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

La Cage Aux Folles (Criterion Blu-ray Review) – 40-years on the gay classic returns in HD

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We have reviewed 1978’s classic La Cage Aux Folles before, so if you’re just interested in the movie, you can click here to see what we had to say about it. The movie has just had a Criterion Collection release in the UK, so here we’ll concentrate on this first Blu-ray appearance in Britain.

As the film opens it seems like the HD upgrade isn’t going to be worth it as the first few shots in the drag club are quite soft and grainy. However, as soon as the action moves into gay couple Renato (Ugo Tognazzi) and Albin’s (Michel Serrault) apartment, things improve considerably, with the picture getting sharper and more detailed. [Read more…]

My Own Private Idaho: Premium Collection (Blu-ray Review) – Gus Van Sant’s gay classic gets a new release

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My Own Private Idaho is the sort of film that really shouldn’t work. The movie apparently came about when writer/director Gus Van Sant was working on three separate scripts and then decided to merge them all together. The result is a movie that ought to be a mess. The tone and story jump about, some of its pretty random and surreal, and its Shakespearean pretentions are a bit bizarre.

However, it works. These disparate elements and tones come together, helped by an astonishing performance by River Phoenix as young hustler Mike. His character – an outsider living a marginal and disintegrating existence – is a reflection of the film itself. It ultimately becomes an unexpected masterclass of montage – where by placing seemingly disparate things side-by-side and throwing in unexpected imagery (not least the famous falling barn), it creates something unique and pulls you into a character and world in a way few other films have ever managed. [Read more…]

Coffee House Chronicles: The Movie (DVD Review) – Gay gays meeting & hooking up gets the anthology treatment

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Coffee House Chronicles was originally an anthology Youtube web series, but here the episodes get pulled together and slightly recut to turn them into a movie. While that may sound like a slightly cheating way to monetise the show, it actually works surprisingly well. As individual episodes they were quite fun, but pulled together thye add up to more than the sum of their parts, allowing it to layer together a light look at the way modern gay men relate to one another.

The film consists of a series of first encounters (mostly) between gay men, most of which – as the title suggests – take place in coffee houses. These meetings range from a man realising his ‘date’ is much younger than he’s said he was, to someone in a long-term relationship trying to organise sex with a porn star for his boyfriend. There’s also a trans man on his first date with a woman after transitioning, and two zombie extras in a movie figuring out if they want to go on a date even though they don’t know what they really look like under the makeup. [Read more…]

Stronger (Blu-ray Review) – Jake Gyllenhaal explores heroism as a Boston bombing survivor

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Jeff Bauman (Jake Gyllenhaal) decides to surprise his ex-girlfriend, Erin (Tatiana Maslany), by heading to the finish line of the Boston marathon to see her cross the line. When a terrorist bomb explodes Jeff loses both his legs. Due to horrific photos of him at the bombing which quickly become iconic, he is held up by a hero by some and a prime example of ‘Boston Strong’. However, Jeff initially riles against the idea of himself as a hero, struggling with the fact that a city in need of catharsis desperately wants him to be an inspirational figure. [Read more…]

Win My Own Private Idaho Premium Collection Blu-ray!

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To celebrate the release of MY OWN PRIVATE IDAHO – available on Blu-ray, DVD & Digital HD Dual Format from Warner Bros. Home Entertainment 9th April 2018 – we are giving away a copy!

From acclaimed director Gus Van Sant (Drugstore Cowboy) comes a wile road movie for the ‘90s starring America’s hottest young male stars – River Phoenix (Stand by Me, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade) and Keanu Reeves (Point Break, Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure) – as two hustlers who explore friendship and self-discovery on the twisting, turning road of life.

Phoenix is Mike, a narcoleptic street hustler haunted by his idyllic memories of childhood and obsessed with finding his estranged mother. Reeves is Scott, a runaway rich kid who’s on a personal “crusade” to find the meaning of life, biding his time until he inherits his father’s estate. Together they’re lost in a bizarre world of wealthy strangers and stranger-than-life adventures. They set out to survive the odyssey but, along the way, come to understand each other and their place in the world, learning life’s lessons as only the road can teach.

