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

GAY INTEREST MOVIE REVIEWS

The latest gay interest film reviews from BGPS

Below Her Mouth (BFI Flare Review) – An all-female crew offers up a look at lesbian love

By 1 Comment

Below Her Mouth has attracted interest partly because of the unfortunately unusual fact that it was made with an all-female crew.

Dallas (Erika Linder) has just split up with her girlfriend and moved out of their home. She sees the beautiful Jasmine (Natalie Krill) while working on a roof, and then decides to pursue her when they meet in a lesbian bar. However, Jasmine says she’s not a lesbian, she’s only in the bar because her friend dragged her. Jasmine is engaged to a man and known for being faithful. [Read more…]

1:54 (BFI Flare Review) – Things get extremely dark for a bullied gay teen

By Leave a Comment

At BFI Flare, 1:54 was a rather polarising movie, with some praising the dark repercussions of teen homophobia it explores, whilst others felt it was all a little contrived – one person even called it exploitative.

Tim (Antoine Olivier Pilon) is a teenager who has spent years being bullied, which has grown increasingly homophobic in nature. His only friend is Francis (Robert Naylor), and while both feel an attraction to each other, they both ignore it, at least in Tim’s case because of the fear of what will happen if others – particularly the group led by the unpleasant Jeff – discover he really is a ‘fag’. [Read more…]

Centre Of My World (BFI Flare Review) – First love & dark family secrets for a young gay man

By 2 Comments

Based on Andreas Steinhöfel’s bestselling novel, Centre Of My World follows gay teenager Phil (Louis Hoffman), who returns from a summer camp to find that his unorthodox single mother, Glass (Sabine Timoteo) and twin sister Dianne (Ada Philine Stappenbeck), aren’t speaking to one another, but no one will tell him why.

When he returns to school, he meets new boy Nicholas (Jannik Schümann), who he immediately starts to fall for. Initially Phil just watches his new crush from afar, but then Nicholas decides to make a move, and the two begin both dating and having passionate sex. Phil’s best friend Kat (Svenja Jung) initially isn’t sure about this newcomer, but soon the three of them are fast friends. [Read more…]

Taekwondo (BFI Flare Review) – A young gay man becomes a spy in the world of sexy straight boys

By Leave a Comment

Marco Berger has made his name with gay-themed fare such as Plan B, Absent and Hawaii, all of which have been interested in growing sexual tension between men. Martin Farina meanwhile brought us the documentary Fulboy, about a group of straight footballers, where the gayness came through the voyeuristic eye of the camera. Here the two Argentinian directors come together for Taekwondo, which is both voyeuristic and about sexual tension at the same time.

It’s summer, and Fer (Lucas Papa) has invited his new friend German (Gabriel Epstein), to come for a vacation at his house, where there’s a pool, sauna and a bit of luxury. There’s also a group of other young men, all of whom have known each other for years, and who have an easy camaraderie. Casual nudity is common, as is talk about sex. When together, they are partway between grown men and boys. [Read more…]

Torrey Pines (BFI Flare Review) – Gender dysphoria & mental health get a stop-motion film

By Leave a Comment

Starring:
Director:
Running Time:
Certificate:

There aren’t many LGBT-themed animated movies, and most of the ones that exist are short films. Torrey Pines is a bit of an exception then – a 60-minute stop-motion film, that takes on issues such as a youth experiencing gender dysphoria and mental health problem.

It’s based on director/animator Clyde Petersen’s own childhood, following him when he was a young child called Whitney, a girl on the edge of puberty, experiencing the sense that she does not want breast and to get periods, but still at a time when she is more child than adult. [Read more…]

Jewel’s Catch One (BFI Flare Review) – An inspirational look at an LGBT activist & her nightclub

By Leave a Comment

Starring: , , , ,
Director:
Running Time:
Certificate:

Although some may not have heard of the Jewel’s Catch One nightclub, for others it’s a legendary venue – the Studio 54 of the West Coast – that for over 40 years welcomed all, but mostly gay men and women, and was a particular refuge for the African-American LGBT population of LA. It also became a hangout for celebrities, and hosted a Madonna album launch.

