Big Gay Picture Show

Taking a look at the world of film through gay eyes - news, reviews, trailers, gay film, queer cinema and more

Taking a look at the world of film through gay eyes - news, reviews, trailers, gay film, queer cinema & more

New August: Osage County Trailer – Meryl Streep, Julia Roberts & Benedict Cumberbatch team up

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As this trailer shows, August: Osage County has certainly pulled together an impressive cast, including Meryl Streep, Julia Roberts, Ewan McGregor, Benedict Cumberbatch, Abigail Breslin, Chris Cooper, Juliette Lewis, Dermot Mulroney and Sam Shepard.

Based on Terry Letts’ Pulitzer Prize- and Tony Award-winning play, the film is about the dysfunctional Weston family and the daughters who have gone their separate ways, until a crisis brings them back to their Midwestern home. The film should be out later this year.

John Wells directs. The movie is due for an Oscar qualifying run in the US this Christmas, which a UK release set for mid January. [Read more…]

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August: Osage County Trailer – Meryl Streep launches her next Oscar campaign

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A very strange thing happened this year – Meryl Streep wasn’t nominated for an Oscar. However on the evidence of this trailer, she’s going for yet another nom with August: Osage County.

Based on Terry Letts’ Pulitzer Prize- and Tony Award-winning play, the star-packed film also stars Julia Roberts, Ewan McGregor, Benedict Cumberbatch, Abigail Breslin, Chris Cooper, Juliette Lewis, Dermot Mulroney and Sam Shepard.

John Wells directs the film, which is about the dysfunctional Weston family and the daughters who have gone their separate ways, until a crisis brings them back to their Midwestern home. The film should be out later this year. [Read more…]

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Jonathan Groff Joins Ryan Murphy’s AIDS Drama, The Normal Heart

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Jonathan-GroffUntil recently it seemed that only straight actors would play gay in high profile projects (that’s if anyone would play gay at all), in fear of getting typecast, but for The Normal Heart, Ryan Murphy has managed to put together a strong mix of straight and gay actors to take on Larry Kramer’s play about the early days of the AIDS crisis.

On the gay side the HBO film already has Matt Bomer and Jim Parsons, with straight actors such as Julia Roberts, Taylor Kitsch and Mark Ruffalo also signing up. Now the gays can add one more, as Glee and Broadway star (and Zachary Quinto’s boyfriend) Jonathan Groff has joined the cast, according to EW.

Groff will play an early victim of the disease called Craig, whose boyfriend will be Taylor Kitsch, a character who starts off as a closeted investment banker but eventually becomes an AIDS activist.

Ruffalo is taking on the lead role of Ned Weeks, one of the first people to raise an alarm about the new disease that initially was known as ‘Gay Cancer’. Big Bang Theory star Jim Parsons will be gay activist Tommy Boatwright, a role he previously took in a 2011 Broadway revival of the play. Julia Roberts will play Emma Brookner, a wheelchair bound doctor who is the only one of her peers in New York taking AIDS seriously. Matthew Bomer is set for Felix Turner, a gay fashion journalist who becomes Ned’s lover.

HBO is backing the movie, which should shoot later this year for release in 2014. Indeed Groff will be hoping to spend a lot of time on HBO next year, as he’s also shot a pilot for a show about a group of gay friends in San Francisco. As yet it hasn’t been picked up to become a series, but we’ll keep our fingers crossed.

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Taylor Kitsch Going Gay For Ryan Murphy’s Normal Heart

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Taylor Kitsch shirtless

Taylor Kitsch shirtless

Ryan Murphy (Glee, The New Normal) is pulling quite a cast together for his film adaptation of Larry Kramer’s acclaimed play, The Normal Heart. He’s already got Julia Roberts, Mark Ruffalo and Matt Bomer signed up, and now Deadline reports they’ve been joined by Taylor Kitsch, who many will be pleased to hear is gonna be playing gay. Jim Parsons, who was attached a while ago but whose participation became uncertain when the shoot was delayed, is also back on-board.

The film is about the rise of AIDS in New York’s gay community in the early-to-mid 80s. The play first debuted off-Broadway in 1985, and has enjoyed several revivals in Los Angeles, New York and London. Ruffalo is taking on the lead role of Ned Weeks, one of the first people to raise an alarm about the new disease that initially was known as ‘Gay Cancer’.

Kitsch is set to be Bruce Niles, a closeted investment banker who becomes a prominent AIDS activist. Big Bang Theory star Jim Parsons will be gay activist Tommy Boatwright, a role he previously took in a 2011 Broadway revival of the play.

Shooting will start later this year for a 2014 release. Let’s hope Kitsch playing gay is as good on screen as it is in my head.

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Ryan Murphy’s Normal Heart Going To HBO With Matt Bomer & Julia Roberts

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Ryan-MurphyGlee, New Normal and American Horror Story creator Ryan Murphy has been trying to get his adaptation of Larry Kramer’s Tony Award winning play The Normal Heart off the ground for over a year.

However, even attaching names such as Julia Roberts, Mark Ruffalo, Alec Baldwin, Matthew Bomer and Jim Parsons hasn’t been enough to get the funding he needed – until now that is. After months of rumours that HBO was looking at taking on the movie, it’s now been confirmed that the pay-TV network will produce the film and air it in 2014.

It’s not known if Alec Baldwin and Jim Parsons (who also starred in a New York stage revival of the play) are still involved, but THR confirms that Julia Roberts and Matt Bomer are set to star, as is Mark Ruffalo.

