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

The Naked Civil Servant (Blu-ray Review) – John Hurt’s classic take on ‘stately homo’ Quentin Crisp returns

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It’s difficult to imagine nowadays what audiences would have made of The Naked Civil Servant in 1975. Gay sex had only been (partially) decriminalised in England and Wales eight years before, and homosexuality certainly wasn’t seen on screen much. Then suddenly there was a primetime TV movie in the UK, about someone who didn’t even have the common decency to hide in the shadows and pretend being gay was the most shameful thing in the universe!

The film charts the life of Quentin Crisp (John Hurt) from his youth through to his 60s. As a young man, his parents don’t know quite what to make of their fey son, who doesn’t seem to like girls or be able to fit himself into ‘normal’ society. After meeting a bunch of ‘effeminate homosexuals’ in London, Quentin starts wearing makeup and becoming increasingly ‘noticeably gay’ at a time when homosexuality was one of society’s most detested things. [Read more…]

Gold (Blu-ray Review) – Matthew McConaughey goes off in search of the precious metal

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Kenny Wells (Matthew McConaughey) comes from a prospecting family going back generations. However, by the 1980s looking for minerals has changed dramatically from the Gold Rush days, where it’s now controlled by big businesses, engineering, science and where billions of dollars are wagered on a claim paying off.

Due to a downturn in the economy, Kenny’s family business is in the gutter. He thinks he’s found his way back with a bit of a Hail Mary pass – a largely dismissed theory that there are huge reserves of gold in Indonesia. He teams up with the man who came up with the idea, Michael Acosta (Edgar Ramirez), and raises a small amount of funding – far less than they need – to try to get things started. [Read more…]

Netflix To Release Documentary On LGBT Activist & Stonewall Legend Marsha P Johnson

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Netflix is using its gargantuan programming budget ($6 billion in the last year) to produce and distribute a wide array films and TV series. One of their latest purchases is the rights to the documentary, The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson, from How To Survive A Plague director, David France, according to Variety.

Through the prism of her death, the film looks at Johnson’s life as a trans individual (Marsha’s own gender identity differed at different times in her life, as did her preferred pronoun use), who was one of the most best known ‘street queens’ in New York in the 60s, 70s and 80s, including being an integral part of the Stonewall riots. She also teamed with Sylvia Rivera to co-found the Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries (STAR), becoming an increasingly prominent activist for various causes, mostly linked to gay liberation, trans rights and HIV/AIDS activism.

However, ‘Marsha P. Johnson was found floating in the Hudson River in 1992 and the NYDP initially ruled Johnson’s death as a suicide. The film follows crime-victim advocate Victoria Cruz’s efforts to reexamine what happened [many believe Johnson was murdered] and measure the challenges that still face the community.’

France comments, “Almost single-handedly, Marsha P. Johnson and her best friend Sylvia Rivera touched off a revolution in the way we talk about gender today. Their names should be household words. But Marsha’s life was cut tragically short and Sylvia died shortly thereafter, the victim of a broken heart. Getting to know their story through the investigation undertaken by Victoria Cruz, a seminal activist in her own right, has been one of the great honors of my career. Now, with Netflix as our distribution partner, I am confident the legacy of these tremendous women will never be forgotten.”

Netflix plan to release the movie on the streaming platform worldwide later this year, although no date has currently been announced. The film premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival, and will also been screened this month’s LA’s Outfest.

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The Fabulous Allan Carr Teaser – Jeffrey Schwarz looks at the larger than life gay film producer

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Over the past few years, director Jeffrey Schwarz has done a great job of looking at gay history and life through the prism of key individuals. He’s looked at activist and film historian Vito Russo (in Vito), and two very different film stars in I Am Divine and Tab Hunter: Confidential.

Now he’s back looking at a man who helped bring Grease, and the Village People’s Can’t Stop The Music to the big screen as a producer, as well as shepherding La Cage Aux Folles onto the Broadway stage – Allan Carr. He also managed major stars such as Ann-Margaret, Peter Sellers and Joan Rivers, as well as helping the like of Mark Hamill and Michelle Pfeiffer to find success.

Carr was known for his larger-than-life personality, legendary parties, and his love for sex and decadence.

Schwarz tells Equality 365, “With this film, I also wanted to explore the gay experience in Hollywood in the 1970’s and 80’s – the new freedoms that could be enjoyed, and what the limitations were. It was an opportunity to tell a social history from the era when homosexuality was never discussed and gays sought solace in the movies through the hedonistic 1970’s, embracing the sensual and then the 1980’s when AIDS came along and ruined the party.

“Although it was no secret that Allan Carr was a gay, he never formally acknowledged it publicly. The word “flamboyant” was often used to describe him, a code word.  Using humor and outrageousness to gain entry into a conservative industry, Allan Carr furthered the acceptance of gay identity just by being himself, and his sensibility found its way into his product.”

