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

Watch An incredible Hour Of Footage From The Gay Rights Fight Of The 1980s

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pride-parade-1980sLast week we posted a fabulous supercut of news reports from the 1970s about gay people and the emergence of a fight for LGBT rights, which ranged from early Pride parades to the homophobia of Anita Bryant. Now SuchIsLife Videos has followed that up with another hour of fantastic vintage news footage, this time looking at at gay rights in the 1980s.

It was certainly a tumultuous decade of contradictions, as the footage shows. On the one side were ever larger and more celebratory Pride parades, as well as the first serious attempts to enact laws that protected gay couples in the same way as straight couples. However on the other side there was increasing violence against a more visible gay minority and of course the emergence of AIDS, a disease whose impact is almost impossible to underestimate.

If you haven’t watched the 70s footage, I would highly recommend it. Then come back here and watch this. One of the most interesting things is the change in how the news starts to view gay people. In the 70s it’s very much looking at LGBT as a weird ‘them’ who live parallel lives to the ‘normal’ people, but in the 80s you can see the first glimmers of gay people becoming part of ‘us’ to the mainstream media, even if that change engendered a backlash. Take a look below. [Read more…]

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Will Bryan Singer Be Pushed Out Of X-Men: Apocalypse Over Sex Abuse Allegations?

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Bryan-SingerThe last month should have been one of triumph for Bryan Singer as he celebrated X-Men: Days Of Future Past grossing over $600 million around the world. However he was forced to pull out of all publicity for the film after a lawsuit was filed accusing him of sex abuse and the rape of an underage man in the late 90s.

However while he’s been keeping a low profile he has still been attached to helm the next X-Men movie, Apocalypse. However it now appears his job is in jeopardy, with 20th Century Fox executives apparently worried about the future effects of the lawsuit.

Radar reports that there are massive worries the suit will heavily impact the production. They’re apparently less concerned about whether the accusations are true or not (Singer has shown them his evidence that the allegations are untrue), and more about that if he ends up in court it could cause him to lose focus or cause delays, and as the budget could well be north of $200 million, that’s making them incredibly nervous.

Things have progressed to the point where ‘There have been talks about who else he’d let direct it, with him producing, but those led to heated arguments and walk outs.’

The other option is apparently to push back the production in case Singer does have to spend time in court, and if Days Of Future Past continues to do big business, that may become more likely. The director has also filed to have the entire lawsuit dismissed, which is due to be heard on July 28th. If that is successful it may give Fox more confidence in him.

That said, recent developments suggest that even if he gets the suit dismissed in Hawaii, it may not be the end of his legal woes. Last week his accuser, Michael Egan, voluntarily dropped another sex abuse suit against former Disney TV president David Neuman.

However he has now filed a new one in California against an anonymous defendant who is described only as the formed President Of DEN (an early internet video company largely run by three people Egan previously sued for sex abuse in the early 2000s). As Neuman was at one point President Of DEN, it’s presumed he is the target of this new suit, especially as it includes reasoning as to why a declaration Egan made under oath in the earlier suit that Neuman had never behaved inappropriately towards him should be ignores.

It’s possible Egan and his lawyer are trying to lay the groundwork which would mean if the Hawaii lawsuits are unsuccessful (which is looking increasingly likely), they could try again in California. The new lawsuit also attempts to get around the fact in ordinary circumstances the statue of limitations has passed for the types of accusations Egan is making, and if he is successful in getting a judge to agree to that with the ‘anonymous’ defendant, it would make it easier to sue Singer in California. And if that happens, it could indeed cause problems with the X-Men: Apocalypse production schedule.

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President Obama Called Ryan Murphy To Say He Enjoyed The Normal Heart

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normal-heart-bomer-ruffaloNormal people watched The Normal Heart, but President Obama had a screening. I’m not sure why anything the President sees is a ‘screening’ but that’s the terminology that’s always used. One of his recent ‘screenings’ was the acclaimed The Normal Heart.

And it seems he was impressed as afterwards he made a surprise phone call to director Ryan Murphy to congratulate on him of the film.

Deadline reports the Pres phoned Murphy to say how much he liked the film, as well as that he found it incredibly moving. He was also interested in how it came together – a process that took nearly three decades.

The director confirmed the call, saying, “The whole movie is about Larry trying to get the attention of Washington, and 30 years later, to get a call from the President is a full-circle moment.”

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Sigourney Weaver Confirmed For All Three Avatar Sequels

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sigourney-weaver-avatarEver since James Cameron started talking about the sequels for Avatar, people have been wondering whether Sigourney Weaver would return. Due to the end of the first film, the initial presumption was that she wouldn’t, but then both Cameron and Weaver started suggesting she might be back after all.

Now that’s been confirmed, with the director himself saying Sigourney will return for all three Avatar sequels.

THR reports Cameron as saying, “Sigourney and I have a long creative history, dating back to 1985 when we made Alien. We’re good friends who’ve always worked well together, so it just feels right that she’s coming back for the Avatar sequels. Her character of Grace Augustine, as fans know, died in the first movie, so she’s playing a different and in many ways more challenging character in the upcoming films. We’re both looking forward to this new creative challenge, the latest chapter in our long and continuing collaboration.”

Although that suggests she will be playing a completely new character, due to the fact her death in the first film was almost a transition, it’s likely that however she returned it will be strongly linked to her role in the first movie.

The three films are due to be shot back-to-back, with production kicking off this year, with the first of the sequels due out in December 2016. Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana and Stephen Lang are also expected to return.

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In Bloom (DVD Review)

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In Bloom has been compared to the Brit gay hit Weekend, and while the former isn’t quite as good as the latter, you can understand why those comparisons have been made.

