THEGAYUK

Category: Film

  • FILM REVIEW | Baywatch, The Movie

    BAYWATCH – The ultimate Millenial Movie. The early 90’s TV phenomenon & biggest show in the World gets a big screen star-studded outing in a pretty rude, very sunny action adventure, fun fest – bring your own suntan lotion.

    Nutshell – Dwayne The Rock Johnson is the superstar lifeguard who has to put up with a cocky new recruit fallen Olympic swimming medalist whilst trying to solve a drug ring threatening to take over his beach. There is lots of male and female flesh on show, plenty of action beats, adult humour and stonking music plus appearances from all the TV show stars. It’s great time wasting fun no more no less.

    Running Time – 116 minutes; Certificate – 15.

    Tagline – ‘Don’t Worry Summer Is Coming’… fans will get it.

    THEGAYUK Factor – REALLY – we mean REALLY???, two of the hottest men on planet earth topless for two hours and backed up by some of the hottest studs in minor roles. The highlight should be a very sweaty Abs and muscle packed strength competition between Dwayne and Zac but actually, we had more trouble getting by Zac’s gorgeous blue eyes – oh they are so deep and blue!

    Cast – Dwayne The Rock Johnson, Zac Efron, Bollywood megastar Priyanka Chopra with added David Hasselhoff and Pamela Anderson of course.

    Key Player – This is The Rocks movie and although it is only partly successful it would really flounder without him. As always he can handle the comedy, action and acting with equal ease and boy is he easy on the eye for those into muscle and wait until you see the huge bulge in his trunks here !!!!

    Budget – $69 Million. It opened disappointedly on $18m but then jumped to $43m – It will clearly make a nice profit but maybe not the cash bonanza hoped for like the similar 21 Jump Street series.

    Best Bit – 0.35 mins; After the muscle-bound face off referred to above we instantly get a quad bike beach chase which is pretty thrilling with a great 360 degree shot it makes you think this movie will be superb….it’s not.

    Worst Bit – 0.42 mins; Anytime when the baddie on screen is a low point – she is about as threatening as Jeremy Corbyn with a nuclear button – we need less of her and more of The Rock.

    Little Secret – The Rock is the tenth professional wrestler to act in Baywatch as the TV series included the likes of Hulk Hogan, Shawn Michaels and Randy Savage. Pamela Anderson really did not want to appear in the film and only agreed to a non-speaking part. All the abusive boy band names Johnson’s character calls Efron’s throughout were given to him by Zac himself including calling him ‘High School Musical’ the film that made Efron famous.

    Further Viewing – Baywatch TV series all 220 episodes between 1989 – 2001, 21 and 22 Jump Street, Snatched, Dragnet, Dukes Of Hazzard, Starsky & Hutch and CHIPS but the last one at your own risk.

    Any Good – The ultimate OK movie – nothing wrong with it but nothing spectacular either, one thing is for certain this should have been better. The characterisation is great and you root for the whole life-saving team so credits for the casting, but why is the baddie so camp like a Joan Collins, Dynasty pastiche. You wont want your money back but you wont be talking about it later either. Disappointing

    Rating – 46% out of 100.

  • FILM REVIEW | Berlin Syndrome

    ★★★★ | Berlin Syndrome

    A young Australian woman visiting Berlin meets who she thinks is a perfect man but then he turns out to be too good to be true.

    In the new movie Berlin Syndrome, Is it a game or is it a nightmare? When Clare (Teresa Palmer) meets Andi (Max Riernelt) by chance on a Berlin street, she can’t resist his charms and good looks. She was planning on going to Dresden the next day but instead, she changes her plans to go out on a date with him. The date turns into a one-night stand, at Andi’s flat, in an isolated building in the middle of nowhere that’s typically Berlin. The next day, as Andi goes to his teaching job, Clare wakes up and realises she can’t get out of his flat as the front door and the windows are locked. She’s not too concerned about it because she assumes that Andi just forgot to leave her the key. He comes home from work and they spend the night in Andi’s flat having a romantic dinner, and Clare can’t resist spending another night there. When Andi does leave the key for her the next morning, Clare attempts to open the front door are futile – it’s actually locked from the outside. It’s at this point that Clare starts to panic. She breaks one of the living room windows only to discover it’s double glazed and can’t break the second window. And it’s only a matter of time until Andi comes home from work that their relationship takes a turn from a romantic one to a one fraught with panic, danger and suspense for Clare as she does not know what’s going to happen next. Minutes turn into hours which turn into days and Clare is fraught with more terror as she does not know what Andi has in store for her.

