G&L Drama

Ang Lee's adaptation of E. Annie Proulx's story Brokeback Mountain stars Jake Gyllenhaal and Heath Ledger as young cowboys named Jack Twist and Ennis Del Mar. Each of them is hired to corral sheep on the title location and they soon bond very closely. Their platonic relationship explodes into a physical one, but eventually the two are separated when their job comes to an end. Although the two follow different life paths -- one becoming a father of two and the other marrying into a successful business -- they have a reunion years later. Each is affected profoundly by the rekindling of their old feelings for each other. Those feelings lead each to consider what continuing their hidden relationship would cost them. The screenplay was written by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide

The ins and outs of modern lesbian relationships are explored in serio-comic film. It is adapted from a stage play by Laura Hoffman. Loretta is lonely. As she is leaving Girl Bar she encounters a very beautiful woman, Rachel. Impetuously, Loretta bets a friend that she will have Rachel in her car within 10 minutes. Loretta wins the bet and Rachel goes home with her. As they talk, it becomes quickly apparent that while interested in a relationship, neither woman is free. Loretta is still with Annie who is in love with a heterosexual female. Rachel, still involved in a deteriorating marriage, is with Sandy. Loretta and Rachel decide to give it a try anyway, but their relationship is complicated by intrusions from their earlier relationships who present many obstacles. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

A typical frat rat has a secret lurking in his closet in this gay-themed drama. John "Griff" Griffith (Daniel Chilson) is a student at a college in Southern California, where he lives with his friends in a fraternity house. Griff's frat brothers and his best friend Todd (Niklaus Lange) don't know that he has been having an affair with Pete Bradley (Don Handfield), another member of the frat who lives in an off-campus apartment. While Griff acts "straight" and talks about women with his beer-drinking frat brothers, his involvement with Pete has been going on for some time. Pete has accepted his homosexuality and is tentatively inching out of the closet; he wants to have a real relationship with Griff, based on more than furtive sex, but Griff is unwilling to acknowledge that he is gay. Pete asks Griff to meet him at a gay coffeehouse; their conversation turns into an argument, and Pete storms off in a huff. The next day, Griff learns that Pete is in the hospital; while walking home, he was attacked by gay-bashing yahoos and is now in a coma. Griff must now resolve his confused sexual identity, as well as his feelings for Pete. Defying Gravity was the debut feature for writer/director John Keitel. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

This story chronicles the history of a gay relationship that is torn asunder by death. In the late '70s, Philip (Gregory Phelan) meets Guy (Kevin Spirtas) at a yard sale where they were both eyeing the same green plaid shirt. Shortly after that, they become lovers. In that heyday of the sexual revolution (before AIDS), "open" relationships in which one or both partners have outside sexual contacts were not uncommon, and that is what they try to have. Philip finds that he is not nearly as "open" as Guy, but they only cease to be lovers when Guy charmingly informs him that he's moving in with another man. Their friendship continues, however, until Guy's death of AIDS in 1988. Even though the film's focus is on a relationship, it handles this subject unsentimentally. The brash wit of the characters is one of the film's highlights. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

Sweet Home Alabama screenwriter C. Jay Cox directs the independent romance Latter Days. Christian (Wesley A. Ramsey) is a young gay party boy who lives in Southern California. When a group of good-looking Mormon missionary guys move into his apartment complex, he's determined to pick one up. He ends up falling for sweet, innocent Mormon Aaron Davis (Steve Sandvoss), who's secretly struggling with his sexuality. Aaron slowly falls for Christian, even though he thinks he's shallow. The romance causes problems in both worlds. Christian tries to develop a conscience and ends up meeting Keith (Erik Palladino), a man dying of AIDS. Aaron has the difficult job of coming out to his mom (Mary Kay Place) and to his fellow missionaries. He comes against harsh criticism from the blatantly homophobic Ryder (Joseph Gordon-Levitt). Latter Days won awards at the Philadelphia Lesbian and Gay Film Festival and L.A. Outfest. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide

A bisexual travel writer assigned the task of covering Napa Valley's most romantic hot spots invites an old college friend to join him on his quest, only to find their attraction blossoming into something much more complex in writer/director Russell Brown's look at fidelity, promiscuity, and sexual morality in the modern era. Nathan (Cole Williams) is an L.A.-based writer preparing to pen an article about the Napa Valley wine district. Recognizing that a trip to wine country is always more fun when you invite a friend along, Nathan contacts old college friend Maggie (Amber Benson), who readily agrees to join him on his trip. Though both Nathan and Maggie currently have boyfriends, their attraction to one another finds wine tasting taking a back seat to an affair that raises numerous questions as to the fragility of intimate relationships when love knows no gender. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

A down-and-out gymnast receives a second chance at success and happiness in the debut feature from director Ned Farr. After being sidelined by an injury, Jane (Dreya Weber) settles into an unfulfilling life. But when she teams with Serena (Addie Yungmee) for an aerial gymnastics act, Jane gets a new opportunity to perform. Along the way, an unexpected attraction develops between the two women. The Gymnast won both the Audience Award and the Grand Jury Award at the 2006 L.A. Outfest and received honors at a number of other gay and lesbian film festivals. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide

