Best LBT Movies

[ElDonia]

Just saw the "Tasty Bust" documentary and was amazed:



Discouraged that a "Stonewall" equivalent, with over 400 people subjected to strip searches by police, occured as recently as 1994 in Victoria, Australia.



But delighted with the bravery of Sally Gordon.



P.S. "The Celluloid Closet" is on Bravo today, 4pm CST

Edited by: xita  at: 12/11/04 6:39 pm

[Jimmi Magnus]

I will have to nominate the OBLS series in 8 parts made by the tv channel Danish Radio 2 (yeah...) a couple of years ago.

The abbreviation stands for Oblysning om Bøsser og Lesbiske til Samfundet (Information about Gay and Lesbians for Society).

Every episode consisted of tackling one subject about "life as gay" with interviews with gay people and a few comedy scetches about stereotypes.

Du skal ha lussinger i takt til musikken

[ElDonia]

These are some of the “lesbian” movies that have been on television lately. I have rated each movie in three separate categories: 1) Lesbian Content, 2) Lesbian Clichés and 3) Movie Overall. Each category is rated on a scale of zero to five stars, with five being the highest rating.



1) For Lesbian Content, more is better, i.e., having a lesbian as the main character(s) is better than only a minor character(s), but either of these is better than just having lesbian writer/director/producer credit. For example, two of the main characters in “Bobbie’s Girl” are lesbians, played by Rachel Ward and Bernadette Peters.



2) Note that more isn’t always better – as with Lesbian Clichés. The fewer clichés fulfilled the better. I don’t rate one cliché as worse than another, rather, the rating reflects the number or degree of clichés (the lesbian dies/turns evil/was just experimenting /focuses on parenting). For example, the main storyline in “Bobbie’s Girl” is Bobbie “inheriting” her sibling’s child.



3) Finally, the overall rating specifically excludes the other two factors as a basis for the rating. So, it includes things like script, production value, cinematography and whether I liked it (or, if you prefer, general entertainment value...)



Aimee & Jaguar: *****/*/****

Bar Girls: *****/*/*

Better than Chocolate: ****/*****/**

Bobbie’s Girl: ****/**/****

Bound: ****/*****/****

But I'm a Cheerleader: ****/*****/**

D.E.B.S.: ****/*****/****

Dr. T and the Women: **/*****/***

Fire: ***/*****/*****

Further Tales of the City: **/*/****

Gaudi Afternoon - **/****/** Ms. Davis should be allowed only in a community theatre

Go Fish: *****/*****/**

Heavenly Creature: *****/ /***

If These Walls Could Talk 2 - *****/***/*****

Kissing Jessica Stein - *****/ /***

Monkey's Mask: *****/***/ no, this is not a typo, this movie is absolutely terrible!!!

Monster: *****/ /**** serial killing is as bad as matricide (see Heavenly Creatures)

Personal Best - ****/*****/** sorry, but Hemingway’s character is obnoxiously whiny

Serving in Silence: Margarethe Cammermeyer Story - ****/***/****

The Truth About Jane: ***/*****/****

Under the Tuscan Sun: */*/****

What's Cooking?: **/***/****

[Gatito Grande]

Good idea, ED.



Here are some others (w/ my ratings---IF I understand your system! )



All Over Me: ****/****/***

An Unexpected Love: ****/****/*

Blow Dry:***/**/***

Desert Hearts: ****/****/***

Gia: ***/***/***

Lianna: ****/**/***

Peking Opera Blues: */**/**** (OK, this isn't really lesbian, except for a little subtext. But I do love it: actress Brigitte Lin---cross-dressing here---was an inspiration for Xena!)

