THEGAYUK

Tag: Film Review

All the latest film reviews for LGBT themed films and others.

  • FILM REVIEW | Absolutely Fabulous The Movie

    FILM REVIEW | Absolutely Fabulous The Movie

    ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS : THE MOVIE – The good time girls of PR and fashion are back to expand the hit TV show in possibly the gaiest film ever made.

     

    Nutshell – 25-years after the show debuted we finally get the movie version we wanted. Picking up in real-time the WHOLE cast of major and minor characters are back all a bit older but just as funny this time round. Edina Monsoon (Jennifer Saunders the writer) has lost all her money and desperately needs new clients which leads to a tragic accident resulting in both Edina and walking drug cabinet Patsy Stone (Joanna Lumley having to go on the run to the South of France to do a bit of goldigging with an old flame played by Barry Humphries and ‘hilarity ensues’ in this cameo heavy laugh out loud pop culture juggernaut.

    Time – 91 mins; Certificate – 15.

    Tagline – ‘It’s A Huge Great Bloody Movie, Sweetie’.

    THE GAY UK FACTOR – So wonderfully camp Ab Fab makes Pride and Priscilla look like Rocky and Rambo by comparison. With early cameos from a Spice Girl, Lulu, Graham Norton, Rylan Clark, Dame Edna and Biggins it wraps itself in the gay flag with sequins on from the get go. Later it even goes to the Royal Vauxhall Tavern with a sing-a-long from a hundred drag queens led by La Voix and Jodie Harsh so this is gayer than Ricky Martin doing Louie Spence in the front row of an ABBA reunion show with Kylie holding the lube and we just love it.

    Cast – Basically everyone – All the main cast Jennifer Saunders, Joanna Lumley, Julia Sawalha, Jane Horrocks, June Whitfield, Kathy Burke etc plus endless cameos (see above) plus Kate Moss, Rebel Wilson, John Hamm, Jerry Hall, Joan Collins, Dawn French, Gaultier, Hilton, Tempah, McCartney and a hundred others.

    Key Player – Joanna Lumley has been gifted by Saunders with all the best lines for years and she does not just deliver them with her usual style she now basically lives inside Patsy’s skin making one of the most recognisable gay icon characters in history and this is her ultimate high-heeled platform to entertain.

    Budget – $20 million but it will make back a fortune. When TV comedy hits on film like The Inbetweeners or Alan Partridge it runs and runs as opposed to flops like The Harry Hill or Bad Education movies so the cash will rightly flow. The difference here is that this one will score overseas too especially in North America.

    Best Bit – 0.20 mins; When you get a great scene where the PR guru’s are in full mode planning a lavish event lead by Kathy Burke on powerhouse form closely followed by the star-studded hugely funny red carpet which is so fast paced that you want it to last a whole lot longer.

    Worst Bit – 90.00 mins; Nothing wrong with the film at all and it keeps the tone and laugh quotient high throughout. The big disappointment is the soundtrack which could have been a gay classic and a CD to treasure for years but nothing that exciting or inventive here so give iTunes a miss unless you really want an average version of Kylie rehashing “Wheels On Fire” and some French ballads.

    Little Secret – Dawn French in an attempt to get the film kickstarted bet Jennifer Saunders £10,000 that she wouldn’t have a movie script for Ab Fab finished by the end of the year (2015). Dawn lost when the script was delivered but later found that after page 35 there was nothing typed other then Blah, blah, blah. June Whitfield btw turned 90 during filming – go girl!

    Movie Mistake – TBH we were laughing so much that we didn’t notice any real bloopers. There was some average stunt scenes where obviously vehicles have no drivers in them or are male stunt drivers but who really cares, just enjoy.

    Further Viewing – All the camp classics like Bruno, Priscilla, Mamma Mia, Spice Girls The Movie, Pride, Too Wong Fu, Bridesmaids or anything starring Bette Midler or Judy Garland.

