Netflix was first to the market with their streaming service, but its programming is not exactly comprehensive. LGBT audiences are stuck with a limited and aging selection of films that don't really represent the true range of the queer experience.
That's why Amazon and Here TV partnered up with a new service where you'll find a breadth of gay, lesbian and transgender-oriented films, series, docs and shorts that run the great gamut of our experience. Trust us -- there's a lot to watch. So, we've compiled a short list of some of the best flicks you won't find anywhere else to get you started. (Psst. Amazon Prime members can watch all they want for free for the first 7 days. Let the binge-watching begin!)
Remarkable Shades of Gay
An anthology of nine short films directed by William Branden Blinn, this is like a tasting menu of the gay experience, from hilariously awkward threesomes, to the struggles of gay parenting, to erotically charged locker room brawls. Blinn mixes comedy and drama deftly, and consistently puts his cast of chiselled, darkly handsome actors in a variety of sexy situations. It's the kind of film that will have you laughing, crying, and more often than not, hot and bothered.
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From director Tom Tykwer (the man who brought you Run Lola Run), this is a rom-com that feels distinctly German -- intellectual, sexually adventurous, and a little bit analytical. Hannah and Simon are a 40-something couple in their second decade together, without much spark left in the bedroom. Enter Mark, a bisexual man who ends up sleeping with both of them, with neither party telling the other. How do they untangle themselves? Do they even want to? You'll have to watch to find out.
Paternity Leave
Suspend your disbelief long enough to give Paternity Leavea chance and you won't regret it. It may not be the first film premised on male pregnancy (we're looking at you, Junior) but it's definitely the smartest. Jacob York and Charlie David play a 30-something couple who get an unexpected surprise when York's nausea turns out to be morning sickness. While he grapples with becoming a medical miracle, and his partner does his best to stay supportive, the film unfolds as a cleverly written revision of your typical hetero "expecting" comedy.
Edie & Thea: A Very Long Engagement
From a chance encounter at an underground gay bar to a triumphant wedding in Toronto, this documentary follows the four-decade, globe-spanning romance of Edith Windsor and Thea Speyer, a lesbian couple who lived through countless pivotal moments in the LGBT rights movement. After Speyer passed away and the film premiered, it also became a pivotal piece of evidence in Windsor's Supreme Court case, helping to overturn DOMA. But for all its political significance, the movie is really a love story, and a portrait of two women full of enthusiasm, courage, and affection.
Guidance
A lot of Bad Teacher with a dash of Half Nelson, this comedy stars former child star Pat Mills, who plays a former child star on a serious downward spiral. An unemployed alcoholic in denial about both his skin cancer diagnosis and his sexuality, he reinvents himself as a high school guidance counsellor, prescribing a liberal mix of marijuana and vodka shots to help students deal with their problems (usually successfully!) It's a dark, knowing redemption story with plenty of laughs along the way.
Love Is the Devil
When it comes to casting, it's tough to beat this 1998 biopic of British painter Francis Bacon, starring Derek Jacobi as the artist, a young Daniel Craig as his lover George Dyer, and Tilda Swinton as Bacon's friend and club proprietress Muriel Belcher (if you haven't heard of her, look her up immediately). The film follows Bacon's life, but focuses on his tumultuous relationship with Dyer, a small-time thief who struggles with addiction. By turns chaotic, violent, and erotic (keep an eye out for Craig's little devil when soaping up in the tub), it's the perfect pick for those who like their culture with a side of sex.
