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

More Scenes From A Gay Marriage (US DVD Review)

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More Scenes From A Gay Marriage starts out with a dangerous gambit. As its title suggests, it’s a follow-up to Scenes From A Gay Marriage, a film that asked us to root for its main characters, Darren (Matt Riddlehoover) and Joe (Jared Allman), to get together by the end. However the sequel opens with trouble in paradise as the duo have now decided they’re going to split up.

So much for happily ever after! But then, that’s part of what the movie is about – suggesting that quite often films give us a neatly packaged and unrealistic version of reality, and that real life is often more messy. [Read more…]

The Double (Blu-ray Review)

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Richard Ayoade impressed many with his directorial debut, Submarine, and now he’s back with something a little more ambitious – an unusual, highly stylised movie based on a story by Fyodor Dostoyevsky.

Jesse Eisenberg is Simon, who lives in a David Lynch by way of Terry Gillian self-contained world. He works as clerk for a government agency, where no matter what great ideas he comes up with, nobody seems to notice him. That includes the woman of his dreams (Mia Wasikowska), who works in the copy room but barely seems to remember him, despite the fact he’s close to being her stalker. [Read more…]

Top Dog (DVD Review)

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The latest entry in the curious British genre of ‘hard men being assholes’ comes from former Spandau Ballet member and Eastender Martin Kemp. As he was born on the mean streets of London himself, you might hope the musician/actor would bring a dose of reality to things, but we’re just as much in gangster-ish fantasy land as we normally are, even if there is a dose of morality that’s often lost in this sort of film.

Based on a novel and script by Green Street’s Dougie Brimson, Top Dog is about Billy (Leo Gregory), a small time bad boy who takes over a gang of football hooligans known as the Acton Casuals. When he discovers landlord members of his family are being hassled as part of a protection racket, he recklessly decides the Casuals are going to take over the pub and protect it themselves. [Read more…]

Le Week-End (Blu-ray)

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Nick (Jim Broadbent) and Meg (Lindsay Duncan) head to Paris for their 30th wedding anniversary. However Nick’s romantic gesture soon begins to head off course when Meg wants to upgrade to a more expensive suite. As the weekend continues, the problems between the couple become increasingly apparent, with Nick pondering his future after he’s been forced to retire from the university he works at, while Meg isn’t sure whether she even wants to stay married now that the children have left. [Read more…]

Floating Skyscrapers (Cinema)

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Poland has absolutely no history of gay-themed cinema, but this year has seen the arrival of two acclaimed movies from the country, In The Name Of and now Floating Skyscrapers. The latter initially sold itself as Poland’s first LGBT movie, but it was actually beaten into film festivals by In The Name Of by a few weeks. [Read more…]

Summer In February (DVD)

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Set against the backdrop of the Cornish coast in 1913, Summer In February follows the true story of the Lamorna group of Newlyn Artists. Florence (Emily Browning) arrives in Cornwall to stay with her brother after escaping her overbearing father. She hopes to fulfil her dreams of becoming an artist and is excited to be welcomed into the group who’ve set themselves up on the Lamorna estate. [Read more…]

uwantme2killhim? (DVD)

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Popular 16-year-old Mark (Jamie Blackley) has fallen for Rachel, a girl he met online. She convinces him to look after her brother John (Toby Regbo), defending him from school bullies. When Rachel’s abusive gangster boyfriend does the unthinkable, Mark and John seek revenge. But Mark is sucked into a world much darker than he imagined, leading him to commit a terrible act. Was it for the greater good as he believed, or has he been taken for a ride?

Like Pain and Gain, Uwantme2killhim? is based on a rather unbelievable true story. Unlike the former, its execution is the biggest tragedy to unfold. [Read more…]

Kuma (Cinema)

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Ayse is young woman living in a small village in Turkey whose family has decided to marry her off to the handsome Hasan. However the arrangement is actually a way to get around polygamy laws, as Ayse is really going to move to Austria and become the second wife of Hasan’s father. Ayse is welcomed into the family by first wife Fatma, who has cancer and sees this new woman as the way her family will continue if the worst happens. Perhaps unsurprisingly some of the children, who’ve all grown up in the west, are unimpressed by this ‘bumpkin’ interloper. [Read more…]

Red Dawn (2013) (Blu-ray)

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Red Dawn was shot in 2009, before Chris Hemsworth became Thor and Josh Hutcherson made The Hunger Games, but it got caught up in MGM’s bankruptcy, resulting in the movie only now arriving on Blu-ray and DVD. While there was a decent reason for the delay, the fact is that like many movies that have sat on the shelf for a while, it’s not great – although it could have been a lot worse. [Read more…]

I Give It A Year (DVD)

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There’s a lot of criticism that most romantic comedies just go by-the-book, presenting exactly the same story over and over again. So if a rom-com tries to do something a little different, it should be applauded. It’s just a shame that with I Give It A Year, it doesn’t really work.

As the marketing has been keen to tell us, I Give It A Year starts where other rom-coms end. After a whirlwind romance, Josh (Rafe Spall) and Nat (Rose Byrne) get married, even though many of their friends aren’t sure it’s a good match. It’s not long before the cracks begin to show, with the little niggles of their relationship becoming more and more difficult to take. [Read more…]