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

Love Is Blind – Season 1 (VoD Review) – The gay reality dating show the world has been waiting for?

By Leave a Comment

Starring:
Director:
Running Time:
Certificate:
Release Date:

Does the world need a gay, reality dating show? Well, Love Is Blind thinks so, offering us seven episodes where guys in New York are set up on blind dates and sent off the see whether it will be love at first sight or total character clash.

The set-up is very simple. There’s a host, Mike Felton, in a studio who introduces the guys and comments on their date at various points. The daters themselves meet, go on an ‘activity’, head somewhere for drinks and food, and then go to a club – and cameras follow them all along the away. The result is that it does sometimes feel a little repetitious, with the main variety provided by what activity they send the guys on, which ranges from wrestling (in tight singlets) and boylesque (where they end up in thongs), to tantric yoga (in just underwear) – this is not a show hiding from the fact people will be watching Love Is Blind hoping it’s a little bit sexy. [Read more…]

Jonathan (US DVD Review) – A young man’s struggles as he finds out his dying dad is gay

By Leave a Comment

Jonathan is a young man stuck on his family’s farm in rural Germany, where he must not only ensure the animals are cared for, but also look after his dying father, Burghardt. He dreams of possibly having something else, but feels the obligations weighing upon him. One bright spot emerges in the form of a romance with his dad’s nurse, Anka, but even that can’t hide the problems.

The issues aren’t just that Jonathan’s father is extremely sick. His aunt lives next door, but won’t speak to his father and won’t say why. Jonathan also wants to know more about his mother, who died when he was young, but his taciturn father finds it almost impossible to open up. [Read more…]

Retake (US DVD Review) – The relationship between a middle-aged man & a rent boy gets complicated

By Leave a Comment

Lonely, middle-aged Jonathan (Tuc Watkins) hires a rent boy for what initially seems like a bit of role play – with the young man supposed to play the rough around the edges Brandon. However, for some reason, the prostitute doesn’t hit the spot.

Jonathan heads out to find another young man, settling on a guy who seems a better fit for what Jonathan wants Brandon to be. ‘Brandon’ agrees to head off with Jonathan on a road trip across the American West, being paid along the way. However, it slowly becomes clear that this is not a random trip with a young man along for companionship, and Jonathan is trying to recreate something from his past. [Read more…]

The Falls: Covenant Of Grace (US DVD Review) – Can gay Mormons RJ and Chris finally make it work?

By 1 Comment

Not many gay films get a sequel and even fewer have become a trilogy, but The Falls has now done just that. The first movie followed young RJ (Nick Ferrucci) and Chris (Benjamin Farmer), who fall in love during their Mormon mission, knowing that they risk being thrown out of their religion if their relationship is discovered. The follow-up, The Falls: Testament Of Love, picked up the story several years later, with RJ living a gay life but Chris back deep in the closet, with a wife and child, trying to live a ‘good’ Mormon life.

Things still aren’t completely running smooth when The Falls: Covenant Of Grace opens. Chris is now out of his marriage, but he and Chris are still having difficulty sorting out where their relationship stands and where it’s going in the future, especially as they’re living in different parts of the country. After the Church of Latter-Day Saints announces that it isn’t just against the baptism of children of same-sex couples, but doesn’t think their kids should be welcomed into the Church at all, RJ and Chris decide to get together for the weekend in the hope figuring out where they stand. [Read more…]

Pitchfork (US VoD Review) – A gay guy & his friends try to escape a bloody killer

By Leave a Comment

Pitchfork is a movie that on one hand feels like it should be applauded and on the other that it needed a lot more work before it was made. It’s not the first gay-themed horror movie, but it is one of only a few films – and not just in the horror genre – that brings in a gay character/storyline, but their sexuality isn’t key to the plot. He’s just a gay guy who happens to be involved in some very bloody goings on.

Hunter (Brian Raetz) has just come out, and along with some young friends has gone back to the farm where he grew up, to talk to his family about the fact he’s gay. Before that though they plan to have a party in one of the barns. Things take an unexpected turn with the arrival of the titular Pitchfork – an insane, mute killer who wears a mask of animal fur and has a pitchfork attached to his arm. [Read more…]

An Act Of Love (US DVD Review) – A father’s love has religious repercussions in the gay-themed documentary

By Leave a Comment

Starring: , , ,
Director:
Running Time:
Certificate:
Release Date:

If you follow the gay press, you might remember Frank Schaefer, a United Methodist Church (UMC) minister who presided over his son’s same-sex marriage in 2007. Then, six years later, he was hauled in front of a UMC court to answer charges of not having upheld the denomination’s Book Of Discipline, which says ministers cannot officiate at same-sex unions.

