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

Strike: The Cuckoo’s Calling (DVD Review) – JK Rowling’s detective hits the small screen

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Apparently, the BBC enquired about the rights to Robert Galbraith’s novel, The Cuckoo’s Calling, before it was revealed that Galbraith was actually a pseudonym of JK Rowling. However, it’s likely their plans for a TV version changed once they realised the interest that would be generated by the connection to the Harry Potter author.

This year we got five episodes of ‘Strike’, the first three of which adapted The Cuckoo’s Calling, and the other two The Silkworm. This DVD just contains the former, introducing us to private eye Cormoran Strike (Tom Burke) – an injured war veteran (he lost part of his leg in Afghanistan), who’s swimming in debt and sleeping in his office. [Read more…]

War For The Planet Of The Apes (DVD Review) – Caesar’s story reaches a dark & impressive crossroads

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The recent Planet Of The Apes prequel trilogy is probably the most consistently impressive ‘blockbuster’ franchise of the past decade. The movies break the rules far more than they’re generally given credit for, getting progressively more radical as they’ve gone along. This is, after all, a big budget, tentpole franchise where human beings are the bad guys – they’re increasingly presented as brutal, arrogant, cruel and largely deserving of being wiped off the planet.

The three movies have been about the rise of a new civilisation, becoming increasingly confident in having non-human heroes, and that the audience won’t mind siding with the apes against humanity. It’s an oddly radical thing for them to have done. They’ve also become more confident in their moral complexity. Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes was essentially about an insurgency from the point of view of the insurgents, using the fact that it was apes and humans to hide the fact that its strongest parallels were about America had done in Iraq and Afghanistan. [Read more…]

First Look At Russell Tovey As Gay Superhero The Ray

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Back in September we reported that after voicing the character of gay superhero The Ray in a CW Seed animated series, Russell Tovey was set to bring the character into the live-action Arrow-verse in a crossover event. Now we’ve got out first look at Tovey in character as holocaust survivor Ray Terrill, in a story that mixes the likes of The Arrow and Supergirl with the Nazis.

The two-night event is titled Crisis On Earth X, in which ‘Barry and Iris’s wedding brings the gang together, but things go awry when villains from Earth-X attack the ceremony. All of the superheroes band together with help from their super friends like Citizen Cold (guest star Wentworth Miller), The Ray (guest star Russell Tovey, Quantico), Felicity Smoak, Iris West and Alex Danvers to take on their most formidable villains yet. Earth’s mightiest heroes – Green Arrow, Supergirl, The Flash and White Canary – lead their teams into battle to save the world.’

If you’re wondering what Earth-X is, it’s an alternate reality where the animated show Freedom Fighters: The Ray takes place. In it, Germany won World War II and Green Arrow, The Flash and Supergirl are evil.

The Ray himself is a reporter who discovered a group of government scientists working on a secret project to turn light into a weapon of mass destruction. Before he could report on his findings, the project head exposed Ray to a ‘genetic light bomb’. The bomb failed to kill him and instead gifted Ray with light-based powers. With these abilities, Ray realised he could go beyond reporting on injustice – he could take action to help stop it.

The pics of Tovey also confirm that he will be gay in the show, as in one he wears the pink triangle the Nazis forced gay people to don in the concentration camps. Take a look below.

Crisis On Earth X starts on the CW in the US on November 27th, and will air in the UK in early December. [Read more…]

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First Official Look At Joe Manganiello As DC’s Deathstroke

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For quite a long time there’s been talk about Deathstroke showing up in one of the DC film universe movies, with Joe Manganiello lined up to play the supervillain/antihero. [Minor Spoilers ahead] We got out first look at the Magic Mike star as Deathstroke in one of the post-credits scenes in Justice League.

The scene hinted towards a possible League Of Doom movie (partly as it also involved Lex Luthor), and there’s also a solo Deathstroke movie in development, which Gareth Evans (The Raid) is currently attached to direct. However, for those who didn’t catch the post-credits scene, Manganiello has released the first official of him in character via Instagram.

He’s certainly got the right look for the character. However, while Deathstroke is traditionally a villain, it sounds as if Warner/DC is planning a more complex antihero arc for the character. Indeed, it’ll be interesting to see if he features in the planned Suicide Squad 2. Take a look at the pics below. [Read more…]

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Win The Creepy Annabelle: Creation On Blu-ray!