Yossi (Ohad Knoller) is the stoic company commander of an Israeli Defense Forces unit on the Lebanese border. Jagger (Yehuda Levi), who got his nickname thanks to his fun-loving rock star appeal, is the platoon leader. They have a secret. When they walk off in the snow together, it isn't because they're on patrol--it's because they're lovers. Jagger is more gregarious. He tells Yossi that he loves him, and longs to hear Yossi say it back to him. He makes plans for their future together, urging Yossi to leave the army with him when Jagger's mandatory service is done. Yossi can't bring himself to make any promises. "This isn't some. . .American movie," he tells Jagger. The colonel (Sharon Reginiano) arrives with two female soldiers, the irrepressible sexpot Goldie (Hani Furstenberg) and her more introspective friend Yaeli (Aya Koren of Late Marriage), who harbors a serious crush on Jagger, and is herself pursued by Jagger's nosy roommate, Ofir (Assi Cohen). As the unit's perfectionist chef, Yaniv (Erez Kahana) struggles to make a sumptuous meal for the commanding officer with meager supplies, the colonel tells Yossi that Hezbollah forces are expected to cross the border, and the already exhausted unit needs to set up an ambush that night. Yossi & Jagger, directed by Eytan Fox, was a critical and commercial hit in Israel. It was shown at the 2003 Berlin International Film Festival and had its U.S. premiere at the 2003 Tribeca Film Festival. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide

The opening film of the 49th International Berlin Film Festival in 1999, Aimée & Jaguar drew attention not only for the lesbian love story that it narrates, but equally for the political position of the lovers -- Aimée, the wife of a Nazi officer, and Jaguar, a Jewish journalist. The story is based on the memoirs of Lilly Wust (the Aimée character), who is 85 and still living in Germany. In 1943, as Allied bombers leave Berlin in ruins, Lilly Wust Juliane Köhler earns a Cross of Motherhood for bringing up four children while husband Günther Detlev Buck is away fighting on the eastern front. She leads a bourgeois existence, with occasional love affairs on the side, and the bust of Hitler is a prominent decoration in their flat. When Lilly receives a love letter signed 'Jaguar,' she suspects a male admirer. But it is the self-confident Felice Schragenheim Maria Schrader who initiates this forbidden romance. A passionate love affair begins amidst the bombing raids and the threat of persecution. Madly in love, Lilly wants to divorce her husband, which causes a terrible storm, not just because her lover is a woman, but because she is Jewish and fighting for the Resistance. But nothing stops the love-blind Lilly. The two women make a pact of love and marriage and try to block out the reality of war and persecution; however, the Gestapo soon catches up with them. Aimée & Jaguar is based on Erica Fischer's best-selling book, published in 1994 and translated into eleven languages; the real life Lilly Wust was 80 years old when she told Erica Fischer her story. Maria Schrader and Juliane Köhler shared the Silver Bear for the Best Actress at the 49th Berlin International Film Festival, for their roles in Aimée & Jaguar, while the film received the Teddy Award, given to films dealing with gay and lesbian issues. ~ Gönül Dönmez-Colin, All Movie Guide

Better Than Chocolate is a lesbian love story. Walking home from an evening at the lesbian club 'Cat's Ass,' Maggie is confronted by a gang of skinheads. Suddenly a minibus comes to a screeching halt and out jumps Kim. The skins move on, and Maggie thanks Kim, who watches her go. This is their first meeting. Maggie has recently dropped out of law school and now works in a women's shop. To avoid a confrontation with her mother, she makes up a success story and tells her that she's living in a beautiful apartment. As her mother is having her difficulties with her second husband, she decides to take her young son and come to live with Maggie for a while. Meanwhile, Maggie is housesitting the apartment of a female performer on tour. As fate might have it, she runs across Kim again and they find themselves at the new apartment making love in the shower -- at which moment Maggie's mother and little brother step in. The film was screened as part of the Panorama section of the 49th International Berlin Film Festival, 1999. ~ Gönül Dönmez-Colin, All Movie Guide

A free-spirited satirist and a staid sex therapist share a room on a writer's retreat for women and end up having a brief affair. Claire is a heterosexual writer who loves to sleep around, while lesbian Noel, the therapist, is still hurting from a recently failed relationship. Though the two women are total opposites, much of the film centers on their increasingly intimate philosophical discussions and debates held in the cabin of their Pacific Northwest retreat. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

A young homosexual leaves his small-town home in upstate New York, to take a metaphorical bite of the Big Apple. He settles right down to a hedonistic life in Greenwich Village where he learns to get down in more ways than one. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Two men in search of their soul mates discover that a little humor goes a long way in keeping love and attraction fresh in this romantic comedy starring Matthew Montgomery and Jeremy Lucas. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide