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

Gay Short Film Showcase: Teens Like Phil – Homophobic bullying pushes one boy to the edge

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teens-like-philTeens Like Phil has won several awards and also featured in the gay short film collection Boys On Film X, but now it’s available online and you can watch the moving teen drama below. However be warned it’s not always an easy watch, as it takes a close look at homophobic bullying and gay teen suicide.

Here’s the synopsis: ‘Phil, a shy, insecure teenager growing up in an affluent American suburb, is trapped in the painful throes of adolescence and the internalised struggle in coming to terms with his sexuality. At his elite private school, Phil is bullied by Adam, his former friend and love interest. Adam frequently lashes out against Phil and enjoys humiliating him in the locker room. When Phil can no longer tolerate the situation he takes drastic action to bring it to an end.’

As we said we when reviewed it, ‘It’s clear Teens Like Phil has absolutely the right intentions and in the early stages manages to look with great insight into the issues of being young and gay, not least the complicated emotions of teenagers and the role of authority figures in all this’.

Watch Teens Like Phil below. If you know a short film we ought to be posting, tell us by getting in touch via our contact page. And check out more gay short films and web series here. [Read more…]

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How To Get Away With Murder’s Jack Falahee Talks More About Why He Won’t Say If He’s Gay Or Not

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Jack-FalaheeA couple of weeks ago there was a lot of talk about comments How To Get Away With Murder’s Jack Falahee made, where he refused to say if he was gay in real life, or whether it was just his character was. Some praised him for refusing to be reductive, while others felt he was simply trying to have his cake and eat it.

You can understand the criticism, as his original comments to Out did come across more like he was trying to fudge and avoid the question than because he really believed his own point. At the time he said, “It’s been really interesting to be in the middle of the industry’s fascination with the individual, because I never thought about that growing up or when I was at acting school. No matter how I answer, someone will say, ‘No, that’s not true.’ We still live in this hetero-normative, patriarchal society that is intent on placing everything within these binaries. I really hope that — if not in my lifetime, my children’s lifetime — this won’t be a question, that we won’t need this.”

Now he’s expanded on what he was trying to say, telling Instinct, “We’re definitely making headway. The way we frame the conversation around sexuality is maybe not the best. That’s why I was adverse to answering that question.

“To answer how Jack Falahee defines his sexuality undermines what is being achieved by showing a character like Connor Walsh. Connor Walsh is unabashedly who he is because he’s confident in who he is. He doesn’t need to answer to anyone, and that’s okay.

“It’s really tough to assume that heterosexuality is the norm and that we are now forcing people to come out of closets. As soon as we can reconstruct the way that we view sexuality as a society, then this won’t be a conversation. You look at an actor who plays James Bond, and you don’t ask him if he’s gay or straight — or even the other men on my show. There’s no conversation being had about it, it just happens to be that I’m playing a gay man. So it seems really undermining to the greater cause.”

He does have a point, but he’s not necessarily getting it across particularly well. He’s right about James Bond and also that the question is only asked to him because he’s playing an LGBT character, but equally the way he talks about it does sound like he’s avoiding the issue.

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The Way He Looks (DVD Review)

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I’m always wary when a really good short film get turned into a feature-length movie. It seemed a particular concern with The Way He Looks, as the original short that it’s based is so perfect and complete in its own right, that a 90 minute version could easily have either felt bloated or been so different from the original it betrayed its roots. However director Daniel Ribiero has managed the rare feat of taking everything that was great about the short and spun it out into a sweet, tender teen romance that’s a really great film.

Leo is a blind teenager who is in a mainstream school but has issues with some of the other kids. However he has his best friend Gi, with the two of them spending all their time together. Indeed it’s rather co-dependent set-up, with Gi enjoying that Leo needs and seems to rely on her, while Leo has the comfort of someone looking out for him. However he also yearns for independence, feeling that because he’s blind everyone around him is trying to control and prevent him from being his own person. [Read more…]

Bradley Cooper Circling Thriller Orphan X

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bradley-cooperBradley Cooper may currently be waiting to see whether it’ll be third time lucky for him at the Oscars (incidentally he’s only the 10th person to be nominated for three best acting Oscars in consecutive years), but he’s already eying the future as THR reports he’s in talks for the thriller Orphan X.

The film will be based on Gregg Hurwitz’s upcoming thriller which, ‘centers on a man named Evan Smoak. He’s called a “Nowhere Man,” and he helps others, sometimes through violent means. A job draws him into a world of human slavery, engineered by a detective of the Los Angeles Police Department.’

Warner Brothers is currently negotiating for the movie rights so that Cooper and his producing partner Todd Phillips can develop it through their currently untitled production company.

Don’t expect to see the film for a while though, as even the book isn’t out until February 2016.

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Robert Pattinson & Carice Van Houten Join Guy Pearce In Brimstone

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Robert-PattinsonThere might have been a bit of a bromance on the set of The Rover, as Robert Pattinson and Guy Pearce are reteaming for Brimstone. Pearce and Wasikowska have previously been announced, but it’s only now we’ve heard that Pattinson & Carice Van Houten will join them.

The movie is a suspenseful tale of guilt and retribution that unfolds at the end of the 19th century.  It’s described as ‘a dark, violent and epic western about a young woman (and her family) whose lives change drastically when a diabolical preacher comes to town. From the moment the new reverend climbs the pulpit, Liz knows she and her family are in great danger.’

Martin Koolhoven, best known for his work on Winter in Wartime, is writing and directing the movie, which is set to shoot in May. The film is currently looking for buyers at the Berlin Film Festival.

