It’s Based on Timothy Conigrave’s bestselling memoir – a love letter to his long-time partner – Holding The Man is the heart-rending tale of Timothy and John, who fell in love at college and began a relationship that lasted nearly two decades. It’s a poignant and beautiful love story between two Australian men during the AIDS crisis.
The screening starts at 6.30pm and tickets are available here.
Photo Credit: Film Frame.© Marvel 2016
Nutshell – The third pure Captain film asks the basic question are you Team Captain or Team Iron Man. Half of Marvel’s finest decide, after a recent accident, that they should be governed and regulated whilst the other half think they should remain free agents. Old favourites return, new heroes are introduced and all hell breaks loose in the many action scenes leading up to the ultimate Superhero showdown of all time.
Time – 147 mins; Certificate – 12A
Tagline – ‘Whose Side Are You On’.
THE GAY UK FACTOR – Are you serious ? More hot men in Spandex than you will see in a whole season of the Tour De France. Our favourite Chris Evans who plays the lead is just a great horny looking guy that draws your eye from all the other hunk talent on show and he has an ass to die for plus great biceps in close up in the key helicopter sequence.
Photo Credit: Film Frame.© Marvel 2016
Cast – Captain America/Chris Evans, Iron Man/Robert Downey Jnr, Scarlett Johansson/Black Widow, Paul Rudd/AntMan, Tom Holland/Spiderman, Jeremy Renner/ Hawkey, Paul Bettany/Vision plus William Hurt, Marisa Tomei and Martin Freeman.
Key Player – Falcon comes off best he just swoops around disposing of the bad guys with pure cool and he has a mega-cool drone called Redwing which in the comics was a real (Falcon) bird.
Budget – No surprise that this cost a lot – $250 million. This is of course safe territory it covered its costs in just six days. It is now heading for the top after chart toppers of 2016, Zootopia and The Jungle Book to become the biggest movie of the year, we guess it will finish up making about $800 million.
Best Bit – 1.30 mins; The two team-ups have been building for a while but when they finally come face to face in a German airport you get the best scene of the year so far.
Worst Bit – 1.35 mins; It is not bad just an obvious plot twist so that the tiny Ant Man can pull his weight fighting other superheroes equally it seems shoehorned in to even the teams-up.
Little Secret – This is the longest ever Marvel film and the 13th in the studio’s master plan. Chris Evans suffered a severe arm injury in the helicopter sequence but the close up muscles are all him with no photo shop whatsoever on his massive wanking arm.
Movie Mistake – In the final fight Iron Man’s helmet keeps appearing and disappearing similar to the windscreen that Captain smashes in the big vehicle chase.
Awards – Nothing between now and October is going for awards this is going for cash and lots of it.
Further Viewing – Captain America 1 & 2, Avengers 1 & 2, Spiderman’s 1 through 3, Ant Man, Thor, 8 Batmans, 7 Supermans and maybe a few more superhero films for good measure.
Any Good – Abso-damn-lutely. This is real boys own stuff and maybe the best Marvel film yet. This is well plotted with endless superb action a great cast, funny lines and a script Christopher Nolan would be proud of. See in IMAX or 3D if possible.
Rating – 7/100 (7th out of the last 100 films reviewed with 1 being best and 100 being a damn squib).
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Meryl Streep once again proves that she is one of the world’s greatest actors. This time Streep takes on the role of Florence Foster Jenkins, the ‘world’s worst opera singer’, who was a rich New York heiress who lived from 1868 to 1944.
Florence Foster Jenkins was an incredibly successful performer within her own Vaudeville circuit, owning the audience with her incredible tableaux’s. However she feels that her musicality (she was a child prodigy piano player, until illness robbed her of her ability to use her left hand) is being stymied. The larger than life character of Foster Jenkins decides that she wants to take up opera again, the problem is that she can’t sing, well at least to the ears that are around her. Whether she didn’t know this or refused to accept it is lost in the annals of history, but Foster-Jenkins was a force to be reckoned with, who once made a decision stuck to it doggedly, right to its conclusion.
After hearing a young Soprano, she sets about making her life-long dream to play at Carnegie Hall in Manhattan, a reality. She hires a pianist, expertly portrayed by Simon Helberg (The Big Band Theory) and one of the world’s greatest vocal coaches (David Haig) and along with her Yes Man husband/manager played by a doting Hugh Grant, who pays off critics and audience members to enjoy Foster-Jenkins’ performances, Foster-Jenkins sets herself up for a mighty fall.
Once again Meryl Streep proves that her acting is all in the eyes. She plays the ageing Foster-Jenkins with a delicacy that is truly touching and shows how poignant an actor she is. Streep manages to bring hilarity and tragedy into one role. As she flings herself into one of opera’s most demanding arias, the Queen Of The Night, she takes on a Patricia Routledge (Keeping Up Appearances) form, yet is able to truly showcase the depth of Foster Jenkins musings and sheer love of life and ‘anything is possible’ attitude. We could all learn a thing or two from Foster-Jenkins. Hugh Grant perfectly plays his usual suave, English highly impotent secondary character allowing Streep’s magnificent talent to shine through.
Directed by Stephen Frears and written by Nicholas Martin, this faithful retelling of the famous opera singer that never was, is a laugh out loud, poignant look back at a forgotten era.
Other Genres: BIOPICS | CRIME | COMEDY | DRAG | DRAMA | DOCUMENTARY | LESBIAN | ROMANTIC | TRANS | SPORTS | ALL LGBT FILMS ON NETFLIX
Released: 2015
Length: 1 Hour 35 Minutes
Description: The documentary follows the struggle of a transgender MMA fighter and a gay basketball player for acceptance in sports.
Netflix User Rating: ★★★★★
TheGayUK Rating: (not rated yet)
This documentary follows the media frenzy leading up to the 2014 Winter Olympic Games, as LGBT athletes and activists confront Russia’s anti-gay laws.
Released: 2014
Length: 1 Hour 19 Mins
Certificate: G
Netflix User Rating: ★★★★
TheGayUK Rating: (Not Rated)
It’s a world without men, a world where each woman has one son, where they all live in similar white-washed yet minimalistic homes, right off the coastal rocks of an unnamed country.
It’s here where Nicholas (Max Brebant) lives with his mom (Julie-Marie Parmentier). She feeds him a greenish-like goulash soup at every meal, and also makes sure he takes his medication. She takes Nicholas to play along the rocks of the ocean with the other boys in town, each with their mothers close at hand. But at the heart of soul of this community is a hospital, staffed entirely by women, where all the boys are eventually hospitalized. It’s here at this hospital where the boys are subject to strange medical treatments that perhaps undermine the role of evolution. They are given shots in their stomach, administered to them while they lie strapped to a bed, females nurses surrounding them, with no emotion, all white, and wearing white. What does it all mean? What are the boys being given? And why does Nicholas’ mother, along with the other mothers, venture late at night next to the ocean and writhe naked with each other in the rocks?
French with English subtitles, ‘Evolution’ messes with our head with the idea that evolution (the beginning of life) is created by women, and that perhaps God is woman. Its imagery, tone and darkness reveals too much yet not enough. It’s a film that leaves the viewer attempting to interpret what they’ve just seen, what they’ve just witnessed.
‘Evolution’, directed by Lucille Hadzihalilovic, is a film that she says is steeped in elements from her childhood. The barren landscapes, a faceless hospital, and the rough seas gives us a dreamlike haze into a world of innocence, beauty and cruelty.
It’s film that’s not easy to watch – there are big gaps of silence, and the ending may be a bit confusing, but upon watching it you’ll get the idea of what message the film is attempting to deliver.
It’s beautiful yet strange.
It’s Henry Gambles’ birthday and we’re all invited to the party!