    Berlin Syndrome is almost two hours long, but it’s a film that will make your heart beat a bit faster, and will keep you holding your breath – it’s that suspenseful. Director Cate Shortland has given us a woman’s survival story, that, while the finale is a bit predictable and silly, starts out pure and innocent but then turns into a nightmare. It’ll make you have second thoughts the next time a guy invites you back to his place.

    Berlin Syndrome is now playing.

  • FILM REVIEW | Wonder Woman

    ★★★★ | Wonder Woman


    First seen in 2016’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (as well as on television in the 1970’s), in Wonder Woman we finally have our first real female action hero. The film, appropriately titled Wonder Woman, is out now and it’s good, very good!

    It’s two hours and 21 minutes of action, drama, and adventure as Gail Gadot plays Wonder Woman, a demi-god created by Zeus and raised by Hippolyta (Connie Nielsen) who fights evil with her special powers (including her bracelets). Wonder Woman is the continuation of the character created in Dawn of Justice – who in the civilian world was known as Diana Prince. She lives in the land of Amazonia where it’s women-only and where she is Princess Diana of Themyscira. In this film, she is accompanied all the way through with Chris Pine as Steve Trevor. He is a WWI United States Army Air Service fighter pilot who crashes off the coast of Themyscira, where Wonder Woman grew up and was taught to fight by her fellow Amazonians. She ends up going with Trevor to find Ares, the god of War, in the hopes that killing him will stop the war. But it’s the evil Doctor Isabel Maru (Elena Anaya) who has created a deathly chemical that will ensure quick death to those who are exposed to it, so Wonder Woman has several battles to fight in her quest for world peace.

    Diana and Steve’s adventure and mission takes them to London and then into Europe and to the front trenches, where Wonder Woman (an hour and 22 minutes into the film) finally sheds her clothes and lets loose in the infamous Wonder Woman outfit. And it’s spectacular fight scenes that will leave you gasping for air until the very last few scenes when Wonder Woman comes face to face with pure evil.

    Gadot is spectacular as Wonder Woman. To hell with male action heroes – there’s now a woman who can take anything that comes her way and she sure nails it. Pine makes a fine sidekick, but it’s about time it’s all about the woman. Let’s hope this character becomes a franchise – no more Superman but more Wonder Woman! Director Patty Jenkins brings a new twist and a nice feminine touch to the DC Comics Extended Universe by directing a film that’s smashingly good and is great summer movie fare. Long live Wonder Woman!

     

  • The big gay ultimate summer blockbuster chart 2017

    It’s the most important time of year in the movie calendar where the studios release their biggest hitters and in three months make the money to keep them going all year.

     

    Jan through March we get the serious Oscar type movies but they don’t make a lot of dosh, May to Sept we get the big-grossing films and in between, we get all the rest. So here we rank in order of who we predict will have the biggest erections and who will be Mr Floppy in what is expected to be the biggest movie season of all time and boy are there a lot of studs around on the big screen this year from Zac Efron to Channing Tatum via Harry Styles and David Beckham.

    20 The Emoji Movie – Expected Box Office 45 million – The Lego movie takes on Angry Birds and will probably underwhelm… majorly

    19 King Arthur – 55 million – Guy Ritchie and David Beckham go gangster in Camelot and miss massively – more saggy balls than golden balls.

    18 Churchill – 70 million – Brian Cox does the big man in a wartime thriller movie rather than Bio. Expect an acting masterclass from Cox and Miranda Richardson

    17 Bladerunner 2019 – 80 Million – 30 years later with Ryan Gosling this time joining an ageing Harrison Ford to up the sex appeal

    16 Valerian & The City Of A Thousand Planets – 95 Million – Cara Delavingne in Luc Besson’s sci-fi action fight fest – a whole new definition of camp has arrived

    15 Baby Driver – 100 Million – Jon Trousersnake Hamm in the star-studded getaway driver actioner. Including Jamie Foxx, Kevin Spacey and members of the Red Hot Chilli Peppers.

    14 The Dark Tower – 105 Million – The franchise starter of the 7 book Stephen King diatribe – but have they got it right? Idris Elba in cowboy gear – where are the tissues?

    13 It – 110 Million – The most anticipated horror of the year – is this clown the new Freddy Krueger? No stars or big name director but this story has grown in notoriety and sequels have already been green lit with Theresa May like confidence.

