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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

New Poster For Stonewall Movie Debuts

August 25, 2015 By Tim Isaac Leave a Comment

stonewall-posterAlthough there’d been a little grumbling about Stonewall ever since the synopsis was released, the upcoming film about the riots that helped spark the moderns gay rights movie walked into a firestorm of controversy when the trailer came out.

It was immediately his with accusations of whitewashing and erasing the importance of trans* people by having the film centred on a young, gay, cisgender white man.

Although director Roland Emmerich and star Jeremy Irvine stepped forward to defend the movie, many still weren’t happy.

However, no one has actually seen the film yet, and to remind those curious about it a new poster has arrived via Out, which seems to deliberately push Irvine to one side and instead give space to people of color and genderqueer characters.

The movie itself reaches US cinemas on September 25th.

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

Roland Emmerich & Jeremy Irvine Respond To Stonewall ‘Whitewashing’ Critics

August 7, 2015 By Tim Isaac 1 Comment

stonewall-brick-slideWe reported yesterday about the anger at the trailer for Stonewall, which had many up in arms accusing the movie of attempting to whitewash history, and replacing queer people of color with a white, cisgender gay man (played by Jeremy Irvine). As we suggested, it might be a little early to judge the movie, as we’ve only had a single trailer so far and no one has actually seen the full movie to see how it actually handles the story of the riots of summer 1969.

Director Roland Emmerich agrees (unsurprising), as he’s issued a statement, saying on Facebook, “When I first learned about the Stonewall Riots through my work with the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center, I was struck that the circumstances that lead to LGBT youth homelessness today are pretty much the same as they were 45 years ago. The courageous actions of everyone who fought against injustice in 1969 inspired me to tell a compelling, fictionalized drama of those days centering on homeless LGBT youth, specifically a young midwestern gay man who is kicked out of his home for his sexuality and comes to New York, befriending the people who are actively involved in the events leading up to the riots and the riots themselves.

“I understand that following the release of our trailer there have been initial concerns about how this character’s involvement is portrayed, but when this film – which is truly a labor of love for me – finally comes to theaters, audiences will see that it deeply honors the real-life activists who were there — including Marsha P. Johnson, Sylvia Rivera, and Ray Castro — and all the brave people who sparked the civil rights movement which continues to this day. We are all the same in our struggle for acceptance.”

Jeremy Irvine also felt compelled to respond via Instagram, particularly picking up one of the things that got people the most angry – that it looks like his character threw the first brick of the Stonewall riots, when it’s believed that in real-life it was a trans woman of color. He says, “To anyone with concerns about the diversity of the #StonewallMovie. I saw the movie for the first time last week and can assure you all that it represents almost every race and section of society that was so fundamental to one of the most important civil rights movements in living history.

“Marsha P Johnson is a major part of the movie, and although first hand accounts of who threw the first brick in the riots vary wildly, it is a fictional black transvestite character played by the very talented @vlad_alexis who pulls out the first brick in the riot scenes. My character is adopted by a group of street kids whilst sleeping rough in New York.

“In my opinion, the story is driven by the leader of this gang played by @jonnybeauchamp who gives an extraordinary performance as a Puerto Rican transvestite struggling to survive on the streets. Jonathan Rhys Meyers’ character represents the Mattachine Society, who were at the time a mostly white and middle class gay rights group who stood against violence and radicalism. I felt incredibly nervous taking on this role knowing how important the subject matter is to so many people but Roland Emmerich is one of the most sensitive and heartfelt directors I’ve worked with and I hope that, as an ensemble, we have not only done such an important story justice but also made a good movie as well.”

While many people have already made up their mind about the movie, dismissed it and really don’t care what either Irvine and Emmerich have to say (despite the fact none of them have actually seen it and only have hearsay to decide precisely how it tells its story), there are other more moderate voices which are currently being drowned out, who feel that by creating controversy now we may end up ruining a chance to bring the story of one of the most pivotal moments in gay rights – including the importance of  trans* and people of color – to a mainstream audience.

