By Jan Wahl—
It’s really easy to travel through the movies. If it has been a summer at home, we can always turn to film for a trip to somewhere exotic or amazing.
My first stop is the LGBTQ-friendly town of Mykonos, Greece. In 1989’s romantic comedy-drama Shirley Valentine, a bored housewife from Liverpool, England, finds her life changed when she gets invited by a girlfriend to Greece. Shirley decides to open up her life and begins a hot affair with a local guy. Her sexual awakening is appealing whether you are gay or straight. Imagine rocking on a beautiful Grecian sea on a boat with the perfect lover. A famous line from this movie is, “He even kissed my stretch marks.”
By the end of Shirley Valentine, we’ve joined her working in a Greek taverna and turning her life into a beautiful Greek fable.
Let’s go south to “Down Under” for the beloved Australian comedy The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (1994). Two drag artists plus a transgender woman leave Sydney, Australia, in a battered lavender bus, heading toward a remote desert resort to perform a cabaret show. Along the way, they face harsh hostility from some locals and form touching bonds with others. It’s easy to fall in love with this flamboyant trio, especially Bernadette, beautifully played by Terence Stamp.
This international hit and cultural landmark shows us Australia’s Outback. There is so much heartfelt storytelling that I often call this movie my favorite Father’s Day film, due to a remarkable scene at the end where one of our queens reconciles with his son. A famous line while climbing Watarrka National Park’s mountain is, “Three cocks on a rock in a frock.” Today, it is known as Kings Canyon Rim Walk, with a crevasse named “Priscilla’s Crack” in honor of the film. Stamp should have been nominated for Best Actor, but at least the movie won Oscar gold for Best Costume Design.
I used to think that Annie Hall was my favorite Woody Allen film until I saw 2011’s fantasy-comedy Midnight in Paris. A nostalgic screenwriter is on vacation in Paris with his spoiled fiancée when he begins to encounter Ernest Hemingway, Salvador Dalí, Gertrude Stein, and Pablo Picasso. It is shot entirely on location across Paris, and we really soak in that magical city’s architecture, museums, and cafés.
Writer-director Allen transports us to 1920s Paris and brings us forward to explore the theme of finding happiness in the present rather than the past. Though it won Best Original Screenplay at the Oscars, it’s amazing how many people haven’t seen this film. Turn down the lights, uncork the champagne, and appreciate a truly brilliant film.
Jan Wahl is a Hollywood historian and film critic on various broadcast outlets. She has two Emmys and many awards for her longtime work on behalf of film buffs and the LGBTQ community.
Off the Wahl
Published on September 24, 2026
Recent Comments