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 Legend Of Hercules (DVD Review)

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The Legend Of Hercules is less a movie than a collection of other films and TV series that have been dissected and then stitched back together to make something new (sort of). Fans of Greek mythology probably won’t be that impressed either, as while it takes little bits of the legends it creates its own story to turn it into a kind of superhero origin story.

The tyrannical King Amphitryon (Scott Adkins) is renowned as the most fearsome warrior around, who no one can beat in battle. His wife, Alcmene (Roxanne McKee), is told by a messenger of Hera that she will have a son by Zeus –who will be called Hercules – and whose destiny is to restore peace to the land. Amphitryon isn’t impressed by this new addition to the family, who he decides will be called Alcides, and is never shy about telling him he’s not as good as older brother Iphicles (Liam Garrigan). [Read more…]

The Double (Blu-ray Review)

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Richard Ayoade impressed many with his directorial debut, Submarine, and now he’s back with something a little more ambitious – an unusual, highly stylised movie based on a story by Fyodor Dostoyevsky.

Jesse Eisenberg is Simon, who lives in a David Lynch by way of Terry Gillian self-contained world. He works as clerk for a government agency, where no matter what great ideas he comes up with, nobody seems to notice him. That includes the woman of his dreams (Mia Wasikowska), who works in the copy room but barely seems to remember him, despite the fact he’s close to being her stalker. [Read more…]

Masters Of Sex – Season 1 (DVD Review)

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Masters Of Sex is certainly a provocative title, and one that could promise a lot but deliver little. Thankfully though that’s far from the case with this excellent series, which takes a fictionalised look at the real-life Dr. Williams Master (Martin Sheen) and Virginia Johnson (Lizzy Caplan), who revolutionised our understanding of sex by looking at it scientifically.

It’s amazing to think that in the 1950s we’d split the atom, begun to understand quantum physics, built skyscrapers that reached over 1,000 feet into the sky, and yet we knew remarkably little about something as fundamental as sex, largely due to prurience. [Read more…]

Noah (Blu-ray Review)

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For years Darren Aronofsky tried to get his epic version of Noah off the ground, but it never seemed likely to really happen. His only previous foray into big budget filmmaking, The Fountain, turned into a bit of a disaster, with only part of the movie actually made (due to studio intervention) and what was left being confusing and making little money at the box office.

However after the success of Black Swan and with biblical epics looking like they might be coming back into fashion, Paramount decided to take a punt on the movie. However this is Darren Aronofsky, the man behind the likes of Requiem For A Dream and Pi, so it was always clear this wasn’t going to be your typical $125 million studio movie. That said, it appears even Paramount was surprised by how strange and intense it turned out. After viewing Darren’s preferred version they made their own, more traditional cut, but it turned out audiences liked Aronofsky’s take better and so that’s what we have. [Read more…]

The Last Match (La Partida) (DVD Review)

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There’s been a lot of interesting gay-themed cinema coming out of South America. With The Last Match things move a little north to the island of Cuba – although thematically and stylistically it shares a lot in common with what’s been made in the likes of Brazil and Argentina.

Reinier (Reinier Díaz) is a teen who lives in the slums of Havana. He makes money as a rent boy – although he’s keen to tell his Johns he’s not a ‘fag’ – and dreams of playing soccer professionally. Then he meets Yosvani (Milton García), who’s also fighting against tough circumstances. Their friendship becomes complicated when Reinier drunkenly kisses Yosvani on the lips. However when Yosvani later tries to reciprocate, Reinier angrily pushes him away. [Read more…]

Love Or Whatever (DVD Review)

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It’s back into the world of gay-themed rom-coms with Love Or Whatever, which follows Corey (Tyler Poelle) who thinks he’s got is all – a good job as a counsellor and a boyfriend who he’s about to propose to. However his lover, Jon (David Page), has different ideas. He’s nervous about the commitment he knows Corey is going to ask for and so ends up having a one-night stand – with a woman.

Corey doesn’t take this news well and throws Jon out. Things get worse when Corey discovers his boyfriend’s new lady is one of his clients. He’s torn between whether to pump her for information or whether do the right thing and pass her off to another shrink. [Read more…]

A Long Way Down (DVD Review)

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If you’ve never read Nick Hornby’s book, A Long Way Down, I’d heartily recommend it. However most people who’ve read the novel will know it was always going to be tough to adapt it for the screen without making it seem trite or cheap. While not a complete disaster, unfortunately the movie version doesn’t completely overcome those issues.

On New Year’s Eve four strangers meet on a rooftop – disgraced broadcaster Martin (Pierce Brosnan), loud-mouthed politician’s daughter Jess (Imogen Poots), down-trodden mother Maureen (Toni Collette) and musician JJ (Aaron Paul). They’re all there to do the same thing – leap to their deaths. [Read more…]

Guardians Of The Galaxy (Cinema Review)

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Over the last 10 years films based around the Marvel Comic Universe have dominated the box office raking in billions across the world. From Spiderman to the X-men series to the varying films that led up to The Avengers, cinemagoers can’t seem to get enough of superheroes.

So the latest addition to the never-ending stream of products is the highly anticipated Guardians Of The Galaxy which, we have been told, is like nothing we’ve seen before…but have we? [Read more…]

Girls On Film: The First Date (DVD Review)

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After the success of Peccadillo’s Boys On Film series – which has so far given us 10 selections of great short films focussed on gay men – comes the lesbian-themed Girls On Film: The First Date. The disc features nine shorts, and as with the Boys On Film releases it’s a great selection that covers a broad range of topics and ideas, taking in everything from comedy to documentary.

You can take a look at what I thought of each of the shorts below: [Read more…]

Vampire Academy (DVD Review)

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There have been a vast array of films in the last few years that have bid to be the new Twilight or Harry Potter. While Vampire Academy may not have ever been likely to have hit those heights, there were hopes it could carve out its own niche. Instead it pretty much sank without trace, partly because it’s so busy trying to be other popular franchises – or perhaps parodying them – that it never becomes anything on its own.

The film’s mythology follows three races of being – the Moroi, who are a mortal, largely benevolent magical race but who have to live on blood; the Strigoi, who are the evil, immortal vampires of myths; and the half-bloodsucker Dhampir, a warrior race who protect the Moroi. [Read more…]