reprehensible. Like just run these fuckers over with a steamroller already so we never have to listen to their self-
centered spiel or worse, read their shitty comic.

Score: 69/100

JONA
Holden and Alyssa have a good dynamic and I was interested in how things would play out between
them. Holdens pretty likable but he can overreact and isnt exactly that bright. Holdens friend Banky
isnt that likable but he feels pretty believable considering the time period. The movie as a whole is good
at feeling believable especially in the dialogue which can go too long. I also dont like Alyssas voice. Joey
Lauren Adam does a good performance but I find the voice to be cartoony and annoying.

Charon
Being led by the most foolishly idiotic lead character is probably what stopped this from making my top half. As a film overall, it's pretty decent. Unfortunately as the film progresses Holden becomes more and more of a prick until he just reaches a new level of prickness you can't quite believe exists. Amy feels like a realistic character; someone that has certain things in their past they may not want revealed, but at the end of the day, it was those experiences that made her the person she became. It's crazy to think after all his efforts to win the heart of someone he initially believed was unavailable to him that Holden would go and ruin it the way he did. It's pretty frustrating, and as he is the lead protagonist and by default the character you're supposed to be rooting for, the more he becomes someone you can't, the less I was enjoying the film. Perhaps this is by design but yeah, one of the worst protagonists for me.

Gen
Chasing Amy is kind of an odd one for me. It appeals to a certain widespread male fantasy that some women are only lesbians because they haven't met "the right man" yet when in reality some people, regardless of gender and/or orientation, are just willing to try different things to find themselves and that includes experimenting with their sexuality. Throughout the movie Holden continuously makes awful decisions that never seem to catch up to him until near the end, and it's satisfying to see him get that comeuppance because he's not the best of characters and truthfully after standing in the way of his own happiness for so long he doesn't deserve it. At the very least he didn't deserve it by the end of this movie, but I appreciate the film ending on the somewhat hopeful note that, while his relationship with both Alyssa and Banky can never go back to the way they were at their peak, his friendships could still be salvaged if he's willing to put in the work.


---

Inviso
This was a tough movie to rank, because on the one hand, if I were to judge it SOLELY on the
merits of Ben Afflecks main character, it would be ABSOLUTELY bottom tier. But there is
just enough enjoyment I can wring out of the movie to rank it above the films that just bored to
me tears. For starters, the opening sequence is great, and I found it interesting to set this story
against a backdrop of comic book culture. I especially loved Hooper X, who was far and away
the funniest character in the movie (seriously, everyone in this movie is trying to be super edgy,
to the point where they become obnoxious pop culture caricatures). And admittedly, the scenes
of Holden and Alyssas relationship PRIOR to the confession of love (and the brief dating
period) were cute and sweet. But theres too much else going on in the movie to really give it
any more of a pass than that.

To put it bluntly, Holden McNeil is a fucking asshole. There are a lot of think pieces Ive
watched recently about how Jim Halpert or John Dorian or Ted Mosby are pieces of shit, and I
can understand the argument. But Holden McNeil is justhe almost epitomizes the nice guy
attitude of a douchey, self-centered prick. He falls for Alyssa, but shes a lesbian. Fine. He
wants to be friends with her still because shes a cool chick. Fine. But the confession of love, I
GET it. Ive BEEN there. But then like, Alyssa has a perfectly reasonable reaction to this, given
that hes expecting her to reciprocate (to quote Dennis Reynolds, because of the implication).
And then she DOES go with him. She inverts her sexuality for him.

This is fucked up in and of itself, but then it gets WORSE, when a jealous Banky starts digging
up dirt on Alyssa and reveals her previous sexual history. And Holden, being a prick, calls her
out and slut shames the girl who he LITERALLY turned from being a lesbian just because she
loved him so much. So they separate, only for Holden to come up with a plan. See, rather than
HIM growing up and quitting being such a piece of shit, he says I need to have a threesome
with you and Banky so I dont feel so weird about you having a threesome in the past. He says
this like its a reasonable request, and like Alyssa is the one whos done something wrong. Its
disgusting. And then, even though they break up, the movie ends on a positive note for Holden.
Fuck that. The guy sucks. He doesnt deserve happiness.

John
Why I Chose It
It's the third film in Kevin Smith's "View Askewniverse," his series of loosely connected comedies, following the fan favorites Clerks and Mallrats. It steps away from the goofy buddy comedy antics of the last two to focus instead on the romance between a heterosexual man and a lesbian woman. In addition to its fanbase attention, it also managed to win two Independent Spirit Awards.

