October 26th 2015 (UK) Archives - Big Gay Picture Show

The Overnight (DVD/VoD Review)

October 26, 2015 By Tim Isaac Leave a Comment

Starring: Adam Scott, Taylor Schilling, Jason Schwartzman, Judith Godrèche
Director: Patrick Brice
Running Time: 79 mins
Certificate: 15
Release Date: October 26th 2015 (UK)

Sometimes when it comes to indie film darlings it’s difficult to see what all the fuss was about. With The Overnight that’s not too much of an issue, as while it might not quite deserve some of the raves it received following its first festival screenings, it’s still a good movie.

Alex (Adam Scott) and Emily (Taylor Schilling) are a 30-something couple with a kid, who are newly arrived in California. It’s not been an easy move, with stay-at-home dad Alex feeling slightly dislocated and friendless. He randomly meets Kurt (Jason Schwartzman) in the park, who invites Alex and Emily over to his house for the evening.

Once there they meet Kurt’s French wife Charlotte (Judith Godrèche), and Alex and Emily can’t help but feel they may have found some firm friends in the arty, free-thinking, bohemian and seemingly cool couple. As the evening goes on the straitlaced Emily and Alex begin to loosen up – thanks to some liquor and pot – but while Alex feels increasingly free and with his inhibitions falling away, Emily begins to wonder whether Kurt and Charlotte are a bit too freethinking and strange. [Read more…]

Pasolini (Blu-ray Review)

October 25, 2015 By Tim Isaac Leave a Comment

Starring: Willem Dafoe, Riccardo Scamarcio, Ninetto Davoli
Director: Abel Ferrara
Running Time: 84 mins
Certificate: 18
Release Date: October 26th 2015 (UK)

Abel Ferrara’s movie about director Pier Paolo Pasolini’s final day in 1975 has been described as ‘non-linear’, ‘cubist’ and ‘kaleidoscopic’, which should be a good hint that this is not a straightforward, simple movie. This is a movie for those who enjoy their films on the artier side and don’t mind something that asks them to piece things together to create a moment in someone’s life. It also helps if you know a little bit about Pasolini before you watch it.

Pasolini was a true artistic polymath, distinguishing himself as a poet, writer, film director, political figure and cultural philosopher. His leftist politics made him a controversial figure to some, although many couldn’t see past the ‘shocking’ elements of his work – but as Pasolini puts it, “To scandalise is a right, to be scandalised is a pleasure”. [Read more…]

Mr. Holmes (DVD Review)

October 25, 2015 By Tim Isaac Leave a Comment

Starring: Ian McKellen, Laura Linney, Milo Parker, Hiroyuki Sanada
Director: Bill Condon
Running Time: 104 mins
Certificate: PG
Release Date: October 26th 2015 (UK)

You’d be forgiven for thinking that a movie about an aging Sherlock Holmes would be about the famed detective back on the case solving a murder and recapturing his glory days, but Mr. Holmes is something slightly different.

Holmes (Ian McKellen) is in his 90s, living in a remote cottage after leaving his illustrious career behind 35 years before. His main company is his cook/housekeeper, Mrs. Munro (Laura Linney), her son Roger (Milo Parker) and the bees that he keeps. He’s not trying to recapture his glory days, he just wants to be able to properly remember them, as creeping senility keeps making him to forget things, including what really happened on his final case.

He knows that the ending to the tale isn’t what Watson wrote in his successful books about Sherlock, but he’s having trouble remembering exactly what it was that led him to leave his former life behind. [Read more…]