In the midst of contemporary London, Adam (played by Andrew Scott) experiences a serendipitous meeting with his enigmatic neighbour, Harry (portrayed by Paul Mescal), one night in his sparsely populated tower block. This encounter disrupts Adam’s usual routine, leading to the blossoming of a relationship between them. However, Adam becomes consumed by memories of the past, prompting him to revisit the suburban town of his upbringing and his childhood home. There, he is confronted with a perplexing discovery: his parents (depicted by Claire Foy and Jamie Bell) seem to be frozen in time, inhabiting their lives exactly as they were thirty years earlier, on the day of their tragic demise.
This award-winning and Sundance Festival-selected film is an intricate look at the lives of two men who enter into a relationship in 90s New York.
Erik is a Danish documentary film-maker who meets Paul via a telephone chat-line. Erik is anxious about commitment and lawyer Paul has a steady girlfriend. What starts off as a casual sexual relationship develops into something more meaningful and romantic. The film charts the two lovers throughout their turbulent ten-year relationship.
The two main characters’ lives take on unexpected turns and as Erik becomes more responsible and committed, Paul’s more orderly life spirals out of control as his recreational drug abuse becomes a destructive habit. The relationship enters a series of cycles of damage and renewal as the film charts their lives.
The film is beautiful to watch but also painful to view in places, but ultimately provides a meaningful glimpse into the areas of both lightness and shade which relationships can pass through. The balance of the film is such that the story never feels too bleak but is balanced with erotic tension, a compelling storyline and occasional bursts of humour. Strong performances from the cast add to the emotional intensity of the film.
Highly recommended for a moving and fascinating insight into the life cycle of a relationship.
There is ongoing debate and discussion within the entertainment industry and LGBTQ+ community about whether only gay actors should play gay characters. While some people argue that only actors who identify as LGBTQ+ should be cast in LGBTQ+ roles, others believe that an actor’s sexual orientation should not be a determining factor in casting decisions.
Ultimately, the decision about who to cast in a particular role is up to the director and producers of a project. However, it’s important to consider the impact that casting decisions can have on representation and visibility for LGBTQ+ people in the entertainment industry. If LGBTQ+ actors are consistently passed over for LGBTQ+ roles, it can perpetuate the idea that LGBTQ+ people are not capable of playing a wide range of characters or that their experiences are not valuable.
Which straight actors have played gay parts?
There are many straight actors who have played LGBTQ+ characters in films, television shows, and theatre productions. Here are some examples:
It is worth noting that the casting of straight actors to play gay characters has been a topic of debate in recent years, with some arguing that it is important to provide more opportunities for LGBTQ actors to tell their own stories.
Ultimately, the goal should be to create more opportunities for LGBTQ+ actors to play a diverse range of characters, including LGBTQ+ characters, while also ensuring that LGBTQ+ representation is portrayed in a respectful and accurate way.
The film follows a group of LGBTQ+ activists who come together to support a Welsh mining community during the UK miners’ strike in 1984.
The group, which calls itself “Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners” (LGSM), initially struggles to find a group of miners who are willing to accept their support. However, they eventually make contact with a small mining village in Wales and begin fundraising to support the miners and their families.
As the relationship between LGSM and the miners develops, both groups begin to understand and appreciate each other’s struggles. The film explores issues of class, identity, and the power of solidarity, as LGSM and the miners work together to fight for their rights.
“Pride” was critically acclaimed upon its release, and was praised for its mix of humor and drama, as well as its positive portrayal of LGBTQ+ characters. The film was also seen as a tribute to the real-life activists who inspired it, and to the power of grassroots activism to effect change.
Did the film “Pride” get good reviews?
Yes, “Pride” received very positive reviews from critics upon its release in 2014. The film has a 93% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 169 reviews, with an average rating of 8.0/10. The site’s critical consensus describes the film as “earnest, well-acted, and overall inspirational,” and notes that it “avoids easy clichés and formula.”
Many reviewers praised the film’s mix of humor and drama, as well as its strong ensemble cast. The performances of actors such as Bill Nighy, Imelda Staunton, and Andrew Scott were particularly singled out for praise.
