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Oh hey there! If you're here, it must be time for Wordle. As always, we're serving up our daily hints and tips to help you figure out today's answer.
If you just want to be told today's word, you can jump to the bottom of this article for June 1's Wordle solution revealed. But if you'd rather solve it yourself, keep reading for some clues, tips, and strategies to assist you.
Where did Wordle come from?Originally created by engineer Josh Wardle as a gift for his partner, Wordle rapidly spread to become an international phenomenon, with thousands of people around the globe playing every day. Alternate Wordle versions created by fans also sprang up, including battle royale Squabble, music identification game Heardle, and variations like Dordle and Quordle that make you guess multiple words at once.
Wordle eventually became so popular that it was purchased by the New York Times, and TikTok creators even livestream themselves playing.
Not the day you're after? Here's the solution to yesterday's Wordle.
What's the best Wordle starting word?The best Wordle starting word is the one that speaks to you. But if you prefer to be strategic in your approach, we have a few ideas to help you pick a word that might help you find the solution faster. One tip is to select a word that includes at least two different vowels, plus some common consonants like S, T, R, or N.
What happened to the Wordle archive?The entire archive of past Wordle puzzles used to be available for anyone to enjoy whenever they felt like it. Unfortunately, it has since been taken down, with the website's creator stating it was done at the request of the New York Times.
Is Wordle getting harder?It might feel like Wordle is getting harder, but it actually isn't any more difficult than when it first began. You can turn on Wordle's Hard Mode if you're after more of a challenge, though.
Here's a subtle hint for today's Wordle answer:Magnificent performance.
Does today's Wordle answer have a double letter?There are no extra letters.
Today's Wordle is a 5-letter word that starts with...Today's Wordle starts with the letter B.
SEE ALSO: Wordle-obsessed? These are the best word games to play IRL. The Wordle answer today is...Get your last guesses in now, because it's your final chance to solve today's Wordle before we reveal the solution.
Drumroll please!
The solution to Wordle #1079 is...
BRAVO.
Don't feel down if you didn't manage to guess it this time. There will be a new Wordle for you to stretch your brain with tomorrow, and we'll be back again to guide you with more helpful hints.
Reporting by Caitlin Welsh, Sam Haysom, Amanda Yeo, Shannon Connellan, Cecily Mauran, Mike Pearl, and Adam Rosenberg contributed to this article.
Connections is the latest New York Times word game that's captured the public's attention. The game is all about finding the "common threads between words." And just like Wordle, Connections resets after midnight and each new set of words gets trickier and trickier—so we've served up some hints and tips to get you over the hurdle.
If you just want to be told today's puzzle, you can jump to the end of this article for June 1's Connections solution. But if you'd rather solve it yourself, keep reading for some clues, tips, and strategies to assist you.
What is Connections?The NYT's latest daily word game has become a social media hit. The Times credits associate puzzle editor Wyna Liu with helping to create the new word game and bringing it to the publications' Games section. Connections can be played on both web browsers and mobile devices and require players to group four words that share something in common.
Tweet may have been deletedEach puzzle features 16 words and each grouping of words is split into four categories. These sets could comprise of anything from book titles, software, country names, etc. Even though multiple words will seem like they fit together, there's only one correct answer. If a player gets all four words in a set correct, those words are removed from the board. Guess wrong and it counts as a mistake—players get up to four mistakes until the game ends.
Tweet may have been deletedPlayers can also rearrange and shuffle the board to make spotting connections easier. Additionally, each group is color-coded with yellow being the easiest, followed by green, blue, and purple. Like Wordle, you can share the results with your friends on social media.
Here's a hint for today's Connections categoriesWant a hit about the categories without being told the categories? Then give these a try:
Yellow: Rule follower
Green: Co-ownership
Blue: Cities
Purple: Ways to say "digs"
Need a little extra help? Today's connections fall into the following categories:
Yellow: Conformists
Green: Company Ownership Offers
Blue: US Cities
Purple: What "Digs" Might Mean
Looking for Wordle today? Here's the answer to today's Wordle.
Ready for the answers? This is your last chance to turn back and solve today's puzzle before we reveal the solutions.
Drumroll, please!
The solution to Connections #356 is...
What is the answer to Connections todayConformists: FOLLOWERS, LEMMINGS, PUPPETS, SHEEP
Company Ownership Offers: EQUITY, OPTIONS, SHARES, STOCKS
US Cities: BILLINGS, BUFFALO, MOBILE, PHOENIX
What "Digs" Might Mean: APARTMENT, INSULTS, LIKES, SHOVELS
Don't feel down if you didn't manage to guess it this time. There will be new Connections for you to stretch your brain with tomorrow, and we'll be back again to guide you with more helpful hints.
Is this not the Connections game you were looking for? Here are the hints and answers to yesterday's Connections.
Boeing's Starliner spaceship did not launch as planned on Saturday, its second scuttled attempt to blast off with test pilots in the past month.
NASA Commander Barry "Butch" Wilmore and Sunita "Suni" Williams deboarded the craft, following a problem that surfaced with less than four minutes remaining on the countdown clock. Starliner's first crewed test flight was supposed to lift off at about 12:25 p.m. ET from Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida.
A ground launch computer that takes over when the rocket is in the final minutes of the countdown issued an automatic halt, but the reason for the abort was not immediately clear. The next launch opportunity is 12:03 p.m. ET Sunday. Whether teams can reset that quickly is not yet known, but more launch times are available Wednesday and Thursday.
"Of course it's disappointing," said Lauren Brennecke, a Boeing commentator, "but it is part of the business, and the ultimate goal is just to make sure that our precious cargo, Butch and Suni, are safe."
SEE ALSO: The long, thorny history of Boeing's Starliner spaceship Tweet may have been deletedNASA expected this flight to happen years ago, but Boeing has struggled to resolve a string of issues with the spacecraft. Teams scrubbed the previous launch attempt May 4 because of an oxygen relief valve concern on the rocket.
While assessing that problem, engineers discovered a small helium leak in Starliner's service module. Teams determined it was a tiny hole in a rubber seal that should not impede spaceflight. If the leak were to somehow worsen, flight controllers said it could be managed in space.
U.S. astronauts Barry "Butch" Wilmore and Sunita "Suni" Williams wave to a crowd before boarding Calypso, a Boeing Starliner spaceship, on June 1, 2024. Credit: NASA / Joel KowskyA successful flight of the craft, named "Calypso" by Williams, would help to secure a second commercial carrier for getting astronauts to and from the International Space Station. Elon Musk's SpaceX Crew Dragon completed the same test in 2019 and has since taken at least 50 people to the lab orbiting 250 miles above Earth.
No longer serviced by its own Space Shuttle, NASA relied on Russian rockets after 2011 to get astronauts into space. That period ended in 2020 when SpaceX took over that responsibility, but the space agency has been without any backup, which wasn't the original plan. The United States was paying upward of $86 million per ride.
The Starliner test pilots pull down their helmet visors during the countdown before launch on June 1, 2024. Credit: NASA / Youtube screenshotIf certified, Starliner missions will have the ability to take up to four astronauts to the station at a time, increasing the amount of research at the orbiting lab.
"It's going to make a tremendous difference for us," said NASA deputy administrator Pam Melroy. "The station has been operating for more than 20 years, we've done thousands of experiments, but really, in some cases, we're limited by the amount of time the crew can spend. By having four crew members instead of three, we're literally going to be able to double the amount of time that our astronauts can spend doing science."
Despite Starliner's prior challenges, Wilmore and Williams have said they are unfazed by its mishaps and setbacks.
Boeing's uncrewed Starliner spacecraft successfully reaches the International Space Station on May 20, 2022. Credit: Samantha Cristoforetti / NASA"If we could go back just three years and talk about the capabilities of the spacecraft, what it was then, as envisioned, and then where it's at now, after these discoveries and the rectification of fixing all of those issues that we found, it's really leaps and bounds forward," Wilmore told Mashable during a news conference earlier this month.
Williams added that they've talked through the previous concerning headlines with their families.
"I think they're happy and proud that we've been part of the process to fix it all," she said.
The Tribeca Film Festival is gearing up for an AI takeover this year, dedicating an entire section to films created by OpenAI's Sora.
SEE ALSO: OpenAI halted five political influence ops over the last three monthsOn Friday, the Tribeca Festival announced that it would play host to Sora Shorts, a series of films created by the AI text-to-video-model. For this endeavor, the festival has tapped five filmmakers to make original films with the AI-based application that was announced way back in February and still has not been released.
So far, only a handful of red teamers and visual artists have been given access, so this group of filmmakers joins a small group of insiders. This latest cohort of filmmakers includes Nanny director Nikyatu Jusu and actress Bonnie Discepolo (Fire Country, Shazam! Fury of the Gods). Other filmmakers featured on the list are Ellie Foumbi (Our Father, the Devil), Reza Sixo Safai (The Mario Valdez Story), and Michaela Ternasky-Holland.
Although generative AI has been used in major films — and not without controversy — this will be the first known use of Sora in films screened at a festival. In a statement to the press, Tribeca Enterprises co-founder and CEO Jane Rosenthal said that "humans need stories" to make sense of the world around us.
"Sometimes these stories come to us as a feature film, an immersive experience, a piece of art, or even an AI-generated short film," Rosenthal said in her statement. "I can’t wait to see what this group of fiercely creative Tribeca alumni come up with."
One thing that distinguishes Sora from currently available AI models is the ability to produce videos up to 60 seconds long, surpassing other models that are limited to 6-8 second clips — though Google's Veo, which is also unreleased, purports to make videos of this length as well. Additionally, videos generated by Sora can contain multiple shots, though they don't include audio of any kind, including dialogue. Sora reportedly has controls in place so that it cannot depict any act of sex or violence.
If you want a glimpse of what the AI model is capable of at this current moment, check out the music video for "The Hardest Part" by artist Washed Up. It's very underwhelming, to say the least.
The Tribeca Film Festival runs from June 5-16 in New York City, so it'll be interesting to see how these filmmakers use Sora for genuine filmmaking endeavors.
The Mini is a bite-sized version of The New York Times' revered daily crossword. While the crossword is a lengthier experience that requires both knowledge and patience to complete, The Mini is an entirely different vibe.
With only a handful of clues to answer, the daily puzzle doubles as a speed-running test for many who play it.
So, when a tricky clue disrupts a player's flow, it can be frustrating! If you find yourself stumped playing The Mini — much like with Wordle and Connections — we have you covered.
SEE ALSO: NYT Connections today: See hints and answers for June 1 SEE ALSO: 'Wordle' today: Here's the answer hints for June 1Here are the clues and answers to NYT's The Mini for Saturday, June 1, 2024:
AcrossExactly rightThe answer is Dead on.
The answer is Ortega.
The answer is Celery.
The answer is Apes.
The answer is Wand.
The answer is On time.
The answer is Knives.
The answer is Secede.
The answer is Doc.
The answer is Ere.
The answer is Atlantic.
The answer is Deep dive.
The answer is Ogre.
The answer is Nays.
The answer is Woks.
The answer is Anne.
The answer is Med.
The answer is Ese.
The inventory of meteorites from Mars is astoundingly small: Less than 400 of the known space rocks identified here hail from the Red Planet.
Even smaller is the number of nakhlites and chassignites, two of the three main types of Martian meteorites, of which there are only 35 samples in the world put together, according to The Meteoritical Society. But scientists haven't known much about them, despite having had many of the rocks for decades. James Day, a geologist and geochemist at UC San Diego, wanted to unlock their secrets.
