February 15th 2016 (UK) Archives - Big Gay Picture Show

The Program (Blu-ray Review)

February 18, 2016 By Tim Isaac Leave a Comment

Starring: Ben Foster, Chris O'Dowd, Jesse Plemons, Lee Pace, Guillaume Canet
Director: Stephen Frears
Running Time: 103 mins
Certificate: 15
Release Date: February 15th 2016 (UK)

Over the years, numerous movies about Lance Armstrong have been in the works but never got made. Indeed, one was about to move forward just as he admitted he had doped for his entire career. It’s almost a shame we don’t have a movie from when he was almost universally admired as a hero, so we could compare it to the darker world of The Program.

At the start of the movie Lance (Ben Foster) is an okay but unexceptional cyclist, who few think will ever do anything special. After overcoming testicular cancer, he returns with a passion to win, and knowing the world of cycling is riddled with cheats taking performance-enhancing drugs, he decides he will do the same, enlisting the help of Michele Ferrari (Guillaume Canet) to allow him to set up a ‘Program’ that will help him win, as well as arranging to have a team built around him that will ensure a Tour de France victory. [Read more…]

Bill (DVD Review)

February 18, 2016 By Tim Isaac Leave a Comment

Starring: Mathew Baynton, Simon Farnaby, Martha Howe-Douglas, Helen McCrory, Damian Lewis
Director: Richard Bracewell
Running Time: 94 mins
Certificate: PG
Release Date: February 15th 2016 (UK)

I doubt that when the team that created the TV version of Horrible Histories were putting the show together they thought that what they were making would not only became one of the most popular children’s series in the UK, but would also have massive crossover appeal, with adults tuning in for the educational silliness. The same team then went on to create the puppety fantasy of Yonderland, and have now gone cinematic with Bill.

While Horrible Histories was careful to stick close enough to the truth of the past to ensure it could teach youngsters a few things, Bill features plenty of real historical figures but takes far more liberties with the truth. [Read more…]

Hotel Transylvania 2 (DVD Review)

February 18, 2016 By Tim Isaac Leave a Comment

Starring: Adam Sandler, Andy Samberg, Mel Brooks, Selena Gomez, Kevin James
Director: Genndy Tartakovsky
Running Time: 89 mins
Certificate: U
Release Date: February 15th 2016 (UK)

Hotel Transylvania was a far bigger success than many people expected. Indeed, even Sony Pictures appeared to be taken by surprise, but it didn’t take them long to decide a sequel was needed. That follow-up quickly takes us through the next few years of the story, which sees monsters and humans starting to get along better across the world.

Dracula’s daughter Mavis marries slacker boyfriend Jonathan and they have a child, Dennis. As Dennis is only half-vampire, it’s not clear whether he will end up being a monster or not, but Dracula is determined that before he’s five, his grandson will spout fangs, as he knows that otherwise he will remain human forever. Mavis meanwhile feels that if Dennis is indeed more human than monster, perhaps it would be better if they went to live in the ‘normal’ world. [Read more…]