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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

Stonewall Director Roland Emmerich Responds To Criticism By Saying The Riots Were A ‘White Event’

June 26, 2016 By Tim Isaac Leave a Comment

stonewall-brick-slideWhen Roland Emmerich’s movie about the iconic Stonewall gay rights riots was preparing for its US release last year, it came in for a lot of criticism for whitewashing the events. Many felt that by concentrating on a young, white, ‘twink’ (played by Jeremy Irvine), it was sidelining the importance of trans people and people of color to the events.

The very angry condemnation helped ensure the movie bombed horrifically at the box office.

However, the director isn’t backing down. Now that he’s on the press trail for Independence Day: Resurgence he’s decided to double down with a comment that can’t help but sound racist, even if he didn’t mean it that way. He told The Guardian, “My movie was exactly what they said it wasn’t. It was politically correct. It had black, transgender people in there. We just got killed by one voice on the internet who saw a trailer and said, this is whitewashing Stonewall. Stonewall was a white event, let’s be honest. But nobody wanted to hear that any more.”

Over the last 45 years there has been much discussion about the contribution of different groups to the riots, and at this remove it is difficult to precisely say who threw the first rock or how many members of different parts of the LGBTQ community were represented and exactly what they did. Photographs of the riots show many different people involved though.

Some people undoubtedly feel the contribution of trans and people of color has been overstated, while others believe that emphasising the white men there is an attempt to play down the fact it may well not have been them who were key to what happened. It is certainly true though that for the first 20 or so years after the riots it was almost exclusively depicted as about mainly white men fighting back, with other people’s contribution almost totally ignored and sometimes deliberately silenced.

While the criticism of Emmerich’s movie was hyperbolic – partly because the vast majority of it was based on the trailer rather than the actual movie – he still doesn’t seem to get what the criticism actually was, which is that while insisting events are seen through white eyes may make commercial sense, it still has a tendency to marginalise others.

CHECK OUT THESE RELATED ARCHIVES:
ACTORS: Jeremy Irvine  DIRECTORS: Roland Emmerich  FILMS: Stonewall  

Independence Day: Resurgence Extended Trailer – The aliens still really don’t like us

May 23, 2016 By Tim Isaac Leave a Comment

independence-day-resurgence-teaser-poster-slideWhile 1996’s Independence Day was a big hit on its first released, it’s been a long time since it first arrived in cinemas. As a result there are plenty of movie fans around who were barely born when it first came out, and so Fox is making sure it’s not resting on the first movie’s laurels when it comes of the marketing. That includes releasing an extended five-minute trailer to give us a full taste of the movie, including plenty of action, darkness and a bit more of the plot.

Here’s the synopsis: ‘We always knew they were coming back. After INDEPENDENCE DAY redefined the event movie genre, the next epic chapter delivers global spectacle on an unimaginable scale.  Using recovered alien technology, the nations of Earth have collaborated on an immense defense program to protect the planet.  But nothing can prepare us for the aliens’ advanced and unprecedented force.  Only the ingenuity of a few brave men and women can bring our world back from the brink of extinction.’

Liam Hemsworth, Jeff Goldblum, Bill Pullman, Judd Hirsch, Vivica A. Fox, Brent Spiner, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Jessie Usher, Maika Monroe, and Sela Ward star, with Roland Emmerich once more directing. It’ll be in cinemas June 23rd. [Read more…]

CHECK OUT THESE RELATED ARCHIVES:
ACTORS: Liam Hemsworth, Jeff Goldblum, Bill Pullman, Judd Hirsch, Vivica A. Fox, Brent Spiner, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Jessie Usher, Maika Monroe, Sela Ward  DIRECTORS: Roland Emmerich  FILMS: Independence Day: Resurgence  

New Independence Day: Resurgence Trailer – Once again, no landmark is safe from the aliens

April 24, 2016 By Tim Isaac Leave a Comment

independence-day-resurgence-slideHaving talked about it ever the first Independence Day became a gargantuan hit in 1996, we are finally getting a sequel, Resurgence. Many of the old face return, including Jeff Goldblum, Bill Pullman, Vivica A. Fox and Brent Spiner, along with a new generation, led by Jessie Usher and Liam Hemsworth.

