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

Something Like Summer Trailer – True love runs far from smooth for two young gay men

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Synopsis: ‘BENJAMIN BENTLEY is the only guy at his Texas high school with the courage to come out of the closet, dooming himself, he believes, to a life of loneliness. Putting up with the bullies and his classmates’ whispered condemnations keeps him from pursuing his dream of being a singer, despite the encouragement of his best friend, Allison. Instead, Ben spends his summer vacation stalking the handsome athlete who just moved to town, Tim Wyman. Everything changes when Ben’s clumsiness causes an accident that brings him and Tim together, beginning a secret romance threatened at every turn by discovery and bigotry…

Years pass and Ben finds himself in Chicago attending college, still no closer to the true love he thought he’d found with Tim. On a trip home, he takes up with charming flight attendant Jace – possibly the world’s perfect boyfriend – and transfers to Texas University, where he’s reunited with Allison. But his happiness is upended when he runs into Tim, now out of the closet, and thrilled at the prospect of winning back his lost love…

‘SOMETHING LIKE SUMMER follows the course of true love over the span of a dozen years, from awkward adolescence through challenging adulthood, featuring seven classic and original musical numbers and the artwork of a talented young artist.’

Something Like Summer is currently screening at film festivals. Take a look at the trailer below. (H/T JoeMyGod) [Read more…]

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Doctor Who Is Getting An Out Gay Companion For The First Time

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Doctor Who has had many companions over the years, but now, for the first time, he’s getting one that’s openly gay. Pearl Mackie, who’s playing new companion Billie Potts, will reveal her sexuality in the first couple of lines she speaks when the show returns to British TV for its tenth season (since its revival).

“It shouldn’t be a big deal in the 21st Century. It’s about time isn’t it?” says Mackie (via the BBC).

She adds, “That representation is important, especially on a mainstream show. It’s important to say people are gay, people are black – there are also aliens in the world as well so watch out for them. I remember watching TV as a young mixed race girl not seeing many people who looked like me, so I think being able to visually recognise yourself on screen is important. [Being gay] is not the main thing that defines her character – it’s something that’s part of her and something that she’s very happy and very comfortable with.”

Since the show returned to TV in 2005, there have been several gay and bisexual characters, such as Captain Jack (John Barrowman), River Song (Alex Kingston), as well as Madame Vastra (Neve McIntosh) and her wife Jenny Flint (Catrin Stewart). However, while these characters have appeared in numerous episodes, they haven’t travelled with the Doctor full time.

The series returns on April 15th, and promises to be the last featuring Peter Capaldi in the title role.

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All Male, All Nude Trailer – Gerald McCullouch takes us inside a legendary gay male strip joint

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You might know Gerald McCullouch from the Bear City movies, or as one of the lab techs in CSI. However, he’s now following in the footsteps of Joe Manganiello and directing a documentary about male strippers.

McCullouch has set his sights on America’s only all nude, all male, gay strip club, Swinging Richards, which isn’t, as you might expect in New York or Los Angeles, but is instead in the heart of the Bible Belt, in Atlanta.

Here’s the synopsis: ‘From part of the creative team behind the award-winning E! TV show “F.Y.E.!”, All Male, All Nude. is a cutting-edge journey into the taboo world of male stripping. The men living this life can’t be boxed in nor can those who pay to watch them strip. Straight men, gay men, bi-sexual men and those who are gay only when the money is right support themselves and, sometimes their families, by dancing nude for a diverse clientele of gay men, straight women, business men in town for work, married couples and everyone in between.

‘The men range from their 20’s up to their 40’s and have a weight room and locker room as their home base for the evening while they connect with customers in a deft money making venture. Each relishes, defends, enjoys and abhors their career choice and looks back on life’s lessons that led them to where they are now.’

Take a look at the trailer below. The film will debut at Out On Film in Atlanta on April 1st. [Read more…]

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Discreet Teasers – First look at Travis Mathews’ erotic, queer look at modern American masculinity & politics

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Travis Mathews​ has gained a lot of fans for his In Their Room series, as well as both the short and feature-length versions of I Want Your Love, and his collaboration with James Franco, Interior Leather Bar. Now he’s returning with Discreet, which has released a couple of teasers.

Mathews has also been talking to Out about the film, saying, “It’s an unconventional film, and one with a lot of entry points for viewers. I want to invite people to consider watching the film through the prism of the politics that shaped it, and to hopefully leave the theater considering the scope of what’s happening in America. Hopefully, some folks will be inspired to make their own work that responds to this dangerous moment we’re sifting through. It’s not the time for people to be quiet or isolate.”