The film charts the relationship between Kurt (Kyle Wigent) and Paul (Tanner Rittenhouse) over the course of one summer. Initially the couple are deeply in love, but quickly the cracks begin to show.  Kurt is happy living in Chicago but wants to be able to spend his life dealing pot, smoking joints and to have at least some sense of freedom. Paul meanwhile isn’t that interested in the drug scene or partying (and isn’t very good at it), but he does want to see more of the world than Chicago, even if he’d prefer to do it with him and Kurt as a tight-knit unit. [Read more…]

Papa’s Prince Gay Short Film – Take a look at the musical journey of an LGBT family

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papas-princeWhile there’s a lot of political ranting about LGBT families, every so often its worth taking a step back from the theory of why gay people should be allowed to have kids and see the reality – which 99 times out of 100 involves great kids and great families.

That’s certainly true in the musical short Papa’s Prince.

Co-creator Ted Sod says, ‘Some time ago, I asked Blake McCarty if he wanted to collaborate on a short film inspired by my “granddaughter” Viv. Viv was adopted at infancy by our friends Michael and Calvin, and because there were no grandparents in her life, she – in turn – adopted me and my partner as “The Gramps”.

‘The result is a seven-minute musical short mixing live action and stop motion animation. The story focuses on a 7-year-old girl (coincidentally named Viv) who invents a fairy tale about how her Dads met as a way to entertain her new friend, Henry.’

Take a look at the charming short below. [Read more…]

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Joaquin Phoenix Producing LGBT Teen Summer Camp Documentary & He Needs Your Help

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JWV-u2ttLrU

You can never be 100% certain what Joaquin Phoenix will do next, and I doubt many people would have put a bet on the fact he’d lend his name to a documentary about LGBT teens heading off to a summer camp. However he’s comes onboard Camp: The Documentary, which is now looking for funding on IndieGoGo.

The campaign says, ‘In the simplest form, we are having a unique camp this summer, July 13 through July 19, during which we will be transforming the lives of 20 diverse teenagers from across the country. We want to film this journey as a documentary so that we can provide everyone with the same tools as these teens. It is our goal to continue to connect with mainstream media providing content that is thought provoking, igniting larger conversations around the issues that often divide communities.’

Joaquin is involved as the camp and the documentary is a product of The River Phoenix Center for Peacebuilding and Be More Heroic, with the hope the teens will engage in experiential workshops, resolve personal conflict, forms lasting friendships and become confident and compassionate leaders.

To get the camp and doc going, they’re hoping to raise $40,000 via IndieGoGo, so take a look at the video above, and if you want to help out, head over to IndieGoGo.

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Neil Patrick Harris & Hedwig Win At The Tony Awards

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neil-patrick-harris-tony-awards-2014It was a good night for the gays at the Tony Awards (but then, isn’t it most years?). As many had predicted, Hedwig And The Angry Inch picked up some big gongs, including Best Revival Of A Musical, Best Actor In A Musical for Neil Patrick Harris (a year after he hosted the Tonys) and Best Actress In A Featured Role In A Musical for Lena Hall.

It wasn’t only LGBT tale Hedwig that was celebrating though, as also winning for the gays was A Gentleman’s Guide To Love and Murder’s director Darko Tresnjak, as well as After Midnight’s choreographer, Warren Carlyle.

Bisexual Alan Cumming got to kick the proceedings off with Wilkommen from Cabaret (which you can watch amongst the clips below), while the likes of Matt Bomer, RuPaul, Zach Quinto, and Jonathan Groff presented awards.

However the biggest winner was Audra MacDonald. To many she’s unfortunately just known for appearing in the TV series Private Practice, but at 43 she has made history by picking up her sixth Tony, this time for Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill. That puts her ahead of five-time winners Julie Harris and Angela Lansbury. Perhaps just as impressively it means she’s now the only person to win Tonys in all four competitive Actress categories.

You can take a look at a few clips from the show below, including Alan Cumming’s musical number, NPH and Lena Hall singing a ditty from Hedwig, and host Hugh Jackman’s opening numbers below. [Read more…]

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First Period Trailer – Take a look at the John Waters-style comedy ahead of its Baltimore Q’Fest Gala Screening

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This Thursday, First Period has the honour of being the Opening Night Gala screening at the Baltimore Q’Fest. The proud director, Charles Vaughn, reached out to us about it, so we thought it was a great opportunity to post the trailer.

You can certainly get a bit of a John Waters feel from the promo, particularly as the main female characters are played by men in drag but that fact isn’t mentioned, as well as the style of humour.

Here’s the synopsis: ‘New girl Cassie (Brandon Alexander III) and outcast Maggie (Dudley Beene) are easily the most awkward girls in high school. Together, they decide the way to win the hearts of the cute boys and popular girls is to come in first at the school talent show. But rivals Heather, Other Heather, and their popular boyfriends Brett and Dirk will stop at nothing to keep our heroes the laughing stock of the school. It’s going to take makeovers, courage, and maybe even a little rapping to beat them in true 80s style.’

Take a look at the fun looking trailer above. [Read more…]

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True Detective (Blu-ray Review)

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HBO has certainly got itself a reputation in the last few years for bringing the big screen onto the small screen, whether it’s with films like Behind The Candelabra and The Normal Heart or by getting big name stars to appear in its TV series. With True Detective they lured in Matthew McConaughey (just before he was going to win an Oscar) and Woody Harrelson, as well as Jane Eyre director Cary Fukunaga, for what the makers have describes as an eight-part cinematic experience.

Although that might sound rather hyperbolic, this time it pretty much lives up to the hype, even if it isn’t the total masterpiece some have suggested. [Read more…]