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Pride Picks Up A BAFTA, But Imitation Game Loses Out

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EE BAFTA Rising Star winner Jack O'Connell

EE BAFTA Rising Star winner Jack O’Connell

It was a big night at the EE British Academy Film Awards, where Boyhood was named Best Film with Richard Linklater winning Director and Patricia Arquette receiving the award for Supporting Actress. The Awards were hosted for a tenth year by Stephen Fry and held at London’s Royal Opera House.

While Pride lost out on Best Supporting Actress for Imelda Staunton and Best British Film, Writer Stephen Beresford and Producer David Livingstone received the award for Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer for the movie.

However the big loser on the gay-themed front was The Imitation Game, which had high hopes due to its 10 nominations, but walked away with absolutely nothing. To be honest that won’t be surprising to many, as few thought it was likely to do particularly well, but there was hope it would pick up a couple.

The Grand Budapest Hotel won five awards: Costume Design, Production Design, Make Up & Hair and Original Music, with Wes Anderson winning his first BAFTA for Original Screenplay.

Leading Actor was presented to Eddie Redmayne for his portrayal of Professor Stephen Hawking in The Theory of Everything, which also received the awards for Outstanding British Film and Adapted Screenplay.

Whiplash received three BAFTAs: Supporting Actor for J. K. Simmons, Editing and Sound. Leading Actress was presented to Julianne Moore for her role in Still Alice, meaning all four of this year’s performance awards went to first-time BAFTA winners.

Writer Stephen Beresford and Producer David Livingstone received the award for Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer for their first feature film Pride. Previous Outstanding Debut winner Pawel Pawlikowski picked up the award for Film Not in the English Language for Ida.

Emmanuel Lubezki received the BAFTA for Cinematography for Birdman, having won this category twice previously, most recently in 2014.

The Lego Movie received the BAFTA for Animated Film, and Special Visual Effects was presented to Interstellar. The award for Documentary was won by Citizenfour.

Boogaloo and Graham won the British Short Film award and the British Short Animation award was presented to The Bigger Picture; both shorts are nominated for this year’s international short film and animation categories at the Oscars later this month.

The EE Rising Star Award, voted for by the public, was presented to Jack O’Connell.

The special award for Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema was presented to BBC Films in their 25th year. Mike Leigh, whose films include Naked, Secrets & Lies, Vera Drake and Mr. Turner, received the Fellowship, the highest honour the Academy can bestow.

You can take a look at the full list of winners below:

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EE BAFTAs Red Carpet Arrivals Gallery – From Henry Cavill to James McAvoy & more

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baftas2015-mainWe were lucky enough to be on the EE BAFTAs red carpet, just next to the photographers’ area, which allowed us to get a good view of the arrivals and take a few candid shots of the celebs.

In fact it was an oddly entertaining place to stand, because everyone wants their photo taken and there are so many famous faces that they have to form a queue – it’s the movie star version of waiting in line at the checkout.

It meant that we were able to snap the likes of Henry Cavill and Rosamund Pike before they went full glare in front of a thousand lenses, when they were simply waiting for their turn.

We also managed to grab shots of many of the stars of Pride, including George MacKay, Freddie Fox, Andrew Scott, Imelda Staunton, and director Matthew Warchus. Also on hand to give things a bit of an LGBT flavour was Benedict Cumberbatch, who was nominated for playing gay mathematician Alan Turing in The Imitation Game.

There were a few oddities, not least that the most screaming and general hubbub didn’t come for a movie star at all, but was reserved for the arrival of David Beckham.

And I’m also very pleased to have managed to make my own Marvel/DC crossover by capturing The Hulk and Superman in the same shot (aka Mark Ruffalo and Henry Cavill).

Take a look at some of our pics from the BAFTA red carpet below: [Read more…]

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Date and Switch (DVD Review)

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Michael (Nicholas Braun) and Matty (Hunter Cope) have been friends since they were little kids, but now it’s coming to the end of high school. In time honoured film fashion, they decide to make a pact to lose their virginities before prom – after which they’ll celebrate by eating a tray of pot brownies.

There is one wrinkle though, as Matty hasn’t told Michael that he’s gay. When he does – and after a bit of an initial freakout – Michael gets on board with the idea and even tries to help Matty get into the swing of the gay world. However Matty finds that difficult, as he’s still a bit of a stoner dude and isn’t sure how to be gay in a world where he doesn’t fit into any of the stereotypes he’s seen. [Read more…]

The Maze Runner (Blu-ray Review)

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After the success of The Hunger Games it’s not too surprising that Hollywood rushed to put similarly themed movies into production, such as Divergent and now The Maze Runner.  While nearly all the knock-offs of Twilight, and indeed Harry Potter, were pretty rubbish, The Maze Runner isn’t bad at all.

Thomas (Dylan O’Brien) wakes up in a metal cage that’s rising out of the ground. He has no idea who he is or how he got there but finds himself thrust into the strange world of The Glade, where every month for three years a new young man has arrived, also with no idea what they’re doing there. A society led by Gally (Will Poulter) has arisen, bound by rules supposed to keep them alive. [Read more…]

The Best Of Me (DVD Review)

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Have you ever had the sensation where you weren’t sure whether to be emotionally moved or whether to vomit? Well, I do now after watching The Best of Me.

After surviving an oil rig disaster, Dawson (James Marsden) gets a call to say that an old friend of his has died and he needs to travel back to his hometown to help sort things out. When he arrives he discovers he’s not the only one who got a call, as so did Amanda (Michelle Monaghan), a woman who has a history with Dawson and isn’t initially pleased to see him. [Read more…]