Order today: https://bit.ly/2JnjcUk

For your chance to win My Own Private Idaho on Blu-ray, answer the question below and fill in your details, then press submit! The competition closes on April 22nd, 2018, so get answering and good luck. [Read more…]

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120 BPM (Beats Per Minute) (Cinema Review) – The acclaimed, gay themed French movie finally arrives in the UK

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120 BPM has been eliciting praise ever since it debuted at Cannes last year, including winning the Grand Prix and Queer Palm at the festival. It’s gone on to win multiple other awards, including Best Film at the Cesar Awards (France’s equivalent of the Oscars). It was also France’s entry for Best Foreign Language Film at the Academy Awards, although sadly it missed out on a nomination.

Written and directed by Robin Campillo (who also made the very good Eastern Boys), 120 BPM is a fictionalised take on the true story of the AIDS activist organisation, ACT UP Paris. Campillo and co-screenwriter Philippe Mangeot were involved with ACT UP themselves, helping to give the movie an authenticity and power it may otherwise have lacked. Thankfully though, despite being close to the story Campillo is objective enough to be able to acknowledge the flaws and problems within the organisation, while also having a clear-eyed view of why these things happened. This allows it to be a powerful and empathetic testament to both ACT UP and those who were/are affected by AIDS, without becoming hagiography. [Read more…]

Love, Simon (Cinema Review) – Gay themed teen film fun goes mainstream

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You can’t win with a gay audience. Whenever a gay-themed movie or TV show comes along that’s given a higher profile/mainstream release, it ends up generating controversy. The problem seems to be that their rarity mean people want these releases to be all things to all men (or at least reflect their personal conception of what gay entertainment should), but often course one film/show can’t represent everything.

It’s already happened with Love, Simon, with some complaining that it’s ‘yet another’ coming out story (despite the fact that coming out is one of the few nearly universal gay experiences and that the films audience of teens – and not just gay teens – won’t have seen lots of coming out movies). Others have moaned that its mainstream sensibilities deny the oppression that many LGBT people face, even though Simon’s experience is probably closer to the reality for many young gay people in the West nowadays than a ‘right on’ tale of misery and oppression. [Read more…]

Boys On Film 18: Heroes Trailer – The gay short film collection comes of age

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Boys On Film has reached legal age with is latest instalment! The award-winning gay short film compilation reaches its coming-of-age with Boys On Film 18: Heroes. The release features ten uplifting and powerful tales recounting the lives of everyday gay, bi or transgender heroes, fighting for the right to be be themselves. The shorts include the docudrama The Colour Of His Hair starring God’s Own Country’s Josh O’Connor (God’s Own Country), the Egyptian animation Half A Life, and Iris Prize 2017 winner, Mother Knows Best.

The trailer for Boys On Film 18 has been released. Take a look at it below, along with more info about the short films included in the release. It’ll be released on DVD & VoD on April 23rd.

DANIEL (UK, 2015, 14 mins)
Director: Dean Loxton
Starring Henry Garrett (Poldark) and Éva Magyar (X-Men: First Class)
Dániel is studying in London while working part-time as an escort. He is invited to a lunch by his best friend Nori. She surprises everyone by introducing her new lover Tom, with unforeseen consequences.

BUDDY (The Netherlands, 2015, 12 mins)
Director: Niels Bourgonje
When a young man is asked by his ex lover to support him during an HIV test, he sees an opportunity to find out if there is still a chance for reconciliation.

HALF A LIFE (Egypt, Indonesia, USA, Netherlands, 2017, 12mins)
Director: Tamara Shogaolu
Pairing the intimate narration of a young, Egyptian gay activist with a highly stylized animation, Half A Life brings the streets of Cairo to life through this firsthand account of the increasingly oppresive social climate of Egypt.

UNDRESS ME (Sweden, 2013, 15 mins)
Directed by Victor Lindgren.
When Micke meets Mikaela on a night out, he is immediately attracted to her, as he can sense that there’s something different about her. When Mikaela explains that she is trans he gets confused, aggressive and also curious. Undress Me examines and challenges our perceptions of gender.

THE COLOUR OF HIS HAIR (UK, 2017, 23 mins)
Director: Sam Ashby
Starring: BAFTA-nominated Josh O’Connor (God’s Own Country.
Based on an unrealised film script written in 1964, when homosexuality is still illegal, The Colour of His Hair merges drama and documentary into an impressionistic meditation on queer life before and after the partial legalisation of homosexuality in 1967.

