AVAILABLE ON DIGITAL AND VIDEO ON DEMAND JULY 3 – AND ON DVD AUGUST 14

“A very sexy film about the perils and pleasures of reuniting with one’s ex.” — Gary Kramer, Frontiers Magazine

On the verge of his 30th birthday, Jonathan (Daniel Dugan) is torn between the domestic comfort of his life with Raul (Adrian Gonzalez) and the torrid pleasures of an affair with his super sexy ex-boyfriend Troy (uber hot Murray Bartlett).

One of the steamiest gay movies of the year, August sensitively unfolds this triangle of desire and emotion in the midst of a classic Hollywood heat wave. An irresistible gay romantic drama!

AVAILABLE ON DIGITAL AND VIDEO ON DEMAND JULY 24, AND DVD AUGUST 14

From Beyonce’s creative team!

Featuring music by Beyonce music director Kim Burse, and choreography by Beyonce dance master, Frank Gatson Jr.,this exuberant musical directed by Sheldon Larry was inspired by the “vogueing” sensation featured in the 1990 documentary Paris Is Burning, and is an ode to the wild, funky and heart-aching life of this underground subculture.

Thrown out of his home by his dysfunctional mother, Brad (Ephraim Sykes) steals her car and travels into Los Angeles where, through a chance encounter, he stumbles into a noisy raucous, chaotic event and meets the ragtag members of the struggling House of Eminence. Initially only looking for a place to sleep (and perhaps someone to sleep with), Brad ends up engaging with the colorful members of the house led by the indomitable house mother Queef Latina (Barbie-Q), herself an aging ball-legend and the fierce protectrice of her family. Laughter, tears, sex sirens, and butch queens up in pumps ensue and remarkably, Brad ends up finding an extraordinary home and loving, caring family in this, the strangest of places.

DIRECTOR’S CUT! In this colorful coming-of-age tale set in 1984, gay high school runaway Frank travels to Amsterdam from Luxembourg in search of a new life.  Thanks to his good looks, he takes up residence at the House of Boys, a cabaret that’s famous for its male dancers and extravagant performances.  While there, Frank encounters love and friendship but must ultimately overcome tragedy with the outbreak of the early AIDS crisis.

Out lesbian rock star Patty Schemel is best known as the drummer for Courtney Love’s edgy ’90s band, Hole. This candid, intimate portrait follows Schemel’s spectacular rise and fall — from the glamour of life with Courtney and her husband Kurt Cobain, to her life-destroying bout with drug addiction and her eventual recovery. Hit So Hard is a heroic lesbian portrait that serves up a smart, riveting account of an entire era in rock history.

While the LGBT community has long had to struggle with stereotyping by outsiders, gay men also have to deal with widely held perceptions from their peers that they’re supposed to fit a certain image — men who are stylish, carefully groomed, trim and to a certain degree effeminate. But not all gay men fit this profile, and this has led in part to the rise of “Bears” — gay men who are stocky, hirsute, outwardly masculine and proud of it.

As gay culture has moved closer to the mainstream, Bears have come out of the closet (or the woods) and become one of the more visible and active subcultures within the LGBT community. Filmmaker Malcolm Ingram (Small Town Gay Bar, Drawing Flies), a self-identified Bear, offers a look at the lives of big guys who love other big guys in the documentary!Bear Nation, which includes interviews with musician Bob Mould (Husker Du, Sugar) and filmmaker Kevin Smith (the latter has become a Bear icon despite being married and straight).

The dramatized, true life story of Eighties pop music sensation Boy George.

George O’Dowd achieves music stardom as eighties pop icon Boy George, but with all the drugs, love, fashion, and glamour that accompany his celebrity lifestyle, can he find the happiness he desperately craves?

Starring:

Douglas BOOTH (“Pillars of the Earth,” LOL)

Marc WARREN (Vampire Killers, Planet 51)

Mark GATISS (Match Point)

Francis MAGEE (“Game of Thrones,” Layer Cake)

Carol Channing’s life is as colorful as the lipstick on her big, bright smile.  This film captures the magic and vivacity of the 90-year-old icon both onstage and off, past and present.

 Featuring interviews with: Carol Channing, Harry Kullijian, Lily Tomlin, Chita Rivera, Barbara Walters, Tyne Daly, Debbie Reynolds, Phyllis Diller, Loni Anderson, JoAnne Worley and Bruce Vilanch

“Even [Shakespeare] himself would spring for a ticket to Alan Brown’s Private Romeo, an earnest experiment in don’t-ask-don’t-tell drama as indebted to shirtlessness as to iambic pentameter.” — The New York Times

Set in a modern day military school, this smash hit gay adaptation of Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet features hot Broadway “War Horse” actors Matt Doyle and Seth Numrich as the star-crossed lovers. An innovative must-see gay film!

