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 Innkeepers (DVD)

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When you look at the poster for The Innkeepers and read the quotes from the likes of Eli Roth and Total Film, you’d expect a nail-biting ghost/horror story. What we get is an initially slow-moving film that eventually juggernauts at full pace towards an unsatisfying climax.

I’m not really sure of the difference now between a ghost story and a horror story, as the genres seem to have merged, but the results usually include ghosts stuck in different dimensions in some sort of limbo, scaring humans, which either results in the spirit being laid to rest, or the humans meeting an untimely grizzly death. Perhaps after the spate of Gorn (Gore and porn) and ‘found footage’ movies over the past ten years (e.g. Saw, Hostel, Paranormal Activity), the film industry is starting to realise we might be getting desensitized. [Read more…]

Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter (Cinema)

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It turns out Abraham Lincoln wasn’t just a lawyer who became the President of the United States and led the winning side in the Civil War – he actually did it all to battle the undead. Well, at least that’s what happens in this version of history.

As a child, Abe watches as a vampire sucks the life from his mother, an event which shapes his entire life, so that once he’s grown (into the form of Benjamin Walker), he wants nothing more than to kill the man responsible. After an attempt to shoot the vamp goes wrong – he’s not using the sort of ammunition that can kill bloodsuckers – he’s saved by Henry Sturgess (Dominic Cooper). Turns out Sturgess makes it his mission to destroy bad vampires, and trains Lincoln up to take on the undead. [Read more…]

Covert Affairs – Season 1 (DVD)

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I think there must be a picture of Piper Perabo mouldering away in an attic somewhere, as she doesn’t look any older now than she did back in 2000 when she starred in Coyote Ugly. The 35-year-old make a perky and entertaining presence at the heart of the Doug Liman produced TV show, Covert Affairs.

She plays Annie Walker, who’s coming to the end of her training to work for the CIA when she’s called into international intelligence agency’s headquarters for a job that can use her language skills (and the fact she could plausibly pass as a hooker!). That’s just the start of her adventures, which take her around the world as she works to prevent the US’ overseas enemies from going through with their nefarious plans, as well as getting caught up in the murky morality of the world of spies she’s gotten herself into. [Read more…]

The Woman In Black (DVD)

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It’s surprising it’s taken 30 years to turn The Woman In Black into a movie. Susan Hill’s novel has sold millions of copies, and a stage version has been running in the West End since 1989, becoming the second longest-running non-musical production ever. Now Hammer has finally managed to get it onto the screen, with Eden Lake’s James Watkins directing and Daniel Radcliffe starring.

Radcliffe plays young lawyer Arthur Kipps, a man still reeling from the death of his wife during childbirth. Having rather neglected his work, he’s given one final chance by his firm, which involves going to the remote Eel Marsh House to sort through the papers of the recently deceased owner. When he arrives in the nearby village, the locals seem singularly unwelcoming and don’t appear to want him to go to the house. [Read more…]

One For The Money (DVD)

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Katherine Heigl’s name is becoming increasingly synonymous with slightly underpar movies. It’s a great shame as she’s actually a very good actress. Her work in Grey’s Anatomy was incredibly strong, winning her an Emmy, and it was due to this and Knocked Up that it looked like she’d have a strong movie career. However the likes of The Ugly Truth, Killers and now One For The Money suggest she’s either not very good at picking projects, or she’s only being offered second string flicks.

To be honest, you can understand why she’d think One For The Money would be a good idea. It’s based on Janet Evanovich’s incredibly popular Stephanie Plum novels and was obviously set up in the hope of creating a franchise. Unfortunately the end result is limp, rather silly and while not actively bad, doesn’t have much that’s truly good about it. [Read more…]

Safe House (DVD)

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Matt Weston (Ryan Reynolds) is a young CIA operative feeling trapped by his dull posting as the keeper of a safe house in Cape Town. His rather tedious existence is suddenly blown apart by the arrival of Tobin Frost (Denzel Washington), a former secret agent accused of selling out his country and who’s been on the run for several years.

The team who’ve captured him immediately start using aggressive techniques to get info out of him, but are interrupted by armed men storming in, shooting up the place while looking for Tobin. Matt is forced to go on the run with Frost in tow. He’s determined to get captured fugitive safely into CIA hands, but the former agent isn’t planning to go quietly, especially as there’s more to him than meets the eye and an ever growing conspiracy around him. [Read more…]

J. Edgar (DVD)

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J. Edgar is a movie that’s perhaps better off on DVD and Blu-ray than it was in cinemas. The reason for that is that it’s a rather narratively complex beast and so takes at least a couple of viewing to properly unravel. Its problem is that the first viewing is likely to seem rather dull to many, so they’re less likely to want to revisit it.

Leonardo DiCaprio plays J. Edgar Hoover, who for nearly half a century oversaw the FBI from when it was a fledgling organisation, though the depression and era of the gangster, onto the red scare and beyond. The film sees Hoover as an old man dictating his memoirs, while in flashback we see his earlier days and how he quickly climbed to the top of the Bureau Of Investigation (as it was initially known) and used the likes of the Lindbergh Baby kidnapping to increase the power of the organisation. [Read more…]

Rock Of Ages (Cinema)

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I have a horrible feeling a lot of critics are going to rip into Rock Of Ages, but I for one loved it. While it has its problems, it made me smile about 30 seconds in and I was beaming when I came out. It’s silly, cheesy and sometimes verges on the ridiculous, but it’s also a hell of a lot of fun, with a plethora of hair metal hits being shoe-horned in, Glee-style (or Mamma Mia! style, if you prefer).

The plot (which to be honest there isn’t a huge amount of) follows Sherrie, who arrives in LA from Oklahoma full of dreams of making it big in the City of Angels. She’s barely off the bus when she bumps into Drew (Diego Boneta), who gets her a job at the famed club, The Bourbon Room. Soon Sherrie and Drew are falling in love, but as the big time beckons for Drew, the course of true love won’t run smooth. [Read more…]

The Muppets (Blu-ray)

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Disney bought The Muppets from the Jim Henson Company back in 2004, realising that with their long-lasting popularity, they might be a good addition to the Disney universe. However since then the House Of Mouse hasn’t seemed entirely sure what to do with them. While they’ve tried several things over the years, the problem seems to have been Disney trying to shoehorn the characters into the way they deal with their other properties, rather than letting them be themselves.

It’s one of the reason The Muppets works so well, as it realises that Kermit & co. live in a netherworld between children’s and adult’s entertainment, where nostalgia is as important as silly jokes for kids. Likewise it acknowledges that part of the reason for the characters’ success is the fine line they walk between absurdity and realism, which works due to an absolute commitment to the idea Miss Piggy and Fozzie Bear are real, while everything around them has a self-referential wink. [Read more…]

Passport To Pimlico (Blu-ray)

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Passport To Pimlico is an unexpectedly important movie in British film history, as along with Kind Hearts & Coronets and Whisky Galore – all of which were released by Ealing in 1949 – they set the template for much of the UK’s comedy output right up to the present day. In the film you can see early whispers of Carry On (not least the presence of Charles Hawtrey in a small role), a wink at the absurd that was later taken to its limit by the likes of Monty Python, and a quintessentially British attitude that’s still evident today, not least in the light, heartfelt comedy of Richard Curtis. [Read more…]