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

New Alien Covenant Poster Offers Up A Creepy Xenomorph Vision

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Fox is going all out to say the Alien Covenant will not be like Prometheus, and it will indeed feature lots of the xenomorphs we come to know and love/hate. That continues with the new poster below, which manages to be rather creepy and also unusually artistic (for Hollywood at least).

Here’s the brief synopsis: ‘Set as the second chapter in a prequel trilogy that began with Prometheus, Alien: Covenant connects directly to Ridley Scott’s 1979 seminal work of science fiction. It begins with the colony ship Covenant, bound for a remote planet on the far side of the galaxy. There, the crew discovers what they think is an uncharted paradise, but is actually a dark, dangerous world — whose sole inhabitant is the “synthetic” David, survivor of the doomed Prometheus expedition.’

The movie will be in cinemas in May. [Read more…]

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Red Nose Day Actually Trailer – Which Love Actually star has aged the best?

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Last month news emerged that for Comic Relief, writer/director Richard Curtis had rounded up the stars of his movie Love Actually, for a short sequel that will air on TV for Red Nose Day. The trailer for the follow-up has arrived, which asks us which of the stars has aged the best.

The likes of Hugh Grant, Martine McCutcheon, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Keira Knightley, Andrew Lincoln, Colin Firth, Lucia Moniz, Liam Neeson, Thomas Brodie-Sangster, Olivia Olson, Bill Nighy, Marcus Brigstocke, and Rowan Atkinson are all returning. Emma Thompson won’t be back though, as it was decided that as her character’s main story involved Alan Rickman, it meant it would be better for her not to come back, following her co-star’s death.

Take a look at the trailer below. The short will air as part of Red Nose Day this Friday. [Read more…]

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Take A Look At A Five-Minute Clip From The Ghost In The Shell Movie

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It’s not too long now until we get to see whether Hollywood has been successful with its adaptation of the classic anime, Ghost In The Shell. To help make its case, a five-minute clip has been released, taking us into this tech-heavy, futuristic world.

Here’s the synopsis: ‘In the near future, Major (Scarlett Johansson) is the first of her kind:  A human saved from a terrible crash, who is cyber-enhanced to be a perfect soldier devoted to stopping the world’s most dangerous criminals. When terrorism reaches a new level that includes the ability to hack into people’s minds and control them, Major is uniquely qualified to stop it. As she prepares to face a new enemy, Major discovers that she has been lied to:  her life was not saved, it was stolen. She will stop at nothing to recover her past, find out who did this to her and stop them before they do it to others. Based on the internationally acclaimed Japanese Manga, “The Ghost in the Shell.”’

Take a look at the extended clip below. The movie is in cinemas on March 31st. [Read more…]

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Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie Trailer – The popular kid’s character takes to the big screen

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Dave Pilkey’s Captain Underpants books have been ridiculously successful, which means that for some smaller people, an animated movie based on it will be very exciting indeed. Now we’ve got the first trailer the movie, which Dreamworks Animation will be releasing this summer.

Here’s the synopsis: ‘Based on the worldwide sensation and bestselling book series, and boasting an A-list cast of comedy superstars headed by Kevin Hart and Ed Helms, DreamWorks Animation brings audiences the long-awaited global movie event, Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie. This raucously subversive comedy for the entire family tells the story of two overly imaginative pranksters named George and Harold, who hypnotize their principal into thinking he’s a ridiculously enthusiastic, incredibly dimwitted superhero named Captain Underpants.’

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

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Centre Of My World (BFI Flare Review) – First love & dark family secrets for a young gay man

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Based on Andreas Steinhöfel’s bestselling novel, Centre Of My World follows gay teenager Phil (Louis Hoffman), who returns from a summer camp to find that his unorthodox single mother, Glass (Sabine Timoteo) and twin sister Dianne (Ada Philine Stappenbeck), aren’t speaking to one another, but no one will tell him why.

When he returns to school, he meets new boy Nicholas (Jannik Schümann), who he immediately starts to fall for. Initially Phil just watches his new crush from afar, but then Nicholas decides to make a move, and the two begin both dating and having passionate sex. Phil’s best friend Kat (Svenja Jung) initially isn’t sure about this newcomer, but soon the three of them are fast friends. [Read more…]

Taekwondo (BFI Flare Review) – A young gay man becomes a spy in the world of sexy straight boys

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Marco Berger has made his name with gay-themed fare such as Plan B, Absent and Hawaii, all of which have been interested in growing sexual tension between men. Martin Farina meanwhile brought us the documentary Fulboy, about a group of straight footballers, where the gayness came through the voyeuristic eye of the camera. Here the two Argentinian directors come together for Taekwondo, which is both voyeuristic and about sexual tension at the same time.

It’s summer, and Fer (Lucas Papa) has invited his new friend German (Gabriel Epstein), to come for a vacation at his house, where there’s a pool, sauna and a bit of luxury. There’s also a group of other young men, all of whom have known each other for years, and who have an easy camaraderie. Casual nudity is common, as is talk about sex. When together, they are partway between grown men and boys. [Read more…]

Torrey Pines (BFI Flare Review) – Gender dysphoria & mental health get a stop-motion film

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There aren’t many LGBT-themed animated movies, and most of the ones that exist are short films. Torrey Pines is a bit of an exception then – a 60-minute stop-motion film, that takes on issues such as a youth experiencing gender dysphoria and mental health problem.

