Top 100 Gay, Lesbian & Transgender Film Recommendations

by christiaan-mc-1 | created - 18 Jun 2011 | updated - 18 Jun 2011 | Public

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1. A Single Man (2009)

R | 99 min | Crime, Drama, Romance

77 Metascore

An English professor, one year after the sudden death of his boyfriend, is unable to cope with his typical days in 1960s Los Angeles.

Director: Tom Ford | Stars: Colin Firth, Julianne Moore, Matthew Goode, Nicholas Hoult

Votes: 114,345 | Gross: $9.17M

2. Suddenly, Last Summer (1959)

Approved | 114 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller

54 Metascore

A surgeon is assigned the case of a young woman whose aunt wants her lobotomized to cover up a family secret.

Director: Joseph L. Mankiewicz | Stars: Elizabeth Taylor, Katharine Hepburn, Montgomery Clift, Albert Dekker

Votes: 16,132 | Gross: $13.90M

3. Brokeback Mountain (2005)

R | 134 min | Drama, Romance

87 Metascore

Ennis and Jack are two shepherds who develop a sexual and emotional relationship. Their relationship becomes complicated when both of them get married to their respective girlfriends.

Director: Ang Lee | Stars: Jake Gyllenhaal, Heath Ledger, Michelle Williams, Randy Quaid

Votes: 364,667 | Gross: $83.04M

4. Transamerica (2005)

R | 103 min | Adventure, Comedy, Drama

66 Metascore

A transgender woman takes an unexpected journey when she learns that she mothered a son, now a teenage runaway hustling on the streets of New York.

Director: Duncan Tucker | Stars: Felicity Huffman, Kevin Zegers, Fionnula Flanagan, Andrea James

Votes: 41,701 | Gross: $9.02M

5. Soldier's Girl (2003 TV Movie)

R | 112 min | Biography, Crime, Drama

The true story of the price a young soldier paid for falling in love with a transsexual night-club performer.

Director: Frank Pierson | Stars: Troy Garity, Lee Pace, Andre Braugher, Shawn Hatosy

Votes: 7,014

6. Boys Don't Cry (1999)

R | 118 min | Biography, Crime, Drama

86 Metascore

A young man named Brandon Teena navigates love, life, and being transgender in rural Nebraska.

Director: Kimberly Peirce | Stars: Hilary Swank, Chloë Sevigny, Peter Sarsgaard, Brendan Sexton III

Votes: 99,821 | Gross: $11.53M

7. The Color Purple (1985)

PG-13 | 154 min | Drama

78 Metascore

A black Southern woman struggles to find her identity after suffering abuse from her father and others over four decades.

Director: Steven Spielberg | Stars: Danny Glover, Whoopi Goldberg, Oprah Winfrey, Margaret Avery

Votes: 89,377 | Gross: $98.47M

8. Notes on a Scandal (2006)

R | 92 min | Crime, Drama, Romance

73 Metascore

A veteran high school teacher befriends a younger art teacher, who is having an affair with one of her fifteen-year-old students. However, her intentions with this new "friend" also go well beyond a platonic friendship.

Director: Richard Eyre | Stars: Cate Blanchett, Judi Dench, Andrew Simpson, Tom Georgeson

Votes: 80,806 | Gross: $17.51M

9. Far from Heaven (2002)

PG-13 | 107 min | Drama, Romance

84 Metascore

In 1950s Connecticut, a flustered housewife faces a marital crisis and mounting racial tensions in the outside world.

Director: Todd Haynes | Stars: Julianne Moore, Dennis Quaid, Dennis Haysbert, Patricia Clarkson

Votes: 47,530 | Gross: $15.85M

10. The Hours (2002)

PG-13 | 110 min | Drama, Romance

80 Metascore

The story of how the novel "Mrs. Dalloway" affects three generations of women, all of whom, in one way or another, have had to deal with suicide in their lives.

Director: Stephen Daldry | Stars: Meryl Streep, Nicole Kidman, Julianne Moore, Stephen Dillane

Votes: 134,132 | Gross: $41.68M

11. Female Perversions (1996)

R | 120 min | Drama, Fantasy, Thriller

An ambitious female attorney wallows in excess and meaningless sex with both male and female partners, while dealing with her personal life problems including helping her kleptomaniac sister.

