11. Sunday Bloody Sunday (1971)

What? — Sunday is the day that egocentric young English artist Bob (Murray Head) butchers the hearts of his two older lovers by taking off indefinitely for the Big Apple. The film chronicles Bob's final week of bed-hopping between Dr. Daniel Hirsh (Peter Finch) and divorcée Alex Greville (Glenda Jackson), with his impending departure weighing heavily on the minds of his two paramours. But while the middle-aged, gay Jewish doctor accepts the ambiguous relationship for what it is, the outspoken Alex repeatedly confronts her lover boy about the unsatisfying love triangle she finds herself cornered into.

''I know you feel you're not getting enough of me, but you're getting all there is,'' says the self-indulgent Bob in an attempt to brush off one of Alex's jealous outbursts.

The story line departs from cinematic conventions from the get-go, when it is made clear that partners on both ends of the romantic equation are aware of Bob's involvement with the other. And there's no mistaking the humane depiction of the doctor, struggling to find the courage to live his love life openly, as anything other than a landmark performance in queer cinema.

Why? — The first real-deal, man-to-man — and dare I say passionate — screen kiss in mainstream cinema obviously had to come from a foreign country that was less sexually repressed than an America still reeling from Hays Code paranoia. In fact, Britain's Sunday tackles bisexuality with restraint and a nonchalant attitude that enraged many U.S. theater owners, to the point of their refusing to screen the picture.

In an era of highly politicized art, Sunday can nevertheless claim the title of the first picture to depict male homosexuality without judgment in a mainstream melodrama. Oscar-winning director John Schlesinger, whose body of work is imbued with a queer sensibility, crafted powerful and daring representations of aberrant characters driven by the same goals of love, happiness and comfort as the average Joe. In Sunday, both Alex and Daniel must contend with ''half a loaf,'' as Daniel describes it in his closing monologue, or nothing at all.

Some scenes in Sunday are quite evocative of the time period they're taken from — namely the big screen debut of Daniel Day Lewis ( My Beautiful Laundrette) as one of the many pot-smoking hellions Alex and Bob babysit. The film sits at the very top of Alonso Duralde's top five because "it's one of the first films to deal with homosexuality and bisexuality without freaking out about it. The amorous kiss between Peter Finch and Murray Head doesn't hurt, either."

Almost Made the Cut: Making Love (Arthur Hiller, 1982)

A highly controversial release that sparked disgust among many straight moviegoers who couldn't bear the sight of two men in affectionate embrace, this well-meaning but ultimately bland effort to appeal to heterosexual audiences definitely doesn't age well.

In the film, a married man gradually comes to terms with his sexuality and is forced to negotiate his time between his wife and newfound lover. Its irksome political correctness prevents the script from rising above the didactic, but it should nevertheless be championed for its audacity in tackling the homosexual identity.

Neil Giuliano and Basil Tsiokos both selected Making Love for their top five, and Tsiokos added that "while it ultimately proved a commercial failure, the film was way ahead of its time in attempting to deal with gay themes in a sensitive and mature fashion in a major studio release featuring popular actors."

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