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

The Overnight (DVD/VoD Review)

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Sometimes when it comes to indie film darlings it’s difficult to see what all the fuss was about. With The Overnight that’s not too much of an issue, as while it might not quite deserve some of the raves it received following its first festival screenings, it’s still a good movie.

Alex (Adam Scott) and Emily (Taylor Schilling) are a 30-something couple with a kid, who are newly arrived in California. It’s not been an easy move, with stay-at-home dad Alex feeling slightly dislocated and friendless. He randomly meets Kurt (Jason Schwartzman) in the park, who invites Alex and Emily over to his house for the evening.

Once there they meet Kurt’s French wife Charlotte (Judith Godrèche), and Alex and Emily can’t help but feel they may have found some firm friends in the arty, free-thinking, bohemian and seemingly cool couple. As the evening goes on the straitlaced Emily and Alex begin to loosen up – thanks to some liquor and pot – but while Alex feels increasingly free and with his inhibitions falling away, Emily begins to wonder whether Kurt and Charlotte are a bit too freethinking and strange. [Read more…]

Orange Is The New Black – Season 2 (Blu-ray Review)

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When Season 1 of Orange Is The New Black debuted on Netflix it proved that House Of Cards wasn’t a fluke and that the streaming service could compete with the US TV networks in terms of quality. However it was noticeable that while it was entertaining, it sometimes felt like its best characters were given short shrift, while the less interesting ones got all the screen time.

They seem to have realised that as with Season 2 the show manages to far better integrate the likes of the majestic Laverne Cox’s Sophia (although she’s still not in it enough), and Uzo Aduba’s ‘Crazy Eyes’. Indeed the show gives Uzo so much room to showcase her talents that she won an Emmy. It’s great that in a rare show that’s peopled almost completely by women, Orange Is The New Black has grown the confidence to realise that it has enough great characters that any of them can carry the story. [Read more…]

Orange Is The New Black Season 3 Trailer Arrives – What’s next for Piper & co.?

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orange-is-the-new-black-s3-slide2Just a couple of years ago many scoffed at the idea that an online service such as Netflix could produce television that could compete with network entertainment, and that the streaming service was just throwing money away by trying it.

However the likes of House Of Card and Orange Is The New Black have proven them very wrong. Indeed, with Golden Globe nominations and multiple Emmy wins, the extremely LGBT-friendly Orange Is The New Black is amongst the most acclaimed shows around.

Now it’s gearing up for Season 3, which will premiere on June 12th. And now we have the first trailer, which you can watch below.

Here’s the synopsis: ‘ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK, the award-winning and critically acclaimed Netflix Original Series, is back for an all-new season. Piper, Red, Crazy Eyes, Taystee, Poussey, Sophia, Daya, Gloria, Big Boo, Pennsatucky and all of Litchfield’s ladies are back for more drama and laughter…as Alex makes her return and a new inmate, Stella (Ruby Rose) joins the gang.’ [Read more…]

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Imitation Game, Pride & Normal Heart Lead A Great Year For LGBT Entertainment In The Golden Globe Nominations

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pride-better-slideIt seems far too early for the Awards Season to have started, but with the Oscars recently moving earlier in the year it’s pushed all the other shows up as well. That means that while 2013 hasn’t ended yet and several of the big award contenders are yet to be released, the Golden Globe nominations are already out, ahead of the ceremony on January 11th, 2015 (which is deliberately timed to be handed out just a few days before Oscar nomination ballots are due).

Often seen as the biggest (or at least noisiest) bellweather for the Academy Awards, this year Birdman led the movie list with seven nominations, while Boyhood and The Imitation Game got five each.

On the TV side Fargo led the way with five nominations, while True Detective scored four.

There were some surprises, with Angelina Jolie’s Unbroken being completely shut out, while Pride getting a Best Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical nomination was impressive for a film that had little awards buzz and which scored just $1.4 million on its US release (despite near universal rave reviews). The hope is that the Golden Globe buzz may encourage a few more Oscar voters to check out the British film about a group of gay men and lesbians who form a bond with the small Welsh villagers during the 1980s miners’ strike.

Imitation Game and Pride led a great year for LGBT entertainment at the Globes, which also included Transparent scoring a nomination for Best Television Series – Comedy or Musical, and the series’ star, Jeffrey Tambor, being acknowledged in the Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series – Comedy or Musical category.

The Normal Heart was also included with a Best Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television nomination, while both Mark Ruffalo and Matt Bomer amongst the acting nominees. Similarly Orange Is The New Black is up for Best Television Series – Comedy or Musical, with acting noms for Taylor Schilling and Uzo Aduba.

You can take a look at the full list of nominations below: [Read more…]

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Orange Is The New Black – Season 1 (Blu-ray Review)

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When Netflix first announced it was going to make TV-style series, few people expected much. After all, most previous web content that stretched beyond a few minutes was absolutely dreadful. However the subscription-based internet upstart has proved they can equal or even better the US networks, with House Of Cards winning Golden Globes and Emmys, while Orange Is The New Black took TV Program Of The Year at the AFI Awards and received almost universal acclaim.

Loosely based on an acclaimed memoir, the 13 episodes of Season 1 follows Piper Chapman (Taylor Schilling), who’s been sentenced to a term in prison for transporting drug money and is just about to enter a US women’s federal penitentiary. That means leaving behind her nice, middle-class life and her fiancé (Jason Biggs) and going to a place she knows nothing about. [Read more…]

The Lucky One (Blu-ray)

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While Zac Efron could do with a few bona fide hits, there’s no doubt that’s he’s got all the prerequisites for stardom – looks, talent and a rather endearing way about him. He certainly brings all that to The Lucky One, but rather like Charlie St. Cloud, he’s let down by a script and tone that takes things a bit too literally and often undermines itself even if it does have its heart in the right place.

Cut straight from the Nicholas Sparks (The Notebook, Dear John) novel template, Efron is Logan, an Iraq soldier who sees a picture of a beautiful woman on the battlefield. Bending down to pick it up saves him from a violent death, which makes him start to think of the woman as a kind of guardian angel. [Read more…]

The Lucky One Trailer – Zac Efron goes soldier

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Based on a Nicholas Sparks’ novel (Dear John, The Notebook), Zac Efron is getting his romantic lead on with The Lucky One. He plays U.S. Marine Sergeant Logan Thibault, who returns from his third tour of duty in Iraq with the one thing he credits with keeping him alive – a photograph he found of a woman he doesn’t even know. Learning her name is Beth (Taylor Schilling) and goinf to where she lives, he shows up at her door and ends up taking a job at her family-run local kennel. Despite her initial mistrust and the complications in her life, a romance develops, giving Logan hope that Beth could be much more than his good luck charm. To be honest the synopsis is a tad creepy, but the film looks like it could be okay.

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The Lucky One Poster – Just imagine yourself snogging Zac Efron

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Zac Efron’s still busy trying to transition from teen sensation to grown up movie star, and whether he eventually succeeds or not, he’s certainly going to be very pretty while he tries. So that’s good news for us!

Now the first poster for his new romantic movie The Lucky One has appeared, and it’s a great one for Efron fans, as you can just imagine yourself in the place of Taylor Schilling. In fact, we’ve helped you out with that below!

Underneath our pretending-to-snog-Efron efforts you can watch the first featurette about the Nicholas Sparks adaptation, which sees Zac as a soldier who, after surviving the war in Iraq, travels to North Carolina to find the woman he believes was his good luck charm. It’ll be in cinemas in the UK on May 4th, 2012 (the April 20th date on the poster is the US release).

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