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

20 Feet From Stardom (DVD Review)

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Often the best documentaries are about subjects you’re kind of aware of in the background of your life, but you’ve never really thought that much about them. Indeed that’s almost the definition of the subjects of 20 Feet From Stardom – the back-up singers who’ve featured on all sorts of well-known songs, but whose name rarely gets on the record cover.

For example, the documentary features the guy who provided the opening riff of The Lion King. And you can call me an idiot, but it was the first time I’d actually thought that someone actually had to record what has become one of the most famous opening moments in cinema, and we’ve never seen his face [Read more…]

Yves Saint Laurent (DVD Review)

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Yves Saint Laurent tells the story of one of fashion’s greatest legends. Directed by Jalil Lespert (Tell No One) and starring Pierre Niney (La Comédie Francaise) in the title role, this visually sumptuous film begins in Paris, 1957. The film charts YSL’s career from his early years at Dior in the late 1950s through to his iconic Ballet Russes collection of 1976. The world of late 1950s is perfectly captured with elegant Dior designs, stylish models and a jazz score that matches the chic Parisian apartments the fashionistas inhabit. [Read more…]

Futurama – Season 7 (Blu-ray Review)

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We’re a bit behind with Futurama in the UK. While Season 7 started in 2012 in the US, we’ve only just had it on TV in the UK, quickly followed by this home entertainment release. To make things a little more confusing, this release has 13 episodes, although officially the US Season 7 has 26 instalments. However it was split in two in both countries and so we’ve still got more episodes to come in Britain. That may sound annoying, but as the show has now been cancelled (again), it is good to know us Brits have a few new episodes before the end of Futurama finally comes. [Read more…]

Tiger Orange (Outfest Review)

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The gay-themed drama Tiger Orange premiered a couple of days ago at LA’s Outfest, and luckily we got a preview of the movie.

Normally when you hear that a gay-themed film has a porn star as one of its actors, it seems like stunt casting that cares more about hinting at titillation than because that performer is the right person for the job. However Tiger Orange challenges that by having Frankie Valenti – aka gay porn star Johnny Hazzard – in one of the lead roles and giving him the space to give an extremely creditable performance. [Read more…]

The Lego Movie (Blu-ray Review)

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When it was first announced that they were gonna make a Lego film there was a collective groan around the world – although that largely came from those who knew Lego years ago and weren’t aware of how its grown. Now there are all sorts of popular ranges, TV shows and incredibly successful computer games – it’s certainly not just a load of blocks in box anymore.

When the movie arrived in cinemas, all those who’d pre-judged it to be a desperate cash-grab had to eat their words, as the movie is very good and very funny, which helped it to a worldwide gross of over $465 million. Now it’s come to home ent. and if you missed it in theatres, you need to check it out now. [Read more…]

I Am Divine (Review)

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“Divine was the burlesque of John”

After premièring in the US at South by Southwest in 2013, I Am Divine finally hits the UK shores. It tells the story of how drag artiste Divine, aka Harris Glen Milstead, became John Waters’ cinematic muse and an international drag icon.

I Am Divine is a definitive biographical portrait of Divine, best known as the drag queen that ate dog poo in Pink Flamingo’s. The documentary honours Divine in just the way he always craved — as a serious artist and immortal star. Unfortunately, he died days before shooting began for Married with Children, where Divine was finally due to be taken seriously as an actor. [Read more…]

Harold And Maude (Blu-ray Review)

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Harold and Maude can be a tough sell. Despite saying to people that it’s a small masterpiece that’s amongst the best American movies ever made, the moment you mention that it’s a full-on love story between a teenager and a 79-year-old woman you can see the horror start to mount in people’s eyes, especially when you confirm we’re not talking purely about platonic love.

Now it’s arrived on Blu-ray, and I can only hope the release convinces a few more people to indulge in its quirky and yet often profound delights. [Read more…]

Gimme Shelter (DVD Review)

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Vanessa Hudgens continues her quest to prove she’s decidedly not a squeaky clean Disney Channel star anymore. In Gimme Shelter she is Apple, a teenager dealing with a childhood where she’s been in and out of often abusive foster case and has a junkie mother (Rosario Dawson) who only cares about the welfare check she brings in.

Apple runs away to find the father she never knew (Brendan Fraser), but when that doesn’t go well and she discovers that she’s pregnant, she starts to feel life on the streets may be her only option – until she finds potential salvation when a priest (James Earl Jones) tells her about a home for teen moms. [Read more…]

Eroddity(s) (DVD Review)

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Back in the dim and distant past there was an entire subgenre of straight-to-video movies (yes, video, I told you this was a long time ago) that had a plot but were filled with softcore sex. The main reason they existed seemed to be so that people who would be too embarrassed to buy an actual porn film could get something sexy without feeling too embarrassed to take it to the shop counter.

I couldn’t help thinking of that sort of movie when watching Eroddity(s), which presents four (well, three and a half) short stories that are linked by their horror feel and the fact the young men in them are unable to keep their clothes on for more than 30 seconds at a time. They’re also linked by the fact that no one in the movie is going to be winning an Oscar anytime soon, but as many of the actors are drawn from the world of twink porn, expecting to find a Meryl Streep amongst them is asking a bit much. [Read more…]

Helix – Season 1 (DVD Review)

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Thanks to the Battlestar Galactica reboot and his previous involvement with the rebirth of Star Trek in the 1990s, producer Ronald D. Moore is a bit of a legend in sci-fi TV circles, so it’s not surprising his presence behind-the-scenes as a producer was trumpeted strongly when Helix made its TV debut. However while it’s a decent series, it’s unlikely to be considered amongst his best.

Center For Disease Control doctor Alan Farragut (Billy Campbell) and a few of his colleagues get an unusual assignment when they’re sent to a large Arctic scientific outpost to investigate what appears to be a viral outbreak. However the symptoms are strange and Alan soon starts to realise that peculiar things have been going on, with the station’s head, Dr. Hiroshi Hatake (Hiroyuki Sanada), using the station’s remote situation to do unusual research far from the prying eyes of civilisation. [Read more…]