From Hustler White

Will Truman to the newly out-of-the-closet Barry:

""Let me tell you a little secret that we try to keep within the community: Gay movies suck. But until the laws change, we're still obligated to go see 'em."

That quote speaks volumes about the attitude many people have (and yes, I'm aware of the irony of a character from Will & Grace talking about gay entertainment that sucks), but maybe we should cut gay filmmakers some slack.

It must be difficult coming up with the just the right balance of nuanced performances, storyline originality, and soft core porn. Of course, I exaggerate — there are plenty of gay movies that have managed to overcome the burden of being a "gay film" (and please head on over to the AfterElton.com Greatest Gay Movies Poll to cast your vote for your favorites).

But this post is about those movies that didn't succeed. Whether through bad acting, poor production values, lousy scripting, or general ineptitude, these gay filmmakers weren't able to translate their visions successfully to the screen.

Like the last Scraping The Barrel post, these selections are mine, and do not necessarily represent the views and opinions of anyone else at AfterElton.com. So feel free to tell me I'm nuts (I'm looking at you, Copycat fans), and please leave your own selections for the worst of the worst.

Here are eight, in no particular order — and for this list, we'll be using the Anita Bryant scale (with five Anitas being the worst).

Hustler White
I know many people who absolutely adore Hustler White, but once was enough for me. Actually, the movies of Bruce La Bruce have always left me cold. (I picture him waking up in the morning, yawning, and saying "I'm bored ... I think I'll make a movie today.")

There are some bright spots to this tale of a male prostitute (namely Tony Ward and his ... talent), but I'll never forgive Mr. La Bruce for permanently searing that image of the Stump Guy in my mind (trust me, you don't want to know).

Rating:

Lie Down with Dogs
Note to filmmakers: It's probably not a good idea to include the word "dogs" in your film title, as it provides ample opportunity for snarky bloggers to use groan-inducing puns to describe your movie:

"Lie Down With Dogs is a flea-bitten mongrel, and it should be neutered before it reproduces."

"Watching it, I felt like it had slowly lifted its leg on my brain."

"There were more laughs in Cujo, and more sex appeal in Devil Dog: Hound From Hell."

Rating:

See more gay debacles after the break.

Boy Culture
This sophomore feature from Q. Allan Brocka (after the festival fave Eating Out) is based on the novel by Matthew Rettenmund, which follows a disaffected escort (referred to only as "X") as he navigates love and plays head-of-household to his two roommates (among them, Noah's Arc's Darryl Stephens). The film, which we reviewed last year, actually came out last week, but we figured better late than never!

Ugly Betty: Season One
One of our favorite shows of last season, Betty manages to cram the immigrant's struggle, gay inclusion, overcoming family issues and an ever-present message of understanding and tolerance into what is otherwise a flat-out hilarious campfest set in the world of fashion magazines. This box set features a few bonus docs (including a behind-the-scenes piece on just how they get America Ferrera "ugly" every day and another on how they recreate Manhattan and Queens on a soundstage), but the show itself is worth it. This is one of the few shows of which I've seen every episode at least once but would still gladly spend the lettuce on the DVD.