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

Adam Hills – Inflatable (DVD)

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Adam Hill’s Inflatable DVD was first released last year as an HMV exclusive, but it’s now being reissued to all stores, so more people can enjoy it. The first thing that will strike any viewer of this disc is that comedian Adam is not the only one on stage. He also has a sign language interpreter with him. While the more cynical of you might think this was something he just did for the DVD to make him seem cool and inclusive, it sounds like he does it for a lot of his gigs.

It’s a good idea and seems to be appreciated, as there’s a posse of deaf people in the front row (one of whom gets on stage to sign Adam a happy 40th birthday). And if you do happen to be auditorially different to the mean average (i.e. a deafie), there’s an option on the disc to have the interpreter on screen all the time. Although the disc was filmed in Australia, I believe British Sign Language is pretty much the same as what the Aussies use, so it should be fine. [Read more…]

Channel 4’s Comedy Gala 2012 (DVD)

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Every Christmas brings out a slew of stand-up comedy releases, but if you’ve got to a gift to give and aren’t sure which comedians someone likes, Channel 4’s Comedy Gala 2012 might be the release to go for. Plus it helps raise money for Great Ormond Street Hospital, and you can’t argue with that.

A huge selection of the top stand-ups in the UK descended on the O2 in London last May for an evening of comedy, and this is the result. The line-up includes Lee Evans, Michael McIntyre, Jonathan Ross, Micky Flanagan, Sean Lock, Kevin Bridges, Jo Brand, Jack Whitehall, Jack Dee, Jon Richardson, Seann Walsh, Lee Nelson, Josh Widdicombe, Paul Chowdhry, Andi Osho, Keith Lemon, Alan Carr and Reginald D.Hunter. Jessi J also shows up to sing and offers a video about why GOSH is a good cause – and she should know, as she spent time in the hospital as a child. [Read more…]

Peter Pan (Blu-ray)

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I’m still surprised how much better classic animation can look on Blu-ray compared to earlier DVD editions. It helps when they’ve gone through a good restoration and remastering process, which is just what Peter Pan has gotten. The result is a great looking, almost pristine release for one of Disney’s best films.

I’m sure you know the story – Wendy Darling is on the edge of adolescence and her father wants her to give up her fanciful stories about Peter Pan, the boy who never grew up. However Wendy knows better, as she’s got Peter’s shadow. That evening, when her parents are out, Pan turns up looking for his shadow, and agrees to take Wendy and her brothers, John and Michael, to his home in Neverland. [Read more…]

Battleship Potemkin & Drifters (Blu-ray/DVD)

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While a lot of people will have heard of Battleship Potemkin (although relatively few have actually seen it), there are far fewer who know anything about Drifters. And even if you have heard of it, you might still be wondering what a Soviet propaganda movie about a 1905 mutiny and a documentary-style film about herring fishing are doing together on the same disc.

What this unexpected yet rather cleverly thought out DVD & Blu-ray dual-format release from the BFI does is recreate what’s been described as ‘the most celebrated double-bill in film history’, when these two movies screened at the Tivoli cinema on London’s Strand, on November 10th, 1929. [Read more…]

Foster (DVD)

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Foster is one of those films that could have been utterly wonderful, but sadly falls short. While it has charm, it doesn’t feel genuine enough to really hit home in the heart-warming, rather sentimental way it’s trying to.

Zooey (Toni Collette) and Alec (Ioan Gruffudd) are a couple who’d like another child, but for psychosomatic reason, she is unable to conceive. They decide to try and foster a kid, but things go a little faster than they expected when seven-year-old Eli (Maurice Cole) simply turns up on their doorstep and announces he’s been sent to live with them. They take him in while the records are checked as to whether he’s really meant to be there. The couple soon discover that despite his size, Eli’s got a surprisingly adult attitude, including an interest in the recession and watching CNN. [Read more…]

Ross Noble: Nonsensory Overload (DVD)

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With many comedians, you’ll be lucky if you get a 90 minute set out of them, but Ross Noble is the other way around, as he pretty much needs to be dragged off the stage and gives the impression he’d be happy to carry on riffing all night if given the chance. This comedic verbosity is carried onto this new DVD release, as you don’t just get one gig, you get three, plus a slew of highlights and bits and pieces from other performances. Just the first gig, filmed in Canberra, Australia, is over two hours long, which should give you an idea of just how much is included in this release. [Read more…]

La Gloire De Mon Pere & Le Chateau De Ma Mere (Blu-ray)

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Writer and director Marcel Pagnol died in 1974, but since the mid-1980s, movies based on his works have probably done more to create the popular image of Provence than virtually anything else. In 1986 Jean De Florette and Manon Des Sources were huge hits, followed in 1990 by La Gloire De Mon Pere and Le Chateau De Ma Mere, which now come to Blu-ray for the first time in a set that includes both movies.

Based on Pagnol’s memoirs of his youth, the two films cover everything from his birth to what happened to his family in later life, but mainly concentrate on a time during his early adolescence. Both films are rather episodic, looking at different stories from Marcel’s youth, most of which highlight the difficulties of growing up and the conflict between the old ideas on religious and class authority, and a new republican sentiment that was sweeping France in the early 20th Century. [Read more…]

A Very Harold & Kumar Christmas (DVD)

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When Kal Penn (aka Kumar) went off to work for Obama at the White House (yes, that really happened), it seemed that would be the end of Harold and Kumar. However he left his job in the President’s communications department and so the stoners have returned for a festive adventure. In cinemas they even went 3D, and indeed if you’ve got a 3D Blu-ray player and the right TV, you can enjoy a third dimension in the home, but if you’re going with DVD, you’ll have to enjoy the movie in good old 2D. [Read more…]

Sick: The Life & Death of Bob Flanagan, Supermasochist (DVD)

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It’s hardly worth reviewing Sick, as just mentioning that it’s a documentary about a man who nails his dick to a piece of wood and then dies a horrible, painful death (those two events aren’t connected, incidentally) is pretty much a guarantee everyone is going to watch it. However in case you haven’t rushed off to order your copy and want to know more about this fascinating, complex and often difficult to watch film, I’ll try and oblige.

As the title suggests, Bob Flanagan was a major masochist with a lover who he allowed to dominate him, complete with whips, chains, clamps, suspensions, piercings, knives and all manner of other SM practices. However he was also an artist and writer, as well as one of the oldest surviving Cystic Fibrosis sufferers. The documentary looks at his life, covering the childhood he wasn’t expected to survive and the fact he started his masochistic activities when he was just a teen. [Read more…]

Joyful Noise (DVD)

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I don’t consider myself a particularly stereotypical gay man, but that all changes when it comes to Dolly Parton, who has the innate ability to bring out my inner screaming queen.

I’m oddly unashamed about my love for Dolly Parton. Therefore I’m more than a little excited about the fact that Joyful Noise brings her back to movie screens in a starring role for the first time since Straight Talk in 1992. It’s not a completely triumphant return but the film is quite fun. [Read more…]