    Any Good – Never has a movie been so more appropriately titled. Yes it is very good, very funny and will deliver exactly what you are expecting. Basically if you are reading The Gay UK you have either already seen this or will be planning to very soon and there is not a single reason we can think of to make you change your mind. So time to smuggle in the Bollie and the nibbly little bits into your local multiplex and have a right good laugh, sweetie, darling.

    Rating – 15/100 (15th out of the last 100 films reviewed with 1 being Gay UK filmatic heaven and 100 being a dud).

  • FILM REVIEW | Now You See Me 2

    NOW YOU SEE ME 2 – The sequel to the surprise hit magicians turned thieves movie from 2013. This time the bad guys from episode one are after revenge but nothing is what it seems.

    Nutshell – The Four Horseman magician team are in hiding after the events of the first movie. An attempt to bring down a ‘Steve Jobs’ type character goes badly wrong and they escape down a builders shoot in New York and come out the other end in Macau, China into the hands of a new techno wizz kid wrong’un! Who is the bad guy?, Who’s on the good side? It all turns in on itself many times like a coiling reptile with big set pieces, reveals and high drama like the best magic should with the years starriest cast.

    Time – 129 mins; Certificate – 12A

    Tagline – ‘Reappearing June 30th – You Haven’t Seen Anything Yet’.

    THE GAY UK FACTOR – Dave Franco the youngest of the horseman is just so damn cute and hot we just want to make magic babies with him all day and night. If you can watch this movie and not think about his ass all the time then you are better than us. As an added bonus Harry Potter himself Daniel Radcliffe turns up and boy is he starting to look a real hottie – Expelliramus, the boy has become a man

    Cast – Well known as the biggest starriest cast of the year with Jessie Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Mark ‘The Hulk’ Ruffalo, Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman, Franco, Ratcliffe and the sexiest thing to ever come out of Devon the Divergent star Ben Lamb

    Key Player – This is Jessie Eisenberg’s film, The Social Network star has turned into an actor that draws the eye away from everyone in all the movies he is in. He is a true star here.

    Budget – $90 Million mostly in star wages but only made 65 mil back. A huge chunk of the film is located in China matching the current trend from films such as Transformers etc to directly target the huge Asian box office which may help this film’s figures.

    Best Bit – 0.58 mins; A break in to a high-tech facility which requires an extensive slight of hand set of tricks with a single playing card involving all five magicians.

    Worst Bit – Two huge problems firstly Isla Fisher is greatly missed as the female horseman and Harrelson’s twin character here does not fit and really annoys in every scene he is in and as for his hair and facial hair ? – it’s just some rubbish casting.

    Little Secret – Isla Fisher had to be replaced and the story rewritten due to pregnancy.

    Movie Mistake – Lot’s; The Dallas skyline is used for the second safe scene supposedly in China, The FBI’s GPS seems to be on the blink and pointing at all sorts of places in London rather than Greenwich as it should be and as for the Dave Franco doing the public street three card trick in Covent garden at the same time as hypnotizing a key character in Greenwich well now that is real magic!

    Further Viewing – Now You See Me 1, The Illusionist, The Prestige, Harry Potter and the Goblet Of Fire, Hugo, Legend and The Great Houdini.

    Any Good – Well it is all pretty confusing and don’t even consider it if you have not seen the first film. Basically this just isn’t as good as the original which was fresh, fun and exciting this seems like a straight forward repeat film without the fizz – a magic trick that just doesn’t really come off.

    Rating – 66/100 (66th out of the last 100 films reviewed with 1 being Gay UK heaven and 100 being pants)

  • FILM REVIEW | The Secret Life Of Pets

    THE SECRET LIVES OF PETS – Is this the best film of the year? A modern animation film with as much appeal for adults as kids – just like Pixar used to be with added heart and more laughs per minute than Mrs Brown’s Boys or Ab Fab.

    Nutshell – A group of pets have one hell of a day when their owners are out at work. Centred largely around two dogs that via a chain of events get themselves lost across New York and then fall in with some very bad animals indeed. The rescue is on from another hound in love. He meets, an overweight cat, some birds and a rodent and it is pure happiness from start to finish.

