Gay Sex in the 70s (2004)
Average Rating: 6.3/10
Reviews Counted: 28
Fresh: 20 | Rotten: 8
No consensus yet.
Average Rating: 6.5/10
Critic Reviews: 11
Fresh: 8 | Rotten: 3
No consensus yet.
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Average Rating: 3.5/5
User Ratings: 979
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Movie Info
In 1969, the Stonewall riots in New York City sounded the opening bell of the Gay Pride movement in America, and for many gay men it offered an opportunity to come out of the closet and live their lives in the open for the first time. As the gay community sought to define itself, it's not surprising that sex, once furtive and approached with no small amount of fear and shame, suddenly became openly and publicly celebrated and sought after, and in a handful of American cities, the gay scene
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All Critics (29) | Top Critics (12) | Fresh (21) | Rotten (9) | DVD (4)
... lacks the authority of such gay documentary classics as "Word Is Out" and "Before Stonewall," which were far more inclusive.
Top CriticAn engrossing piece of social history, a lively, astonishingly well-documented excavation of that period between June 1969 and June 1981 when gay men in New York experienced a bacchanalian burst of sexual liberation.
The faces of that movement are what sell this story -- with enthusiasm, not regret.
Despite the retrospective sensationalism, Lovett's 70-minute documentary is a sobering anti-erotic cautionary tale.
... Lovett's tribute to a bygone era feels like it might resonate deeper if context and character overpowered story upon story of sexual excess.
Lovett's nostalgic paean to the erotic utopia of his youth.
Gay Sex in the '70s is technically erratic and far from definitive. Full of fascinating stories and fleshed out with evocative archival footage, it's also a loving portrait of a semi-forgotten New York.
The pure filmmaking lets the people tell their stories with honesty and insight.
This is an immersive documentary, evoking the period, and arguing the case that although the unbridled hedonism did bring dangers and problems with it, there was also something of a idyllic euphoria experienced by those in this first wave of gay freedom.
New York in the 1970s seems like an arena of nonstop gratification, but one that can only be understood in the context of the repression and fear that had gone before. It seems as distant as the 1890s.
Shows us the faces of some of the gay activists involved with that free love party scene who survived.
An unapologetic and accurate snapshot.
Lovett and crew's camera redords a decade, a movement, and an important battle against Blue Meanies and bluenoses.
creating much more nostalgia than substance
Do you know that feline AIDS is the number one killer of domestic cats?
The only clear message is of aging men enjoying a nostalgia trip... and thumbing their noses at the younger gay men who missed the party.
There is, however, little socio-political insight into the Dionysian revolution depicted here; the film seems to serve more as a nostalgia piece than anything.
It's not exactly clear what the message is for the gay community of today, except to say, 'Those days were fun while they lasted and sorry you weren't around to experience it.'
It's a worthwhile documentary on a worthy subject, one that is pursued painstakingly by director Joseph F. Lovett.
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