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

Logan (DVD Review) – Wolverine & Professor X sure say f**k more than they used to!

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There have been increasing grumblings in some circles that too many superhero movies feel like they’ve come off a production line and are all pretty much the same as one another. Included in that grumbling has been Fox’s X-Men movies, but in the last couple of years they’ve also produced two standalone movies set in that universe – Deadpool and now Logan – that have really felt different and have shown that there are all sorts of possibilities in the world of comic books.

Although Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine has had two previous non X-Men movies, this is a very different beast to the earlier film, having more in common with a western or a road movie than a traditional superhero film. [Read more…]

The Hippopotamus (DVD Review) – Stephen Fry’s novel makes it to the screen

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Stephen Fry’s debut novel, The Hippopotamus, has gained a lot of fans since its debut in 1994. It would seem like a good candidate for a film version. Sadly though, what we’ve got is rather limp.

Ted Wallace (Roger Allam) is a famous poet who hasn’t written anything for years, and whose very vocal cynicism causes him to lose his main means of support – as a theatre critic. In order to make money he agrees to go to the grand house of his former friend, Michael Logan (Matthew Modine), under the guise of visiting his godson, David (Tommy Knight). [Read more…]

Patriot’s Day (Blu-ray Review) – A taut look at the 2013 Boston Marathon Bombings

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It’s April 15, 2013 and Police Sgt Tommy Saunders (Mark Wahlberg) is preparing to provide security at the annual Boston Marathon. Along with various other people, he’s hoping for a great, celebratory day. However, that is ripped apart when twin explosion go off near the marathon finishing line, killing and maiming those who were there to cheer the runners as they completed the course. Tommy immediately puts his training into action to help those affected, even though he and the other people around don’t know whether there are any other bombs timed to go off.

Patriot’s Day then charts the days after the attack, when the FBI comes in to work with the police to find out who the bombers are, combing CCTV footage and following leads. Then there are the terrorists themselves, the Tsarnaev brothers, who haven’t finished their rampage, and become increasingly dangerous as the net closes in. [Read more…]

Boys On Film 16: Possession (DVD Review) – 10 more gay short films get a great showcase

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It’s always a good day when a new Boys On Film gay short film collection is released. The most successful short film series in the world is now up to an impressive 16th instalment. You’d think by this point they’d be running out of decent gay-themed shorts to include, but thankfully across the world there are a lot of filmmakers producing great work, which has ensured a steady supply of new films to put on disc.

There’s an interesting and eclectic mix this time around. So what’s included amongst the 10 gay shorts on the discs? Take a look at what we thought below. And you can see what we think of other Boys On Film releases here. [Read more…]

Remembering The Man (DVD/VoD Review) – Gay love and AIDS revisited in a new look at the story behind Holding The Man

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If you’ve read Timothy Conigrave’s 1995 memoir, Holding The Man, or seen the more recent film version (or indeed the play), you’ll know a bit about the relationship between Conigrave and John Caleo. This documentary retells the tale, focused around taped interviews Conigrave did with an AIDS oral history project before his death, as well as with interviews with the couple’s friends.

The documentary recounts how Timothy and John met as students at a Catholic High School in Australia and started to date one another. Despite a bit of tumult, break-ups and Timothy moving away to become an actor, the connection between the two remained and they developed an abiding love for one another. [Read more…]

Resident Evil: The Final Chapter (Blu-ray Review) – The end of Milla Jovovich’s Alice?

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Resident Evil is the most successful videogame-to-film franchise ever, and the first to cross a billion dollars at the box office. To be honest though, that’s more because the competition has generally been so awful, rather than because Resident Evil is so good.

This was promised as the final part of the story of Alice (Milla Jovovich), although thanks to a $300 million gross (largely due to its popularity in China, as it bombed in the US) don’t be surprised if it returns to the big screen in some form. Set shortly after the last movie, Retribution, Alice is one of the few survivors of humanity, trapped between the undead on one side, and the evil Umbrella Corporation on the other. [Read more…]

The Founder (Blu-ray Review) – The rise of a fast food giant and the death of someone’s dream

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Ray Kroc (Michael Keaton) is feeling slightly over-the-hill in his job selling milkshake machine to drive-in restaurants. Then he suddenly gets an order for six mixers – far more than he thinks any restaurant could possibly need. However, the order is correct, so Ray decides to visit this place out in San Bernadino California, where he discovers the McDonald’s hamburger stand.

The McDonald brother, Dick and Mac (Nick Offerman and John Carroll Lynch) have completely reinvented the concept of the diner-type restaurant. From getting people to come to the window to order and serving them food in waxed paper, to a carefully designed system to be able to complete an order in seconds, Ray has never seen anything like it. [Read more…]

The Hatton Garden Job (Blu-ray Review) – Some old guys go robbing with Matthew Goode

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It’s one of the most famous British crimes of the 21st Century – a group of men broke into the heavily protected Hatton Garden repository, and got away with an unknown amount of loot, which could have been up to £200 million worth. It’s inspired documentaries, endless column inches and this film. It’s not going to end there, as another movie, starring Michael Caine, is planned, and a TV drama has just been announced, with Timothy Spall signed on to star.

The Hatton Garden Job got there first though.

Matthew Goode plays an unnamed character, who gets involved in what seems like an impossible job – robbing the underground vault of the Hatton Garden repository in London. There are dodgy characters who want specific things locked up in there, but there are also millions in jewels and others precious goods that anyone in there could get away with. [Read more…]

John Wick: Chapter 2 (Blu-ray Review) – An almost unkillable Keanu Reeves is back in action

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Picking up shortly after the events of the first John Wick, the titular character (Keanu Reeves) is attempting to once more leave the criminals underworld and his reputation as the ultimate killer behind. However, he is called on by Santino D’Antonio (Riccardo Scamarcio) to kill someone so that he can take their seat at the underworld’s high table.

John has a debt to Santino that the rules of the underworld say he must repay, or his life is forfeit. Feeling he has no choice, John travels to Rome to do the deed. However, escaping the underworld and repaying the debt isn’t going to be that easy, which ends up with him having a $7 million bounty on his head. [Read more…]

Gold (Blu-ray Review) – Matthew McConaughey goes off in search of the precious metal

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Kenny Wells (Matthew McConaughey) comes from a prospecting family going back generations. However, by the 1980s looking for minerals has changed dramatically from the Gold Rush days, where it’s now controlled by big businesses, engineering, science and where billions of dollars are wagered on a claim paying off.

Due to a downturn in the economy, Kenny’s family business is in the gutter. He thinks he’s found his way back with a bit of a Hail Mary pass – a largely dismissed theory that there are huge reserves of gold in Indonesia. He teams up with the man who came up with the idea, Michael Acosta (Edgar Ramirez), and raises a small amount of funding – far less than they need – to try to get things started. [Read more…]