An Act Of Love follows Frank’s story, using a good mix of both the Schaefer family and his supporters, as well as those on the other side of the religious court case to recount what happened. Over its 90-minutes it unpacks the events, its repercussions and what has gone on since the case – including the fact Frank was later brought in front of the UMC’s highest court after he started ministering again in California. [Read more…]

Me, Myself & Her (US DVD Review)

By Leave a Comment

Me Myself & Her is billed as Italy’s first feature-length, lesbian-themed romantic comedy, although I might take issue with that, as it’s not what I’d normally think of as a rom com. I can see why they’d class it as that, but I’d more put it in the bracket of a light-hearted drama, as it didn’t exactly spend a lot of time trying to be funny, except for a few fairly amusing moments (particularly a scenes involving a dinner with one of the main character’s families).

In the movie, middle-aged Marina (Sabrina Ferilli) and Federica (Margherita Buy) have been together for a few years and are living in what seems like cosy domesticity. However, they may be ignoring a few glaring problems, which begind surface when Federica objects to the fact former actress Marina vaguely mentioned her in an interview. Federica still isn’t comfortable with her sexuality and doesn’t want the world at large knowing about her, something Marina has been assiduously ignoring, assuming that her lover would eventually just accept she’s a lesbian and come to terms with it. [Read more…]

Kiss Me, Kill Me (US DVD/VoD Review)

By Leave a Comment

Starring: , , , ,
Director:
Running Time:
Certificate:
Release Date:

A few years ago, gay-themed thrillers were something of a rarity. While they’re not exactly common now, we have had an increasing amount recently. Now we have another with Kiss Me Kill Me, from Casper Andreas, who heads in a different direction from previous efforts such as The Big Gay Musical, and Going Down in LA-LA Land.

The film is also noted for being the first queer project for Gale Harold (or as the film properly titles him, Gale M. Harold III) since the US version of Queer As Folk. Alongside him there’s Van Hansis (a four-time Emmy nominee for As The World Turns) along with his Eastsiders co-star Kit Williamson, Big Gay Love & Gayby’s Jonathan Lisecki, Queer Eye’s Jai Rodriguez, Devious Maid’s Brianna Brown, The Get Down’s Yolanda Ross, and LA-LA Land & Seek’s Matthew Ludwinski. It may not have the star power of Ocean’s 11, but there are certainly a lot more recognisable faces than your average gay-themed movie. [Read more…]

Love Is All You Need? (VoD Review)

By Leave a Comment

Three years ago the short film, Love Is All You Need, garnered a lot of attention with its role-reversal tale about a world where being homosexual is the norm, and straight people are persecuted. Now that short has been expanded into a feature-length film, bringing a few familiar faces with it, including Briana Evigan (Step Up 2), Jeremy Sisto (Clueless), Elisabeth Röhm (Law & Order), Tyler Blackburn (Pretty Little Liars) and Emily Osment (Hannah Montana).

The basic set-up is the same, taking us into a world where nearly everyone is paired up in same-sex couples, and those who fall for someone of a different gender are looked down on and vilified. Jude (Evigan) is a female football star at her high school, with a gorgeous girlfriend (Osment) and plenty of popularity. However, when she meets university fraternity pledge Ryan (Blackburn), unexpected thoughts start to emerge. As their relationship develops, Jude begins to wonder whether she’s really a ‘ro’ (a derogatory shortening of heterosexual). [Read more…]

Lazy Eye (US Cinema Review)

By Leave a Comment

Starring: , ,
Director:
Running Time:
Certificate:
Release Date:

By all rights, Lazy Eye should be a dull film. The vast majority of it is just two men by themselves, chatting about things. However, thanks to some good performances and a thoughtful take on aging, love and life, it’s far more interesting than you might expect.

Dean (Lucas Near-Verbrugghe) is a graphic designer working in film in Los Angeles. He gets an unexpected message from Alex (Aaron Costa Ganis), the lover who disappeared from his life 15 years before. They arrange to meet up at Dean’s isolated second home near Joshua Tree, where passions almost instantly re-ignite – indeed for Dean they’ve reignited even before Alex shows up. [Read more…]