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

French Kisses (DVD Review) – A collection of Galllic gay short films gets a release

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Many of the most interesting gay-themed films are shorts – not least because the lower budgets often allow them to explore themes and ideas that longer movies would be afraid to try in case it hurt their economic potential. French Kisses brings together six Gallic shorts, which vary quite a bit in quality. But are they worthwhile as a whole? Can a look below to see what we thought about each film.

Apollo
A young man is going swimming, but is worried that he doesn’t stack up ‘down below’ compared to the other guys. In his head everyone else’s package seems bigger and their body looks better. After an attempt to stuff his Speedos goes awry – and eating endless bananas doesn’t work either – he begins to despair about ever being ‘virile’ enough… until something unexpected happens. Quite short and a little odd, Apollo nevertheless has worthwhile points to make about the negative side of masculinity. It’s keen to point out that it’s not just women who feel the need to live up to unattainable standards. It’s also quite fun.
3 out of 5 [Read more…]

The Ornithologist (DVD Review) – Things get strange and a little gay in the wilderness

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João Pedro Rodrigues’s The Ornithologist got a fair amount of attention at film festivals, mesmerising many (and winning awards in the process), while rather perplexing others. However, a film inspired by the wanderings of St. Anthony of Padua and from a director not well known for making particularly accessible movies, isn’t likely to be straightforward.

The Ornithologist of the title is Fernando, who is out on his own in the wilds looking for black storks. After his kayak is caught in the rapids and destroyed, he is rescued by two young, Chinese women who are on a pilgrimage. However, his rescuers soon reveal a darker side, with Fernando ending up in his underwear tied to a tree. [Read more…]

Their Finest (DVD Review) – Gemma Arterton turns Second World War screenwriter in a new Brit flick

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It’s 1940 and bombs are dropping on London. Catrin (Gemma Arterton) is a young Welsh woman who’s run away to the Capital with her artist lover. As a result, Catrin finds herself in need of a job, despite it being the middle of the Blitz. She unexpectedly finds work as a writer for a film company, which has been asked by the Ministry Of Information to make a movie that will help support the British war effort.

Catrin soon discovers that she’s still living in a man’s world, having to fight for respect from her colleague, Tom Buckley (Sam Claflin), and pretty much everyone else around her. After all, in Tom’s words she’s just there for the ‘slop’ – aka the female dialogue. [Read more…]

Bleed For This (Blu-ray Review) – Miles Teller breaks his neck but still wants to box

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Bleed For This is based on the true story of Vinny Pazienza, as played by Miles Teller. Having had difficulty making his weight for his Lightweight bouts, world champion boxer Vinny ends up in hospital with severe dehydration, and decides to move up a weight. However, shortly after becoming only the second person to become the world Junior Middleweight champ after being a Lightweight champion, he’s involved in a serious car accident which breaks his neck.

The doctors don’t know whether he will ever walk again, but Vinny insists they fit him with a large metal halo in the hope that not only will he regain full function, but his neck will recover enough that he will be able to fight. Although those around him feel he should give up boxing, he is determined to get back in the ring. With a single-minded drive he strives to get back to full fitness, and to take a shot at another world championship belt. [Read more…]

A Little Chaos (DVD Review)

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It’s 17th Century France and King Louis XIV (Alan Rickman) is on the throne. He wants a revamp of the Versailles gardens and hires architect Andre Le Notre (Matthias Schoenaerts) to build it. However, he needs help from a landscape artist and so brings in widower Sabine De Barra (Kate Winslet).

They have a few initial problems as he likes classical geometry and straight lines, while she is more forward-thinking and asymmetrical in her design (metaphor alert). Despite this, the two begin to fall for one another. This should be okay as Andre has an open marriage, however his wife (Helen McRory) isn’t keen on the feelings he develops for Sabine and plans to destroy what they are creating together. [Read more…]

The Man From U.N.C.L.E. (Cinema Review)

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Turning one of the most beloved 1960s spy TV series into a movie was always going to be a gamble, but in the blokey hands of Guy Ritchie all is safe. It’s everything you’d hope for – stylish, great clothes, cool soundtrack, a decent enough plot about saving the world from a sociopath, and full of period detail.

Where it falls down is in the crucial chemistry between the leads – Armie Hammer does well as the grumpy, disapproving Soviet agent Kuryakin, but Henry Cavill as Napoleon Solo is so wooden you wonder why someone doesn’t mistake him for a park bench and sit on him. There is no chemistry at all between either of them and Alicia Vikander, whose ‘aren’t I pretty’ routine is becoming slightly wearing. [Read more…]

Ant-Man (Cinema Review)

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It’s summertime and we get another Marvel movie about a lesser known superhero. Last year we had the amazing Guardians of the Galaxy, but I was very apprehensive about this latest instalment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).

I presume more of this story will come to light after this film’s general release, but rumour has it that general legend Edgar Wright and co-writer Joe Cornish (another legend) approached Marvel to do an Ant-Man movie long before Iron Man’s release in 2008. As we know the MCU has become a box-office phenomenon with interconnecting plots and characters all leading towards Avengers: Infinity War in 2018 and 2019. [Read more…]

Nightcrawler (Blu-ray Review)

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I’m not entirely sure why Jake Gyllenhaal felt the need to lose loads of weight for Nightcrawler, but conbined with a very good performance he certainly looks the part of a man who’s one step away from being a psychopath – and maybe not even one step.

He is Louis Bloom, who’s certainly not lacking in confidence and believes he’s got everything to offer the world, but his life and career is going nowhere, partly because he lacks direction and also because he had no issue being on the edge of the law. However he stumbles into a career he never expected when he meets a Nightcrawler – freelance cameramen who race to emergencies in the hope of getting sensationalist footage for the local news. [Read more…]

The Imitation Game (Cinema Review)

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Rule one of cinema? Show, don’t tell. This seems to have been totally ignored by Norwegian director Morten Tyldum, who chooses to take one of the most extraordinary British stories of the 20th century and make it in such a dull, flat way it stretches patience to snapping point.

The story itself has been the subject of a West End play in Breaking the Code, and a film already, Enigma, although the central character was fictionalized. Here we get the true story of Alan Turing, the mathematical and linguistic genius who cracks codes for fun. However during WWII the Nazis invent a machine so complex it codes vital messages with 19,000,000,000,000,000,000 possible answers. It’s impossible to crack, right? But with U-boats sinking ships in the Atlantic and the Luftwaffe creating havoc in the skies it’s vital that someone crack the code. [Read more…]

3 Days To Kill (Blu-ray Review)

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Co-written and produced by Luc Besson, Ethan Renner (Kevin Costner) has discovered that he’s dying and so he decides to leave his job killing terrorists for the Secret behind and go see his family in Paris, hoping to reconnect with his estranged daughter, Zooey (Hailee Steinfeld) before he meets his grace.

However his plans get complicated when Vivi (Amber Heard) contacts him about one last assignment, helping to hunt down one of the world’s most lethal terrorists – and in return he will get injections of a top secret serum that could extend his life. Ethan knows though that if his wife and daughter find out what he’s up to, he’s unlikely to be able to have any sort of relationship with either of them. [Read more…]