To coincide with the release of Lisa Cholodenko’s family comedy The Kids Are All Right, FocusFeatures.com asked a group of prominent LGBT folks for their top family films.
Harold and Maude
A funny, touching, camp fest with the amazing Ruth Gordon starring as an older woman (she was 75 when she made the film) at the end of her life who finds love in a 20-year-old man. Ruth is the ultimate cougar teaching cougars in training how to snare a younger man. The dialogue is zippy, the performances are excellent and there is even a teary ending.
Brokeback Mountain
I love gay men and I love cowboys. Who doesn’t? Imagine a film with gay cowboys and voila you have Brokeback Mountain starring Jake Gyllenhaal and the dearly departed Heath Ledger. Watching two closeted cowpokes fall in love and face the prejudices of the people around them and within themselves is beyond engaging. Not to mention one of the hottest tent sex scenes in a mainstream picture to date. I am moist like a Little Debbie Snack Treat just thinking about it.
Madonna: Truth Or Dare
This documentary is of the world’s greatest pop stars, Madonna, at the peek of her fame and beauty. It’s like watching a burning wreck on the side of the road, you can’t take your eyes of it. Madonna was being filmed during her Blond Ambition Tour and we get a bird’s eye view into the life of this pop diva. She’s crazy, she’s sexy, she’s screwing Warren Beatty and she pushes every button imaginable leaving the audience exhausted by the films end. I am sure Lady Gaga watched this film over and over again, taking notes all the way through.
Boys In The Band
This soap opera-esque film takes place at the gayest party ever in the heart of the New York Cities West Village. Every queer stereotype is represented in this groundbreaking film: the butch gay, the closeted gay, the flaming queen, the self-loather and so on. As the party progresses, and as they get drunker, things get a bit messy and we find them pecking each other apart. The one-liners coming of these guys mouths will leave your jaw dropping. Though the film is 40 years old it still resonates with the struggles gay men face today.
Mommie Dearest
It was one of the worst pictures ever made, making it one of the best campy pictures in the stratosphere. Why? You have Faye Dunaway portraying one of the greatest stars, Joan Crawford, and Faye does not disappoint. She tears up the scenery with her over the top portrayal of this Hollywood icon, wearing fab costumes and spitting out some the campiest lines in movie history. Also, Faye is not in on the joke, she gives 110% to this picture, much like Joan did when making camp crap such as Strait-Jacket and Berserk, shooting it way over the top. And that my friends is why it is delicious to watch this Academy Award-winning actress decompose on celluloid right before your very eyes.
Hedda Lettuce
Hedda Lettuce (Steven Polito), the six-time Drag Queen of the Year Award-winner, has received national acclaim for her poised characters, startling satire and original music. Miss Lettuce has established herself as New York City's premiere queen in classic cabaret venues such as Caroline's on Broadway, COMIX and her classic movie night at the Clearview Chelsea. She has worked on such networks as Comedy Central, MTV and HBO, and in a handful of off-Broadway plays. Hedda has appeared with the likes of Sarah Jessica Parker and Madonna on such television shows as Project Runway, Ugly Betty, Sex and the City, MTV Movie Awards, and The Dave Chapelle Show. Hedda's film appearances include The Look and To Wong Foo Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar. Look for her upcoming comedy special on LOGO, and visit her at www.heddalettuce.com.
Below, Miss Lettuce give her distinctive take on what a family film means to her.










Moonrise Kingdom
Seeking A Friend For The End Of The World
ParaNorman
For A Good Time, Call…
Anna Karenina
Hyde Park on Hudson
Worried About The Boy
Loose Cannons
Extraterrestrial
Juan of the Dead
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Brokeback Mountain
Lost in Translation
Pride and Prejudice
The Pianist