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

Iris Prize Festival LGBT International Short Films 2017 – Part 2 (Short Film Reviews)

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The Iris Prize Festival has now drawn to a close, but its still worth seeking out some of the excellent short film that competed for the world’s largest short film prize, the Iris Prize. We’ve already posted our thoughts on the first 11 short films, and below you can find 12 more (presented in screening order – opinions are mine and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts of the overall jury).

Click here for Iris Prize Festival LGBT International Short Films 2017 – Part 1
Click here for Iris Prize Festival LGBT International Short Films 2017 – Part 3 [Read more…]

Iris Prize Festival LGBT International Short Films 2017 – Part 1 (Short Film Reviews)

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For the last few years Big Gay Picture Show has tried to cover the wonderful Iris Prize Festival in Cardiff as it happened, with reviews being posted while the fest was still happening. However, this year I had the honour of being part of the International Jury, so as a result we decided to wait until the festival was over before we posted our reviews of the 35 shorts that were in contention for the £30,000 prize.

So what did I think? Take a look below at my thoughts on the first 11 short films (presented in screening order – opinions are mine and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts of the overall jury).

Click here for Iris Prize Festival LGBT International Short Films 2017 – Part 2
Click here for Iris Prize Festival LGBT International Short Films 2017 – Part 3 [Read more…]

Man In An Orange Shirt (DVD Review) – Two gay lives, separated by 70 years

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It may be 2017 and gay marriage is legal in the UK, but it’s still incredibly rare for a mainstream British TV show to focus on gay characters and stories, especially a Sunday night BBC period mini-series. However, we got one with Man In An Orange Shirt, one of the centrepieces of the Gay Britannia season, marking 50 years since the partial decriminalisation of gay sex in England and Wales.

It’s also a somewhat unusual two-parter, as the first episode is set almost exclusively in the 1940s and 1950s, while the second episode leaps forward into the modern day. [Read more…]

Against The Law (DVD Review) – A look back at one of Britain’s most infamous gay sex scandals

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Against the Law was the opening night film of this year’s BFI Flare London LGBT Film Festival and one of the centrepieces of the BBC’s Gay Britannia series. It’s easy to see why a film about Peter Wildeblood seemed apt this year. He was one of the key figures in what happened in the run up to the Wolfenden Report, which recommenced that gay male sex in England and Wales should be decriminalised. Although it took 10 years for the government to act, eventually gay sex was partly made legal 50 years ago in 1967.

The events were previously turned into a very good 2007 docudrama by Channel 4 in the form of A Very British Sex Scandal (the 50th Anniversary of the Wolfenden report). However, while A Very British Sex Scandal was mostly interested in the beginning of the story, Against The Law focuses its thematic energies on what happened next. It also includes documentary elements, with a collection of older gentlemen offering their remembrances of what life was like when being gay was illegal. It’s a style reminiscent of Switzerland’s excellent gay movie, The Circle (Der Kreis), which was also a proper film, but included contributions from real people involved in the world it was talking about. [Read more…]

Four Days (DVD Review) – Two young gay men inch towards a relationship

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Sometimes I watch a film and want to give everyone involved a pat on the back, while still thinking it’s not that great a movie. That’s the case with Four Days, which certainly has its heart in the right place, plenty of dedication and comes from a country which doesn’t have a huge track record of producing gay-themed movies, The Philippines. However, the results are a little underwhelming.

As the title suggests, the movie takes place over four days – four Valentine’s Days over four years. On the first day, Derek and Mark are both fairly new to being college roommates and are working out where they stand. Mark is particularly keen that Derek understands that if he’s put a sock on the door, it means he’s entertaining a woman and his roomie shouldn’t interrupt. [Read more…]

Whitney: Can I Be Me (DVD Review) – Love, drugs, sexuality & a singing legend

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There is no doubt that Whitney Houston had a truly incredible voice. Indeed, she’s a strong contender for being the great popular singer of the 20th Century. However, the last few years of her life and her tragic death have rather overshadowed that talent. The documentary, Whitney ‘Can I Be Me’, is partly an attempt to find some balance, putting the drugs and career problems in the context of her wider life and family.

To many the most interesting aspect of the documentary will be how it presents one of the key aspects of Whitney’s life as a relationship with a woman. It presents us with what is essentially a love triangle between Houston, her long-time friend Robyn Crawford and her husband, Bobby Brown. The film tries to confirm the rumours that Crawford and Houston were once together in a relationship, and indeed many of those close to her believe they were indeed once in love and are happy to say so in interviews. Although it cannot 100% confirm they were lovers, they were certainly closer than most friends, even after Houston had married Brown. [Read more…]

My Beautiful Laundrette (Blu-ray/DVD Review) – The most important gay British movie ever made?

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You could make the argument My Beautiful Laundrette is the most important movie of the past 50 years. In the 1980s the UK film industry was in a fairly difficult place. While British behind-the-scenes talent was much in demand by Hollywood to make some of their biggest movies – everything from Star Wars to Superman to Aliens was filmed in the UK – we were having less success with our own movies, at least on a mainstream level. Even those films that did find success were largely made with money from major American studios.

Then along came My Beautiful Laundrette, a film originally made for TV but which they decided was good enough to give a theatrical release to. Its surprise success got director Stephen Frears noticed around the world, who went on to make Dangerous Liaisons, High Fidelity, The Queen and Philomena. However, more importantly it was the first theatrical feature for the production company Working Title and the first major critical/commercial cinema success for Channel Four/Film 4. [Read more…]

Baby Steps (DVD Review) – A gay couple having a baby is complicated by a Taiwanese mother

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In Los Angeles, Danny (Barney Cheng) is a well-respected gay man with a long-term boyfriend, and together they are planning to have a baby. However, in his homeland of Taiwan, his mother, Ma (Grace Guei), is still uncomfortable with her son’s sexuality, never asks about his love-life and doesn’t even know about his partner, Tate (Michael Adam Hamilton).

Danny hasn’t told his mom about his baby plans, but when his brother lets the secret out, Ma gets very excited, as it means she may finally get a grandchild. She flies out to LA, where she’s less than impressed with Danny’s surrogacy plans, and also unsure how to deal with Danny’s ‘friend’, Tate. As they struggle to deal with one another, the hoped for baby could bring them all together and finally get Ma to accept her son, or it could drive them all apart. [Read more…]

Kept Boy (DVD Review) – A gay man isn’t sure what to do when he loses his boy toy status

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Is this a knockabout romantic comedy or a soulful, sexual drama? The reason I ask is because if you looked at the cover of the US DVD release, you’d probably expect the former, while the UK version goes for the latter. It’s not too often you see covers that look like they’re for such completely different movies.

The truth is that Kept Boy is somewhere in the middle between comedy and melodrama, as while it certainly has the structure and feel of a rom com, it’s also interested in the more dramatic possibilities of its storyline. [Read more…]

Raw (DVD Review) – A young, naive woman gets cannibalistic desires (& a gay roommate)

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Just occasionally I watch a movie and genuinely can’t decide whether it’s a case of the Emperor having no clothes. Raw is one of those films.

On its festival debut the Belgian movie was met with a lot off buzz, as well as talk of people walking out and fainting because of its intensity and levels of gore. It now has a 90% Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes, which is pretty remarkable for a ‘horror’ movie, but I’m not completely sure whether it deserves it or not. [Read more…]