The Year in Gay Movies

Eight Rockers Rocking (Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist, What We Do Is Secret)

This year saw two films borne of a love for rock and roll that weren't afraid to say that gay guys can rock just as hard as anyone else (even Joan Jett).

Critical darling teen-targeted indie Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist, which starred It-Boy Michael Cera as a lovestruck indie rocker stuck on an all-night quest for a "secret show" in New York City, had its lead fella be the bassist in an all-gay "queercore" band. And what's more, his gay bandmates are also his best buds, and one finds his own love as the night progresses. For depictions of gay "sidekicks" in otherwise "straight" comedy, it was a landmark, and an altogether charming trip.

Considerably darker but humming with just as much electricity was the biopic What We Do Is Secret, which told the story of gay Germs founder and frontman Darby Crash. TV and movie heartthrob Shane West (ER, A Walk to Remember) played Crash to the hilt, and the film didn't shy away from the singer's conflicted sexuality. Overall it was a well-rendered biopic of an unsung punk legend that managed to capture the youthful, chaotic energy of its captivating subject.

On the Seventh Day of Christmas my true love gave to me...

Seven Lads a-Longing (Brideshead Revisited, Another Gay Sequel: Gays Gone Wild!)

Of course, what would gay movies be without stories of unrequited gay longing ... or at least ill-fated attempts to get laid?

This year the cinema fairies brought us two very different approaches to the idea of young gay love.

In the bigger theater with the cushy seats, you might have caught the long-awaited big screen adaptation of Evelyn Waugh's beloved novel Brideshead Revisited, which opted to paint the bromance between Charles (Matthew Goode) and Sebastian (Ben Whishaw) in a considerably more literal light, making Sebastian explicitly gay and his affections for Charles more clear.

The film overall was a success, and the performances of the male leads beautifully captured the complexities of their entwined characters. And of course it didn't hurt to have Emma Thompson on-hand as Lady Marchmain. (Never does.)

And across the street, around the corner and in the dark little 40-seater under the hair salon you might have caught the considerably less arch — and more feces-filled — Another Gay Sequel: Gays Gone Wild. Given that this is a family site we can't go into too much detail as to what goes on in the proudly raunchy gay teen sex comedy, but you can probably guess based on the title reference that it's not exactly one to watch with the folks.