    12 Dunkirk – 120 Million – Christopher Nolan does History but have we seen this before too many times & only a week after Apes isn’t wise. Tom Hardy looks great here though and this is Harry Styles’ debut so we are in.

    11 Alien Covenant – 130 Million – Our favourite nasty Xenomorph returns for the 8th time with teeth of steel for the blowjob of death. Michael Fasbender runs around and sweats a lot

    10 Baywatch – 150 Million – Zac Efron and The Rock shirtless for two hours so sure to be the gay hit of the Summer – Life’s a beach and then you wank.

    9 Spiderman Homecoming – 170 Million – Yet another Spidey reboot for spandex fans and we have Iron Man, The Vulture & Captain America to increase the bulge level.

    8 Kingsman The Golden Circle – 200 Million – A surprise hit 2 years ago and now Taron Eggerton has a bigger budget & two sex gods Mark Strong & Channing Tatum so hopefully at least one spy will get bummed.

    7 Wonder Woman – 210 Million – This will be the gay icon movie of this year or any other especially if Gail Gadot and Chris Pine get down to it – Finally the DC Comics Universe gets a bona fide hit.

    6 War Of The Planet Of The Apes – 260 Million – The simian franchise goes ballistic in their third movie with a superb baddie as Caesar and the monkeys are forced into real conflict with the humans.

    5 The Mummy – 300 Million –  Tom Cruise in a rare none sequel this year in an action-packed horror with Russell Crowe but Sofia Boutella as the bandaged one steals the film.

    4 Cars 3 – 350 Million – Pixar’s big movie of the year is a guaranteed hit as Lightning McQueen really starts to feel his age but it all ends well of course.

    3 Pirates Of The Carribean Salazar’s Revenge – 420 Million – Johnny Depp puts on the dreadlocks for the 5th and final time and Orlando Bloom is back (Hooray!) with his chest on show throughout.

    2 Despicable Me 2 – 475 Million – A really clever release date and it will be the first film ever to beat Pixar at the Summer Box Office – more Minions and loads of Michael Jackson music which the kids will love.

    1 Transformers The Last Night – 550 Million – Every Transformer film has made the Top 10 films in movie history and this one has the biggest budget yet so will hit like crazy despite the usual critics mauling (They hate these films as it underlines how powerless they truly are). The real guarantee is that it sells big in every territory especially the Far East which is a real problem for Star Wars and Mark Wahlberg

  • FILM REVIEW | The Naked Civil Servant

    ★★★★| The Naked Civil Servant

    Produced in 1975, The Naked Civil Servant is based on the autobiographical work by the self-proclaimed “England’s Stately Homo”, Quinten Crisp; who lived an openly gay lifestyle in 1930’s London, when homosexuality was illegal and his lifestyle was more than frowned up. Determined to live his life how he wished, Crisp’s journey through Belgravia, Chelsea and Soho is charted in this compelling TV drama.

    Naked Civil Servant review

    Despite being over 40 years old, the film remains essential viewing for its social relevance and its fascinating insight into LGBT history. There are points in the film which garner feelings of disbelief, such as Crisp being excused from the army during the Second World War, on the basis that he was diagnosed by a psychiatrist as “suffering from a sexual perversion”. Crisp was subject to prejudice both from the “roughs” (the ‘queer bashers’), the police and even from the members of the underground gay scene, who were terrified that Crisp’s flamboyant and feminine presentation would out them or place them at risk of imprisonment. But in the face of such difficulties, Crisp continued undeterred, refusing to be anything other than himself, as he promoted himself as the self-appointed spokesman for the cause.

    Lauded for the quality of the acting, John Hurt’s award-winning performance as Crisp is quite simply outstanding, and given that the film opens with Quinten Crisp introducing the piece; you realise as the programme unfolds, just how perfect Hurt’s performance really is, nowhere more evident than in the scene where Crisp is forced to defend himself in Court for approaching men in the street. There is good support from John Rhys Davies and Patricia Hodge, and the film remains a great piece of drama, with wonderful period details and one which never really shows its age.

    Re-released on DVD and Blu-Ray; the film has been digitally remastered, meaning that the picture quality and soundtrack has never been better. The Blu-Ray is presented both in the original picture format and in widescreen, and comes with a number of extras including a very interesting World In Action profile on Crisp, a commentary with John Hurt, a making-of documentary and an interview from 1979 with Crisp himself.