After he and a team of scientists conducted the first comprehensive analysis of this collection, they made an unexpected find — a new Martian rock type — but without the actual rock or any others matching its description on Earth.
The discovery is based on a cryptic geochemical signature embedded within some of the specimens. That distinct rock type is probably Mars' crust, according to the research published in the journal Science Advances.
"It's an indelible fingerprint. There's nothing else it can be. It's literally staring at you in the data," he told Mashable. "We will probably find these rocks on Mars."
SEE ALSO: What does a meteorite taste like? Someone found out and bottled it. A Martian meteorite landed in Nakhla, Egypt, in 1905. Others like it have been named nakhlites. Credit: Universal History Archive / Contributor / Universal Images Group via Getty ImagesNASA estimates about 48.5 tons of ancient meteor material rain down on Earth daily, but much of it vaporizes in the atmosphere or plunges into water, which covers over 70 percent of the planet. People have discovered over 82,000 meteorites, but only about 0.5 percent originated from Mars.
All of the known Martian meteorites came from volcanoes. The nakhlites and chassignites appear to be related to each other through so-called "fractional crystallization," a primary way of causing chemical changes in magmas. Scientists think the two kinds came from the same volcanic system, launched into space after a large meteor crashed into Mars perhaps 11 million years ago. The collision could have blasted rubble out of its atmosphere into space. Over time, some of those bits could have made their way to Earth.
Upon close inspection, the team found a record of the Martian atmosphere in some of the nakhlites — but not all of them. The composition matched the measurements taken by NASA’s Viking landers in the 1970s. The scientists believe the molten nakhlites oozed over the surface of Mars, or just underneath it, melting some of the crust and incorporating it.
NASA's Viking landers took measurements of the Martian atmosphere in the 1970s. Credit: NASA / Kennedy Space Center illustration"Imagine that you're a Martian, and you have a piece of the Earth in your meteorite collection, and it came from Hawaii. You don't know it came from Hawaii, but you have this rock," Day said. "That rock, when it forms, it melted, it flowed over highly altered rocks, and those highly altered rocks have a signature of the Earth's atmosphere."
Through sulfur isotopes, which are changed in Mars' atmosphere, the team could then infer what those rocks would look like. The rocks, which the team has not named, are basaltic in nature. On Earth, basalts are abundant as the bedrock of the ocean floor and in areas where lava has flowed, such as Hawaii and Iceland.
They are also quite old because the nakhlites themselves are old, formed roughly 1.3 billion years ago. In order for crust rocks to get mixed into the nakhlite material, they would have to be older, Day said.
All of the known Martian meteorites came from volcanoes. Credit: NASA / JPLBut why wouldn't any of this Martian crust have landed on Earth in the form of a meteorite? Day believes these rocks probably don't hold their shape well, making it unlikely for pieces to survive a catastrophic meteor impact on Mars. If any chunks did blast into space, they'd be even more unlikely to make the journey all the way to Earth's surface without being destroyed.
"It's an indelible fingerprint. There's nothing else it can be."In addition to the speculated new rock type, the study provides insight into the Red Planet's internal structure — in some ways similar to Earth's and in other ways quite different. The team suggests Mars has an atmospherically changed upper crust, a complex deeper crust, and a mantle where plumes have penetrated the base of the crust. Early in the planet's evolution, its interior melted to form distinct types of volcanoes, and it seems to have remained that way.
Nakhlites and chassignites formed in a similar fashion to volcanic rocks in Hawaii and Iceland. There, volcanoes press down on the mantle, spurring tectonic forces that create more volcanic activity. But on Earth, plate tectonics have also remixed the reservoirs that feed the volcanoes over time, making the interior more homogenous. That's not the case on Mars, where the reservoirs have stayed distinct.
A thin slice of a Chassigny Martian meteorite in cross-polarized light. Credit: Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San DiegoNASA's Perseverance rover, a car-size lab on six wheels, has been collecting samples from the Jezero crater on Mars since 2021 so they can be brought back for scientific scrutiny. The region, an ancient dried delta, is one where scientists think microscopic organisms might have existed long ago. But the plan to fly rocks and grains to Earth, a complex mission called Mars Sample Return, is in jeopardy. Its rising costs have led to layoffs and warnings of cancellation from Congress. The agency is now making a desperate plea for outside help to save the mission.
Day hopes NASA will find a way to bring those samples home. But if that doesn't happen, there's still much that humans can learn from these meteorites.
"You would think that we would have done everything on these rocks. We haven't," he said. "There's a lot of science still left to be done."
It's coming back.
In mid-May, the brilliant Northern Lights, or aurora, were visible in places that rarely see them, due to powerful ejections from the sun colliding with Earth. These bursts of energy, such as solar flares or coronal mass ejections, are normal, especially as our medium-sized star has entered the peak of its activity cycle (it's an 11-year solar cycle). They came from a giant dark spot on the sun, called a sunspot, phenomena that tend to generate such solar bursts.
As the sun rotated, the spot faced away from us over the latter half of May. But now it's returning, and the astrophotographer Andrew McCarthy has been documenting this behemoth, dynamic zone. The large sunspot — which is some 15 Earth-diameters in size — is officially labeled "Region 3664."
"WOW! This is the same active region that caused those aurora a few weeks ago," McCarthy, who gave permission to Mashable to share his footage, marveled on May 28. "It’s finished rotating around the back of the sun and ready to cause some havoc again! This is the aftermath of yesterday’s X-class flare."
SEE ALSO: NASA scientist viewed first Voyager images. What he saw gave him chills.X-class flares are the strongest class of solar flares, which are explosions of light from the sun's surface. The fact that this sun region is still producing potent flares means that more atmospheric radiance could soon be in store, depending on where the coming solar ejections hit. The active sun has also been producing coronal mass ejections (CMEs) — when the sun shoots a mass of super hot gas (plasma), essentially a chunk of the sun, into space. These drove the recent vivid Northern Lights.
When they impact Earth, solar particles can become trapped by our planet's magnetic field, traveling to the poles and colliding with the molecules and particles in our upper atmosphere. Then, these atmospheric particles heat up and glow.
Tweet may have been deleted Tweet may have been deleted Tweet may have been deletedSunspots appear dark to us because they're "cooler" areas on the solar surface — meaning some 6,500 degrees Fahrenheit. These spots form where the sun's magnetic field — created by the vigorous movement of charged particles around the sun — is strong, which keeps some heat from the surface.
Crucially, these "magnetic field lines near sunspots often tangle, cross, and reorganize," NASA explains. This can lead to explosive solar flares or CMEs.
It's not, however, all atmospheric radiance. These events can impact our vulnerable electrical and communications systems — if not properly prepared for.
During the May 2024 solar storms, many farming tractors, reliant on GPS satellite guidance systems, went offline. In 2003, airlines rerouted flights, at great cost, to avoid communication blackouts. In 1989, an extreme solar storm fried a $10 million transformer at Salem Nuclear Power Plant in New Jersey. The same CME knocked out power to millions in Québec, Canada, even trapping people in elevators.
Some more vigorous solar storms may indeed be on the way in 2024. If this activity impacts Earth, you could be in for some more lights. (Tip: Both the National Weather Service and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration provide aurora updates and forecasts.)
The most powerful space telescope ever built has peered into the dawn of time.
You read that right. The James Webb Space Telescope — with a giant mirror that catches extremely faint light, along with its ability to view a type of light (infrared) that can pass through huge clouds of cosmic gas — has allowed astronomers to spot the earliest galaxy ever found (so far, that is). It formed just 290 million years after the Big Bang, before our galaxy even formed. Our universe is some 13.7 billion years old.
For humanity to be able to view this extremely distant galaxy, dubbed JADES-GS-z14-0, means it's profoundly bright. (The galaxy's name is derived from one of Webb's many ongoing science missions, called the "JWST Advanced Deep Extragalactic Survey (JADES) program.)
"This discovery was not just a new distance record for our team; the most important aspect of JADES-GS-z14-0 was that at this distance, we know that this galaxy must be intrinsically very luminous," the astronomers Stefano Carniani from Scuola Normale Superiore in Italy, and Kevin Hainline from the University of Arizona, explained in a statement.
The galaxy "shattered" the previous record, they added, which formed some 350 million years after the Big Bang.
SEE ALSO: NASA scientist viewed first Voyager images. What he saw gave him chills.The image below, a deep field view into the universe, is filled almost completely with galaxies, many of which are spirals like our Milky Way. The only non-galactic objects are the six-pointed bright spots, which are foreground stars. The record-breaking galaxy, beyond the much closer and clearer galaxies, is that reddish blob.
The galaxy is red because as the universe has incessantly expanded over billions of years, its light has stretched, somewhat like taffy. Longer wavelengths of light are red. (In contrast, blue wavelengths are a much shorter length of visible light.)
The blown-up box shows the oldest galaxy ever spotted to date, JADES-GS-z14-0. Credit: NASA / ESA / CSA / STSc / B. Robertson (UC Santa Cruz) / B. Johnson (CfA) / S. Tacchella (Cambridge) / P. Cargile (CfA) Tweet may have been deletedScientists used a highly specialized instrument on the Webb telescope, called the Near-Infrared Spectrograph, or NIRSpec, to determine the age of this distant galaxy. A spectrometer acts a bit like a prism, separating light into different colors or parts, ultimately allowing astronomers to dissect the physical properties and composition of the object they're viewing, like a galaxy or planet. In this case, researchers looked for specific patterns in the light caused by the extreme redshift, allowing them to confirm how old the light is — and thus, how old such a galaxy is.
For being well over 13 billion light-years away (a light-year is nearly 6 trillion miles), JADES-GS-z14-0 is unexpectedly radiant. That leaves the astronomers reaching into the dawn of time with a weighty question:
"This much starlight implies that the galaxy is several hundreds of millions of times the mass of the sun!" the researchers wrote. "This raises the question: How can nature make such a bright, massive, and large galaxy in less than 300 million years?"
The Webb telescope's powerful abilitiesThe Webb telescope — a scientific collaboration between NASA, ESA, and the Canadian Space Agency — is designed to peer into the deepest cosmos and reveal new insights about the early universe. But it's also peering at intriguing planets in our galaxy, along with the planets and moons in our solar system.
Here's how Webb is achieving unparalleled feats, and likely will for decades:
- Giant mirror: Webb's mirror, which captures light, is over 21 feet across. That's over two-and-a-half times larger than the Hubble Space Telescope's mirror. Capturing more light allows Webb to see more distant, ancient objects. As described above, the telescope is peering at stars and galaxies that formed over 13 billion years ago, just a few hundred million years after the Big Bang.
"We're going to see the very first stars and galaxies that ever formed," Jean Creighton, an astronomer and the director of the Manfred Olson Planetarium at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee, told Mashable in 2021.
- Infrared view: Unlike Hubble, which largely views light that's visible to us, Webb is primarily an infrared telescope, meaning it views light in the infrared spectrum. This allows us to see far more of the universe. Infrared has longer wavelengths than visible light, so the light waves more efficiently slip through cosmic clouds; the light doesn't as often collide with and get scattered by these densely packed particles. Ultimately, Webb's infrared eyesight can penetrate places Hubble can't.
"It lifts the veil," said Creighton.
- Peering into distant exoplanets: As noted above, the Webb telescope carries specialized equipment called spectrographs that will revolutionize our understanding of these far-off worlds. The instruments can decipher what molecules (such as water, carbon dioxide, and methane) exist in the atmospheres of distant exoplanets — be they gas giants or smaller rocky worlds. Webb will look at exoplanets in the Milky Way galaxy. Who knows what we'll find?