    You will laugh in the first thirty seconds and still be splitting your sides 90 minutes later.  Let’s make it simple; this is a classic and a must see. In this depressing Summer. This film is the tonic we all need and then some. Bloody fantastic.

    Time – 90 mins; Certificate – U

    Tagline – ‘Ever wonder what your pet’s do all day?’.

    THE GAY UK FACTOR – Don’t be sick, if you’re into animals in that way move on now. This is simply the best fun you can have with your clothes on.

    Cast – Voice cast of quality rather than pointless star names for the sake of it. Albert Brooks, Kevin Hart, Louis CK, Dana Carvey and Steve Coogan.

    Key Player – Cinco Paul, Ken Daurio and Brian Lynch the three writers that give us a fresh, fun, laugh out loud, thrilling and exciting story that all this year’s live-action blockbusters have failed to do.

    Budget – $75 Million only opened in a couple of European territories but we expect it to make over $150 million and climbing in a month then there are DVD sales, TV Deals, toy sales and a million other memorabilia marketing possibilities after all this is the team behind the Despicable Me series and look what they did with that Minions brand.

    Best Bit – 0.01 mins; Which is when you first realise how good this movie is going to be but we could have picked any of the 90 minutes right through to the superb Bill Withers song climax set piece.

    Worst Bit – There isn’t one. There we said it. Maybe if you don’t like snakes, there is a dark sequence in the middle that will leave you squirming.

    Little Secret – 2016 will go down as the best year for animation in history ironically in a year that has been largely rubbish for live action. With Zootropolis, Kung Fu Panda, Angry Birds, The Jungle Book, Ice Age and Finding Dory plus more to come all hitting really big the animated Oscar race will be cutthroat we presumed it was a shoe-in for Zootropolis, but now it is probably handing the trophy over to these furry critters.

    Movie Mistake – There is never any mistakes in animation just loads of opportunities for fun inserts, and here we have a lot of references to characters from the studios megahit Despicable Me series as well as posters on buses etc. for their forthcoming movie releases like Sing – never miss a chance for a few subliminal advertising guys.

    Further Viewing – Monsters Inc, Toy Story 3, Babe, Finding Nemo, Shrek, Zootropolis, The Jungle Book, The Lion King and anything else from Disney/Pixar or Dream Works with four legs.

    Any Good – Well Yessss! Hopefully, by now you will have got the message that this is unmissable. If you own a pet of any sort or love animals, then you will get even more out of this. Take your niece, your nephew, the noisy kid from next door but whatever you do go and see the most lovable group of animals since Mowgli set foot in the jungle or Babe learnt how to herd sheep.

    Rating – 6/100 (6th out of the last 100 films reviewed with 1 being Gay UK heaven and 100 being pants)

     

     

     

  • 60 SECOND FILM REVIEW | Independence Day : Resurgence

    60 SECOND FILM REVIEW | Independence Day : Resurgence

    INDEPENDENCE DAY: RESURGENCE – The aliens are back to try and take over the world and destroy some more well-known landmarks 20 years after the first campy sci-fi classic. The effects have moved on greatly but has the story gone with it?

    (C) CREDIT: Fox

    Nutshell – Same format almost exactly but everything is a lot bigger and noisier this time. A random bunch of unconnected characters all have their moments just like last time and are all needed in some way to defeat a much bigger threat from outer space. This time the aliens mean business with only one ship but here it lands in the Atlantic ‘Which bit ? a character asks ‘the whole of it as this warship is 3,000 miles across’ is the reply and their plans are even more full on this time, but us humans have some new extraterrestrial help too.

    Time – 121 mins; Certificate – 12A

    Tagline – ‘We had twenty years to prepare….so did they’.

    THE GAY UK FACTOR – The younger Hemsworth brother the hunky Liam for a full two hours in military uniform is the main attraction here. His brother Chris (Thor) has been at the very top of our wank bank for years but his younger sibling has the same Aussie man’s man muscle look!

    Cast – Liam ‘megabulge’ Hemsworth, Jeff Goldblum, Vivian A Fox, Judd Hirst, Bill Pullman basically everyone is back except Will Smith who obviously knew something the others didn’t (and wanted far too much cash – see below).

