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

A Fantastic Woman Actress Daniela Vega Announced As The First Ever Openly Trans Oscar Presenter

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The 2018 Academy Award ceremony will feature a couple of landmarks for trans representation. Firstly, Yance Ford is the first openly transgender man to be nominated for an Academy Award, and also the first trans director. He’s up for Best Documentary Feature.

And while Daniela Vega didn’t pick up a nomination for her much praised performance in A Fantastic Woman (although the movie is nominated for Best Film Not In The English Language), she will make history as the first trans actress to be an Oscar presenter. Vega was included on the list of people the Academy says will present awards on March 4th, although it hasn’t been revealed which category she will hand out the statuette for.

Vega is part of one of the most diverse lists of presenters ever, with Viola Davis, Margot Robbie, Mahershala Ali, Greta Gerwig, Chadwick Boseman, Tiffany Haddish, Tom Holland, and Laura Dern also amongst those handing out gongs. While the previous year’s Best Actor winner traditionally presents the next year’s Best Actress award, it’s already been announced that Casey Affleck will not do so this year. In the wake of the #metoo movement he has faced renewed scrutiny over allegation of sexual harrassment and assault. While the accusations were first made several years ago, they werelargely ignored by Hollywood until now.

While this year has the first trans director nominee and the first trans Oscar presenter, perhaps surprisingly the first openly trans Oscar nominee was Angela Morley way back in 1974. She was nominated for ‘Best Music, Scoring Original Song Score and/or Adaptation’ for The Little Prince, and again in 1977 for The Slipper and the Rose: The Story of Cinderella. Sadly though, no trans person has ever been nominated in any of the acting categories, and no openly trans person has ever won an Oscar (although visual effects artist Paige Warner and software engineer Abigail Brady have won Scientific and Technical Awards from the Academy).

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Call Me By Your Name Picks Up A BAFTA, But Three Billboards Is The Big Winner

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Although Call Me By Your Name went into the award season as one of the top contenders, at the larger ceremonies it’s tended to be muscled out by other movies. However, at the BAFTAs it did at least pick up one award, with James Ivory nabbing Best Adapted Screenplay. It’s the veteran gay filmmaker’s first competitive BAFTA since winning Best Film for Howards End back in 1992.

The big winner of the night was Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, which was named Best Film and Outstanding British Film (despite being set in the US, it was made with largely British and Irish money and expertise), with Martin McDonagh winning Original Screenplay, Sam Rockwell taking Supporting Actor, and Frances McDormand receiving the BAFTA for Leading Actress. It cements its position as the frontrunner for the Oscars.

However, while it will probably do well at the Academy Awards and seems an increasingly strong contender for the Best Picture Oscar, it is unusual for getting fairly little love for McDonagh as the Director (he wasn’t even Oscar nominated in that category). As at several other ceremonies, Best Director went elsewhere, with Guillermo Del Toro picking up the gong for The Shape Of Water. That film also saw Alexandre Desplat collect the Original Music award, and it picked up Best Production Design.

Gary Oldman won Leading Actor for Darkest Hour; the film also won the award for Make Up & Hair, while Supporting Actress went to Allison Janney for her role as Tonya Harding’s mother in I, Tonya. Roger Deakins won his fourth BAFTA for Cinematography for Blade Runner 2049, which also won for Special Visual Effects.

Sadly, of the other LGBT nominations, God’s Own Country failed to win Best British Film, and the movie’s star, Josh O’Connor, lost out to Get Out’s Daniel Kaluuya for the EE Rising Star award. On the plus side, I Am Not Your Negro, about gay activist and writer, James Baldwin, won Best Documntary.

Take a look below for the full list of winners. [Read more…]

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Black Panther Actress Talks About Why The Rumoured Gay Moments Didn’t Make The Final Cut

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Last April it was reported that the Marvel Universe was going to get a bit more gay with Black Panther, with Vanity Fair reporting on a scene they’d viewed which featured a flirtatious exchange between Okuye (Danai Gurira) and Ayo (Florence Kasumba). The magazine suggested the movie would have more gay content than this, and that as in the 2016 comic World of Wakanda, the two would become a couple.

