Tag: Four Star Film Review

The latest four-star film review from THEGAYUK.

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

Rating: 4 out of 5.

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

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

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

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

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

5th September 2020
FILM REVIEW | Stage Mother – A Gay Ole Time

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Jacqui Weaver is memorable as a mother who mourns the death of her son – a drag queen – in the terrific new film Stage Mother.

Maybelline (great name), married to very conservative Jeb (Hugh Thompson) who never quite accepted the fact that he had a gay son, goes to San Francisco to discover the life her son Rickey (Eldon Thiele) led. There she is met with scorn by her son’s lover Nathan (Adrian Grenier) who knew how Rickey never did quite get along with his parents. But she is also thrown aback to discover that her son owned a gay/drag bar, a bar that Nathan manages and which includes a bevvy of drag queens, among them the fabulous Dusty Muffin (Jackie Beat) and Tequila (Oscar Moreno).

Maybelline is lucky enough to be put up by her son’s friend and neighbour Sienna (a fierce and sexy Lucy Liu) with her adorable baby. It’s no real surprise and shock where the story takes us as the queens (including Mya Taylor – who was fantastic in Tangerine) warm up to Maybelline, who transforms their show (Maybelline is a choir director back in Texas) while at the same time transforming their lives. Will Maybelline sell and go back to her boring husband and life or will she add a bit of spice and magic to make the bar her own?

Weaver is wonderful as Maybelline – it’s a part that seems was tailor-made for her – it’s a perfect fit. At a bit over 90 minutes, there is a lot jam-packed into the film – smoothly directed by Thom Fitzgerald.

To say it’s a gay old time is an understatement. It’s instead a grand old time, and get ready for a very emotional ending.

‘STAGE MOTHER’ has arrived, ahead of its now earlier theatrical release across the UK and Ireland from Friday 24

24th July 2020
FILM REVIEW | The Prince – Very sexy and dramatic prison drama

Rating: 4 out of 5.

A young man is sent to prison for killing another man in The Prince – a film which is not your typical prison movie.

The Prince (El Principe), a homoerotic prison drama, out now, is set in a 1970’s Chilean prison. Jaime (Juan Carlos Maldonado), secretly in love with his best friend, in a fit of jealous rage stabs and kills him when he has a dance with another man. Then it’s off to prison for Jaime, 20, young, sexy and good looking – he’s going to be eaten alive in prison. Put into a cell with four other men, one of them named ‘The Stallion’ (Alfredo Castro) takes Jaime under his wing, and then some. They maintain an unlikely romance, while two of their other cellmates cop with each other. But not everything is black and white. A rival gang leader lives on the other side of the prison but’s in the showers, where they all shower together, and where the men are shown in all their glory, becomes dangerous territory.

’The Prince’ is raw, bold, brave, intense and explosive, and it seems to have come out of nowhere. In a country (Chile) where a film like this might not be acceptable – it’s a welcome surprise that it is as good as it is. Grainy looking to give it a completely dark and old look and feel about it, and with very good acting to match – Director Sebastián Muñoz has made a memorable hard-hitting prison drama that is very good and sexy. Hell, even the poster is hot!

Meanwhile, another young very good looking prisoner, who is the lover of the other leader, takes a liking to Jaime and pursues him like mad. But after an incident with The Stallion’s cat tension and rage build up in the prison where it’s every man for himself.

Available On-Demand on all major platforms and on DVD on 7th December

17th July 2020
FILM REVIEW | Eurovision Song Contest The Story Of Fire Saga

Rating: 4 out of 5.

EUROVISION SONG CONTEST THE STORY OF FIRE SAGA – A big-budget comedy musical extravaganza about our favourite pan European gay as anything song contest with added Australia of course. A perfect very knowing made with love homage including all the clichés & idiocies from the 64-year-old event which of course this year was postponed due to the pandemic and replaced with a well-received online show including clips from this film.., but this movie partly makes up for the lack of the original this year. Available on Netflix.