    Key Player – Jeff Goldblum is pure class, he eats up the screen and brings his much loved puzzled scientist from, The Fly and Jurassic Park films front and centre here as he slowly works out at the same pace as we do what the big bad’s are really up too.

    Budget – $165 Million a full $100m more than the first film now that’s inflation for you and it doesn’t make it a better film one bit. It will make profit as all brands tend to do but it won’t make enough to kickstart a third film which is somewhat trailed here (and was the original plan).

    Best Bit – 0.31 mins; A very tense rooftop hospital rescue which is genuinely nail biting and you won’t guess how the scene ends as it has the movies best twist.

    Worst Bit – 0.33 mins; As London gets demolished instead of Washington DC and New York last time we hit special effect overload as the good guys attempt their escape. Its effects look poor because they are, the scenario does not work at all and it is ludicrously unbelievable, unthrilling and you won’t care about the outcome which is pretty obvious anyway.

    Little Secret – The original film ID1 was the second highest grossing film of all time when it was released behind Jeff Goldblum’s other hit Jurassic Park. Will Smith was due to reprised his role here but Fox Studio turned down his record-breaking fee of $50 Million.

    Further Viewing – ID 1, War Of The Worlds, Mars Attacks, Alien 2, Predator, The Day The Earth Stood Still & V The classic TV series.

    Any Good – ID 2 is fine, no more no less. It is not a classic like the first one and it hugely misses the presence of Will Smith and his ‘Welcome to earth’ one liners. The fault is with the same director Roland Emmerich who this time is simply just phoning it in, this needs a much better story and more threat. We cannot remember a film when less would have been so much more than we have here – the first film was truly superb and had so many great ideas crammed in this one doesn’t and isn’t.

    Rating – 74/100 (74th out of the last 100 films reviewed with 1 being best and 100 being a damp squib).

    ORDER From Amazon | iTunes

  • FILM REVIEW | Teenage Mutant Nija Turtles: Out Of The Shadows

    FILM REVIEW | Teenage Mutant Nija Turtles: Out Of The Shadows

    TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES: OUT OF THE SHADOWS – The sequel to the hit family rebooted franchise now in its 30th year about the four amphibians up against Shredder once again and another old favourite bad guy. This is the seventh full length turtle film to date.

    CREDIT: Paramount/YouTube

    Nutshell – The Turtles are still hiding in the sewer from public view acting as vigilantes with their two human and one rat accomplaces. Their nemesis Shredder breaks free of custody, makes it to Dimension X where he meets Krang the ultimate Turtle enemy. He has a device to conquer earth but just needs two more parts and the amphibians out of the way. A breakneck adventure takes them all to the Amazon and back and along the way the Turtle Power team disintegrates and find a way to become human and leave their amphibian lives behind forever.

    Time – 113 mins; Certificate – 12A

    Tagline – ‘Raise Some Shell….Only One Team Can Save Us All’.

    THE GAY UK FACTOR – It’s a family film but the new love interest for April O’Neil is megahunk Stephen Amell playing the ongoing character of Casey Jones. You may know him as Green Arrow from the hit superhero TV series and he is 10 out of 10 in anyones books with an ass built to be rimmed. Hopefully the shirt comes off in the next film.

    Cast – The worlds hottest babe Megan Fox, Will Arnett, Laura Linney, Will Amell and a heavily made-up and barely recognisable Tyler Perry.

    Key Player – The special effects team as you really forget that the four leads are not real and it makes the film truly entertaining. Even more important is the special effects crew producing two of the top five stunt sequences of the year.

    Budget – $135 Million and in this special effects delight it is all up on the screen. Already profited with $150 million and in the top 10 most successful movies of the year and climbing so bring on the next one.

    Best Bit – 0.14 mins; A great action sequence where ‘The Foot’ on souped up motorbikes set about kicking some cop ass to free Shredder from his prison convoy. The Turtles enter the fray and all hell breaks loose. Simply the best stunt scene of the year so far.

