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Taking a look at the world of film through gay eyes - news, reviews, trailers, gay film, queer cinema and more

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Taking a look at the world of film through gay eyes - news, reviews, trailers, gay film, queer cinema & more

CINEMA REVIEWS

The latest cinema reviews from BGPS

120 BPM (Beats Per Minute) (Cinema Review) – The acclaimed, gay themed French movie finally arrives in the UK

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120 BPM has been eliciting praise ever since it debuted at Cannes last year, including winning the Grand Prix and Queer Palm at the festival. It’s gone on to win multiple other awards, including Best Film at the Cesar Awards (France’s equivalent of the Oscars). It was also France’s entry for Best Foreign Language Film at the Academy Awards, although sadly it missed out on a nomination.

Written and directed by Robin Campillo (who also made the very good Eastern Boys), 120 BPM is a fictionalised take on the true story of the AIDS activist organisation, ACT UP Paris. Campillo and co-screenwriter Philippe Mangeot were involved with ACT UP themselves, helping to give the movie an authenticity and power it may otherwise have lacked. Thankfully though, despite being close to the story Campillo is objective enough to be able to acknowledge the flaws and problems within the organisation, while also having a clear-eyed view of why these things happened. This allows it to be a powerful and empathetic testament to both ACT UP and those who were/are affected by AIDS, without becoming hagiography. [Read more…]

Love, Simon (Cinema Review) – Gay themed teen film fun goes mainstream

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You can’t win with a gay audience. Whenever a gay-themed movie or TV show comes along that’s given a higher profile/mainstream release, it ends up generating controversy. The problem seems to be that their rarity mean people want these releases to be all things to all men (or at least reflect their personal conception of what gay entertainment should), but often course one film/show can’t represent everything.

It’s already happened with Love, Simon, with some complaining that it’s ‘yet another’ coming out story (despite the fact that coming out is one of the few nearly universal gay experiences and that the films audience of teens – and not just gay teens – won’t have seen lots of coming out movies). Others have moaned that its mainstream sensibilities deny the oppression that many LGBT people face, even though Simon’s experience is probably closer to the reality for many young gay people in the West nowadays than a ‘right on’ tale of misery and oppression. [Read more…]

A Wrinkle in Time (Cinema Review) – Disney magic or misfire?

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Disney are having a huge amount of financial and critical success with live action remakes of their classic animated features, but not so much with original properties. For example, I was hyped at the prospect of Tomorrowland (2015), but was disappointed with the result and, unsurprisingly, it was a flop. This is a shame as big studios with big budgets need to take risks in order to bring fresh stories to the screen. There are successes such as Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003), but also some misfires along the way and unfortunately this movie is one of them.

A Wrinkle in Time is apparently a passion project for director Ava DuVernay who has been developing it for a number of years. It is based on a bestselling book series which I have never heard of. Maybe it’s that the book was huge in America or that I’ve never heard of it simply due to the fact it hasn’t already been translated to the big screen before. [Read more…]

Coco (Cinema Review) – Pixar takes us into the Mexican Day of the Dead

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Pixar have an amazing track record for producing excellent films that are both commercial successes and critically praised. As I write this I haven’t seen a film released by them that I would consider bad, and this sets them apart from all the other studios producing computer animated films.

One reason for Pixar’s strength is the fearlessness of creating unique worlds and telling self-contained stories without the desire to build franchises. Yes, I know that a few of their films have spawned sequels (and a prequel), but unlike a lot of studios in general they take their time with each project and spend it developing the story at its heart. As such one of my most anticipated films of 2018 is The Incredibles 2, and as long as Pixar continue not to rush their projects in order to reach release dates, then I welcome all of their future films with open arms. [Read more…]

The Darkest Hour (Cinema Review) – A Golden Globe winning Gary Oldman takes on Churchill

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If you need an actor to play Winston Churchill look no further than Harry Potter. The great Gary Oldman is the fifth man to play the wartime PM relatively recently after Timothy Spall, Robert Hardy, Michael Gambon and Brendan Gleeson, and he certainly has the gravitas to carry it off. That’s evidenced by his recent Golden Globe win and BAFTA nomination (the film also scored another eight nominations). Despite that, what he doesn’t have is a script that helps him out much, or a director who brings the story to life. A shame, as it could have been so much more, set during a pivotal month in WWII.