Nutshell – Lars and Sigrit from a small fishing town in Iceland inspired by watching Abba sing “Waterloo” at the 1974 show become singers with big dreams of entering and winning Eurovision. With the aid of some fun pop songs, four of which have already charted in the UK for real, weird outfits ludicrous gimmicks and the help of some mountain elves the duo due to a plot twist taken entirely from a Father Ted episode get their chance to compete in the Edinburgh finals but it is anything but an easy ride not least as Iceland don’t really want to win as they cannot afford to host it the following year and also because of a smarmy Russian singer who is attracted to Sigrit.

Running Time – 123 Minutes – Cert PG-12.

Tagline – ‘Nobody Wins Solo’… a key to where the plot goes.

The Gay UK Factor – There are three membership requirements to be gay 1 a sexual attraction to your same-sex, 2 you must watch and study every episode of RuPaul’s Drag Race and 3 You must worship at the pool of Eurovision. This film is as gay as Linsey Graham’s dress closet being stormed by Lady Gaga and Kylie for a World Pride party at the MET Ball. To help you also get continual commentary from Mr Graham Norton playing himself and for sex appeal the hottest thing to come out of Downton Abbey Dan Stevens in a chest exposing scene-stealing supporting role… but is he gay, well throughout the movie there are heavy hints although he is also pursuing Sigrit consistently but at the end when told ‘That he deserves to be happy’ he replies ‘Mother Russia does not agree’ meaning the country he represents has very well-known retarded anti-gay relationship views.

Cast – Will Ferrell, Rachel McAdams, Dan Stevens, Piers Brosnan as the sceptical dad, Graham Norton, Demi Lovato and all your Eurovision winning stars that you can tick off as they cameo such as Neta, Conchita Wurst, Alexander Rybak, Jamala, Loreen…etc plus a number of new acts which could fit into any edition of the last few years.

Key Player – This is written, produced by and of course starring Will Ferrell who is a massive fan of the contest and what the contest means to our Continent as he is married to a Swedish lady. The love he has for the event and its intricacies like who votes for whom and everyone hating the UK so they will get zero points etc is evident throughout. Done in the same style and with the same humour as all his movies so you will already know what to expect in tone. He camps it up like crazy and has the most fun he has probably ever had and with the worst wig possible to boot. That said you will be hanging even more on the Dan Stevens scenes as he steals, robs and plain nicks the movie whilst everyone else is gluing their sequins on.

Budget – $35 Million but it looks glitzier. This is a Netflix original and with the likes of Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hanks and Spike Lee releasing their latest films exclusively on online platforms together with the likes of The Lady And The Tramp and Hamilton then Box Office is measured in a very different way from cinema ticket stubs. It is now all about new subscribers with Netflix alone adding 16 million new members in March of this year and Disney Plus being launched to spectacularly great figures it seems that film production and its money-making potential has entirely flipped across into a whole new exciting world.

Best Bit – 1.04 mins; As Eurovision aficionados will know to get through to the Saturday final a country has to successfully navigate one of the Two semi-finals. That is utilised in the movie to great effect as in all these types of films the main characters have to have a major setback before they get things together in the film’s climax here Fire Saga has the worst possible three minutes on stage in front of an audience you could imagine, it is cringeworthy and oh so funny.

Worst Bit – 0.07 mins; The two main villains here are lightweight to say the least. An underused Pierce Brosnan as the father has very little to do in an undercooked role and the head of the Finnish selection committee is as threatening as Alan Carr and Louis Spence in a fistfight. Yet in a movie like this, you don’t really need the drama just the acres of glitz, sparkle and neon matched by heavy doses of eternal hope and ambition.

Little Secret – Will Ferrell’s interest in the Eurovision Song Contest began when his Swedish wife Viveca Paulin took him to her cousin’s house in May 1999 and the family turned the competition on. He always spends his Summers in Scandinavia. Since then, he kept following it. In 2014, Ferrell travelled to Copenhagen, to watch the finale of The Eurovision Song Contest live in which Conchita Wurst was crowned the winner whom he met. He was given full access to the Lisbon finals in 2018 including all rehearsals and backstage access as research for this movie.