"We might learn things we never thought about," Mercedes López-Morales, an exoplanet researcher and astrophysicist at the Center for Astrophysics-Harvard & Smithsonian, told Mashable in 2021.
Already, astronomers have successfully found intriguing chemical reactions on a planet 700 light-years away, and as described above, the observatory has started looking at one of the most anticipated places in the cosmos: the rocky, Earth-sized planets of the TRAPPIST solar system.
Closing apps on an iPhone is a 20-second task, but should you be closing them at all? The answer may surprise you!
How to close your apps on an iPhone Total TimeStep 1: Access the "App Switcher"
On an iPhone with Face ID: Swipe up from the bottom of the screen and pause in the middle of the screen. On an iPhone with Home Button: Double-click the Home button at the bottom of your iPhone.
Step 2: Find the App You Want to Close
In the App Switcher, swipe left or right to locate the app you want to close.
Step 3: Close the App
Swipe up on the app's preview to close it.
Is closing apps actually good for your phone battery?Surprisingly, no; closing apps is not always good for your phone's battery. That's because iOS is designed to manage apps efficiently while they're open but not in use (this is called running "in the background").
Closing an app and then opening it up again can take more energy than keeping it running in the background.
How often should you close your apps?You don't need to close apps on your iPhone frequently unless you are concerned about the following issues:
The app is frozen or malfunctioning: If an app is not working correctly, closing and reopening it may resolve the issue.
Battery life or slow performance: Though iOS is designed to manage background apps efficiently, there are situations in which it's clear to you that a particular app is consuming a lot of battery in the background. If you're worried about preserving your battery life while away from your charger, you may consider closing apps you do not plan to use until you are back home.
You have privacy concerns: Some apps track your location or complete tasks or If you want to ensure an app is closed for privacy reasons, you can manually close it. Some apps track your location, for example, or
TL;DR: Learn to use AI tools such as ChatGPT and Midjourney with the artificial intelligence and automation developer learning bundle, on sale for only $59.99 (reg. $234).
If you're hoping to make a career change and want to stay on top of new technology, then give yourself the gift of learning with this AI and development course bundle.
Filled with 13 info-packed courses spanning 46 hours of instruction, this bundle provides an education on everything from ChatGPT to robotics. And for a limited time, it's available for only $59.99 (regularly $234) — which boils down to less than $5 a course.
Kick off with "Introduction to the Latest Artificial Intelligence Tools," a course taught by e-commerce businessman Bryan Guerra. This course covers the latest AI tools on the market and how to use them over the course of 20 lectures. The course provides an entry point for beginners ready to learn to use AI.
Once the big players in AI are covered, hone in on more specific lessons with courses like "ChatGPT: Artificial Intelligence (AI) that Writes for You." Taught by best-selling Amazon author Alex Genadinik, this class instructs you on how to use ChatGPT to create content, from blogs to sales copy to social media captions and more. "Robotics and Artificial Intelligence + Tools + Templates" deep-dives into the emerging technology of robotics, showing how they overlap with AI, how to build projects, and the ins and outs of robot ethics.
Make AI more accessible with this artificial intelligence and automation developer training package, on sale for just $59.99 (reg. $234) for a limited time.
StackSocial prices subject to change.
Opens in a new window Credit: StackCommerce The Ultimate Artificial Intelligence & Automation Developer Bundle $49.97 at the Mashable ShopTL;DR: Through June 9, pay only $39.99 for an open-box unit of Sony WH-CH520 Wireless Headphones thanks to this Father's Day deal.
Think back to those car rides with Dad with the stereo blaring Pink Floyd, The Beatles, or Led Zeppelin. Whether you liked his tunes or not, those songs were your first foray into music. Sure, your playlists might not overlap much these days, but you can't deny that your old man helped shape your musical tastes. Why not thank your first-ever DJ with something that lets him jam out in style?
Just in time for Father's Day, an open-box pair of Sony WH-CH520 Wireless Headphones is on sale for $39.99. Place your order by June 5 to ensure they arrive in time to celebrate Father's Day.
If you're not familiar with open-box units, they're pretty much pristine gadgets, often just excess inventory that's had a little shelf life or perhaps were returned by a customer. But performance-wise? As good as new.
These headphones from 2023 come equipped with Sony's DSEE technology. Digital Sound Enhancement Engine tech enhances audio for a richer, more lifelike listening experience. Dad can also tailor the sound to his exact liking, and with 360 reality audio, he'll be completely immersed in whatever he's streaming, from classic rock to those Boy Genius and Sabrina Carpenter tracks you've sent him.
Check them out:
Besides great sound, these headphones boast a built-in microphone for easy call handling, perfect for when he's out and about. They also feature a Quick Switch function, letting him flip between devices seamlessly, and a lightweight, comfortable design for all-day wear. With a 50-hour battery life, he's set to enjoy days of uninterrupted streaming.
Give the gift of quality sound this Father's Day.
Normally $59.99, these open-box Sony WH-CH520 Wireless Headphones are on sale for only $39.99. Don't forget to order on or before June 5 for on-time Father's Day delivery.
StackSocial prices subject to change.
Opens in a new window Credit: Sony Sony WH-CH520 Wireless Headphones (New - Open Box) $39.99 at the Mashable ShopTL;DR: Through June 5, this Father's Day, you can get Dad these HD digital camera binoculars on sale for $105.97 (reg. $199.99).
Opens in a new window Credit: Mesay HD Digital Camera Binoculars $105.97 at the Mashable ShopIf you've noticed Dad squinting more than usual these days, it's probably time to do something about it. But forget about another pair of boring specs. You ought to gift him something far cooler instead: a pair of high-definition digital camera binoculars.
Get a pair of HD digital camera binoculars on sale for $105.97 (reg. $199.99). Great for dads who camp, birdwatch, stargaze, or partake in those Sunday football games from the nosebleeds, these HD binoculars bring everything up close and personal. And for a limited time, you can grab them for $94.02 off through June 5 — be sure to order by then to ensure on-time delivery for Father's Day.
These binoculars boast 12x magnification, perfect for catching details that the naked eye might miss. They can focus with laser precision up to a kilometer away (that's precisely 3,280 feet), ideal for everything from spying on rare birds to catching every moment of a live football match or a Rolling Stones concert.
Unlike most binoculars, these have a built-in camera, so your old man can snap away and play amateur photographer to capture all those can't-miss moments. They're equipped with an adjustable program mirror for a comfy viewing experience, too, and are compact enough to tuck into pockets or fanny packs.
As for durability, these binoculars are as tough as they come. They have an anti-reflective coating that offers crystal-clear snaps even in low-light conditions. They're also designed to ward off water, fog, dust, and shocks, making them equipped to handle any environment or terrain.
These HD digital camera binoculars typically retail for $199, but you can grab them on sale for $105.97 through June 5. That's also the last day to place an order so they make it in time for Father's Day.
StackSocial prices subject to change.
TL;DR: Through June 9 and just in time for Father's Day, you can grab a lifetime subscription to Curiosity Stream, a streaming platform for documentaries, for just $179.97 (reg. $399).
It's easy to pretend that your dad's endless fountain of facts at the dinner table or during family road trips is more annoying than amusing. But deep down, you know you love his random trivia sessions — and wouldn't want them to stop. So why not fuel his passion for knowledge with the perfect Father's Day gift?
A lifetime subscription plan to Curiosity Stream might just be the present you're looking for. Through June 9, you can grab it on sale for 55% off. It's the gift that keeps on giving — no shipping or wrapping required.
Curiosity Stream isn't just any streaming service. Founded by John Hendricks, the visionary behind Discovery Communications, it offers a treasure trove of content that does the opposite of making your brain rot (no offense to other streams out there!) Your dad might revel in the platform's diverse content offerings, whether he's into science, history, tech, nature, or art.
Favorites on Curiosity Stream include the award-winning Stephen Hawking's Favorite Places, which clinched a trophy at the News and Documentary Emmy Awards for Outstanding Graphic Design and Art Direction. Other hits include Planet of Treasures, Engineering the Future, The History of Home, and Out the Cradle.
Each show or documentary is available in crisp, high-definition (1920x1080) resolution, ensuring an immersive viewing experience. Plus, everything is downloadable for offline viewing, making it perfect for on-the-go entertainment. New content is added regularly, too, so you and your dad can enjoy endless hours of discovery together. And who knows, it might just become your new favorite way to bond.
It only takes a single payment in exchange for unlimited access to a wealth of binge-worthy documentaries.
Feed your dad's hankering for knowledge with a lifetime subscription to Curiosity Stream. Normally retailing for $399, you can get it on sale for $179.97 until June 9 at 11:59 p.m. PT.
StackSocial prices subject to change.
Opens in a new window Credit: Curiosity Stream Curiosity Stream Standard Plan: Lifetime Subscription $179.97 at the Mashable ShopTL;DR: Through June 5, score a refurbished iPad Pro (256GB, WiFi) with accessories for just $249.99 (reg. $379) to arrive in time for Father's Day.
Opens in a new window Credit: Apple Refurbished 9.7-inch Apple iPad Pro (256GB, WiFi) + Accessories Bundle $249.99 at the Mashable ShopThere's a reason iPads are one of the most beloved tablets on the market: they offer endless conveniences. Make Dad's life a little easier with your Father's Day gift this year. Help him answer emails, binge-watch his favorite content, listen to podcasts, FaceTime with his favorite child (you) and more with this refurbished Apple iPad Pro on sale.
Not only does this refurbished 9.7-inch iPad Pro (256GB, WiFi) with accessories offer all the bells and whistles of its brand-new counterpart at a fraction of the price, it also includes accessories like a cover, stylus pen, and charger. And just in time for Father's Day, you can score all of this for just $249.99 — $130 off the usual price tag — with no coupon code required. Make sure to order by June 5 to ensure delivery by Father's Day.
This particular model includes a 9.7-inch screen complete with a fully-laminated, large Retina display. Stream content, reminisce while looking at photos and watching videos, FaceTime with family, and more, all while enjoying the multitouch controls.
An Apple A9X processor offers peak performance, while the included 256GB of flash memory storage lets you house plenty of your favorite apps, photos, videos, and more. The iSight camera helps you create new memories, with the ability to capture 4K videos. Plus, you don't have to worry about constantly hunting down an electrical outlet, thanks to the 10-hour battery life.
This model hails from 2016 and comes with a grade "B" rating, which means it may have light scuffing on the bevel or case, or light scratches or dents on the body, but will otherwise work good as new.
Gift your dad a refurbished Apple iPad Pro, plus an accessories bundle, all for $249.99 (reg. $379). Order by June 5 to make sure it comes in time for Father's Day.
StackSocial prices subject to change.
Calling all passenger princesses, princes, and everyone in between — Grindr is turning 15 and hitting the open road with a cross-country "Grindr Rides America" bus tour. It's the great all-American-gay road trip, and everyone's invited to hop on and join in the celebration of Pride.
SEE ALSO: From Grindr to Scruff: The best dating apps for gay, bi, and queer menThe Grindr bus will be cruising through 10 cities across the U.S., kicking off in San Francisco on May 29 and wrapping up in New York City on June 30. Passengers can expect two full-service mobile photo studios for that perfect profile pic, local drag queens, free swag (including punny bumper stickers like "Hoexist" and "My Ass Is An Honor Student"), and Grindr Unlimited giveaways.
The team from medical service Q Care Plus will also be on board to talk to attendees about HIV and STI prevention, screening, treatment, and how to access HIV preventative PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis) and STI preventative doxy-PEP to encourage open discussion and judgment-free support.
