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

Queerama (DVD Review) – A cornucopia look at decades of gay British life on screen

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Director Daisy Asquith’s mixture of archive footage and music is the sort of film that is likely to beguile and entrance some viewers while leaving others perplexed and a bit bored. That’s essentially the nature of the beast though, as there’s no traditional voiceover or simplistic signposting (barring a few title cards) in this journey through decades of queer footage from the BFI (British Film Institute). It’s done somewhat chronologically and somewhat thematically (more the latter than the former), with the whole thing held together by the music of John Grant, Goldfrapp, and Hercules And Love Affair.

At first it feels a little random, taking its time to get the audience accustomed to the way it cuts between its multiple sources, sometimes showing chunks of historic TV documentaries interspersed with footage of queer lives from films and shorts, or using music or a particular interview to thematically anchor what you’re seeing on screen. Through this it starts to build something surprisingly powerful, paying testament to both LGBTQ lives in Britain over the past century and celebrating (and sometimes reproaching) the way queer lives have been depicted on screen. [Read more…]

The Ways Of Man (DVD Review)

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Do you like movies about one man following another man around in the woods? Well, if you do, this if your lucky day! Without any context, that’s pretty much all this slightly experimental movie is from beginning to end.

There is a little bit more to it than that though, as this is a modern reimagining of what happened to Judas Iscariot after he betrayed Jesus, and took thirty pieces of silver for doing it. Here we have a hoodie-wearing Judas, filled with angst and pain over what he’s done. [Read more…]

Coming Out (DVD Review)

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It’s rare for me to get scared, even by a horror movie, but the documentary Coming Out made me nervous. That’s not because it’s deliberately trying to creep anyone out, but because many gay viewers will be taken back to the fear and trepidation of their own initial coming out process.

In the film, young filmmaker Alden Peters decides it’s time to come out as gay after being affected by the suicide of Tyler Clementi, a young man who killed himself after his roommate secretly filmed him having sex with a guy and then posted it online. Rather unusually, Alden decides to get out his camera and document the entire thing. That involves telling friends, parents and siblings, as well as the wider diaspora of those he knows, while filming everything as he goes. He then goes on to look at what happens next, coming to realise that telling others is only the first part of truly becoming comfortable with being a gay man. [Read more…]

The Third One (Iris Prize Festival 2014 Review)

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This tale of a modern-day sexual encounter starts with an online flirtation between Fede, a young gay man, and an older gay couple whose relationship is several years old. They flirt on webcam and MSN Messenger, teasing the viewer and each other with a little nudity and eventually decide to meet up.

Fede goes around to their flat and they have dinner together. It’s a very relaxed and unrushed sexual encounter that shows the characters taking a little time to get to know one another, which is nice to see rather than just jumping into bed together. As they talk, the relationship between the older men opens up, as does Fede when talking about himself, and both the characters and the viewer understand a little more about how neither side’s situation is as perfect as it seems from the outside. [Read more…]

The Visitor (Cibrâil) (DVD)

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A lot of gay-themed films are low budget efforts, so you have to make allowances for the fact they don’t have polished production values and the actors aren’t going to be hired by the Royal Shakespeare Company anytime soon. However sometimes it’s tough, and that’s certainly the case with The Visitor. The film is almost like something you’d make to show potential investors what the movie would be like if they were given the money to do it properly.

I really tried to look past the film’s low budget  shortcomings, but things such as the fact everyone sounds like they’re speaking from the end of a long tunnel (and sometimes background noise threatens to drown out the speech), make it difficult. It also doesn’t help that first-time feature director Tor Iben makes quite a lot of amateurish moves. [Read more…]