    Highly relevant, highly informative and highly recommended, The Naked Civil Servant is released on DVD and Blu Ray from Network Pictures on the 5th June 2017.

     

  • FIRST LOOK | Spider-Man Homecoming pictures

    Check out these first look pictures of Tom Holland as Spider-Man

    Spider-Man: Homecoming

    SPIDER-MAN™: HOMECOMING

    SPIDER-MAN™: HOMECOMING

    SPIDER-MAN™: HOMECOMING

    A young Peter Parker/Spider-Man (Tom Holland), who made his sensational debut in Captain America: Civil War, begins to navigate his newfound identity as the web-slinging superhero in Spider-Man: Homecoming.  Thrilled by his experience with the Avengers, Peter returns home, where he lives with his Aunt May (Marisa Tomei), under the watchful eye of his new mentor Tony Stark (Robert Downey, Jr.). Peter tries to fall back into his normal daily routine – distracted by thoughts of proving himself to be more than just your friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man – but when the Vulture (Michael Keaton) emerges as a new villain, everything that Peter holds most important will be threatened.

  • TRAILER | The Mummy, first look

    Sandy… you’ve not seen anything yet.

    Tom Cruise headlines a spectacular, all-new cinematic version of the legend that has fascinated cultures all over the world since the dawn of civilisation: The Mummy.

    Thought safely entombed in a tomb deep beneath the unforgiving desert, an ancient princess (Sofia Boutella of Kingsman: The Secret Service and Star Trek Beyond) whose destiny was unjustly taken from her is awakened in our current day, bringing with her malevolence grown over millennia and terrors that defy human comprehension.

    From the sweeping sands of the Middle East through hidden labyrinths under modern-day London, The Mummy brings a surprising intensity and balance of wonder and thrills in an imaginative new take that ushers in a new world of gods and monsters.

    Cruise is joined by a cast including Annabelle Wallis (upcoming King Arthur, television’s Peaky Blinders), Jake Johnson (Jurassic World), Courtney B. Vance (TV’s American Crime Story: The People V. O.J. Simpson), Marwan Kenzari (The Promise) and Oscar® winner Russell Crowe (Gladiator).

    The creative team on this action-adventure event is led by director/producer Alex Kurtzman and producer Chris Morgan, who have been instrumental in growing some of the most successful franchises of the past several years—with Kurtzman writing or producing entries in the Transformers, Star Trek and Mission: Impossible series, and Morgan being the narrative engineer of the Fast & Furious saga as it has experienced explosive growth from its third chapter on.  Sean Daniel, who produced the most recent Mummy trilogy, and Sarah Bradshaw (Maleficent) produce alongside Kurtzman and Morgan.  www.themummy.com

  • FILM REVIEW | Alien Covenant

    ALIEN COVENANT – The Eighth film in the franchise about the acid-bleeding Alien Xenomorph with the original director Ridley Scott back to pick up exactly after the end of the lukewarmly received Prometheus prequel with some repeat characters.

    Nutshell – 10 years after the events of Prometheus and sometime before the original Alien sequence of films a colony ship The Covenant is diverted to a potential paradise planet. Of course, it turns out to be anything but, leading to a turn of events & possible terrifying fate so a big escape is needed in this very noisy much more horror orientated movie than its sister film. It’s in many ways a greatest hits of the other seven films that result in something generally a lot less satisfying as it gets more and more complicated… and there is a third one to come requiring university degrees

    Running Time – 122 minutes; Certificate – 15.

    Tagline – ‘The Path To Paradise Begins In Hell’.

    THEGAYUK Factor – It depends on how much you fancy Michael Fasbender as there are no other potential studs here. Michael does talk an awful lot about fingering, playing with holes etc but you will probably be too worried about what the aliens are up to around the corners to get a hard on.

    Cast – Michael Fassbender and Guy Pearce are back from Prometheus and are joined by Katherine Waterson, Billy Crudup, Danny McBride who has a distinct gay bear thing going on and a bunch of unknown alien acid teeth fodder. There is also an uncredited James Franco here the king of the gays.

    Key Player – Ridley Scott is the ruler of this world and he is in his element here. His set pieces are great but he struggles to really give us anything new and boy does he make it complicated. The big thing missing here is tension.

    Budget – $111 Million the most expensive alien yet and it’s sure to make a profit – we predict it rounding out at about 400 Mill in the bank so, on to number nine..

    Best Bit – 1.38 mins; The big action beat involving an out of control spaceship is top notch and this film works better as an action blockbuster than a horror and yet it was the latter it was aiming for!