    Worst Bit – 0.18 mins; Our first visit off planet to Dimension X which is fine but the problem is Krang himself. As the ultimate bad guy here in a huge robot suit he just looks like Davros with a headcold and easily defeatable. Shredder alone as seen last time around is the perfect foe and there was no need to steroid up the bad team.

    Little Secret – The fan base goes wide – Director Dave Green has been a huge TMNT fan from childhood; he used to dress up as Donatello.
    Kevin Eastman the creator of “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” universe all those years ago, appears as a pizza delivery guy.

    Movie Mistake – They get it spot on except for April’s reappearing and disappearing black trousers in the Britney Spears school girl spy tracking scene.

    Further Viewing – Any of the many entries in the Turtle Power cannon, Ghostbusters, Transformers 1-5, Men In Black, Any Marvel or DC superhero film especially the Spidermans.

    Any Good – As with other sequels you will have made up your mind on your interest level when you saw the title alone. If already on board then this is a step up from the last one with some clever ideas and great stunt work, if not then nothing new here to bring you on side.

    Rating – 39/100 (39th out of the last 100 films reviewed with 1 being best and 100 being a damp squib).

    Order it from Amazon

  • FILM REVIEW | X-Men: Apocalypse

    X-MEN : APOCALYPSE – The Third, Sixth or Ninth helping from the X universe depending on how you are counting them up and this time it’s the end of the world by missile or metal in the earths core we got confused.
    Photo Credit: Alan Markfield.

    Nutshell – A huge cast of characters come together to do battle with Apocalypse a century’s old mutant from ancient Egypt who is backed with his oh so evil four horsemen one of which is regular Mutant bad guy Magneto. Everyone is back but it all turns into a bit of a confused mess to be honest trying to fit far too much in and so many character arcs. Extensive knowledge of the previous films will greatly help as they are referenced throughout but the real problem here is the bad guys who are pretty undeveloped and seem to be massively pissed at the 21st Century for no real reason we could see and boy is it long leading eventually to a pretty weak and throwaway climax.

    Time – 144 mins; Certificate – 12A

    Tagline – ‘Prepare For The Apocalypse; Only The Strong Will Survive’.

    THE GAY UK FACTOR – As with all superhero films you get a load of very fit muscular guys in tight spandex outfits and this film has more than most so all good there. Our faves are Michael Fassbender who is now odds on favourite to be the next James Bond and Nicholas Hoult who always looks so hot and sexually corruptible. Luckily they both have a lot of screen time and they stand out from every scene they are in.

    Cast – James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, Oscar Isaac, Nicholas Hoult, Rose Byrne and the sexiest new star we have seen for a long while Ben Hardy as Angel plus some famous uncredited cameos.

    Key Player – Michael Fassbender just hogs your attention throughout. In his third appearance as Magneto he could do this in his sleep but luckily this time he has an even bigger character arc to work with. He is now arguably the best actor on the planet and he relishes being a bad guy that you would not want to meet on a lonely dark street or maybe you would ?.

    Budget – A whopping $178 Million which it has just made back largely on the success of the previous titles in the franchise. This will be the least successful X-Men film to date and with no obvious threads as to where to go next so it might get interesting over at Marvel HQ and Wolverine may be getting a phone call.

    Best Bit – 0.10 mins; A great West Berlin sequench of forced cage fighting of mutants against their will that really makes you think you are in for a great movie – you aren’t..

    Worst Bit – 1.50 mins; The last 40 mins is a pretty overpumped uninvolving sequence of action beats that are all lacklustre. Maybe consider leaving early before the Cities of the World are turned to dust killing millions whilst none of the characters really seem that bothered about the death count.

    Little Secret – Although the box office on Apocalypse will be below what was hoped there are already two more X-Men films planned namely X-Force & X-Men: The New Mutants. This is the final part of the ‘First Class’ Trilogy and the future films will concentrate on the new young mutants introduced here.

    Movie Mistake – It all gets a bit questionable when Magneto starts to raise anything metal from the ground but there are so many things which don’t seem affected at all including cars and lorries in the background and then the metallic X-men airplane also seems to be un affected and don’t look to hard at all the English signs in the Auschwitz camp scene either.

