THEGAYUK

Author: Tim Baros

  • FILM REVIEW | Summer of ’85 – The joys of young love

    FILM REVIEW | Summer of ’85 – The joys of young love

    Rating: 4 out of 5.

    Remember your first romance? It probably took place during the summer. The new film Summer of ’85 beautifully tells the story of one young man who experiences his first romance – in the summer of 1985.

    The opening song ‘In Between Days’ by The Cure sets the era for the film (yes, you know it if you were around then). Summer of 85 is set in a Normandy, France, seaside town where Alexis Robin (a memorable Félix Lefebvre) lives with his parents and is in the gap period between school and college.

    Alexis enjoys being the near the water, so much so that one day he takes a small boat out to sea but gets caught in a storm. He is rescued by the all too dashing Benjamin Voisin (David Gorman). Benjamin makes sure Félix is fine and takes him to his home to take care of him, where his mom (a very good Valeria Bruni Tedeschi) undresses Félix for a hot bath and admires his manhood). This leads to a quick relationship where Alexis has his first real crush (and love) with Benjamin. But it’s all too fast and furious, and when Benjamin’s mom (who was recently widowed) asks Félix to work in their nautical shop full time, it’s might be too much too soon for the perfect pair. And when Brit Kate (Philippine Velge) enters the picture the boys’ relationship is put to the test. Will it pass or fail? And then an unseen tragedy, typical in French films, dramatically changes the tone of the film.

    Directed and co-written by the masterFrançois Ozon – the creator of so many great and memorable films (recent films include By the Grace of God and L’Amant Double) scores another winner here with a superb choice of actors, location, and songs (’Sailing’ by Rod Steward and Bananarama’s ‘Cruel Summer’ tells the story in their titles). Though the film goes a bit off the charts by having Félix dress up as a young woman in one silly scene (reminiscent of The New Girlfriend), Summer of ’85 is a very memorable and charming film about young love. It’s a film that will take you back to your first summer love. 

    Summer of 85 is in cinemas and on Curzon Home Cinema

  • THEATRE REVIEW | Buyer & Cellar – Above the Stag Theatre – Barbra Streisand’s shopping mall!

    THEATRE REVIEW | Buyer & Cellar – Above the Stag Theatre – Barbra Streisand’s shopping mall!

    Rating: 4 out of 5.

    Take a tour through Barbra Streisand’s underground shopping centre – in her home – in the new play Buyer & Cellar.

    Is the shopping centre real? That’s for you to decide, but in this brilliant production, you’ll get a bit of insight into the woman who is the most talented, respected and perhaps loneliest biggest celebrity in the world.

    Now playing at the Above the Stag Theatre (until November 8th) in a show that never had it’s premiere as it was scheduled to open in mid-March, Buyer & Cellar is nowhere and it’s your chance to go see it in a socially distanced theatre which is perhaps one of the cleanest around!

    And Aaron Sidwell is brilliant as Alex More, an out of work actor who gets hired for a mysterious job, it’s a job that no one knew ever existed – to run the shops beneath Barbra Streisand’s Malibu home, shops that are full of her memorabilia. But when Alex encounters La Streisand when she enters the basement, he treats her like any other customer in shops where there will be only one customer – HER. And when she wants to buy a doll, Sidwell cleverly and quickly jumps inter her character, and he effortlessly does her throughout the show. Eventually, Alex feels like he and Streisand are forming a bond each time she comes to the shops, and he yearns to know whether she sees him as a friend or just another employee. As the lines get blurred Alex maintains his composure until he’s invited upstairs to see the house, and he’s hoping this will be the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

    In this 100 minutes plus show, Sidwell who holds your attention and masters the dialogue, and draws us into his world – and Barbra’s basement shopping mall. It’s a one-man show – with a larger than life celebrity at its centre, but Sidwell getting the applause.

    Tickets available at AboveTheStag.co.uk

  • FILM REVIEW | I am Woman – Hear me Roar!

    FILM REVIEW | I am Woman – Hear me Roar!

    Rating: 4 out of 5.

    An Australian singer, with a young daughter in tow, arrives in 1996 New York to make it as a singer. The woman’s name was Helen Reddy.