It’s based on director/animator Clyde Petersen’s own childhood, following him when he was a young child called Whitney, a girl on the edge of puberty, experiencing the sense that she does not want breast and to get periods, but still at a time when she is more child than adult. [Read more…]

Jewel’s Catch One (BFI Flare Review) – An inspirational look at an LGBT activist & her nightclub

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Although some may not have heard of the Jewel’s Catch One nightclub, for others it’s a legendary venue – the Studio 54 of the West Coast – that for over 40 years welcomed all, but mostly gay men and women, and was a particular refuge for the African-American LGBT population of LA. It also became a hangout for celebrities, and hosted a Madonna album launch.

This documentary looks at the club and more particularly the woman who founded it, Jewel Thais-Williams. Hers is a remarkable story. Despite having little money, she bought the bar that later expanded into the club at a time when women in California weren’t even allowed to be bartenders (unless they owned the bar). She wasn’t just a woman in a man’s world, she was a black woman in a white man’s world, and she was also a lesbian. [Read more…]

After Louie (BFI Flare Review) – AIDS, generational changes, gay life & Alan Cumming

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After Louie is one of the higher profile titles at this year’s BFI Flare London LGBT Film Festival – largely because it stars Alan Cumming. He plays Sam, an artist working on a documentary about his friend, William, who died during the AIDS crisis. However, he discovers that few people are that interested in his project.

He meets the much younger Braeden (Zachary Booth), initially assuming the young man must be a rent boy, and so pays him for sex. Braeden also has a boyfriend, but starts to see more of Sam. They start to challenge each other’s assumption, with Sam angry that the younger generation don’t seem to care about the AIDS crisis and the battle against heteronormative culture he and his friends engaged in. Braeden meanwhile shows him that his generation have a very different experience of the world – and HIV – and that while Sam’s generation’s battles helped pave the way for that, it’s impossible for younger people to truly comprehend what it was like to watch so many people die amidst a society that didn’t care and in many cases attacked them. [Read more…]

Arrival (Blu-ray Review) – Worthy of its eight Oscar nominations?

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It’s very rare for a sci-fi film to get Oscar nominations outside of the technical categories, so it’s truly exceptional that Arrival scored eight of them, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Screenplay and Best Actress. It may have won just one Academy Award – Best Achievement in Sound Editing – but it’s still highly unusual.

In the movie, the world is shocked when 12 mysterious ovoid spaceships arrive at various points around the planet, hanging in the sky. One of them is over American soil, so the government decides it needs to know what’s going on. Inside the ship are two aliens – which look like a cross between trees and octopuses – but there’s no way to communicate with them. [Read more…]

Malaysia Backs Down On Gay Cuts To Beauty & The Beast

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In the game of chicken that Disney has been playing with the Malaysian censors, the House Of Mouse has won. Last week, just a few days before it was due for release, Disney pulled the movie from release in Malaysia due to cuts to LGBT-related content that had been demanded.

Although Malaysia’s Film Censorship Board said it was just a small cut they wanted to the very end of the movie, it turned out it was much more, with reports they wanted the entire ‘Gaston’ musical number removed, due to the fact at one point two men hug. Disney refused and the Censorship Board then tried to deflect blame, saying they would have probably allowed the movie through, if director Bill Condon hadn’t talked about the ‘gay moment’ and (in their eyes) forced them to act.

Initially neither side seemed to want to back down, but now the Film Censorship Board has decided they will allow the movie to screen intact, with the equivalent of a PG-13/12 rating. It will now be released in Malaysia on March 30th.

Gay sex is still illegal in Malaysia and discrimination is pervasive, with one of the lowest levels of acceptance of homosexuality by society in Asia, and in recent years the situation has arguably gotten worse.

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The New Power Rangers Movie Is Bringing Us An Openly Gay Movie Superhero

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It’s been a big month for gay visibility in major movies. After years of criticism of Disney for never including LGBT characters in their movies, they brought us Lefou in Beauty & The Beast (who admittedly isn’t exactly out and proud – but he’s certainly queer), and now it’s been revealed that one of the new Power Rangers will be openly gay.

One part of the movie, according to THR, is that Yellow Ranger, Trini, played Becky G, doesn’t just have to deal with the pressures of being a teen superhero, but is also coming to terms with her sexuality. Director Dean Israelite comments, “For Trini, really she’s questioning a lot about who she is. She hasn’t fully figured it out yet. I think what’s great about that scene and what that scene propels for the rest of the movie is, ‘That’s OK.’ The movie is saying, ‘That’s OK,’ and all of the kids have to own who they are and find their tribe.”

It doesn’t sound like this is a big part of the film, as it’s talked about in terms of being a ‘moment’ and a ‘pivotal scene’, so don’t expect too much of an exploration of Trini’s sexuality. However, it’s still very unusual for a film like this to have a major gay character. Indeed, Hollywood has a long history of straight-washing anything even vaguely queer in the superhero world, so it’s certainly progress. Hopefully, following the success of Beauty & The Beast, Power Rangers will be a big enough hit that it won’t scare Hollywood off from more LGBT representation in their biggest movies.

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