The Ultimate Movie Journal

Movies ⚣ I

(updated 03/03/18)

100. Call me By your name  

It's the summer of 1983, and precocious 17-year-old Elio Perlman is spending the days with his family at their 17th-century villa in Lombardy, Italy. He soon meets Oliver, a handsome doctoral student who's working as an intern for Elio's father. Amid the sun-drenched splendor of their surroundings, Elio and Oliver discover the heady beauty of awakening desire over the course of a summer that will alter their lives forever.

99. Milk

This film about the life and death of pioneering gay politician Harvey Milk won two richly deserved Oscars, for Dustin Lance Black's screenplay and Sean Penn's performance in the title role. It does not make Milk a plaster saint but portrays him as fully and fallible human as well as a formidable crusader for the rights of all. 

98. Paris Is Burning

This documentary shone a bright light on the African-American, Latino, and LGBT communities involved in the New York City ball culture of the mid-to-late 1980s. Directed by Jennie Livingston, Paris Is Burning brought an underground aspect of LGBT culture to the mainstream. From the use of slang ("serving realness") to unforgettable quotes ("reading is fundamental"), the film has had a lasting impact on both LGBT and mainstream pop culture.

97. Cabaret

 In Berlin in 1931, American cabaret singer Sally Bowles meets British academic Brian Roberts, who is finishing his university studies. Despite Brian's confusion over his sexuality, the pair becomes lovers, but the arrival of the wealthy and decadent playboy Maximilian von Heune complicates matters for them both. This love triangle plays out against the rise of the Nazi party and the collapse of the Weimar Republic.  

96. The Boys in the Band

  Michaelis hosting a birthday celebration for a pal when he gets an unexpected visit from old friend Alan (Peter White). The problem is, Alan is straight and everyone else at the party is gay. Michael hopes to conceal his sexuality from Alan, but this charade doesn't last. After being outed, Michael turns on Alan, accuses him of being a closeted gay and forces him to partake in a revealing party game that has devastating consequence  

95. Philadelphia

  Fearing it would compromise his career, lawyer Andrew Beckett hides his homosexuality and HIV status at a powerful Philadelphia law firm. But his secret is exposed when a colleague spots the illness's telltale lesions. Fired shortly afterward, Beckett resolves to sue for discrimination, teaming up with Joe Miller, the only lawyer willing to help. In court, they face one of his ex-employers top litigators, Belinda Conine  

94. Spa night

  A closeted Korean-American teenager takes a job at a Korean spa to help his struggling family, only to discover an underground world of gay sex at the spa that both scares and excites him  

93. Moonlight

  A chronicle of the childhood, adolescence and burgeoning adulthood of a young, African-American, gay man growing up in a rough neighborhood of Miami.