Will Smith isn’t returning, but the aliens sure are, and this promo certainly wants to be a bit dark and moody, although right at the end suggests it will retain the humour that helped make the first one a hit. They’re also certainly keen to suggest that things are getting bigger.

Here’s the synopsis: ‘We always knew they were coming back. After INDEPENDENCE DAY redefined the event movie genre, the next epic chapter delivers global spectacle on an unimaginable scale.  Using recovered alien technology, the nations of Earth have collaborated on an immense defense program to protect the planet.  But nothing can prepare us for the aliens’ advanced and unprecedented force.  Only the ingenuity of a few brave men and women can bring our world back from the brink of extinction.’

Take a look at the new trailer below. [Read more…]

CHECK OUT THESE RELATED ARCHIVES:
ACTORS: Liam Hemsworth, Jeff Goldblum, Bill Pullman, Judd Hirsch, Vivica A. Fox, Brent Spiner, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Jessie Usher, Maika Monroe, Sela Ward  DIRECTORS: Roland Emmerich  FILMS: Independence Day: Resurgence  

Independence Day: Resurgenge Super Bowl Spot & Teaser Poster – The aliens still don’t like us

February 8, 2016 By Tim Isaac Leave a Comment

independence-day-resurgence-teaser-poster-slideAt the end of Independence Day mankind had won, but it was also clear that this might not be the end of our issues with aliens that want us dead. Now, two decades later, they’re back and Independence Day: Resurgence’s Super Bowl spot wants us to know we’ve got trouble.

Here’s the synopsis: ‘We always knew they were coming back. After INDEPENDENCE DAY redefined the event movie genre, the next epic chapter delivers global spectacle on an unimaginable scale.  Using recovered alien technology, the nations of Earth have collaborated on an immense defense program to protect the planet.  But nothing can prepare us for the aliens’ advanced and unprecedented force.  Only the ingenuity of a few brave men and women can bring our world back from the brink of extinction’

The movie will be out in June. Take a look at the Super Bowl Spot and a new poster below.

[Read more…]

CHECK OUT THESE RELATED ARCHIVES:
ACTORS: Liam Hemsworth, Jeff Goldblum, Bill Pullman, Judd Hirsch, Vivica A. Fox, Brent Spiner, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Jessie Usher, Maika Monroe, Sela Ward  DIRECTORS: Roland Emmerich  FILMS: Independence Day: Resurgence  

Independence Day: Resurgence Trailer – Mankind is under attack once more

December 13, 2015 By Tim Isaac Leave a Comment

independence-day-resugence-slide1Having talked about it ever the first Independence Day became a gargantuan hit in 1996, we are finally getting a sequel, Resurgence, which has just released its first trailer. Many of the old face return, including Jeff Goldblum, Bill Pullman, Vivica A. Fox and Brent Spiner, along with a new generation, led by Jessie Usher and Liam Hemsworth.

Will Smith isn’t returning, but the aliens sure are, and this promo certainly wants to be a bit dark and moody, although right at the end suggests it will retain the humour that helped make the first one a hit. They’re also certainly keen to suggest that things are getting bigger.

Here’s the synopsis: ‘We always knew they were coming back. After INDEPENDENCE DAY redefined the event movie genre, the next epic chapter delivers global spectacle on an unimaginable scale.  Using recovered alien technology, the nations of Earth have collaborated on an immense defense program to protect the planet.  But nothing can prepare us for the aliens’ advanced and unprecedented force.  Only the ingenuity of a few brave men and women can bring our world back from the brink of extinction.’

Take a look below.

[Read more…]

CHECK OUT THESE RELATED ARCHIVES:
ACTORS: Liam Hemsworth, Jeff Goldblum, Bill Pullman, Judd Hirsch, Vivica A. Fox, Brent Spiner, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Jessie Usher, Maika Monroe, Sela Ward  DIRECTORS: Roland Emmerich  FILMS: Independence Day: Resurgence  

Roland Emmerich’s Stonewall Movie Tanks At The US Box Office

September 28, 2015 By Tim Isaac 1 Comment

stonewall-pic9-slideI’m sure there are a few people out there feeling a bit of schadenfreude today, as after huge amounts of criticism, accusations of white-washing and erasing trans people’s importance to the 1969 Stonewall riots, Roland Emmerich’s movie about the events, simply titled Stonewall, has tanked at the US, scoring a measly $112,414 in its first weekend.