    Further Viewing – Any movie with a X in the title or Wolverine, Avengers Assemble, Iron Man, The Fantastic Four, Guardians of the Galaxy and everything starring Fassbender.

    Any Good – It has all the right ingredients but boy does it do very little with the great talent, director and budget. This is without doubt the poorest of the series with too many characters and baddies you won’t register with. See it so as you know what is happening in the ongoing series but tbh this is a disappointment and a missed opportunity.

    Rating – 81/100 (81st out of the last 100 films reviewed with 1 being best and 100 being a damp squib).

  • FILM REVIEW | Those People

    FILM REVIEW | Those People

    ★★★★ | Those People

    Those People

    Spoiled rich kids on Manhattan’s Upper East side have lots to deal with, including lack of parental guidance, and secret crushes on each other in the gay romance film Those People.

    But it’s Charlie’s story. Played by Jonathan Gordon, Charlie, a painter, is one of five people in his very very tight knit group of friends, which includes two women and two other guys. One of the guys – Sebastian (Jason Ralph) – is who the group revolves around. Every emotion, laugh, anger that is emitted from Charlie has effects on the rest of the group. He’s at the center of everyone’s attention because his hedge fund father has just been sent to prison for swindling money, and it’s up to the gang to rally around Sebastian to make sure he’s protected from the media spotlight (and to perhaps help spend some of his money). And Charlie is at Sebastian’s every beck and call 24 hour seven days a week. When Sebastian asks Charlie to move in with him in his big empty house (poor him!), Charlie does so right away. You see, Charlie, for the past 15 years, has been carrying a torch for Sebastian, and Sebastian has known this but has never let on that he knows. Sebastian gets a kick out of it, without reciprocating back. But when Charlie meets successful pianist Tim (Haaz Sleiman) and slowly starts to fall in love with him is when Sebastian realizes that he might be losing Charlie to Tim. It gets all the more complicated after Sebastian’s father kills himself in prison, and Tim announces that he wants to take Charlie with him to San Francisco where he’s offered a great job. It’s a move that will make Charlie chose between his love for Tim or his loyalty and friendship and more for Sebastian.

    Those People shows us what a group of young, rich, and goodlooking upper east side kids get up to. It’s a life of parties, drama, drinking and secret crushes. It’s a sophisticated, beautifully debut film brought to us by Director, writer and Producer Joey Kuhn. It’s a world he seems to know (he was born and raised in NYC), as he captures the lives of these upper crust young adults very well. And the cast are all respectable and fine. It’s a classy movie without being too snobby.

    AWARD WINNER
    Audience Award, Best Narrative Feature, NewFest, New York LGBT Film Festival
    Best Actor, Jonathan Gordon, Atlanta Out on Film
    Audience Award – Best U.S First Feature, Outfest Film Festival
    Jury Award, Best Feature Film, Kansas City LGBT Film Festival

    Those People is now available on DVD/VOD

  • FILM REVIEW | Holding The Man

    FILM REVIEW | Holding The Man

    ★★★★★ | Holding The Man

    A moving and very emotional film about a gay couple during the height of the AIDS crises is beautifully told in the new film Holding the Man.

    CREDIT: PeccaPics
    CREDIT: PeccaPics

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  • FILM REVIEW | Alice Through The Looking Glass

    FILM REVIEW | Alice Through The Looking Glass

    ★★★★ | Alice Through The Looking Glass

    Disney’s new film Alice Through the Looking Glass hit theatres this weekend and it’s bound to be another huge moneymaker for the studio.

    CREDIT: Disney
    Alice Through the Looking Glass sees the return of the same actors who played the same characters from the 2010 film. Alice (Mia Wasikowska) travels back in time to try to save the Mad Hatter (Johnny Depp). Along the way she reconnects with her friends including the White Rabbit (Michael Sheen), Absolem (the late Alan Rickman) the Cheshire Cat (Stephen Fry), twins Tweedledee and Tweedledum (Matt Lucas), the White Queen (Anne Hathaway) and of course the Mad Hatter. We’re also treated to a delicious turn by both Helena Bonham Carter as the Red Queen (and Alice’s sister) and Sacha Baron Cohen (as Time).