When eight male cadets are left behind at an isolated military high school, the greatest romantic drama ever written seeps out of the classroom and permeates their lives. Incorporating the original text of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, YouTube videos, and lip-synched indie rock music, PRIVATE ROMEO takes us to a mysterious and tender place that only Shakespeare could have inspired.

You can RENT or OWN TOMBOY On Demand Now:

From out lesbian director Celine Sciamma (Water Lilies), Tomboy tells the story of 10-year-old Laure (played by the amazing Zoe Heran) who moves to the suburbs and decides to pass as a boy amongst the pack of neighborhood kids. As “Mikael” she catches the attention of leader of the pack Lisa, who becomes smitten with her. At home with her parents and younger sister Jeanne, she is Laure; while hanging out with her new pals and girlfriend, she is Mikael. Finding resourceful ways to hide her true self, Laure takes advantage of her new identity, as if the end of the summer would never reveal her unsettling secret.

Writer-director Céline Sciamma brings a light and charming touch to this contemporary coming-of-age story which deftly explores relationships between children and their peers; between children and their parents; and the even more complicated relationship between one’s heart and one’s body.

Tomboy‘s hugely successful US theatrical release has earned the film rave reviews and fans across the country.

Award-winning actress Glenn Close (Albert Nobbs) plays a woman passing as a man in order to work and survive in 19th century Ireland. Some thirty years after donning men’s clothing, she finds herself trapped in a prison of her own making. Mia Wasikowska (Helen), Aaron Johnson (Joe) and Brendan Gleeson (Dr. Holloran) join a prestigious, international cast that includes Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Janet McTeer, Brenda Fricker and Pauline Collins.

Rodrigo Garcia directs from a script that Glenn Close, along with Man Booker prize-winning novelist John Banville and Gabriella Prekop, adapted from a short story by Irish author George Moore.

From the director of Is It Just Me? comes this sparkling romantic comedy that takes online dating to the extreme! Marshall is an over-worked ad exec who is suffering from a serious case of the seven-year itch with his loving boyfriend. As his 30th birthday nears, he is hell-bent on changing his life and he comes across a mysterious dating app called eCupid. Turning his world upside down and overwhelming him with sexy guys at every turn, Marshall gets much more than he bargained. Firing on all cylinders with sharp wit, hot cast, and even an extended cameo from Hollywood legend Morgan Fairchild, eCupid will win your heart.

Kathleen Turner stars in this timely family comedy as a meddling matriarch determined to rein her husband and two grown children into her image of what the “perfect family” should be. When her philandering son and lesbian daughter choose to march to the beat of their own drum, the fur begins to fly. Also starring Emily Deschanel, Jason Ritter, Richard Chamberlain, and Elizabeth Peña, THE PERFECT FAMILY was written by Claire V. Riley and Paula Goldberg, and directed by Anne Renton.

All-star cast featuring: 2 time GOLDEN GLOBE AWARD WINNER KATHLEEN TURNER (Serial Mom, Body Heat, Romancing the Stone), EMILY DESCHANEL (TV’s Bones, Glory Road, Cold Mountain), JASON RITTER (TV’s The Event, Parenthood), ELIZABETH PEÑA (Jacob’s Ladder, La Bamba), RICHARD CHAMBERLAIN (TV’s Shogun, The Towering Inferno)

A powerful coming out movie, KAWA is a gorgeously cinematic drama that tells a transcendent tale of bravery, love, family and pride. Based on the semi-autobiographical novel Nights in the Gardens of Spain by Witi Ihimaera (the writer of The Whale Rider), this deeply moving New Zealand drama has earned critical and popular acclaim on the LGBT film festival circuit and beyond. When successful businessman Kawa (the ruggedly handsome Calvin Tuteao) finds the courage to tell his wife and kids, his parents and his traditional Maori community that he’s gay the struggle he endures is not an easy one.

KAWA is a psychological drama of a family in crisis as Kawa, a successful Māori businessman in Auckland, New Zealand, is forced to reveal his lifelong secret that he is gay.

Kawa is the man who has everything. He’s a corporate high-flyer, being groomed to take over his prominent family’s company, properties and legacy. He and his beautiful wife Annabelle have two children –16-year-old Sebastian (Pana Hema-Taylor) and 7-year-old Miranda (Miriama Jane Devantier) – who he loves deeply. They live in an elegant house and all appears perfect in their world.

