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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

REVIEWS

Cinema, DVD and Blu-ray reviews

Iris Prize Festival LGBT+ International Short Films 2020 – Part 3 (Short Film Reviews)

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Now it’s time for the final part of our round-up of the shorts that competed for the 2020 Iris Prize for Best International LGBT+ short. It’s a prize worth £30,000, which allows the winning filmmaker to make another short film. The selection below includes the short that walked away with that award, so which film won this year’s Iris Prize, you can find out below?

All the films that screened as part of the Iris Prize Festival are available to view on a pay-as-you-go basis to viewers in the UK until the end of October 2020 – Find out more here.

Read our reviews of the other 2020 Iris Prize Shorts: Part 1 and Part 2 [Read more…]

Iris Prize Festival LGBT+ International Short Films 2020 – Part 2 (Short Film Reviews)

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This year’s Iris Prize Festival went online, allowing viewers across the UK to take a look at some of the world’s best LGBT+ short films. There were some great films available, so if you’ve already taken a look at what we thought of the films from the first three programmes, you can see below what we thought of the next selections, which included everything films about coming out as trans in rural Uganda, to the insecurities of losing your virginity.

All the films that screened as part of the Iris Prize Festival are available to view on a pay-as-you-go basis to viewers in the UK until the end of October 2020 – Find out more here.

Read our reviews of the other 2020 Iris Prize Shorts: Part 1 and Part 3 [Read more…]

Iris Prize Festival LGBT+ International Short Films 2020 – Part 1 (Short Film Reviews)

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While this year’s Iris Prize Festival went online, that certainly didn’t affect the quality of the shorts competing for the £30,000 LGBT+ International Short Film prize. Here’s our thoughts on the shorts from the first three programmes.

All the films that screened as part of the Iris Prize Festival are available to view on a pay-as-you-go basis to viewers in the UK until the end of October 2020 – Find out more here.

Read our reviews of the other 2020 Iris Prize Shorts: Part 2 and Part 3 [Read more…]

McQueen (Blu-ray Review) – An exhilarating look into the life of the gay fashion legend

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I’ve often thought that if I ever had enough money that I could spend it on high end fashion, the first place I’d head is for Alexander McQueen. While in this documentary the fashion label’s namesake and founder, Lee Alexander McQueen, says in an archive interview that he can’t see the brand going on without him as the driving force, following his untimely death it has continued to find success and present the unique McQueen style thanks to the creative direction of his right hand person, Sarah Burton.

The documentary itself focuses on Lee, following his story from working class East End London lad through his apprenticeship in Savile Row, MA at Central St. Martin’s, founding his own fashion label in his early 20s, his appointment as Creative Director at Givenchy and on through the growth of the Alexander McQueen brand thanks to a partnership with Gucci. It does this via extensive archive footage as well as interviews with those closest to him, including his sister and nephew, along with the circle of friends and colleagues who worked alongside him over the years. [Read more…]

Iris Prize Festival LGBT+ International Short Films 2018 – Part 3 (Short Film Reviews)

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The final three programmes of short films in competition at the Iris Prize LGBT+ Film Festival were certainly an intriguing bunch, ranging from the complex and somewhat sinister to the very silly. The six-day celebration of LGBT+ film is centred around its justly prestigious Iris International Prize. This is the most valuable LGBT short film prize in the world, worth £30,000, which allows the recipient to make another short.

So, what were the films that rounded out the competition like (can read about the others in Part 1 and Part 2)? [Read more…]

Iris Prize Festival LGBT+ International Short Films 2018 – Part 2 (Short Film Reviews)

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The second day of the Iris Prize Film Festival brought another trio of eclectic film brought together into themed programmes. The six-day celebration of LGBT+ film is centred around its justly prestigious Iris International Prize. This is the most valuable LGBT short film prize in the world, worth £30,000, which allows the recipient to make another short.

You can read about what we thought about the films from Day 1 by clicking here, but read below for Day 2. [Read more…]

Iris Prize Festival LGBT+ International Short Films 2018 – Part 1 (Short Film Reviews)

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The ‘gay short film Oscars’, the Iris Prize, is happening in Cardiff, Wales as I post this. The six-day celebration of LGBT+ film is centred around its justly prestigious Iris International Prize. This is the most valuable LGBT short film prize in the world, worth £30,000, which allows the recipient to make another short. The first of the 35 films in competition have now screened, and once more it’s an eclectic and fascinating bunch, covering a range of themes concerning sexuality, gender and more.

This year the screenings of the shorts have been brought together into thematic groups, so take a look below to see our thoughts on the Iris Prize International Shorts from Day 1 of the fest.

Click here to read Iris Prize Festival LGBT+ International Short Films 2018 – Part 2 [Read more…]

Book Club (DVD Review) – A cast of living legends reads Fifty Shades of Grey

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For decades four female friends have been getting together for a monthly book club. However, while this started when they were in their youth, they now all facing the fact they’re aging. Diane (Diane Keaton) is a relatively recent widow being pressured by her daughters to move to nearer to them in Arizona, as they think she’s too old to manage by herself. Carol (Mary Steenburgen) is stuck in a rut with her husband, while federal judge Sharon (Candice Bergen) has completely given up on the idea of either love or sex. Finally there’s Vivian (Jane Fonda), a woman who’s never had a problem finding sex but has always disdained the idea of settling down with one person.

Rather than their typical book club novels, the quartet decide to read Fifty Shades Of Grey. After discovering the Red Room shenanigans that Christian Grey and Anastasia Steele get up to, the four women start to shake up their own lives. That may not involve BDSM, but it does set them thinking about what they really want from their remaining years. [Read more…]

Mission: Impossible – Fallout (Cinema Review)

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It really doesn’t seem that long since I saw the last Mission: Impossible film (Rogue Nation, 2015), and I praised it for its ability to utilise the tried and tested formula of its predecessors, whilst being a fresh and exhilarating entry to the franchise. That’s something this series continues to do effortlessly with Fallout, which is without doubt one of the best entries. You can’t say that for many other franchises six movies in.

Without going too much into the plot, Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) and his team have to retrieve three plutonium cores before they are turned into nuclear bombs, as well as foil the plot of a religious terrorist group called the Apostles, who want to reshape the world. On this mission Hunt is chaperoned by CIA agent Walker (Henry Cavill), and we have the welcome return of regulars Benji (Simon Pegg), Luther (Ving Rhames), Ilsa (Rebeccan Fergurson), alongside some new and memorable additions. [Read more…]

Tomb Raider (Blu-ray Review) – Alicia Vikander takes on Lara Croft

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Many people were surprised when it was announced there was going to be a Tomb Raider movie reboot, especially considering the Angelina Jolie movies of the early 2000s aren’t exactly well remembered. However, as with so many other videogames, there’s no intrinsic reason it couldn’t be turned into a good movie. Although for some reason, Hollywood has great difficulty turning games into serviceable film.

This time around Jolie has been replaced by Alicia Vikander, who like her predecessor stepped into Lara Croft’s shoes shortly after winning a Best Supporting Actress Oscar (Jolie for Girl Interrupted and Vikander for The Danish Girl). Her Lara is a young woman who’s fiercely intelligent and smart, but whose life shifted sideways when her adventurer father went missing, presumed dead, when she was a child. [Read more…]