The all-time best LGBTQ movie couples, from Jack and Ennis to Elio and Oliver

Daniel Day-Lewis is an actor of legendary status, having won three best actor Academy Awards and earnined a reputation as the method actor despite only appearing in 20 films across a career spanning 49 years.

One of those earlier movies, and one of the very first where he took a lead role, was Stephen Frears' "My Beautiful Laundrette," which follows Day-Lewis' Johnny opening a laundrette with his Pakistani boyfriend, Gordon Warnecke's Omar, in the UK in the late 80s.

Johnny and Omar used to be friends at school, but grew apart and took different paths. Johnny became the apparent leader of a group of right-wing street punks who attack members of the Pakistani community that Omar knows. Eventually, Johnny and Omar rekindle their friendship, which turns into a beautiful romance passionately played out by Day-Lewis and Warnecke.

Given that Frears' movie was made in 1985, half way through Margaret Thatcher's second term as Prime Minister of the UK, this film featuring an interracial, same-sex couple was pretty revolutionary.

James Ivory is an important figure in queer cinema, not only because he has written and directed several excellent movies about gay characters, but also because his production company (Merchant Ivory Productions) with his professional and romantic partner Ismail Merchant made some of the most revered films of the 1980s and early 1990s.

"Maurice" was one of those films, and was adapted from E.M. Forster's book of the same name. Starring Hugh Grant as Clive Durham and James Wilby as the titular man he falls in love with in Edwardian-era UK, this is an expertly made movie from the height of the AIDS crisis that bravely depicted the love between two men in a highly oppressive era.

Grant and Wilby are utterly convincing as two men who fall for each other, and approach and embrace those feelings in vastly different ways. Without spoiling the story, one is more open to their feelings than the other, and it is heartbreaking to watch as you wish these two men could simply be with one another without thought or consequence.

Hong Kong director Wong Kar-wai is a bold filmmaker whose use of color and style of cinematography is instantly recognizable. His movie "Happy Together" is one of his best and most groundbreaking as it follows two men in a relationship moving to Argentina.

Hong Kong banned all promotional material featuring the two leads (fully clothed) with their legs intertwined, which was the main image used for posters, while the movie's own producers considered censoring the opening sex scene between the two men.

However, the movie was released as intended and achieved great success, including a Palme d'Or nomination, Wong Kar-wai won best director at Cannes. The director himself refuses to call this movie a "gay movie," much to his credit, and instead simply likes to refer to it as story about two characters in love who just happen to be men.

"Boys Don't Cry" is a tragic true story about real-life American trans man Brandon, who manages to find love with his partner Lana but is also the victim of a brutal, violent hate crime.

Hilary Swank took on the role of Brandon after hundreds of actresses were looked at for the part but passed over. Director Kimberly Peirce finally cast Swank, and she ended up winning the first of her two best actress Oscars for her performance.

Chloë Sevigny played the part of Lana, and their love on screen is almost tangible. Sadly, their relationship became tainted by the violence of others, but as a couple the two are incredibly touching to watch. Too many films are labelled as "important," but this one sure is.

"Brokeback Mountain" brought together two of the finest young actors in Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal for an aching love story between two men whose secret love affair spans years and threatens to destroy them.

Ang Lee, who had already achieved commercial and critical success with "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon," proved to be the perfect director for this material, winning himself the best director Oscar.

While the film was strongly tipped to win best picture, too, "Crash" nabbed the top prize at the death, which many still view as one of the biggest upsets in Oscars history. The film still won three Oscars in total, however, plus nominations for Ledger and Gyllenhaal, and remains a pillar of LGBTQ cinema — it is perhaps the most iconic of gay movies.

One of the film's many great lines (spoken by Gyllenhaal's Jack to Ledger's Ennis), "I wish I could quit you," sums up the love between these two men — it was never allowed to properly blossom and ultimately served to harm both parties.

Based in parts on some aspects of director Lisa Cholodenko's life, "The Kids Are All Right" paints a compelling and convincing picture of a middle-aged lesbian couple and their family.

Julianne Moore and Annette Bening play the couple, and for every second of the movie, you believe completely in their relationship — from the dramas and moments of love, right down to the everyday banalities of long-term commitment, including the honest sex scenes.

Mark Ruffalo's Paul disrupts their relationship for a while, but their love admirably cannot be separated. Bening, in particular, delivers a sublime performance, earning an Oscar nomination for it.

"Weekend" accurately depicts the modern day courtship and burgeoning romance of two gay men in the 21st century.

Russell and Glen begin their romance with a casual hook-up, and while they both have their own troubled waters to navigate, the undeniable spark between them is stoked further and further until it grows into something far more substantial and meaningful than the one night stand it was first intended to be.

Set over a 48-hour period, as the title suggests, this is a whirlwind movie that crams in as much detail as it does heartfelt poignancy between these two characters.