Credit: GrindrAccording to the press release, Grindr Rides America is an opportunity to get closer to the community than ever before with an "Unwrapped 2.0" initiative. At each stop, Grindr will unveil data snapshots that reveal unique insights into the LGBTQ communities in each city. Meanwhile, UK-based users are suing Grindr for sharing personal data with third parties, including HIV status, so it's yet to be seen how these data snapshots will be received.
While Grindr is known as the go-to app for gay hookups (we're all about consensual fun), this bus tour is meant to showcase a different side of the app — one focused on community building, unity, and celebrating LGBTQ pride. It's apparently a chance to connect, have fun, and show the world what Grindr is really about.
Maxime Girardin descends from a long line of winemakers in France's Burgundy region dating back at least 200 years.
So it caught his family off guard when he decided in 2021, then only 24, to break from tradition and try his hand at spirits instead. Even more unthinkable was what he wanted to do with his fledgling brand, Pegasus Distillerie: bottle space.
To be clear, Girardin didn't intend to sell cases of empty bottles. He wanted to capture the essence of outer space and the stars, inspired by his love of the night sky, which began years earlier while volunteering in southern Africa. There he saw some of the clearest celestial views on Earth.
Because humans won't be hanging their unhelmeted tongues out into the great vacuum of space anytime soon, Girardin calls his meteorite-infused liquor, Shooting Star Vodka, perhaps the next closest experience to tasting the cosmos.
"I'll be honest with you, when we first started this, we didn't know whether we were going to release it or not because we were like, 'If it doesn't add anything, then it's pure marketing and communication, and that's not really the point,'" Girardin told Mashable.
We asked several scientists to pontificate on the flavor profiles of meteorites, based on their knowledge of minerality and complex geological processes. These ancient relics of the solar system come in a variety of forms — amalgams of the Periodic Table, metamorphosed through chemical changes. It's quite possible no two space rocks taste alike.
SEE ALSO: The first space rock ever recorded slamming into Earth is up for auction After suspending a meteorite in a terracotta jar filled with his company's eponymous Pegasus Vodka for a year, the alcohol had acquired a hint of sweetness. Credit: Pegasus DistillerieThe speculation ran amok, with descriptions to rival the world's top sommeliers, like "musty," "gritty," or "I guess it depends on the concentration." During a video interview, Maria Valdes, a cosmochemist at the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago, understood the assignment and went so far as to lick a similar meteorite from her personal collection on camera — in the name of science, of course.
"I'm getting no obvious flavor notes from it," she said, slightly sputtering afterward. "Dry, like clay-y, sort of."
But when Girardin tasted his infused vodka, he was pleasantly surprised. After suspending a meteorite in a terracotta jar filled with his company's eponymous Pegasus Vodka for a year, the alcohol had acquired a hint of sweetness. What caused the vodka, which is sugarless, to pick up that taste was a mystery, he said.
NASA estimates about 48.5 tons of billions-of-years-old meteor material rain down on Earth daily, but much of it vaporizes in the atmosphere or plunges into water, which covers over 70 percent of the planet.
People have discovered over 82,000 meteorites on Earth. The vast majority come from asteroids in the main belt, but a paucity, about 1 percent, hail from Mars or the moon, according to data collected by The Meteoritical Society. At least 385 specimens have originated from the Red Planet.
Though all space rocks on Earth are rare, the one in Girardin's vodka is classified as an "ordinary chondrite," the most common kind of stony meteorite, composed mostly of silicate minerals. Registered with The Meteoritical Society under the name Huntsman (b), the 22.5-pound rock was discovered near Huntsman, Nebraska, in 1977 — but it could have landed long before that: Someone found another meteorite that might have broken off the same parent rock just three miles northwest of it in 1910.
A close-up example of fusion crust formed on a chondrite. Credit: abriendomundo / iStock / Getty Images PlusOn the outside, this rock is perhaps unremarkable. A dark brown lump with a patchy weathered fusion crust — the thin glassy layer formed as a meteor's surface melts from searing air friction. But a cut of the meteorite reveals the veritable constellation within it: Igneous blobs and brilliant flecks of iron-nickel. Girardin bought his ingredient from an Arizona company that specializes in lab-testing meteorites.
"It's not just the rock that someone finds in their garden," he joked, although technically, someone did find it on a farm.
Are meteorites safe to eat or drink?Geologists say imbibing a drink steeped with an ordinary chondrite doesn't pose any obvious health concerns. Even if the meteoroid were irradiated in space, every terrestrial rock — and, for that matter, person — is radioactive, said Randy Korotev, a retired lunar geochemist from Washington University in St. Louis. After all, we're all made of atoms from star formation, he said. On average, more radiation is present in bananas due to their potassium than a meteorite, whose abundances of radioactive elements decay rather quickly.
"I suspect that an ordinary chondrite is far less lethal than other things found in vodka," Korotev said.
And though meteorites do contain metals, ingesting trace amounts would be no different than eating Earth rocks, something humans are wont to do. Unintentionally, people consume small amounts of gravel from their vegetables or tiny grains of sand that blow onto their sandwiches at the beach all the time.
Charles Jones, a geology professor at the University of Pittsburgh, said dissolving Huntsman b into a food or beverage would be akin to dropping a fresh piece of Icelandic volcanic rock into it. That's because the meteorite has essentially the same minerals but with a dash of iron-nickel metal. Given that the original analysts described Huntsman b as containing very little rust, Jones didn't believe the rock would be at risk of leaching much iron.
"If you really want the vodka to taste like an old Buick, I’d go for a weathered piece of the Campo del Cielo meteorite from Argentina," Jones said. "These pieces can be so rusty that they fall apart in your hands."
A shiny piece of the Campo del Cielo meteorite from Argentina. Credit: Bjoern Wylezich / iStock / Getty Images PlusGirardin's meteorite vodka was aged in an amphora, a traditional Italian clay pot, which is porous. The thinking was that oxygen passing through it would act as a binder between the vodka and the minerals dissolved from the meteorite, he said.
The results intrigued his father, world-renowned winemaker Vincent Girardin, who wondered whether he could detect the minerality from their water, sourced from a spring-fed well that reaches about 500 feet below ground in Meursault, Burgundy. But it wasn't just something in the water. When the winemaker sipped from a glass of the regular vodka compared to the one tinged with the meteorite, he noticed a difference between the two.
"Somehow it wakes up some special area on your tongue. It plays on your tongue for minutes and minutes," the distiller Girardin said. "It's really not just the taste. How it feels in the mouth is an experience of its own."
Pegasus Distillerie uses water sourced from a spring-fed well that reaches about 500 feet below ground in Meursault, Burgundy. Credit: Hans Strand / Corbis Documentary via Getty Images Organic material found in meteoritesA few years before Girardin submerged a meteorite in his vodka, Valdes' colleague, Field Museum curator Philipp Heck, and a team of scientists soaked a very similar meteorite, dubbed Hamburg, in ethanol, too — but for research purposes. The meteorite was one eyewitnesses had seen as a fireball streaking across the sky over Michigan in 2018. After the rock landed, thrilled scientists of various expertise ran every possible test imaginable on the specimen.
What they found blew them away: They had extracted thousands of organic compounds in the ethanol residue, from a rock no one would have expected to have many organics. Because of this, Valdes suspects Huntsman b also released some soluble carbons and hydrocarbons into the vodka, "reflecting the history of the parent body from which the meteorite came," she said.
But a carbonaceous chondrite might offer even more unique organic compounds for the infused booze enthusiast.
"Exciting flavors might come from the dozens of exotic space amino acids that are not otherwise found on Earth, or from the polycyclic hydrocarbons, or from the sulfur," Jones said.
A carbonaceous chondrite is a stony meteorite that contains hydrocarbons, amino acids, and other material associated with life. Credit: Ludovic Debono / iStock / Getty Images PlusIf given a choice of space rock to sample, Valdes said she'd want to try a Martian meteorite, to discover what flavors its rich aqueous history — the ancient rivers and lakes that ran through it, once upon a time — would impart. Alan Rubin, a California-based geologist who teaches at UCLA, would select a practical meteorite off the menu: a non-metallic achondrite, he said, to avoid any remote chance of gut cuts.
"I generally find the meteorites too interesting to eat them," Rubin said. "Since I'm curator of the UCLA meteorite collection, it's sort of my responsibility to preserve their meteorites and not use them for lunch."
Pegasus Distillerie, founded by Maxime Girardin, is a maker of spirits named after the Pegasus constellation. Credit: Universal History Archive / Universal Images Group via Getty ImagesPegasus Distillerie made its U.S. debut in April, with bottles of its vodkas, gin, and liqueur, including the small batch of Shooting Star Vodka, on shelves in New York, Florida, and California. The company will begin selling bottles direct to consumers nationwide from its website on June 12. The meteorite vodka costs $180 to $200 a bottle, of which there are only 4,806 in this run.
They intend to reuse their chunk of meteorite, which they have not cut or ground up, to make future batches.
"We don't throw it away. It's traveled through deep space for thousands and millions of years. It'd be a shame to break it," Girardin said. "It has survived entering the atmosphere, so we should let it live as it is for now."
Pride is a time in which everyone under the LGBTQ umbrella is encouraged to come out and wave their flag in spectacular parades. But for every wild night out, we might need a cozy night in, perhaps with a movie that keeps the party going?
Many a streaming service will make a rainbow show of their LGBTQ titles in June. Let us be your guide through the essentials, highlighting movies across Netflix, Hulu, Prime Video, Max, Kanopy, and beyond.
Whether you're in the mood for a thigh-slapping comedy, a heart-wrenching drama, a pulse-pounding romance, a mind-expanding documentary, or spine-tingling horror, we've got you covered.
Here is a sensational selection of LGBTQ movies to watch this Pride and beyond.
1. All of Us Strangers (2023) Paul Mescal and Andrew Scott fall in love and break our hearts in "All of Us Strangers." Credit: Searchlight PicturesOne of our favorite films from 2023, writer/director Andrew Haigh's All of Us Strangers tells a tale surreal and deeply personal. Adapted from Taichi Yamada's 1987 novel Strangers, this horror-laced drama was shot in part in Haigh's childhood home. There, a lonely screenwriter (Ripley's Andrew Scott) visits the ghosts of his long-dead parents (Jamie Bell and Claire Foy), allowing them to get to know him as an adult they did not in the intervening decades. This includes an unexpectedly cathartic coming-out arc. Yet for as tender and sad as this drama is, it's also alive with love and lust — the latter thanks to Scott's onscreen romance with Aftersun's Paul Mescal, who plays a neighbor is desperate need of human connection. Altogether, this ensemble offers a movie that will make your spirit soar, your pulse race, and your heart shatter. — Kristy Puchko, Entertainment Editor
How to watch: All of Us Strangers is now streaming on Hulu.
2. The Queen (1968)You may have seen Paris Is Burning, but have you seen The Queen? Frank Simon's seminal 1968 documentary details the 1967 Miss All-America Camp Beauty Pageant, a competitive drag pageant put together by trans and drag icon Flawless Sabrina. Simon's recently restored doc is so many things at once: an archival treasure of early drag performances, an intimate look at the lives of queer men and trans women offstage, and, most famously, a record of one infamous incident that would later give way to the birth of house culture and the ballroom scene: Crystal LaBeija's scorching tirade to the camera after losing to a white queen. LaBeija later went on to found the seminal House of LaBeija, which led to the very inception of ball culture we see in Paris is Burning, and has been massively influential to Black queer culture today. As an artifact of lost and, to many, largely unknown queer history, The Queen is essential Pride viewing, and honestly, essential every damn day viewing. — Oliver Whitney, Contributing Writer
How to watch: The Queen is available to stream for free on Kanopy or for rent or purchase on Kino Now, Prime Video, and iTunes.
