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

Maggie (Blu-ray Review)

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Arnold Schwarzenegger makes a zombie movie! He’s going to be blowing the undead away left, right and centre, while mumbling memorable catchphrases, isn’t he? Actually, no, as this is something very different both for the Terminator and for zombie flicks. Except for the undead, this is Arnie in a small-scale mother-daughter indie melodrama, with fairly little action and much soul-searching.

Schwarzenegger is Wade Vogel, who’s living with his wife and kids in the middle of nowhere, where they’ve managed to escape a zombie plague that has affected millions. After his eldest daughter, Maggie (Abigail Breslin), gets bitten and infected, he goes to pick her up from quarantine to take her home, knowing that while she will be okay for a while, eventually she will turn and have to be taken away before she turns completely – assuming she doesn’t die before then. [Read more…]

Crocadyke Dundee/Wine, Women & Friends (DVD Review)

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It’s two for the price of one, as this release features a duo of documentaries from filmmaker Fiona Cunningham-Reid, which take a look into the lives of some very different lesbians.

First off there’s Crocadyke Dundee, which is a portrait of Dawn O’Donnell, who was a bit of a legend in the Sydney gay scene, opening numerous bars, clubs and other venues (including sex shops). The film also acts as a view into how gay life has changed in Australia’s most populous city, as Dawn’s involvement started back when being gay was illegal. At that point there were few gay venues and those that existed were at risk of being raided (indeed it’s suggested that having half their clientele occasionally locked up was built into the business plan of some of these bars).

Interestingly, despite the oppression and societal disdain, it’s suggested that those involved generally had a great time. [Read more…]

Love Is The Devil (Blu-ray Review)

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John Maybury’s 1998 film about the relationship between painter Francis Bacon (Derek Jacobi) and his lover George Dyer (Daniel Craig) gets an HD upgrade from the British Film Institute with this Blu-ray release. The movie focuses on one period of Bacon’s life in the 1960s, when Bacon was already a lauded artist, considered by many as the greatest living British painter.

Bacon wakes up one night to find small-time thief George Dyer robbing his apartment/studio. Instead of calling police, Bacon invites Dyer into his bed. The thief accepts, which marks the start of an intense relationship between the two – one of whom is a rarefied figure in the world of art, while the other is a working class criminal. Initially their mismatched social status doesn’t matter, partly as their sexuality and attitudes means both feel like outsiders, but soon cracks begin to show. [Read more…]

Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No! (DVD Review)

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Sharknado hasn’t done badly for a franchise where the joke should have worn off after the first five minutes. The first movie survived simply by its jaw-dropping but oddly good-natured ridiculousness, while the second was made vaguely watchable by being sometimes imaginative about the over-the-top ways it could find to kill people with flying sharks and to get people to kill the massive cartilaginous fish.

But now we come to part 3, where any imagination has run out and the whole thing comes across as so cynical that you can almost feel the makers smirking that anyone would be stupid enough to want to watch a third movie about tornados that throw sharks at people. [Read more…]

Ted 2 – Extended Edition (Blu-ray Review)

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Even the makers of 2012’s Ted are unlikely to have expected it to gross $550 million around the world. It ensured Universal was keen to make a sequel, although it has to be said this follow-up wasn’t half as successful, taking $212 million around the world. Not a bad number but nothing like the first.

This time around Mila Kunis is nowhere to be seen, as she and Mark Wahlberg’s John Bennett have gotten a divorce, leaving him completely lacking on confidence around women. Ted meanwhile seems to be having better luck, as he’s marrying the bold and brassy Tami-Lynn (Jessica Barth).

Things come unstuck though when the talking teddy and his wife decide to adopt a child, as it suddenly make the government consider his status, and they decide that legally they don’t consider him a person, so not only won’t he be getting a baby, his marriage is invalid, he can’t keep his job and he’s now classed as property. [Read more…]

Hot Pursuit (Blu-ray Review)

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Hot Pursuit must have seemed like a slam dunk. Get two popular actresses who’ve had comedy success, give them a script that’s a little similar to The Heat and bring in a director who had a big hit with The Proposal. However, the resulting movie flopped at the cinemas and has an abysmally low rating of 7% on Rotten Tomatoes.

To be fair to it though, it’s not as dreadful as that might suggest. You can almost feel the critics reacting to the fact it all very forced – a movie that from the ground up feels cynically contrived to pander to the audience and as a result ends up lacking real heart. However, everyone involved is obviously extremely keen to please, rather like an overly keen party host, where you can appreciate the effort even if you wish they wouldn’t try so hard. [Read more…]