But Kawa has a secret. He is gay. He always has been. And he’s never shared his secret life with his wife or his family.

Kawa was brought up by his parents – Hamiora (George Henare) and Grace (Vicky Haughton) – and his whānau (‘family’) with a strong sense of duty, is a man of special gifts who is expected to lead his community, and moves easily within both Māori and Pākehā worlds.

Until recently Kawa has led a perfected double-life, but now his father Hamiora is retiring and ready to hand him the mantle of leadership. At the same time, his lover Chris is pushing for more recognition in Kawa’s life, no longer happy with keeping their relationship a secret.

As the film opens, Kawa has moved out of the family home. His wife is desperate to understand why – she knows the marriage is in trouble – and she wants to do whatever it takes to make things right. But Kawa is unable to talk about it. He hopes, instead, that he can continue to keep his life in separate compartments.

But when his lover arrives at the whānau celebration of his father’s birthday celebration, pressures intensify and Kawa realises that his life must change. And that many people will be hurt, including himself.

FEATURED ON NPR’s THIS AMERICAN LIFE!

When Zack Stark came out to his parents, he had no idea that his life was about to change forever. Stuck inside “Love In Action”-the ex-gay rehabilitation program-the quiet teenager blogged about their draconian practices, sparking an impassioned, nationwide protest to rescue the teen. In This is What Love in Action Looks Like, filmmaker Morgan Jon Fox captures the stirring, inspirational true-story of how religious intolerance’s quest to bully queer teens, lead to one of the first examples of social media inspiring change…and hope, for a new generation of activism.

“A POWERFUL STORY!” – San Francisco Examiner

The Guest House

Welcome to The Guest House, and welcome to this year’s guiltiest pleasure for lesbian movie lovers everywhere!

Blue-eyed blond bad girl Rachel (gorgeous new lesbian heart-throb Ruth Reynolds) is mature for her eighteen years. An aspiring songwriter, she’s given up on her music after the recent death of her mother — and her neglectful father isn’t around very much.

The arrival of Dad’s new employee Amy (the lovely Madeline Merritt)— staying in their swanky Los Angeles guest house for the weekend — brings Rachel the inspiration she needs. A wholesome college graduate fresh to California from the cornfields of Iowa, Amy happily confesses her dreams and desires to Rachel over the course of the weekend — and the two women gradually fall in love!

“It seems like anything’s possible here.” Amy proclaims as they ramble across the city in Rachel’s Dad’s Hummer. Out and about in Los Angeles the two girls can’t keep their hands off each other. At home in the guest house their activities are even hotter.

Finally, the lesbian riff on Thelma & Louise we’ve all been waiting for!

“A creative tour-de-force… Joe + Belle manages to say something deep about love and violence while still offering all the gallows humor you could hope for.” —AfterEllen.com

Joe + Belle is an incredibly funny and romantic new lesbian feature boasting a great story, a whimsically dark comic sensibility and stellar performances. Writer-director-star Veronica Kedar shines as Joe — a laid-back dope dealer full of magnetic charisma. Sivan Levy is Belle — a forlorn yet irresistibly sensual crazy girl who attaches herself to Joe and refuses to let go.

The chemistry here is spot-on perfect as the two girls fall madly in love against the backdrop of a wild cross-country getaway — after they accidentally kill a guy! Full of whimsical sensibility and black humor, Joe + Belle is destined to restore your faith in young love.

(Movie is in English, Hebrew and French with English subtitles)

* Special alert: Joe + Belle in the Advocate!

From The Advocate December-January 2011

The Best Overlooked Films

The Advocate asked our readers to tell us their favorite but overlooked films you shouldn’t have missed in 2011. By Advocate Contributors

#2 Joe + Belle, directed by Veronica Kedar
A dark Israeli comedy about two girls who fall in love with each other and their country en route from Tel Aviv to Sderot.

A Sexy, Scifi Thriller!

Treasure hunter SEAN has stumbled across a trove of important and priceless artifacts off the coast of a little-visited Caribbean island. To help him with his project, he has assembled a team of experts to authenticate his finds, only to discover that one of the “experts” has quite another agenda in mind…

From cult gay filmmaker David DeCoteau comes this latest installment of campy horror adventure — packed with cute, buff, scantily clad guys and classic guilty pleasure homoerotic drama.

From acclaimed out writer-director Dee Rees! The Sundance hit film, PARIAH follows a 17-year-old African American butch lesbian torn between the demands of her conservative family and the comfort of community among her friends in the outside world. As groundbreaking as it is entertaining, PARIAH is a must-see lesbian drama.

