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

13 (DVD)

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Hollywood has done another remake of a genre breaking, thought provoking film noir and delivered another very average film.

The French film, 13 (Tzameti), shocked cinemagoers around the world with its back and white edgy raw filmmaking, and left stark unforgettable images ingrained in your mind long after you had seen the movie. The remake does nothing of the sort. [Read more…]

Hart Of Dixie – Season 1 (DVD)

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Most American TV is focussed on the urban middle-classes in major metropolitan areas, but every so often they remember that dotted in between the big cities are tens of thousands of smaller settlements, and that maybe they’d like something aimed at them (and so might city sophisticates who like the idea of small town charm). That’s where Hart Of Dixie fits on the spectrum, a show you’d be forgiven for never having heard of, as in the UK its first series was tucked away on the TV channel Really.

Now it’s coming to DVD, so you can catch up if it sounds like the sort of thing you’d like. If you’re a fan of Gilmore Girls, for example (the tone of which Hart Of Dixie often seems to borrow from liberally), this should be right up your street. [Read more…]

Bones – Season 7 (Blu-ray)

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While a normal US TV season lasts between 22 and 24 episodes, we only get 13 instalments of Bones – Season 7. The reason is that Emily Deschanel rudely decided to have a baby. While her being up the duff was written into the show, she gave birth partway through the season’s shooting schedule, and by the time she returned there was only time to make 13 episodes. It just goes to show how important she is to the series, as normally pregnant women getting written out of a show for a few episodes when it’s time to drop the sprog, but here things had to stop to make way for the appearance of Deschanel junior. [Read more…]

Sinister (Cinema)

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Sinister should be rubbish. The plot is rather silly, numerous things happen that make little sense (and not just because of supernatural shenanigans), and it has a title so generic its feels like they simple couldn’t be assed. However thanks to some excellent make-you-jump moments, a mystery plot that holds enough interest to keep you watching and a creepy atmosphere, it’s a surprisingly effective chiller.

Ethan Hawke plays Ellison Oswalt, a writer of true-crime books who moves his family to a small town to investigate the murder of four members of a family, and the disappearance of a small girl, for which no perpetrator has ever been found. What he hasn’t told his wife and kids is that the house they’ve moved into is the one where the family were hung from a tree in the backyard. [Read more…]

Casanova ’73 (DVD)

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Casanova ’73 is a bit of a footnote in British comedy history. It only ran for seven episodes, but managed to get Mary Whitehouse in a tizzy with its risqué bedroom farce antics, and caused the BBC to get cold feet partway through its run and move it from mid-evening to a late night slot. As a result, Mastermind got Casanova’s primetime slot and became a surprise hit.

Written by Galton and Simpson, of Hancock and Steptoe & Son fame, the series sees Leslie Phillips as Henry Newhouse, a married man in his mid-40s who spends most of his life philandering. In each episode his wayward ways cause some sort of trouble, whether it’s trying to keep his wife from finding a series of letters from an overeager one night stand to having to hide in a closet from a strapping husband who came home early. [Read more…]

In The Dark Half (DVD)

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In The Dark Half is not the most imaginatively titled films, nor does it stand out. This is a bit like the film itself. The idea of the film is interesting, as is the acting, and there is nothing particularly wrong or exciting about the film – it just exists, like many other gritty, bleak films.

The premise of the film is the story of a teenage girl (played well by Jessica Barden of Hanna and Tamara Drewe fame) who lives next door to a father and son who have recently lost their wife/mother in believed suspicious circumstances. One night Marie is asked to babysit Sean while his father goes hunting, and unfortunately whilst babysitting Sean unfortunately dies. The rest of the film concerns the growing tension between the neighbours, where Marie starts believing that other forces are at work, and that there is another presence in existence. [Read more…]

The Pact (DVD)

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There’s a little bit of every different kind of horror in The Pact – supernatural, psychological, slasher and haunted house, amongst other. Expanding his successful short film, Nicholas McCarthy concocts a horror that offers little new except mixing up horror tropes from all over the map into something that sets out to put the audience on the edge of their seats. It sometimes works, but it’s all a bit too spare to fully succeed.

Following the death of her mother, Annie reluctantly returns to her childhood home, where she expects to find her sister, Nichole. However her sis has gone missing. Initially Annie assumes her sibling has slipped back into drug addiction and that’s why she’s nowhere to be seen. However soon strange things begin to happen in Annie’s mother’s house, which seem supernatural in origin. These events begin to dredge up the past, both from Annie’s history and her mother’s. [Read more…]

Victim (2012) (DVD)

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Sometimes it’s difficult not to feel slightly sad at the end of a film when you know that with a slightly bigger budget and some expert help and guidance on the script and direction, it could have been something really, really good. Unfortunately while the guts of something smart, entertaining and sharp is present in in the urban thriller Victim, it’s all a little underbaked and doesn’t quite hit the spot.

Young woman Tia’s (Ashley Madekwe’s) father has done well for himself and managed to get off the mean street of London, but she heads into the urban sprawl to live with her cousin, Davina. Tia meets Tyson (Ashley Chin), a young man who’s gotten involved in crime due to desperate family circumstances. He’s trying to keep things afloat as he attempts to ensure his smart younger sister get the education she deserves and deals with his mother’s massive gambling debts. As Tia and Tyson’s relationship develops, he attempts to break away from the cycle of crime and violence he seems to be trapped in. However escaping isn’t all that easy, leading to a crime that brings things a little too close to home. [Read more…]

The Babymakers (DVD)

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Someone must think the Broken Lizard Comedy Troupe are good, as they’re allowed to keep making films. After the likes of Super Troopers, Beerfeest and Broken Lizard’s Stand Up comes The Babymakers. It’s got a talented cast and a decent premise, but unfortunately it screws things up from beginning to end.

Tommy (Paul Schneider) and Audrey (Olivia Munn) are a married couple who decide they want to have a baby. There’s a problem though, as for some reason Tommy’s sperm is rubbish and more interested in swimming in circles than inseminating eggs. This wasn’t always true though, as to pay for his wife’s engagement he got paid to donate some healthy sperm. [Read more…]

The Angels’ Share (DVD)

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For nearly 50 years now Ken Loach has been charting his own course with the sort of social realist cinema that’s ensured he’s long had admirers and been beloved in arthouse circles, but has often had difficulty convincing mainstream audiences to give him a chance. It’s a bit of a shame, as while he did go through a period where his films were a bit of a slog, he usually has a knack for making movies that while grounded in an often deprived or desperate social world, still manage to be entertaining and truly believe in the possibilities of human beings. That’s certainly true of The Angels’ Share. [Read more…]