However both sides of the debate may want to wait until some people have actually seen the movie and can judge it on its own merits, not on just a two minute trailer. Perhaps it is as bad as some people are suggesting, but at the moment we really don’t know.

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

Should We Boycott Roland Emmerich’s Stonewall Movie?

August 6, 2015 By Tim Isaac Leave a Comment

stonewall-jeremy-irvine-slideFrom the moment it was revealed that Roland Emmerich’s upcoming Stonewall movie would centre around a white, cisgender man, played by Jeremy Irvine, there were murmurs of discontent, as central to the riots of 1969 were trans* people of color, and so there was concern the movie would whitewash the birth of modern gay rights.

While the likes of Emmerich have attempted to address these concerns (at least obliquely), the moment the trailer hit a couple of days – which put Irvine’s character front and centre, with people of color and trans* people on the sidelines – some people got very angry and they’re already calling for a boycott.

For example, a petition has been started, which says, ‘To all considering watching the newest whitewashed version of queer history. It is time that black and brown transwomyn and drag queens are recognized for their efforts in the riots throughout the nation. From the preview alone, we know that will not be happening. Majority of characters casted are white actors, cis men play the role of transwomyn, and folks who began the riots do not seem to be credited with such revolutionary acts.

‘WE ARE CALLING A BOYCOTT OF STONEWALL. Do not throw money at the capitalistic industry that fails to recognize true s/heros. Do not support a film that erases our history. Do not watch Stonewall. Tell your own history! Use social media to recall what you know to be true of Stonewall. Film your own short films. Make videos, write poems, sing songs. CONTINUE TO TEACH TRUE HISTORY.’

While you can understand the frustration and anger, it seems a little early to call for a boycott, as no one has actually seen the movie yet. Although unlikely to mollify the critics, it has been suggested that Irvine’s character is mainly used as a gateway to the Stonewall story and to characters a general audience may not easily immediately empathise with (even it is questionable whether they should pander to such prejudices, even if it might seem to the makers to make commercial sense in order to get more people into the cinema in the first place). However, the fact the synopsis is keen to point out it’s a fictionalised take on the true-story certainly gives us pause.

The petition certainly seems to be prejudging the movie based on only a short preview, although there are real questions to be answered, as pointed out in the article 5 Tweets That Sum Up Why People Are Upset About Stonewall.

The likes of Marsha P. Johnson, Silvia Rivera and Stormé DeLarverie are undoubtedly central to the true story the film is based on, and hopefully Stonewall can do justice to them and people like them who helped fight back against the prejudice of society, and who certainly weren’t all white, cis men.

It has also been hinted at that Irvine’s character doesn’t actually directly start the riot, but instead starts out as a timid, rather wasp-ish character, who is inspired by the diverse people around him in New York in 1969 to become more active and proud, and that it is the actions of those others that teaches him to stand up and be counted. However we will have to wait and see exactly how the movie handles the story and whether it does completely white-wash the Stonewall riots.

The film is out in the US on September 25th.

If you want to know a bit more about the true story of Stonewall versus the film’s trailer, it’s well worth taking a look at Matt Baume’s take below: [Read more…]

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

Stonewall Trailer – Jeremy Irvine fights for gay rights in Roland Emmerich’s movie

August 4, 2015 By Tim Isaac Leave a Comment

stonewall-trailer-slideIt’s certainly worth making a new movie about the Stonewall riots, as while most people have heard of them, even many gay people have no idea what actually happened, beyond the fact it’s the place where the modern gay rights fight is said to have started.

While this trailer suggests Roland Emmerich’s movie might have a slightly simplified take on the events of Stonewall (it is keen to say it’s inspired by events of June 1969, rather than being based on real characters), it still looks like it might be pretty interesting and entertaining.