It means the film barely scraped into the top 30, and even though it was only released on 129 screens, it scored an extremely low per-screen average of $871.

To be honest it’s not too much of a shock it barely found an audience, as this sort of movie (although with a $17 million budget it cost significantly more than more indie movies) need good reviews and audience support to succeed.

Unfortunately for Stonewall, it has recieved some pretty awful reviews. Even those who didn’t take it to task for the way it treat people of color and trand characters generally felt the film was tone deaf and emotionally manipulative. Currently it’s scoring just 10% on RottenTomatoes, although to be fair the movie did get one pretty good major review, with the Los Angeles Times saying that ‘the film is a vital, evocative reminder of a turbulent time that paved the way for hard-fought freedoms. For that alone, it’s of value for younger audiences, gay or straight.’

However the overall sentiments are summarised by Vulture, which says of the movie, ‘It’s a self-financed passion project, from a man who might be the most financially successful out gay filmmaker ever. We should be celebrating this, but man, oh man, does he make it difficult.’

It is worth noting though that while many will be pleased Stonewall didn’t succeed at the box office, it’s not something that should be seen as a victory, because unfortunately in the warped logic of Hollywood, every gay-themed film that fails is taken as evidence that they are box office poison. Luckily there are several other LGBT-themed movies coming out in the next few month that may help to counteract that, such as Freeheld, Carol and The Danish Girl, but the failure of Stonewall certainly won’t help more mainstream gay-themed films get made (whether the fault is Roland Emmerich’s or not).

CHECK OUT THESE RELATED ARCHIVES:
DIRECTORS: Roland Emmerich  FILMS: Stonewall  

Roland Emmerich Defends Having A ‘Straight Acting’ Lead For Stonewall

September 23, 2015 By Tim Isaac Leave a Comment

roland-emmerich-stonewallRoland Emmerich has been explaining his reasoning for having a white, cisgender lead in his Stonewall movie, responding to criticism that the film whitewashes the real-life importance of people of color and trans people to the 1969 riots.

However, his comments to Buzzfeed are more likely to further anger those railed against him than to mollify them.

He says, “You have to understand one thing: I didn’t make this movie only for gay people, I made it also for straight people. I kind of found out, in the testing process, that actually, for straight people, [Danny] is a very easy in. Danny’s very straight-acting. He gets mistreated because of that. [Straight audiences] can feel for him.”

Perhaps even more problematic is that the articles notes. ‘Emmerich, for his part, thinks that Ray and the other street hustlers benefit from Danny’s presence, even after Danny leaves the Village to begin his freshman year at Columbia. “They learned something from Danny — that you can make it, that you can study, you can maybe have a more regular life,” Emmerich said. “I also don’t have the feeling at the end that they are so much on the streets anymore.”’

Well it’s nice that in Emmerich’s world, the lessons of assimilation and an oddly imperialist attitude are alive and well, and it’s not even worth suggesting that if the ‘street’ people can learn something from Danny, he should probably be learning an awful lot more from them.

However it does seem the gay director is perhaps reflecting his own conflicted attitudes, which he’s then transferring onto the whole LGBT community. He says, “When a gay person is attracted to somebody, that doesn’t mean that they love somebody. That doesn’t mean that he gets loved back. Even me, all my life, I would love somebody, and that person would be … straight, and he couldn’t love me back. Or he was not as courageous, maybe, as I was, in fulfilling sexual needs. There’s a lot of people who are just afraid of society and how they get ostracized.”

It’s a strange attitude, which seems to want to be as close to straight as possible, while also rejecting it – or at least accusing people who don’t share what he wants as not being ‘corageous’ enough to go against societal norms.

I’ve been advocating sitting on the fence about Stonewall, as much of the anger started being vented before anyone had seen the film. However while I still haven’t viewed the movie, I’m starting to accept Emmerich wasn’t the man to handle the tale, as the more he talks, the more problematic his views (which get extremely close to self-hating) seem.