"Blue is the Warmest Colour" became infamous for its graphic sex scenes between lead characters Adèle and Valentin, but the movie is so much more than that.

It's a vibrant, colorful film that not only unanimously won the Palme d'Or at Cannes, but also became the first and only film to have that award given to its actresses as well as its director.

That fact highlights what stunning performances both Léa Seydoux and Adèle Exarchopoulos gave in this movie, conjuring up a love on screen that is full of passion and youthful excitement. It was nominated for best foreign language film at the Golden Globes, but somehow missed out on a nomination at the Oscars.

Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara teamed up for this gorgeous movie from gay director Todd Haynes. Every frame of this film, and every aspect of it, is beautiful. Set in the 1950s, the production design and costume design is so exquisite it almost makes you yearn for the bygone era (if it weren't for the bigoted attitudes rife back then, of course). The cinematography and score are just as lavish.

But it's Blanchett and Mara who really set this film apart. Their first meeting is classy and tightly written, with a glance or smirk meaning far more than any words they speak, and their relationship evolves further and further throughout the film in a collection of scenes that ache with their forbidden love.

While most LGBTQ movies are tinged with tragedy, Haynes' movie has a more uplifting end than most queer films do, leaving us hopeful for Carol and Therese's future.

"Moonlight" made history by becoming the first LGBTQ movie to win best picture at the Oscars. Sadly, its win was marred by the farcical mix up with envelopes, which led to "La La Land" being called out as the night's big winner before the mistake was corrected.

That eventful night may have overshadowed the quality of "Moonlight" — this is an out and out masterpiece from director Barry Jenkins, who creates a story about masculinity and gay love in the BAME community masterfully.

We follow Chiron over the course of three separate timelines (a child, a teenager, and an adult) as he realizes he is gay and comes into contact with another man (Kevin) who realizes the same thing.

Chiron and Kevin don't have many scenes together throughout the film, but their time on screen is so deftly written and prettily-pictured that the images of the two boys stay with you for a long time — particiarly that famous beach scene. By the time they reunite in the third act, when both are adults, you are begging for them to make it.

"Call Me By Your Name" is another recent arthouse LGBTQ film that fared very well at the Oscars. The film was nominated for four Oscars, including best picture, and won best adapted screenplay for the aforementioned James Ivory (his first and only Oscar win).

Also nominated was lead actor Timothée Chalamet, whose performance in this movie launched his career. As Elio, Chalamet is unbelievably good in this, particularly for an actor so young, and Armie Hammer ably and intelligently plays the man Elio falls for; Oliver.

The two, in their swimshorts and baggy oxford shirts, became one of the most recognizable couples in recent cinema history, and many gay couples have dressed as them since. All of their scenes are laced with a sexual tension and simmering passion that is given a further boost by the hot, beautiful setting of 1980s Italy.

The film's title alludes to the famous scene where they call one another by their own name, and it is surprising how such a simple interaction, lying together in bed, can be so powerful.

You could call Francis Lee's movie the UK-Yorkshire version of "Call Me By Your Name," as there are definite similarities (a young man falls for the man who comes to help his father out with work), but to do so you'd be detracting from this film's own success.

Josh O'Connor, now of "The Crown" fame, plays Johnny, who quickly falls in love with Alec Secăreanu's Gheorghe, a man who arrives on the Yorkshire farm in search of work. The harsh, brutal landscape of the farm, where hard, physical labor never stops, is a genius setting as it only highlights the intimate, warm moments between the two men.

While Johnny's self-destructive nature and initial inability to accept himself may threaten the relationship, the Yorkshire boy finds he is willing to give up everything for the man he loves. A bonus: Professor Quirrell actor Ian Hart appears as Johnny's dad.

This movie, the first ever mainstream romantic comedy with a gay lead, is groundbreaking just for existing. Thankfully, it is as touching and earnest as it is revolutionary.

I cried five times when I first watched it, and again the second time and third times, too, purely because for the first time I could relate so thoroughly and deeply with the main character's experiences — and many other LGBT people can, too.

Spoiler: Yes, Simon ends up with Bram, but knowing that plot point doesn't detract from that movie one bit. Take notice of how their potential relationship unfolds (and then doesn't). The movie has an unapologetically happy ending, too, while not many gay movies do.

Henry Golding first came to prominence for his role as Nick Young opposite Constance Wu in the excellent "Crazy Rich Asians."

However, while the movie was certainly great, it didn't fully show audiences how talented Golding can be as an actor. "Monsoon" does.

The power of "Monsoon" is in the unspoken moments — the many quiet, dialogue-free scenes that prove Golding can deliver a very good performance. As Kit, he is a man who seems lost (not literally), and travels back to Saigon, Vietnam for the first time in 30 years. There, he tries to reconnect with his home country and his family, and encounters the American Lewis, with whom he shares a casual night of intimacy.

He soon sees Lewis again, however, and their bond begins to grow in a simple, honest, un-fussy, and unglamorous manner.

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