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Your favourite creepy doll is back when “Annabelle: Creation” arrives on Blu-ray™, DVD and Digital Download 4th December 2017.

In “Annabelle: Creation”, several years after the tragic death of their young daughter, a doll maker and his wife welcome a nun and several girls from a shut-down orphanage into their home. They soon become the target of the doll maker’s possessed creation, Annabelle.

“A guaranteed scream-fest” MTV
“Genuinely scary” Heat
“Shiver inducing” SFX

Order today: po.st/AnnabelleCreation

For your chance to win Annabelle: Creation on Blu-ray, answer the question below and fill in your details, then press submit! The competition closes on December 10th, 2017, so get answering and good luck. [Read more…]

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Smallfoot Trailer – Channing Tatum gets animated and a little yeti

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Synopsis: ‘Smallfoot stars Channing Tatum (The LEGO® Batman Movie, the Jump Street films) as the Yeti, Migo, and James Corden (Trolls, The Emoji Movie) as the Smallfoot, Percy. Also starring are Zendaya (Spider-Man: Homecoming), Common (Selma), LeBron James (upcoming Space Jam 2), Gina Rodriguez (Jane the Virgin), Danny DeVito (The Lorax, Oscar nominee for Erin Brockovich), Yara Shahidi (TV’s Black-ish), Ely Henry (TV’s Justice League Action), and Jimmy Tatro (22 Jump Street).

‘“Smallfoot” is directed by Karey Kirkpatrick, Annie Award-winning director of “Over the Hedge” and Annie nominee for the screenplays for “Chicken Run” and “James and the Giant Peach.” The film is produced by Bonne Radford (Curious George), Glenn Ficarra (Storks, The is Us) and John Requa (Storks, This is Us). Serving as executive producers are Nicholas Stoller, Phil Lord, Christopher Miller, Jared Stern, Sergio Pablos, and Kirkpatrick. The creative team includes editor Peter Ettinger, and composer Heitor Pereira.’

The movie is due out October 2018. Take a look at the trailer and first poster below. [Read more…]

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Beach Rats (Cinema Review) – A teen struggles with masculinity & sexuality in the gay-themed movie

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With Call Me By Your Name, God’s Own Country and Beach Rats, 2017 may have been strongest year ever for gay-themed films at the Sundance Film Festival. The last of those, Beach Rats, took the Best Director (Dramatic) Award for director Eliza HIttman, and it’s also just been nominated for a couple of Independent Spirit Awards. The result is that it arrives in UK cinemas with quite a reputation. But does it deserve it?

The short answer is – yes.

It’s summer and Brooklyn teenager Frankie (Harris Dickinson) has nothing to do but hang out with his friends, heading down to the beach to flirt with girls, play ball and try to pass the time. However, away from his somewhat delinquent mates, he’s started going online and looking for guys. Initially he’s uncertain about what he’s doing or whether it means anything beyond being a way to pass the time, but he soon starts meeting men for sex. [Read more…]

Call Me By Your Name Leads Independent Spirit Nominations, With Gay Films BPM & Beach Rats Also Recognised

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It’s been a great year for gay-themed movies at the Independent Spirit Awards – the gongs giving out shortly before the Oscars, which acnowledge and celebrate those film made by and released outside the Hollywood studio system. Leading the pack is the acclaimed Call Me By Your Name, Luca Guadagnino’s movie about two young men falling in love in italy in the early 1980s.

It scored six nominations, including Best Feature, Best Director, Best Cinematography, Best Editing, Best Male Lead (Timothee Chalamet) and Best Supporting Male (Armie Hammer).

The Independent Spirit Awards used to largely be a way to celebrate movies that were ignored by the Oscars, for the past few years the winners have been the same (five of the last six Indie Spirit Best Feature winners have also picked up the Best Picture Oscar). That suggest Call Me By Your Name has just taken a big step closer to Academy Award success.

It wasn’t the only gay-themed movie picking up nominations, as Beach Rats was nominated for Best Cinematography and Best Male Lead for the excellent Harris Dickinson. The much loved and praised French movie BPM (Beats Per Minute), about the rise of the activist organisation ACT UP in the early days of the AIDS crisis, is nominated for Best International Feature.

Away from the gay front, other films being giving love include Jordan Peele’s hit Get Out, and Good Time, starring Robert Pattinson, which both scored five nominations. Lady Bird and The Rider meanwhile got four apiece.