Unfortunately though, when he talks about having a ‘straight-acting’ lead as a east ‘in’, he’s reflecting the perceived economic realities in Hollywood (that’s not to say it’s right, but it is how it’s seen by far more than just Emmerich), if they’re hoping for mainstream success. It is sadly true that it’s incredibly difficult to get anything made that reflects true diversity if you want more than a micro-budget, as fearful money men won’t stump up the cash, whether they have any right to be fearful or not. On this score, Stonewall is more symptom than cause.

CHECK OUT THESE RELATED ARCHIVES:
DIRECTORS: Roland Emmerich  FILMS: Stonewall  

Roland Emmerich’s Stonewall Movie Meets Mixed Reviews Following Toronto Film Festival Premiere

September 21, 2015 By Tim Isaac 1 Comment

stonewall-brick-slideThere was a huge amount of controversy and calls for a boycott following the release of the trailer for Roland Emmerich’s Stonewall, due to the fact it made it look like the whole thing was solely about a cisgender, young, pretty, white guy, and that it would therefore remove the key contribution of trans and people of color to the 1969 riots.

However, others said that as it was just  trailer, it might be best to wait until the entire film had been screened. Now it’s recieved it premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival, and if the first reviews are to be believed, the movie isn’t the triumph its director might have hoped.

In a Guardian review titled ‘There’s a riot going on! Pity Roland Emmerich missed it’, Henry Barnes writes, ‘It’s still difficult for gay cinema to pass into the mainstream. Emmerich, who put his own money into making the film, should be cheered for giving it a shot. Unfortunately the compromises he’s made leave Stonewall feeling neutered. A member of the Mattachine Society makes a speech about how gay men should assimilate. “Wearing a suit and tie will make them realise they’re just like you,” he says. Stonewall tries the same trick. By trying to disguise itself as a coming-of-age romance, it hides the real story underneath.’

Henry DeBruge in Variety, isn’t much more postive, saying ‘While it’s encouraging to see such a subject treated with the same grandiosity afforded alien invasions, particularly at a moment when gay rights hold such currency, representation-starved audiences deserve more than this problematic collection of stereotypes, which lacks the galvanizing power of such recent we-shall-overcome triumphs as “Selma” or “Milk,” and won’t draw anywhere near their numbers.’

In The Hollywood Reporter, David Rooney is a bit more of a fan, although he certainly doesn’t give the movie a rave, saying, ‘While Stonewall hits every obvious, manipulative button with a forceful hand, it’s also consistently engaging, relating experiences grounded in the turbulent past that should resonate for many in our more complacent present.’

As for the question of how the movie treat people of color and trans characters, he notes, ‘Diversity representation mostly functions as colorful window-dressing, with notes of humor pretty much confined to routine sassy attitude, and when the riot starts, the Wonder Bread lead gets to throw the first brick. But the secondary characters are treated with affection and respect, and far from sidelined during the climactic clash.’

John Hazelton in Screen Daily also find issues with the movie, saying ‘Stonewall almost lets its tale of a young gay man finding his way in New York City overshadow its account of the 1969 riots that give the film its title and led to the birth of the gay liberation movement. That might not have mattered if the personal story had been more satisfying, but as it is this passion project from blockbuster director Roland Emmerich… feels like a strangely squandered opportunity.’

The Playlist meanwhile doesn’t mince its words, saying, ‘While Emmerich’s intentions may be pure, he lacks the delicacy, intelligence, and skill to do right by a premise rife with potential for disaster — a topic in which the man is all too well-versed… The insulting obviousness with which characters make declarations about the Change That Must Come and the Injustice That Has Been Suffered For Too Long strip the film of any potential for resonant poignance with its intended audience. Emmerich’s freedom fighters speak not like human beings, but political mouthpieces designed to express the simplest ideas for the simplest-minded audiences.’

It certainly doesn’t bode well for the film, which was already facing controversy and resistance. However Emmerich’s career has been marked by getting unfavourable reviews (for films such as 2012 and The Day After Tomorrow) and yet making money at the box office, so he’ll be hoping for the same when the film reaches US cinemas later this week.

