A biopic is in the works of Robert Mapplethorpe, with Matt Smith currently set to play the provocative photographer. However, before then the documentary Mapplethorpe: Look at the Pictures will take us into the world of a man who caused a culture wars furore and in the process brought in-your-face queer art into the public consciousness like never before.
Here’s the synopsis: ‘Following the hugely successful World premiere at Sundance Film Festival, Mapplethorpe: Look at the Pictures by Emmy Award winning directors Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbarto (Inside Deep Throat, Party Monster, The Eyes of Tammy Faye) about the life, work and legacy of controversial artist Robert Mapplethorpe will open in UK cinemas 22nd April 2016.
‘Mapplethorpe: Look at the Pictures is the first definitive feature-length portrait of artist Robert Mapplethorpe since his death from AIDS 1989. With two museums currently preparing joint retrospectives of Mapplethorpe’s work, theJ. Paul Getty Museum and The Los Angeles County Museum (LACMA), the directors took the opportunity to access rare and never before seen materials from his earliest forays into art and photography, to his work depicting the BDSM culture, to his delicate flower still lifes, to his portraiture – every aspect of his work is covered in this film
‘In addition to this wealth of material, Barbarto and Bailey use never before heard audio recordings of Mapplethorpe with interviews with his family, friends, lovers, and collaborators including: Edward Mapplethorpe, Fran Lebowitz, Brice Marden, Debbie Harry, Carolina Herrera, Bob Colacello, Brooke Shields, Gloria von Thurn und Taxis, Ken Moody, and Richard Sherman. Mapplethorpe: Look at the Pictures is a document of an ambitious and daring artist who challenged social norms and pushed boundaries with his confrontational images and created a rich market for photography.’
The film will be in UK cinemas on April 22nd, with the film due to air on HBO in the US around the same time. Take a look at the trailer below. It will also screen at the BFI Flare LGBT Film Festival on March 19th and 21st.
Max Landis – son of director John Landis – has made quite a name for himself writing the likes of Chronicle, American Ultra, and Victor Frankenstein. Now he’s moving into the director’s chair himself to tell a gay-themed tale called Me Him Her.
The world of the movies seems to have decided today is the day for new posters, with the likes X-Men: Apocalypse, Independence Day: Insurgence & Absolutely Fabulous all debuting fresh promos. You can take a look at them all below.
Yesterday we were 
I’m presuming next year’s crop of tenpole movies will see a lot of superheroes heading off for relationship counselling, as this year they’re all fighting. After Batman v Superman we’ll be getting Captain America: Civil War, which will see the Avengers fighting with one another, with the two sides led by the Cap and Iron Man.
I think it’s safe to safe having watched the trailer for Top Cat Begins, that the digital artists at the likes of Pixar, Dreamworks Animation, Illumination and Blu Sky aren’t going to be worried that the makers of this new movie are going to blow them out of the water with the quality of their CGI. In fact all the background characters look oddly like zombies.
It’s time for another crowdfunded movie campaign, this time for RainBRO, which is seeking $50,000 cover all the pre-production costs and hopefully convice financiers to take a chance of the movie. And if you do help out, you could even get some RainBRO underwear!
While there’s been a lot of comment about whether Finn and Poe Dameron might end up being the Star Wars movie’s first gay couple (based on their bromance in The Force Awakens), it’s not really been mentioned that the franchise could have had a gay character long before that – Luke Skywalker. Although he was shown having some interest in Leia, before he found out she was his sister, he never really had a romance of his own, and seemed as interested in men as women.