Best & Worst: Moments in homoerotic cinema

By Emily Christianson, Patrick Kevin Day, Todd Martens and Denise Martin

Who could have predicted that 2009 would see a major Hollywood studio release a major summer film about a flamboyantly gay fashion journalist named Brüno? As Hank Steuver points out in his essay on "Brüno" and our cultural hang-ups around gays on film, as recently as the '90s general audiences were shrieking in horror at Jaye Davidson's cross-dressing secret in "The Crying Game" or laughing at Judd Apatow's characters calling each other "gay."

But savvy film viewers, or at least those with finely tuned gaydar, have noticed that Hollywood doesn't always have to be in-your-face with moments designed to shock or titillate. Some of the most triumphant homoerotic moments on screen probably came along without the heterosexual audience members ever noticing (not consciously, at least). Here are a few of the finest moments, and a few lowlights as well.