Further Viewing – Pitch Perfect’s 1-3, Sing, A Chorus Line, Sister Act 2, American Dreamz, Talladega Nights, Blades Of Glory, Get Hard, Step Brothers and anything involving the words Zoolander, Daddy’s, Home or Anchorman.

Any Good – This is great and is so happy it will provide the perfect tonic and lift for anyone in these strange times. It helps if you are not allergic to Mr Ferrell and also if you are an avid consumer of Eurovision you will get a lot more from all the knowing little asides. It has a wonderful feel about it and just wants to entertain with no wish or likelihood of winning Oscars and there is nothing wrong with that.

Many of the songs you wish were longer and you may want to buy the CD which is already Top 5 but most of all you will feel better for seeing it. It’s been a while maybe not since Mamma Mia Here We Go Again, Pride or Rocketman that we have had a fun gay film that just wants to make you feel good as opposed to all the wrist wringing queer kitchen sink struggles and dramas that usually pass for gay cinema.

‘Hello Edinburgh, we hope you are having a great night and we love your dress. Without further ado, it is 10 points to Russia but our 12 points go to … (Pause for added dramatic effect)… ICELAND’ !!!

4 STARS

7th July 2020
FILM REVIEW | The Ground Beneath My Feet – Intense

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Very intense and dramatic, The Ground Beneath My Feet is a pure psychological thriller that will mess with your head.

German with English subtitles, and released in Germany last year, the film follows Lola (Valerie Pachner), a very competitive business consultant. She tries to constantly outdo her co-workers, working very hard on a case that might take her to associate principal level. Lola, who gets by on 6 hours sleep, sleeps more in hotel beds than in her own bed and hits the exercise room at the crack of dawn for an intense workout. She’s having an affair with her boss Elise (Mavie Hörbiger), and she has a sister with mental and emotional problems and who is in a mental institution.

So to add to the pressure of her job and the illicitness of her relationship, Lola works like crazy to get a deal through the finish line, but she’s also struggling to visit her sister Connie (Pia Hierzegger) and needs to make decisions that impact her life, especially more so when Connie is released. It’s a lot to juggle, and Lola is constantly on the go go go, and even her co-workers worry about her lack of rest. But strange phone calls from a stranger who claims to be her sister, and strategic games that her co-workers play against her shows that Lola’s world is not as perfect and calm as she would like to believe it is.

Released to great reviews, and competed for the Golden Bear at the 69th Berlin International Film Festival, Director Marie Kreutzer brings us a taut, nail-biting psychological thriller where Pachner is at the heart of it all and brilliantly takes her character through an emotional rollercoaster.

The Ground Beneath My Feet is available to stream or download from all major UK digital platforms – including Sky Store, Virgin Media, Amazon, Apple TV, Google Play and the BFI Player.

3rd July 2020
FILM REVIEW | Tommaso – Going crazy in Rome

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Willem Dafoe gives one of his best performances as a film director struggling to come to terms with life.

Dafoe is the title character – ‘Tommaso’ – an older American ex-pat living in Rome. He is putting together a new film from his roomy apartment he shares with his young (29) Moldovan girlfriend Nikki (a stunning and very good Cristina Chiriac, and Director Abel Ferrara’s real-life wife) and their three-year-old daughter Deedee (Anna Ferrara – Chiriac and Ferrara’s actual daughter). Tommaso also teaches an acting class and is surrounded by young attractive wannabe actresses who literally throw themselves at him – He is definitely not short of female attention. He is also taking Italian lessons to learn the language better – though he speaks it pretty well, and attends alcoholics anonymous meetings – he used to be a drunk – and recounts stories to his fellow members about this wild and crazy days.