It’s the new DVD/VOD release called ‘Henry Gamble’s Birthday Party’ where the viewer is an attendee at Henry’s birthday party – or at least that’s what it feels like while watching the film. Henry Gamble (an excellent Cole Doman) it turning 17 years old and his family is throwing him a barbecue pool party at their very nice home. Gamble’s family, including his mother Kat (Elizabeth Laidlaw), father Bob (Pat Healy) and collegiate sister Autumn (Nina Ganet), are a religious Christian family where Bob is a pastor and their circle of friends are mostly from the church community, including Henry’s friends.
But it’s Henry’s big day, and lots of people come to the party. But each member of the Gamble family are struggling with issues that may go against their belief in the church. Kat confesses to Nina that she had an affair with a close family friend who was terminally ill, Nina, meanwhile, is having trouble with a guy she likes (and whom she slept with – a no no in her religions’ beliefs), but she’s angry at him for not being in contact. And Henry is not struggling with but accepting the fact that he is gay. So theirs, and lots of other friends’ issues come to the fray during the party. It’s lots of splashing around the pool, with the young lithe teenagers in their skimpy bathing suits offending one of the older female attendees, while the son of the wife of the husband who Kat had an affair with is having a hard time coming to grips with the death of his father. But all these people come together for Henry, he’s the nicest guy around, goodlooking enough so that the girls fancy him and the young men want to be his friend, including closeted young Logan (Daniel Kyri), who likes Logan but has a hard time penetrating into his circle of friends. It makes for a lot of celebration and drama in this 86-minute movie.
‘Henry Gamble’s Birthday Party’ is a coming out story that’s not, forgive the pun, all preachy about being accepted for being gay. It’s a celebration and a masterfully directed film not just about a young man who happens to be coming out of the closet but also about the Evangelical Christian community. And Director Stephen Cone masterfully interweaves several stories going on at the same time that’s not a bit confusing but provides an element of actually being there and eavesdropping on everybody’s conversations. Doman is a true find at Henry Gamble. His face (and smile) practically lights up the screen – he’s a natural and hopefully will have a very successful acting career in his future. But credit goes to award-winning filmmaker Cone (who also wrote the script) for creating a film that makes it a fun experience to be a part of. Bring your swimsuit.
HENRY GAMBLE’S BIRTHDAY PARTY debuts May 3, 2016 across all digital platforms including iTunes, Vimeo On Demand, and WolfeOnDemand.com.
Nutshell – Rudyard Kipling’s book was adapted into the 1967 cartoon movie classic which was Walt Disney’s last film before he died. It turned into a perennial favourite thanks to its great jazz tunes tastefully reprised here and superb story and entertainment value. Here we have just one actor Mowgli and an array of computer generated characters, phenomenal backgrounds enlivened by the obligatory list of superstar voices. There is a lot of action here throughout the film to appeal to the modern audience coupled with some great comedy and boy does it work on every front big time. A movie for kids, big kids and everyone else that just wants a good honest fun commercial thrill ride with a heart of gold.
Time – 106 mins and man is it crammed from opening chase to closing showdown;
Certificate – PG it’s a family movie of course – it will become a TV holiday staple.
Tagline – ‘The Legend Will Never Be The Same’ – This follows Disney’s successful run of reproducing its animated standards in live action format. We have had Alice In wonderland, Cinderella, Snow White & last month’s The Huntsman and Maleficent (Sleeping Beauty) and every one has been massively more successful than the original so expect the same here.
THE GAY UK FACTOR – Don’t be silly, there is nothing here for your willy or libido, yes there are bears, giant phallic stakes and mano on mano action but get your head out of the gutter this is pure clean fun. Just switch your Scruff off and put your Grindr on mute and relive your childhood you can visit the gay bar on your way home for your jollies.
Cast – Debutant Neel Sethi as boycub Mowgli, then the stars step in – Bill Murray as Baloo, Scarlett Johansson as Kaa the snake, Idris Elba as villainous tiger Sheer Khan, Ben Kingsley as Panther Bagheera, Christopher Walken singing as ape supremo King Louie and so on through Gary Shandling, Lupita Nyong’o, Sam Raimi and even the director himself Jon Favreau.