In the movie, ‘After years in hiding and struggling to control his demons, an eccentric drifter returns home and discovers that his childhood abuser, the center of his pain, is still alive. Armed with this knowledge, the drifter plots his revenge, all the while navigating the perilous land of masculine fragility in modern-day America.’

As with Mathews earlier film, it isn’t a film that’s afraid to use explicit and erotic imagery, and has also been praised for being an incredibly timely look at the current politics in America, and most particularly the rise of the alt-right.

The director adds, “As I was driving around Texas listening to conservative talk radio I tried to understand how that vitriol was intersecting with the black box profiles that I saw on the gay hookup apps. The movie is really about gathering all of that bubbling masculine anxiety during the US presidential campaign then channeling it through the traumatized mind of one character on a difficult journey.”

Discreet recently premiered at the Berlin Film Festival and is currently playing film festivals. Take a look at the two teasers below. [Read more…]

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Dax Shepard Defends CHiPS Against Accusations Of Homophobia

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Dax Shepard and Kristen Bell believe in LGBT rights enough that they waited to marry until the right was extended to same sex couples. So you wouldn’t think he’d be having to fend off accusations of homophobia, but there’s been a bit of disquiet about the film version of CHiPS, which he wrote, directed and stars in, about whether some of its jokes are actually anti-gay.

That includes Michael Pena’s undercover FBI character, Poncho, accidentally face-planting in his partners crotch and freaking out while holding a naked Baker (Shepard), and also his discomfort when he’s [as reported by TheWrap) ‘confronted with a glory shot of Baker’s bulge in tighty whities in the police locker room, where other bros engage in bare-chested hugs and the camera watches the many bulges bounce off each another as Ponch’s face twists in horror’.

It’s humour rooted in gay panic, and while it can be funny when smartly used to show the ridiculousness of some expressions of masculinity, in many cases it’s used purely as a cheap laugh and rooted in homophobia itself. The latter is what some have accused CHiPS of – although TheWrap does acknowledge that the film tries to deal with some of the issues it raises in terms of Poncho’s hyper-masculinity.

There are also three gay characters in the movie itself – a corrupt cop and his armored car driver who are secretly a couple, and an inept policeman who is more interested in lusting after his fellow officers in their uniform, and talking about how many people he’s slept with. All are essentially used as a punchline.

Aware of how some might see the film’s humour, Shepard told HuffPo, “I do think it’s fun and challenging to have a topic like homophobia be in this movie and to do it correctly. That’s a very fun challenge. The intent isn’t homophobic, the intent is actually to be progressive and still deal with that issue because that issue is always going to be funny ― all those issues are going to be funny.”

Although it appears his heart is in the right place, it also doesn’t sound like he’s fully thought out what he’s doing, as while the intent may not have been homophobic, if the audience laughs out of a homophobic impulse, it’s not exactly progressive.

Bell, show also stars in CHiPS, adds, “There are certain things at face value you could say, because we’re exploring the topic, ‘Oh, that seems homophobic or that seems sexist,’ but it’s not. It’s the exploration of the topic and the exploration of the different points of view involved in the topic to open up the conversation to cure the disease that we’re riddled with…

“If you really look at it and you hear Dax’s arguments about why he wrote it, he’s a feminist, for sure, and he’s also about the most un-homophobic person you could ever find ― I mean, we waited until everyone could get married before we got married, based on principle.”

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Heartland Trailer – A woman & her brother’s girlfriend get close in the lesbian-themed film

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Synopsis: ‘Heartland tells the story of Lauren, an artist living in suburban Oklahoma, who has moved back home with her mom, Crystal, following the sudden death of her girlfriend. The relentlessly chipper Crystal assumes her daughter is headed back to the straight and narrow, but Lauren is only paying lip service to her mother’s plans to stave off the pain of the recent tragedy.

‘When Lauren’s brother Justin comes home with his uptight girlfriend Carrie to help launch a local winery, he enlists Lauren and Carrie to help with the marketing concept. Although the two women are quite different, an attraction between them builds as Lauren rediscovers her sense of fun, and Carrie questions her traditional future. Eventually, the two begin a passionate affair that creates havoc when the secret comes out.’

Wolfe Video is set to bring the film to VoD and DVD in the US this summer. Take a look at the trailer below. [Read more…]

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I’m Fine Trailer – Gay-themed comedy series coming soon from LGBT streaming service

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The LGBT-centric subscription streaming service Dekkoo has already brought us original series such as Feral (which has been renewed for Season 2), as with the reality show Love Is Blind. Now it’s prepping its third show, I’m Fine, which has just released its first trailer.