He seems to be settling down and is happy in his mid-life, but something just doesn’t seem right. Is it him? Is it his relationship with Nikki? Could it be the pressure of the new movie that he is putting together (which is very dark, and deals with death)? Why does he feel himself ready to unravel at any moment. And if he does, what’s going to happen?

This is Ferrara’s first dramatic feature since 2014’s ‘Pasolini‘ – which also starred Dafoe – and is easily his and Dafoe’s best collaboration to date because the subject matter works well for both of them. ‘Tommaso mirrors events in Ferrara’s life 16 years ago when he moved out of post-9/11 New York City to Italy where he, in his words, ‘got a girl knocked up.’

Dafoe, who has yet to win an Oscar (he’s been nominated four times) is superb. Dafoe will be honoured with a golden statuette one day – perhaps not for this film. But in ‘Tommaso,’ it shows that Dafoe is one of the best actors of our generation, and he’s getting better with age.

‘Tommaso’ is now available through virtual cinemas at Kino Marquee.
https://kinomarquee.com/tommaso

20th June 2020
FILM REVIEW | A Rainy Day in New York – Woody Allen in top form
Rating: 4 out of 5.

I always look forward to the release of a Woody Allen film because I know exactly what I’m going to get. But this time, with A Rainy Day in New York, we get Woody in top form.

This release has been met with controversy as several of its stars have denounced Allen over 1992 sexual abuse allegations of one his children with Mia Farrow that resurfaced with the start of the Me Too movement near the end of 2017 after Allen had finished this film. Several of the film’s stars donated their salaries to organizations involved in the Me Too movement. Amazon, who financed the film, refused to release it, calling it unmarketable, but eventually, the distribution rights went back to Allen and he was free to release his own film.

The delay in releasing this film made 2018 a year in which no Woody Allen film was not released since 1981.

Irregardless of whether you don’t want to watch this film because of Allen, it still has the special Allen touch where he makes Manhattan a magical place where anything can happen. Well in this film, anything does happen. Timothée Chalamet (Call Me By Your Name) plays Gatsby (an appropriate name), a college student in upstate New York whose girlfriend Ashleigh (Elle Fanning) gets an opportunity to interview eccentric film director Roland Pollard (Liev Scheiber), a character that could actually be Allen. Gatsby comes from a very rich family, but he also makes money from high stakes gambling, so he has lots of money for him and Ashleigh to do the finest things in Manhattan at no expense. But when Ashleigh meets Pollard, the troubled director takes a liking to her and invites her to a private screening with his producer Ted Davidoff (a very good Jude Law).

But, in true Allen form, Ashleigh’s day turns into a madcap adventure where she eventually winds up with hot and sexy star Francisco Vega (Diego Luna). While Ashleigh is busy with the stars, Gatbsy continues to wait for her and bumps into his ex-girlfriends’ little sister Chan (a dry Selena Gomez). As Gatsby waits and waits for Ashleigh, he doesn’t want his upper elite parents to find out he is in town as they are holding an exclusive party that evening and he just doesn’t want to go, plus he’s enjoying his time with Chan. While all this is taking place, rain continues to fall, because it’s a Rainy Day in New York.

Allen’s style of filmmaking hasn’t changed much – he uses the same style – and it works – especially in this film. His last few films, including 2017’s Wonder Wheel, were not his best, and A Rainy Day in New York is his best since 2013’s Blue Jasmine in which Cate Blanchett earned an Oscar for Best Actress.

A Rainy Day in New York is humorous, romantic, fun, with a plethora of famous actors ( Sukie Waterhouse, Rebecca Hall and Cherry Jones make appearances – though Gomez is the only false note in the film). Chalamet carries the film with his charming and romantic character. I will continue to look forward to future Woody Allen films – his next one is Rifkin’s Festival – shot in Spain last year and hopefully will be released later this year. I can’t wait.

