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

Apartment 1303 (3D Blu-ray)

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A few years ago, every horror movie Asia produced got a Hollywood remake, but the pace has certainly slowed down. However somebody decided that Ataru Oikawa’s 2007 Japanese movie was ripe for a makeover, and as was the rage when it went into production they did it in 3D.

The film starts out following Janet (Julianne Michelle), a young woman keen to get out from under the feet of her stifling ex-singer mom Maddie (Rebecca De Mornay) by renting her own place. She moves into Apartment 1303, but almost immediately strange things start to happen, with a small child hanging around, an aggressive superintendent and noises that suggest someone is in the flat. [Read more…]

Behind The Candelabra (Cinema)

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Soderbergh has famously stated this will be his last film. If true that would be a real shame, as he seems to have saved his best work till last. This biopic of Liberace is one of his best films – arguably his best of all. It’s extremely funny without any nastiness, camp without being bitchy and ultimately a very touching piece about ageing, desire, friendship and companionship.

It also features career-defining performances from Douglas and Damon. Douglas is clearly having the time of his life as the outrageous entertainer – what a shame he can’t be nominated for an Oscar (as it premiered on HBO in the US, ruling it ineligible). It’s a spot-on performance of an ageing, absurd, ridiculous man, but the key is that Douglas’ Liberace takes himself completely seriously. A twinkle in Douglas’ eye would ruin it. What we have here is a master entertainer, a talented musician with a desire to be loved, and absolutely no self-awareness at all. He is vain, selfish and determined to have his desires fulfilled. [Read more…]

Veep – Season 1 (Blu-ray)

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Ever since the end of Seinfeld, Hollywood has been trying to work out what to do with Julia Louis-Dreyfus. There have been a few films and some TV series, but nothing has really worked (The New Adventures of Old Christine lasted five seasons, but it didn’t show her off to her best advantage). However she may have found her a perfect fit with Veep, which is a little uneven over its first season, but still manages to be a lot of fun. [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…]

The Visitor (Cibrâil) (DVD)

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A lot of gay-themed films are low budget efforts, so you have to make allowances for the fact they don’t have polished production values and the actors aren’t going to be hired by the Royal Shakespeare Company anytime soon. However sometimes it’s tough, and that’s certainly the case with The Visitor. The film is almost like something you’d make to show potential investors what the movie would be like if they were given the money to do it properly.

I really tried to look past the film’s low budget  shortcomings, but things such as the fact everyone sounds like they’re speaking from the end of a long tunnel (and sometimes background noise threatens to drown out the speech), make it difficult. It also doesn’t help that first-time feature director Tor Iben makes quite a lot of amateurish moves. [Read more…]

The Numbers Station (VoD)

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The Numbers Station is available on VoD in the UK now, and will reach DVD & Blu-ray on July 1st

The success of ‘Nordic Noir’ such as The Killing and Headhunters has caused Hollywood to look towards Scandinavia for a new crops of directors to mine. Denmark’s Karspar Barfoed is one of those who’s heard the call of American film, making his English-language debut with The Numbers Station. However he certainly hasn’t jumped into the big budget realm, as it’s a relatively small-scale, claustrophobic thriller, with limited locations and much of it taking place between just two people. [Read more…]

The Liability (Cinema)

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After a run-in with his nasty brute of a stepfather (Peter Mullan), 19-year-old Adam (Jack O’Connell) is sent to chauffeur a taciturn man called Roy (Tim Roth) up north. Adam doesn’t know what they’re supposed to be doing, but it soon becomes apparent Roy is a hitman who’s keen to give up the game. They’re heading to a rendezvous with a Latvian man who Roy has been hired to kill, while making it look like a local serial killer who’s been chopping off people’s hands did it. [Read more…]

Bringing Up Bobby (DVD)

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Having found fame in front of the cameras in the likes of X-Men and Goldeneye, Famke Janssen turns writer and director with Bringing Up Bobby. Milla Jovovich gets to take the central role as a Ukrainian immigrant to America Olive, who’s raising a young son called Bobby (Spencer List).

Olive’s idea of parenting isn’t exactly textbook, as she’s a full-on con-woman, happy to say and do whatever she has to in order to get by, whether it’s convincing a salesman to let her go on a test drive so she can steal a car, or pretending she’s raising cash for poor foreigners. [Read more…]

Deadfall (Cinema)

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Deadfall comes to us from Best Foreign Language Oscar winner Stefan Ruzowitsky (The Counterfeiters) and has an excellent cast of many well established actors and up and coming stars.

It’s about two siblings, Addison and Liza (played by Eric Bana and Olivia Wilde respectively), who are on the run from a casino heist. The two are then involved in a car accident leaving one officer dead. They end up stranded in the snowy mountainous terrain of North Michigan. Bana, being the protective brother, advises them to split-up, as police only have him as a suspect [Read more…]

Alex Cross (Blu-ray)

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We’ve rather missed out on Tyler Perry here in the UK. While his self-written and directed movies have proved big hits amongst African-American audiences in the US and turned him into a multi-millionaire, many of his films never got cinemas releases in Britain. Some did get belated DVD releases, but a few have never come out here at all. Alex Cross is Perry’s attempt to segue over into the worldwide mainstream cinema success, as well as being the first film to have him in the lead that he didn’t also write and helm himself (he did pop up in a small role in Star Trek though). [Read more…]