Poison Ivy: **/**/** (extra point for co-star Sara Gilbert, who's OUT now)

Rocky Horror Picture Show: *(lesbian content. Polymorphously queer content, is ****!)/**/****

The Children's Hour: **/ /*** (the Cliche' tale---but it is a classic)

The Incredibly True Adventure of Two Girls in Love: ****/***/***

The Jewel in the Crown (miniseries): */*/**** (lesbian content is very minimal, and cliched: but I still think it's a great miniseries)

The Rose: */*/*** (minimal lesbian content, but a bravura performance by the Divine Miss M)

Tipping the Velvet (miniseries): ****/****/*** (I haven't seen the uncensored version yet)



GG I note that "Show Me Love" (aka, memorably, "Fucking Amal" ) hasn't been listed: I haven't been able to see it myself yet Out



I bet there's more I can't remember---

[urnofosiris]

Quote:

---

2) Note that more isn’t always better – as with Lesbian Clichés. The fewer clichés fulfilled the better. I don’t rate one cliché as worse than another, rather, the rating reflects the number or degree of clichés (the lesbian dies/turns evil/was just experimenting /focuses on parenting). For example, the main storyline in “Bobbie’s Girl” is Bobbie “inheriting” her sibling’s child.

---

This confuses me a little. I understand that less cliches is better obviously, but how does that translate to the amount of * you give. I thought the more **** would mean a greater cliche content, but looking at the movies you list it must be the other way around.

[ElDonia]

Quote:

---

I thought the more **** would mean a greater cliche content, but looking at the movies you list it must be the other way around.

---

You got it! And thanks for the clarification -- I wanted more stars to represent "better" in all three categories, so you're right -- the more cliches, the fewer stars.



If a movie has no Lesbian Cliches at all, it gets five stars in that category. So "The Children's Hour," "Lost and Delirious," "Heavenly Creatures" and "Monster" get no stars.



I also wanted to add a rating for one of my favorites:

When Night is Falling: ****/****/*****



And finally, a "correction," since Hemingway's character returns to men in the end:

Quote:

---

Personal Best: ****/*****/** sorry, but Hemingway’s character is obnoxiously whiny

---

Personal Best: ****/*/** sorry, but Hemingway’s character is obnoxiously whiny

Edited by: ElDonia at: 1/5/05 10:29 am

[urnofosiris]

I got confused when you started it by saying more is not necessarily better.

It makes sense this way though, more stars imply something positive, so less lesbian cliches should get a movie more stars. I have only seen a few of the movies in your list, but I agree with your ratings, so I trust I´d agree with the ones I have not seen as well, which gives me a pretty good idea about which ones to avoid, heh.

[silentinformer]

one of the funniest movies about lesbians in my opinion is a short film called The Ten Rules it is on a short film collection called Watching You it was written and produced by michelle paradise who also stars in it. Swear to god I almost fell of the couch laughing its only 20 minutes long but definitley worth seeing.

It's like I can't breathe, It's like I can't see anything, Nothing but you, I'm addicted to you



- Kelly Clarkson "Addicted"

[aceivan]

I watched When Love Comes on DVD last night, a New Zealand movie about 6 gay, lesbian and straight friends. Although its a little dark at times there's no cliche.



And I loved the way it ended!



Len

"Normal is nothing more than a cycle on a washing machine." Whoopi Goldberg

[Gatito Grande]

Y'all like a nice lil indie lesbian movie? Check out this trailer, here.



GG Now, if only I could *see* the thing, on my crappy monitor! Oh, well, it looks kinda cute: maybe in a slightly sexier "Kissing Jessica Stein" kinda way? "Nice Jewish lesbians"! Out

[TaraLivesOn]

"I've Heard the Mermaids Singing" is an oldie but a GREAT indy movie, finally out on DVD (Blockbuster should have it):

www.amazon.com/exec/obido...B0000DZ3BN

The main character vaguely reminds me of Tara in certain ways.





I also just rented a French (subtitled) movie called "Amour de Femme" which is supposed to be pretty good...

www.amazon.com/exec/obido...B0002MFG7S

People say if you liked "When Night is Falling" (which I loved) you will like it. Came out late last year.

[vix84]

I loved 'If these walls could talk 2'.



Eek, 'Monster' freaked my gf and I out. Depressing much? And OMG 'Heavenly Creatures' was worse, possibly. Even thinking about that movie makes me feel all icky.

~*@.......We are the weirdest person in the world.......@*~