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

REVIEWS

Cinema, DVD and Blu-ray reviews

The Falls (DVD)

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RJ (Nick Ferrucci) is a high school athlete who’s now out of education and keen to take on missionary work, spreading the word of the Church Of Jesus Christ Of The Latter Day Saints (aka Mormons). It’s something many thousands of young Mormons do, so RJ heads away from home and gets paired with Chris (Ben Farmer).

Together they are tasked with going out and spreading the word, trying to get as many people interested in their religion as possible, with the hope the newcomers will eventually be baptised as Mormons. Although they initially take to their task with fervour, Chris soon begins to flag and doubt whether they’re doing the right thing. Slowly the two young men fall for one another – something that’s particularly difficult in their church, which is deeply homophobic. [Read more…]

Cheerful Weather For The Wedding (DVD)

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Based on Julia Strachey’s 1932 novella that was championed into print by Virginia Woolf, Cheerful Weather For The Wedding is set on the morning of the marriage of Dolly Thatcham (Felicity Jones) to Owen Bigham. While the family prepares and Dolly’s rather fussy and sharp mother (Elizabeth McGovern) fusses and tries to control her brood, a fly in the ointment arrives in the form of Joseph (Luke Treadaway). [Read more…]

The Men Next Door (DVD)

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Luring you in with a concept that has only really been seen in soaps and mainly carried out as heterosexual storylines, The Men Next Door makes you feel as though you’re about to see something a little different in terms of gay cinema. However once the film begins it’s rather disappointing to find that it’s just another mound of clichés, stereotypes and unfunny comedy. [Read more…]

Lawless (Blu-ray)

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When it was released in cinemas last September, there were rumblings that Lawless would be in the running for the Oscars. It rather lost momentum over the last few months and ended up with no nominations at all. It’s a shame as while it’s not a masterpiece, Tom Hardy deserved a nod in one of the acting categories and the cinematography should also have been acknowledged. Indeed, I’d have included it in the Best Picture category ahead of Amour and Silver Linings Playbook. [Read more…]

Enlightened – Season 1 (DVD)

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The rule in the US seems to be that shows made for the main networks (ABC, CBS and NBC) are about people you generally like, while if they’re on cable, they’re about assholes. It’s not quite as clear-cut as that, but it sometimes seems like it. Enlightened is another part of the move towards shows about characters where you’re never 100% sure if they’re endearing or insufferable.

Amy (Laura Dern) works for a large conglomerate but when we first see her she’s not having a good day. She’s mid-breakdown, swearing at her co-workers and blaming all her woes on the man she’s been sleeping with (but who has a wife and kid). We next cut to her six months later, after Amy’s spent time in Hawaii dealing with her issues. She’s arrives back with a bit of a hippy spirit, determined to make herself a better person and improve the world around her. [Read more…]

Anger Management – Season 1 (DVD)

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Was it just me, or wasn’t Charlie Sheen sacked from Two And A Half Men? I only ask because while it said Anger Management on the disc I reviewed from, Sheen essentially seems to be playing the same character in this show – with just a couple of tweaks. Anger Management has the same tone and most of the jokes could have gone into either series and nobody would have noticed. Although you could say that’s natural as it’s a sitcom, there seems a concerted effort here to make something that feels like Two And A Half Men’s first cousin. [Read more…]

Shadow Dancer (DVD)

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Shadow dancer is a good solid drama set in the early 1990s. Colette McVeigh is an active member of the IRA and is on a mission to commit an act of terrorism in London. Due to unknown reasons, she has last minute thoughts about the carnage she is about to cause, places the incendiary device in the place least likely to cause harm and to arouse the least suspicion from her IRA colleagues. She is subsequently caught and interrogated by MI5 and sent back to Ireland as a mole, using her son as collateral.

The ensuing drama that unfolds relates to relationships between Colette (played brilliantly by rising star Andrea Riseborough) and her MI5 agent Mac (played solidly by Clive Owen) and the friction between her, her family and other members of the IRA cell, as suspicions start to arise and questions are asked. There’s also double dealing with and distrust within MI5

This bleak drama is set in the often rainy backdrop of damp Belfast, which sets the mood for most of the scenes. One of the most interesting and accurate facts about the film is the technology the agents were using in the 1990s, with large, clumsy PCs taking up half the desk, which also reminds us how recent the volatile peace treaty was signed.

Where the film works is in the often fraught relationships between all the characters, where mistrust of everyone is apparent, as the IRA try to find their mole, tensions rise as does the relationship between Colette and Mac, as well as with Mac and his colleagues

The star of the film is Andrea Riseborough, it is not the dialogue that drives her performance but the angst and frustration shown by her very movements in every scene. The supporting cast are all excellent in their roles too including the ever reliable Gillian Anderson.

The Watch (Blu-ray)

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In one of the featurettes on The Watch Blu-ray, producer Shawn Levy says the key to the movie was the casting, and that’s kinda the problem, as they don’t seem to have spent a whole lot of time on anything else. The film lines up a potent quartet of comedy actors, and seems to assume their presence alone can make the movie work, even though the script spends most of the time meandering around a plot that’s pretty much join-the-dots. [Read more…]

Wizards Vs. Aliens – Series 1 (DVD)

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When Russell T. Davies left Doctor Who in 2009 it seemed the world was his oyster. However following the middling reception of Torchwood: Miracle Day, we haven’t seen much from him, largely due to the fact his partner was diagnosed with a brain tumour and so he moved back to the UK from California to look after him. The return to Britain also gave him time to team up with The Sarah Jane Adventures writer Phil Ford to create the CBBC show, Wizards Vs. Aliens. Now the 12-part first series has reached DVD and Blu-ray. [Read more…]

Searching For Sugar Man (DVD)

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Searching for Sugar Man takes the unsuspecting viewer on an amazing journey of how a career that almost never was makes a remarkable comeback.

The documentary tells the story of Rodriguez, who after a brief stint in the music industry 40 years ago disappeared after failing to set the charts alight. However the story was quite different in South Africa as this mysterious musician, who many describe as anti-establishment, helped inspire and motivate a generation and in turn helped to aid a revolution. [Read more…]