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

Elliot Loves (DVD)

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Elliot Loves explores the turbulent love life of Elliot throughout two pivotal parts of his life, as an inquisitive 10-year-old dealing with his loving yet seemingly unhappy mother and as a naive 21-year-old looking for love in all the wrong places in New York.

The initial concept of the film intrigued me I must admit, especially as I was wondering how they would mirror the two separate parts of his life. The way it was executed by cutting segments into what appeared to be chapters and by mirroring similar and important parts of his life as a child and young adult were done effectively and allow the audience to see how the character was the way he is. [Read more…]

The Arrival Of Wang (DVD)

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As The Arrival Of Wang is being brought out by an imprint of LGBT specialist distributor Peccadillo Pictures, you could be forgiven for thinking the title refers to something far saucier that what this film actually is. However Saffron Hill Films has been set up to handle their genre titles, with this one being a sci-fi thriller from Italy.

Gaia (Francesca Cuttica) is a translator who’s called out of the blue to take a rush job. Before she knows it she’s in the back of a car being blindfolded so that she doesn’t know where they’re going. She’s taken to a room where she’s told she’ll have to translate from Mandarin into English. Initially she’s not allowed to see the speaker, but when they eventually agree to switch the lights on, she finds an alien sitting opposite to her, tied to a chair. [Read more…]

Margin Call (DVD)

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While the financial crisis has been one of the biggest global events since the Second World War, the film industry has had difficulty dealing with it. Part of the reason for that is the fear that if you just have a bunch of people sitting around talking about numbers, the audience’s eyes will glaze over and they’ll start heading for the exit. However writer/director J.C. Chandor trusts that not everyone completely zones out if things aren’t simple, and also realises that if you get a great bunch of actors together, you can take on subjects that might initially seem dull, but can still actually make a really good film. [Read more…]

Mrs Brown Live – Good Mourning Mrs Brown (DVD)

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While most people have only discovered Mrs. Brown’s Boys in the last couple of years, the character has a surprisingly long history. Brendan O’Carroll started writing books about the character of Agnes Browne in the early 90s, which even became a film named after the character starring Anjelica Huston in 1999. It was only after that, and a dropping of the ‘e’ from the end of Mrs. Brown’s name, that he started playing her himself, first on in self-penned plays, which were converted into a series of specials for Irish TV.

Then in 2011 BBC Scotland and Ireland’s RTE co-commissioned the sitcom Mrs. Brown’s Boys and a surprise hit was spawned. Now the character has gone back to the stage with a reworked version of the 2000 play/comedy show, Good Mourning Mrs. Brown, which is now coming to DVD, filmed live in front of a theatre audience. [Read more…]

Peter Pan (Blu-ray)

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I’m still surprised how much better classic animation can look on Blu-ray compared to earlier DVD editions. It helps when they’ve gone through a good restoration and remastering process, which is just what Peter Pan has gotten. The result is a great looking, almost pristine release for one of Disney’s best films.

I’m sure you know the story – Wendy Darling is on the edge of adolescence and her father wants her to give up her fanciful stories about Peter Pan, the boy who never grew up. However Wendy knows better, as she’s got Peter’s shadow. That evening, when her parents are out, Pan turns up looking for his shadow, and agrees to take Wendy and her brothers, John and Michael, to his home in Neverland. [Read more…]

Sarah Millican – Thoroughly Modern Millican (DVD)

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Sarah Millican is proof that if you dream of being a comedian, you don’t need to be like Jack Whitehall and Daniel Sloss, who came out of the womb with a microphone in their hand. Millican was 33 before she had her first Edinburgh Fringe show, which won the if.comedy award in 2008. Since then she’s had a quick rise to stardom, including national solo tours, numerous panel show appearances, her own TV series and now her second live DVD, Thoroughly Modern Millican. [Read more…]

Status Quo: Hello Quo! (DVD)

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It’s 50 years since the band that would become Status Quo first started forming, when in 1962 schoolboys Francis Rossi and Alan Lancaster came together to make music. This lengthy documentary tells the story from those very early days and goes through the whole Quo story, from the numerous fallings-out and line-up changes, the drug-taking, rock ‘n’ roll lifestyle, and on to their later demotion from Radio 1 playlists and becoming elder statesmen of rock. [Read more…]

Battleship Potemkin & Drifters (Blu-ray/DVD)

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While a lot of people will have heard of Battleship Potemkin (although relatively few have actually seen it), there are far fewer who know anything about Drifters. And even if you have heard of it, you might still be wondering what a Soviet propaganda movie about a 1905 mutiny and a documentary-style film about herring fishing are doing together on the same disc.

What this unexpected yet rather cleverly thought out DVD & Blu-ray dual-format release from the BFI does is recreate what’s been described as ‘the most celebrated double-bill in film history’, when these two movies screened at the Tivoli cinema on London’s Strand, on November 10th, 1929. [Read more…]

Foster (DVD)

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Foster is one of those films that could have been utterly wonderful, but sadly falls short. While it has charm, it doesn’t feel genuine enough to really hit home in the heart-warming, rather sentimental way it’s trying to.

Zooey (Toni Collette) and Alec (Ioan Gruffudd) are a couple who’d like another child, but for psychosomatic reason, she is unable to conceive. They decide to try and foster a kid, but things go a little faster than they expected when seven-year-old Eli (Maurice Cole) simply turns up on their doorstep and announces he’s been sent to live with them. They take him in while the records are checked as to whether he’s really meant to be there. The couple soon discover that despite his size, Eli’s got a surprisingly adult attitude, including an interest in the recession and watching CNN. [Read more…]

Ross Noble: Nonsensory Overload (DVD)

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With many comedians, you’ll be lucky if you get a 90 minute set out of them, but Ross Noble is the other way around, as he pretty much needs to be dragged off the stage and gives the impression he’d be happy to carry on riffing all night if given the chance. This comedic verbosity is carried onto this new DVD release, as you don’t just get one gig, you get three, plus a slew of highlights and bits and pieces from other performances. Just the first gig, filmed in Canberra, Australia, is over two hours long, which should give you an idea of just how much is included in this release. [Read more…]