SILLY GIRL (UK, 2016, 5 mins)
Director: Hope Dickson Leach
Starring: Clara Baxendale (My Mad Fat Diary) and Jason Barker (A Deal with the Universe).
Silly Girl is all about the first time you are noticed, that first time someone sees you for who you are and the transformative nature of that moment. From the Director of The Levelling and co-written by Game of Thrones’ Ellie Kendrick.

AN EVENING (Denmark, 2016, 10 mins)
Director: Søren Green
Frederik has had sex for the first time with Mathias, his friend from school. Whilst Mathias embraces what they have done and is keen to move forward, Frederik struggles to understand his own feelings and his newfound desire for Mathias.

AIDS: DOCTORS AND NURSES TELL THEIR STORIES (UK, 2017, 26 mins)
Director: Alejandro Medina
For the first time, doctors and nurses who cared for Britain’s first AIDS patients in the 1980s tell of the extraordinary situation they found themselves in and the rules they had to break to help patients forgotten by the state.

IT’S CONSUMING ME (Germany, 2012, 3 mins)
Director: Kai Staenicke
From the director of B. A young man obsesses over his ex-lover as he takes us through a collage of memories, the highs and lows of their relationship and images of his ex-boyfriend’s new life with his new lover.

MOTHER KNOWS BEST (Sweden, 2016, 13 mins)
Director: Mikael Bundsen
Starring Alexander Gustavsson from Girls Lost. A mother gives her teenage son some friendly advice on their way home from having met his boyfriend for the first time, but this innocent conversation leads to revelations that threaten to completely change their relationship. Winner of Iris Prize 2017. [Read more…]

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McKellen: Playing The Part Trailer – A documentary look at the legendary gay actor (plus live Q&A event)

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The trailer and poster for the documentary McKellen: Playing The Part have been released, which takes a close look at the life of the wonderful Ian McKellen. The film will premiere in the UK (and Scandinavia) on Sunday 27 May at 3pm at cinemas across the country, with the screening followed by a live Q&A with Ian McKellen, hosted by Graham Norton at London’s BFI Southbank. In Playing the Part, audiences will have the opportunity to celebrate one of Britain’s true acting icons on his birthday weekend.

Built around a 14 hour interview, Playing the Part uncovers McKellen’s story. From his upbringing living through the war, working through repertory and West End theatre becoming a pioneering stage star, coming out and being a leader in the campaign for equality, to his mainstream film breakouts as Magneto and Gandalf. His work and influence transcends generations, celebrated here in this fully authorised insight.

McKellen: Playing the Part features unprecedented access to private photo albums, a wealth of never-before-seen archive material, including diaries written when he was 12, and unseen behind the scenes of theatre shows and films, alongside his personal thoughts on a life long lived. The film also features dramatic recreations starring Luke Evans, Frances Barber, Adam Brown, Scott Chambers, Milo Parker and Edward Petherbridge.

Take a look at the trailer and poster below. More info about the cinemas that will be screening the event can be found at mckellenfilm.com. [Read more…]

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How To Talk To Girls At Parties Trailer – John Cameron Mitchell adapts Neil Gaiman’s teen punk tale

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Queer filmmaker John Cameron Mitchell made a big splash with his first film as a director, Hedwig & The Angry Inch, which was adapted from his own queer rock musical. He followed that with the sexually explicit Shortbus and the Nicole Kidman starrer Rabbit Hole. That was eight years ago though, and he’s only just returning with an adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s short story and graphic novel, How to Talk to Girls at Parties.

Here’s the synopsis: ‘From the raucous dual imaginations of fantasy laureate Neil Gaiman (“American Gods,” Coraline) and glam-rock multi-hyphenate John Cameron Mitchell (Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Shortbus) comes the electrifying and singular pop extravaganza film, How to Talk to Girls at Parties. Enn (Alex Sharp) is a shy suburban London teenager in 1977, sneaking out with his best friends to after-hours punk parties.

‘One night they stumble upon a bizarre gathering of sexy teenagers who seem like they are from another planet. In fact, they are from another planet, visiting Earth to complete a mysterious rite of passage. That doesn’t stop Enn from falling madly in love with Zan (Elle Fanning), a beautiful and rebellious alien teenager who, despite her allegiance to her strange colony, is fascinated by Enn. Together they embark on a delirious adventure through the kinetic punk rock world of 1970s London, inadvertently setting off a series of events that will lead to the ultimate showdown of punks vs. aliens, and test the limits of how far each of them will go for true love.’

The movie will be released in the UK in May. Take a look at the trailer below. [Read more…]

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