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

Pitch Perfect 3 (Blu-ray Review) – The Bellas are back for a final acapella adventure

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When the plot of a sequel is that the characters are being sent off on a holiday, it’s usually a good time to start to worry. It’s typically the point in a franchise when the makers have run out of ideas and so they put the characters in a new environment in the hope that people won’t notice that they couldn’t really decide what the movie should be about.

That’s pretty much true of Pitch Perfect 3, where the former Barden Bellas get the opportunity to participate in a USO military tour, performing with other bands in different countries. To add a little random competition to the mix, the best of those bands will be chosen by DJ Khaled to open for him on his tour. That’s the cue for the Bellas to go into crisis of confidence of mode as they realise that being the best at acapella-ing doesn’t necessarily mean they can go toe-to-toe with an all-female pop-rock group, a country artist and a couple of rappers. [Read more…]

Women Who Kill (US Cinema Review) – A lesbian wonders if her new girlfriend is a killer

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Morgan (Ingrid Jungermann) and Jean (Ann Carr) host a radio show/podcast all about exalting female serial killers. They also used to be girlfriends, but split up and now have a close but dysfunctional relationship. Indeed, they’re pretty much co-dependent, despite not being lovers any longer.

Then Morgan starts dating a new woman, the mysterious Simone (Sheila Vand). While she’s smitten with her new love, others aren’t quite sure about her, including Jean. Initially Morgan thinks her ex just doesn’t want her to be happy, but then she starts noticing that there are definitely some strange things about her girlfriend. As there’s a serial killer lurking somewhere out there, could Simone somehow be connected? [Read more…]

Flatbush Luck (US DVD Review) – Insider trading and a gay realisation in Brooklyn

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Casper Andreas has made a name for himself with gay-themed movies such as Between Love & Goodbye, The Big Gay Musical, Going Down In La La Land and Kiss Me Kill Me. He’s back with his eighth feature, Flatbush Luck, which doesn’t put gay themes quite as much at the forefront as some of his other movies, although he certainly hasn’t abandoned them entirely.

Jimmy (Tanner Novlan) and his cousin Max (Robby Stahl) are best friends, and both of them work for the telephone company fixing the lines. Jimmy used to work on Wall Street but is going through a rough patch – hence the repairman job – and he’s also having women troubles both because of his change in social position and his rather libidinous ways. Max meanwhile is dealing with a pushy, manipulative fiancé who’s angling for a massive, expensive wedding that he can’t afford and doesn’t want. [Read more…]

The Hatton Garden Job (Blu-ray Review) – Some old guys go robbing with Matthew Goode

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It’s one of the most famous British crimes of the 21st Century – a group of men broke into the heavily protected Hatton Garden repository, and got away with an unknown amount of loot, which could have been up to £200 million worth. It’s inspired documentaries, endless column inches and this film. It’s not going to end there, as another movie, starring Michael Caine, is planned, and a TV drama has just been announced, with Timothy Spall signed on to star.

The Hatton Garden Job got there first though.

Matthew Goode plays an unnamed character, who gets involved in what seems like an impossible job – robbing the underground vault of the Hatton Garden repository in London. There are dodgy characters who want specific things locked up in there, but there are also millions in jewels and others precious goods that anyone in there could get away with. [Read more…]

Bromance (DVD Review) – Will gay secrets destroy the friendship between three men?

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Argentina once more proves it has a knack for gay-themed cinema with Bromance (originally titled Como una novia sin sexo, which translates as ‘Like a girlfriend without sex’). In the film, three young men, Santi, Adrian and Daniel, head off for a camping break in a forest near the sea. They have been friends for a long time and share an intimate camaraderie of playing jokes on one another, engaging in horseplay and having fun.

However, things begin to get a little more complex when Adrian makes a move and kisses Santi while they’re swimming in the sea. Santi isn’t ready for this though and leaves. Soon after they meet a woman, Julieta, who they invite back to their camp. Although it’s supposed to just be the three men, Julieta and Santi start sleeping with one another. While Adrian is less than impressed with this development, Daniel is dealing with his own problems as his grandfather is gravely ill. [Read more…]

Like Cattle Towards Glow (DVD Review)

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Dennis Cooper is a writer who’s gained quite a following with his tales that delve into the strange, violent and shocking, often revolving around young men, sex and the body. Here he writes and helps direct his first film, a series of five vignettes that follow those same obsessions.

Like Cattle Towards Glow was originally written to be directed as porn, and while substantially changed since then, you can still see the echoes with the way each scene is set up. It retains an explicit edge, with erections, masturbation and nudity, but it certainly couldn’t be considered porn.

In the first scene, a man is sitting on his bed, playing with his dick and looking pretty disconnected and upset. He heads to another young man’s house, who is paying him to play dead while he has sex with him. The first guy says he’s only there for the money, while the other is using it to process the death of a friend he rejected romantically. However, there may be more to it for both. [Read more…]

All About E (US DVD Review)

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E (Mandahla Rose) is a free-spirited, Arab-Australian, lesbian nightclub performer living in Sydney. Her act is a hit, woman adore her and she seems to have a great life. Things change for her when she accidentally gets her hands on a holdall full of money and decides to keep it. However, it turns out it belongs to the violent nightclub owner she works for, and as soon as she realises that, E knows she’s in trouble and so goes on the run with her gay best friend (and marriage of convenience husband), Matt (Brett Rogers).

As they travel across Australia, it becomes clear that perhaps E isn’t as fulfilled as she seems, something that becomes particularly apparent when they arrive on the doorstep of her ex-girlfriend, Trish (Julia Billington), neither of whom have quite gotten over their breakup. And there’s still the problem of the stolen cash. [Read more…]

Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No! (DVD Review)

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Sharknado hasn’t done badly for a franchise where the joke should have worn off after the first five minutes. The first movie survived simply by its jaw-dropping but oddly good-natured ridiculousness, while the second was made vaguely watchable by being sometimes imaginative about the over-the-top ways it could find to kill people with flying sharks and to get people to kill the massive cartilaginous fish.

But now we come to part 3, where any imagination has run out and the whole thing comes across as so cynical that you can almost feel the makers smirking that anyone would be stupid enough to want to watch a third movie about tornados that throw sharks at people. [Read more…]

Drown (DVD Review)

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This Aussie drama is about a group of young men who all belong to a surf lifesaving club. Len is a long-time member and the most successful of the group, having won numerous championships and lifesaver of the year awards. His life is shaken up with the arrival of the younger Phil, who saves someone from drowning on his first day and proceeds to show he could well be a challenger to Len’s crown.

However, it’s not just his fitness and lifesaving skills that Len has difficulty with, but also the fact he is attracted to the young man – something he doesn’t want to deal with. Phil meanwhile is well aware that he is gay and he has a boyfriend, even if he keeps that quiet at the club. Tension begins to grow, and as Len finds it increasingly difficult to deal with his feelings, they threaten to erupt in extremely dangerous ways. [Read more…]

King Of Escape (DVD Review)

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While it was made in 2009, King Of Escape is getting a new UK release now following the success of director Alain Guiraudie’s last movie, Stranger By The Lake. King Of Escape is in some respects a very different movie, although you can certainly feel the echoes between the two films.

King Of Escape is the sort of film that’s likely to divide audiences, as you really need to ‘get’ it. If you don’t you’re likely to think it’s weird, somewhat inexplicable and more than a little nasty. However the key is to understand that while this appears to be a comedy set in rural France, in many respects it’s a subversive fantasy taking place somewhere where the rules don’t quite match up to what we expect. [Read more…]

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