January 21st 2013 Archives - Big Gay Picture Show

Now Is Good (DVD)

January 21, 2013 By Tim Isaac Leave a Comment

Starring: Dakota Fanning, Jeremy Irvine, Paddy Considine, Olivia Williams, Kaya Scodelario
Director: Ol Parker
Running Time: 103 mins
Certificate: 12
Release Date: January 21st 2013

Making a movie about someone who’s dying is a tricky business. On one level it’s a subject that involves inherent drama, but equally you don’t want to make something that sounds like such a downer no one will want to watch it. Likewise, you want people to get emotionally involved, but you don’t want it to be so emotionally manipulative and sentimental that people are nauseated rather than moved.

It’s a balance Now Is Good is constantly trying to work out, succeeding better at some times than others. [Read more…]

The Sweeney (DVD)

January 20, 2013 By Tim Isaac Leave a Comment

Starring: Ray Winstone, Ben Drew, Hayley Atwell, Damian Lewis, Steven Mackintosh
Director: Nick Love
Running Time: 112 mins
Certificate: 15
Release Date: January 21st 2013

If the Metropolitan Police are hoping to get away from their image in some sectors as oppressive cowboys with a penchant for shooting people they don’t need to, The Sweeney isn’t going to help the cause. The film takes the stereotype of the old school, rulebook ignoring cop and ramps it up the nth degree. Indeed it’s more the cliché of the original 1970s TV series it’s based on than anything close to the series itself. [Read more…]

That’s My Boy (DVD)

January 20, 2013 By Tim Isaac Leave a Comment

Starring: Adam Sandler, Andy Samberg, Vanilla Ice, Leighton Meester
Director: Sean Anders
Running Time: 116 mins
Certificate: 15
Release Date: January 21st 2013

With Razzie nominations, a 22% rotten score on RottenTomatoes and plenty of critical derision – one reviewer said, ‘It may be the worst film, in any genre, ever made’ – I can’t say I had much hope for That’s My Boy, especially as I’m not exactly a member of the Adam Sandler fan club. However That’s My Boys wasn’t quite as dreadful as I expected – don’t get me wrong, it’s not a great movie, but it was just about watchable [Read more…]

The Campaign (DVD)

January 19, 2013 By Tim Isaac Leave a Comment

Starring: Will Ferrell, Jason Sudeikis, Dylan McDermott, Zach Galifianakis
Director: Jay Roach
Running Time: 80 mins
Certificate: 15
Release Date: January 21st 2013

Director Jay Roach had a bit of a political 2012. He made the HBO Sarah Palin biopic Game Change and the comedy The Campaign. For my money it was the former that was the most successful.

The Campaign is the sort of movie that will divide audiences – if you don’t mind films that leave reality in the dust and find their humour in stupidity, you’ll probably like it, but if you want your films to have some sort of logic to them, you’ll probably give up about 20 minutes in. [Read more…]

The Possession (Blu-ray)

January 19, 2013 By Tim Isaac Leave a Comment

Starring: Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Kyra Sedgwick, Natasha Kalis, Madison Davenport
Director: Ole Borendal
Running Time: 90 mins
Certificate: 15
Release Date: January 21st 2013

With Hollywood having run through pretty much every horror cliche going, The Possession reaches out to Jewish folklore and the legend of the dibbuk box, a wooden container said to contain the spirit of a dibbuk, an evil spirit that can haunt and even possess people.

Jeffrey Dean Morgan plays Clyde, who’s recently divorced from Stephanie (Kyra Sedgwick). He takes his two daughters to a yard sale near his new home, where his youngest, Em (Natasha Kalis), becomes intrigued by a locked wooden box. As you can probably guess, it’s not long until strange things are happening and the daughter has become obsessed with the box. [Read more…]

Dance Hall (DVD)

January 19, 2013 By Tim Isaac Leave a Comment

Starring: Petula Clark, Diana Dors, Natasha Parry
Director: Charles Crichton
Running Time: 80 mins
Certificate: PG
Release Date: January 21st 2013

In the pantheon of Ealing films, Dance Hall is one of the ones that normally gets ignored. That’s partly because when it was released it was dismissed by male critics who looked at is as rather irrelevant, due to the fact it was about working class women. However in recent years it’s had a bit of a reappraisal, not because it’s actually an overlooked masterpiece, but because it’s one of the few movies made not long after the Second World War that does concentrate on the lives of normal women. [Read more…]