What I Thought
I like Kevin Smith. I do. I think he has a lot of potential as a filmmaker. Dogma was great, Clerks was funny, Red State was unique. He has such a definitive niche that many have tried to replicate but few have really replicated. But sometimes, he misses, and when he misses he misses HARD. He's got the know-how to deal with plots about comics and pot and low-wage jobs, but he absolutely doesn't understand the subtlety necessary to deal with a plot about complicated sexuality. Ben Affleck's character here may be the most unlikeable piece of garbage of any movie on this list (not counting the ones about violently homophobic people, as that's a whole other issue). How any man, woman, or otherwise would ever willingly have sex with this sack of moldy potatoes is beyond me.

Metal
As my first Kevin Smith movie, I already had a decent idea of what I was in for, I just wasnt sure how I would take to it. I wasnt terribly surprised to find Chasing Amy distinctly ribald, even puerile, without quite verging into the realm of a sex comedy - likewise for its long stretches of oft-compelling improvisational drags. I cant necessarily say that style and milieu of choice alike were to my taste, but the movie could have worked anyways. Instead, it failed particularly because it was a perniciously self-important smirk at its intended straight, cis white male audience, right down to its main character being called Holden. Kevin Smith seemingly expected viewers to slip into Holdens distinctly pathological shoes or else be left stranded - to feel sympathetic for him as he selfishly pursues a relationship with a character framed as lesbian only to ruin it with his own sexual insecurities once he finally gets it. In fact, I realized its approach wasnt for me right from the start when I didnt chuckle even once at its deliberately exaggerated black power stereotype and instead found some of the characters points about Star Wars interesting to seriously consider.


---

Kind of figured I'd be one of the higher ones here.

---

Outlier Ranking
Snake - 164
Metal - 149
Johnbobb - 126
Inviso - 117
KBM - 116
JONA - 100
PrinceKaro - 86
Charon - 85
Gen - 73

...sorry snake

---

Snake5555555555 posted...

Kind of figured I'd be one of the higher ones here.

sorry bud, this list is really kinda given you the business

---

I guess I should be happy that my lowest placers are falling now, but instead I just feel like we should return to the portion of the list where my top half movies were dropping like flies.

---

I know Siskel & Ebert raved about that film. Can't say I've ever been particularly interested in Kevin Smith movies though.

---

25. The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert
Total score: 196

Inviso - 10
Metal - 12
Gen - 19
John - 19
Charon - 20
KBM - 22
Karo - 27
Snake - 33
JONA - 34

Inviso
With the two exceptions of blatant homophobia leading to graffiti and later physical assault, this
was a fun, road trip movie. The three main characters complement each other well by
showcasing the spectrum of homosexuality present in the drag queen community. Bernadette
was the older trans woman who just had no time for the hyperactive shenanigans of her younger
companions, Felicia was the campy, over-the-top queen, and right in between them, you have
Mitzi, trying to use the trip as a final escape from the reality of fatherhood. The characters
bounce off each other well, and though its clear they stand out in a negative way among the
backwoods regions of Australia, it still feels like they have a nice enough time experiencing the
country as they drive their increasingly-flamboyant bus around. It was just a largely light-
hearted and enjoyable film.

Metal
Nothing less than a road movie in the best tradition, seasoned with snappy wit, striking cinematography, and subtle insights into its subjects, living or not, throughout. Indeed, it hardly ever feels like anything less than a 100% real affirmative work of fiction through all the wacky twists and turns - except, alas, in its cringeworthy portrayal of Filipina character Cynthia. The credits deserve a special shoutout for managing to preserve the preceding films joyous and subversive vein with dessert-extolling subtitles and a post-credits scene well before the MCU made them hip. With all that said, I think the crucial reason I sparked to this movie from the get-go is because I find self-confidence in ones difference beautiful, and for Priscillas passengers as often in life, performance is the key avenue of self-confident expression.

Gen
I was actually enthralled for most of The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, until it started getting a little repetitive. The antics of Adam teasing Bernadette by calling her by her dead name, the bus breaking down, and especially the drag performances started to well... drag by the end because the same songs were repeated ad nauseum and that got old pretty fast. Still, I liked Bernadette's connection with Bob, and Bob's frustrations with his crazy mail order ex-bride. Especially touching is Tick/Mitzi's supportive relationship with his wife and his budding relationship with his son.

John
Why I Chose It
Considered to be one of the biggest LGBT cult classics. The film centers on three drag queens (one of whom is a trans woman) on a bus journey across the desert, dealing with struggles in their relationships, identities and the homophobic people around them. Ultimately it celebrates everything LGBT and one of the earliest mainstream films to do such. It was largely celebrated for its costuming and positive portrayals of the main three, but also picked up controversy for it's racist portrayal of a Filipina woman.

What I Thought
The Adventures of Priscilla is just nonstop fun from start to finish. It takes its characters seriously and treats them with respect... with the exception of one obvious and upsettingly racist portrayal that ultimately keeps this movie from being as great of a classic as it should be.

