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

A Most Violent Year (Blu-ray Review)

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A Most Violent Year is one of those movies where, with stronger marketing, it could have gained traction during the awards season, perhaps not winning much but certainly getting more than just one Golden Globe nomination (a Supporting Actress nod for Jessica Chastain).

Director JC Chandor impressed many with his look at the start of the financial crash in Margin Call, and also with his almost dialogue-free Robert Redford alone-at-sea movie, All Is Lost. In many respects A Most Violent Year is a more tradition movie than either of those films, but it’s still extremely stylish and accomplished. [Read more…]

Broken Gardenias (DVD Review)

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Jenni (Alma S. Grey) is a rather odd young woman prone to treating the plants she works with like real people and telling them nerdy jokes. Her already somewhat fragile life falls apart after a short stay in the hospital results in her getting let go from her job and being unceremoniously evicted from her house by her selfish roommate.

With no house, job or friends, Jenni decides to end it all but is saved from suicide by the free-spirited Sam (Ashley Morocco), who offers the hand of friendship and also suggests they should follow Jenni’s dreams with a trip to LA to find her father, who abandoned her when she was just six. [Read more…]

Futuro Beach (Cinema Review)

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Futuro Beach had a good run at film festivals following its debut in Berlin. That’s not really too surprising, as it’s the sort of movie that does well at fests, as it’s keen to show cinema as art and also present film more as a sensory and philosophical experience than simply as straightforward storytelling. As a result it’s not a film for everyone, but some will find it entrancing.

The movie is split into three chapters, the first introducing us to closeted Brazilian lifeguard Donato (Wagner Moura), who manages to save a German man called Konrad (Clemens Schick) from drowning, but is unable to rescue Konrad’s friend whose body is lost at sea. With both of them in need of solace and affirmation they sleep together. That leads to a relationship and the second chapter, where Donato follows Konrad back to Berlin. This gives Donato the chance to explore his sexuality and the possibilities of life away from the pressures of family and Brazilian society. However, not everything runs smooth for the couple. [Read more…]

Spooks: The Greater Good (Cinema Review)

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Having never seen the TV series I had no real expectations of the film version, or real knowledge, other than it is something to do with spies and MI5. It’s with great pleasure to report then that as a stand-alone spy movie, Spooks: The Greater Good works. It’s tense, looks great, pacy and well acted, satisfying on pretty much every level, as a decent espionage thriller should. It taps into our current fears of attack from abroad, especially ISIS, at times almost painfully so. It’s also the first film for ages to use its London locations to great effect without making everything look cheesy.

It begins with a great set piece. The most wanted terrorist in the world is being transported across London, but the armoured van is stuck in a pesky traffic jam. Out of nowhere come armed motorbike riders to free him. They know that watching in MI5 headquarters is Peter Finch, and tell him, either free the man or lots of innocent people will die. Finch lets the man go. [Read more…]

Hidden Away (DVD Review)

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Rafa is a teenage boy on the verge of becoming a man, who’s starting to realise that maybe his friends are jerks (and racists), something that becomes especially acute when they begin to pressure him to get with girls, which he isn’t interested in.

Then he meets Ibra, a young Moroccan immigrant, who he knows his friends wouldn’t approve of but who he feels drawn to. They spark up a friendship which may be leading to something more. However Ibra’s precarious situation begins to take precedence when it becomes clear the Spanish authorities want to deport him, despite the fact he’s underage and has nobody to go back to. [Read more…]

Silent Youth (DVD Review)

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Marlo (Martin Bruchmann) is a young man wandering around Berlin when his hand brushes against another guys as he crosses the street. Marlo decides to follow the man – even though he doesn’t seem to be sure why – who eventually approaches him and introduces himself as Kirill (Josef Mattes).

The film then follows their next few days together, where both men seem to want to fully connect but aren’t sure how. As they hang out Kirill reveals stories of how he was beaten up while visiting his grandmother in Russia, as well as the issues he has with his family, while Marlo attempts to understand and connect to this man he has an undeniable attraction to, even if it may be that neither have acted on it with a guy before. [Read more…]

Predestination (DVD Review)

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Predestination is one of those films where some people are absolutely going to adore it and think it’s one of the best films they’ve ever seen, while others will be left rather cold. It pretty much depends on whether twists and ideas are enough for you, or if you demand absolute logic from your movies.

Ethan Hawke pays a special kind of cop who travels through time on the trail of bad guys, attempting to stop them before major crimes are committed. He’s trying to catch the Fizzle Bomber and is aware that he won’t be able to stop an atrocity in New York City that will kill more than 10,000 people unless he catches up to the killer very soon. [Read more…]

Network (Blu-ray Review)

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There are plenty of contenders, but in my opinion the best scripts Hollywood has ever come up with are All About Eve and Network. Perhaps surprisingly – or unsurprisingly depending on how you look at it – they could both be accused of biting the media hand that feeds them, with All About Eve taking on Tinsel Town itself, while Network is a scathing satire of TV.

Indeed it was seen as so scathing back in 1976 that it nearly didn’t get made at all, as studio executives were worried no television station would ever air it after its theatrical run had ended. However they obviously hadn’t read the script closely enough or they’d have realised that it doesn’t matter too much what the subject is, as long as it produces ratings/profits TV will show it. [Read more…]

No Good Deed (DVD Review)

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Sometimes getting two really good actors to take on a rather run of the mill script can raise the whole thing to new levels. There must have been hope No Good Deed could do the same, but it doesn’t really work.

Colin (Idris Elba) is a very bad man, who police believe is a serial murderer but who they’ve only managed to lock up for manslaughter. After a parole hearing he escapes custody and heads for the house of his girlfriend, whom he promptly kills (just in case we were wondering just how bad he is). [Read more…]

Three In A Bed (DVD Review)

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Nate is a young man whose life has slightly stalled. On her deathbed his mother made him promise to look after his two sisters, something he took to heart so much that he doesn’t have much going on of his own. It doesn’t help that his sisters are loud, gobby and good at getting into trouble.

But then he meets Jonny, who lives downstairs and seems keen to make friends. They certainly share an attraction, but Nate isn’t sure what his sexuality is, and his life suddenly becomes more complicated when his sisters – who are certain he’s straight – announce that because of the various issues in their lives, they’re coming to stay with him. Nate flirts around the idea of starting something up with Jonny, although Jonny isn’t keen on the idea of having to keep the whole thing in the closet. [Read more…]