“Pride” was also praised for its positive portrayal of LGBTQ+ characters, and for its exploration of issues of class, identity, and the power of solidarity. Many critics saw the film as a tribute to the real-life activists who inspired it, and as a reminder of the importance of grassroots activism in effecting change.
Overall, “Pride” was widely regarded as a well-crafted and inspiring film that blended comedy and drama, and celebrated the power of community and activism.
Is the film “Pride” based on a true story?
“Pride” is based on a true story. The film depicts the real-life events of the summer of 1984, when a group of lesbian and gay activists formed the group Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners (LGSM) and began raising money to support the striking miners and their families.
The LGSM group consisted of around 20 activists from London, who decided to support the striking miners after recognizing that both groups were fighting for their rights and for a fairer society. The group raised thousands of pounds for the miners, and their efforts were warmly received by some of the mining communities they supported.
The film’s portrayal of the LGSM’s involvement in the miners’ strike is largely accurate, although some elements have been fictionalized for dramatic effect. The film’s characters are also composites of several real-life activists, rather than being based on specific individuals.
Overall, while “Pride” takes some artistic license with the story, it is based on a real and inspiring episode in British history that saw two marginalized groups coming together in solidarity to fight for their rights.
How much did the film Pride make?
The film Pride was hugely successful at the box office in 2014.
According to Box Office Mojo, the film “Pride” grossed approximately $16.4 million worldwide during its theatrical release in 2014.
While this may not seem like a huge amount compared to some Hollywood blockbusters, “Pride” was actually a considerable success for an independent British film. It was made on a relatively modest budget of around £3.3 million, and its strong critical reception and positive word-of-mouth helped to generate a loyal fanbase.
“Pride” was also well-received at various film festivals, winning the Queer Palm award at the Cannes Film Festival and the People’s Choice Award at the Toronto International Film Festival.
Beyond its box office success, “Pride” has also had a lasting cultural impact. The film has been praised for its positive portrayal of LGBTQ+ characters, and for its celebration of the power of solidarity and grassroots activism. It has also helped to raise awareness of the real-life events that inspired it, and has been credited with helping to cement the legacy of the LGSM group and their efforts to support the striking miners.
Cocoon is a true depiction of the trials and triumphs of female adolescence, a coming-of-age tale that every woman can relate to.
In the heat of a shimmering Berlin summer, Nora (Lena Urzendowsky) spends her days as a third wheel to her older sister Jule (Lena Klenke) and her best friend Aylin (Elina Vildanova). They think and talk only of boys and how to keep thin, whilst wandering the vibrant city streets taking selfies and juvenile social media videos. Feeling the pressures to fit in, Nora goes along with her sister’s frolics – drinking, smoking and playing ‘smack the finger’ with the boys. But with their alcoholic mother largely absent, it is Jule who bears the brunt of Nora’s supervision. Nora looks up to Jule but still keeps and cares for caterpillars, an activity she and her mother once shared.
On a gym day at school, Nora gets her period for the first time in front of the class – one embarrassing step too far for Jule. When older student Romy rushes to Nora’s rescue, a friendship blossoms and Nora falls fast in love for the first time. But as the hottest summer on record comes to a close, things will never be the same for Nora – the butterfly has emerged from her cocoon.
Patrick has lost his hammer, and he’s also lost his clothes!
You see Patrick (Kevin Jannsens), in the new film simply called ‘Patrick,’ works at a nudist camp deep in the woods in a remote area in Belgium. It’s a nudist camp his father owns, and where, along with his mother, all share a home in the camp. His mother is blind and his father is getting a bit too old to run the camp. Then one day Patrick notices that one of his hammers is gone, so he spends the entire film in search of his hammer (yes, literally a hammer). Patrick goes from tent to tent in the hopes of finding his hammer – he so obsessed about it that when his father suddenly dies, Patrick still has only one thing on his mind – yes you guessed it – to find his hammer.
