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

Journey 2: The Mysterious Island (Blu-ray)

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The Anderson family sure have a knack of getting lost in Jules Verne-ian places! After going in search of his missing father in Journey To The Center Of The Earth back in 2008, Sean (Josh Hutcherson) gets a strange encoded message from his grandfather (Michael Caine), which once deciphered says he’s stuck on the Mysterious Island in the South Pacific. Sean gets his new stepdad, Hank (Dwayne Johnson), to agree to take him there, with the man hoping it will be a bonding experience. [Read more…]

The Artist (DVD)

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In an era where cinema audiences are bombarded with romcoms, remakes and endless superhero franchises, along came a silent film that showed the industry that there was a market for the more concerning cinemagoer, who liked something a little different. The Artist became a worldwide phenomenon that swept every award ceremony across the globe, winning 5 Oscars, 7 BAFTAs, 3 Golden Globes, and Best actor at Cannes, as well as being lauded by the harshest of critics and filmgoers alike. The film cost $15 million to make, but has so far amassed over $130 million at the box office, and is only the second time a silent film has won best film Oscar, the first being at the very first Oscars – Wings. [Read more…]

Men In Black III (Cinema)

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It has been 10 years since we last heard from the Men In Black. The successful film series has grossed over $1 billion worldwide at the box office, not to mention having vast DVD sales. Has the world forgotten MIB? Is it still relevant today when action/alien films are ten-a-penny? Well, this is a welcome return to the franchise – it delivers nothing new but fits like a comfortable pair of slippers and entertains nonetheless.

The film, like the previous two, is directed by Barry Sonnenfeld, and there is no need to introduce the familiar characters, although there are a few new ones to add into the mix. The plot starts off with Nicole Scherzinger helping free Boris the Animal (Jermaine Clement) from prison – this really is a rather pointless cameo in her movie debut, where she does nothing more than walk around in a rubber outfit holding a cake. [Read more…]

Sherlock Holmes: The Hound Of The Baskervilles (DVD)

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When we think of Soviet Era Russia, we don’t normally considering people under Communist rule settling down to watch a home-grown adaptation of Sherlock Holmes on television. However in the late 70s and early 80s director Igor Maslennikov made a series of TV versions of Conan Doyle’s tales about his famed consulting detective, which are surprisingly faithful. They also thankfully lack the feel of some Cold War era Russian entertainment (particularly if it’s set in the West), that the State is forcing it to push an anti-capitalist agenda.

After the death of Sir Henry Baskerville, his nephew Charles seeks the help of famed consulting detective Sherlock Holmes (Vasili Livanov), hoping he can use the man’s deductive reasoning skills to pull apart the suspicious circumstances surrounding Henry’s death. [Read more…]

Space: Above & Beyond – The Complete Series (DVD)

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In the year 2063, humanity has started to spread out into the stars. After 150 years exploring space it appears we’re alone in the universe. At least that’s until an advanced alien civilisation attacks two outposts on distant worlds, including Earth’s first colony on another planet, not only making us aware of their presence but declaring war.

The series focuses on a group of young recruits to the United States Marine Corps Space Aviator Calvary as they head out to battle the aliens – who become known as Chigs – facing their fears as they take on the threat. Space: Above & Below also deals with mankind’s own prejudices, in this case towards in vitroes, who are artificially gestated humans that face intense prejudice from normal people [Read more…]

Twice Round The Daffodils (DVD)

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Gerald Thomas is definitely best known for directing the Carry On… movies, with a dedication to the series that took him from 1958’s Carry On Sergeant right through to 1992’s Carry On Columbus. However while most of his career was taken up with those films, he did sometimes find time for movies outside the series, such as Twice Round The Daffodils.

The comedy, which comes to DVD for the first time, is sometimes considered an unofficial Carry On film. On the surface you can understand why. After all, it features several of the Carry On actors (Kenneth Williams, Joan Sims etc.), has Thomas directing, Peter Rogers producing and Norman Hudis writing. However it has a rather different tone. For a start Hudis adapted it from a play by Jack Beale and Patrick Cargill. The comedy is gentler and less obvious, and there’s more of a bittersweet feel to the whole thing. [Read more…]

Shadows (Blu-ray/DVD)

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Shadows is not the sort of movie that you watch for fun, and indeed if you come to it cold without knowing anything about it, the film is likely to strike you as a tad stilted and unfocussed. However in context it’s a vitally important part of American cinema history, and the film that’s often credited as the place where modern US indie cinema began.

Director John Cassavetes was having some success in TV and film as an actor in the late 50s, but his heart had always been in underground New York theatre. He raised a minuscule budget and over three years put together Shadows, which was unlike virtually anything that had gone before it. [Read more…]

Lifeboat (Blu-ray)

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Lifeboat is one of those movies a lot of people have heard about, but relatively few have seen. While it came before most of Hitchcock’s most famous movies – although after his Best Picture Oscar-winning Rebecca – it’s a classic that’s worth visiting. After a German U-boat torpedoes an allied ship, a group of disparate survivors gather on a lifeboat. Told completely from within the confines of the boat, the men and women aboard realise their predicament is a hairy one and that their best chance of survival is to make for Bermuda.

The problem is that none of them know where Bermuda is. However there’s one person on board who does appear to be able to navigate, a German U-boat survivor who might have been the captain of the vessel. But can they trust him? [Read more…]

Life Is Beautiful – 15th Anniversary Edition (Blu-ray)

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Even now, 15 years on, it seems almost impossible that Roberto Benigni managed to pull off Life Is Beautiful. Setting what is essentially a slapstick farce in a concentration camp is one hell of a gambit and could have gone horribly wrong. Indeed, the most interesting part of the new, hour-long documentary included on this Blu-ray edition is the discussion about what is a suitable depiction of the Holocaust and what isn’t, and the fears many involved had before they made the movie that the film not only couldn’t work, but could even end up being cheered by Holocaust deniers.

Benigni managed it though, using humour to highlight and contrast against the horrors the characters face. Indeed part of the movie’s power is that nothing about the concentration camp is funny – it never jokes about that – and it’s the place’s very grimness that Guido is trying to hide his son from. It is humour in the face of tragedy, and comedy that’s a testament to the human spirit. [Read more…]

Doogie Howser, M.D. – Season 1 (DVD)

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1989 was a more innocent time. It was a time when you could put a programme on TV about a 16-year-old doctor and rather than people going, ‘Hang on, this is a bit stupid’, it’d become a hit.

A very young Neil Patrick Harris plays the titular teen doctor, a genius who managed to get his doctorate at the age of 14 and now works as a 16-year-old surgeon in a hospital. Other than getting a few comments, nobody seems that bothered about being treated by somebody who should be at home popping pimples. [Read more…]