However, Marvel quickly stepped forward to say this wasn’t true and there would be no romance. It appears though that as with Valkryrie’s bisexuality in Thor: Ragnarok, it appears scenes that would have made it more explicit were filmed, but ended up on the cutting room floor.

Vulture asked Kasumba why she thought her character’s sexuality wasn’t touched upon in the final movie. She says, “The thing is, if the makers would have wanted everyone to see the scene, it would have been in the movie. The final result that we’ve seen, there were a few scenes that have been cut. Different scenes, also. They didn’t make it into the movie for certain reasons, and at that point, I have to say: What their reason is, I can’t tell you, because nobody told me about whether it’s in or not.

“But at this point, I personally think people have no idea who T’Challa is, who are the Wakandans, what is Wakanda, where is Wakanda, what is their culture. There are so many important things that had to be told in these two hours. So the focus was on what is so important for T’Challa. What happens after the last movie that we saw. I know all the other scenes that we have also filmed that are not in the movie. People have their reasons why not.”

However, she does hope there will be a chance to explore that side of the character in the future, saying, “I’d love to, at some point. Not now, because it’s too soon. At this point, the focus is somewhere else. I started reading World of Wakandatowards the end of filming and I loved reading the comics. I loved reading about, Okay, how do the Doras become Doras? … That’s the whole reason why we had a boot camp [to train for the movie]: In order to be physically able to move as a unit. That was more important. That’s what I’m saying, right? Who is in love with whom and whatever — that was not important in this movie.”

Black Panther is currently tearing up the box office, with the film expected to take a record-breaking $205 million in its first weekend in the US.

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BFI Flare: London LGBT Film Festival Announces Its Opening & Closing Films

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Postcards From London

The full programme for BFI Flare: London LGBT Film Festival is due to be announced soon, but ahead of that, the British Film Institute has announced the opening and closing films of the fest, which runs 21st March to 1st April at BFI Southbank. The UK’s premiere lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender film fest will open with Tali Shalom-Ezer’s My Days Of Mercy on Wednesday 21st March. Powered by stirring performances from Ellen Page (Juno, Inception, Freeheld) and Kate Mara (House Of Cards, The Martian), Shalom-Ezer’s follow up to Princess is a poignant love story between two women from vastly different backgrounds and opposing political views.

The European Premiere of Steve McLean’s stylish and sexy Postcards From London will feature as the Closing Night Gala. The film tells the story of beautiful teenager Jim (Beach Rats breakout star, Harris Dickinson) who, having travelled from the suburbs, finds himself in Soho where he falls in with a gang of unusual high class male escorts ‘The Raconteurs’. Set in a vibrant, neon-lit, imaginary vision of Soho, this morality tale manages to be both a beautifully shot homage to the spirit of Derek Jarman and a celebration of the homo-erotic in Baroque art.

Michael Blyth, BFI Flare’s Senior Programmer comments, “It’s a pleasure to open this year’s Festival with My Days of Mercy, Tali Shalom-Ezer’s politically resonant and emotionally astute drama. This is bold and provocative filmmaking, featuring captivating performances from both Kate Mara and Ellen Page, the latter of whom continues to show such inspiring commitment to telling LGBT stories on screen”.

Tricia Tuttle, Artistic Director, BFI Festivals adds, “In recent years, the Festival has been developing links between the established film industry and the UK’s very exciting new generation of emerging LGBT identified filmmakers. We’re seeing a true strength in depth of talent in the UK and it’s a real thrill to see this in action with our Closing Night film, Steve McLean’s stylish and witty Postcards from London, a love song to European queer art and culture.”

BFI Flare: London LGBT Film Festival is the UK’s longest running LGBT film event. It began in 1986 as Gay’s Own Pictures. By its 3rd edition it was known as the London Lesbian and Gay Film Festival and since then has grown to become the largest LGBT film event in the UK, and its most anticipated. The Festival changed its name to BFI Flare in 2014 to reflect the increasing diversity of its films, filmmakers and audience. The festival is programmed by Jay Bernard, Michael Blyth, Zorian Clayton, Brian Robinson and Emma Smart, led by Artistic Director, Tricia Tuttle.