Key Player – ‘Trust in me’ everyone is superb with one exception see below but the movie is dominated by Bill Murray’s Baloo. He is funny, sad, heroic and just what you want him to be. He was allowed to ad lib through his scenes and unusually for an effectively computer generated cartoon he was able to do voices acting alongside the other characters in particular Mowgli and it so works probably only been bettered by Robin William’s Genie in Aladdin.
Budget – We are in big bollocks territory here with a mega budget of $175 million. No worries though – after 2 weeks it had made over $300 million and it still needs to open in many territories so a lot more moolah to come for this one – it will make a big stack of Rupees and it could surpass Batman v Superman to become the biggest hit of 2016 so far.
Best Bit – 0.51 mins; There are so many great set pieces and they get everyone just right. Therefore you could pick the exciting first chase by Sheer Khan through the grasslands involving a ‘tribute’ stampede or you could pick the sad moment when Baloo has to lie or the excellent moment when Mowgli becomes the hero of the Elephants. All superb but you will really feel the true magic when you see a little boy floating down a stream banging out the beat to a very familiar tune on a big bears chest where you will be heading straight back to your childhood with the biggest of smiles on your face as if Tom Daley’s Speedos have just fallen off mid dive.
Worst Bit – 0.02 mins; The very live looking animals take some getting used to when they start speaking – it just seems weird but you soon accept it and then along comes Bagheera the panther. Ben Kingsley is a great actor and has a very distinctive voice but it is so posh and Oxbridge that coming out of a wild animal or a big cat just seems as wrong as Donald Trump’s haircut.
Little Secret – There were two Jungle Books in production at the same time with this and the forthcoming Jungle Book Origins (plus a Tarzan film too). Disney won the race and is raking in the cash but as we have seen with two asteroid movies at the same time, two volcano movies, two Truman Capote movies or two Terrorists taking the White House films etc it does not mean that the film that comes out second suffers it just has to make sure it is damn good. This was Gary Shandling’s last movie he finished – one month before he died.
Movie Mistake – So so many but in a kid’s film does it matter. The animals are all over the place as the film is set in the Indian jungle but we seem to have species from around the globe. African Elephants ? Sumatran orangutans ? Chinese Wolves ? Himalayan Bears ? Peccary’s and Red Eyed Frog’s from whole Continents away and so it goes on. The snake Kaa is 5 times larger than any Indian species ever found and King Louie is even more out of proportion roughly 10 times bigger than any monkey ever. The scars, wounds and bee stings on Mowgli appear and disappear so often that we lost count.
Awards – Nobody has ever won for voice work alone so it won’t happen for individuals and it won’t get nominated in animated categories as it doesn’t fit the criteria so just prizes for the excellent technical team possibly.
Further Viewing – The Jungle Book (1967), Babe, Scrooges, Alice In Wonderland, The Lion King, The Jungle Book (1994), The Jungle Book 2, next years Jungle Book Origins, Greystoke : Lord Of The Apes, Disney’s Tarzan, The Legend Of Tarzan (Out this Summer), Tarzan Of The Apes...
Any Good – Of course it is. Disney is getting really good at delivering these live versions of animated classics and this was probably the most sacred cow and the hardest to do as the cast are almost all animals. Jon Favreau the director delivers big time with every minute put to good use and so much great action and suspense. It looks so damn good too and kids will watch the DVD over and over again and with so much going on that adults will like that won’t drive you as crazy as multi repeats of say Frozen or The Lego Movie.
Rating – 15/100 (15th out of the last 100 films reviewed with 1 being Gay UK filmatic ejaculatery heaven and 100 being as much fun as a Tottenham Hotspur Premiership Victory party)
A flying carpet, knows someone who can get you anything you want – no questions asked – and a pet monkey. None of these even matter when you have a toned body, smooth and waiting to have baby oil rubbed in all over! Ok, I’m good, he’s just a drawing… When will someone show me the world?