Director: Susan Streitfeld | Stars: Tilda Swinton, Amy Madigan, Karen Sillas, Frances Fisher

Votes: 2,564 | Gross: $0.88M

12. Milk (I) (2008)

R | 128 min | Biography, Drama, History

83 Metascore

The story of Harvey Milk, and his struggles as an American gay activist who fought for gay rights and became California's first openly gay elected official.

Director: Gus Van Sant | Stars: Sean Penn, Josh Brolin, Emile Hirsch, Diego Luna

Votes: 175,350 | Gross: $31.84M

13. Kinsey (2004)

R | 118 min | Biography, Drama, Romance

79 Metascore

A look at the life of Alfred Kinsey, a pioneer in the area of human sexuality research, whose 1948 publication "Sexual Behavior in the Human Male" was one of the first recorded works that saw science address sexual behavior.

Director: Bill Condon | Stars: Liam Neeson, Laura Linney, Chris O'Donnell, Peter Sarsgaard

Votes: 49,937 | Gross: $10.21M

14. De-Lovely (2004)

PG-13 | 125 min | Biography, Drama, Music

53 Metascore

Inspecting a magical biographical stage musical, composer Cole Porter reviews his life and career with his wife, Linda.

Director: Irwin Winkler | Stars: Kevin Kline, Ashley Judd, Jonathan Pryce, Kevin McNally

Votes: 11,542 | Gross: $13.34M

15. Gods and Monsters (1998)

R | 105 min | Biography, Drama

74 Metascore

The last days of Frankenstein (1931) director James Whale are explored.

Director: Bill Condon | Stars: Ian McKellen, Brendan Fraser, Lynn Redgrave, Lolita Davidovich

Votes: 31,731 | Gross: $6.39M

16. Love Is the Devil: Study for a Portrait of Francis Bacon (1998)

Unrated | 87 min | Biography, Drama, Romance

Biography of British painter Francis Bacon focuses on his relationship with his lover, George Dyer, a former small time crook.

Director: John Maybury | Stars: Derek Jacobi, Daniel Craig, Tilda Swinton, Anne Lambton

Votes: 3,855 | Gross: $0.34M

17. Little Ashes (2008)

R | 112 min | Biography, Drama, History

41 Metascore

About the young life and loves of artist Salvador Dalí, filmmaker Luis Buñuel and writer Federico García Lorca.

Director: Paul Morrison | Stars: Robert Pattinson, Javier Beltrán, Matthew McNulty, Marina Gatell

Votes: 9,373 | Gross: $0.48M

18. Total Eclipse (1995)

R | 111 min | Biography, Drama, Romance

42 Metascore

Young, wild poet Arthur Rimbaud and his mentor Paul Verlaine engage in a fierce, forbidden romance while feeling the effects of a hellish artistic lifestyle.

Director: Agnieszka Holland | Stars: Leonardo DiCaprio, David Thewlis, Romane Bohringer, Dominique Blanc

Votes: 16,104 | Gross: $0.34M

19. An Englishman in New York (2009)

Not Rated | 75 min | Biography, Drama

The later years of Quentin Crisp's life in New York City.

Director: Richard Laxton | Stars: John Hurt, Denis O'Hare, Jonathan Tucker, Cynthia Nixon

Votes: 1,505

20. Infamous (2006)

R | 110 min | Biography, Crime, Drama

68 Metascore

While researching his novel "In Cold Blood", Truman Capote develops a close relationship with convicted murderers Dick Hickock and Perry Smith.

Director: Douglas McGrath | Stars: Toby Jones, Daniel Craig, Sandra Bullock, Sigourney Weaver

Votes: 17,647 | Gross: $1.15M

21. Capote (2005)

R | 114 min | Biography, Crime, Drama

88 Metascore

In 1959, Truman Capote learns of the murder of a Kansas family and decides to write a book about the case. While researching for his novel In Cold Blood, Capote forms a relationship with one of the killers, Perry Smith, who is on death row.

Director: Bennett Miller | Stars: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Clifton Collins Jr., Catherine Keener, Allie Mickelson

Votes: 135,742 | Gross: $28.75M

22. In Cold Blood (1967)

R | 134 min | Biography, Crime, Drama

89 Metascore

Two ex-cons murder a family in a robbery attempt, before going on the run from the authorities. The police try to piece together the details of the murder in an attempt to track down the killers.