3. Rope (1948) Credit: Snap / ShutterstockRope may be known to most as Hitchcock's experimental attempt to shoot an entire film in what appears to be a single shot, but it's also the filmmaker’s gayest. The classic psychological thriller is about a gay couple who murders a man, then throws a dinner party using the dead body's trunk as the buffet — quite literally "be gay, do crime," Hitchcock-style. Of course, this was 1948, and that queerness is all subtext, but it roars to the surface thanks to gay screenwriter Arthur Laurents' script and performances by its notably gay leads, Farley Granger who plays Phillip Morgan with an anxious flamboyance, and John Dall, whose Brandon Shaw embodies a more reserved, posh queerness. That's not even to mention the oozing eroticism of the opening scene — a closed curtain, a roaring scream, a shot of man sandwiched between two others, with a rope around his neck; oh, the abhorrent perversions two (or more) men commit behind closed doors! — O.W.
How to watch: Rope is available for rent or purchase on Prime Video, iTunes, and Google Play.
4. The Stroll (2023) Credit: HBO Documentary FilmsThere's nothing more powerful and more urgently needed than trans people telling their own stories. In The Stroll, filmmaker Kristen Lovell (making her directorial debut alongside co-director Zackary Drucker) does exactly that, gathering the trans folks she worked with in Manhattan's Meatpacking District to recount the history of what was once a hub for trans sex workers from the 1970s through the early 2000s. The women and nonbinary interviewees recount not only the horrific police violence and neighborhood harassment they constantly faced, but, and perhaps most significantly, they speak to how The Stroll helped them find a resilient community that enabled them to survive.
Through a mix of interviews, collage-style animation, and archival footage — including some possibly never-before-seen late footage of trans heroine Sylvia Rivera and an ultra-cringe clip from The RuPaul Show — Lovell and Drucker, who are both trans, achieve something beyond the reach of most cis filmmakers. In place of sorrowful trauma porn, the directing duo create a stunning ode to the power and resilience of trans sisterhood. The Stroll isn't only an essential document of trans history; it's a revitalizing reminder for trans folks that together we have the power to pave a path for a better trans future. — O.W.
How to watch: The Stroll is now streaming on Max.
5. Bottoms (2023) Rachell Sennott and Ayo Edebiri are the uncool lesbian fight club weirdos of our dreams in "Bottoms." Credit: Orion PicturesCraving a raunchy teen comedy that'll have you howling with laughter? Bottoms delivers. The Bear's breakout It Girl Ayo Edebiri stars with Bodies Bodies Bodies' Rachel Sennott (who reunites with Shiva Baby's director Emma Seligman). Together, they craft a tale of an all-girls fight club created to help two "ugly and untalented" gays Josie (Edebiri) and PJ (Sennott) hook up with their cheerleader crushes. One good lie leads to a violent after-school activity, homemade explosives, sloppy sexcapades, and the most bizarre scene involving pineapple juice you'll ever see. But that's not all. With a wicked wit, Bottoms not only roasts the supposed "glory days" of teendom but also takes shots at rape culture, pushes queer lust to awkward (and relatably so) places, and brings on the blood. This comedy went so hard it not only had critics raving, it had audiences cheering out of its SXSW premiere and ever since.* — K.P.
How to watch: Bottoms is now streaming on MGM+ and Prime Video.
6. Dressed in Blue (1983)Watching Dressed in Blue for the first time feels like discovering a long-lost treasure, one you almost can't believe exists and which you only wish you'd seen sooner. This docudrama from Antonio Giménez-Rico mixes docu-style interviews with narrative reenactments to tell the life stories of six Spanish trans women living in post-Franco Madrid. Josette, Loren, René, Eva, Nacha, and Tamara gather in the dazzling Palacio de Cristal in Madrid to trade stories, gossip, bicker, giggle, and gossip some more as Giménez-Rico jumps in and out of scripted moments of their pasts. The unique framing gives the film something of an ethereal quality, especially paired with Teo Escamilla's dreamy cinematography that imbues each woman with a glowy, almost goddess-like quality. Depictions of trans life have long been victim to the gaze of cis creators, and though this film from a cis male director is no exception, Dressed in Blue does feel like something of an anomaly, especially for its time, by allowing these women more agency in recounting their most private memories. — O.W.
How to watch: Dressed In Blue is available for rent or purchase on Prime Video, iTunes, and YouTube.
7. Born in Flames (1983) Credit: First Run Features/Kobal/ShutterstockFor anyone in need of some radical-as-hell queer dystopian fiction during these increasingly dark and fascistic political times, Lizzie Borden's Born in Flames will prove to be a most satisfying balm. Set in a futuristic New York City after a socialist revolution, the film imagines America living under democratic socialism, but where the promises of that society are proving unfulfilled. Droves of women are losing their jobs, sexism and racism run rampant, and a queer Black revolutionary has just been captured and murdered by the state. This kicks off a new fiery revolt where feminist groups led by two radical radio hosts team up to take action into their own hands, from plotting direct action in underground meetings to teaching squads of women how to shoot rifles.
This seering anti-capitalist, anti-racist, pro-feminist treatise is as relevant today as ever. Hearing one queer radio DJ shout, "We're being murdered out there in the streets. Wake up, it's time to fight!" you can’t help but feel the parallels to the current attacks on queer and trans life and bodily autonomy happening in this country today. — O.W.
How to watch: Born in Flames is streaming on Kanopy and The Criterion Channel, and is available for rent or purchase on iTunes and Fandor.
8. Bound (1996) Credit: Moviestore/ShutterstockA lesbian neo-noir directed by two trans women — there has never been a better combination of words. Bound, the debut feature from Lilly and Lana Wachowski, is a cult favorite for a reason, or maybe 10. It features Gina Gershon playing a tough-as-nails butch lesbian named Corky (just a year after Showgirls' Cristal Connors, mind you), who falls for her sultry femme fatale neighbor, Violet (Jennifer Tilly). This is no mere queer romance though, but a razor-sharp crime thriller where two ordinary women decide to rip off the mob. Violet's abusive boyfriend (a perfect Joe Pantoliano) is about to come into a load of cash, so why not steal it, frame him, and make a getaway for it? Any casual Wachowskis fan can see the sisters' stylistic fingerprints all over Bound, but it's especially a pleasure to see the ways the two spice up classic noir genre conventions with queer sex, startling violence, and a whole lot of queer badassery. — O.W.
How to watch: Bound is streaming on MGM+ and available for rent or purchase on Prime Video and iTunes.
9. No Ordinary Man (2020)There are myriad ways to make a documentary about historical figures, but in No Ordinary Man, Chase Joynt and Aisling Chin-Yee take a unique and even risky creative approach that lands beautifully. To tell the story of Billy Tipton, a jazz musician whose stealth trans status was outed after his death and grossly mistreated for years in the press, No Ordinary Man looks to today's trans community to search for the lost and ignored truths of his life. Joynt and Chin-Yee invite a collection of transmasculine actors to read scenes from a narrative script about Tipton's life. This manifests into something profound, with each actor wrestling with how to portray a man who lived at a time where his transness had to remain secret, and with close to no models to shape himself after. It's a fascinating and incredibly moving creative exercise that both attempts to repair the painful history attached to Tipton's legacy, and showcases the necessity for trans performers to embody the roles of trans characters. — O.W.
How to watch: No Ordinary Man is streaming on Kanopy, and available for rent or purchase on Prime Video.
10. All the Beauty and the Bloodshed (2022) Credit: HBOOne of the absolute best films of 2022, Laura Poitras' Oscar-nominated documentary All the Beauty and the Bloodshed manages to accomplish multiple things: documenting the activism of acclaimed photographer Nan Goldin in a tireless pursuit to takedown the wealthy family responsible for the opioid epidemic, commemorating the vast cultural significance of Goldin's art, and detailing the personal life of the woman behind the camera. A prominent name in the 1980s New York City art scene, Goldin, who identifies as queer, is most known for her visceral, probing photography that captured a community ignored not just by the art world but by the entire world — queer and trans folks, sex workers, and those living with and dying from HIV/AIDS. All the Beauty and the Bloodshed fuses past and present, the individual and the collective, to tell a story that's achingly human, searing with urgency and rage yet still simmering with hope. — O.W.
How to watch: All the Beauty and the Bloodshed is streaming on Max, and is available to rent or purchase on Prime Video.
11. By Hook or by Crook (2001)A brazenly punk, DIY, queer buddy dramedy about an unlikely pair of butch trans outcasts, By Hook or by Crook is something of a miracle for existing. This ultra-indie, ultra-low budget 2001 film from Silas Howard and Harry Dodge is a rare narrative depiction of queerness and transness that refuses to label its characters in any particular way, instead allowing them to exist as their own wacky, genderqueer selves living on their terms on the fringes of society. After facing an eviction in Kansas, the suit-donning Shy (Howard) runs away to San Francisco where they meet the eccentric Valentine (Dodge), who sports a braided beard. The two become fast friends and, in an effort to eventually rob a bank, pull off a series of petty crimes to get quick cash. By Hook or by Crook is as buoyant and playful as it is earnest, telling a heartfelt story about friendship, mental illness, and living a life of crime in a world that deems queerness criminal from the jump — and all with practically no budget. — O.W.
How to watch: By Hook or by Crook is available for rent on Prime Video.
12. Funeral Parade of Roses (1969)Toshio Matsumoto's Funeral Parade of Roses is an absolute trip, and it might be one of the most enthralling pieces of filmmaking about trans femininity. This 1969 Japanese New Wave film fuses avant-garde editing with meta-documentary style filmmaking and non-linear storytelling to follow Eddie (played by androgynous cis actor Peter), a trans woman who works as a hostess as a gay bar — the lines between trans and gay identity are messy at best, given when this was made. With jarring editing, we're torn between Eddie's love triangle with the bar's owner and his other mistress, fragmented memories of a traumatic childhood incident, and meta-interviews with the other trans bar hostesses. It's all quite disturbing and disorienting, both aesthetically and thematically, and that's kinda of the point — as critic Willow Maclay has written, Matsumoto's film "mirrors the breaking down of gendered perception through the destruction of cinematic form." It's the kinda thing you just need to watch to get, and maybe more than once. — O.W.
How to watch: Funeral Parade of Roses is streaming in Kanopy and Night Flight+.
13. God's Own Country (2017)Sometimes gay romance dramas are tender, and sometimes they're just super hot. God's Own Country holds the honor of being both, leaving you crying one moment and indescribably turned on the next. Set on a farm in the Yorkshire countryside, Francis Lee's film traces the lonely and pained day-to-day life of Johnny (Josh O'Connor), a young gay man who buries his anger at his father with binge drinking and anonymous hookups. But when Gheorghe (Alec Secăreanu) arrives for a short stint to work at the farm, something shifts, and the newcomer's presence begins to melt Johnny’s hardened aggression. A sweet gentleness blossoms, along with one of the hottest (and muddiest) sex scenes in recent memory. If sexy emotional gay farmcore was a movie, this would be it. — O.W.
How to watch: God’s Own Country is streaming on Kanopy, and is available for rent or purchase on Prime Video and iTunes.
14. Shinjuku Boys (1995)It’s the mid-'90s in Tokyo, and you walk into the New Marilyn nightclub. You're suddenly charmed by a flock of dapper studs in flashy suits with cool-as-ever haircuts. It's a paradise of transmasc cuties.