The nudist camp is full of characters, all naked all the time. After a bit, the nudity becomes a bit unnoticeable and the storyline gets quirkier and quirkier, including when a famous American musician takes up a spot in the camp who perhaps knows a thing to two about the hammer. Also about to be revealed is a secret his father had, and his mother’s knowledge about the secret. But Patrick is oblivious to the whole thing – he just wants his hammer back. From Peaky Blinders director Tim Mielants, Patrick is quirky, a bit funny, and definitely different.
Henry Blake, in his debut as director and writer, gives us an intimate and moving portrait of a young man groomed into the drug trade.
In County Lines, we meet Tyler (Conrad Khan), who lives at home with his single mother Toni (a very good Ashley Madekwe) and his little sister Briony (Shauna Sim). Tyler is a disaffected youth in east London, and at 14 is the man of the house. His mother has a hard time making ends meet, and also has a hard time getting Tyler to open up. Tyler is just going through the motions at school, couldn’t care either way about it, nor about the men his mom brings home. But one day he meets the good-looking and sharp-dressed Simon (Harris Dickinson).
Simon offers Tyler the opportunity to make money, money much needed in his cash strapped home to pay the bills. Soon enough, Tyler gets sucked into the world of drug-running – delivering drugs and collecting money – but it all comes at a risk, not just from the authorities but from other dealers in the business as well. But Tyler gets in way too deep, but will the new trainers and extra money be worth the risk?
Khan is just about perfect as the young man who wants to do right by his family and takes an opportunity he sees as too good to be true. Khan, a veteran of many films, including The Huntsman and The Passenger, has an amazingly expressive face. Madekwe also just about perfect as his struggling mom, while Dickinson (Beach Rats) is good as always. Director Blake pulls us into Tyler’s bleak world from the start – it’s an amazing debut from Blake – who originally created this film as a short – nominated for the Best British Short Film Award at the London Short Film Festival last year.
A newly married French gay couple journey to America to find a surrogate in the moving documentary ‘Ghosts of the Republique.’
It was love at first sight for Aurelien and Nicolas when they meet at a gay club in Paris. They wind up getting married and such begins the film and their journey. It’s 2014 and estate agent Nicolas and flight attendant Aurelien make a perfect couple, while both their parents have accepted the fact that their gay sons would never be parents. Even Nicolas’s mother is happy to now have two sons but upset that she’ll never be happy as she’ll never have a grandchild.
However, Aurelien and Nicolas do want to have a child, but they face serious obstacles – the most difficult one being that the French government does not allow surrogacy. It’s a government that passed same-sex marriage in 2013 but is not quite progressive enough. Aurelien and Nicolas are so determined to be parents that they fly to Las Vegas to start a family of their own through international surrogacy. They search high and low for an egg donor and also a surrogate to carry the egg to produce a child. They interview several local women, make decisions, and proceed with the process.
It’s a process that’s complex, full of loopholes and uncertainty, and where every step has to go perfect and according to plan. Getting their non-French born baby back into France and establishing French citizenship is another hurdle to tackle. We go through the highs and the lows with Aurelien and Nicolas in the documentary – it’s an emotional ride made bearable by the charming couple who desperately want a baby, and we see them travel back and forth from France to the US several times to check in their baby mama.
Ghosts of the Republique, directed by American Jonathon Narducci, provides us with much joy and drama in this sweet and touching story of Aurelien and Nicolas.
Ghosts of the Republique is now available on Amazon Prime, iTunes and other platforms.
In the new documentary film Bare, these men are whittled down to eleven who rehearse and perform the premiere of Belgian choreographer Thierry Smit’s new dance piece ‘Anima Ardens.’ Director Aleksandr M. Vinogradov’s captures the auditions, and rehearsals, in this documentary that is both revealing, sexy and fun. Filmed in Brussels, the men, all presumably professional dancers, jump at the chance of working with Smits, a well-known choreographer who set up his own company in 1990, and who has created over 30 dance performances. His dance pieces are contemporary, with fusions of pop, queer and often provocative aesthetics included.