Here’s the synopsis: ‘Nate just broke up with his boyfriend, but he’s totally fine. His best friend Jeff is always by his side, and his other friend, Andy, experiencing a happy, healthy relationship doesn’t bother him at all. Why would it? As Nate navigates the daily struggle of dealing with an ex who just won’t go away, he continues to feel like he might break – but really, he’s fine. I’M FINE is a comedy series that explores gay male relationships and friendship with a brutally honest edge.’

Episodes 1 to 4 of I’m Fine will be available from April 19th, with eps 5 to 8 following on June 21st. Check out the trailer below. [Read more…]

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Malaysia Backs Down On Gay Cuts To Beauty & The Beast

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In the game of chicken that Disney has been playing with the Malaysian censors, the House Of Mouse has won. Last week, just a few days before it was due for release, Disney pulled the movie from release in Malaysia due to cuts to LGBT-related content that had been demanded.

Although Malaysia’s Film Censorship Board said it was just a small cut they wanted to the very end of the movie, it turned out it was much more, with reports they wanted the entire ‘Gaston’ musical number removed, due to the fact at one point two men hug. Disney refused and the Censorship Board then tried to deflect blame, saying they would have probably allowed the movie through, if director Bill Condon hadn’t talked about the ‘gay moment’ and (in their eyes) forced them to act.

Initially neither side seemed to want to back down, but now the Film Censorship Board has decided they will allow the movie to screen intact, with the equivalent of a PG-13/12 rating. It will now be released in Malaysia on March 30th.

Gay sex is still illegal in Malaysia and discrimination is pervasive, with one of the lowest levels of acceptance of homosexuality by society in Asia, and in recent years the situation has arguably gotten worse.

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The New Power Rangers Movie Is Bringing Us An Openly Gay Movie Superhero

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It’s been a big month for gay visibility in major movies. After years of criticism of Disney for never including LGBT characters in their movies, they brought us Lefou in Beauty & The Beast (who admittedly isn’t exactly out and proud – but he’s certainly queer), and now it’s been revealed that one of the new Power Rangers will be openly gay.

One part of the movie, according to THR, is that Yellow Ranger, Trini, played Becky G, doesn’t just have to deal with the pressures of being a teen superhero, but is also coming to terms with her sexuality. Director Dean Israelite comments, “For Trini, really she’s questioning a lot about who she is. She hasn’t fully figured it out yet. I think what’s great about that scene and what that scene propels for the rest of the movie is, ‘That’s OK.’ The movie is saying, ‘That’s OK,’ and all of the kids have to own who they are and find their tribe.”

It doesn’t sound like this is a big part of the film, as it’s talked about in terms of being a ‘moment’ and a ‘pivotal scene’, so don’t expect too much of an exploration of Trini’s sexuality. However, it’s still very unusual for a film like this to have a major gay character. Indeed, Hollywood has a long history of straight-washing anything even vaguely queer in the superhero world, so it’s certainly progress. Hopefully, following the success of Beauty & The Beast, Power Rangers will be a big enough hit that it won’t scare Hollywood off from more LGBT representation in their biggest movies.

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Jane Lynch Is Set To Go Womanising In NBC’s New TV Pilot, Relatively Happy

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Jane Lynch has been brilliant for years, but people only really started properly paying attention after Glee. Since that show ended, TV has been looking for the right spot for her, and now NBC is hoping they’ve found it, as Variety reports she’s been cast in the pilot for the new comedy, Relatively Happy.

It’s a bit of gender-blind casting – sort of – as the role was originally written for a man, before the producers (including Will & Grace’s Max Mutchnick) decided it would be perfect for Lynch. Thankfully though, it doesn’t appear they’re changing much, as that just as when the character was a guy, she’ll be a bit of a womaniser.

The show ‘follows adult siblings Henry (John Rudnitsky) and Heather (Genevieve Angelson) who wind up living together for the first time since they were kids, after one of them suffers a big loss. They become each other’s wingman, shoulder to cry on, best friend and punching bag as they navigate love, loss and work while helping to get each other “un-stuck.”’

Lynch will play ‘Bobbi Martin, a fast-living, Scotch-drinking, three-piece-suit–wearing, womanizing divorce attorney who is Henry’s boss, mentor and “father” figure’.

Sitcom directing legend James Burrows will helm the pilot, with the show angling to premiere this autumn.

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