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

August (DVD)

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It’s always difficult expanding a short film into a feature length movie. If you add too much you’re in danger of losing what was special about the original short, but if you don’t add enough, the film feels stretched and thin. While August has plenty to recommend it, it does tend to suffer from the latter towards the end.

August is an expanded take on Eldar Rapaport’s 2005 16-minute short, Postmortem, and even keeps a couple of the same actors. Troy (Murray Bartlett) returns to LA after time in Spain and reconnects with Jonathan (Daniel Dugan), the man he had a painful break-up with before he left the country. They initially meet for coffee, but what starts as a seemingly innocent attempt to reconnect turns into a resurgence of their affair. However Jonathan now has a new boyfriend, Raul (Adrian Gonzalez), who seems to feel he was in a kind of competition with Troy even before he reappeared on the scene. [Read more…]

Trishna (Cinema)

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There have been various themes running through the incredibly eclectic films of Michael Winterbottom. He’s shown a deep interest in music (24 Hour Party People), delved repeatedly into foreign countries and politics (A Mighty Heart, Welcome To Sarajevo), and experimented with different naturalistic, almost documentary styles (9 Songs, The Road To Guantanamo).

There’s also been a bit of an obsession with the works of Thomas Hardy, as he’s made Jude, based on Jude The Obscure, The Claim, which took The Mayor Of Casterbridge to the 19th Century American frontier, and now Trishna, which is Tess Of The D’Urbervilles in modern-day India. With an almost improvised style, culture clash themes and mix of musical types, the film brings together a whole heap of Winterbottom’s interests. [Read more…]

Chicago Hope – Season 1 (DVD)

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For some reason in 1994, American TV decided that the world would only be interested in hospitals if they were located in Chicago. In the third week of September of that year, both ER and Chicago Hope debuted on different US TV networks, both set in the Windy City. While ER became a ratings sensation, Chicago Hope went slightly more under the radar, but nevertheless lasted a fairly impressive six seasons.

For the first time anywhere in the world, the first season of the show hits digital disc, taking us into the world of the surgeons at a private charity hospital, whose complicated personal lives are matched by a series of weird and wonderful medical cases. It’s a serviceable enough idea, and indeed it’s been done plenty of times before and after, however there’s not a huge amount about Chicago Hope that really makes it stand proud of the pack, even if it is fairly entertaining. [Read more…]

John Carter (Cinema)

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This was always going to be an eagerly anticipated take on an American Classic, now brought to us by Disney and directed by Andrew Stanton of Pixar fame, who helmed the brilliant Wall-E and Finding Nemo.

The John Carter books, by Edgar Rice Boroughs (of Tarzan fame), are relatively little known outside the US, but to a certain extent they’re America’s equivalent of British classics such as Lord Of The Rings and Narnia, loved by children and adults alike. I knew very little of John Carter prior to hearing about the release, but the Avatar-esque trailers were promising. Unfortunately though the end result feels more like the dodgy adaptation that turned out to be The Golden Compass, although thankfully not as bad as that movie. [Read more…]

Tomboy (DVD)

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A mother, father and their two children move house one summer, several weeks before the new school year is about to begin. The eldest child introduces himself to the local kids, telling them he’s called Michael, starting friendships and beginning a fledgling adolescent romance with a girl called Lisa.

However 10-year-old Michael is hiding something, as he was born a girl and his parents know him as Laure. Initially Michael manages to keep his secret well, with the local kids accepting him as a boy, but the truth inevitably emerges, especially as they’re all due to attend the same school and Michael will be enrolled by his parents as a girl. [Read more…]

The Slipper And The Rose (DVD)

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While it may not be the greatest musical classic in history, it’s ridiculous that it’s taken this long to get The Slipper And The Rose onto DVD in the UK. Made in 1976 (at a time when musicals weren’t popular, irrespective of whether they were any good or not), the movie is an adaptation of Cinderella, although unlike most versions of the story, it concentrates as much on the prince as Cinders.

Richard Chamberlain plays Prince Edward, who believes people should marry for love, but who is trapped in a world governed by protocol, position and diplomacy, where his regal parents are obsessed with ensuring he makes a match that ensures an alliance with another country. [Read more…]

From Prada To Nada (DVD)

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Over the years, Jane Austen’s tales have been adapted and moulded into all sorts of forms by the world of film and TV, but one we’ve haven’t had until now is Sense & Sensibility brought into the 21st Century and given a Latina spin! And let’s just ignore they called it From Prada To Nada, which is a spectacularly awful title.

Alexa Vega and Camilla Belle play sisters Mary and Nora Dominguez, who’ve grown up rich and pampered in the best bits of LA. However when their father kicks the bucket, they discover he was essentially bankrupt, which necessitates a move to the much poorer environs of their aunt’s house in East LA. The pampered princesses must learn a few lessons about living without endless supplies of cash, as well as that love isn’t just about finding a rich match, while reconnecting with their Latino roots. [Read more…]

Phineas and Ferb: The Movie – Across The Second Dimension (DVD)

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I have to admit that I’m a bit of a latecomer to Phineas & Ferb, although in my defence 30-something men aren’t usually required to keep up with the latest developments in kids TV. However the cartoon stepbrothers are insanely popular, with Disney claiming that 1 in 2 kids watch the show, and that it reaches an insanely impressive 289 million viewers around the world. It’s not surprising therefore that it’s getting a movie, even if it is a straight-to-DVD one.

While it helps to have watched some of the show on Disney Channel before you see the film, it’s certainly not compulsory. If you don’t know, Phineas & Ferb are stepbrothers trying to enjoy their summer, who spend their days inventing all manner of incredible things. However what they don’t realise is that their beloved pet Platypus, Perry, is also secret agent P, who thwarts the plans of the evil but rather dim Dr. Heinz Doofenschmirtz. [Read more…]

This Means War (Cinema)

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I know the exact moment when I gave up on the idea that This Means War was going to be a good movie. Fairly early on Lauren (Reese Witherspoon) is shopping with her friend, Trish (Chelsea Handler), a character who only exists to give Lauren an excuse to say exactly what she’s thinking at any point in time.

However it wasn’t the lazy exposition (something the film loves to engage in) that made me realise that behind the fireworks there wasn’t much going on in This Means War, it was because the scene was set up so that the two women were doing their entire supermarket shop based on what was on the end of the aisles. They picked out detergent, looked at special offers and neither of them seemed to need anything that wasn’t right there in front of them. [Read more…]

The Stranger In Us (DVD)

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Small town guy Anthony (Raphael Barker) arrives in San Francisco to live with his new boyfriend Stephen (Scott Cox). However domestic bliss soon turns sour when Stephen turns out to be demanding, controlling, abusive, manipulative and volatile.

The film jumps between Anthony in the midst of the tempestuous relationship and afterwards, when he find himself alone and isolated in the big city, before striking up a friendship with a young, runaway hustler, Gavin (Ada Perez). In between one night stands, trying drugs and desperately attempting to put his life back on track, Anthony finds himself drawn to Gavin, and together they find a connection in the anonymous, impersonal world of the big city. [Read more…]