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

Frantz (DVD Review) – Is Francois Ozon’s film a gay post-war movie or not? Truth is complex

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I’ve generally shied away from covering movies on BGPS where the gay content is all down to interpretation, but it’s well worth reviewing Frantz here – a film that could either be very gay or barely at all depending on how you look at it. Just from reading the synopsis I suspected that it might be a film like that, due to the presence of director Francois Ozon (Swimming Pool, 8 Women), a filmmaker whose career has been marked by a strong interest in female characters, gay desire, and how different people interpret the same things.

It’s just after World War I, and in a small German town a young woman called Anna (Paula Beer) is still in mourning for her fiancé – Frantz – who she lost in the trenches of France. She lives with her fallen boyfriend’s parents – Hans (Ernst Stötzner) and Magda (Marie Gruber) – who are also still reeling from the loss. [Read more…]

Esteros (DVD Review) – Gay love interrupted for two young men

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Esteros follows two men at two different points in their lives, interweaving what happened in their teenage years with their lives 10 years later. In their mid-teens, Jeronimo and Matias are friends who enjoy play during the long, hot summer days. However, on the cusp of manhood their relationship begins to move past just friendship as they realise their feelings for one and develop something deeper and more physical.

10 years late they are estranged, but one of them returns to their hometown for carnival, which causes them to reconnect. Jeronimo is now a proudly gay – but single – man. Matias meanwhile is engaged to a woman. Initially unsure how to communicate with one another, when they start revisiting the places and activities that brought them together as teens, they begin to reconnect. Matias in particular must decide whether what they once had was just a youthful fling, or something deeper. [Read more…]

Spidarlings (VoD Review) – Anyone for a punk, LGBT, musical, body horror, comedy, indie film?

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A lesbian couple – Eden and Mathilda – are living in a house where they haven’t paid rent for two years. Their mean landlord is getting a bit angry at this, and putting pressure on them to hand over the thousands they owe. One of them also works in a men-only club, where she has to put up with the lecherous unpleasantness of the guys there.

Add to that there’s a very unusual serial killer out there stalking woman, and then bizarre things start to happen after one of the women gets a pet tarantula and it escapes. It’s also a world where people often break into song – including the women, their landlord, and most particularly drag queens. [Read more…]

The Hippopotamus (DVD Review) – Stephen Fry’s novel makes it to the screen

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Stephen Fry’s debut novel, The Hippopotamus, has gained a lot of fans since its debut in 1994. It would seem like a good candidate for a film version. Sadly though, what we’ve got is rather limp.

Ted Wallace (Roger Allam) is a famous poet who hasn’t written anything for years, and whose very vocal cynicism causes him to lose his main means of support – as a theatre critic. In order to make money he agrees to go to the grand house of his former friend, Michael Logan (Matthew Modine), under the guise of visiting his godson, David (Tommy Knight). [Read more…]

Screwed (Frameline Festival Review) – A gay summer romance gets complicated for two teen boys

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I haven’t seen too many movies from Finland. That’s a shame purely because it limits my opportunities to put on a movie and go, ‘Is it Finnish? No, it’s just started’. But enough of the Dad jokes and on to the Suomi teen dramedy, which had its World Premiere at the Frameline San Francisco International LGBT Film Festival on June 19th 2017.

Miku is in his late teens, and doesn’t seem to quite know where he stands in the world. Quiet and introverted, he allows his wild brother, Sebu, to talk him into organising a wild party just before his parents are due to go and stay at their holiday cottage for the summer. After his parents find out, it puts a strain between Miku and his rather difficult mother, who insists their son spend the whole summer with them. [Read more…]

The Drama Club (US VoD Review) – Secrets emerge when teenage friends reunite after 20 years

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20-years-ago a group of Drama Club high school friends went on a retreat together. Now they’re getting back together for an anniversary meetup. The friends have all stayed in touch via social media, but they haven’t seen each other all that much. As you might have expected, while many things have changed, others have stayed very much the same.

The previously nerdy Nathan has now muscled up and he’s not going to take the bully-ish antics of Luke anymore. However, the increasingly conservative Luke has his own issues, as he’s due to go to prison soon for white collar fraud. The popular Elle is now married, and while her husband doesn’t seem to mind the fact she’s slept with three of her old friends, Elle may take things too far. Hannah is now a born again Christian who’s saving her virginity for marriage (even though she’s had sex before), and may have a soft spot for one of her old friends. [Read more…]

The Lego Batman Movie (Blu-ray Review) – Has the Caped Crusader gone a little gay?

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The Lego Movie was a surprise to many – a film that when it was announced sounded like such a bad idea turned out to be one of the funniest, most original animated movies of the last few years, and a major hit to boost. Warner Bros. suddenly realised they had the potential for something much bigger, so rather than just putting a sequel in the works, they started working on spin-offs, including a Ninjago movie and The Lego Batman Movie.

We first met the Lego version of Batman (Will Arnett) in The Lego Movie – an arrogant vigilante convinced of his own greatness and jealous of the praise other superheroes get. He starts out the same here, saving Gotham City from The Joker and a Rogues Gallery of villains, and confident about how awesome everyone thinks he is. However, he’s also obsessed with doing things alone, with the result that when he’s back at Wayne Manor, he only has his butler Alfred (Ralph Fiennes) for company. Batman thinks that for the best, but it may be because he’s afraid of having a family. [Read more…]

No Dresscode Required (Human Rights Film Festival Review) – The agonising fight for gay marriage in Baja California

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While in the West we know there are homophobes, due to the fact that most of us surround ourselves with likeminded people it’s easy to become complacent about the problems that are out there. That’s particularly true in countries like the US and UK that have gay marriage and you can feel fairly confident that even if they don’t like it, those in charge of civil marriage will respect the law and issue you a certificate certificate (some particularly backwards US counties excepted). Well then, be prepared for a documentary that will fill you with righteous indignation and anger.

At the outset of the doc, gay marriage has come to Mexico following a court ruling, although many Mexican states and cities still have ordinances barring it. Victor and Fernando, who’ve been together for 15 years, think that means that if they want to get married it’s likely they’ll have to travel to Mexico City, rather than getting hitched at home in Mexicali, Baja California. [Read more…]

Garden Of Stars (US VoD Review) – A gay man brings together AIDS, the stillborn & the Brothers Grimm in a cemetery

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In the Schöneberg section of Berlin lies the Alter Sankt-Matthäus-Kirchhof, best known as the burial site of the Brothers Grimm. While framed by one of the Brother’s stories, this documentary isn’t about them, it’s about a man whose life has become inextricably linked to the cemetery.

Ichgola Androgyn is a gay drag queen, who used to be involved in experimental art and various other slightly hippie-ish pursuits. Almost accidentally he got involved with the cemetery, which he helped change from a staid, Victorian institution to something more welcoming that is designed as much for the living as the dead. [Read more…]

Boys On Film 16: Possession (DVD Review) – 10 more gay short films get a great showcase

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It’s always a good day when a new Boys On Film gay short film collection is released. The most successful short film series in the world is now up to an impressive 16th instalment. You’d think by this point they’d be running out of decent gay-themed shorts to include, but thankfully across the world there are a lot of filmmakers producing great work, which has ensured a steady supply of new films to put on disc.

There’s an interesting and eclectic mix this time around. So what’s included amongst the 10 gay shorts on the discs? Take a look at what we thought below. And you can see what we think of other Boys On Film releases here. [Read more…]