Monday, August 2, 2010

Jenni Olson's Top 7 Picks for The Best in LGBT Films

Jenni Olson, Wolfe Video's Director of E-Commerce & Consumer Marketnig, is one of the world's leading experts on LGBT cinema, having experience in virtually all realms of the independent film world.

Jenni's Countdown:

7. BIG EDEN
Big Eden tells a truly original tale of a thirty-something gay guy, Henry Hart (Arye Gross, Ellen, Six Feet Under) who returns to his childhood Montana home to confront his unrequited passion for his high school best friend.

6. DESERT HEARTS
Desert Hearts ranks as the all-time classic lesbian favorite romantic film - and also stands as the second-grossing lesbian-made lesbian feature of all time. (The Kids Are All Right has overtaken Desert Hearts and nabbed the top spot!)

5. WERE THE WORLD MINE
Armed with a magical love potion and empowered by dazzling musical fantasies, struggling with his identity and acceptance, adorable teen, Timothy (dreamy Tanner Cohen) turns his narrow-minded town gay while capturing the heart of Jonathon (buff Nathaniel David Becker), the rugby jock of his dreams.



4. AND THEN CAME LOLA
This wonderfully fun and sexy lesbian romp takes a tour through the streets of San Francisco as photographer Lola (the beautifully athletic Ashleigh Sumner) races to get a crucial meeting on time. As usual, Lola is running late. Her job and her girlfriend Casey (Jill Bennett, Dante's Cove, We Have To Stop Now) are on the line and Lola has three choices (ala the art house classic, Run, Lola, Run) to make it right.

3. GAY SEX IN THE 70S
Gay Sex in the 70s pays a steamy visit to the sexually charged period post-Stonewall, pre-AIDS (1969-1981) when gay men experienced an unprecedented sexual freedom.

2. BOY
Brand new from Auraeus Solito, director of The Blossoming of Maximo Oliveros, Boy is a delightful, sexy, romantic coming-of-age story about a young poet in Manila who discovers his sexuality and falls for a macho dancer. What beings as an erotic fascination turns into a beautiful personal journey about family and self-expression.

1. MADCHEN IN UNIFORM
German screen legend Romy Schneider stars as spirited teenage orphan, Manuela - who arrives at a strict all-girl boarding school where she falls in love with her teacher, Fraeulein von Bernburg (played by the beautiful young Lilli Palmer) much to the dismay of the school's authoritarian headmistress. Never before released on video! Includes special bonus featurette: From Manuel To Annabelle (in which director Katherine Brooks discusses how Madchen in Uniform inspired Loving Annabelle).

All of these except BOY and MADCHEN IN UNIFORM are also available to rent or buy from iTunes. Don't forget to check out Wolfe Video's selection at WolfeVideo.com

2 comments:

  1. Mitch Leib - Pittsburgh LGBT Film FestivalAugust 10, 2010 at 10:31 PM

    I do love Were The World Mine. It is one of my very favorites. That would make my top 7 for sure. The others I like, but I would have a few substitutions! :-)

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  2. I love the list and it has great films on it, however you left off one of the most moving films of young gay love out there... Beautiful thing made in 1996 starring Glen Berry and Ryan Mcbride as well as the great Garry Cooper.

    Synopsis for those who haven't seen or heard of the film:
    A tender love story set during a hot summer on a South-East London housing estate. Jamie, a relatively unpopular lad who bunks off school to avoid football, lives next door to Ste, a more popular athletic lad but who is frequently beaten up by his father and older brother. Such an episode of violence brings Jamie and Ste together: Sandra (Jamie's mum) offers refugee to Ste, who has to 'top-and-tail' with Jamie. Hence, the story tells of their growing attraction for one another, from initial lingering glances to their irrefutable love, which so magnificently illustrated at the end of the film. In deals with the tribulations of coming to terms with their sexuality and of others finding out, in light of Sandra's unwavering loyalty and defence of Jamie and the fear of repercussion should Ste's family find out. The plot is set against sub-texts of Sandra's desire to manage her own pub, and thus escape the estate, and of her new relationship with her hippy boyfriend Tony; and of Leah, the brassy girl next door who has been expelled from school and spends her time listening to Mama Cass records and tripping on a variety of drugs

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