Comedian Rosie O'Donnell dons her crusader's cap in this touching documentary that tags along on the first cruise for gay and lesbian families who sail toward, ironically, a homophobic greeting in the Bahamas. Director Shari Cookson interlaces the personal stories of passengers -- who include not only same-sex couples but their heterosexual parents, siblings and friends -- with film of shipboard shows and adoption seminars for the voyagers.
Tony Kushner's groundbreaking, Pulitzer Prize-winning Broadway play (the basis for this 6-hour HBO dramatic miniseries) took more than 10 years to make it to the small screen. Starring Al Pacino (as real-life legal counsel Roy Cohn) and Meryl Streep, Angels is at once heartbreaking and funny as it examines the first few years (the mid-1980s) of the AIDS epidemic against the moral absolutism and unresponsive backdrop of the Reagan Administration.
When an earnest teenage groupie (Isild Le Besco) agrees to run errands for charismatic pop idol Lauren Waks (Emmanuelle Seigner) -- the singer she's dreamed of getting to know ever since they "met" during a superficial promotion -- she learns the glamorous life isn't everything she hoped it would be. Emmanuelle Bercot directs this French-language study of ambition and celebrity in her feature film debut.
This wrenching documentary chronicles the trial and aftermath of a brutal gay-bashing in France in 2002. The drowning of Francois Chenu, at the hands of three neofascist skinheads, leads to a lengthy trial with many unexpected revelations -- particularly from the parents and sister of the deceased. Director Olivier Meyrou meticulously documents the family's remarkable journey from shock and grief to understanding and forgiveness.
Weaving the same set of characters into one suspenseful tale, seven female directors create a mesmerizing original film based on Jessica Wilbur's poem "Brushfires." The individual segments -- "Smoke," "Mirror," "Paint Yrself," "Cancerous Circus," "Girl," "The Wind Spreads" and "Into a Cloud" -- follow timid artist Cat and her volatile roommate, Melissa; the emotionally unhinged Dakota; and down-on-his-luck janitor Lenny.
Nine African American butch (masculine) lesbians individually talk to an unseen and unheard interviewer about various aspects of the butch lifestyle and their own personal lives. Topics include their look (clothing, hairstyles, lack of makeup, etc.), their realizations that they were "different" and their eventual coming out, their relationships with various family members, their partners, and other societal groups, the perceptions of society, and what it means to be "butch".
Studly Jarod (Jonathan Chase), nerdy Griff (Mitch Morris), flamboyAnt Nico (Jonah Blechman) and innocent Andy (Michael Carbonaro) all wAnt the same thing -- to lose their virginity -- and they'll paint the town lavender to do so in this gay take on the teen comedy genre. With naughty gags aplenty, there's lots to laugh at in this send-up that also features Lypsinka as one of the boys' mothers and a cameo from "Survivor" star Richard Hatch.
This fantasy comedy stars J. Andrew Keitch as a gay man who returns to high school and learns that being part of the in crowd isn't all it's cracked up to be. At 40, single Brad Jenkins (Keitch) feels like a loser -- till he's magically transported back to high school, where nearly all the students are now homosexual. Brad dates the hot jock (Tim Hammer), but everything changes when Brad's best pal (Joan Lauckner) arrives on the scene.
Brash lesbian Camille "Max" West (Guinevere Turner) is looking for romance in this hip, film festival favorite. Sick of hearing Max whine about her love life, her roommate sets Max up with the bashful, older -- and frumpy -- Ely (V.S. Brodie). Not surprisingly, their meeting doesn't exactly set off fireworks. But just as Max begins to believe she's destined to be alone, she discovers that life's best surprises sometimes come in ordinary packages.
Uptight literature professor Vivian Bell (Helen Shaver) heads to Reno, Nev., in 1959 for a quickie divorce. While staying with Frances Parker (Audra Lindley) at her ranch to establish residency, Bell meets Parker's adopted daughter (Patricia Charbonneau), a casino worker 10 years her junior. Bell finds herself increasingly drawn to the open and self-assured lesbian, and their developing intimacy releases buried emotions Bell has never explored.
Two luckless friends (played by James Corden and Mathew Horne) head to a hamlet in the Welsh countryside for a hiking holiday, only to find all the women of the village enslaved by an ancient vampire curse. Armed with crucifixes, axes and anything else they can add to their arsenal, the duo prepares to fight for their lives. Paul McGann and Silvia Colloca also star in this bitingly funny tale of horror from director Phil Claydon.
Comedy/ Romance - Raven, the lesbian pirate, has a seductive catchphrase (I don't want to ruin in for you) that is repeated, and every time it was said I found myself laughing out loud. The fact that you come to expect it just makes it funnier. Eventually, the straight women reading the book begin to imagine themselves as characters being seduced by the gay pirate, and they all lose their virtues to her all-too-persuasive charms.
Comedy/ Drama - I never, ever believed anyone would release this movie on DVD. Having seen it in a film class and hoping I'd maybe find a run-down VHS copy to have if I could ever get around to it, I was very, very surprised to go into work today and see it sitting so happily in the new arrivals section. I bought it immediately, before I even clocked on.
Drama/ Romance - Best performances from a young Shirley MacLaine and Audrey Hepburn. Excellent adaptation of Lillian Hellmans play about malicious gossip and prejudice. A must see for fans of classics.
Following the same premise as the first movie -- focusing on three different women from three generations who've occupied the same house -- this Emmy-winning follow-up trains its lens on three lesbian couples. In 1961, Edith (Vanessa Redgrave) loses her longtime companion. In the 1970s, collegiate Linda (Michelle Williams) falls for townie Amy (Chloë Sevigny). And in 2000, the house's inhabitants (Ellen DeGeneres, Sharon Stone) want to become parents.
Magazine editor Syd (Radha Mitchell) is stuck in a dreary relationship with her boyfriend (Gabriel Mann) when she befriends her upstairs neighbor Lucy (Ally Sheedy), a well-known photographer whose live-in actress girlfriend (Patricia Clarkson) is struggling with a drug addiction. Lucy fascinates Syd, and the pair hit it off. But when Syd calls on Lucy to do an assignment for the magazine, their friendship soon grows into something much more.
Born into an Indian expatriate family and raised in Glasgow, Nina (Shelley Conn) flees to London to avoid an arranged marriage. But when she returns home to run her family's struggling restaurant after her father's death, she discovers a new kind of love. Joining forces with the chef, Lisa (Laura Fraser), she works to win a cooking contest her father entered and save the restaurant. Soon, her blossoming feelings for Lisa take her by surprise.
When Tala (Lisa Ray) and Leyla (Sheetal Sheth) meet in London and begin to have feelings for each other, it's a problem. Tala's wealthy Middle Eastern family is currently planning her wedding, while Leyla is dating Tala's male friend. But as the forbidden feelings between the two women grow, they learn things about themselves that will change the course of their lives in this drama based on writer-director Shamim Sarif's autobiographical novel.
In a world where boundaries are rigidly defined, two wildly different women tentatively cross them in this story that focuses on their budding romance in apartheid South Africa. One (Sheetal Sheth) is a taxi-driving, café-owning rebel; the other (Lisa Ray) is a devoted mother and wife. Both learn lessons about themselves and their lives in their journey toward each other in this film from novelist-turned-director Shamim Sarif.
This exclusive "Sports of the 20th Century" presentation explores the personal and professional life of the landmark athlete and activist, whose remarkable career on the tennis court was equaled only by her impact on the struggle for women's equality during the 1970s. The documentary will tell the story of an athlete who revolutionized sports for women, in the process encouraging women to pursue endeavors outside the traditional realm of the home.