Charon
(no write-up submitted)

KBM
A very entertaining movie with only a couple of asterisks. First of all, there's the
character of Cynthia. She's just painful to watch by today's standards. I've read some
things that try in earnest to reframe this character as a positive representation of a
Filipina character, but I just don't see it. A loud, obnoxious walking stereotype who
pops ping-pong balls out of her pussy, she's an uncomfortable blight on an otherwise
pretty great film. Also it has to be said that while Guy Pearce is great in his role, his
character is sometimes a little too obnoxious, especially in the scenes where he
deadnames Bernadette. All that being said, however, this is a hell of a fun movie
overall, with wonderful lead performances by Terence Stamp and Hugo Weaving,
beautiful costumes, fittingly campy choreography, and a touching main storyline about
queer acceptance. I also loved Bob the mechanic. I don't have much specific to say
about him, he's just a great side character who really helps to drive the overall
message home without being preachy. Great soundtrack, too.

Karo
Three drag queens go on a road trip through the outback and discover that australian rednecks are just as [censored] as american ones.
Bernadette quickly establishes herself as the best character via her witty and sarcastic quips and the movie is
marginally entertaining throughout. Well, minus the weird uncomfortable segment where they meet a man with a
asian wife who talks like a vietnamese prostitute and shoots ping pong balls out of her ass. This is so offensive on
so many levels.
Ii does end on the touching note of one of them meeting their son who is like the coolest little boy ever, and the
third (and hopefully last) performance of Mamma Mia in these projects.

Score: 62/100

Snake
A fun-time with some off-color performances bolstering a classic road trip set-up. It's very "zingy" and while I did laugh a lot I don't think it was incredible or anything. More of an enjoyable diversion than anything, but the use of drag culture is still well-executed.

JONA
While it can be colorful and camp, I never found it to be appealing or all that funny.


---

Wow you all are bad at this :(

---

Outlier Ranking
Snake - 172
Metal - 161
Johnbobb - 132
Inviso - 132
KBM - 119
JONA - 109
Charon - 90
PrinceKaro - 88
Gen - 79

Almost no change beyong Vis closing the gap for 3rd and Karo dropping down one spot above Gen, whose solidly held last place for most of the contest

---

I wanted to expand on the movie's portrayal of Cynthia in my write-up, but I felt that the rest of what I had written made an ungainly fit, so instead I decided to type up a post here:

I'd argue it's pretty self-evident that her depiction was a blight on her film, as four of us pointed out; for myself, I can say that I might have placed it in my top 5 otherwise. However, I do think the character as written was important to the plot, low show act and all, and I think removing her outright would have rendered the movie a tad disjointed. The significance of Bob deciding to join our main trio was predicated on the implication that he was straight, which wouldnt have been there without a wife, and likewise, Bobs wife leaving him gave him a strong in-universe reason to abandon his existing life. Even Cynthias arguably demeaning routine felt more like an act of empowerment in the context of the events around it, which also established the risks and stakes of our main trios performance. Heck, the character could have still been Filipina on top of that without too many problems, but having her speak solely in English broken in a way that may very well have been the crucial inspiration for Jar Jar Binks was the totally unnecessary straw that broke the camels back, as far as I see it at least.

---

24. The Boys in the Band
Total score: 191

Gen - 3
Inviso - 8
Charon - 14
JONA - 19
KBM - 25
John - 27
Metal - 29
Snake - 32
Karo - 34

Gen
The first half of The Boys in the Band is a whole lot of buildup. Aside from the strange opening crawl the movie wastes little time in establishing who the main character is and the kind of people he likes to associate with. Aside from Emory Michael's friends don't stand out much, but this will be more than compensated for in the second half. Everything takes a turn when Alan and Harold arrive. From then on out, this movie is nothing less than absolutely gripping. It's bitter, raw, and ugly like a train wreck you can't tear your eyes away from, unapologetic in its truthfulness, and yet tinged with just a hint of deceptiveness in that you don't know for certain whether Alan is closeted and just taking his marital frustrations out on openly gay acquaintances because they're able to be true to themselves in a way that he can't be, or if he is genuinely homophobic. There are certain things I wish the movie spent more time elaborating such as why recovering alcoholic Michael inexplicably starts drinking or what exactly was written on the framed picture, but the movie didn't even have enough time for all the phonecalls so it's for the best that it retains a bit of mystery. Regardless of the pacing issues, which I suppose translate much more readily to the stage than the screen, this was a true delight.

