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

LLGFF Review: Interior. Leather Bar

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A movie made by James Franco (along with co-director Travis Mathews), ostensibly recreating 40 minutes of footage cut from the 1980 movie Cruising, which starred Al Pacino as an undercover cop who has to infiltrate a gay leather bar in order to find a serial killer. The 40 minutes were removed at the behest of the film classification board in order to prevent the film from being classified as pornography and therefore unsuitable for public release. [Read more…]

Accident (DVD)

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1967’s Accident is the second of three collaborations between director Joseph Losey and playwright Harold Pinter, although less seen than either The Servant or The Go-Between. Among the cognoscenti, many consider it to be the best of their films together, but is that because it really is great, or just because these people like being contrary and sounding like they have rarefied tastes? Well, probably more of the former than the latter, although it’s not without interest. [Read more…]

Entertaining Mr. Sloane (DVD)

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Middle-aged Kath (Beryl Reid) comes across the handsome young Mr. Sloane (Peter McEnery) in a cemetery, and liking what she sees invites him to become her lodger. Her father, ‘The Dadda’ (Alan Kemp), is less impressed with this interloper, as he’s convinced he recognises Sloane as the murderer of his former employer.

Sloane isn’t the only one Dadda has issues with, as he hasn’t spoken to his son, Ed (Harry Andrews) for decades, ever since he caught him ‘committing a felony’ in his bedroom as a teenager. Ed initially thinks Kath’s made a mistake taking in a lodger – until he meets Sloane, that is. He’s immediately smitten and offers the lad employment, complete with tight leather driver’s uniform. [Read more…]

Nate & Margaret (DVD)

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An unusual relationship that leads to a few important lessons is probably the only way I can sum up Nate & Margaret in a few words. However I have more than a few words so I’ll go into greater depth.

The film tells the story of 19-year-old Nate (Tyler Ross) and 52-year-old Margaret (Natalie West) as their somewhat unusual relationship is rocked by the arrival of Nate’s first boyfriends and Margaret’s pursuit of a career as a stand up comedian. [Read more…]

CSI: Miami – Season 10 (DVD)

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It’s not too long ago that CSI: Miami was the most watched programme in the world. However, while its sister shows CSI: New York and CSI: Vegas continue, the Florida-set series comes to an end with the 19 episodes of Season 10.

It’s pretty much business as usual, with Lt. Horatio Cane (David Caruso) once more investigating Miami murder, as well as being very indecisive over whether he needs to wear sunglasses or not. Crimes range from the murder of a male escort found in a hotel cabana to the Twilight inspired killing of the housemaid of a young adult novelist. As the makers of CSI: Miami knew the show was going to end, there’s also time to wrap up a few on-going threads, such as the return of Horatio’s nemeses, the Mala Noche gang, as well as ensuring a serial killer who gets away early in the season can come under the CSI’s lens again before the season ends. [Read more…]

Derren Brown: Svengali (DVD)

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Derren Brown won an Olivier Award for his live show, Svengali, which as we’ve come to expect from the mentalist is a mix of magic, humour and showmanship, designed to confound and amaze. It’s a show that’s fun, entertaining and at times somewhat creepy, especially when the automaton that gives the show its name comes on stage.

It’s certainly a show that would have been great to see live, with Derren interacting with the audience, guessing which of them made an anonymous confession, getting them up on stage to think of a famous face the illusionist then paints and various other things. Although it’s inevitable a show like this is going to lose something in the transition to the small screen, it’s still a very good watch. [Read more…]

So Undercover (DVD)

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Am I the only one who thinks Miley Cyrus is actually a pretty good actress, and not just singing-Disney-poppet-Bill-Ray-spawn? However, while I think she’s pretty good, there’s something a little disingenuous about So Undercover, as after years as Hannah Montana and making her name out of plastic bubblegum pop culture, she’s now slightly thumbing her nose at the sort of cheesy fashion and fame ethos that made her famous.

She plays Molly, a street-wise young woman who’s been a private eye working with her dad (Mike O’Malley) ever since he was fired from the police. Molly is approached by an FBI Agent (Jeremy Piven), who wants her to go undercover in a university sorority to investigate a case involving one of the girls and a group of mobsters. Molly is a fish out of water amongst the snooty, high maintenance, materialistic college girls. Suddenly she’s dealing with bitchy sorority sisters who don’t appreciate Molly threatening their position, having to attend university classes and also finding romance with a dashing young co-ed called Nicholas (Joshua Bowman). [Read more…]

Room 237 (DVD)

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I bet you’re one of those crazy people who think Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining is just a movie about a guy who goes nuts in a hotel one winter and tries to kill his family. Well, you couldn’t be more wrong, as this documentary is here to tell us it’s about the destruction of the Native Americans, the Nazis, numerology and various other things, all encoded in the shape of the hotel, the patterns Danny traces as he trundles around on his tricycle and what the Torrances’ watch on TV. [Read more…]

Silver Linings Playbook (Blu-ray)

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It took many by surprise when Silver Linings Playbook picked up eight Oscar nominations, as while it got decent reviews, few thought it was a serious Academy Award contender. However, as the ceremony approached it picked up momentum to the point where many thought there was a decent possibility of it taking the Best Picture prize. In the end its only gong was a much deserved Bst Actress award for Jennifer Lawrence, but you can certainly see why it became a bit of a sleeper awards contender. [Read more…]

LLGFF Review: White Night

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Flight attendant Won-Gyu returns to South Korea for the first time in two years. A hopeless meeting with his ex-boyfriend drives him in search of a one night stand. He meets up with Tae-Jun, a courier who is expecting a brief encounter. What Tae-Jun gets instead is a battle of control with Won-Gyu and a dark insight into a damaged man who is looking for more than just a good time: he’s looking to punish the people who drove him from Korea in the first place. [Read more…]