Depicting religion and spirituality in the movies is often a slippery slope,
with directors finding themselves open to charges of blasphemy and sacrilege. When
this subject is combined with homosexuality, the risk of criticism increases
exponentially, but many filmmakers are able handle these issues quite deftly. This month's
Hot List selects some of the more successful works -- and some that are just plain entertaining.
Ben Affleck and Matt Damon play a couple ... of fallen angels. And Alanis Morrisette is God in this latest Kevin Smith creation.
While some folks (who never even saw it) derided this film as being blasphemous, it's
actually quite pious, in a sweetly foul-mouthed way.
Who would have thought the ex-PTL co-founder would become a queer icon and a friend to the gay community?
Truth is, Tammy's TV show (with ex-hubby Jim Bakker) was among the first to sympathetically welcome a gay HIV+ man as a guest.
More surprises await you in this eye-opening documentary.
Based on a true story, this Argentine film tells of the intimate relationship between a nun (and poet) and
the free-thinking wife of a viceroy during the Inquisition.
A theatrical, almost painterly portrait of three young men who were involved in a romantic triangle, set
against the backdrop of prison life and religious fanaticism.
Historical accuracy and narrative exposition aside, we're partial to this version of the virgin
maid's story if only for its epic scale and the hot (pardon the pun), butch Milla Jovovich.
Antonia Bird's study in class contrasts and moral ones -- good priest versus bad
priest; the so-called sin of homosexuality versus the universally damned sin of
incest -- is a philosophical fencing match made for people who still have some faith left.
Long the subject of fascination among gay men, St. Sebastiane was an obscure Roman
mystic who might barely be remembered today were it not for the homoerotic rumors which
have persistently clung to him. Here, directors Derek
Jarman and Paul Humfress bring all the implied into the
foreground, creating the frankly homosexual world of their St.
Sebastiane.
Okay, it isn't gay, but it is "the best nun musical since The Sound of Music," and that counts for something.
Debbie Reynolds is a Belgian nun who finds herself torn between being loyal to her faith and
pursuing a career in music. Where's there a guidance counselor when you need one?
Smoke uses minimal language, a stylized vision,
and icons drawn from a Roman Catholic childhood to construct a dark and penetrating dream.
Religious, erotic, obsessive, and inescapable, this film envelops the
viewer with a frightening passion.
Barbra Streisand's directorial debut has a young woman going to great lengths to study Torah,
disguising herself as a boy, and marrying Amy Irving, while falling for her close chum
Mandy Patinkin.
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