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 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 Danny and the entire community of young gays, lesbians and drag queens 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.’

Joey King, Jonny Beauchamp, Caleb Landry Jones, Atticus Dean Mitchell, Jonathan Rhys Meyers and Ron Perlman co-star. The movie is out in the US on September 25th. [Read more…]

CHECK OUT THESE RELATED ARCHIVES:
ACTORS: Jeremy Irvine, Joey King, Jonny Beauchamp, Caleb Landry Jones, Atticus Dean Mitchell, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Ron Perlman  DIRECTORS: Roland Emmerich  FILMS: Stonewall  

Roland Emmerich Talks About The Difficulty Of Getting His Stonewall Movie Made

August 3, 2015 By Tim Isaac 4 Comments

stonewall-pic9-slideWe’ve come a long way in regards to the depiction of LGBT characters on the screen, but despite the success of Brokeback Mountain and a couple of gay-related movies making waves each year, it’s still extremely difficult to fund films where sexuality is the core of the story.

Even someone like Roland Emmerich – who can usually get $100 million plus budgets together to make films like 2012 and The Day After Tomorrow – found it almost impossible to get his planned take on the Stonewall riots funded. You’d have thought with a story people have heard of and a director as well known as Emmerich it wouldn’t have been tough, but it was.

Roland has been telling Vulture about the difficulties, saying, “It was an uphill battle, but we finally did it. We wanted to do it in New York on location, and that failed miserably because it was so expensive.”

He also wanted to ensure it was an ensemble story, but that added extra diffifculties.”If you can cast a central character with one or two famous actors, you have a good chance to get the movie financed,” he says, “but in my case, I knew there was not really one central character in the Stonewall riots.”

Emmerich also had something to say in response to criticisms that have already surfaced about the unfinshed film, based on the fact the synopsis suggests the events of Stonewall will be seen through the eyes of a young, white character called Danny (Jeremy Irvine) – leading to accusations of white-washing and ignoring the trans* people who were central to events in New York in 1969. However, he insists that while Danny may be the way into the story, the movie isn’t ignoring the the diversity. “I think we represented it very well,” he says. “We have drag queens, lesbians, we have everything in the film because we wanted to portray a broader image of what ‘gay’ means.”

It’ll certainly be interesting to see how he does handle it, and hopefully the critics will wait until they’ve seen the movie before writing it off. Emmerich certainly seems devoted, as it’s rumoured he found it so difficult to raise the funds to make the movie through normal channels that he ended up providing some of the budget himself. The film’s out in the US in September.

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

First Poster For Roland Emmerich’s Stonewall Movie Arrives

August 1, 2015 By Tim Isaac 1 Comment

stonewall-poster1Roland Emmerich may be best known for creating major disasters in everything from The Day After Tomorrow to 2012, but now the gay director is going for something that may be a little more Oscar friendly, with Stonewall.

He was apparently inspired to make the movie after working with young LGBT people in LA, which made him decide that having never really bothered to reflect his own sexuality in his films, it was time for a change.

Now the first poster has arrived, which puts the Stonewall Inn front and centre (perhaps to ward off the critcism that’s already started before anyone’s actually seen the movie, that it looks like it concentrates on young, largely white, cisgender gay men, despite drag queens, trans* and other queer people being front and centre in the 1969 protests – although we should perhaps wait until the film is complete before criticising it).

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 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 Danny and the entire community of young gays, lesbians and drag queens 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.’

It’ll be out later this year.

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

New Pics Emerge Of Jeremy Irvine & Co. In Roland Emmerich’s Stonewall Movie

July 6, 2015 By Tim Isaac 1 Comment

stonewall-pic9-slideRoland Emmerich normally spends his time destroying as much of the world as possible in the likes of The Day After Tomorrow and 2012 (he’s currently shooting the sequel to Independence Day), but for his next film he’s looking at a conflict that took place on a slightly smaller scale but had massive ramifications in th years afterwards – the 1969 Stonewall riots.