The film is about the rise of AIDS in New York’s gay community in the early-to-mid 80s. The play first debuted off-Broadway in 1985, and has enjoyed several revivals in Los Angeles, New York and London. Ruffalo is taking on the lead role of Ned Weeks, one of the first people to raise an alarm about the new disease that initially was known as ‘Gay Cancer’.

Julia Roberts will play Emma Brookner, a wheelchair bound doctor who is the only one of her peers in New York taking AIDS seriously. Matthew Bomer is set for Felix Turner, a gay fashion journalist who becomes Ned’s lover.

Murphy will direct, which will reunite him with Roberts after he helmed her in Eat Pray Love.

HBO seems to be trying to make itself the go-to place for high profile gay-themed projects. 2013 will see it air Behind The Candelabra, Steven Soderbergh’s biopic of Liberace (Michael Douglas) and his younger lover (Matt Damon), and now it’s following that with The Normal Heart.

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Ewan McGregor Added To August: Osage County

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August: Osage County, may not have the catchiest of names, but it’s certainly got a good cast, with the news that Ewan McGregor is joining Julia Roberts, Meryl Streep, Abigail Breslin, Chris Cooper, Juliette Lewis, Sam Shepard and Benedict Cumberbatch in the movie.

John Wells is directing the adaptation of the Pulitzer Prize-winning play by Tracy Letts (who’s also adapted the screenplay). It’s about the dysfunctional Weston family and the daughters who have gone their separate ways, until a crisis brings them back to their Midwestern home. Meryl Streep stars as the mother, Violet Weston, with Julia Roberts and Margo Martindale playing her daughters, Barbara and Mattie Fay.

McGregor will play Bill Fordham, who is Streep’s son-in-law. It’s a complicated part, as Fordham left his wife for one of his students – a college hottie – but still wants to be around to support his family. Indeed half the play is about unpacking the complicated lives of the characters.

The movie should hit cinemas next year. (Source: THR)

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Benedict Cumberbatch Joins Streep & Roberts In August: Osage County

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Although it’s still difficult to imagine someone by the name of Benedict Cumberbatch becoming a big star, he’s certainly on his way up the Hollywood ladder with roles as the villain in Star Trek 2 and now THR reports he’s joining the starry cast of August: Osage County.

John Wells is directing adaptation of the Pulitzer Prize-winning play by Tracy Letts (who’s adapted the screenplay). It’s about the dysfunctional Weston family and the daughters who have gone their separate ways, until a crisis brings them back to their Midwestern home. Meryl Streep stars as the mother, Violet Weston, with Julia Roberts and Margo Martindale playing her daughters, Barbara and Mattie Fay.

Cumberbatch is set to play Mattie Fay’s son, who is constantly belittled and tormented by his mother. He also believes that Charles Aiken (Chris Cooper) is his father, although he was actually conceived from an affair. Abigail Breslin, Dermot Mulroney, and Juliette Lewis will also star.

Shooting will begin in late September in Oklahoma.

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Mirror Mirror (DVD)

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Hollywood is now investing a lot of time and money into fairytales of old, as with today’s CGI anything goes. You wait ages for a Snow White films and two turn up, the same can also be said of waiting for a Tarsem Singh film, as we hadn’t had anything since 2006’s The Fall, and now we’ve had Immortals and Mirror Mirror within a few months of one another. One does not normally associate a Tarsem Singh film with comedy, but this is what has he has delivered with Mirror Mirror, which is unusual considering his inability to connect with the audience with his previous films.

Tarsem Singh is a cinematic visionary who tends to focus more on imagery, costumes and style than with plots, and again has delivered something very similar with Mirror Mirror. Personally I enjoy watching Singh’s films and marvel at the beauty and striking canvas he envisages like a true artist (it is definitely style over substance), along with the creator of his incredible costumes, Eiko Ishioka, who unfortunately passed away this year. [Read more…]

George Clooney Producing August: Osage County

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If a movie already has Meryl Streep and Julia Roberts attached, you wouldn’t think it would need any more star power, but it’s getting some behind-the-scenes, as George Clooney has just signed on to produce August: Osage County.

Based on the Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning play by Tracy Letts, August: Osage County tells the story of the strong-willed women of the Weston family, whose lives have diverged until a family crisis brings them back to the Midwest house they grew up in, and to the dysfunctional woman who raised them. Streep has been cast as pill-popping matriarch Violet Weston, and Roberts will play her complicated adult daughter Barbara. John Wells will direct from Letts’ screen adaptation.

Clooney commented, “Grant and I are thrilled to work on this project. It’s already a great cast and great material and I can’t think of anyone better than Harvey [Weinstein] to put this all together. And we’re particularly excited to work with our dear friend John Wells [who gave Clooney his big break on ER]. It’s such a terrific group and we feel honored to help bring it to the screen.”

The filmmakers are still casting, with shooting set to begin this autumn. (Source: Variety)

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Armie Hammer Goes Shirtless In Mirror Mirror

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As the Winklevoss twins in The Social Network and Clyde Tolson in J. Edgar, the impossibly handsome Armie Hammer has gained quite a few fans. Next up for him is playing Prince Alcott in Mirror Mirror, the new family friendly take on the classic Snow White tale.

A new featurette for the film has just popped up online, which is basically just a glorified trailer, but does give us a delectable glimpse of Armie with his shirt off. It’s pleasing to see that he’s resisted Hollywood’s obsession with trimming the chest fur. You can see the full featurette below. The film’s out at the end of March.

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