    Yes, Helen Reddy the legend who sang such hits as “I Don’t Know How to Love Him”, “Delta Dawn” and “Angie Baby” and the iconic “I am Woman” started her career in NYC as a singer in a bar lounge. Thus begins the story of one of music’s greatest superstars in the new film I Am Woman.

    Yes, she was sure a woman. And Reddy, who just recently passed away in September in Los Angeles, had it rough when she moved to NYC after winning a singing competition in Australia where the prize was a ticket to NYC and a recording contract. But with a suitcase and only $230 in her pocket, and with no recording contract, she was determined, and desperate,  to make it on her own.

    Besides hanging out with rock journalist Lillian Roxon (Danielle Macdonald), she also meets Jeff Wald (a fantastic Evan Peters who steals the movie), a young aspiring talent manager who becomes her agent and eventually husband, and he helps her get to the top. After their move to Los Angeles, Reddy’s singing career began, and continued to hit new peaks, where she became the first Australian singer to top the US charts, and even winning a Grammy award in 1973. But Wald had a cocaine habit, which eventually got worse and worse, and with Reddy not home a lot due to a Las Vegas singing residency, and with a new son to take care of, their relationship started to crumble, and eventually ended when Reddy found out Wald had made bad investments with her money. 

    However, I am Woman is the story of a woman, against all adversity, who was determined to make her dream come true. Reddy not only became the most successful female recording artist of her time, but she also broke stereotypes and led the way during the most crucial period of the women’s liberation movement. And she became a role model for what all women could achieve.

    It’s an incredible story, made all the more real by director Unjoo Moon, who has very little experience in the directing world, and by Tilda Cobham-Hervey, who effectively plays Reddy, but unfortunately, it’s not an award-winning performance. It’s Peters’ performance who steals the film as her husband. But it’s also Reddy’s life and legacy that will most stick with you. What she had to do and what she accomplished, in a time when women’s rights were just a passing hope, and how perhaps her message through song and her voice really did help propel the feminist movement in helping to pass the equal rights bills across America.  

    IN CINEMAS AND ON DIGITAL PLATFORMS FRIDAY 9TH OCTOBER

  • Iris Prize 2020: The Diversity of LGBT+ Films

    Thirty-five international filmmakers are set to compete for £30,000 prize money as the organisers of Cardiff’s International LGBT+ Short Film Prize, Supported by The Michael Bishop Foundation have today announced the shortlisted films in competition for the world’s largest international LGBT+ short film prize. The Iris Prize LGBT+ Film Festival runs 6th to 11th October at www.irisprize.org

    Iris Prize has 25 international partner festivals who nominate films each year for the Iris Prize shortlist, with the rest being chosen by a pre-selection jury from a record number of films entered through open submissions.

    UK audiences can join in the experience for the first time in the festival’s history, by watching all the nominated shorts for free online, ensuring it reaches a wider audience than ever.

    Directors from India, China, Brazil and Macedonia compete with counterparts from the UK and around the world, offering dramatically diverse representations within the global LGBT+ community. Filmmakers share personal family expectations and the intimacy of relationships alongside the transformative impacts of meeting the right person at the right time. They stand alongside sobering stories of cultural, political or even family restraints that mean fighting for the freedom to be true to self, overcoming fear, hostility and alienation. We encounter characters who are tentatively exploring their sexuality for the first time or breaking free of their past to embrace unique identities and genders. Plus, at a time when we need it most, there are reminders that there is plenty to be joyful about, and reason to laugh out loud.

    The one uniting factor in all 35 films is an exhilarating celebration of lives of LGBT+ people across the world.

    The festival opens on Tuesday 6th October and closes on Sunday 11th October, with all screenings, talks and events available online for free. There will also be a pay-per-view catch-up service which will run until the end of October.

