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

Surge Of Power: Revenge Of The Sequel (US Cinema Review) – The gay superhero returns for a cameo filled adventure

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Back in 2004 the film Surge Of Power was released, which offered up what’s said to be cinema’s first gay superhero. That film may have been largely forgotten, but 14 years later he’s back with Revenge Of The Sequel.

After defeating the evil Metal Master (John Venturini) in the first film, energy wielding superhero Surge (Vincent J. Roth) realises he’s going to have to face his old nemesis again after the bad guy is released from jail. However, Metal Master is now working as the reluctant henchman of supervillain Augur (Eric Roberts), and gets given an assignment to heads off towards Las Vegas to track down some special crystals. [Read more…]

England Is Mine (DVD Review) – The early days of Morrissey gets a movie

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To some, Morrissey is a figure who inspires devotion – the musician-poet of outsiders and of those wish the world were a different place. To others though, he’s a man who’s spent the past 35 years whining and becoming increasingly out of touch with life as lived by everyone else (not helped by the messianic adoration he still attracts from those who love him). He’d also probably be the last person to collaborate on a film biopic, so England Is Mine is very much unofficial, picking up Steven Patrick Morrissey’s life in the 70s, before anyone knew who he was. By concentrating on the time before he started collaborating with Johnny Marr, also helps the movie get around the fact that it would have been difficult, if not impossible, for them to get the rights to use any of The Smiths’ music. [Read more…]

Handsome Devil (DVD Review) – Being young & gay at boarding school can be tough in the charming Irish film

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Handsome Devil became a bit of a fave at film festivals, winning multiple awards at the likes of FilmOut San Diego and the Jameson Dublin International Film Festival. You can see why, as it’s a sweet film, which does a good job of capturing the confusion, anger, cruelty and contradictions that are so often part of teenage life. Some of it will also be worryingly familiar to those who went to a rugby-mad boarding school.

Ned (Fionn O’Shea) feels like a total misfit. He’s constantly bullied at his Irish boarding school and called all manner of homophobic slurs. At first, he’s pleased that this year he’ll be getting a room to himself, but that’s disrupted when new boy Conor (Nicholas Galitzine) is assigned to share with him. Neither boy seems happy with the arrangement, with Ned certain that sharing a room with the boy who’s being held up as the school’s new rugby star will just mean he’ll get picked on even more. [Read more…]

Jewel’s Catch One (BFI Flare Review) – An inspirational look at an LGBT activist & her nightclub

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Although some may not have heard of the Jewel’s Catch One nightclub, for others it’s a legendary venue – the Studio 54 of the West Coast – that for over 40 years welcomed all, but mostly gay men and women, and was a particular refuge for the African-American LGBT population of LA. It also became a hangout for celebrities, and hosted a Madonna album launch.

This documentary looks at the club and more particularly the woman who founded it, Jewel Thais-Williams. Hers is a remarkable story. Despite having little money, she bought the bar that later expanded into the club at a time when women in California weren’t even allowed to be bartenders (unless they owned the bar). She wasn’t just a woman in a man’s world, she was a black woman in a white man’s world, and she was also a lesbian. [Read more…]

Kings, Queens & In-Betweens (US VoD Review) – Inside the surprisingly bright LGBT drag world of Ohio

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Who knew that Columbus, Ohio was a hotbed of drag? Well, I expect a lot of the LGBT residents of the city knew, but it’ll come as a surprise to most of the rest of us. Director Gabrielle Burton delves deep into that world in her documentary, Kings, Queens & In-Betweens.

Across its 90-minutes the film attempts to highlight the diversity of the drag world, which isn’t just about gay men going on stage dressed as caricatured women. There are also drag kings, some identifying as women, some men and others living between the two genders. Likewise, while most of the drag queens are happy to pull off the costume and makeup, and live as men for the rest of their lives, the documentary introduces us to at least one for whom drag became an outlet until they transitioned to living as a woman full-time. [Read more…]

The Watermelon Woman (US Cinema Re-Release)

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Oftentimes when movies try to tackle serious issues, you end up with a film that’s leaden, tedious and not as smart as it thinks it is. However, The Watermelon Woman manages to wrap its pertinent, intelligent and thought-provoking ideas about things such as sexuality, gender and race in a movie that’s light-hearted, entertaining and often quite funny, but still with an sense of anger running through it that still resonates.

The film would be notable just for being the first movie directed by an openly lesbian, African-American filmmaker. However, it’s not just getting a 20th Anniversary re-release, remaster and excellent restoration because of that, but also due to the fact its maintained its relevance, reputation and a fanbase that loves it. [Read more…]

Miles (Iris Prize Festival Review)

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Mile is a gay teenager, who’s out but not feeling vast amounts of angst about his sexuality. What he’s really desperate to do is get away from his small hometown and head to Chicago for college. However, when his father dies and they discover all their cash has been spent on a fancy car for his dad’s mistress, Miles has to confront the fact he may have to put his dreams on hold.

Then he discovers there’s a volleyball scholarship on offer, but he’s got a major problem – his school only has a girls’ team. He decides he’s going to try out anyway, and while his teacher (Missi Pyle) is happy to pick him, other schools are less impressed with their female team having to play against a guy. [Read more…]

Closet Monster (DVD Review)

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Oscar is a teenager, just coming into his own in life. Coming from a broken home and living with a difficult father, he’s seeking an escape, which he hopes to get by being accepted into a makeup school in New York. His father thinks Oscar may be dating his female friend, but actually Oscar is more interested in his male co-worker at his new job.

As the weeks go by, the pressure begins to build for Oscar as he increasingly feels trapped. Eventually they reach breaking point, with the memories of a horrific homophobic assault he witnessed as a child always haunting the back of his mind. [Read more…]

Burroughs: The Movie (Blu-ray Review)

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Virtually lost for many years except for bad quality bootleg copies, this ‘definitive’ portrait of writer William S. Burroughs has been properly restored and given a very nice Criterion Collection release. As notable as the film itself is the talent behind the camera – something even more remarkable as it started as a short NYU Film School project.

Jim Jarmusch (Dead Man, Only Lovers Left Alive) recorded the sound, while it was shot by Tom DiCillo (Johnny Suede, Delirious). The director was Howard Brookner, who made Burroughs and another biographical documentary, Robert Wilson and the Civil Wars, and then made his fiction film debut with Bloodhounds of Broadway, before tragically dying of AIDS in 1989. If he hadn’t passed away, it’s likely he’d have gone on to great things. [Read more…]

Outings (DVD Review)

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Outings is a slightly unusual release in that it’s essentially a straight-to-DVD TV show, offering three thirty minute episodes of a new gay-themed series. It comes from Rob Ward (co-writer of the play Away from Home) and Lloyd Eyre-Morgan (director of Dream On, Celluloid, Three In A Bed and the Iris Prize winning Closets), who wrote, direct and star in the show.

The series follows a group of friends, with each episode continuing the story but focusing slightly more on a different person in each. In Episode 1, Kane is dumped by Tom, not least because despite being together for a year, they still haven’t had anal sex. Kane starts to wonder if he’ll ever get his life together, and whether the fact he can’t bottom like a porn star is going to affect the rest of his life. The second episode concentrates more on Kane’s friend Keigan, who has been asked to be his brother’s best man. However, he doesn’t really want the job as he doesn’t think much of his future sister-in-law. His tendency towards trying to escape reality also reveals a few self-destructive tendencies. [Read more…]