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

The Ledge (Blu-ray)

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There’s a lot of talent involved in The Ledge and you can understand what attracted the cast to this philosophical, high concept thriller, but unfortunately a script that’s muddier than it ought to be results in a film that feels as if it’s not living up to its potential.

Detective Hollis (Terrence Howard) is having a bad day, as he’s just discovered he’s infertile and that his kids are therefore somebody else’s. He’s then called to a dramatic situation where a man called Gavin (Charlie Hunnam) is standing on a ledge threatening to jump. While Hollis tries to talk him down, Gavin tells his story, which involves meeting the ultra-religious Joe and Shana Harris (Patrick Wilson and Liv Tyler). As Gavin is an atheist, their initial interactions are rather prickly, especially when Joe is openly homophobic to Gavin’s gay roommate, Chris (Christopher Gorham). [Read more…]

Dream House (DVD)

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If you read a lot of the reviews of Dream House on its cinema release, you might be expecting the film to be an absolute stinker. Pretty much disowned by its cast and director, and pilloried by the critics, the film’s not had a lot of luck. However, while it’s certainly not a great thriller, it’s a lot better than you might expect.

Daniel Craig plays Will Atenton, who moves into a seemingly idyllic small-town home with his wife (Rachel Weisz) and two daughters. However their apparently perfect new life begins to fracture when they discover their house was the site of a family massacre five years before. Teens hold séances in the basement and there are rumours that the killer may have returned. And then there’s the next door neighbour, Ann (Naomi Watts), who appears to know more than she’s letting on to. [Read more…]

Acts Of Godfrey (DVD)

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Not many movies open with a man standing in a hotel car park in the pouring rain, absolutely butt naked. However the opening shots of Acts Of Godfrey are a hint right from the beginning that this isn’t the sort of movie that’s going to do things by the book.

However what really marks it out isn’t its penchant for car park nudity but that the whole thing is written and performed in rhyming couplets. Indeed you get the impression that it was the chance to make a film in modern verse that attracted the likes of Simon Callow, Harry Enfield, Celia Imrie and Doon Mackichan. [Read more…]

Romantics Anonymous (DVD)

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When Romantics Anonymous opened with a scene featuring lead character Angelique (Isabelle Carre) falling into a dead faint at the eponymous support group for the overly quixotic, I almost switched the DVD off. It wasn’t because there was anything wrong with this particular sequence, but I wasn’t sure I could physically take yet another film where a quirky yet loveable misfit manages to find an equally out of place love interest to complement them.  It seems to be the plot for every other indie or foreign movie out there at the moment, and to be frank, I didn’t think I could take another one!

However I had to write a review and so I persevered, and I’m glad I did. [Read more…]

Griff The Invisible (DVD)

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Superheroes in the real world are quite popular at the moment, with Griff The Invisible being Australia’s entry. True Blood’s Ryan Kwanten stars as Griff, a meek, quiet man trapped in a dull office job by day, but by night he hits the streets as a costumed hero.

Griff is fascinated by the possibility of becoming invisible (literally rather than just metaphorically, which is how he is for most of his life), and is hard at work on a suit he hopes will make him completely see-through. [Read more…]

Hardcore: Bare Naked Talent (DVD)

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I have to admit, my expectations weren’t high for Hardcore: Bare Naked Talent. A British mockumentary with an inexperienced cast, first time director and which was made in 2005 but only coming to DVD  now; it didn’t exact fill me with confidence. Even the fact it’s about the making of a porn movie suggests lowest common denominator trash, but I’m very pleased to report the film is a lot better than you’d expect.

The reason for that is that Hardcore takes the time to surround its tit and bum gags with a plot and characters you can actually empathise with. The core of the film is the journey of ‘Jack Innov’ (Alex Constantine), the pseudonym that a young wannabe filmmaker comes up with when he decides to direct a porn epic called Assanova, in the hope it will allow him to eventually make proper movies [Read more…]