    This year’s shortlisted films in alphabetical order are:

    1-1 (Sweden, 2020)  –  directed by Naures Sager
    ALL GOOD THINGS  (Australia, 2019) –  directed by Simon Croker
    BABY (USA, 2019)  –  directed by Jessie Levandov
    BATHROOM TROLL (USA, 2018)  –  directed by Aaron Immediato
    BLACK LIPS (Australia, 2018)  –  directed by Adrian Chiarella                   BLACKN3SS (Brazil, 2018)  – directed by Diego Paulino
    BOYS (BANIM) (Israel, 2020) –  directed by Lior Soroka
    BREAK IN (USA, 2020) –  directed by Alyssa Lerner
    CICADA (Czech Republic, 2020)  – Piaoyu Xie
    DIRTY (USA, 2020)  –   Matthew Puccini
    DOWN DOG (USA, 2020)  – directed by Shae Xu
    DRIFTING (China, USA, 2019)  –  directed by Hanxiong Bo
    HIS NAME (HANN) (Iceland, 2018) –  directed by  Runar Thor
    OCTOBER (USA, 2019) –  directed by  Mae Mann
    ON MY WAY (Belgium, 2020) –  directed by Sonam Larcin
    ORVILLE + BOB (USA, 2019) –  directed by Alan Griswold
    PEACH (Australia, 2020) –  Rowan Devereux & Sophie Saville
    PRETTY GIRL (CAILÍN ÁLAINN) (Ireland, 2019) –  directed by Megan K Fox)
    QUEENS (UK, 2020) –  directed by  Nick Bechman
    SAVING CHINTU (India, 2020) –  directed by Tushar Tyagi
    SELMA AFTER THE RAIN (Brazil, 2019)  –  directed by Loli Menezes
    SHEAR AVORY: TO BE CONTINUED  (USA, 2020)  –  directed by Abram Cerda
    SHHH! (HYSJ!) (Norway, 2019)  directed by Nini Kjeldner
    SHORT CALF MUSCLE (Netherlands, 2019)  –  directed by Victoria Warmerdam
    SNAKE (Macedonia, 2020)  –  directed by Andrey Volkashin
    THE CYPHER  (USA, 2020)  –  directed by Letia Solomon
    THE PASSING (UK,  2020) –  directed by Nichola Wong
    THE SHAWL  (USA, 2020) –  directed by Sara Kiener                               THE WAY WE ARE (Canada, 2020)  –  directed by Amanda Ann-Min Wong
    THRIVE (UK, 2019) –  directed by Jamie Di Spirito                                UNTITLED SEQUENCE OF GAPS (Germany, 2020) – directed by  Vika Kirchenbauer
    VICTORIA (Spain, 2020 –  directed by Daniel Toledo Saura)                       WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT THE RING (Taiwan, 2020) –  directed by Yichi Chen
    WHEN IN ROME (PAESE CHE VAI) (Italy, 2020)  –  directed by Luca Padrini     WINGS (UK, 2020)  –  Jamie Weston

  • LGBT Films at the BFI London Film Festival 2020

    LGBT Films at the BFI London Film Festival 2020

    From 7-18 October 2020 The BFI London Film Festival will be broadcast online and in cinemas at the BFI Southbank, partner London venues and all across the UK.

    All shorts, events and a virtual exhibition of XR and immersive art will be accessible for free online. Here are some of the LGBT film highlights:

    Supernova

    After twenty years together, Sam and Tusker’s blissful life has been shattered following Tusker’s diagnosis with early-onset dementia. Intent on spending as much precious time together as they can, the pair travel across England in their old campervan, visiting loved ones and returning to special places from their past. Colin Firth and Stanley Tucci star in a film directed by Harry Macqueen.

    Ammomite

    A fictionalised account of the life of the 19th-century palaeontologist Mary Anning, Kate Winslet plays the pioneering scientist with Saoirse Ronan as the gentlewoman who falls in love with her while staying in Mary’s beloved Lyme Regis. Directed by Francis Lee (God’s Own Country).

    Kajillionaire

    In Miranda July’s assured third feature, Old Dolio (Evan Rachael Wood) and her parents (Richard Jenkins and Debra Winger) are a trio of offbeat, small-time hustlers. Old Dolio’s heart is stirred when she meets Melanie (Gina Rodriguez).

    I am Samuel

    Born and raised in rural Kenya, Samuel moves to the capital and falls in love with Alex. This courageous debut feature offers an intimate portrait of a young couple navigating their way in a country where homosexuality is criminalised.