He may be a swinger but who wouldn’t want to live in the trees? Holding on to his warm muscular body feeling the wind in your hair, before returning to the tree house for forest fruits, waterfall wine and a game of ‘what’s being smuggled in the loin cloth’.
Just one kiss would break the spell. Just one kiss. Some guys it takes 7 pints to break the spell! How could any man not fall for this dashing well presented man. A stack of cash, flash transport and a large castle. I’ve always wanted to live in a castle.
How could any man resist those eyes? Ok so the charm may wear off after 5 minutes and you may end up wanting to slap him and scream ‘Oh for goodness sake get a grip’, yet there is some charm here and at least he’ll be out all day working. May want to buy him a razor for Christmas.
Another good looking prince, quite possibly the twin brother of Aladdin… Muscular and rich this Prince would make a perfect hubby, just don’t take him shopping for a garden pond, it may bring back past problems he’s faced falling in love with sea-creatures and that took a lot of counselling to correct.
What a hunk and he comes in his own lyrca suit – which happens to be right up there in perfect boyfriend material along with financial security, emotional stabilty and the ability to drive. Also Lucius has the ability to make ice on demand – perfect for our Long Island Ice Teas and G&Ts.
What can I say, he’s a Prince and I’ve always loved a man in velvet. You’d have to be careful with this one though, one minute he’s in the real world, next he’s in the realms of fantasy… hmm maybe not that bad after all. Can be a little clumsy but that only adds to his charm.
Look who’s coming out the closet. The Ultimate Bear. An interesting colour choice, which may not go down too well at XXL, but would be every baby bear’s dream. Cuddly, a great laugh and when required able to fight off any of life’s problems with an almighty roar!
Wouldn’t we all love a woody in our life? Always up and ready for action, this go get ’em cowboy may not be top of the list for fashion or designer labels but he is very good with a rope.
Usually dressed as a sailor and often enjoys a good joke, at other peoples’ misfortunes, this little duck just needed some male companion to keep him out of trouble (or get him into more). However he is prone to tantrums when things don’t go his way so requires someone very patient.
That’s the premise behind the new movie ‘Friend Request.’ In it, popular girl Laura (Alcia Debnam-Carey) briefly speaks to loner Ma Rina (Liesl Ahlers), who is a bit out of place at school with her unusual appearance and head always covered by a hoodie. In Ma’s mind they are now friends. So Ma sends a Facebook friend request to Laura, but Laura notices that Ma has zero Facebook friends. Laura reluctantly accepts the friend request much to the dismay of her boyfriend Tyler (William Moseley) and best friend Olivia (Brit Morgan). Ma then starts commenting on practically every post that Laura has ever written. Ma becomes more psychotic and weird when Laura has a birthday dinner but doesn’t invite Ma. When Ma sees photos of the party on Facebook, she becomes angry at Laura and goes from friend status to psycho bitch stalker status. Then it’s announced at school that Ma has committed suicide, yet someone is posting dark eerie video on her pages and on Laura’s page, and Laura is unable to unfriend her. And Laura’s friends are unable to deactivate their accounts as well, and one by one they are being killed off due to their association with Laura. While Laura’s 800-plus Facebook friends start unfriending her, who is behind the deaths and the constant Facebook postings? Will Laura be the next victim to Ma’s revenge from the grave?
‘Friend Request’ is a film for the Facebook generation. It’s all about collecting friends, whether you really know them or not, and living your life, through Facebook. As the intensity of ‘Friend Request’ builds, it gets a bit sillier and sillier, especially with lines like when Olivia tells Laura to ‘unfriend the dead bitch.’ Then a policeman says – with a straight face – ’someone had a rough day,’ after the brutal death of one of Laura’s friends. ‘Friend Request’ echoes films like ‘Carrie’ and ‘Final Destination’ where friends are killed off one by one, so the body count is there but the suspense really isn’t. And some of the death scenes are a bit ridiculous and over the top. But should you accept this friend request? I say yes!
But don’t just take our word for it…
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