Clash of the Classics: Cabaret vs. Shelter

After compiling a list of the most essential LGBT movies, The Advocate is pitting the top 32 entries against one another in a series of one-on-one face-offs. In this round, the show-stopping musical Cabaret, starring Liza Minnelli as a club performer during the dawn of Nazi Germany, is up against Shelter, the gay surfer's cinematic valentine. Which film is more essential? Vote below, and check out our full list of the top 175 most essential LGBT movies at Advocate.com/top175.

Cabaret, 1972 (4 seed)

There's no doubt that Berlin's Kit Kat Klub is just the most fantastically awesome place this side of World War I. Right at the beginning, the Emcee, played by the tireless Joel Grey, bids the audience a hearty "willkommen" to this world of seedy glamour. Our heroine Sally Bowles -- portrayed by an exquisite Liza Minnelli -- pops off the screen in a story that follows her trapped in love with two men, while the Nazi regime rises to power. The film is epic, gripping, and entertaining. You will be singing at least one of the songs from this musical for days. Weeks. OK, in my case, years -- it's "Two Ladies," "Money, Money," and the title tune. --Michelle Garcia

Shelter, 2008 (29 seed)

Jonah Markowitz's gay-surfers-in-love movie Shelter is a sweet, sexy, sun-soaked valentine to true love and family values. Zach (Trevor Wright), who has pushed his art-school dreams aside to take care of his selfish deadbeat sister, Jeanne (Tina Holmes), and her 5-year-old son, Cody. Zach gets knocked out of his funk -- and his closet -- when his best friend's hunky older brother, Shaun (Brad Rowe), a disillusioned Hollywood screenwriter, retreats to his family's beach house to try to get his mojo back. They hang. They surf. They fall in love. They're Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello without the chastity. --The Advocate in 2008

Vote here on Facebook or Twitter by Sunday, June 29, and check in every day for more Clash of The Classics.