    If It Were Love

    This Teddy Award winner for Best Documentary at Berlinale 2020 is an intoxicating exploration of love and desire, documenting the production of choreographer Gisèle Vienne’s Crowd, a work exploring the 90s rave scene.

    Days

    Tsai Ming-Liang’s profound commitment to less is more flourishes in this transfixing work, in which a middle-aged man suffering from chronic pain hires a young male masseur. This film is intentionally without subtitling.

    Cicada

    As introspective bisexual Ben embarks on a new relationship, he is forced to face the traumas of his past in this remarkable debut feature based on personal experiences of the filmmakers.

    For more information and tickets, please go to: https://www.bfi.org.uk/london-film-festival

  • FILM REVIEW | Blackbird – A four-star weeper

    FILM REVIEW | Blackbird – A four-star weeper

    Rating: 4 out of 5.

    Susan Sarandon is amazing as Lily, a woman slowly losing her faculties and who has decided that at the end of a perfect weekend she will choose to die. The perfect weekend includes visits by her two daughters – Jennifer (an unrecognisable Kate Winslet) with husband Michael (Rainn Wilson) and their teenage son Jonathan (Anson Boon); dysfunctional Anna (Mia Wasikowska) and her female partner Chris (Bex Taylor Klaus). Also along for the ride is Lily’s best friend Elizabeth (Lindsey Duncan) as well as her loyal and handsome husband Paul (Sam Neill), who has always been by Lily’s side. 

    The family is not a perfect one – Jennifer has controlling issues while Anna has never been truthful and transparent about her life. Sure she’s in a same sex relationship but there’s been times where she’s fallen off everyone’s radar – but Lily is still proud of both of her strong daughters who she raised to be just like her. But as the clock ticks to the final moment we know is coming, there is some excellent family time around the house, including the emotional ‘Christmas Dinner’ they have which is Lilly’s last evening meal. There is also lots of tension when several unresolved issues are revealed.
    ‘Blackbird’ is hard to sit through – it’s very emotional and very real, but up until the end, when every truth has been told and every tear has been wept, Sarandon still holds the screen – and our attention. It’s one of her finest film performances. 

    Blackbird is now on Digital Download & DVD

  • FILM REVIEW | Monsoon – Quiet and Meditative

    FILM REVIEW | Monsoon – Quiet and Meditative

    From the man who brought us the brilliant ‘Lilting’ in 2014 returns with his new offering Monsoon.

    Lilting, directed by Hong Khaou, told the story about the death of a young gay man leaving his lover to deal with a grieving Chinese Cambodian mother. It was quiet and meditative as is Khaou’s new film Monsoon.

    In Monsoon a young man of Vietnamese descent, who now lives in Britain, returns to Saigon to return his mother (her ashes) to her home country, a country her and her husband fled during the Vietnamese war. But Vietnam is also a country that Kit (Henry Golding) also knows very little about – he was 5 when they left. So his return to the home country is a poignant one, his father has also died and Kit’s brother is bringing their father’s ashes so him and Kit can bury them together. While Kit returns and visits old friends of his and his mothers, he falls for American Lewis (Parker Sawyers) and establishes a semi-relationship with him. While the gay storyline is a bit irrelevant to the focus and mission of the plot, it’s played out against the backdrop of a city full of traffic, noise, people, motorcycles, and beautiful sunsets that linger in the horizon.

    Monsoon also brings us lulled moments – quiet and contemplative – in a film that’s oh so short at 85 minutes.

    Henry Golding (Crazy Rich Asians) is good in the role – but the film itself could’ve explored more of his background and his relationship with his family (perhaps flashbacks) to give more of a background into his homosexuality. In all, if you’re looking for a meditative and quiet film, this film is for you.

    ‘Monsoon’ is now out in UK Cinemas.

  • FILM REVIEW | Socrates – Tender and touching film about a young gay youth in São Paulo

    Rating: 4 out of 5.

    A young man tries to find his way in life after the sudden death of his mother in the new film Socrates.