In Shinjuku Boys, a short documentary from Kim Longinotto and Jano Williams, we meet three transmasculine folks who work at a nightclub that caters to doting female customers. Tatsu, Gaish, and Kazuki, who all use he/him pronouns, describe themselves as "onabe," a broad Japanese term that's been used to describe a variety of identities from trans man to butch lesbian. The doc captures a rarely seen slice of transmasc life (including some not-so-great toxic masc behavior), and offers a series of incredibly raw interviews that speak to things not often shown in film. From personal disclosures about sex and dysphoria to a T4T couple lovingly gushing over how seen they feel by one another, Shinjuku Boys is a snapshot of a unique and little-known piece of Japanese trans history. — O.W.
How to watch: Shinjuku Boys is streaming on The Criterion Channel and Kanopy.
15. Lingua Franca (2019)In the remarkable Lingua Franca, Isabel Sandoval plays Olivia, an undocumented Filipina trans caregiver who lives under a constant wave of fear of being deported from her Brooklyn neighborhood. Sandoval, who also wrote, directed, produced, and edited the film, brings a delicate touch to a beautifully understated story that traces intimate moments in Olivia's day to day as she attempts to secure a green card. Drawing inspiration from filmmakers like Chantal Akerman, Wong Kar-wai, and Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Sandoval’s film is a quietly gentle study of longing, tenderness, and desire. It's also one of the most beautifully photographed stories about a trans woman, and well worth a watch for any devout cinephile. — O.W.
How to watch: Lingua Franca is streaming on The Criterion Channel.
16. Sylvia Scarlett (1935) Credit: Rko/Kobal/ShutterstockIt's Katharine Hepburn in masc drag, what more could you need? How about her looking as dashing as ever in a fedora and popped collar, flirting with Cary Grant and Brian Aherne and confusing the hell out of them both? In this 1935 film that marks the first collaboration between Hollywood gay icons Hepburn, Grant, and director George Cukor, Hepburn plays Sylvia, the meek daughter of a bookkeeper who disguises herself as a boy to help her father flee gambling debts. Now going by the name Sylvester, Hepburn's character finds a swaggering confidence around other men while passing as one. Released during the start of the Hays Code, Sylvia Scarlett was a daring risk, and today remains a fascinating exploration of gender play, queer desire, and the inner empowerment one can discover in distorting gender expectations. — O.W.
How to watch: Sylvia Scarlett is available for rent or purchase on Prime Video, iTunes, and VUDU.
17. Changing the Game (2021)When Changing the Game was released in 2021, it felt like a dire time for trans athletes in America — at the time, 17 anti-LGBTQ bills had been passed. As of 2023, of the current proposed 530 anti-trans bills, 79 were passed. A large chunk of those specifically target trans kids who just want to play sports, and more than ever, Changing the Game remains a crucial film that highlights the experiences of young trans athletes.
The doc from Michael Barnett follows Mack, a trans boy who's the Texas state wrestling champion...of girls' wrestling; Andraya, a Connecticut track star who, though able to compete on her school's girls team, is met with harassment from parents; and Sarah, an alpine skier who splits her free time between activism and a makeup vlog. While circumstances have only gotten horrifically worse for trans youth, Changing the Game is a reminder that the resilience and diehard activism of younger trans generations hasn't and won't be dying down anytime soon. — O.W.
How to watch: Changing the Game is streaming on Hulu.
18. Desert Hearts (1985) Credit: Moviestore/ShutterstockSet in 1959, Donna Deitch's indie classic Desert Hearts finds Vivian Bell (Helen Shaver), a straight-laced English professor dressed in pearls and a skirt suit, arriving in dusty Reno to file for a quick divorce. The first time she meets Cay (Patricia Charbonneau), an openly queer, free-wheeling local, Cay's riotously racing down the highway backwards, like something of a lesbian James Dean straight out of Rebel Without A Cause. It's a classic story of opposites attracting as Cay begins to pursue the hesitant and old-fashioned Vivian. Brimming with quiet passion and yearning, and lit stunningly by master cinematographer Robert Elswit, Desert Hearts is a must-watch for any lover of queer cinema. — O.W.
How to watch: Desert Hearts is streaming on The Criterion Channel and Max.
19. Adam (2019)Filmmaker Rhys Ernst's directorial debut does something unexpected and controversial: It portrays an authentic transmasculine experience, but without a trans character as the lead. In Adam, Nicholas Alexander (a cis male actor) plays Adam, a cis male character who, after stumbling into New York City's queer scene, winds up pretending to be a trans guy. It sounds terrible, I know! But hear me out — Adam uses this scenario to flip expectations and, in the process, center transness while putting cis perspectives on the sidelines. Ernst (a trans man) does this through the friendship between Adam and trans man Ethan (The L Word: Gen Q's Leo Sheng). Their relationship proposes an alternative to a world where trans men grow up learning about masculinity (very often toxic) and sexuality (also often toxic) from a cis-centric perspective. Here, Adam comes of age through the wisdom of a man who has deeply investigated his relationship to conventional masculinity. Though a divisive film, Adam's worth seeing for the complex conversations it'll give way to. — O.W.
How to watch: Adam is streaming on Kanopy, and is available for rent or purchase on Prime Video and iTunes.
20. Colette (2018) Credit: Bleeker Street Media/Moviestore/ShutterstockThe only thing better than a Keira Knightley period piece? An unabashedly queer one. In Colette, Knightley portrays the titular famous French novelist best known for her 1944 work Gigi, but who for years was the ghostwriter of novels her husband took credit for. Wash Westmoreland's film isn't most interesting as a literary biopic though, but for the way it spotlights how Colette was openly and radically queer, especially for the early 20th century. Knightley's Colette has affairs with women, including a long relationship with Mathilde De Morny, a French trans man and aristocrat referred to as Max and Missy throughout history (though played here by cis actress Denise Gough). Their onstage kiss at the Moulin Rouge in 1907 famously sparked a riot. — O.W.
How to watch: Colette is streaming on Kanopy, and is available for rent or purchase on Prime Video and iTunes.
21. The Aggressives (2005)In Daniel Peddle's documentary, there's one thing that each of his five subjects has in common: They all identify as "Aggressives," or "AG." That term can mean vastly different things from one person to the next. For Octavia, they're just a person who dresses like a dude with dude ways, while to Tiffany, it means carrying a femme-aggressive attitude and acting more like a gay guy. Rjai, on the other hand, is a ballroom champ with rows of trophies for walking in both masc and butch categories. And then there's Marquise Vilson, who binds his chest and describes himself as a trans lesbian; he's gone on to become a notable trans actor. Peddle's film is a rare document of Black and brown butch, transmasc, and gender nonconforming folks in early aughts New York City that remains a beautiful showcase of the expansiveness of gender identity and expression outside the binary. — O.W.
How to watch: The Aggressives is streaming on Kanopy, and is available for rent or purchase on iTunes.
22. Caravaggio (1986)If you like your historical dramas ripe with unabashed queerness, look no further than the work of master British filmmaker Derek Jarman. In Caravaggio, Jarman queers the history of the Italian Baroque painter Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio by taking the highly homoerotic subtext of his work (along with age-old suspicions about his sexuality) and injecting it right into the text, reimagining the artist in openly gay affairs. This dazzling and layered meditation, with a mise en scène that evokes the compositions of a Caravaggio painting, finds the artist (played by Nigel Terry) engaged in romances with a street fighter (Sean Bean) and his girlfriend (Tilda Swinton). Even with no knowledge of Caravaggio or art history, Jarman's film is quite a trip, and one bubbling with queer desire. — O.W.
How to watch: Caravaggio is streaming on Metrograph at Home and Kanopy, and is available for rent or purchase on Kino Now.
23. Anything's Possible (2022)A sweet coming-of-age romantic comedy where a young trans girl gets to be charmed and loved and swept off her feet like every other woman of rom-coms' past? Yes, please! Anything's Possible is the directorial debut from Billy Porter, with a script by trans screenwriter Ximena García Lecuona. Eva Reign stars as Kelsa, a high school senior who starts crushing on Khal (Abubakr Ali). The two flirt, go on a cute first date, and romance begins to brew. But jealousy and backlash from Kelsa's friend group gets ignited, and for the first time, Kelsa's transness becomes a topic of fiery attention at her school — and in her relationship. Anything's Possible has all the charm of a teen rom-com like To All the Boys I've Loved Before, but centers the story on a trans girl without making her identity the sole focus of her character. — O.W.
How to watch: Anything's Possible is streaming on Prime Video.
24. Dicks: The Musical Megan Thee Stallion scolds Josh Sharp and Aaron Jackson in "Dicks: The Musical." Credit: A24Imagine The Parent Trap as a scorching satire of queer culture and homophobic fears, and you'll get some idea of what's in store with writers/stars Josh Sharp and Aaron Jackson's outrageous musical comedy. But nothing can prepare you for Megan Thee Stallion's ode to putting alpha males in their place, or the madcap chaos of Megan Mullally's ad-libs, or even national treasure Nathan Lane spitting ham at his beloved Sewer Boys. It's also got Bowen Yang as God, and a finale number that is as joyous as it is absolutely iconoclastic. Seeking something unapologetically outrageous? Nothing made us laugh as hard or loud or long as Dicks: The Musical.* — K.P.
How to watch: Dicks: The Musical is now streaming on Max.
25. Disclosure (2020)Ask anyone over 20 to name the first time they saw a trans character portrayed on screen, and it'll likely fall into one of the following categories: a villainous monster, a mocked disgrace, or a sad tragedy ending in death. Sam Feder's documentary Disclosure charts the history of transness depicted across film and TV, showing that from cinema's silent origins to the modern series of today, trans people have always been present, but largely only to be derided, misrepresented, and gawked at. With a mix of archival footage and talking head interviews with dozens of trans actors, directors, and authors, Disclosure offers a rare glimpse of a trans perspective on the painful history of representation in media. It's vital educational viewing for cis audiences. For trans folks, it provides a cathartic look back on an ugly history, but with a hopeful promise of what visibility can look like. — O.W.
How to watch: Disclosure is streaming on Netflix.
26. The Matrix (1999) Credit: Moviestore/ShutterstockWhat better way to celebrate Pride than by watching the most famous trans movie of all time, The Matrix? (It's canon, deal with it.) The sci-fi action epic may not be explicitly trans on the surface, but as trans critics and audiences over the years have observed, Neo's tale down the rabbit hole is littered with subtextual allusions to trans identity. There's the red/blue pill "splinter in your mind" metaphor for hormone therapy, the "waking up" and "unplugging" from the Matrix as a realization of one's gender when the egg shell cracks, the fact that Neo keeps getting deadnamed by Agent Smith, the whole essence of Trinity — you can go on and on. Read this sci-fi classic how you will, but once you start spotting all the trans symbolism, in the words of Morpheus, "There's no turning back." — O.W.
How to watch: The Matrix is streaming on Netflix, and is available for rent or purchase on Prime Video and iTunes.
27. Swan Song (2021) Credit: Chris Stephens / Magnolia PicturesInspired by the real-life "Liberace of Sandusky, [Ohio]," Swan Song stars heralded character actor Udo Kier as a Mr. Pat, a retired and unapologetically flamboyant hairdresser out to secure his legacy with one last hurrah of a hairdo. Striding back into his old haunts to reconcile with his past, this wickedly funny hero finds new friends, old foes, and the glory of a mint-green vintage suit. With a fine wit, bold style, and a big heart, writer/director Todd Stephens' film pays dazzling tribute to a generation of gay men who were decimated by AIDS and societal indifference. Swirling together rage and gratitude into an intoxicating cocktail, Kier gives the best performance of his long and storied career.* — K.P.