    Worst Bit – 0.03 mins; The opening unconnected scene of Fassbender and Pearce in a white room is pure 2001 A Space Odyssey and is a load of b*llocks. Total Prometheus type crap brings on the monsters and the killing.

    Little Secret – Shot on location in Australia and New Zealand using some of the same locations as The Lord Of The Rings Trilogy. In 2015 Scott announced that this would be the second after Prometheus in a new Aliens trilogy for the third one please remember to bring a pen and notepad to sort it all out. The first alien movie since HR Giger whose images created the Alien past away.

    Further Viewing – Aliens 1-7, A couple of Predators, Blobs and The Things a plenty, Interstellar and the recent Arrival, Passengers and last months space horror Life.

    Any Good – This is fine it is no Alien or Aliens that’s for sure but it is way better than Prometheus as at least you get some monster action here throughout the second and third acts. The twist is one of the most obvious of all time but it is still a hugely enjoyable fun movie just don’t expect big scares – are we used to this by now or is it the fact that we just don’t care about any of the crew as there is no Sigourney in her underpants here. A valid addition to the franchise but not a game changer.

    Rating – 58% out of 100

  • TRAILER | The Emoji Movie trailer released

    The Emoji Movie unlocks the never-before-seen secret world inside your smartphone.

    Hidden within the messaging app is Textopolis, a bustling city where all your favorite emojis live, hoping to be selected by the phone’s user. In this world, each emoji has only one facial expression – except for Gene (T.J. Miller), an exuberant emoji who was born without a filter and is bursting with multiple expressions. Determined to become “normal” like the other emojis, Gene enlists the help of his handy best friend Hi-5 (James Corden) and the notorious code breaker emoji Jailbreak (Anna Faris). Together, they embark on an epic “app-venture” through the apps on the phone, each its own wild and fun world, to find the Code that will fix Gene. But when a greater danger threatens the phone, the fate of all emojis depends on these three unlikely friends who must save their world before it’s deleted forever.

     

    The Emoji Movie is due for release by Sony on 28 July in the US, 4 August in the UK, and 14 September in Australia.

  • Gay films to be shown at the 70th Cannes Film Festival

    The 70th Annual Cannes Film Festival has started today and will show many films from all over the world, including films that will compete for the prestigious Queer Palm Award.

     

    These films are:

    How to Talk to Girls at Parties, by John Cameron Mitchell (Hedwig and the Angry Inch), stars Nicole Kidman (who is in four films at the festival), Elle Fanning and Matt Lucas and is about a couple of British 1970’s teen-aged boys who go to a party to meet girls, only to find that the girls are very different from their expectations.

    Coby. A 21-year old Ohio woman changes her gender and becomes a boy in this very intimate movie about Coby’s journey to manhood.


    They – Mass Ornament Films

    They is a coming of age drama where ‘J’ has been diagnosed with Gender Identity Disorder and decides to go by the name ‘They’ and then proceeds to take hormone blockers to suspend their puberty. Directed by Iranian Anahita Ghazvini Zadeh.

    Marlina the Murderer in Four Acts. A woman is robbed in her home by a gang but accidentally she kills the leader. She is then haunted by him which in turn completely changes her life. Directed by Indonesian Mouly Surya.

    Nothingwood is a documentary about Salim Shaheen, the most popular and prolific actor-producer of Afghanistan, who makes relentless Z series films in a country at war for more than thirty years. Directed by Sonia Kronlund, who says that Shaheen like a sort of Ed Wood, but on a much grander scale.


    120 beats per Minutes – Les Films de Pierre

    120 beats per Minutes (120 Battlements Par Minute) is a French drama which depicts a group of HIV/AIDS activists associated with the Paris chapter of ACT UP.

    Golden Years premise revolves around newlyweds Paul and Louise as World War I breaks out. Paul, a soldier, maims himself and deserts his post. So Louise dresses him up as a woman called Suzanne, and they hand out in the debauched Paris of the Golden Twenties and he earns quite a reputation for himself. Directed by prestigious French film director André Téchiné.

    Other films to be shown at the festival include:

    -Sofia Coppola’s American Civil War thriller The Beguiled, a remake of Clint Eastwood’s 1971 film, with high wattage stars Colin Farrell, Nicole Kidman, and Kirsten Dunst.

