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 Intern (Cinema Review)

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I’ll come clean straight away, we have two problems here. In my humble opinion Nany Meyers’ The Holiday was a true low point in cinema, an absolutely wretched affair – lazy, clichéd, corny, utterly without charm and with dialled in performances. Problem 2 is the De Niro syndrome – what on earth happened to the actor who everyone agreed was the finest of his generation. Pacino has his many fans, but De Niro admirers simply mutter Raging Bull and that’s the argument won. So how has this man gone from that peak to decades, literally decades, of mediocre, middling dramas and simply unfunny comedies?

Actually there’s a third problem here, the film’s central idea, which has, in true Hollywood tradition, been done before, and very recently. It’s The Devil Wears Prada, but this time with Anne Hathaway in the Meryl Streep role, and De Niro in the junior position lately vacated by the over-promoted…Anne Hathaway! [Read more…]

The Man From U.N.C.L.E. (Cinema Review)

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Turning one of the most beloved 1960s spy TV series into a movie was always going to be a gamble, but in the blokey hands of Guy Ritchie all is safe. It’s everything you’d hope for – stylish, great clothes, cool soundtrack, a decent enough plot about saving the world from a sociopath, and full of period detail.

Where it falls down is in the crucial chemistry between the leads – Armie Hammer does well as the grumpy, disapproving Soviet agent Kuryakin, but Henry Cavill as Napoleon Solo is so wooden you wonder why someone doesn’t mistake him for a park bench and sit on him. There is no chemistry at all between either of them and Alicia Vikander, whose ‘aren’t I pretty’ routine is becoming slightly wearing. [Read more…]

Fantastic Four (Cinema Review)

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When even a film’s own cast start mumbling about how they haven’t seen it, that it’s probably a bit rubbish, and that it’s not a critics’ film, you know you’re in trouble. Sure enough, this latest version of a story which had a perfectly decent outing all of 10 years ago turns out to be a dud. It’s the usual reasons to blame too – a dog of a script, wooden half-hearted acting and a boring story about saving the world. To be fair, the special effects are actually pretty good, and some minor characters put in a shift, but in the preview screening people started walking out after 10 minutes.

Do we really have to go through the whole set-up of how they become the Four? Apparently we do, so we get a full hour of Teller’s Reed Richards inventing a teleportal machine which sends sand, chimps and then humans to an undiscovered planet that turns out to have an inexhaustible supply of power. He teams up with Johnny Storm (Jordan, ok), Sue Storm (Mara, half-asleep), Victor von Doom (Kebbell, chewing scenery) and his old pal Ben Grimm (Jamie Bell, adequate) to complete the work, but an accident sees Doom stranded on the planet alone while the other four return to Earth with strange powers. [Read more…]

Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation (Cinema Review)

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It seems hard to believe that we are now on the fifth instalment in this franchise, and after 19 years it thankfully shows no signs of stopping. I should state that for me this is a hard film to review as I am a fan of the previous entries, and the latest plays it safe by sticking to the tried and tested formula of its predecessors.

Some reviewers are calling it the best entry in the franchise (which I can’t disagree with) and others have slated it for not adding anything new (which I also can’t disagree with). But for me the most important thing I want from any film is to be entertaining and fun, and this film definitely ticks both those boxes.

In Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation, Ethan Hunt (Cruise) and crew have to take down the Syndicate, an elite and ungoverned ‘anti IMF (Impossible Missions Force)’ that has set out to change the world through global attacks and assassinations. [Read more…]

Ant-Man (Cinema Review)

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It’s summertime and we get another Marvel movie about a lesser known superhero. Last year we had the amazing Guardians of the Galaxy, but I was very apprehensive about this latest instalment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).