How to watch: Swan Song is now streaming on Hulu.
28. Moonlight (2016) Credit: David Bornfriend/A24/Kobal/ShutterstockDirector Barry Jenkins' Academy Award-winning Best Picture may use some of the formulaic components seen in other coming-of-age stories, but it imbues them with such immense inventiveness and originality that to compare Moonlight to anything else feels like an insult. This film has rightly been called some of the most impactful filmmaking in history, a perennial meditation on abuse, regret, pain, and acceptance. — Alison Foreman, Entertainment Reporter
How to watch: Moonlight is streaming on Max and Kanopy, and is available for rent or purchase on Prime Video and iTunes.
29. Hedwig and the Angry Inch (2001)Hedwig and the Angry Inch is always best enjoyed on the stage. But when a visit to the theater isn't an option, director and star John Cameron Mitchell's screen adaptation more than does the trick. In this musical dramedy, Stephen Trask's spectacular songs once again come to life as the titular and iconic East German rock singer explores revenge, betrayal, and acceptance. — A.F.
How to watch: Hedwig and the Angry Inch is available for rent or purchase on Prime Video and iTunes.
30-32. The Fear Street Trilogy (2021) Credit: NetflixA stellar example of queer horror hit in three parts in 2021, when R.L. Stine's beloved YA book series inspired a slasher trilogy centered on a lesbian couple. Kiana Madeira and Olivia Scott Welch are suffering the standard torments of teendom when the local legend of a vicious witch upends their lives — and may end them! Director Leigh Janiak ushers audiences through three eras of terror, chasing her heroes through shopping malls, summer camps, and colonial forests to unearth the dark truth of Shadyside. — K.P.
How to watch: Fear Street: Part One: 1994 is streaming on Netflix.
How to watch: Fear Street: Part Two: 1978 is streaming on Netflix.
How to watch: Fear Street: Part Three: 1666 is streaming on Netflix.
SEE ALSO: Netflix kicks off R.L. Stine's 'Fear Street' saga with a splash 33. The Watermelon Woman (1996) Credit: Dancing Girl/Kobal/ShutterstockDirector Cheryl Dunye's cinematic debut brings utter fearlessness to righting wrongs. In this romantic comedy, Dunye plays a pseudo-autobiographical version of herself intent on giving credit to the Black actors and filmmakers that came before her but were too often left unnamed in their works. Widely regarded as the first feature-length film directed by an openly lesbian Black woman, The Watermelon Woman remains a triumph almost 30 years later. — A.F.
How to watch: The Watermelon Woman is streaming on Max, and is available for rent or purchase on Prime Video and iTunes.
34. My Beautiful Laundrette (1985)In this charming, sexy, and silly comedy from Stephen Frears, Gordon Warnecke and Daniel Day-Lewis play childhood friends-turned-lovers struggling to make the most of their meager means. When the pair take over a laundromat together, they must face the normal pitfalls of operating a business as well as battle the political climate surrounding immigrants in '80s Great Britain. — A.F.
How to watch: My Beautiful Laundrette is available to rent or purchase on Prime Video or iTunes.
35. Rift (2017)Want something uniquely chilling? Then check out this 2017 Icelandic thriller set in a frigid and frightful landscape. Written and directed by Erlingur Thoroddsen, Rift follows a man (Björn Stefánsson) to a remote cabin, where he hopes to help his distraught ex-boyfriend (Sigurður Þór Óskarsson) and maybe find some closure over their breakup. However, their reunion is rattled by a series of strange events that suggest they aren't alone. Something is in the darkness, watching and waiting. This fantastic film lures you in with beautiful vistas and a slow-burn pace, then spirals into scares sure to linger like a cold shiver down your spine.* — K.P.
How to watch: Rift is streaming on Kanopy and is available to rent or purchase on Prime Video.
36. Carol (2016)Based on Patricia Highsmith's groundbreaking 1952 novel, Todd Haynes' Carol brings the lives of Carol Aird and Therese Belivet to the screen through actors Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara. This masterful rendition of a Christmas-set romance will pull at your heartstrings in all of the right ways, permanently nestling into a corner of your soul. — A.F.
How to watch: Carol is streaming on Paramount+ and available for rent or purchase on Prime Video and iTunes.
SEE ALSO: 'Carol' censored on airlines to exclude all lesbian intimacy 37. Benedetta (2021) Credit: IFC FilmsWhen you hear that the director of Showgirls made a movie about lesbian nuns, you might suspect Benedetta to be outlandishly raunchy and ferociously campy, reveling in the trashy tropes. However, Paul Verhoeven brings exquisite artistry to this stranger-than-fiction tale, delivering a biopic full of outrageous moments with a sophisticated yet wicked wit. Virginie Efira stars as 17th-century Italian nun Benedetta Carlini, who rose eyebrows in her convent not only because of the miracles she seemed to perform but also because of her romance with a fellow sister (Daphne Patakia). — K.P.
How to watch: Benedetta is streaming on Hulu, and is available for rent or purchase on Prime Video and iTunes.
SEE ALSO: 'Benedetta' is a sexy nun biopic with wicked wit 38. Weekend (2011)Tom Cullen and Chris New redefine the chance encounter in director Andrew Haigh's Weekend. Told over the course of a 48-hour period, this stirring, passionate romance considers the impacts strangers can have on one another — even when their time together is cut all too short. — A.F.
How to watch: Weekend is streaming on The Criterion Channel and Kanopy, and is available for rent or purchase on Prime Video and iTunes.
39. Tongues Untied (1989)Artist Marlon Riggs' experimental film Tongues Untied addresses the onslaught of racist and homophobic prejudices Black gay men have been forced to endure and navigate for decades. Combining documentary footage with scripted personal accounts, this 55-minute film remains an impactful and relevant point of reference in intersectional LGBTQ activism. — A.F.
How to watch: Tongues Untied is streaming on Kanopy.
40. Love, Simon (2018)Folks looking for a heartwarming, sweet, and goofy romp to accompany the perfect at-home Pride celebration can stop their search. Love, Simon, starring the always charming Nick Robinson, broke ground as the first major studio film to focus on a gay teen romance. Delightful as it is important, this movie combines the best of rom-coms and coming out stories to check every box on a movie lover's list. — A.F.
How to watch: Love, Simon is available for rent or purchase on Prime Video, iTunes, YouTube, and Google Play.
SEE ALSO: 'Love, Simon' is a gotdamn delightful rom-com, and it's gay as hell 41. Shiva Baby (2021) Credit: UtopiaHere's a nightmare scenario: You're a young, bi Jewish woman (Rachel Sennott) who just finished hooking up with one of your sex-work clients — he's rich and cute and, hey, maybe you kinda like him. You show up at the shiva your parents dragged you to, and oh fuck, Sugar Daddy walks in…with a hot wife…holding a newborn baby. And he knows your parents. Oh, and your ex-girlfriend, who's been a total flake lately, is there too. Emma Seligman's debut feature is like the Jewish comedic version of Trey Edward Schults' Krisha, only it finds the humor (and the suffocating anxiety) in the chaos. Even better, it’s only an hour and 17 minutes.* — O.W.
How to watch: Shiva Baby is streaming on Kanopy and Max, and is available to rent or buy on iTunes.
SEE ALSO: The 15 best films of 2021 42. Happy Together (1997) Block 2 Pics/Kobal/Shutterstock Credit: Block 2 Pics/Kobal/ShutterstockDirected by Wong Kar-wai, this nail-biting romantic saga depicts a tumultuous relationship on the brink of collapse. The film's leads, Leslie Cheung and Tony Leung Chiu-wai, explore passion and its limitations as Happy Together provides a unique, if not jarring, glimpse into affairs of the heart. — A.F.
How to watch: Happy Together is streaming on Max.
43. But I'm a Cheerleader (2000)Natasha Lyonne stars as a cheerleader forced to attend a conversion therapy camp in what may very well be the greatest lesbian fairytale of all time. Directed by Jamie Babbit, But I'm a Cheerleader was met with lukewarm reviews in 2000 but has since garnered a well-deserved cult following. Come for the promise of RuPaul trying to pretend he's straight; stay for a first kiss scene featuring Clea DuVall that will knock your pom-poms off. — A.F.
How to watch: But I'm a Cheerleader is streaming on Tubi and is available for rent or purchase on Prime Video and iTunes.
SEE ALSO: 21 years later, 'But I'm a Cheerleader' is still the perfect fairytale 44. Wig (2019)One of the most iconic events of New York City Pride, Wigstock has taken many forms over the years. Watch as director Chris Moukarbel follows present-day queens as they attempt to revitalize the festival made popular by legends, like Lady Bunny, in 2018. — A.F.
How to watch: Wig is available to stream on Max.
45. Velvet Goldmine (1998) Credit: Peter Mountain / Zenith / Killer / Kobal / ShutterstockAnother glittering gift from Todd Haynes, this '70s-set drama plays like fan fiction, penned about queer icons like David Bowie, Lou Reed, and Oscar Wilde. Jonathan Rhys Meyers stars as a glam rock star who wins the heart of a headstrong American punk (Ewan McGregor), a glitzy party girl (Toni Collette), and the devotion of a young teen coming into his own (Christian Bale). Stuffed with incredible music, scintillating spectacle, and unapologetically queer lust, Velvet Goldmine is beautiful and bold even before you realize Haynes mopped its narrative structure from Citizen Kane. — K.P.
How to watch: Velvet Goldmine is now available for rent or purchase on Prime Video.
46. Paris Is Burning (1990)It's the film you knew had to be on this list. Director Jennie Livingston's unparalleled documentary Paris Is Burning captures the New York City drag ball culture of the late '80s with style, grace, and intelligence. It's a powerful reflection on wealth disparity, race discrimination, and stigma surrounding the LGBTQ community — a must-see if there's ever been one. — A.F.
How to watch: Paris Is Burning is now streaming on The Criterion Channel and on Max, and available for rent or purchase on iTunes.
47. Brokeback Mountain (2005)Jake Gyllenhaal and the late Heath Ledger shepherd a nuanced narrative of passion, fear, romance, and shame in director Ang Lee's tale of star-crossed lovers in rural Wyoming and Texas. A timeless reflection on what it takes to unite who you are expected to be with who you really are, Brokeback Mountain can be a little sappy — but its faultless message always lands. — A.F.
How to watch: Brokeback Mountain is available for rent or purchase on Prime Video and iTunes.
48. How to Survive a Plague (2012)Reporter David France looks back on the HIV/AIDS epidemic in this riveting, comprehensive documentary. Weaving hundreds of hours of archival footage into a cohesive narrative on the LGBTQ community's fight against biased healthcare practices, How to Survive a Plague bottles what it means to make societal change happen before it's too late. — A.F.
How to watch: How to Survive a Plague is streaming on Pluto.tv, and is available for rent or purchase on Prime Video and iTunes.
49. Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019) Credit: NeonWriter-director Céline Sciamma will blow you away with this historical French drama. Noémie Merlant and Adèle Haenel lead as a painter and her unwilling subject whose intimate time together begins a secret romance that threatens to unravel them both. Painful and poetic, Portrait of a Lady on Fire is the under-appreciated watch you need to make time for. — A.F.
How to watch: Portrait of a Lady on Fire is streaming on Hulu, and is available for rent or purchase on Prime Video and iTunes.