    –Okja and The Meyerowitz Stories are two films produced by Netflix. Okja stars Jake Gyllenhaal and Tilda Swinton about a girl who risks everything to prevent a powerful multi-national company from kidnapping her best friend – a massive animal, while The Meyerowitz Stories stars Adam Sandler, Ben Stiller, Emma Thompson and Dustin Hoffman about siblings dealing with an ageing father.

    Amazon is also in the game with:


    Wonderstruck – Amazon Studios
    –Wonderstruck, starring Julianne Moore and Michelle Williams and tells the story of two deaf children living parallel lives in the 1920s and 1970s, and
    –You Were Never Really Here starring Joaquin Phoenix as a war veteran who tries to save a sex-trafficking victim.
    –Good Time. Robert Pattinson plays a bank robber who struggles to evade the police.
    –Happy End. Isabelle Huppert, fresh from her award-winning performance in Elle, is in this family drama that is set against the backdrop of the European refugee crisis.
    –The Killing of a Sacred Deer. Kidman and Farrell (again) star in this tale of a boy attempting to bring a talented surgeon into his family, with disastrous consequences.
    –L’Amant Double (The Double Lover). Popular French Director Francois Ozon’s thriller about a young woman who falls in love with her therapist before realising he’s not who she thinks he is.
    –A Gentle Closure. A Ukrainian film that tells the bleak tale of a woman trying to learn the truth about a prison in remote Russia.

    The year’s film festival includes 49 films from 20 countries, including nine feature debuts. Kidman will also be seen in a screening of Jane Campion’s television series “Top of the Lake.” The Cinéfondation is the short film section of the festival, to be be presided over by Romanian Director Cristian Mungiu. And Italian actress Monica Bellucci will host the open and closing ceremonies.

    Members of this year’s main jury include gay filmmaker Pedro Almodovar who will be joined by American actress Jessica Chastain, among others. One of the prizes to be given out is the Caméra d’or, awarded for best first feature film (which was won by British Director Steve McQueen in 2008 for Hunger). And the town of Cannes will be taken over by the attendees of this film festival which is a must to attend for anyone in the film industry, and even if you are not, it’s just great to soak up and take in the glitz and the glamour, and it will make you feel like you are really part of something special.

  • FILM REVIEW | The Kaos Brief

    FILM REVIEW | The Kaos Brief

    ★★★★ | The Kaos Brief

    the kaos brief review

    Meet Skylar (Drew Lipson), his twin sister, Dakota (Charlie Morgan Patton) and their boyfriends Corey (Marco DelVecchio) and Tren (Akanimo Eyo). The foursome decide to go for a romantic camping weekend to find themselves and be at one with nature, in the wilderness. It’s a chance for them to unplug and unwind. Except Skylar, an up and coming Vlogger, has brought what seems like an entire Apple store with him. He has his iPad, iPhone, Macbook and a footage drone. He’s also bringing his YouTuber followers with him, whom he keeps updated with his every move. Despite the seclusion of their surrounding in the middle of the woods, they are not alone.

    After a disturbed night in the middle of nowhere, they are woken by strange lights in the sky and they become the hunted. What they uncover (which they film) was found, by an activist organisation called KAOS, they allege, in the mass data dump by Edward Snowdon and now the Government wants to cover the whole thing up.

    CREDIT: The Kaos Brief

    The Kaos Brief brings a super cool edge to the found-film genre and its millennial cast means that the constant filming and the documenting of their lives feels completely natural and genuine. After all, they are all friends, who are hanging out, recording their lives for the world to see. It’s the horror movie for the Snapchat, Facebook Live, Periscope generation.

    It allows filmmakers to squeeze so much more from their budgets, without it impacting on the overall sheen of the production values. Much of the footage was shot on the actors’ iPhone cameras and the director, J P Mandarino uses CCTV footage to good and unnerving effect.

    Oh yes and the gay bit. What the producers have managed to do, in which so many other films that have gay characters in principle roles have failed, is that The Kaos Brief is not a “gay” film. It’s a film that happens to have a gay character in a lead role – and that’s totally refreshing.

    During a press conference, I asked about the decision to make a lead character gay and whether the producers thought that it could be a barrier to mainstream audiences, Executive Producer Aaron Kuhl said that as the LGBT community became more and more mainstream and audiences had become more and more accepting, the barrier wasn’t that there were gay characters in it, it was possibly that the film wasn’t gay enough!

    That aside, The Kaos Brief is a brilliant example of how to make a mainstream film, with gay characters and where sexuality isn’t the main strand of interest.