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

Nighthawks (1978)

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With the release of Weekend on DVD and Blu-ray, it seems a good time to revisit Nighthawks, a movie I’d be willing to bet served as a major inspiration for Andrew Haigh’s recent gay hit, but made 34 years before. Nighthawks is generally agreed to be Britain’s first ‘gay movie’, as while homosexuality had been seen on screen before, this was the first Brit flick to be told non-judgementally, from a gay perspective and not trading in crude stereotypes.

The film follows Londoner Jim (Ken Robertson), a teacher by day who spends his evenings cruising bars and discotheques (remember, this is 1978, when discotheques were cool!), picking up different men and trying to connect with them in various ways, whether it’s just for sex, attempting a fledgling relationship or becoming friends. He tries to keep his two lives separate, something that seems as much a necessity as something he actually wants. [Read more…]

Eating Out: The Open Weekend (DVD)

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The Eating Out films are a bit of an achievement, as I can’t think of any film series made with an almost exclusively gay audience in mind that’s managed to reach five instalments. After last year’s extremely fun and breezy Drama Camp, the guys are now back for The Open Weekend.

Zack (Chris Salvatore) and his new boyfriend Benji (Aaron Milo) head for a gay resort in Palm Springs for a weekend getaway. Benji has managed to get Zack to agree to having an open relationship while they’re away, even though Zack’s not keen and only said yes to keep his new beau happy. Also at the resort is Zack’s ex, Casey, who ends up pretending he has a new boyfriend, who’s actually an old friend he’s only just met up with again. [Read more…]

Wuthering Heights (Blu-ray)

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When this new version of Wuthering Heights was announced, it seemed like it was going to be a relatively straightforward period drama. Natalie Portman, Abbie Cornish and Gemma Arterton were cast as Cathy at various points, while Michael Fassbender and Ed Westwick could have been Heathcliff. However the comparatively traditional directors John Maybury (The Edge Of Love) and Peter Webber (Girl With A Pearl Earring) came and went from the production, and from the moment Andrea Arnold was hired following their departure, it was clear this was going to be something rather different to what had been expected. [Read more…]

The Erotic Films Of Peter De Rome (DVD)

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It’s an age old debate – where is the edge between pornography and art? It’s an almost impossible question to answer. In 1964 US Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart came up with the famous description, ‘I know it when I see it’, due to his and many other’s inability to say exactly where the line between art and porn is. Since then few people have come up with a better definition. The Erotic Films Of Pete De Rome is a particularly interesting challenge to this blurred line as it’s undeniably both, but the more interesting question is whether it was ‘art’ when it was made, or if it’s become that in the time since? [Read more…]

Encounters: Four Ground-breaking Classics Of Gay Cinema (DVD)

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Before the 1980s, depictions of gay life onscreen were rare things, so that anything from the 70s or before is unusual, intriguing and worth seeking out. With Encounters, the BFI has drawn together four short films on gay subjects made between 1965 and 1971, giving us a rare look at homosexuality during that time (and not as it was remembered afterwards, which is our usual view of gay history). Making any sort of film on a gay subject back then was a bit of an achievement and a fairly subversive act, so while there’s not a vast amount of pre-80s gay films, we’re privileged to have what we’ve got. [Read more…]

The Gospel According To St. Matthew (Blu-ray)

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It’s rather odd that one of the most acclaimed religious films ever was made by Pier Paolo Pasolini, an affirmed atheist who was also responsible some of the most controversial movies ever, such as Salo Or The  120 Days Days Of Sodom. The Gospel According To St. Matthew came about 10 years before Salo, but still shows a unique filmmaker not afraid to let his voice be known.

The film is one of the few biblical movies that the Vatican has given its seal of approval, largely because it’s rather beautiful, poetic and sticks very close to the text of the book it’s based on, with most of the dialogue taken directly from the Bible. However Pasolini concentrates on the political side of Jesus, with Christ coming across a very intense, single-minded, rather humourless figure, whose ideas come across as surprisingly Marxist. [Read more…]

Puss In Boots (DVD)

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You have to wonder whether the fact the Shrek franchise is Dreamworks Animation’s goose that laid the golden egg was going through the minds of the powers that be when they were coming up with the story for Puss In Boots. While we were promised Shrek Forever After would be the last movie about the green ogre, it’s little surprise the studio wanted to carry on with a spin-off, and Puss In Boots is certainly a good character to do it with, allowing for a film that feels familiar but is different enough not to seem as if it’s merely rehashing the Shrek movies.

Set before Puss met his ogrish pals, the film sees the well-shod feline as an outlaw who discovers the dastardly Jack & Jill have the magic beans he’s been looking for most of his life. When he tries to steal them, he’s interrupted by another cat who on the outside of the law, Kitty Softpaws, who turns out to be allied to Puss’ old pal Humpty Dumpty. However Puss and Humpty have long been estranged, as despite growing up together in an orphanage, Puss blames Humpty for making him an outlaw when he got him involved in a robbery he knew nothing about. [Read more…]

Happy Feet Two (Blu-ray)

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In 2006 Happy Feet was a surprise hit, grossing almost $200 million in the US, but sadly this follow-up was a surprise flop, making just a third as much in North America as its predecessor. Many have suggested the problem is the amount of time between parts one and two, with six years being an age in the world of kids’ film. Whatever the reason it’s a great shame, as just like the first film, the initial sense of the whole thing being utterly ridiculous soon gives way to feeling entertained and charmed.

Mumble (Elijah Wood) is now grown up – although rather inexplicably still looks like an overgrown juvenile penguin – and has a chick of his own, Erik, a rather strong-willed youngster who unlike his father, isn’t that good at dancing, and hasn’t shown a huge amount of aptitude for anything else either, barring having a temper and getting into trouble. [Read more…]

The Hunger Games (Cinema)

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As many know by now, Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games is a young adult bestseller that’s become a phenomenon around the world. It’s now been transferred to the screen and is one of the most eagerly anticipated films of the year. So far the novel trilogy has amassed over 26 million in book sales (mostly due to popular word of mouth) and this will no doubt grow after the pretty much inevitable success of the movie.

The Hunger Games is set in North America in a dystopian future. The Hunger Games have been introduced by the government as a tactic invented to help control and punish each District for a previous uprising. Each of the 12 Districts have to select a male and female teenager, who must then all fight each other to the death in a televised event, for the honour and hope of their Districts. [Read more…]

Weekend (Blu-ray)

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A film which consists in large part of two gay blokes sitting around talking doesn’t immediately smack of something that would set the critical world alight and bag awards at the likes of the British Independent Film Awards, The Evening Standard British Film Awards and the London Critics Circle Film Awards. Weekend did just that though, and it deserved every award and more. Indeed if the world was fair and small independent movies could compete on a level playing field with the big boys, it should have scored a fair few BAFTA noms too.

The film opens on a Friday evening with the quiet, self-effacing Russell (Tom Cullen) heading off to his straight mates’ house before pretending that he’s tired, begging his leave and going to a gay club on the pull. There he meets the louder, brasher Glen (Chris New) and the two end up in bed together. The next morning, Glen gets out his tape recorder as Russell has drunkenly promised to be part of his art project, where he gets people to record their thoughts. [Read more…]