A Rainy Day in New York is available on Premium On-Demand platforms from 5 June
- Sky Store
- iTunes
- Amazon
- Virgin Media
- BT Store
- Google Play
- Microsoft Store
- Rakuten
- TalkTalk
- Curzon Home Cinema
12th June 2020
FILM REVIEW | Only the Animals – Engrossing from start to finish

Rating: 4 out of 5.

A woman disappears in the snowy mountains of France – and it’s her death that links several people together in the very dramatic French film ‘Only the Animals.’

The opening shot in this film is of a black man with a goat on his back riding a bike through the streets of Abidjan, then the film quickly moves to France. But the goat scene is a metaphor for when, later in the film, a man (Damian Bonnard) carries a woman’s dead body, on his back, in the mountains to find her a final resting place. But who is this dead woman?

It’s the journey to get there that’s extremely intriguing where we discover the link between several people. Alice (Laure Balamy) is a social worker who checks on people in and around her area. One of her clients is Joseph, who she’s also having sex with. Her husband Michel (Denis Ménochet), meanwhile, is having an online love affair with attractive young woman Marion (Nadia Tereskzkiewicz). But she’s actually a gang of men in Adijban who are scamming Michel for a lot of money. But the woman whose photo he is sent by these men does actually exist and coincidentally winds up near his village.

Why is she there?

Because she is tracking down Evelyn Ducat (Valeria Bruni Tedeschi), a very well-to-do attractive woman she met at the restaurant where she works, and after a brief affair between them, Marion wants more. But as the story winds up, and the drama and tension builds, we soon discover who the dead woman is, and how her death will change all of the characters lives.

‘Seules Les Betes (Only the Animals)‘, directed and co-written by Dominik Moll, based on the novel by Colin Niel, is engrossing from start to finish.

Each character’s thread is enough to give the viewer bits and pieces to the story, without giving to much away. It’s the intertwining of the characters lives that is unique and clever, with excellent acting. And while a couple of the connections between the characters are a bit too easy, Only the Animals will keep you engrossed for all of its two-hour running time.

‘Only the Animals’ is exclusively now available on Curzon Home Cinema.

3rd June 2020
FILM REVIEW | Rebel in the Rye – the story of J.D. Salinger is worth a watch!

Rating: 4 out of 5.

A film about the author J.D. Salinger that was originally shot in 2016 is now released in the UK and is actually not half bad.

‘Rebel in the Rye’ is about J.D. (Jerome David Salinger) and the years leading up to him writing what is perhaps the most famous novel of all time – Catcher in the Rye. It’s a book that almost everyone has read at least once while a million copies are still sold every year.

The film did have its premiere at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival and a U.S. release followed – earning an eye-watering pittance of $154,326 total – it was hardly enough to recoup its cost. ‘Rebel in the Rye’ stars Nicholas Hoult as Salinger, but more worringly Kevin Spacey plays his mentor and teacher Whit Burnett. It was in 2017 when Spacey was accused of molesting actor Anthony Rapp when he was young, then more molestation allegations against Spacey surfaced. But if this did not happen Spacey could’ve picked up awards for his performance in this film – he’s fantastic.

We see a young Salinger taking a stab at writing with the encouragement of his mother Miriam (Hope Davis), and much to the dismay of his father Sol (Victor Garber) who wants his son to follow him into the cheese business. With Burnett’s mentorship, Salinger keeps on churning out short stories in the hopes of getting published, amidst the backdrop of WWII. Soon enough Salinger is drafted and is off to war (finding out in the papers this his girlfriend Oona (Zoey Deutch) has ran off with Charlie Chaplin). These events lead to a breakdown where he is sectioned in a mental hospital for the horrific things he saw during the war. But his persistence of writing about a fictional character (Holden Caulfield) keeps him going, keeps him alive until he sees his dream come true, all with the help of his agent Dorothy Olding (Sarah Paulson).