This documentary looks at the club and more particularly the woman who founded it, Jewel Thais-Williams. Hers is a remarkable story. Despite having little money, she bought the bar that later expanded into the club at a time when women in California weren’t even allowed to be bartenders (unless they owned the bar). She wasn’t just a woman in a man’s world, she was a black woman in a white man’s world, and she was also a lesbian. [Read more…]

After Louie (BFI Flare Review) – AIDS, generational changes, gay life & Alan Cumming

By Leave a Comment

After Louie is one of the higher profile titles at this year’s BFI Flare London LGBT Film Festival – largely because it stars Alan Cumming. He plays Sam, an artist working on a documentary about his friend, William, who died during the AIDS crisis. However, he discovers that few people are that interested in his project.

He meets the much younger Braeden (Zachary Booth), initially assuming the young man must be a rent boy, and so pays him for sex. Braeden also has a boyfriend, but starts to see more of Sam. They start to challenge each other’s assumption, with Sam angry that the younger generation don’t seem to care about the AIDS crisis and the battle against heteronormative culture he and his friends engaged in. Braeden meanwhile shows him that his generation have a very different experience of the world – and HIV – and that while Sam’s generation’s battles helped pave the way for that, it’s impossible for younger people to truly comprehend what it was like to watch so many people die amidst a society that didn’t care and in many cases attacked them. [Read more…]

Different For Girls (BFI Flare Web Series Review) – The lesbian housewives of London?

By Leave a Comment

The new web series Different For Girls received its World Premiere at the BFI Flare London LGBT Film Festival last night, before going online worldwide from March 18th. It’s an attempt to fill the void left by the lack of lesbian TV programming, with a show that looks like it could/should have been on a traditional television channel, but made – by necessity – on a much smaller budget. Nevertheless, they’ve pulled together a good cast, including Guinevere Turner (Go Fish, The Watermelon Woman,), Caroline Whitney Smith (Her Story), and Rachel Shelley (The L Word).

The five episodes of Season 1 introduce us to the slightly soap opera lives of a group of women in London’s Chiswick district. There’s Gemma, who’s dating Jude, but who’s also getting married to a guy – to satisfy her parents and his acting career. Jude though hasn’t really cut ties with her ex, Nicola, which isn’t making things easier with Gemma. Nicola is supposed to have moved on and has a wife, Brooke, and kids. Even so, Nicola has a hard time committing to this supposed domestic bliss, and if having an affair on the side. Brooke may not know that, but she does know her partner is neglecting her home life. [Read more…]

Beauty & The Beast (IMAX Review) – Is there something gay there that wasn’t there before?

By Leave a Comment

Starring: , , , ,
Director:
Running Time:
Certificate:
Release Date:

If it ain’t broke don’t fix it. That seems to have been the watchword with Beauty & The Beast. While there has been some tinkering around the edges of the 1991 animated classic to give everyone a bit more of a backstory, and to slightly soften some of the creepier Stockholm Syndrome elements, largely this live-action version is incredibly faithful. That goes as far as parts of the film being pretty much a shot-for-shot remake.

Inevitably, this will have some crying foul, seeing this as a cynical attempt by Disney to churn out another money-grabbing live-action take on one of their best films. Well, the fact is – yes, it is. But do you know what? I don’t care. [Read more…]

Multiple Maniacs (Criterion Blu-ray Review) – John Waters’ insane early queer movie is back & as bizarre as ever

By Leave a Comment

Starring: , ,
Director:
Running Time:
Certificate:
Release Date:

Even 47 years on, it’s sometimes difficult to know what to write about John Water’s early work. While he later tempered some of his more depraved urges and found a wider audience with the likes of Hairspray, Serial Mom and Pecker – although all still with the unique Waters stamp – when he first started out he was blazing a trail unlike anyone else.

Multiple Maniacs was Waters’ first feature-length sound movie, made in Baltimore at the tail end of 1969 with a cast and crew composed largely of his friends. It opens with Mr. David (David Lochary) trying to entice people into a tent to see Lady Divine’s Cavalcade Of Perversions. The straight-laced punters aren’t impressed by the ‘real-life queers’, drug addicts, armpit lickers and naked pyramids they find in the tent, and are even less pleased when they discover it’s all been a ruse to kidnap, rob and possibly kill them. [Read more…]