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

Bringing Up Bobby (DVD)

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Having found fame in front of the cameras in the likes of X-Men and Goldeneye, Famke Janssen turns writer and director with Bringing Up Bobby. Milla Jovovich gets to take the central role as a Ukrainian immigrant to America Olive, who’s raising a young son called Bobby (Spencer List).

Olive’s idea of parenting isn’t exactly textbook, as she’s a full-on con-woman, happy to say and do whatever she has to in order to get by, whether it’s convincing a salesman to let her go on a test drive so she can steal a car, or pretending she’s raising cash for poor foreigners. [Read more…]

Beat Girl (Cinema)

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After the death of her mother, Heather (Louise Dylan) is forced to move in with her estranged father (Michael Higgs) and a stepbrother (Percelle Ascott) who doesn’t want anything to do with her. After years of training, she’s on the edge of fulfilling her mother’s wish that she attend Juilliard and study to become a truly great pianist.

Then she meet record store owner Toby (Craig Daniel Adams), who introduces her to the underground world of DJ-ing. It’s something she knows nothing about and involves a type of music that’s never penetrated her rarefied classical world. Initially she’s attracted to the idea of being a DJ in the hope she can get paid and save money for music school, but soon she starts to realise the excitement of this world. [Read more…]

Konga (DVD)

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Sometimes you watch an old movie and it’s difficult not to wonder what the filmmakers thought they were producing when they made it. Konga is now seen as a b-movie cult classic of trampy camp. But when director John Lemont was making it, did he think his man in a monkey suit was good and would terrify audiences?  Did he think he was making a sci-fi thriller in the vein of King Kong that would impress people in the same way the 1933 movie did? Or even at the time did he know he was making silly nonsense that would be a guilty pleasure at best (perhaps the fact it’s called Konga suggests he did)? [Read more…]

Deadfall (Cinema)

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Deadfall comes to us from Best Foreign Language Oscar winner Stefan Ruzowitsky (The Counterfeiters) and has an excellent cast of many well established actors and up and coming stars.

It’s about two siblings, Addison and Liza (played by Eric Bana and Olivia Wilde respectively), who are on the run from a casino heist. The two are then involved in a car accident leaving one officer dead. They end up stranded in the snowy mountainous terrain of North Michigan. Bana, being the protective brother, advises them to split-up, as police only have him as a suspect [Read more…]

Alex Cross (Blu-ray)

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We’ve rather missed out on Tyler Perry here in the UK. While his self-written and directed movies have proved big hits amongst African-American audiences in the US and turned him into a multi-millionaire, many of his films never got cinemas releases in Britain. Some did get belated DVD releases, but a few have never come out here at all. Alex Cross is Perry’s attempt to segue over into the worldwide mainstream cinema success, as well as being the first film to have him in the lead that he didn’t also write and helm himself (he did pop up in a small role in Star Trek though). [Read more…]

Billy Liar – 50th Anniversary Edition (Blu-ray)

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The fact 1963’s Billy Liar is classed as one of British cinemas ‘kitchen sink dramas’ makes it sound as if it’s going to be a dull, slice of ‘it’s grim up north’ verité, but it’s actually far more charming and funny than that. Indeed, while the way it’s shot and its working class roots are rather British New Wave, it as much hints towards the groovy cinema of the late 60s as it fits with the ‘angry young men’ cinema it’s often grouped with. Either way, it’s a great movie that’s been given a remarkably sharp brush-up for its 50th anniversary. [Read more…]

The Facility (DVD)

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A group of people head for a secluded clinic to take part in a medical trial, with the promise that if they stay for two weeks, they’ll get £2,000. After being introduced they’re taken off at hourly intervals to be given the drug, Pro9, and are then left to get to know one another.

That night the side-effects turn out to be far more dramatic than expected. The first of the guinea pigs to be given the drug is found doubled-over in pain and is taken off by the medics. Some time later, a second participant starts screaming. It soon becomes clear that the drug has extreme side-effects, which essentially turn people into unconscious psycho-killers, who are more than willing to inflict violence on those who get in the way. As the other patients realise escape is going to be difficult, they also know that everyone who’s been given the drug is potentially going to go off their rocker too, and the only reason more haven’t already turned is due to the hour-long gaps between the administrations of the first dose. [Read more…]

I’m So Excited (Cinema)

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Just when Pedro Almodovar earned himself a new audience with the brilliantly bonkers Skin I Live In, he follows it up with a film that at best can be described Almodovar-lite. It’s charming enough and at times well-acted, but ultimately too paper-thin to be remembered along with his great works.

If he is the high priest of camp then it was only a matter of time before he made a film set on a plane, with three stewards as his main characters. And very funny they are, although their constant bitching and fussing about who is bisexual and who has slept with who gets tiresome over the 90 long minutes. Even their singing of the title song by the Pointer Sisters wears a bit thin after 30 seconds. [Read more…]

Adults Only (Short Film)

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The Artist proved that there’s room in the world for silent movies, but the Oscar-winner still felt the need to hark back to the pre-talkies era to get us to accept its premise. Adults Only is a far more contemporary dialogue-free short film (technically it’s not a silent movie, as it does feature ambient sounds), from writer/actor Heath Daniels and director Michael J. Saul. The film premiered at the Torino GLBT Film Festival on April 24th, and makes its US debut at the Miami Gay and Lesbian Film Festival on May 2nd, before moving on to other fests throughout the year. [Read more…]

Mixed Kebab (DVD)

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Mixed Kebab is an apt title for this film as it has a bit of everything, from rom-com moments and immigrant drama, to coming out difficulties and the issues surrounding potential Islamic radicalisation. It’s a diverse range of tones and subjects – so that there are moments that play out as farce and others that present tense, nasty violence, and even one scene that looks like it’s fallen out of The Godfather. You’d think that would be a mess, but writer/director Guy Lee Thys manages to pull it all together to create an entertaining and surprisingly smart movie. [Read more…]