The Year in Queer Movies

A sweet but odd scene in which the two drunk teens declare their love for one another in sleeping bags that fades to black (not to mention one character’s obsession with drawing penises) are the prime evidence, but ultimately it’s really about two adolescent friends learning to let go of their prepubescent bond. Gay? Kinda. A gay love story? That’s reaching a bit. Still, a funny movie and one that at least acknowledges that men can be close and emotionally intimate (sleeping bags or no).

The few (and the proud) gay films of 2007

Despite all the harping above, there were a few actual gay films with gay characters and stories that made it to theater screens this year. Of course, none achieved anything remotely approaching a wide release and most were limited to festival showings and a week in New York and LA, but honestly we’re used to that.

Prolific gay screenwriter John August (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Go, Big Fish) made his directing debut this year with the existential sci-fi comedy thriller The Nines, and the results were cryptic but oddly satisfying thanks to August's off-center sense of humor and obvious smarts. The three-part film stars the same actors in different roles and deals with themes of creative responsibility, friendship, betrayal, and self-destruction in a way that is intriguing, fresh, and occasionally absolutely hilarious.

It doesn't hurt that August's leading man, AfterElton Hot 100 vet Ryan Reynolds, is an extremely gifted comic actor ... or that he appears for the first 10 minutes of the film shirtless. In the second segment of the film, Reynolds plays a rather fussy gay Hollywood writer/producer based on August himself, and the delight of seeing Reynolds de-hunk himself into an adorable but bookish gay man is surpassed only by the delight of knowing that he is being directed by the man whose person he is loosely imitating. The movie is a fun, brisk puzzle and a solid first effort behind the camera from an established queer voice.

One of the bigger breakouts was 22-year-old Ash Christian’s high school comedy Fat Girls, which he wrote and directed and in which he starred as an outsider theater geek with an overweight (not to mention overly obnoxious) female best friend. I personally didn’t like the film, which was sunk by bad acting, predictable writing, atrocious production values and way too little actual humor to be considered a comedy. But then, I’m picky.