Inviso
Im honestly surprised I enjoyed this as much as I did, if only because how little action happened
throughout the film. I looked it up, and this was a movie adapted from a play, and it really
shows. Theres pretty much one set and the whole movie takes place there, with dramatic
reveals and character interactions throughout, and no one leaves until the very end. Its just a
pressure cooker and the flow of alcohol allows for the characters to open up and perhaps reveal
their true selves. Now, in this plot, its pivotal that almost every character is gay or bisexual
(hard to say for SURE if Alan is), because that directly impacts how they interact with
societybut at the same time, they feel so average as human beings. Like, for a movie about
half a dozen gay guys having a party, they feel like real people, dealing with real life and they
HAPPEN to be gay as well. For a movie in which gay identity is so integralI appreciated the
humanity on display from everyone involved.

Charon
(no write-up submitted)

JONA
While Act I makes for a decent introduction to the cast, Act II is where things really get interesting. The
game they play gets quite intense with Michael acting like a control freak and creating a tense
atmosphere. A lot of the backstories of the characters is told rather than shown, which is kind of
excusable learning that this was a stage play. Even though the information is told it helps the actors
show their emotional sides which make up for it.

KBM
On a list filled with gay, this might just be the capital-G Gayest movie on the list.
Without prior knowledge, one could immediately tell that this was based on a play, as
apart from the first five minutes that show people walking around New York City for
seemingly no other reason other this is a movie, the entire thing takes place in a
single apartment. What was a pleasant surprise was how engaging it managed to be
despite that. The performances all feel authentic, and the inimitable William Friedkin
brings his signature visual style and keeps things interesting, without injecting so
much stylism that it distracts from the story and dialogue. Admittedly, I'm not too wild
about the fact that all of the characters are miserable and wallowing in their own self-
pity the entire way through. In hindsight, it also certainly plays into some stereotypes
about gay people, though said stereotypes are probably truer to gay life in New York
in the late '60s/early '70s than they are today. Cliff Gorman's Emory is probably the
worst in this regard, although his over-the-top camp-ness seemingly irritates the rest
of the characters with enough regularity that it could actually be considered part of the
plot. All in all, it's a good movie, and one I enjoyed watching, but it's also a bit dated
and histrionic in a few key ways that prevent it from reaching any higher on this
stacked list.

John
Why I Chose It
It's one of the all-time most important LGBT films. It's an adaptation of the already groundbreaking play of the same name and is one of the first major films to focus on either gay characters or the gay lifestyle. This isn't just one, but almost an entire ensemble cast list composed of gay characters, released in 1970, right around the start of the American gay liberation movement of the era.

What I Thought
I haven't really known what to do with this one. It's obviously one of the most important films on this list and its inclusion was never for a moment in question. The performances are fantastic, partially because they're so goddamn hard to watch. Michael in particular churned my stomach, jostling me back and forth between being disgusted by him and his actions but also feeling for his obvious pain. I've talked a little before about how I'm not a big fan of stage-to-screen adaptations that don't properly take advantage of the medium (2016's Fences was a big offender) and there's definitely some of that here, but the brutal close-ups tend to make up for it. Ultimately I acknowledge this film's quality but don't want to see it again.

Metal
Notable to me most of all for the particularly tough time I had collecting my thoughts on it and ranking it relative to the rest of the list. What I can say is that it started on a beguiling note with wonderfully snappy, somewhat barbed repartee between its principals, which I could have listened to a whole movie of, outdated terminology be damned. Unfortunately, it gradually devolved into a stagy, unengaging "ick attack" as the two-dimensional characters revealed the depths of their mean-spiritedness and their situations grew ever more serious and uncomfortable. Yet that did seem to flow logically enough from its earliest bits, and I'm ultimately glad I watched it, even though I'd stop far short of calling it good.

Snake
A film that straddles that line between geninuely charming and relying too much on stereotypes. I understand at the time it was making great strides in cinema but it doesn't always work now removed from that time. The direction is also not the best, relying on standard close-ups and not too much else to make the film pop visually.

Karo
So this straight dude doesnt know one of his old buddies is gay, and so when he shows up unannounced for dinner
two hours of awkwardness ensues. This culminates in a series of even more awkward prank phone calls and the
movie ends with little having changed in anyone involved.
The story is very boring, none of the characters are memorable, and the writing thinks its funnier than it really is.
There's not really much to say about the film, it's all very dull and is getting a remake for some ungodly reason.

Score: 40/100


---

Outlier Ranking
Snake - 180
Metal - 166
Inviso - 148
Johnbobb - 135
KBM - 120
JONA - 114
Charon - 100
Gen - 100
PrinceKaro - 98

Gen takes what is perhaps her first major hit of the contest thus far, finally losing her last place spot and leaving Karo as the last person to hit 3 digits.


---

Gotta say, I didn't expect that one to significantly outlast the 'Gauntlet-mandated old movies' portion of this list. Honestly, there's quite a few other movies I'm surprised are still in, especially I Love You Phillip Morris and all the subtitled films.

---