    Alice has spent several years sailing the high seas (and following in her father’s footsteps). When she returns to London, she is asked (and demanded) to sign away her ship to her ex-boyfriend James (Ed Speelers). When she attends a meeting with him and her mother (Lindsay Duncan), she goes to an upstairs room and steps through a mirror, and through this mirror Alice takes a journey (literally through the looking glass) to Wonderland. It’s here where she sees all of her Wonderland friends, but something is not right with the Mad Hatter. She needs to turn to Time to correct things in the past that will make the Mad Hatter’s life better. Alice ends up taking a device called the Chronosphere, which allows her to travel back in time. She sees ways where she can help the Mad Hatter, but also comes across the events in her own life, which include a lie that she told as a young girl that tragically affected her sister the Red Queen. It’s all told, as expected from Disney, in very visual colors and 3D.

    There was no way that anyone could top Tim Burton’s 2010 film, but James Bobbin (The Muppets and Muppets Most Wanted) successfully manages to bring the story back to life, with the help of screenwriter Linda Wolverton (who also wrote Alice in Wonderland). But no film would be as good as this if it were not for the excellent cast. Wasikoska does her bit as Alice as well as she did in the 2010 film, but it’s the addition of Cohen as Time that adds a fun element to the film, where he, and the Red Queen, live literally in time. And it’s Carter as the Red Queen who steals every scene she’s in. With a huge head, and a huge head of hair, and makeup that’s expertly applied on her face to give her a highly unusual look, Carter chews up every scene she’s in (and in my opinion it’s an Academy-Award worthy performance, though it’s rare for a performer to receive one in a Disney movie – however, Meryl Streep was nominated for Into The Woods – but of course it was Streep!).

    Expect Alice Through the Looking Glass to make lots and lots of money (though it doesn’t help that Johnny Depp is currently embroiled in a nasty separation with his wife Amber Heard)

     

    Available as pre-order on Amazon | iTunes

  • Social Media Is Calling To Give Captain America A Boyfriend

    Social Media Is Calling To Give Captain America A Boyfriend

    Social media users are calling for Captain America to get a boyfriend with the Hashtag #GiveCaptainAmericaABoyfriend

    Photo Credit: Zade Rosenthal..© Marvel 2016

    Photo Credit: Zade Rosenthal. © Marvel 2016

    Following the success of #GiveElsaAGirlfriend, users on Twitter are calling on Marvel to give Captain America A Boyfriend.

    The hashtag is so popular it has become a trending subject in the UK.

    Earlier this month Disney were called upon to give Elsa a girlfriend after many LGBTI activists said that there were not enough openly gay or lesbian lead characters in films. Reps from Disney have yet to respond to the calls but Idina Menzel, who played Elsa in the animated smash hit,  praised the campaign saying that she thought the idea was “great”.

     

    (C) Marvel

     

    Many fans of the superhero franchise are suggesting that making Captain America, played by Chris Evans, gay or bisexual would not affect the character but would give greater visibility and representation to the LGBTI community in cinema.

     

    @elkknight
    #GiveCaptainAmericaABoyfriend it’s 2016 and we shouldn’t be so afraid of showing different sexualities on the big screen.

    @bulkybarnes
    Can you imagine kids growing up with LGBTQ superheroes I WANT IT #GiveCaptainAmericaABoyfriend

    @queerwitches
    #GiveCaptainAmericaABoyfriend because it is painfully important for queer kids to know a superhero who they admire can be just like them

    ‏@KenSergienko
    Straight people don’t realize how it hurts the soul to never see your kind of love idealized like theirs is. #giveCaptainAmericaABoyfriend

    To date no major lead character in an action hero or animated feature has been openly gay or bisexual.

    (C) Marvel

    However some Twitter users have acting negatively to the idea of queering up the Captain.

     

    @EyeAmSMF
    Do NOT #GiveCaptainAmericaABoyfriend Go create a NEW gay superhero, please, and give THAT one a boyfriend.