Director: Richard Brooks | Stars: Robert Blake, Scott Wilson, John Forsythe, Paul Stewart

Votes: 27,447

23. Rope (1948)

Approved | 80 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery

73 Metascore

Two men attempt to prove they committed the perfect crime by hosting a dinner party after strangling their former classmate to death.

Director: Alfred Hitchcock | Stars: James Stewart, John Dall, Farley Granger, Dick Hogan

Votes: 146,646

24. Swoon (1992)

Unrated | 93 min | Crime, Drama

The true story of gay lovers, Richard Loeb and Nathan Leopold Jr. Who kidnapped and murdered a child in the early 1920s for kicks. The plot covers the months before the crime, the investigation, trial and final fate of the two men.

Director: Tom Kalin | Stars: Daniel Schlachet, Craig Chester, Ron Vawter, Michael Kirby

Votes: 1,867 | Gross: $0.34M

25. Burnt Money (2000)

R | 125 min | Crime, Drama, Romance

68 Metascore

Nene & Angel and their accomplice Cuervo participate in a botched bank robbery in 1965 Buenos Aires, then hide out from the police in Uruguay while the gang breaks down.

Director: Marcelo Piñeyro | Stars: Eduardo Noriega, Leonardo Sbaraglia, Pablo Echarri, Leticia Brédice

Votes: 6,660 | Gross: $0.24M

26. Monster (2003)

R | 109 min | Biography, Crime, Drama

74 Metascore

Based on the life of Aileen Wuornos, a Daytona Beach prostitute who became a serial killer.

Director: Patty Jenkins | Stars: Charlize Theron, Christina Ricci, Bruce Dern, Lee Tergesen

Votes: 154,851 | Gross: $34.47M

27. Poison (1991)

R | 85 min | Drama, Horror, Romance

67 Metascore

A boy shoots his father and flies out the window. A man falls in love with a fellow inmate in prison. A doctor accidentally ingests his experimental sex serum, wreaking havoc on the community.

Director: Todd Haynes | Stars: Edith Meeks, Larry Maxwell, Susan Norman, Millie White

Votes: 4,704 | Gross: $0.61M

28. The Living End (1992)

Unrated | 81 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama

65 Metascore

Luke is a gay hustler. Jon is a movie critic. Both are HIV positive. They go on a hedonistic, dangerous journey, their motto "Fuck the world".

Director: Gregg Araki | Stars: Mike Dytri, Craig Gilmore, Mark Finch, Mary Woronov

Votes: 3,448 | Gross: $0.69M

29. Dog Day Afternoon (1975)

R | 125 min | Biography, Crime, Drama

86 Metascore

Three amateur bank robbers plan to hold up a bank. A nice simple robbery: Walk in, take the money, and run. Unfortunately, the supposedly uncomplicated heist suddenly becomes a bizarre nightmare as everything that could go wrong does.

Director: Sidney Lumet | Stars: Al Pacino, John Cazale, Penelope Allen, Sully Boyar

Votes: 261,433 | Gross: $50.00M

30. The Deep End (2001)

R | 101 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery

78 Metascore

A woman spirals out of control while trying to keep her son from being found culpable in a murder investigation.

Directors: Scott McGehee, David Siegel | Stars: Tilda Swinton, Goran Visnjic, Jonathan Tucker, Peter Donat

Votes: 11,781 | Gross: $8.82M

31. Deathtrap (1982)

PG | 116 min | Comedy, Crime, Mystery

54 Metascore

A Broadway playwright puts murder in his plan to take credit for a student's play.

Director: Sidney Lumet | Stars: Michael Caine, Christopher Reeve, Dyan Cannon, Irene Worth

Votes: 14,190 | Gross: $19.28M

32. Midnight Cowboy (1969)

R | 113 min | Drama

79 Metascore

A naive hustler travels from Texas to New York City to seek personal fortune, finding a new friend in the process.

Director: John Schlesinger | Stars: Dustin Hoffman, Jon Voight, Sylvia Miles, John McGiver

Votes: 113,933 | Gross: $44.79M

33. The History Boys (2006)

R | 109 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance

74 Metascore

An unruly class of gifted and charming teenage boys are taught by two eccentric and innovative teachers, as their headmaster pushes for them all to get accepted into Oxford or Cambridge.