The eleven men have no problem getting naked. One, during the early stages of the audition, raises the question as to why the camera is in the room. The explanation is that a documentary will be made about this process answers the question, and the show goes on. However we really don’t get to know any of the dancers individually, and Smits, front and centre, also remains an enigma. But combining Smits with the dancers in their daily struggle to get the dance moves correct, with Smits not quite knowing exactly what he is looking for, brings mystery and drama into play.
All the dancers are very sexy, of course especially when naked, but after a bit, the nudity becomes almost invisible (but not quite) and it’s the performance piece they are rehearsing that takes centre stage because it’s unconventional. All the dancers appear to be very comfortable with each other, and near the end, they are all very playful in the showers as they clean up after a day of rehearsal. And Bare cleverly ends as the first performance of ‘Anima Ardens’ begins. Lucky for us, just a quick Google search will lead you to see the actual dance piece in its entirety.
Bare is indeed bare; it’s sexy, raw and in your face.
Bare held its world premiere at Hot Docs and has also been featured at Cinema Diverse, Doc NYC and DocEdge.
Look for it hopefully at UK film festivals in 2021.
Fionn O’Shea and Lola Petticrew are just about perfect as a young couple who pretend to fall in love in1995 Ireland in the new film Dating Amber.
But they are not an actual couple. You see Eddie (O’Shea) is Gay (though he won’t admit it), and Amber (Petticrew) is a Lesbian, and both are on the cusp of finishing their last year of high school. Amber, who lives with her widowed mother in a trailer park, has dreams of moving to London after she graduates. Eddie, meanwhile, plans to go into the military to follow in his father’s footsteps. But to survive their final year at school, and to ward off name-calling and bullying from their fellow students, they decide to pretend to be a couple (this is after a failed attempt on Eddie’s part to woo a blond girl, though he fails to grab her boob during a groping session).
Eddie and Amber go through their charade and actually make a perfect couple; Eddie is shy, very cute and adorable, while Amber is aggressive, knows what she wants, and has all the best lines. However, after a night out to a gay bar in Dublin where Amber meets someone, and Eddie still not quite ready to accept that he’s gay, the pressure is on for him to take charge of his life, to appease his father (Barry Ward) and very understanding and knowing mother (Sharon Horgan), alongside his know-it-all younger brother (Evan O’Connor).
This coming-of-age comedy is a poignant, honest and funny look at the highs and lows of teenage life while growing up in a conservative environment where young people who are different don’t seem to fit in. Both leads are just absolutely perfect, the feel of mid-90s Ireland comes through the screen, and the funny script makes Dating Amber the one of best romantic comedy and growing up films of the year.
Eva Green is superb as a divorced single mother who is an astronaut chosen to go into space in the excellent Proxima.
Sarah (Green) is a French astronaut training at the European Space Agency in Cologne and lives alone with her seven-year-old daughter Stella (Zélie Boulant), and still friendly with her ex-husband Thomas (Lars Eidinger).
Being the only woman in the space program, Sarah is chosen to be part of the crew for a year-long space mission called ‘Proxima.’ While she is honoured and privileged to be chosen, she must weigh the fact that this will take her away from her delicate daughter for a year, and this also means putting Sarah in the middle of a male-only mission where there is very little sympathy for her being a woman and a mother. She has to put up with misogynistic banter, and fellow crew members who need to more time to get used to going up into space with a woman. Even the captain Mike (a very good Matt Dillon) doesn’t immediately take a liking to her. But Sarah slowly earns the respect of the crew and slowly prepares Stella for her departure. But second thoughts enter Sarah’s head, and right up to the last minute she has her doubts.
Proxima premiered at the 2019 Toronto International Film Festival and proceeded to run the festival circuit where it won the Special Jury Prize at San Sebastian Film Festival. Vertical Entertainment has released the film on digital and VOD platforms. Green (last seen in Dumbo) is absolutely fantastic and her performance puts her in awards contentions.
Dillon, who last made screen waves, and controversy, in the 2018 film The House That Jack Built, shines as the team leader, and he’s good-looking as ever. Proxima is a film that will bring tears to your eyes and will melt your heart.
