4. Brokeback Mountain (2005)

What? — Even someone with no more than a trifling interest in queer cinema will surely cringe at the thought of reading yet another Brokeback Mountain plot summary, so here it is for the stubborn few out there who've successfully blocked out all gay cowboy hysteria from their consciousness. Oh, and shame on you.

Two young men, rancher Ennis (Heath Ledger) and aspiring rodeo cowboy Jack (Jake Gyllenhaal), meet in the summer of 1963 while serving a brief stint as sheepherders on Brokeback Mountain in Wyoming. Over the course of the summer, their relationship takes an unexpected turn when their repressed feelings for one another come to the surface during one brief — albeit intense — sexual encounter. They part ways by the summer's end and the depth of their emotional connection is slowly revealed in instances of agonizing romantic longing.

The remainder of the film documents the powerful, life-long bond the two men struggle to keep up while shrouding their encounters in secrecy. As complications to their affair lead to inevitable repercussions in their family life, Jack says plaintively to Ennis about their impassioned trysts: "Brokeback got us good, don't it?"

Why? — Many of the critics I polled included Brokeback on their list, Neil Giuliano being one of them. "By showing that the love between two men could be as beautiful, profound and tragic as the love between a man and a woman — and by not shying away from the sexuality of the characters — Hollywood moved gay romance into the cultural mainstream," says Giuliano. "Its amazing visibility and Oscar nomination in a time of public debate about LGBT lives add to the significance of the film."

For starters, Brokeback gets the distinction of being the most decorated gay-themed film in Hollywood history on top of being the most honoured film of 2005. Oscars, Golden Globes, Bafta film awards, the Golden Lion in Venice and even a supposedly racy MTV Movie Award for "Best Kiss," confirming that the younger generation isn't as uptight about queer love as everyone else. Critics were unequivocal in hailing the film as a heart-wrenching, deeply affecting tale of two star-crossed lovers, conjuring up imagery from the classic romantic tragedy Romeo and Juliet.

Of course, who can forget the innumerable controversies elicited by the film? The media regularly reported on updates to various Brokeback scandals leading up to the now infamous unexpected Oscar night defeat. Among them, the Roman Catholic Church rated the film "O" for morally offensive; it was banned in most Arab countries; GLAAD got riled up after a Today Show pundit described Gyllenhaal's character as a "sexual predator"; a Latter Day Saint in Utah pulled the film from his entertainment complex; conservative political pundits accused Hollywood of pushing a political agenda and called the film propaganda that "glorifies homosexuality."

The film garnered so much media coverage that it also became a choice target for comedians in search of pop culture parodies. And who hasn't heard of Bareback Mountain? On many levels, it can be inferred that Brokeback pushed rural America out of the closet and on the path to embracing sexual diversity.

Almost Made the Cut: Lonesome Cowboys (Andy Warhol, 1969)

One of the first films to explore the possibility that gay cowboys riding off together into the sunset wasn't a perversion-fueled myth, Lonesome Cowboys nevertheless greatly differs from Brokeback both structurally and stylistically. One of Warhol's more widely distributed films, Lonesome was intended as a campy western version of Romeo and Juliet. And adding to the book of oddest Warhol controversies was an FBI investigation launched during the shooting to verify whether Warhol was carrying obscene footage of actual rape across state borders. No charges were ever made.

Next - Pink Flamingos

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