Director: Nicholas Hytner | Stars: Richard Griffiths, Frances de la Tour, Clive Merrison, Samuel Anderson

Votes: 21,140 | Gross: $2.71M

34. Were the World Mine (2008)

Not Rated | 95 min | Adventure, Comedy, Fantasy

A bullied and demoralized gay student at an all-boys school uses a magical flower derived from Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream' to turn many in his community gay, including a comely rugby player for himself.

Director: Tom Gustafson | Stars: Tanner Cohen, Wendy Robie, Judy McLane, Zelda Williams

Votes: 5,762 | Gross: $0.12M

35. Latter Days (2003)

R | 107 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance

45 Metascore

A promiscuous gay party animal falls for a young Mormon missionary, leading to crisis, cliché, and catastrophe.

Director: C. Jay Cox | Stars: Wes Ramsey, Steve Sandvoss, Mary Kay Place, Amber Benson

Votes: 18,045 | Gross: $0.82M

36. Psycho Beach Party (2000)

Unrated | 95 min | Comedy, Horror, Mystery

42 Metascore

Chicklet is a sixteen-year old tomboy who's desperate to be part of the in-crowd of Malibu beach surfers. She's the typical American girl - except for one little problem: her personality is split into more slices than a pepperoni pizza.

Director: Robert Lee King | Stars: Lauren Ambrose, Nicholas Brendon, Thomas Gibson, Kimberley Davies

Votes: 6,286 | Gross: $0.27M

37. Touch of Pink (2004)

R | 91 min | Drama, Comedy, Romance

46 Metascore

A gay Canadian living in London has his perfectly crafted life upset when his devoutly Muslim mother comes to visit.

Director: Ian Iqbal Rashid | Stars: Jimi Mistry, Kris Holden-Ried, Suleka Mathew, Kyle MacLachlan

Votes: 4,366 | Gross: $0.56M

38. Farewell My Concubine (1993)

R | 171 min | Drama, Music, Romance

83 Metascore

Two boys meet at an opera training school in Peking in 1924. Their resulting friendship will span nearly 70 years and will endure some of the most troublesome times in China's history.

Director: Kaige Chen | Stars: Leslie Cheung, Fengyi Zhang, Gong Li, You Ge

Votes: 30,400 | Gross: $5.22M

39. The Crying Game (1992)

R | 112 min | Crime, Drama, Romance

90 Metascore

A British soldier kidnapped by the IRA soon befriends one of his captors, who then becomes drawn into the soldier's world.

Director: Neil Jordan | Stars: Stephen Rea, Jaye Davidson, Forest Whitaker, Miranda Richardson

Votes: 57,150 | Gross: $62.55M

40. Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (1997)

R | 155 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery

57 Metascore

A visiting city reporter's assignment suddenly revolves around the murder trial of a local millionaire, whom he befriends.

Director: Clint Eastwood | Stars: John Cusack, Kevin Spacey, Jack Thompson, Irma P. Hall

Votes: 40,185 | Gross: $25.08M

41. Kiss of the Spider Woman (1985)

R | 120 min | Drama

80 Metascore

A gay man and a political prisoner are together in a prison. The gay man narrates the stories of two fake movies and his own life.

Director: Hector Babenco | Stars: William Hurt, Raul Julia, Sonia Braga, José Lewgoy

Votes: 16,581 | Gross: $17.04M

42. The Pillow Book (1996)

Not Rated | 126 min | Drama

64 Metascore

A woman with a body writing fetish seeks to find a combined lover and calligrapher.

Director: Peter Greenaway | Stars: Vivian Wu, Ewan McGregor, Yoshi Oida, Ken Ogata

Votes: 13,258 | Gross: $2.29M

43. Naked Lunch (1991)

R | 115 min | Drama

67 Metascore

After developing an addiction to the substance he uses to kill bugs, an exterminator accidentally kills his wife, and becomes involved in a secret government plot being orchestrated by giant bugs in a port town in North Africa.

Director: David Cronenberg | Stars: Peter Weller, Judy Davis, Ian Holm, Julian Sands

Votes: 53,397 | Gross: $2.54M