Adepero Oduye portrays Alike (pronounced ah-lee-kay) who lives with her parents Audrey and Arthur (Kim Wayans and Charles Parnell) and younger sister Sharonda (Sahra Mellesse) in Brooklyn’s Fort Greene neighborhood. She has a flair for poetry, and is a good student at her local high school.

Alike is quietly but firmly embracing her identity as a lesbian. With the sometimes boisterous support of her best friend, out lesbian Laura (Pernell Walker), Alike is especially eager to find a girlfriend. At home, her parents’ marriage is strained and there is further tension in the household whenever Alike’s development becomes a topic of discussion. Pressed by her mother into making the acquaintance of a colleague’s daughter, Bina (Aasha Davis), Alike finds Bina to be unexpectedly refreshing to socialize with.

Wondering how much she can confide in her family, Alike strives to get through adolescence with grace, humor, and tenacity – sometimes succeeding, sometimes not, but always moving forward.

This bargain-priced pair of excellent men’s dramas each boast a tremendous ensemble cast. Aussie heart-throb Xavier Samuel (Twilight: Eclipse, Anonymous) headlines the youthful high-energy surf story, Newcastle; while tough guy Terry Serpico (Army Wives) tops the super-smart New York City urban-professional drama, The New Twenty. 2 DISC SET.

One of the all-time hottest lesbian heart-throbs, Dreya Weber heats up the screen in two of her top motion pictures. Enjoy her athletic exploits as aerialist Jane Hawkins in the wildly popular romantic drama, The Gymnast; and savor her turn as the charming daredevil Luce in the hilarious lesbian reunion classic, Everything Relative. 2 DISC SET.

Sexy, Supernatural Thriller!  UNRATED DIRECTOR’S CUT!

Young hot travellers are sidelined by a road blocked with fallen trees, and stop for a night at the mansion belonging to sexy Sebastian. The house has a history of voodoo, mayhem and horror, and new arrivals are fresh meat for the hungry house…

The Seminarian is a story about Ryan, a closeted gay student in his final  semester of seminary studies. Despite his school’s hostile stance towards
homosexuality, Ryan has two gay classmates – Gerald and Anthony – in
whom he secretly confides. He is also close to his religiously devout mother
who, as things stand, is unaware of his sexual orientation.

Ryan needs to complete a solid theological thesis in order to continue doctoral
work at the university of his dreams. As he works on his thesis ‘The Divine Gift
of Love,’ Ryan begins a relationship with Bradley – a guy he has met on the
Internet who seems perpetually unable to commit himself. Ryan confides in
Gerald and Anthony, only to learn about their romantic struggles as well.
Consequently, Ryan questions his views on God’s gift of love.

During this volatile time, with the pain of unrequited love and the inability to
share his fears with his mother deepening, Ryan struggles with finishing his
thesis and holding on to his faith in love.

Next in the 1313 series from David Decoteau!

This sexy creature feature includes plenty of hot guys in their tightie whities, and a fun mix of homoeroticism and horror!

On an island in the Pacific Northwest, a young woman calls to ancient spirits in order to right the wrongs inflicted on her. For this she summons the mythical beast that has long been rumored to roam the verdant forests. Nearby, a young man readies a cabin for the arrival of his friends. They’ve been coming to this place every year since they were kids, to relax and shape up before the start of a new college year. Only this time, they’re about to meet their worst nightmare.

ADAM is a graduate student in theoretical astronomy and working on his dissertation.  He’s always been interested in what’s ‘out there’ and he finds a perfect opportunity to both work and play…..in Roswell, New Mexico.

1313 – the series where sexy guys in tightie whities confront the supernatural!

From cult gay filmmaker David DeCoteau comes this latest installment of campy horror adventure — packed with cute, buff, scantily clad guys and classic guilty pleasure homoerotic drama.

Famed comedian and writer Del Shores (Sordid Lives, Queer As Folk) shares the real-life stories that inspired his writing in this hilarious and poignant one-man show recorded live in Los Angeles during his critically acclaimed 30-city tour across the U.S.  Del finally sets the story straight on his celebrity encounters and on what it was like growing up in the South and coming out as gay.  Available for the first time, this DVD also includes special behind-the-scenes features, including a peak inside Del’s dressing room with stars from his plays, movies and television shows.  Look for Leslie Jordan, Beau Bridges, Ann Walker, Rosemary Alexander, Jason Dottley, Emerson Collins, Newell Alexander, Debby Holiday and others!