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 Life & Death Of Colonel Blimp (Blu-ray)

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It’s not often that being hated by Winston Churchill was a good thing, but it probably was for 1943’s The Life And Death Of Colonel Blimp. The wartime leader refused to allow Laurence Olivier out of service to star in the film and along with the War Office was adamantly against the film, which they apparently worried would undermine the war effort. However it probably helped publicise the movie and went some way to making writer/directors Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger’s names.

Colonel Blimp was originally a 1930s comic strip that parodied the kind of jingoistic, pompous, old-school, army gent (which was one of the reasons Churchill and others were wary of the movie), although the film itself is a totally original tale not based directly on the comic. It follows Clive Candy, who we first meet as a stodgy old man in a Turkish bath, who’s horrified when uniformed men storm in to capture him, even though he’s adamant that “War begins at midnight!” [Read more…]

Killer Joe (DVD)

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I can easily imagine a lot of people loving Killer Joe due to its dark, twisty-turny plot, while a lot of others will also thrill to the pitch black humour. However there are a lot who will find the whole thing rather nasty, cruel and repellent, so if you think you might be one of those people, you’ll probably be best to avoid this. However if you do like thrillers that go to the most sordid of places, you may well love this.

Chris (Emile Hirsch) is in need of cash and so embroils his brother, Ansel (Thomas Haden Church), in a plot to kill their heartless mother. They’re going to hire a lawman called Joe (Matthew McConaughey) who moonlights as a hired killer. It’s going to cost $25,000, but Chris has heard his mum has a $50,000 life insurance policy that will pay out to his sister, Dottie (Juno Temple). Joe wants to be paid upfront, but agrees he’ll have Dottie as a kind of retainer. However nobody has thought things out very well and things soon spiral out of control, especially when they realise just what a mean character Joe is. [Read more…]

Dark Tide (DVD)

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John Stockwell has made a bit of a career directing sea-bound films, but the problem is that the likes of Blue Crush and Into The Blue haven’t been very good. So does he manage to end the watery losing streak with Dark Tide? Nope, but at least he managed not to include the word ‘blue’ in the title.

Halle Berry is ‘shark whisperer’, Kate, who’s able to swim with Great Whites outside the cage. However while her lover Jeff is filming her for a documentary, a terrible accident occurs and someone is killed by one of the giant fish. Cut to a year later and Kate is a bit gun shy about getting into the water with sharks again, but with cash running low, the now estranged Jeff turns up and suggests a way she can get out of financial trouble. A businessman called Brady (Ralph Brown), who’s visiting with his son in South Africa, will pay $100,000 to be able swim with sharks outside the cage. Kate initially doesn’t want anything to do with it, but slowly she’s talked into it, even if she won’t guarantee the man will be able to get out of the cage. [Read more…]

Grimm – Season 1 (DVD)

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Grimm – Season 2 is just starting on UK TV, so if you need to catch up, you’ll have to get hold of this box set quickly. And it probably will help to catch up, if only because Grimm’s world of beasts and police procedural fantasy can sometimes get a little bit complicated.

Det. Nick Burkhardt (David Giuntoli) is a Portland, Oregon cop, who’s good at his job, but rarely experiences anything out of the ordinary. However then his Aunt Marie (Kate Burton) turns up and he starts seeing very strange things – certain people’s faces begin morphing into that of strange creatures, revealing the beasts within. Nick discovers that he is a Grimm, which isn’t just the surname of some fairy tale writing brothers, but essentially a job, handed down in his family. He has the ability to see the beasts, known as ‘Wesin’, who live around us and to most people just look like ordinary humans. Each race is different, from those who are like bears to those who are like beavers, and some are far more dangerous than others. [Read more…]

Best of Iris Prize 2012 Short Films – Day 2

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Click here to read the best of Day 1

Douglas Horn’s Coffee and Pie is a short film about a break up at a diner. The manipulative June has decided that her interest in girlfriend October has peaked and left. Now she goes through her well-practiced motions, as October rolls over to take it. Then Billie-Jean, a kind waitress, offers October some apple-pie and advice. This upends the balance of power, letting October teach June a lesson about control. [Read more…]

Chernobyl Diaries (DVD)

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The Chernobyl disaster happened back in 1986 and conspiracy theories surrounding the incident and the aftermath have been rife ever since. The surprising part about this is why a film such as this has never been made before.

Chernobyl Diaries follows a group of travellers as they venture into the land of extreme tourism, heading to the city abandoned and devastated by the disaster. Written by Oren Peli, who terrified most of the world with Paranormal Activity, you can’t help but feel a little let down by this film as it try’s to recreate what happened with the first Paranormal Activity film, but in the process becomes a typical mass of clichés. [Read more…]

Cockneys Vs. Zombies (Blu-ray)

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To follow the imaginatively titled films such as Zombie Strippers and Aliens Vs Predators, yes the title says it all, it’s exactly what it says on the tin! It This film delivers us mad flesh eating zombies and some right Cockney geezers (and girls).

After the huge success of Shaun Of The Dead, we haven’t had a good fusion of comedy and horror, instead getting lacklustre films such as The Cottage and Burke and Hare. [Read more…]

Yeah Kowalski! – Iris Prize Commended Short Film Review

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Thirteen year old Gabe Kowalski has a blossoming crush on his classmate, Shane. During a sex-ed class Kowalski discovers Shane’s partiality to men with a little body hair. Unfortunately for Gabe, his underarms are naked as the day he was born. However, while begrudgingly cutting his father’s hair, Kowalski is presented with the perfect opportunity to impress Shane: planting the off-cuts on himself like underarm merkins. But how will they hold up at a school pool party…?

As the film opens you are instantly hit by the vibrancy. Yeah Kowalski! takes you right back to all the silly things you did for an adolescent crush. Okay, maybe not quite like this, but the outrageous plot is so far out you can’t help but fall for Kowalski. [Read more…]

A Stable For Disabled Horses – Iris Prize Best UK Short Film Winner Review

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Benny is throwing a leaving party for his ‘B.F.F.’, Kanoute, who is returning to Norway. Finally having his friend to himself, Benny sees it as his last chance to tell Kanoute a secret that may spell the end of their friendship.

With a premise as simple as this, the pressure is on for this short to deliver on substance.

Any fears are dispelled within a few seconds, however, as the two comedians at the film’s centre launch into the gags. The pacing is very well constructed, keeping the momentum going as the jokes are delivered with expert timing. Daniel Swann’s charm and slight creepiness guides Daniel Sorensen’s impeccable cluelessness to unease, as it becomes obvious that there is more to this friendship in Benny’s eyes. [Read more…]

Think Like A Man (DVD)

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It’s quite a feat to create a movie that seems both misogynist and misandrist at the same time, but that’s probably because this is a film based on a self-help book, and so like most self-help books about relationships, it seems to assume men and women are essentially completely different species, and also that they’re all pretty stupid. However, if you can accept that the characters here are essentially parodies of real people (at least I hope so and that I’m not giving the human race too much credit), there is some measure of entertainment to be had here, even if it goes on way too long and suffers from the fact its multiple stories often mean we have to have the same scene over and over. [Read more…]