The full programme of BFI Flare: London LGBT Film Festival will include 56 feature films, an expanded industry programme, selected films on BFI Player VOD service, a series of special events and archive screenings. fiveFilms4freedom will see Flare offer five LGBT short films for free across the world and promoted through the British Council’s global networks. The full programme will be available on 21st February. The festival runs 21st March – 1st April. You can find more information at: www.bfi.org.uk/Flare

My Days Of Mercy

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Jim Parsons Is Turning Drag Queen For The Legend of Georgia McBride

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When he’s not playing Sheldon in The Big Bang Theory, Jim Parsons likes to pick out interesting projects. That’s included Broadway stints in revivals of The Normal Heart and Harvey, as well as appearing in films such as Home and Hidden Figures.

Now he’s planning to let out his inner drag queen, according to Variety. Parsons is set to star in and produce a movie version of Matthew Lopez’s play, The Legend of Georgia McBride. He will ‘play the role of Miss Tracy Mills, a veteran drag queen who coaches a broke young man in the art of performing, transforming him from a washed-up Elvis impersonator to a show-stopping drag queen.’

So far it hasn’t been announced who will play Casey, the young man who needs to channel his inner drag queen.

Lopez’s play premiered in 2014 in Denver, and has also had successful runs in both NYC and LA (and even managed to get a great treview in the New York Times, which described it as ‘stitch-in-your-side funny’). New Regency and Fox 2000 have snapped up the feature film rights, with Parson producing through his That’s Wonderful Productions company.

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Loving Vincent (DVD Review) – Van Gogh inspires the world’s first fully painted movie

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Irrespective of anything else, Loving Vincent is an impressive achievement. It’s the world’s first animated movie that’s ‘fully painted’. In practice that means that the entire thing was filmed with actors and the using that footage it was later animated by a team of over 100 artists using oil paintings for both the characters and the background – and all done in the style of Vincent Van Gogh.

The film is set a year after Van Gogh’s death. Vincent’s friend from Arles, Postman Joseph Roulin (Chris O’Dowd), forces his slacker son, Armand (Douglas Booth), to hand deliver the artist’s final letter to his brother, Theo. After Armand discovers Theo is also dead, he travels on to the place where Vincent spent his final days, Auvers-sur-Oise, to see whether he should give the letter to the man who was supposed to be looking after him at the time, Dr. Gachet (Jerome Flynn). [Read more…]

Win Jane Lynch In The Gay-Themed Series Dropping The Soap On DVD!

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It’s into the backstabbing, bitchy world of a US soap opera with Dropping The Soap, which is executive produced by and stars the wonderful Jane Lynch. The show is out now on DVD in the UK courtesy of TLA Releasing, and we’ve teamed up with them to give away three copies.

Here’s the synopsis: ‘Dropping the Soap’ goes behind the scenes of long running (terrible) soap-opera “Collided Lives” and the desperate antics of its cast and crew. When the network brings in a ruthless new Executive Producer (Jane Lynch) to “re-brand” the show, the cast must fight for their survival by any means necessary. Bend over, Daytime.’

The ‘antics’ include arrogant leading Julian (Paul Witten) desperately trying to stay in the closet, while those around him plot his downfall.

For your chance to win Dropping The Soap on DVD, answer the question below and fill in your details, then press submit! The competition closes on February 26th, 2018, so get answering and good luck. [Read more…]

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The Ice King Trailer – A new documentary looks back at gay Olympic skating champion John Curry

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At the moment Canada’s Eric Radford is rightly being applauded for being the first officially ‘out’ person to win a Winter Olympic Gold Medal (in the team figure skating). However, back in 1976 there was John Curry, who became European, World and Olympic champion in the same year he was outed by a German newspaper. I meant that while he may not have opted to for his sexuality to be made public, when he took home the Olympic Gold Medal, he became to first person to do so at a time it was known he was gay.

A new documentary about him, The Ice King, looks at his life and the effect he had on skating.