Costumes, set and art direction and the acting are all fine, with Hoult very believable as Salinger, and with strong direction by actor Danny Strong, who also wrote the film. But there is one person who you can blame for the failure of this film. In ‘All the Money in the World’ (2018) all of Spacey’s scenes were redone by the actor Christopher Plummer (who received an Academy Award nomination for his effort). ‘Rebel in the Rye’ could not do this because it already had been premiered and released, so it was too late. This film flopped because of Spacey. But it’s actually quite a good film. If you can overlook that Spacey is in it, seek it out, it’s worth it.

Rebel in the Rye is now available to buy and stream

29th May 2020
FILM REVIEW | The Assistant – gripping, timely and realistic

Rating: 4 out of 5.

What happens if your boss is molesting women in his office, an office that is right behind where you sit?

This is the dilemma Jane (Julia Garner) faces in the new film The Assistant. Jane is an assistant to the chief of a film company (he’s never seen but his presence is felt throughout the film).

It’s Julia’s first real job in film and she’s kept busy doing a wide variety of tasks during the day; making coffee, keeping the office kitchen tidy, maintaining her bosses busy diary, managing visitors, dealing with his uncontrollable wife, and, handling the potpourri of women who float in and out of his office.

One of these young women, Sienna (Kristine Froseth), who has a lack of office skills, was hired by the same boss for reasons that are obvious. But when Julia appears to have had enough, she goes to HR to complain, but the HR director, who annoyingly takes a personal phone call during their meeting, tells Jane to keep her head down and focus on her role, and that she’s got a great opportunity. He lays into her that to file a claim against her boss would just wreck her career. Meanwhile, her male co-workers (Jon Orsini and Noah Robbins) seem to be oblivious to the shenanigans of their boss.

The release of The Assistant coincides with the jailing of Harvey Weinstein – it couldn’t be better timing. Garner is brilliant, but the takeaway of this film is her boss, not at all seen in the film but felt enormously throughout.

Writer and Director Kitty Green has written and directed a powerful film that perfectly highlights what the Me Too movement is all about.

15th May 2020
FILM REVIEW | Crisis Hotline – clever, dark and very sexy gay suspense film

Rating: 4 out of 5.

The clock is ticking when a distressed young man calls an LGBT suicide hotline – but there is more to his story in the suspense-filled drama Crisis Hotline.

It’s a film cleverly written and directed by Mark Schwab. The story begins where it ends and tells the caller’s story and why he has contacted the hotline on that particular night.

Simon (a very good Corey Jackson) is in his first-week volunteering at the hotline office and not much has happened. But one night a young caller, sounding very distressed, threatens to kill himself. So Simon gets the caller to tell his story and the events that have led up to this very disturbing call.

Danny the caller (Christian Gabriel), who is from the Midwest, is new to the big city, trying to find his feet, with a dull job and a very small apartment. Soon enough he meets sexy, hot and fun Kyle (Pano Tsaklas), who on the surface appears to have it all: a great apartment, a sexy smile and hot body, and a great job managing websites for a gay couple who have a voracious appetite for sex and all things dark.

Soon enough Kyle introduces Danny to his bosses Curtis and Lance (Mike Mizwicki and August Browning). Danny then finds out more about Kyle’s line of work and what he really needs to do to keep his job and apartment. But Danny eventually gets drawn, unwittingly, into their dark games, with Kyle setting him up, which ultimately leads to the hotline call. And throughout the call, the suspense builds and builds and the story gets darker and darker until the shattering, and totally unexpected, finale.

Schwab, who also produced, has a keen eye for suspense and drama and gets great mileage from his cast. While Gabriel doesn’t quite live up to his role and seems to be sleepwalking through the film, Tsaklas owns the movie with his looks, charm, and relative ease in his complicated role as an on-the-surface good and loyal boyfriend but with a dark and dangerous streak. Mizwicki and Browning are okay, but Jackson brings much to the film as it’s his pivotal role that holds the film together.

He’s actually fantastic.

Crisis Hotline throws social media, sex, love, lust, voyeurism and the dark web into one big mixing bowl to make an eerie, clever, dark, very sexy and fun film.

Now available in the UK through Dekkoo.com

7th May 2020