    @MiyazakiNoise
    What I’ve learned from #GiveCaptainAmericaABoyfriend is that the homosexual community has no integrity.Rain ‏

    @rainboom_crash
    GiveCaptainAmericaABoyfriend Is an example of the success of commie brainwashing. Turn us all into liberal faggot pussies to make us weak.

     

    The latest film in the Captain America franchise opened in the US on the 6th May and grossed $1 billion worldwide – the first film to do so in 2016.

  • FILM REVIEW | Philomena

    ★★★★★ | Philomena

    It’s Anthony’s 50th birthday, a fact that Jane discovers when she finds her mother Philomena crying over an old photograph.

    Anthony is the son that she had out of wedlock as a teenager in Ireland and who was forcibly taken by nuns and given away for adoption. It’s a tale that she has kept to herself for all these years but she can longer hold back on wanting to know whatever became of him.

    A chance meeting leads Jane to Martin Sixsmith a former BBC journalist who just had to resign as a government spin doctor over a scandal and was now at a loose end. As an ex-foreign correspondent used to loftier matters he initially resisted the approach to investigate Philomena’s story as he considered human interest pieces beneath him. But he did reluctantly take on the project even though he initially had a great deal of difficulty adapting to Philomena and her world. She was still a devout Catholic, and a retired nurse with very simple tastes, plainly spoken and completely unworldly. And he was ex Oxbridge & Harvard, having spent years as the BBC’s correspondent in Moscow & Washington and was urbane, sophisticated and very sarcastic.

    They started by taking a trip together back to the convent in Ireland where the baby had been born. Philomena still believed that the nuns would help her in her search even though all those years ago they had been prepared to let her die as a penance for her sins when it was a difficult breach birth. However, they drew a blank as the nuns claimed that all the papers relating to all the babies born there had been burned in a fire long ago. But later at the local pub where they were lodging, Martin learned that the nuns had burned all the evidence because they had actually been selling all the babies off to wealthy families in the USA.

    Now that he senses that there is a real story to tell, he gets a contract with a magazine that will finance the next part of their search which will mean them both of flying to Washington D.C. to investigate any leads they can get from adoption agencies on immigration officials to find Anthony. Finding the son who was given away turned out to easier than even the intrepid journalist believed. However not only was it not the outcome that either of them had wished for, but it was what they also discovered about themselves as a result that had a profound effect on them both.

    Director Stephen Frears (The Queen, High Fidelity) is so back on form with this wonderful new movie after his last three misfires. Based on a true story written by Martin Sixsmith …. and with a script co-written by Steve Coogan, who plays Martin in the movie … it’s a harrowing heartbreaking tale that fills one with so many emotions. In fairness, it starts out slowly, but once Philomena hits her stride and you begin to realise that this is far from a predictable birth-mother and child reunion story, that you start to choke up … and get angry too.

    Dame Judi Dench reunited with Mr Frears (Mrs Henderson Presents) is flawless as Philomena, who she reveals has this wonderful sense of wicked humour, and on certain matters is a lot more worldly than we ever expected. Her rigid belief in her faith regardless of all the evil she uncovers is both remarkable and totally convincing, albeit hard to approve off. Despite all that she went through, she asks for very little ….’I’d just like to know what he thought of me, I have thought about him every day’. And she does at least get that. It is a breath-taking performance.

    Steve Coogan plays Sixsmith rather drolly as a total non-believer and in the investigation itself is the ‘bad cop’ to her ‘good cop’ role. He and Philomena hold different views on almost everything, but as the search moves closer to its conclusion they develop a close bond together and a deep respect for each other.

    This movie will probably end up on my year’s Best Movie List … I think it best to go into this movie knowing no more of the plot than what I have revealed here, but there is a very specific reason why all readers of thegayuk.com will so relate too it. Although I should perhaps share that you will more than one pack of kleenex handy, and also if you had a low opinion of the morals of Catholic nuns before this, you will discover that they are even more despicable evil than that. Urgh!

    Such a treat.

    Available to buy / view on: Amazon | Amazon Prime | iTunes