The first trailer for the movie has now been released, via NewNowNext, which you can take a look at below. The film recently premiered at the Seattle International Film Festival and will screen at the Frameline Film Festival in San Francisco in June. [Read more…]

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Hailee Steinfeld Circling Transformers Spin-Off, Bumblebee

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Bumblebee has been a major part of the Transformers film franchise since the very beginning, helping add a sense of humanity to the giant robots, despite the fact he can’t talk normally. Now Paramount has decided he’s popular enough to get his own film.

THR reports that casting has begun on the movie, with Hailee Steinfeld in talks to play the lead role. Assuming she signs one, she’ll play ‘a tomboy who also holds a job as a mechanic after school’. That’s all the details there are for the plot, which is being kepy strictly under wraps.

Travis Knight (Kubo & The Two Strings) is set to direct the movie, with Christina Hodson (Shut In) writing the script. The Bumblebee movie is expected to start shooting soon, as a June 8th, 2018 release date has been set.

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Blair Witch’s Adam Wingard To Direct Godzilla vs. Kong

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Adam Wingard quickly got an impressive reputation in horror circles with A Horrible Way To Die, You’re Next and The Guest, before going a little more mainstream with last year’s Blair Witch. However, he’s not planning to jump massively up the budget scale, with by far his biggest movie yet, as THR reports that he’s just signed on to helm Godzilla vs. Kong.

The film is part of Warner/Legendary’s attempts to build a massive monster universe. This year’s King Kong tale, Skull Island, will be followed by Godzilla: King of the Monsters in 2019, with the behemoth coming together on the screen in 2010 with Godzilla vs. Kong.

A writers room led by Pirates Of The Carribean scribe Terry Rossio is now working on the film’s screenplay, but no plot details have been released. It’ll be in cinemas May 2020.

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Gay Short Film Showcase: Arrival – A modern gay love story gets animated

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There aren’t too many animated gay films, but a new one has now appeared online, Arrival. The short has been a success at film festivals, including the likes of New Queer Vision at the London Short Film Showcase, and the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival. It’s also rare nowadays for being a traditionally animated film, involving 7,000 drawings on paper, which were then were scanned and then digitally inked and colored.

Now, Alex Myung’s entire 22-minute film has been released online for everyone to see.

So what’s it about? Here’s the synopsis: ‘This 2D-animated film explores one boy’s struggle to face the truth of his life and love, and reveal it to the person he cares about most. Arrival delves into the often unexamined ripple effect that hiding your true self has on loved ones around you.’

Take a look at the sweet and charming Arrival 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 LGBT short films and web series here. [Read more…]

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Before The Fall (VoD Review) – Pride & Prejudice gets a modern gay retelling

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There have been a lot of adaptations of Pride & Prejudice, some of which have been faithful to Jane Austen’s original story and setting, while others have brought it to the modern day (the web series The Lizzie Bennet Diaries), transplanted the tale to India (Bride & Prejudice) and even added in the undead (Pride & Prejudice & Zombies). Now the story has been retold with a gay twist, and a few other alterations to make it feel more modern.

Elizabeth Bennett has become Ben Bennett, a gay man working as a respected attorney in rural Virginia. He first comes across Lee Darcy when the rough-hewn welder is accused of domestic assault – although neither Lee nor his girlfriend claim to know exactly how she fell and hit her head. Ben doesn’t initially seem impressed with this man, managing to accidentally insult him at the courthouse due to his rather arrogant attitudes and quickness to judge. [Read more…]

Wild Awakening (DVD Review) – Things get a little gay & homoerotic on a Spanish horse farm

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I feel like I should have watched a few telenovelas before viewing Wild Awakening. Although I’m far from an aficionado of the genre (and I’m more than ready for someone to tell me I’m completely wrong about it), but Wild Awakening shares the heightened reality, love for over the top drama and intrigue, and the slight sense where you can’t decide whether it’s a knowing spoof or not.

Young Emma and her gay brother Toni are the owners of a riding school, having inherited the business when their parents died. On the farm a group of (often shirtless) men work, led by the homophobic Ramon. [Read more…]

Tomcat (DVD Review) – Can a gay relationship withstand inexplicable violence?

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Tomcat is a bit of a tough movie to review. Much of the film pivots around a single, shocking moment, which takes place around a third of the way into the film. However, revealing too much about it would take us into spoiler territory, and it’s the sort of thing the needs to come as a surprise – although the amount of foreshadowing may give you a clue something ominous is gonna happen. That said, there are some who’ll be genuinely shocked and probably won’t be able to get past that moment.

Andreas (Philipp Hochmair) and Stefan (Lukas Turtur) are a seemingly happy gay couple, with fulfilling careers and plenty of loving friends. They live in a beautiful house with their cat, Moses. Their lives are full of music, sex, socialising and a sense of connection with both each other and those around them. [Read more…]