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

Dating My Mother (US VoD Review) – Kathryn Erbe, Kathy Najimy & a young, gay man

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Mike Roma had great success with his web series, Danny The Manny. Now he’s segued into the movies with Dating My Mother, which he both writes and directs. The semi-autobiographical movie follows Danny (Patrick Reilly), who’s finished studying film at college in LA and is now back in small-town New Jersey while he works out what to do next. [Read more…]

You Can’t Escape Lithuania (DVD Review) – A gay filmmaker goes on the run

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You Can’t Escape Lithuania became a bit of a viral sensation when filmmaker Romas Zabarauskas promised naked pictures of himself to anyone who donated more than $50 during a crowdfunding campaign. It’s difficult not to wonder whether it’s the film’s notoriety that came from that bit of self-promotion that got it a DVD release, as the film itself isn’t exactly great.

The movie immediately gets rather self-referential when a radio host talks about the naked picture stunt during the film’s opening. However, it’s not a documentary, as while it’s about a character called Romas Zabarauskas, he’s played by an actor, Denisas Kolomyckis. Nor is he playing the real Romas, as the character is a mixture of the real and the made up, where we’re deliberately not meant to know where the truth ends and fiction begins. [Read more…]

You’ll Never Be Alone (DVD Review) – A man’s life spins out of control after his gay son is attacked

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Based on a true story, Pablo (Andrew Bargstead) is a gay teenager just finding his way in the world. He loves drag and sex, but doesn’t seem to have many other goals. His father, Juan (Sergio Hernández), can’t understand why his son is like this. He’s always believed that you must work hard and apply yourself, and – along with the country as a whole – you will eventually succeed and make something of yourself.

After years of planning and trying, Juan is also hoping to invest in the company he’s been employed by for the past 25 years, and become a partner in the business. He will finally be independent. [Read more…]

Something Must Break (Cinema Review)

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Sebastian (Saga Becker) is feeling lost and is contemplating suicide when he meets Andreas (Iggy Malmborg), who is straight but responds to Sebastian’s feminine qualities. After a very brief flirtation they embark on a sexual relationship. Their bond continues to grow, with these two people on the edge of society falling deeply for one another, but while Andreas is fine behind closed doors, he doesn’t know how to handle their relationship when it begins to creep into the rest of his life. Sebastian meanwhile isn’t just a feminine young man, as she is hoping to start living as a woman.

There are all sorts of fascinating ideas and issues swirling around Something Must Break, and the film has a great sense of romance and sexual tension (and release) that works extremely well. However it also has an annoyingly pretentious edge where it withholds motivations, flirts the edges of the ideas it’s dealing with and has a constant sense of seeming extremely pleased with itself. [Read more…]

Three In A Bed (DVD Review)

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Nate is a young man whose life has slightly stalled. On her deathbed his mother made him promise to look after his two sisters, something he took to heart so much that he doesn’t have much going on of his own. It doesn’t help that his sisters are loud, gobby and good at getting into trouble.

But then he meets Jonny, who lives downstairs and seems keen to make friends. They certainly share an attraction, but Nate isn’t sure what his sexuality is, and his life suddenly becomes more complicated when his sisters – who are certain he’s straight – announce that because of the various issues in their lives, they’re coming to stay with him. Nate flirts around the idea of starting something up with Jonny, although Jonny isn’t keen on the idea of having to keep the whole thing in the closet. [Read more…]

I’m A Porn Star (DVD Review)

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I know this will come as a shock to many of you, but lots of people enjoy watching one person inserting one of their body parts into the body parts of other people. Even more shocking is that some people enjoy it when two or more men are engaged in such activities, without any women there at all! This is apparently known as ‘gay pornography’, and this arcane, esoteric subject is what the documentary I’m A Porn Star is all about.

Ok, maybe I have heard of gay porn before. In fact I may even have seen some of it – purely for research purposes, of course. [Read more…]

In The Dark Half (DVD)

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In The Dark Half is not the most imaginatively titled films, nor does it stand out. This is a bit like the film itself. The idea of the film is interesting, as is the acting, and there is nothing particularly wrong or exciting about the film – it just exists, like many other gritty, bleak films.

The premise of the film is the story of a teenage girl (played well by Jessica Barden of Hanna and Tamara Drewe fame) who lives next door to a father and son who have recently lost their wife/mother in believed suspicious circumstances. One night Marie is asked to babysit Sean while his father goes hunting, and unfortunately whilst babysitting Sean unfortunately dies. The rest of the film concerns the growing tension between the neighbours, where Marie starts believing that other forces are at work, and that there is another presence in existence. [Read more…]

The Aggression Scale (DVD)

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Steven C. Miller seems to be on a mission to mash up the family films of his youth with the wince-inducing violence of the horrors and thrillers of that era – the 1980s. Earlier this week we posted a review of Miller’s Frightfest movie Under The Bed, which we described as a ‘mix of Amblin-esque horror and bloody monster movie’. The Aggression Scale meanwhile is Home Alone meets Rambo. (And Miller’s a busy boy, as he’s also made Silent Night this year, which continues his love of the 80s as it’s a remake of Silent Night Deadly Night).

Bellavance (Ray Wise) is a crook who’s going to be sent to jail unless he can get $500,000 of his bent cash back so he can skip the country. However the money has been stolen by a former associate. He sends four armed and very dangerous heavies off to get the money. [Read more…]

Passport To Pimlico (Blu-ray)

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Passport To Pimlico is an unexpectedly important movie in British film history, as along with Kind Hearts & Coronets and Whisky Galore – all of which were released by Ealing in 1949 – they set the template for much of the UK’s comedy output right up to the present day. In the film you can see early whispers of Carry On (not least the presence of Charles Hawtrey in a small role), a wink at the absurd that was later taken to its limit by the likes of Monty Python, and a quintessentially British attitude that’s still evident today, not least in the light, heartfelt comedy of Richard Curtis. [Read more…]

Bruno (DVD)

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I’m feeling conflicted. On the one hand Sacha Baron Cohen’s follow-up to Borat is very funny but on the other after watching the movie I couldn’t help but feel a bit uncomfortable, and not because of the way it sets up fame-whoring idiots and unsuspecting homophobes.

The basic plot is that Bruno is an arch, camp, Austrian fashionista with his own TV show, however after a disastrous accidental appearance at a fashion show dressed in a Velcro jumpsuit, he gets Schwartz-listed so he won’t be able to attend any more events. [Read more…]