Movies That Made Us Gay

"Am I hallucinating *all* of this? You tell me it's all a dream." We get to the ultra-disco noir fever dream Eyes of Laura Mars with our resident Faye Dunaway expert and friend, Garrett Mitchell, this week. It's been a while since we've covered Miss Dunaway on the podcast, but she's truly one of the most iconic leading ladies of the 1970s, that all peaked with Irvin Kershner's thriller set in the backdrop of a gritty NYC in the fashion world. This movie might not be along the lines of 70s classics, but we're here to say it's a heck of a ride. With a story by John Carpenter and produced by Jon Peters, who bought the story with the idea of it being a star vehicle for his then-girlfriend Barbra Streisand at the time before it went to Dunaway, the film follows Laura Mars,  a fierce fashion photographer, as she develops an ability to see through the eyes of a killer. We talk about Faye's insane levels on display, René Auberjonois as some fun queer representation, Tommy Lee Jones's unibrow, and a secretly sexy Brad Dourif.  
Thank you for listening, and don't forget to subscribe, rate, and review us on Apple Podcasts!
www.patreon.com/moviesthatmadeusgay
Facebook/Instagram: @moviesthatmadeusgay
Bluesky: @MTMUGPod.bsky.social
Scott Youngbauer: Twitter @oscarscott / Instagram @scottyoungballer
Peter Lozano: Twitter/Instagram @peterlasagna
Cover Art by Shaun Piela

"You're quite a good chicken strangler as I recall." We watched "Rope" directed by Alfred Hitchcock, with our dear friend Jackson Cooper, and yes - it's the gay one. Hitchcock is obsessed with characters committing the "perfect murder" and who better to attempt it in this go-round than two messy gays on the verge of "squabbling" over this opportunity? Based on the famous true-crime Leopold and Loeb case of the 1920s, Rope is giving us classic Hitchcock high tension, suspense, and intrigue but without any instance of a classic "Hitchcock Blonde." What we get instead are two handsome Nietzsche-obsessed Ivy League men with a false sense of superiority and a not-so-subtle same-sex relationship. Let's be real - Brandon (John Dall) and Phillip (Farley Granger) bicker like an old married couple and their strange dom/sub dance only gets weirder when their old Headmaster (Jimmy Stewart) comes in and throws a monkey wrench into their plot and their co-dependent spats. All the homoeroticism may have flown under the radar for the audience in the late 1940s but the gays always knew. Maybe the evil/psycho/murderous homosexual is a tired trope but Farley Granger and John Dall are just so darn cute and watching this film through a queer lens is a ton of fun, which helps since this material is pretty dark. Aside from the un-aliving in the first scene, it's Scenes From a Gay Marriage and we love it. 
Thank you for listening, and don't forget to subscribe, rate, and review us on Apple Podcasts!
www.patreon.com/moviesthatmadeusgay
Facebook/Instagram: @moviesthatmadeusgay
Bluesky: @MTMUGPod.bsky.social
Scott Youngbauer: Twitter @oscarscott / Instagram @scottyoungballer
Peter Lozano: Twitter/Instagram @peterlasagna
Cover Art by Shaun Piela

"I'm Pippilotta Delicatessa Windowshade Longstocking, daughter of Captain Efraim Longstocking-Pippi for short—at your service." We watched TWO adaptations of Astrid Lindgren's classic novels, "The New Adventures of Pippi Longstocking" (1988) and the original Swedish "Pippi Longstocking" (1969), and we're seriously considering becoming exotic pet owners. Pippi Longstocking is the original "Quirky Girl" (sorry, Mayim Bialik), and we're all just chasing her level of coolness to this very day. She dressed like a weirdo, lived in a mansion with a pet monkey, her own horse, and a giant bag of gold— oh, and she could also lift grown men off the ground with her bare hands. The two versions of Pippi are definitely filled with nostalgia, but which version do you choose? It seems that the divide between Millennials, Elder Millennials, and the elusive Xennial can be drawn between the 1988 "New Adventures" starring Tami Erin and the 1969 "original" starring Inger Nilsson. Erin embodies the character for an entire generation, with her acrobatics and attitude, but those of us (ahem) senior members of the Pippi fan club are drawn to Nilsson and her company's more childish take on the characters. Can we forgive Pippi for being such a brat because Inger Nilsson is just a little kid, whereas Tami Erin gives the character a bit more tween sassy energy? Whichever Pippi you grew up with, we can all agree, we would have given up all our best toys just to be Pippi, even for just a day. 
Thank you for listening, and don't forget to subscribe, rate, and review us on Apple Podcasts!
www.patreon.com/moviesthatmadeusgay
 
Facebook/Instagram: @moviesthatmadeusgay
Bluesky: @MTMUGPod.bsky.social
Scott Youngbauer: Twitter @oscarscott / Instagram @scottyoungballer
Peter Lozano: Twitter/Instagram @peterlasagna
Cover Art by Shaun Piela

"Another world, another time, in the age of wonder." We watched "The Dark Crystal," directed by Jim Henson and Frank Oz, and that "other time" was back when they made movies for kids creepy as all get out.  They really don't make 'em like they used to, and this movie is proof. The eerie Skeksis still haunt our dreams, the bohemian Mystics are living out our hippie desert dwelling fantasies, and the ethereal Gelflings are giving us fashion inspo for days. Henson and Oz stretched the limits of puppetry on film and created an entire handmade world without a human to be seen. The art of illustrator Brian Froud and his fantasy creatures is on full display, and The Dark Crystal transports us to a fantastic place that exists only in our memories— the 1980s. 
Thank you for listening, and don't forget to subscribe, rate, and review us on Apple Podcasts!
www.patreon.com/moviesthatmadeusgay
Facebook/Instagram: @moviesthatmadeusgay
Bluesky: @MTMUGPod.bsky.social
Scott Youngbauer: Twitter @oscarscott / Instagram @scottyoungballer
Peter Lozano: Twitter/Instagram @peterlasagna
Cover Art by Shaun Piela

"Nobody drink the beer, the beer has gone bad!" We watched "Can't Hardly Wait" with our friend Ronnie Sullivan from "Why Yes, We're Friends," and we're definitely feeling our age. This "classic" teen comedy from 1998 practically ushered in the teen movie craze of the late '90s and early 2000s. If you had a headshot and a SAG card in 1998 and were in your early-late or late-mid twenties, you were most likely in this movie. The cast list is a who's who of young Hollywood, and there is very nearly something for everyone here— not the least of which being our leads, Ethan Embry and our girl, Jennifer Love Hewitt. Can you get any cuter leads than those two? Ethan Embry was definitely an awakening for many a queer boy, and JLH was practically everyone's dream girl. The rest of the cast flow in and out in their respective vignettes; they have become iconic in the pantheon of teen party movies. Co-directors and writers Deborah Kaplan and Harry Elfont really had their fingers on the pulse of young people at the time, and the duo would go on to direct another MTMUG classic— "Josie and the Pussycats." This movie has it all— cute boys, fierce girls, and a killer soundtrack. I just know we're going to be quoting this one for days. "She is NOT prettier than Gwyneth."
Thank you for listening, and don't forget to subscribe, rate, and review us on Apple Podcasts!
www.patreon.com/moviesthatmadeusgay
Facebook/Instagram: @moviesthatmadeusgay
Bluesky: @MTMUGPod.bsky.social
Scott Youngbauer: Twitter @oscarscott / Instagram @scottyoungballer
Peter Lozano: Twitter/Instagram @peterlasagna
Cover Art by Shaun Piela