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

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The Mercy Trailer – Colin Firth takes on a real-life sailing tale with Rachel Weisz

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Synopsis: ‘Following his Academy Award® winning film The Theory of Everything, James Marsh directs the incredible true story of Donald Crowhurst (COLIN FIRTH, The King’s Speech, Kingsman: The Secret Service, The Railway Man), an amateur sailor who competed in the 1968 Sunday Times Golden Globe Race in the hope of becoming the first person in history to single-handedly circumnavigate the globe without stopping. With an unfinished boat and his business and house on the line, Donald leaves his wife, Clare (RACHEL WEISZ, The Light Between Oceans, The Lobster) and their children behind, hesitantly embarking on an adventure on his boat the Teignmouth Electron.

‘Co-starring DAVID THEWLIS (Anomalisa, The Theory of Everything) and KEN STOTT (‘War & Peace’, The Hobbit), and produced by Blueprint Pictures (The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, In Bruges), the story of Crowhurst’s dangerous solo voyage and the struggles he confronted on the epic journey while his family awaited his return is one of the most enduring mysteries of recent times.’

The movie is due in UK cinemas 9th February 2018. Take a look at the trailer and poster below. [Read more…]

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New 12 Strong Trailer – Chris Hemsworth does modern warfare on horseback

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For hundreds of years horses were a central part of warfare. However, most of us would have thought that with all the tecknology and money at the disposal of the US military, they wouldn’t have much time for horses in combat anymore. However, 12 Strong (previously known as Horse Soldiers) tells the true tale of a group of US Special Forces who went into Afghanistan on horseback shortly after 9/11 in order to hunt Taliban terrorists.

Here’s the synopsis: ’12 Strong is set in the harrowing days following 9/11 when a U.S. Special Forces team, led by their new Captain, Mitch Nelson (Chris Hemsworth), is chosen to be the first U.S. troops sent into Afghanistan for an extremely dangerous mission. There, in the rugged mountains, they must convince Northern Alliance General Dostum (Nvid Negahban) to join forces with them to fight their common adversary: the Taliban and their Al Qaeda allies. In addition to overcoming mutual distrust and a vast cultural divide, the Americans—accustomed to state-of-the-art warfare—must adopt the rudimentary tactics of the Afghani horse soldiers. But despite their uneasy bond, the new allies face overwhelming odds: outnumbered and outgunned by a ruthless enemy that does not take prisoners.’

The film is due to hit cinemas early next year. Take a look at the trailer below. [Read more…]

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It’s Chris Pratt & A Baby Dino In The First Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom Footage

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It’s very short, but the first footage from Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom has arrived online, which shows as Chris Pratt back as Owen Grady, petting a very cute baby raptor. I suppose it’s a good thing Owen still has a good relationship with at least some of the dinos after the dramatic events of Jurassic World!

The footage was released on Twitter by Colin Trevorrow who directed Jurassic World and co-wrote and produces the sequel.

There’s still very little info on the exact plot, although the title suggests that there will still be major problems with the Park (we do know the film is returning to Isla Nublar, the original Jurassic Park/World island). Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard will once more be having dinosaur troubles, with Jeff Goldblum’s Ian Malcolm also returning to the franchise.

It’s been suggested that the movie will further explore the weaponisation of dinosaurs through genetic manipulation, although that hasn’t been confirmed. J.A. Bayona directs, with a June 2018 release date set.

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

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Jude Law Will Play The Male Lead Opposite Brie Larson In Captain Marvel

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It’s well over a year since Brie Larson signed on to play Captain Marvel on the big screen. However, it’s only now that Marvel and directors Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck have started to build the cast around her. Ben Mendelsohn recently signed up to play the villain, and now Variety reports that Jude Law is in talks to play the male lead in the movie.

Different incarnations of Captain Marvel have been both male and female in the comics, but for the movies they are concentrating on Carol Danvers, an Air Force pilot whose DNA is fused with that of an alien during an accident. The resulting alteration imbues her with the super powers of strength, energy projection and flight.

Law will play ‘Doctor Walter Lawson, a.k.a. Mar-Vell, who becomes a mentor of sorts to Danvers as she tries to figure out her new powers.’

Interestingly the movie is planned as a prequel to most of the other Marvel movies, as it will be set in the 1990s. It’s also thought Samuel L. Jackson may show up as a younger Nick Fury. It’s due out March 2019.

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