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

Dara O’Briain – Craic Dealer Live 2012 (DVD)

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Tesco must have mellowed in the last couple of years. Right at the beginning of this gig, Dara O’Briain says he wanted to call as previous DVD Craic Dealer, but was prevented from doing so because a big retailer who likes to think ‘Every Little Helps’ refused to stock a disc with that name, as they felt it condoned drug use. As Dara points out, it’s very unlikely anyone is holding back on cocaine use, but would be tipped over the edge by seeing his DVD (btw, Craic is an Irish word for fun, in case you didn’t know). However now the title is back and I’ve noticed it’s for sale on Tesco’s website, so they must have had a change of heart. [Read more…]

Michael McIntyre – Showtime (DVD)

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The man who’s often been described as the Southern, middle-class version of Peter Kay is back with another dose of observational humour that takes everyday life to the extreme. Well, most of it is about everyday life, although creeping in is the curse of successful comics, which is that the more famous they get, the more their life diverges from most other people’s. While it’s something that’s destroyed some comics’ career as they lose the ability to connect with their audience’s shared experience of the world, McIntyre is still very funny. [Read more…]

Kevin Bridges – The Story Continues… (DVD)

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Kevin Bridges is a funny man, but I have to admit I found his first stand-up DVD, The Story So Far, rather patchy. He seemed more than a little nervous and was too prone to laugh at himself in a way that almost seemed to be entreating the audience to laugh too. It rather hurt the impact of the routine, as the writing itself was admittedly very good. The Story Continues catches up with Bridges two years later and sees him as a more assured comic who seems less in awe of playing in front of giant crowds at the likes of Glasgow’s SECC, where this disc was filmed. [Read more…]

Christmas Evil (DVD)

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Christmas Evil is an odd film, but it’s certainly a cult one that has some loyal fans – mainly those who harbour a love for trash cinema. The likes of John Waters count it as a favourite (and indeed he pops up on one of the commentaries). So if you think a killer Santa sounds fun (it predates the more famous Silent Night Deadly Night’s homicidal Kris Kringle nuttiness), you may want to check it out. [Read more…]

Cosmopolis (DVD)

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Robert Pattinson veers far from Twilight with this strange and dark trip into David Cronenberg’s take on Don DeLillo’s novel. Pattinson plays the rich, young and handsome billionaire Eric Packer, who gets in his limo one morning and demands to be taken across Manhattan to get a haircut.

What should be a simple trip gets increasingly complex, with a visit by the President and a funeral causing delays, before the streets erupt into full-scale riots – with many of the participants protesting just the sort of rampant capitalism Packer represents. Throughout the day Eric meets various people, including his girlfriend, business acquaintances and sexual partners, most of whom join him in his limo. What at first seems like a rather random journey starts to see Eric’s life implode until he reaches the point where it appears like he’s actually trying to destroy himself. [Read more…]

Hitchcock: The Masterpiece Collection (Blu-ray)

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It’s nearly Christmas, so when you’re writing out your letter to Santa, this new Hitchcock box set should be right at the top. Of these 14 movies – including many of Hitchcock’s greatest movies – only Psycho has ever been out on Blu-ray before, so it really is a festival of first-time-in-HD movie goodness – although admittedly, with an RRP of £100 for the basic set and £150 for the Collector’s Edition, it doesn’t come cheap (that’s why you need Santa’s help).

The box includes Psycho, The Birds, Vertigo, Rear Window, The Man Who Knew Too Much, Marnie, Saboteur, Shadow of a Doubt, Rope, The Trouble with Harry, Torn Curtain, Topaz, Frenzy and Family Plot, which as I’m sure you’ll agree, is a pretty awesome selection. Although the likes of Torn Curtain and Family Plot may not be Hitchcock’s best, they’re still far better than what the vast majority of directors have ever produced. Indeed Hitchcock is that rare beast where you can pretty much guarantee that even if you don’t think a particular movie is a masterpiece, you’ll be entertained and certainly won’t think you’ve wasted your time. [Read more…]

Elliot Loves (DVD)

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Elliot Loves explores the turbulent love life of Elliot throughout two pivotal parts of his life, as an inquisitive 10-year-old dealing with his loving yet seemingly unhappy mother and as a naive 21-year-old looking for love in all the wrong places in New York.

The initial concept of the film intrigued me I must admit, especially as I was wondering how they would mirror the two separate parts of his life. The way it was executed by cutting segments into what appeared to be chapters and by mirroring similar and important parts of his life as a child and young adult were done effectively and allow the audience to see how the character was the way he is. [Read more…]

The Arrival Of Wang (DVD)

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As The Arrival Of Wang is being brought out by an imprint of LGBT specialist distributor Peccadillo Pictures, you could be forgiven for thinking the title refers to something far saucier that what this film actually is. However Saffron Hill Films has been set up to handle their genre titles, with this one being a sci-fi thriller from Italy.

Gaia (Francesca Cuttica) is a translator who’s called out of the blue to take a rush job. Before she knows it she’s in the back of a car being blindfolded so that she doesn’t know where they’re going. She’s taken to a room where she’s told she’ll have to translate from Mandarin into English. Initially she’s not allowed to see the speaker, but when they eventually agree to switch the lights on, she finds an alien sitting opposite to her, tied to a chair. [Read more…]

Margin Call (DVD)

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While the financial crisis has been one of the biggest global events since the Second World War, the film industry has had difficulty dealing with it. Part of the reason for that is the fear that if you just have a bunch of people sitting around talking about numbers, the audience’s eyes will glaze over and they’ll start heading for the exit. However writer/director J.C. Chandor trusts that not everyone completely zones out if things aren’t simple, and also realises that if you get a great bunch of actors together, you can take on subjects that might initially seem dull, but can still actually make a really good film. [Read more…]

Mrs Brown Live – Good Mourning Mrs Brown (DVD)

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While most people have only discovered Mrs. Brown’s Boys in the last couple of years, the character has a surprisingly long history. Brendan O’Carroll started writing books about the character of Agnes Browne in the early 90s, which even became a film named after the character starring Anjelica Huston in 1999. It was only after that, and a dropping of the ‘e’ from the end of Mrs. Brown’s name, that he started playing her himself, first on in self-penned plays, which were converted into a series of specials for Irish TV.

Then in 2011 BBC Scotland and Ireland’s RTE co-commissioned the sitcom Mrs. Brown’s Boys and a surprise hit was spawned. Now the character has gone back to the stage with a reworked version of the 2000 play/comedy show, Good Mourning Mrs. Brown, which is now coming to DVD, filmed live in front of a theatre audience. [Read more…]