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

The Freedom To Marry (VoD Review) – Evan Wolfson & the long, gay march to Obergefell v. Hodges

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History is written by the winners. That’s true, but in the modern age it can also be about who’s best at getting their story out there – in numerous cases the full facts haven’t stood in the way of a particular narrative of how things happened gaining traction. In the past few years there have been several documentaries about the fight for same sex marriage in the US, each with a slightly different focus, a different cast of characters and a different take on how it got to the Supreme Court.

As with many things nowadays, there’s been an element in these documentaries (and other media), of people staking their place in the dominant narrative. I’m sure it’s not quite as contrived and cutthroat as that, but I must admit that early on in this documentary, part of my brain wondered whether that was what was happening in this documentary, not because the facts it was presenting were wrong but because of how it threatened to become a fawning hagiography of attorney and gay rights advocate Evan Wolfson and the Freedom To Marry organisation. [Read more…]

An Act Of Love (US DVD Review) – A father’s love has religious repercussions in the gay-themed documentary

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If you follow the gay press, you might remember Frank Schaefer, a United Methodist Church (UMC) minister who presided over his son’s same-sex marriage in 2007. Then, six years later, he was hauled in front of a UMC court to answer charges of not having upheld the denomination’s Book Of Discipline, which says ministers cannot officiate at same-sex unions.

An Act Of Love follows Frank’s story, using a good mix of both the Schaefer family and his supporters, as well as those on the other side of the religious court case to recount what happened. Over its 90-minutes it unpacks the events, its repercussions and what has gone on since the case – including the fact Frank was later brought in front of the UMC’s highest court after he started ministering again in California. [Read more…]

The Shallows (DVD Review)

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Nancy (Blake Lively) is feeling a bit lost in life and is considering dropping out of medical school. She heads off on her own to a secret Mexican beach that had special significance to her dead mother. After spending some time surfing, she discovers the bay is hiding the enormous body of a dead whale.

That’s not all that’s lurking either, as she is attacked by a great white shark, but manages to escape onto a rocky outcrop. She’s only a few hundred metres offshore, but with a gash in her leg that will attract the shark back, it doesn’t seem there will be any way to get back to the beach. It also becomes increasingly apparent that the cartilaginous fish isn’t going to give up. [Read more…]

Naz & Maalik (Iris Prize Festival Review)

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Naz & Maalik chronicles the lives of two gay muslim teenagers living in a post-9/11 New York, doing their best to balance a relationship that would be frowned upon by their social and cultural peers, and schemes to make a little money on the side.

The boys, played by Curtiss Cook Jr and Kenwin Johnson Jr., run afoul of an FB agent, played by Annie Grier, who seems intent upon uncovering some deeper, more sinister purpose in their actions. [Read more…]

Fourth Man Out (Iris Prize Festival Review)

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Winner Iris Prize Festival Best Feature 2015

Fourth Man out is the story of Adam and his group of bro-dude friends as they attempt to preserve their friendships after he comes out as gay.

Adam, a handsome and hunky mechanic (played note-perfectly by Parker Young), deals with coming out to his nearest and dearest, his feelings for his straight best friend and some cringeworthy forays into the world of gay dating. Meanwhile, his friends deal with the initial shock by doing their best to help him find someone to love in their masculine and often amusing way. [Read more…]

Appropriate Behavior (Cinema Review)

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Appropriate Behavior is a proper audience divider. Desiree Akhavan’s Shirin is narcissistic, self-obsessed and shallow, but convinced she’s deep, complex and misunderstood. However, how you take the film depends on how self-aware you think it is. Is it on Shirin’s side and lauding the life of the tragically hip, or is it well aware of her shortcomings and essentially satirising it?

I’d safely say it’s the latter, but I can see why have assumed the former, as the film’s humour is dry as a bone and so it’s not too shocking some viewers have missed it. [Read more…]

Big Gay Love (DVD Review)

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What would Willow think? Xander from Buffy has gone gay (he likes to call himself Nicholas Brendon, but he’ll always be Xander to me, whether he likes it or not).

Here he’s teamed with Jonathan Lisecki, who’s best known as the writer, director and co-star of Gayby. Lisecki takes on the lead role of party planner Bob, who’s looking for his big gay love, especially as everyone he knows seems to be in a relationship. However his insecurities make things difficult, so that he initially can’t see why hunky chef Andy (Brendan) would be interested in him, and even after they start dating he seems sure the fact he’s a bit overweight will inevitably ruin things. [Read more…]

Struck By Lightning (DVD)

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Chris Colfer made his name as Kurt on Glee. While that keeps him pretty busy, he’s found time to write some children’s books and also the screenplay for Struck By Lightning. The fact he’s still only 23 is quite sickening.

He also takes the lead role here as Carson Phillips, who in the first few seconds of the movie is hit by lightning and killed. The film then flashes back to see how he got to that point. Carson is a senior in high school with dreams of becoming a journalist. He knows where he wants to work and what university he intends to go to – and he’s determined to get there. [Read more…]

Stitches (DVD)

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Stitches is a very silly film, which may not come as a surprise seeing as it’s manic comedian Ross Noble’s movie debut, but thankfully it’s also a surprisingly entertaining. Noble plays Stitches, a pretty rubbish children’s party clown who we first meet shagging a woman while in full makeup.

He heads off to young Tom’s party, where his lacklustre act is met with scorn by the bratty kids, who decide to play a trick on him. Tying his shoelaces together results in a terrible accident and the clown’s death. [Read more…]

Searching For Sugar Man (DVD)

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Searching for Sugar Man takes the unsuspecting viewer on an amazing journey of how a career that almost never was makes a remarkable comeback.

The documentary tells the story of Rodriguez, who after a brief stint in the music industry 40 years ago disappeared after failing to set the charts alight. However the story was quite different in South Africa as this mysterious musician, who many describe as anti-establishment, helped inspire and motivate a generation and in turn helped to aid a revolution. [Read more…]