The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (1994)
Written and directed by Stephan Elliott

Small, charming, thorougly fabulous movie about three female impersonators travelling across the Australian Outback to perform a show in remote Alice Springs (coincidentally, my drag name).

I loved it when it came out (unlike my parents, who ceased to love me after I came out … oh, alright, I'll quit it with the gay jokes), but it's even more interesting to watch now that its three stars are exponentially more famous in exponentially more masculine roles (Hugo Weaving in The Matrix, Guy Pearce in Memento, and Terence Stamp in … um … oh yeah, The Phantom Menace).

All three give excellent performances, but the movie is all Stamp's – his Bernadette is graceful, strong, nuanced, and elegant. Truly brilliant.

The music is outstanding and the costumes spectacular. Things get a little dodgy at the end when we meet Hugh's estranged wife and son, who are far too okay with his lifestyle than feels realistic, but then there's an Abba lip-sync to cap things off, so how can you argue?

The spine of the Blockbuster DVD box when I rented it had the title as The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Dessert.

Review by Jean-Paul Siskel