This is apparently the passion project of writer Anthony McCarten, but quite what he is trying to tease out of the well-worn story remains something of a mystery. He also plays fast and loose with history – the idea that Churchill was befriended by his best mate the King seems a stretch, as does the idea that most of Parliament wanted to do a deal with Hitler – some did certainly, but not the majority. Another idea, that a doubting Churchill was buoyed by taking a tube train and is roused by the voices of the people, is frankly ludicrous. Some truly dodgy acting by extras doesn’t help. [Read more…]

Beach Rats (Cinema Review) – A teen struggles with masculinity & sexuality in the gay-themed movie

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With Call Me By Your Name, God’s Own Country and Beach Rats, 2017 may have been strongest year ever for gay-themed films at the Sundance Film Festival. The last of those, Beach Rats, took the Best Director (Dramatic) Award for director Eliza HIttman, and it’s also just been nominated for a couple of Independent Spirit Awards. The result is that it arrives in UK cinemas with quite a reputation. But does it deserve it?

The short answer is – yes.

It’s summer and Brooklyn teenager Frankie (Harris Dickinson) has nothing to do but hang out with his friends, heading down to the beach to flirt with girls, play ball and try to pass the time. However, away from his somewhat delinquent mates, he’s started going online and looking for guys. Initially he’s uncertain about what he’s doing or whether it means anything beyond being a way to pass the time, but he soon starts meeting men for sex. [Read more…]

Call Me By Your Name (Cinema Review) – Acclaimed first gay love for Timothee Chalamet & Armie Hammer

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After garnering huge amounts of praise on its Sundance debut in January, many suggested Call Me By Your Name had the potential to be a Brokeback style mainstream crossover success. Although it’s unlikely to become the sort of box office hit Ang Lee’s 2005 Oscar-winner was, it is likely to appeal to a wider audience than most gay-themed movies, partly just due to its reputation.

The film, based on Andre Aciman’s acclaimed novel, is set in northern Italy in 1983, at the 17th Century villa of an American professor (Michael Stuhlbarg) and his family. Each summer the professor brings one of his students over, which results in 24-year-old Oliver (Armie Hammer) arriving at the house. He immediately catches the attention of the professor’s 17-year-old son, Elio (Timothee Chalamet). [Read more…]

Thor: Ragnarok (Cinema Review) – The God of Thunder is back & so is The Hulk

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I have absolutely no problem with Disney churning out Marvel (or Star Wars) films as long as the quality is up to scratch. Thankfully, they are indeed on point with this third and possibly final Thor movie.

Thor: Ragnarok is set two years after the events of Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015) – although that film’s events seemed more like a week rather than an age – and our hero Thor, the God of Thunder (Chris Hemsworth), is forewarned about Ragnarok: a prophecy that spells the destruction of his homeland of Asgard. [Read more…]

Dunkirk (Cinema Review) – One of the best war movies ever made?

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Christopher Nolan is a franchise. Much like the Spielberg summer releases of yesteryear or any film by Stanley Kubrick, there is a devoted audience who can’t wait to see the director’s next film. More often than not, Nolan’s movies are original (to a degree), stand alone and the studio has faith in the director’s abilities.

Nolan’s relationship with Warner Brothers seems to be going from strength to strength and I’ve read that he has a tendency to deliver his movies under budget and before the scheduled deadline.

I also like to believe that the pitch meetings go something like:
Nolan: “I have this idea for my next film.”
Warner’s: “Great, sounds excellent! Here, have some money and let us know once it’s done!” [Read more…]

Pirates of the Caribbean: Salazar’s Revenge (Cinema Review) – Jack Sparrow is back!

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To be honest I enjoy sequels and franchises as long as they keep up the standard and improve upon previous entries, which sadly often isn’t the case. I have reviewed countless sequels over the years and with this review I don’t want to regurgitate what I have previously written about franchises, and I will try to keep this to a minimum with this review as I don’t want to go over old ground; but rather tread new waters (pun fully intended).

Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl was a pleasant surprise to a lot of people when it came out in 2003. Many asked how could a film based on an old amusement park ride have such an effect on audiences around the world, and the answer is because it was fun. Cutthroat Island (1995) was a well-documented bomb at the box office and it was a risky move for Disney to release the first Pirates film, but it paid off both financially and critically. [Read more…]

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