You can take a look at a clip from the movie below. [Read more…]

CHECK OUT THESE RELATED ARCHIVES:
ACTORS: Jeremy Irvine  DIRECTORS: Roland Emmerich  FILMS: Stonewall  

Stonewall Director Roland Emmerich Says He’s Found It Easy To Be Gay In Hollywood

September 19, 2015 By Tim Isaac Leave a Comment

roland-emmerich-stonewallWhile LGBT actors still have to face various issues in Hollywood, not least due to many executives (some of whom are gay themselves) still feeling it’s ‘easier’ to cast a straight or closeted person in case having a gay actors affects the project’s money-making potential in some parts of the world.

However, it doesn’t seem that’s as much of an issue for those behind the camera, with directors such as Bryan Singer and Roland Emmerich being handed massive projects with no one really caring about their sexuality (although it did become a bit of an issue for Singer last year).

2012 and The Day After Tomorrow director Roland Emmerich has been talking about how easy it’s been for him, telling The Guardian at the Toronto International Film Festival, “For me, being gay in Hollywood was easy. I never made a big deal out of it. I was just openly gay. It happened late because I never wanted to have the words ‘gay director’ in front of my name. I wanted to make such different films. It’s not befitting but now I can be openly gay and still make these films.”

He’s also promised that he’s included gay characters in his upcoming Independence Day seuqel, Resurgence, something that’s still incredibly rare in mega-budget movies.

Emmerich was in Toronto for the premiere of Stonewall, his movie about the 1969 riots in New York that are seen as the beginning of the modern gay rights movements. There’s been plenty of controvery over the film, with many accusing it – based solely on the trailer – of white-washing and erasing trans people, as it focuses on a white, cisgender gay man (played by Jeremy Irvine), but it’s only in Toronto that the first people have been able to see the full movie and judge whether the accusations are justified.

The director doesn’t seem too bothered about the controversy though, calling it “strange” and saying, “A friend of mine was executive for Tristar at the time of Philadelphia. They got so much shit from the gay audience and when this whole controversy over my trailer started, he actually just sent me a couple of quotes people had said about Philadelphia just to make me feel that there’s a precedent for this.”

CHECK OUT THESE RELATED ARCHIVES:
DIRECTORS: Roland Emmerich  FILMS: Stonewall  

Latest Stonewall Clip Focuses On Trans Activist Marsha P. Johnson

September 9, 2015 By Tim Isaac Leave a Comment

stonewall-jeremy-irvine-slideAfter an unexpectedly large backlash following the release of the trailer for Roland Emmerich’s Stonewall, those behind the marketing have been doing some damage limitation even if they haven’t admitted that’s what they’re doing.

The anger came from the fact the trailer made it look like the film would erase the trans people and people of color who were central to the Stonewall riots, so that it could suggest it was all down to a pretty, young, white, cisgender guy, as played by Jeremy Irvine. While both Irvine and Emmerich were quick to defend the film, saying the movie is much broader than that and features a diverse cast of queer characters, many weren’t satisfied with that.

Since then the marketing has shifted, with the recent poster pushing Irvine off to the side to show that trans and people of color are also prominent characters, and now a new clip has arrived that focuses on Marsha P. Johnson. The lack of Marsha in the trailer was one of the biggest bones of contention, as this trans woman of color is seen as one of the key figures at Stonewall, and many believed she’d been completely erased from the story for the film.

While it still remains to be seen quite how prominent she is, the new clip does show she is part of the film. Take a look below.

Stonewall will be released in theaters on September 25, 2015. Here’s the synopsis: ‘STONEWALL is a drama about a fictional young man caught up during the 1969 Stonewall riots. Danny Winters (Jeremy Irvine) is forced to leave behind friends and loved ones when he is kicked out of his parent’s home and flees to New York. Alone in Greenwich Village, homeless and destitute, he befriends Ray (Jonny Beauchamp) and a group of street kids who soon introduce him to the local watering hole The Stonewall Inn; however, this shady, mafia-run club is far from a safe-haven. As Danny and his friends experience discrimination, endure atrocities and are repeatedly harassed by the police, we see a rage begin to build. This emotion runs through the entire community of young gays, lesbians, drag queens and trans people who populate the Stonewall Inn and erupts in a storm of anger. With the toss of a single brick, a riot ensues and a crusade for equality is born.’ [Read more…]

CHECK OUT THESE RELATED ARCHIVES:
ACTORS: Jeremy Irvine  DIRECTORS: Roland Emmerich  FILMS: Stonewall  
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