Here’s the synopsis: ‘From award-winning director James Erskine (Sachin: A Billion Dreams, Battle of the Sexes) and producer Victoria Gregory (Shooting for Socrates, Senna) comes a new feature about the figure skating legend John Curry. Based on the book by Bill Jones and narrated by Freddie Fox, THE ICE KING is a searing documentary of a lost cultural icon, a story of art, sport, sexuality, and rebellion, releasing in cinemas across the UK and Ireland on 23 February 2018.

‘Watch any figure skating and it falls into two camps: before and after John Curry. From what was a macho, technical sport whose judges punished deviation, blossomed – through Curry’s stubborn beauty – ice-dancing. Featuring incredible unseen footage of some of his most remarkable performances, and with access to Curry’s letters and archive interviews, as well as contributions from former British skating champions Robin Cousins and Lorna Brown, legendary coach Christa Fassi, and interviews with his family, friends and collaborators, this is a portrait of the man who turned ice-skating from a dated sport into an exalted art form.

‘After winning gold at the Winter Olympics for a rebelliously balletic routine, audiences and reviewers alike were enthralled by his genius. Following his Olympic triumphs, Curry went on to defy expectations and to continuously redefine ice dancing as a true art form by pursuing his dream of forming his own company, which brought the sport to theatres and new audiences across the world. But Curry’s story is about more than skating. On the night of the Olympics final, Curry became the first openly gay Olympian at a time when homosexuality was barely legal. From bullying and prejudice, to relief in the gay underworld, to his untimely death from AIDS, Curry’s story dovetails with the experiences of a generation.

‘John Curry was no activist, but an artist expressing his authentic self – yet in a world where his existence was taboo, his life was unavoidably political.’ [Read more…]

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Andrew Garfield Says He’s Open To ‘Any Impulses’ When It Comes To Being Attracted To Men

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Andrew Garfield sparked a backlash (from the more easily scandalised part of the LGBT world) when he joked that he was ‘gay man right now, just without the physical act’. Quite how vociferously angry some peope were could have resulted in Garfield being a lot more guarded, but it doesn’t seem to have had that effect. Indeed, he seems to want to put things in further context.

Talking to Out recently, he chatted about how he doesn’t view his sexuality as immutable and unchangeable. “Up until this point, I’ve only been sexually attracted to women,” Garfield says. “My stance toward life, though, is that I always try to surrender to the mystery of not being in charge. I think most people – we’re intrinsically trying to control our experience here, and manage it, and put walls around what we are and who we are.

“I want to know as much of the garden as possible before I pass – I have an openness to any impulses that may arise within me at any time.”

Garfield was talking to Out ahead of his Broadway run in Angels In America, after playing the role of Prior Walter to great acclaim in London last year.

He add ed, “But, if I were to identify, I would identify as heterosexual, and being someone who identifies that way, and who’s taking on this seminal role, my scariest thought was, Am I allowed to do this?”

Coming back around to the comments that were taken badly last year, he says, “I think part of what I was trying to say was about inclusion, and about that openness to my impulses.”

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Action Man Is Getting A Movie With James Bobin Set To Direct

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Kids who grew up in Britain from the late 60s through the 80s (and beyond after he was periodically reintroduced) will know the Action Man, which were literally the UK version of America’s GI Joe. Now the toy line is getting its own movie, with The Muppets and Alice Through The Looking Glass helmer James Bobin set to direct.

While Bobin came to Hollywood’s attention thanks to New Zealand hit series Flight Of The Conchords, he’s actually a Brit (who incidentally worked directed a lot of the early Ali G, helping launch Sacha Baron Cohen’s career), who would have grown up with Action Man.

The toy arrived in the UK in 1966 as a licensed version of Hasbro’s GI Joe line, but with a less specifically American bent, and over time became a range of adventurer type figures that went far betond the military. He found immense popularity before falling out of favour by the 80s. Since the 1990s he has undergone various changes and transformations, with greater or lesser success. It’s not know if the new film will follow one of these newer reinventions – such as the 1993 version which resulted in a cartoon series where he got enemies such as Dr X and Professor Gangrene – or if it will take him back to his earlier incarnations.

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