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

G.B.F. (Cinema/VoD)

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There have been several attempts at making gay-themed teen comedies, but most have failed in one way or another. Either the acting was abysmal or more commonly the script lacked wit and direction, feeling more dumb and dull than entertaining and memorable. G.B.F. is certainly a step up from those, with more polished production values, a great cast (including a fair few recognisable faces) and a script with both charm and wit. [Read more…]

The Machine (Cinema)

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Sometimes a film feels like an advert for what those involved could do with a little more money. The Machine is a little like that, although that’s not to say it’s a failure on its own – just that visually it’s trying to do a lot with not a lot of cash (and at that it succeeds) but the script could have done with being a little tighter. [Read more…]

Escape Plan (Blu-ray)

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If this was 1987, Escape Plan would have been just about the most exciting prospect any popcorn flick fan had ever heard of, but Schwarzenegger and Stallone aren’t quite the box office titans they once were. So if they’re going to make a movie together they need something worthwhile around them and unfortunately Escape Plan doesn’t quite stack up.

Stallone is Ray Breslin a security expert whose job is to get inserted into maximum security prisons and then test their security by trying to break out. He’s asked to do the same for a secret facility where the government keeps the most dangerous people on the planet, who essentially need to be disappeared. However Ray won’t be allowed the back-up of his usual team. [Read more…]

The English Teacher (DVD)

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Linda Sinclair (Julianne Moore) is the titular English teacher, a 40-something spinster whose life has been so filled with literature that she has been unable to find a man who can fulfil her romantic ideals. She discovers that one of her old students, Jason (Michael Angarano), is back in their small town after returning from studying writing at university. He’s given up on his dreams of being a writer, but after Linda reads his play, The Chrysalis, she decides it must be staged and that her high school is going to do. [Read more…]

The Adored (DVD)

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Maia (Ione Butler) is a model who’s lost her confidence and has been having a difficult time in her personal life. A photo shoot in the Welsh countryside with photographer Francesca (Laura Martin-Simpson) offers her the chance to get away and have a little fun for the weekend. However what should have been a simple girly weekend begins to take on an ominous tone as Francesca embarks on a long, slow seduction of Maia that seems to have an unhealthy intensity and intrusiveness. Maia also can’t shake the feeling there’s someone else hanging around and spying on them. [Read more…]

Safety Not Guaranteed (DVD)

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Safety Not Guaranteed certainly acted as a great calling card for director Colin Trevorrow. His low-budget film got plenty of people in Hollywood interested in working with him, leading to rumours he was in talks to direct Star Wars Episode VII. He’s since been hired to write and helm the upcoming Jurassic World. It’s certainly a big jump from this film, which was made for less than a million dollars, and while it is technically sci-fi, for most of its running time it plays out as an indie rom com. [Read more…]

A Map For Love (DVD)

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South America is becoming a bit of a hotbed for interesting LGBT cinema. Now Chile has added one more film to the roster with A Map For Love.

Roberta is a young woman with a child, who tells her mother, Ana, that she is now living with someone she knew in school, Javiera, in a lesbian relationship. The conservative Ana isn’t immediately full of acceptance, suggesting her daughter just needs to wait for a man who will love her the right way, and guilt-tripping Roberta over how it will affect her son. [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…]

Dallas Buyers Club (Cinema)

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The last of the Oscar contenders to be released in the UK turns out to be one of the strongest. Sometimes the circumstances behind the making of a film shine through on the screen, and this story, with its lengthy birth, tiny budget and rushed schedule is a perfect example. It gives the film an urgency, a roughness and a pace that might not have been the case with a bigger budget, and it also ensure extremely committed performances from all concerned – they are doing it for love, not money. [Read more…]

Prisoners (DVD)

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Keller Dover (Hugh Jackman) is a family man with a wife, teenage son and young daughter. His life is upended when his youngest child and her friend disappear. The only clue is an RV seen parked on their street shortly beforehand, which leads Detective Loki (Jake Gyllenhaal) to the vehicle’s owner, Alex Jones (Paul Dano), a young man with the mental age of 10.

As there’s no real evidence that Alex was involved in the girls’ disappearance, the police are unable to hold him. However the fact he ran from the cops and something Alex says in the parking lot convinces Keller that he was involved. Frustrated by the cops, Keller decides to take matters into his own hands by kidnapping Alex and holding him in a dilapidated house he owns. Taking the law completely into his own hands, Keller turns up the pressure on Alex in order to try and force answers out of him. [Read more…]