Over the past couple of weeks the film’s Facebook page has released quite a few new images to go with the first one that arrived in March, giving us our best look at the movie yet.

Here’s the synopsis: ‘Less than 50 years ago, in 1969, being gay was considered a mental illness.  Gay people could not be employed by the government.  It was illegal for gay people to congregate, and police brutality against gays went unchecked.

‘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 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 Danny and the entire community of young gays, lesbians and drag queens 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.’

The movie is due in cinemas later this year. You can take a look at the new pics below, which interestingly includes the recreation of the 1970 Christopher Street Gay Liberation march. Christopher Street is the road that the Stonewall Inn was on, and after the riot Christopher Street days and marches began popping up in all sorts of cities, which was the starts of the May/June ‘Pride Season’ that we know today.

[Read more…]

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

Independence Day 2 Becomes Resurgence & Gets A Few On-Set Pics

June 23, 2015 By Tim Isaac Leave a Comment

independence-day-resurgence-titleWe always knew they were coming back. After years of saying and Independence Day sequel was coming, it finally coming and now it has an official title, as it’ll be called Independence Day: Resurgence, and it’s promised that ‘the next epic chapter delivers global spectacle on an unimaginable scale’.

Here’s the first synopsis: ‘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.’

Old and new cast members include Liam Hemsworth, Jeff Goldblum, Bill Pullman, Judd Hirsch, Vivica A. Fox, Brent Spiner, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Jessie Usher, Maika Monroe and Sela Ward.

Along with the title reveal came a few pics, which you can see 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 2 Adds A Female President In The Form Of Sela Ward

May 5, 2015 By Tim Isaac Leave a Comment

sela-wardHillary Clinton may be bidding to be America’s first female president, but I’d be willing to bet that if she does win, she won’t have to fight any aliens. That’s not true for CSI: NY & House’s Sela Ward, who’ll be taking the POTUS role in Independence Day 2, according to Deadline.

We would say President Lanford be in residence at the White House, but seeing as that got blown up in the first movie, who knows if it’s been rebuilt. It’s also not clear how she fits into the story, although as Bill Pullman’s President Thomas J. Whitmore was a major force in Independece Day, she’ll probably have plenty to do in this one, especially as Pullman is returning for the sequel.

She joins fellow newcomers Liam Hemsworth, Maika Monroe, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Jessie Usher, Travis Tope and Joey King, alongside returnees such as Pullman, Jeff Goldblum, Vivica A. Fox, Judd Hirsch and Brent Spiner. The film will see the invading aliens return, with the son of Will Smith’s character playing a major role this time around

CHECK OUT THESE RELATED ARCHIVES:
ACTORS: Sela Ward  DIRECTORS: Roland Emmerich  FILMS: Independence Day: Resurgence  

First Look At Jeremy Irvine In Roland Emmerich’s Gay-Themed Stonewall Movie

March 25, 2015 By Tim Isaac Leave a Comment

stonewall-jeremy-irvineIt’s been a while since Roland Emmerich shot Stonewall, his upcoming movie about the riots in New York which helped kick off the modern gay rights movement. Now the film is in the can and the first image has been released, which shows Jeremy Irvine caught up in the chaos.

Alongside the pic comes the news that Roadside Attractions has picked up the rights to the movie in the US, and will release the movie later this year.

Here’s the synopsis: ‘Less than 50 years ago, in 1969, being gay was considered a mental illness.  Gay people could not be employed by the government.  It was illegal for gay people to congregate, and police brutality against gays went unchecked.

‘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 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 Danny and the entire community of young gays, lesbians and drag queens 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.’

It’s certainly a change of pace for Emmerich who’s best known for disaster epics such as Independence Day, The Day After Tomorrow and 2012, however the gay director was inspired to make the movie after working with homeless gay and lesbian youths.

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