The results of the first annual Windy City Times/Knight at the Movies GLBT Pride Movie survey are in. I want to thank all who took the time to participate and send illuminating responses. We obviously have a lot of cinemaphiles amongst our readership and avid GLBT movie-themed enthusiasts ( to be expected ) . I'd like to single out the survey answers of Chicago resident David Long, whose responses showed a great knowledge of GLBT-themed movies. Long will receive the Special Edition DVDs of Beyond the Valley of the Dolls and Valley of the Dolls ( both courtesy of Fox Home Entertainment ) for his efforts.
The responses overall were vast and represented the myriad GLBT-themed movies to choose from—something I found heartening. Such a survey would have had a significantly smaller number of options 10 or even five years ago. Space prohibits printing all the titles and categories but here are highlights of some of them:
Best Gay Movie—Big Eden, the freshman effort from out director-writer Thomas Bezucha, was the favorite. Among the other's mentioned were, naturally, Brokeback Mountain, The Life and Times of Harvey Milk, Kiss Me Guido, The Family Stone, The Adventures of Priscilla Queen of the Desert, Gods and Monsters, Parting Glances and The Living End. My Choice: Big Eden or Parting Glances ( a tough choice as both are terrific ) .
Best Lesbian Movie—Desert Hearts was the favorite. Go Fish, The Hours, Imagine Me & You ( just out on DVD, by the by ) , But I'm a Cheerleader, The Incredibly True Adventures of Two Girls in Love, My Summer of Love, and Saving Face were some of the other titles also mentioned. My Choice: The Hunger ( though I am also a huge fan of John Sayles' Lianna ) .
Best Bisexual Movie—No real consensus here—some mentioned include Bound, Cabaret, Brokeback Mountain, Women in Love, Dreamers, Threesome, Splendor, The Fluffer, Three of Hearts, Velvet Goldmine and Sunday Bloody Sunday. My Choice: Cabaret ( that moment where Liza Minnelli, Michael York and Helmet Griem drunkenly dance together speaks volumes ) .
Best Transgender Movie—Transamerica was favored, by far. Other titles mentioned were Beautiful Boxer, The Crying Game, Soldier's Girl, Beyond the Valley of the Dolls ( the 'Superwoman' revelation I suppose ) and The Brandon Teena Story. My Choice: Boys Don't Cry.
Best Camp Movie—Valley of the Dolls was the winner hands down. Other selections included Die Mommie Die, Mommie Dearest, The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Beyond the Valley of the Dolls, Saved!, Can't Stop the Music, Johnny Guitar, Showgirls and What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? My Choice: Valley of the Dolls.
And the Worst GLBT Films? Here are some of your choices: Scab, Love! Valour! Compassion!, Caged, Myra Breckenridge, The Gay Deceivers, Personal Best, The Boys in the Band, The Children's Hour, Chasing Amy and Dressed to Kill. One that I'd like to add is the unfunny, homophobic Without a Paddle.
Thanks again to all for responding. Results for all the survey questions will be posted at www.knightatthemovies.com this Friday.
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