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

Call Me By Your Name (Cinema Review) – Acclaimed first gay love for Timothee Chalamet & Armie Hammer

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After garnering huge amounts of praise on its Sundance debut in January, many suggested Call Me By Your Name had the potential to be a Brokeback style mainstream crossover success. Although it’s unlikely to become the sort of box office hit Ang Lee’s 2005 Oscar-winner was, it is likely to appeal to a wider audience than most gay-themed movies, partly just due to its reputation.

The film, based on Andre Aciman’s acclaimed novel, is set in northern Italy in 1983, at the 17th Century villa of an American professor (Michael Stuhlbarg) and his family. Each summer the professor brings one of his students over, which results in 24-year-old Oliver (Armie Hammer) arriving at the house. He immediately catches the attention of the professor’s 17-year-old son, Elio (Timothee Chalamet). [Read more…]

American Sniper (DVD Review)

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Often when an actor has a passion project it turns out to be something that should never have been attempted and ends up as a very expensive way to massage their ego. However, while Bradley Cooper was one of the major driving forces behind American Sniper, it was always clear he was onto something interesting. Indeed, at one point Steven Spielberg even signed on to direct, before the gig went to Clint Eastwood.

While Clint may be known as a bit of a hard man actor, he really brings the emotion out of what could have been a rather stereotypical war story in other hands.

The film is about Chris Kyle (Cooper), who found ‘fame’ of sorts when he became the Navy SEAL sniper with the most verified kills in US history. However, the movie isn’t just about his time on the battlefield but also its effects – both how he deals with what he’s doing while on tour (which for a sniper is oddly personal, as it involves very deliberately finding a single person and snuffing out their life) and also when he arrives back home and is suddenly supposed to jump into ‘normal’ life again. [Read more…]

V For Vendetta (2007)

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Too often, gay characters and storylines are relegated to comedies and dramas only – trying to think of a 3Dimensional LGBT character in a western, horror or sci-fi is a difficult exercise for most audiences. This does however make it all the more poignant when a character does appear outside of their heteronormative genre. [Read more…]

Boys On Film 3: American Boy (DVD)

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Read our reviews of the other Boys On Film short film collections here.

With Boys On Film: Cruel Britannia out on May 28th, we’re looking at all eight of Peccadillo Picture’s collections of gay short films, most of which are well worth a look. We’ve already taken a look at Hard Love and In Too Deep, and today it’s time for American Boy, a collection of seven short movies all hailing from the US of A.

From thriller to comedy they’re an eclectic bunch and while overall it’s not quite as strong a release as the first two Boys On Film discs, there’s still a lot of interesting stuff and it’s a cut above a lot of the feature-length gay releases out there. Let’s take a look at the shorts: [Read more…]

The Lady (Blu-ray)

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Unless you’re a member of Burma’s former military junta, pretty much everyone can agree that Aung San Suu Kyi is a great person who’s had to endure a lot. However she’s also a human being, something The Lady seems to forget. Instead here she’s a saint taking on demons, which results in a film that’s informative but earnest and rather dull.

Aung San Suu Kyi (Michelle Yeoh) is the daughter of the man who negotiated Britain’s independence from Britain but who was assassinated the same year by his political rivals. However, when the film opens she is living as an Oxford housewife with her academic husband, Michael (David Thewlis), and her two children. She then returns to Burma to look after her ailing mother but once there sees the brutality of the military dictatorship, which is suppressing any and all dissent with deadly force. [Read more…]