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

Baby Steps (DVD Review) – A gay couple having a baby is complicated by a Taiwanese mother

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In Los Angeles, Danny (Barney Cheng) is a well-respected gay man with a long-term boyfriend, and together they are planning to have a baby. However, in his homeland of Taiwan, his mother, Ma (Grace Guei), is still uncomfortable with her son’s sexuality, never asks about his love-life and doesn’t even know about his partner, Tate (Michael Adam Hamilton).

Danny hasn’t told his mom about his baby plans, but when his brother lets the secret out, Ma gets very excited, as it means she may finally get a grandchild. She flies out to LA, where she’s less than impressed with Danny’s surrogacy plans, and also unsure how to deal with Danny’s ‘friend’, Tate. As they struggle to deal with one another, the hoped for baby could bring them all together and finally get Ma to accept her son, or it could drive them all apart. [Read more…]

The Great Wall (Blu-ray Review) – Matt Damon helps the Chinese with their alien dinosaur problem

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After watching this film you’re going to feel dumb. I bet you thought the Great Wall Of China was built to protect the north of the country from human invaders. Nope, it was to stop alien dinosaurs attacking and eventually becoming unstoppable.

Set hundreds of years ago, William (Matt Damon) gets mixed up in this after he and his friend, Tovar (Pedro Pascal) head towards China looking to steal/trade for the fabled ‘black powder’. They are attacked by one of the alien dinosaurs, known as Taotie, and soon after are captured by the Chinese military at the Great Wall. [Read more…]

Counting For Thunder (US DVD Review) – Rediscovering family and gay love in the Deep South

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Phillip Stalworth (Phillip Irwin Cooper) is an actor in LA, although he’s not been having much luck with his career. As his mother has been diagnosed with terminal cancer, he decides to head back to his hometown in the US South. His girlfriend knows this is the end for them, which allows Phillip to take a complete break from his LA life.

His return home inevitably brings up old family issues, not least his somewhat difficult relationship with his emotionally distant and seemingly selfish father (John Heard). His mother (Mariette Hartley) meanwhile is ailing, with Phillip and his sister struggling to find ways to help her. [Read more…]

The Program (Blu-ray Review)

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Over the years, numerous movies about Lance Armstrong have been in the works but never got made. Indeed, one was about to move forward just as he admitted he had doped for his entire career. It’s almost a shame we don’t have a movie from when he was almost universally admired as a hero, so we could compare it to the darker world of The Program.

At the start of the movie Lance (Ben Foster) is an okay but unexceptional cyclist, who few think will ever do anything special. After overcoming testicular cancer, he returns with a passion to win, and knowing the world of cycling is riddled with cheats taking performance-enhancing drugs, he decides he will do the same, enlisting the help of Michele Ferrari (Guillaume Canet) to allow him to set up a ‘Program’ that will help him win, as well as arranging to have a team built around him that will ensure a Tour de France victory. [Read more…]

A Letter To Three Wives (Blu-ray Review)

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I have always wanted to see A Letter To Three Wives, but I’m almost ashamed to say I’d never watched it before. The reason I was keen to see it is that All About Eve is one of my favourite movies ever, and this is the other film for which Joseph L. Mankiewicz won both a Best Director and Best Screenplay Oscar.

I’m glad to say I wasn’t completely disappointed by the film, although I can see why the movie has fallen out of favour compared to much of Mankiewicz’s other work, such as Cleopatra and The Barefoot Contessa. While not that many younger people have seen the 1949 Oscar winner, they may find the plot oddly familiar, as more recently it served as the basis for an episode of The Simpsons. [Read more…]

One Chance (Blu-ray)

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Paul Potts took the world by storm after he swept to victory in the very first series of Britain’s Got Talent. One Chance takes a look at the story of the mobile phone salesman turned opera singer.

James Corden plays Potts, who grew up being bullied but dreams of singing opera. He thinks he might have his chance when he saves up money to attend a singing school in Italy. However when that doesn’t work out, he’s back in South Wales, stuck in a dead-end job with his unsupportive father telling he needs to give up on his dreams and accept his lot in life. [Read more…]

Kick-Ass 2 (DVD)

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2010’s Kick-Ass gained a lot of fans who loved its blend of heart, humour and over-the-top comic book violence. Now we get the follow-up, which sees Jeff Wadlow take over from Matthew Vaughn in the director’s chair. While it’s an okay effort, it’s difficult not to wish Vaughn had stuck around.

Picking up some time after the first movie, Dave Lizewski (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) has left his Kick-Ass superhero alter-ego behind and is now attending high school along Mindy McCready (Chloe Moretz), the former Hit Girl. While they may not be trying to fight the bad guys, Kick-Ass has inspired others to take up the costumed vigilante cause. [Read more…]

Now Is Good (DVD)

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Making a movie about someone who’s dying is a tricky business. On one level it’s a subject that involves inherent drama, but equally you don’t want to make something that sounds like such a downer no one will want to watch it. Likewise, you want people to get emotionally involved, but you don’t want it to be so emotionally manipulative and sentimental that people are nauseated rather than moved.

It’s a balance Now Is Good is constantly trying to work out, succeeding better at some times than others. [Read more…]

Killer Joe (DVD)

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I can easily imagine a lot of people loving Killer Joe due to its dark, twisty-turny plot, while a lot of others will also thrill to the pitch black humour. However there are a lot who will find the whole thing rather nasty, cruel and repellent, so if you think you might be one of those people, you’ll probably be best to avoid this. However if you do like thrillers that go to the most sordid of places, you may well love this.

Chris (Emile Hirsch) is in need of cash and so embroils his brother, Ansel (Thomas Haden Church), in a plot to kill their heartless mother. They’re going to hire a lawman called Joe (Matthew McConaughey) who moonlights as a hired killer. It’s going to cost $25,000, but Chris has heard his mum has a $50,000 life insurance policy that will pay out to his sister, Dottie (Juno Temple). Joe wants to be paid upfront, but agrees he’ll have Dottie as a kind of retainer. However nobody has thought things out very well and things soon spiral out of control, especially when they realise just what a mean character Joe is. [Read more…]

Dark Tide (DVD)

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John Stockwell has made a bit of a career directing sea-bound films, but the problem is that the likes of Blue Crush and Into The Blue haven’t been very good. So does he manage to end the watery losing streak with Dark Tide? Nope, but at least he managed not to include the word ‘blue’ in the title.

Halle Berry is ‘shark whisperer’, Kate, who’s able to swim with Great Whites outside the cage. However while her lover Jeff is filming her for a documentary, a terrible accident occurs and someone is killed by one of the giant fish. Cut to a year later and Kate is a bit gun shy about getting into the water with sharks again, but with cash running low, the now estranged Jeff turns up and suggests a way she can get out of financial trouble. A businessman called Brady (Ralph Brown), who’s visiting with his son in South Africa, will pay $100,000 to be able swim with sharks outside the cage. Kate initially doesn’t want anything to do with it, but slowly she’s talked into it, even if she won’t guarantee the man will be able to get out of the cage. [Read more…]