    Socrates, now in cinemas and streaming online, is an emotional and sad story of 15-year old Socrates (Christian Malheiros), who with his mom, a cleaner, live on the margins of society in a favela in São Paulo. His sick mom suddenly dies in their small apartment, and leaves Socrates alone, and crushed. Determined to make it on his own, he does everything he can to find a job to pay the rent, which is way overdue. He even tries to take over his mom’s job but, being underage, the boss says it is not possible. With nowhere to turn, he ends up getting a construction job, where he hauls equipment back and forth.

    His co-worker, Maicon (Tales Ordakhi) picks a fight with him, but this is a distraction because Maicon likes Socrates, and suddenly (perhaps a bit too sudden), Socrates finds himself at Maicon’s apartment where they fall into each other’s arms and get it on. In light of this unbelievable plot point, Socrates still has to struggle to pay the rent and survive, and when his long lost father shows up to take him (as he is a minor), Socrates runs away. Things go from bad to worse when he is kicked out of the apartment and has nowhere to live. With no help from social services, and not wanting help from his father, and with Maicon busy with other responsibilities, Socrates fights to survive in a world that seems to be putting roadblocks in his way.

    Executive produced by Academy-Award nominated Brazilian director Fermando Meirelles (‘City of God’), ‘Socrates’ brutally shows us what it’s like to grow up poor (and gay) in one of the worlds largest cities. Malheiros is superb as the downtrodden Socrates (he has won two film festival awards for his performance and won the ’Someone to Watch’ award at the 2019 Independent Spirit Awards), while other cast members hold their own. Directed by Alexandre Moratto working with a script written by himself and Thayna Mantesso, Socrates is a film you won’t easily forget.

    And while the gay aspect of this film is unbelievable and a bit irrelevant, the story as a whole is about resilience, perseverance, and hope against all odds.

  • THEATRE REVIEW | Sleepless – Troubadour Wembley Park Theatre – This is what theatre is all about!

    THEATRE REVIEW | Sleepless – Troubadour Wembley Park Theatre – This is what theatre is all about!

    Rating: 4 out of 5.

    The West End is back, and it’s in Wembley!

    Sleepless the first major stage productions to open up in London in 6 months (Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre opened in Mid-August with Jesus Christ Superstar). Originally scheduled to open on April 1st, it was sidelined, like all other productions, until further notice. But now it is here, and it’s a fun and lively show that will keep you entertained and emotional, not just because of the romantic plot but also because it’s a real live show that you’ll be watching, and not a taped show on your laptop!

    Playing at the Troubadour Wembley Park Theatre, in, yes Wembley (not quite the West End), Sleepless is based on the 1993 hit film Sleepless in Seattle (which starred Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks). And while stars Jay McGuiness and Kimberly Walsh are no Hanks and Ryan, they make a fantastic pair as a man and woman who are destined to be together.

    If you don’t know the plot, McGuiness is single father Sam. His wife passed away a year ago and he is left with young son Jonah. Jonah calls into a radio station to announce that his father is available to meet someone new, very much to Sam’s dismay. Enter Walsh’s Annie, a journalist about to be married to the dull but romantic Walter (Daniel Casey). When Annie hears about Jonah’s plea, she somehow feels that for her it’s a true calling, and she decides on a rendevous time and place in the hopes that Sam will be there and then. Of course, Sleepless ends on a happy note, and without giving too much away it’s happily ever after, with toe-tapping songs and a very good supporting cast to get us to the happy ending. While it’s not quite award-winning stuff, it gets my award for bringing a smile to people’s faces, and for ambitiously opening up.

    The seating capacity at this very large and very new theatre has been reduced from 1,300 to 400. Masks are required to wear while inside the auditorium (including the bar area), temperature checks and track and trace are there as you walk into the compound, and the cast and crew are subject to daily testing. But it’s a magnificent theatre with a bar outside and inside and plenty of space to move around.

    But here’s to producers Michael Rose and Damien Sanders for getting this show, a brand new one never been done before, up and running. Kudos to Michael Burdette for the book, Robert Scott and Brendan Cull (new British writers) for the music and lyrics, and the 12 piece orchestra. And kudos to the people you see on stage – they all make it look so seamless and easy, making us forget, temporarily, the events of the past 6 months.

    This is what theatre is all about.

    SLEEPLESS, plays at Wembley Park until 27th September 2020. Book tickets here.