I presume more of this story will come to light after this film’s general release, but rumour has it that general legend Edgar Wright and co-writer Joe Cornish (another legend) approached Marvel to do an Ant-Man movie long before Iron Man’s release in 2008. As we know the MCU has become a box-office phenomenon with interconnecting plots and characters all leading towards Avengers: Infinity War in 2018 and 2019. [Read more…]

Tomorrowland: A World Beyond (Cinema Review)

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I love sci-fi and to say I was looking forward to this film is an understatement. I am a huge fan of Brad Bird’s previous work, The Incredibles (2004), and his first live action film, Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol (2011), is one of the best entries in the franchise.

His films have a trademark sense of kinetic fun and action, mixed with well-formed characters and witty dialogue, which is the perfect mix for any summer blockbuster.

Tomorrowland tells the story of Casey Newton (Britt Robertson) a highly optimistic girl with smarts who has dreamt of travelling to the stars. She is arrested whilst trying to sabotage the dismantling of Cape Canaveral’s Launchpad, and upon release she discovers a mysterious pin which by touch transports her to the scientific and artistic wonder that is Tomorrowland (think Epcot designed by Apple and Syd Mead, complete with a hoverrail (hover meaning hover, rail meaning rail)). [Read more…]

Avengers: Age of Ultron (Cinema Review)

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Marvel must have been licking their lips when some genius came up with the idea of throwing all of their superheroes into one film to fight against evil. However The Avengers was a gargantuan success, becoming the third highest grossing movie ever. Now comes the sequel, Age Of Ultron, which has a lot to live up to. The result is a series of brilliantly executed set pieces, but inevitably the characters get lost in the mayhem and some of the actors look like they’d rather be elsewhere.

The plot is a cut and paste job about the evil Ultron, who is fed up with humans ruining their planet, and reasons it’s best to wipe them out – after all they’ve had a fair go. It’s actually a pretty good argument, but we’re supposed to be on the side of the Avengers, who must protect Earth from the evil robot and his army of automatons. [Read more…]

Exodus: God & Kings (Cinema Review)

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Ridley Scott is one of the most revered directors of our time. While he’s worked in all sorts of genres, he’s had particular success with ground-breaking classic sci-fi such as Alien, as well historical biographies or fiction, which often turn out to be masterpieces such as the multi award winning Gladiator. There is no doubt that Scott is one of cinema’s greatest storytellers.

This time Ridley Scott brings to our screen possibly the third greatest story ever told (after the birth of Jesus and Noah) – the Exodus of the Hebrews from Egypt. This Old Testament tale of Moses was immortalised by Charlton Heston in 1956’s The Ten Commandments, but who could possibly fill this famous pair of sandals this time? Well, none other than Batman himself – Christian Bale. [Read more…]

The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies (Cinema Review)

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So here we are at the end of Bilbo’s quest, and a journey that Peter Jackson and co started on many years ago to bring Middle Earth to the big screen. I am a huge fan of the Lord of the Rings trilogy (2001-2004) and they are some of my all-time favourite films.

It’s been more than a decade since I went to the cinema to see The Fellowship of the Ring (2001), and at the time I went in with little expectation, just knowing that it was a fantasy film based on a beloved book that had gained legions of fans worldwide. I was captivated by a fully realised world and became attached to the characters and their quest. And then suddenly it ended and I couldn’t believe I had to wait a year for more! [Read more…]

The Way He Looks (Cinema Review)

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The Way He Looks is Daniel Ribiero’s masterful treatment of his Iris Prize 2012-winning short, and in what might be a rare case, the extended version is at least as good as the original short – indeed it won the Teddy Award for Best LGBT movie at this year’s Berlin Film Festival.

As blind Leo (Gilherme Lobo) begins to grow into young manhood, his best friend Giovanna (Tess Amorim), who looks out for him, starts to get in his way, so he begins to plan an exchange trip abroad. However, when a new classmate called Gabriel (Fabio Audi) arrives, the three become friends and Leo begins to consider revising his plans. As the bond between Leonardo and Gabriel deepens, they start to realise there’s something beyond friendship brewing, but must also battle the social pressures of girls and drinking and schoolmates. [Read more…]