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 Lone Ranger (Cinema)

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When I saw that adaptation of The Lone Ranger was being made starring Jonny Depp, Armie Hammer and directed by Gore Verbinski, I couldn’t help but wonder whether a humorous western could really work with a young film audience who’ve being spoiled by huge Sci-Fi effects ridden blockbusters? Would the modern filmgoer still flock en masse to this type of film? Unfortunately, as US audiences have already proven, they won’t. But perhaps they should. [Read more…]

The Wolverine (Cinema)

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Hugh Jackman returns from flexing his vocal chords in Les Miserables to more familiar territory of flexing his muscles in his sixth outing as Logan, AKA The Wolverine. Jackman stated he wanted to explore who the man was behind Logan – the mutant with Adamantium claws – and he manages to do so with James Mangold at the helm

So after five previous outings as Logan (we’re counting his brief appearance in X-Men: First Class), where can his new ‘vision’ take us? Well, based on an old and much Marvel comic book story arc, this time around Wolverine is enticed to visit Japan by Yukio and summoned to the deathbed of an old ‘friend’, Yashida, who states he can offer Wolverine mortality. Things being to take a dangerous turn when an attempt is made to kidnap Yashida’s daughter, Mariko. [Read more…]

The Great Gatsby (Cinema)

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It’s been just over 20 years since Baz Luhrmann swished his way into the film industry with the ultra-camp Strictly Ballroom. Since then he has only directed three films – the exciting Romeo and Juliet, the manic and colourful Moulin Rouge, and the very forgettable Australia.

Baz has now returned with his controversial version of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s American classic, The Great Gatsby. [Read more…]

Bernie (Cinema)

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It’s taken quite a while to get Bernie to the UK. It’s almost a year since its US debut and a few months after it flirted the edges of the awards ceremonies, such as Jack Black being nominated for a Golden Globe. Now it’s here though, but has it been worth the wait?

The film is based on the true story of Bernie Tiede (Black), a quiet, God-fearing, possible gay mortician in a small Texas town. Popular with the locals due to his unfailing kindness, he manages to strike up a friendship with aging rich widow Marjorie Nugent, a woman most people think is mean and thoroughly unpleasant. [Read more…]

Hitchcock (Cinema)

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Anthony Hopkins gave some amazing performances in the 1980s and 1990s, but for the last decade or so it’s seemed like he’s simply turned up for his paycheque. However it turns that to get him to give a real performance you’ve got to give him a role where he doesn’t have much choice but to act. After all, Alfred Hitchcock is far too well known for Hopkins just to have coasted it. Thankfully he doesn’t, not just doing a dead-on impersonations of the master director, but creating a fully realised character in a way Toby Jones couldn’t quite manage in the recent, The Girl. [Read more…]

Pitch Perfect (Cinema)

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It films were marked purely on originality, Pitch Perfect wouldn’t do very well. It’s Bring It On meets Glee, with a plot that delves into pretty much every cliché of the underdog competition subgenre it can find. Thankfully though, Pitch Perfect has an excellent trump card, which is that it’s very, very funny.

Beca (Anna Kendrick) heads for college, but she doesn’t want to be there. She wants to go straight to LA and get into the music business, but her father has told her she has to get a degree first. He does eventually make one concession though – if she throws herself into university life and joins at least one club, he’ll support her move to LA after the first year if she still wants to go. [Read more…]

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (Cinema)

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After the gargantuan success of Lord Of The Rings, it was always going to be an uphill battle for The Hobbit to live up to those films’ critical success. That’s already been proved by the rather mixed reaction of the early reviews for An Unexpected Journey.

However, while there are definitely a few issues with the movie, for my money this is a largely successful trip back to Middle Earth, although as with Peter Jackson’s earlier fantasy movies, we’re only really going to be able to judge things once the final movie is released (people may have liked Fellowship and Two Towers, but if Return Of The King had been a load of old balls, it would have completely ruined the entire trilogy, as they’re essentially one very, very long film). [Read more…]

Call Me Kuchu (Cinema)

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If you’re gay, there’s probably no movie you can watch this Halloween season that will scare you more than Call Me Kuchu, a documentary about life in the Ugandan LGBT community, focussing on activist David Kato. Whilst we in the West still have issues with homophobia and need to fight for things like marriage equality, in Uganda the debate isn’t even about whether gay sex should be legalised, it’s about whether homosexuals should be allowed to live. [Read more…]

The Amazing Spider-man (Cinema)

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Considering the amount of money studios spend on their tentpole flicks, you’d think that they’d at least be able to come up with something entertaining each time. However history has told us that each summer brings a slew of movies that promise much and deliver little. The moment it was announced that Sony was rebooting Spider-man only a decade after Sam Raimi’s first arachnid flicks, the fanboys and Internet doom-mongers immediately decried the whole idea and decided on principle that the film was a middle-finger to fans and to be ignored.

While some saw Marc Webb coming on-board to direct as a sign of promise, others immediately decided his lack of experience with big budget movies spelled disaster. Well, all the naysayers and incessant prophets of pessimism had better eat their words (and hopefully find something better to do with their lives, such as wait until movies are actually made and then go watch them), as The Amazing Spider-man is great. [Read more…]

Rock Of Ages (Cinema)

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I have a horrible feeling a lot of critics are going to rip into Rock Of Ages, but I for one loved it. While it has its problems, it made me smile about 30 seconds in and I was beaming when I came out. It’s silly, cheesy and sometimes verges on the ridiculous, but it’s also a hell of a lot of fun, with a plethora of hair metal hits being shoe-horned in, Glee-style (or Mamma Mia! style, if you prefer).

The plot (which to be honest there isn’t a huge amount of) follows Sherrie, who arrives in LA from Oklahoma full of dreams of making it big in the City of Angels. She’s barely off the bus when she bumps into Drew (Diego Boneta), who gets her a job at the famed club, The Bourbon Room. Soon Sherrie and Drew are falling in love, but as the big time beckons for Drew, the course of true love won’t run smooth. [Read more…]