  • FILM REVIEW | Linga Franca – delicate and moving portrait of a Filipina Transwoman

    FILM REVIEW | Linga Franca – delicate and moving portrait of a Filipina Transwoman

    Rating: 3 out of 5.

    Linga Franca follows the story of an undocumented Filipina transwoman Olivia (Isabel Sandoval) in Brooklyn’s Brighton Beach Russian neighbourhood. 

    Olivia is the live-in caregiver for elderly feeble Russian Olga (Lynn Cohen – remarkable). Olivia has yet to get her green card, and she’s vulnerable to getting kicked out of the country in Donald Trump’s fetish for kicking out illegal aliens – it’s his rhetoric and voice that permeates in the background of the film. Olivia’s best friend and fellow Filipina transgender friend Trixie (Ivory Aquino) has found happiness with a good-looking American man and is more or less guaranteed a green card. 

    One day Olga’s Grandson Alex (Eamon Farren) returns from being away for a year – he’s the black sheep of the family. He stays with Olga and Olivia in Olga’s house and gets a job in a meat factory owned by his uncle. 

    Sure enough you can guess what happens next. Alex is attracted to Olivia and perhaps all too suddenly they fall into each other’s arms and make love. But is this what Olivia really wants? She had just been dumped by a guy who promised her the world, and Olivia, who was at a loose end and desperate, should’ve welcomed this new man in her life, but she doesn’t. We never really get to understand what makes Olivia tick and what will indeed make her happy. 

    While Lingua Franca is a very sensual and provocative film, we never really get to the heart and soul of Olivia. And the love affair between Olivia and Alex is a bit too easy. And while the direction and writing by Sandoval herself are delicate and moving, she brings us into an already chartered territory (it’s hard to top 2017’s ‘A Fantastic Woman’).

    Lingua Franca may frustrate you a bit but it’s saved by terrific acting – especially by Cohen (she played Miranda’s housekeeper in ‘Sex and the City‘), who unfortunately passed away earlier this week.

    OPENS IN SELECT THEATERS AND ON NETFLIX AUGUST 26

  • FILM REVIEW | You’ve Been Trumped Too – the film Donald Trump doesn’t want you to see

    FILM REVIEW | You’ve Been Trumped Too – the film Donald Trump doesn’t want you to see

    Rating: 3 out of 5.

    Trump built his Aberdeenshire, Scotland golf course in 2012, disturbing the land and making life hard for the people who didn’t want to sell their land to him. One of these people is 96-year-old Scottish widow Molly Forbes who the billionaire says reminds him of his own Scottish mother. She scoffs at this. She is no Trump lover, and neither is filmmaker Anthony Baxter. But Trump was cruel enough that he had her water supply cut off because the pipes to her water supply ran through his golf course property, so for five years Forbes, and her son and his wife who lived nearby, had no running water. In interviews with Trump himself and his son Donald Trump Jr., we see the Trumps pretend to care but in reality, they don’t, and actually lie to the cameras in true Trump style.

    Filmmaker Anthony Baxter was arrested and thrown in jail when he first discovered the water supply to Molly and her family had been cut off by Donald Trump’s workers while constructing a luxury golf resort near Aberdeen. The charges were thrown out and the police forced to issue an apology. However Baxter is astounded to learn Molly and her son Michael – who Mr Trump branded ‘a pig’ – is still without a reliable water supply half a decade on. 

    However, when the film was completed, the Trump Organization threatened any cinema that showed it. The US distributor then pulled out – denying the film a proper theatrical release or broadcast. But now Journeyman Pictures is releasing the film worldwide.

    You’ve Been Trump Too is a remarkable document of what we know about the man who runs America – he is a liar, crook and as Forbes, son Michael says – “full of bullshit.” It’s a film about the little people who stand no chance against the Trumps, especially against a man as evil and conniving as Trump. 

    You’ve Been Trump Too is the film Donald Trump doesn’t want you to see. Hopefully with the U.S. election coming up soon, the world will be rid of him. 

    You’ve Been Trumped Too is released on demand on iTunes, Amazon, GooglePlay, Journeyman VOD and Vimeo from 18th August. 

    Facebook: @youvebeentrumpedtoo
    Twitter: @trumpedmovie