50. The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (1994)Few things are as unspeakably fun as The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert. Terence Stamp, Hugo Weaving, and Guy Pearce star as drag performers traveling the Australian outback in this heartfelt comedy packed with iconic one-liners and costume changes. (It should be noted that this film contains some outdated, racist portrayals of non-white characters. Many argue the film remains a historic text for the changes it brought about in mainstream acceptance of LGBTQ art.) — A.F.
How to watch: The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert is available for rent or purchase on Prime Video, iTunes, YouTube, and Google Play.
51. Upstairs Inferno (2015)Documentarian Robert L. Camina remembers the catastrophic fire that took the lives of 32 people at New Orleans gay bar UpStairs Lounge on June 24, 1973. Witnesses to the tragedy reflect on the lives lost, the expected arsonist behind the attack, and the city's lacking response to community devastation. This is a heartbreaking but essential chapter in any LGBTQ history book. — A.F.
How to watch: Upstairs Inferno is available for rent or purchase on Prime Video and iTunes.
52. Kiki (2016)There has never been a better time to revisit Sara Jordenö's breathtaking Kiki. Centered on the drag and ballroom scene of New York City and those communities' roles in rebuffing systemic intersectional bias, this documentary is an inspiring reminder that joy and love can bring about lasting change — but not without profound struggle. — A.F.
How to watch: Kiki is available for rent or purchase on Prime Video and iTunes.
53. Pariah (2011) Credit: Chicken and Egg / MBK / Northstar / Kobal / ShutterstockAdepero Oduye devastates in this coming-of-age story. A cinematic journey that leaps from the screen straight to your soul, Pariah follows a 17-year-old Black girl as she fights to accept her lesbian identity and reconcile her sexual orientation with her family's vision of the future. — A.F.
How to watch: Pariah is available for rent or purchase on Prime Video and iTunes.
54. Scream, Queen! My Nightmare on Elm Street (2019)Queer horror is a genre full of cringeworthy moves. But fans of the much-maligned A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge came to embrace its quirky dance number and its groundbreaking scream queen, Mark Patton. Teaming with documentarians Tyler Jensen and Roman Chimienti, this fascinating leading man steps back into the spotlight to share his story as a closeted gay actor who survived public mockery and the AIDS crisis to find a love and community that takes pride in him. — K.P.
How to watch: Scream, Queen! My Nightmare on Elm Street is available for rent or purchase on iTunes.
SEE ALSO: 10 hidden gems of horror found on Shudder 55. The Favourite (2018)Only star Olivia Colman walked away with an Oscar for her work on The Favourite, but the 2018 historical black comedy more than earned its fair share of praise. Directed by Yorgos Lanthimos, this Best Picture nominee tells the story of two courtiers, played by Rachel Weisz and Emma Stone, vying for the favor of Queen Anne (Colman). An excellent argument against aristocracies — and owning too many rabbits — this darkly hilarious and queer romp is well worth a watch. — A.F.
How to watch: The Favourite is available for rent or purchase on Prime Video, iTunes, YouTube, and Google Play.
56. We Were Here (2011)Director David Weissman's documentary We Were Here transports viewers back to the San Francisco LGBTQ scene of the '80s and '90s as interview subjects relive their struggle to contend with the unfathomable HIV/AIDS crisis. A testament to the strength of the human spirit and the power of community, this is a history lesson worth paying attention to. — A.F.
How to watch: We Were Here is streaming Kanopy, and is available for rent or purchase on Prime Video and iTunes.
57. Call Me By Your Name (2017)Timothée Chalamet leads in director Luca Guadagnino's stunning coming-of-age romance. Winner of Best Adapted Screenplay at the 90th Academy Awards, Call Me By Your Name approaches its starring couple with tenderness, understanding, and unshakable warmth. This is the perfect pick for a cozy-yet-ethereal night in. — A.F.
How to watch: Call Me By Your Name is available for rent or purchase on Prime Video and iTunes.
SEE ALSO: 'Call Me By Your Name' is the rare case where you should watch the movie before reading the book 58. Tomboy (2011)Another installment from writer-director Céline Sciamma. Tomboy paints a staggering portrait of a gender non-conforming child grappling with societal expectations in a new environment. Full of hope but grounded in its true-to-life performances, this film exists as a testament to becoming who you really are at any age. Then-10-year-old Zoé Héran positively dazzles with her lead role. — A.F.
How to watch: Tomboy is streaming on The Criterion Channel.
59. A Fantastic Woman (2017) Credit: Sony Classics / TIFFWinner of Best Foreign Language Film at the 90th Academy Awards, director Sebastián Lelio's A Fantastic Woman is a tragedy and triumph for the ages. Daniela Vega plays a woman who loses her partner unexpectedly. Amidst her grief, she must contend with her late partner's family and their transphobia. This film offers exquisite cognizance of the pain prejudice can add to existing loss. — A.F.
How to watch: A Fantastic Woman is available for rent or purchase on Prime Video and iTunes.
SEE ALSO: Why 'A Fantastic Woman' star Daniela Vega should be the first trans performer nominated for Best Actress 60. My Own Private Idaho (1991)Keanu Reeves and the late River Phoenix star in this 20th-century retelling of Shakespeare's Henry IV and Henry V. Director Gus Van Sant guides his leads through a tense, melancholy exploration of intimacy, power, and uncertainty that never fails to deliver poignant reflection despite its adventure-fueled storyline. Oh, and the pair's chemistry is...searing. — A.F.
How to watch: My Own Private Idaho is available for rent or purchase on Prime Video, iTunes, and Google Play.
61. The Half of It (2020) Credit: KC Bailey / NetflixSince arriving on Netflix last year, The Half of It has quietly built a following of young queer people enchanted by its presentation of coming out. Starring Leah Lewis as Ellie Chu, an introverted Chinese-American high schooler, this romantic comedy is yet another retelling of the 1897 play Cyrano de Bergerac, but with an intense honesty to its subject that makes it stand out. — A.F.
How to watch: The Half of It is streaming on Netflix.
SEE ALSO: Netflix's 'The Half of It' is a pretty good rom-com that could've been a great one 62. A(sexual) (2011)Director Angela Tucker's debut documentary offers a thorough, albeit imperfect, examination of what it means to be asexual in our often sex- and romance-obsessed culture. A(sexual) offers profound insight into what it means for asexual people to fight for their right to not partake in normalized relationship rituals and define their own spaces within the LGBTQ community. — A.F.
How to watch: A(sexual) is now streaming on Tubi.
63. Milk (2008)In director Gus Van Sant's astounding biopic, Sean Penn stars as activist and politician Harvey Milk. The first openly gay man to be elected to public office in California, Milk progressed the rights of LGBTQ Americans by unprecedented leaps and bounds. Milk honors that legacy with its heartfelt imagining of an icon. Penn won Best Actor for his portrayal of Milk at the 81st Academy Awards. — A.F.
How to watch: Milk is available for rent or purchase on Prime Video and iTunes.
64. Tangerine (2015) Credit: Augustas Quirk / Magnolia / Duplass Brothers Prods / Kobal / ShutterstockDirector Sean Baker's low-budget tour de force follows transgender sex worker Sin-Dee Rella (played by the effervescent Kitana Kiki Rodriguez) as she seeks to enact revenge on the man who cheated on her and the cisgender woman he cheated with. Bittersweet and hysterical, Tangerine is a one-of-a-kind viewing experience you'll cherish forever. — A.F.
How to watch: Tangerine is streaming on Kanopy and is available for rent or purchase on Prime Video and iTunes.
65. The Birdcage (1996) Credit: Lorey Sebastian/United Artists/Kobal/ShutterstockIn the wake of an unexpected wedding, The Birdcage chronicles the chaotic blending of two very different families. Along the way, Nathan Lane dons full drag, Robin Williams dances his pleated pants off, and Gene Hackman brings remarkable depth to his straight-man role. This is the perfect pick if you want something light and fun to watch with your chosen family. — A.F.
How to watch: The Birdcage is available for rent or purchase on Prime Video and iTunes.
SEE ALSO: 'The Birdcage's tale of queer love and drag queens is as timely as ever 66. Rafiki (2018)Starring Samantha Mugatsia and Sheila Munyiva as burgeoning lovers, Rafiki was banned in Kenya "due to its homosexual theme and clear intent to promote lesbianism in Kenya contrary to the law." As a result, of course, much of the rest of the queer world embraced it as a symbol against censorship. Director Wanuri Kahiu treats those viewers to a positively enchanting romance, one that only emphasizes the need for LGBTQ equality everywhere. — A.F.
How to watch: Rafiki is streaming on Kanopy, and is available for rent or purchase on Prime Video and iTunes.
67. Welcome to Chechnya (2020)The third film from Academy Award-nominated documentarian David France, Welcome to Chechnya takes viewers on a guerilla-style investigation into the anti-gay purges that still plague the constituent republic of Russia.
Not only does the explosive project detail the abhorrent policies created by Vladimir Putin and Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov to criminalize homosexuality, it also delves into the insidious culture the government has instilled in its citizens to encourage hate crimes. It’s a painful watch that demands attention from viewers, focusing in large part on the courageous efforts of underground networks working to help LGBTQ people escape the region.* — A.F.
How to watch: Welcome to Chechnya is streaming on Max, or is available to purchase on iTunes.
68. The Living End (1992) Credit: Strand/Desperate/Kobal/ShutterstockOften dubbed the gay Thelma & Louise, Gregg Araki's The Living End follows the reckless road trip of two HIV-positive, anti-establishment gay men who go on the run after killing a homophobic cop. There's Jon (Craig Gilmore), a slender, downbeat film critic who just found out his HIV status, and Luke (Mike Dytri), a hustler hunk who looks like he walked right out of Kenneth Anger's Scorpio Rising. The two become lovers and quickly set out on a fuck-everything crime spree across California. A fixture of New Queer Cinema that put Araki on the map, this low-budget punk queer road movie is sizzling with radical rage, and feels as fresh as ever today. — O.W.
How to watch: The Living End is streaming on Kanopy and is available for rent or purchase on Prime Video and iTunes.
69. Imagine Me and You (2005)There are two types of queers: ones who saw beloved lesbian rom-com Imagine Me and You early in their queerness and were forever changed, and ones who've never heard of the undersung British movie. If you're in the latter camp, I’m so thrilled to finally introduce you to this silly, charming romance. Rachel (Piper Perabo donning a British accent) is about to marry her best friend, Heck (Matthew Goode), but as she's walking down the aisle, her eyes catch a woman named Luce (Lena Headey), and something indescribable happens. It's love at first sight, as they say, and thus begins a sweet love story between Rachel, who's only ever dated men, and Luce, an openly gay florist in the most '00s lesbian wardrobe you've ever seen. It's delightfully cheery and has an ending that will, shockingly, leave you teary-eyed with joy. A queer rom-com classic through and through. — O.W.
How to watch: Imagine Me and You is available for rent or purchase on Prime Video, iTunes, and YouTube.
70. Before Stonewall (1984)Filmmakers Greta Schiller and Robert Rosenberg did a public service in their creation of the seminal documentary Before Stonewall. An educational yet humorous work that provides essential context to the LGBTQ community's long-fought campaign for civil rights, this is a great starting place for anyone eager to better appreciate just how far acceptance has come and how far it still has to go. — A.F.
How to watch: Before Stonewall is available for rent or purchase on Prime Video and iTunes.
Asterisks (*) indicate the write-up comes from a previous Mashable list.
UPDATE: May. 31, 2024, 2:57 p.m. EDT This list has been updated with active links and additional movie recommendations.
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