THEGAYUK

Tag: Four Star Film Review

The latest four-star film review from THEGAYUK.

  • 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 | 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

  • FILM REVIEW | Sing Street

    FILM REVIEW | Sing Street

    ★★★★ | Sing Street

    (C) Lionsgate

    CREDIT: (C) Lionsgate

    It’s 1985 and the music of Duran Duran, Tears for Fears and Spandau Ballet were at the top of the charts. Sing Street follows the story of one young man during this era who decides to start his own band to woo a local girl.

    Dublin during this time was not a very good place to grow up. People were flocking to London where careers and money were to be made. Fresh, young and innocent Cosmo (Ferdia Walsh-Peelo), baby-faced yet intelligent and going through puberty, is struggling with the eminent divorce of his parents. They no longer can afford to send him to private school so he’s chucked into attending the very rough Synge Street school where he immediately gets beaten up by the school’s bullies. But Cosmo comes up with the idea of forming a band because he wants to impress pretty 16-year old Penny (Maria Doyle Kennedy) who he spots sitting on her stoop at a girl’s boarding house where she lives. Cosmo immediately takes a liking to her but she says that she’s going to become a model and is planning on moving to London with her ‘adult’ boyfriend. But Cosmo is really keen on her and in order to impress her, together with his mates, they form the Sing Street band, but there’s a small matter of sourcing instruments and getting others (preferably talented) to join. After lots and lots of practice in a friend’s living room, Sing Street actually become very good. But Cosmo is still keen on impressing Penny, so he and the band invite her to star in their music video, made on the very cheap. As Sing Street continue to get better and better, and with fellow band members, they become local celebrities. With Cosmo’s no good for nothing brother Brendan’s support (Jack Reynor), who was never actually able to follow his dreams of leaving Dublin, Sing Street continue their plans to be successful and to conquer Dublin.

    Sing Street is a good old fashioned British musical that could’ve been made with the Monkees back in the 1960s. But it’s now 2016 and Sing Street is a very good throwback to that era and captures the look and feel and sound of that time. Sing Street really works thanks to a great young cast and crisp direction and writing by John Carney (the Oscar-winning 2007 film Once). But it’s the music in Sing Street that will get you to tap your toe and to hum along. Music by the actual actors in the Sing Street band in the film, Duran Duran, Hall & Oates, and Adam Levine make this musical comedy drama a must see.

    Order your copy from: Amazon

  • FILM REVIEW | Evolution

    FILM REVIEW | Evolution

    ★★★★ | Evolution

    Young boys and their mothers are the only inhabitants in a seaside town in the highly unusual film ‘Evolution.’

    CREDIT: Metrodome
    CREDIT: Metrodome

    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.

     

  • FILM REVIEW | Henry Gamble’s Birthday Party

    FILM REVIEW | Henry Gamble’s Birthday Party

    ★★★★ | Henry Gamble’s Birthday Party

    PR SUPPLIED
    PR SUPPLIED

    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.

    BUY NOW ON AMAZON

     

  • FILM REVIEW | Marguerite

    FILM REVIEW | Marguerite

    ★★★★

    An aristocrat who thinks she can sing but really can’t is the new French film Marguerite.

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  • FILM REVIEW | James White

    FILM REVIEW | James White

    ★★★★ James White | Amazing performances and a very original story make ‘James White’ a must see film.

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  • FILM REVIEW: Spotlight

    FILM REVIEW: Spotlight

    FILM REVIEW: Spotlight ★★★★

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  • FILM REVIEW | Naz & Maalik, a tender love story amidst barriers in their culture

    ★★★★ | Naz & Maalik

    Bedford-Stuyvesant is a tough neighbourhood to grow up and live in, it’s even tougher if you’re young, black, Muslim and gay.

    Naz & Maalik (Kerwin Johnson Jr. and Curtiss Cook Jr.) are two closeted Muslim teenagers who happen to be in love with each other. Their relationship remains a secret, not just to their families they are very close to, but also because of their religion’s condemnation of homosexuality. But Naz & Maalik shows us how both young men go about their daily routine on a Friday afternoon, it’s an afternoon that sees their relationship get tested over a series of events that take place on that day. They sell lottery tickets and saints cards on the streets to passersby to make a bit extra spending money, and then they go to their local mosque for afternoon prayers, where the preacher says a special welcome to any police or FBI who might be in attendance.

    A man on the street tries to sell them a gun that interests Maalik who tries to get the guy to bring the price down. They decide to just walk away and not buy the gun. But unbeknownst to them, the gun seller was an FBI agent (Bradley Brian Custer) who, along with his partner Sarah Mickell (Annie Grier), start following the young men around. But It’s Mickell who takes more of an interest, she corners them separately and questions them on where they were the night before, and while Maalik tells her that he was with Naz, it’s Naz who lies and tells her he was at another friends house as to not give Mickell an idea that him and Maalik are in a relationship. But the young men just want to be left alone, and to complete their day’s mission of getting a chicken to kill for Maalik’s mom’s birthday.

    Inspired by true events, Naz & Maalik poignantly tells what it’s like to be an outsider within your own community, a community that has been under constant surveillance since 9/11. And at its centre is a well-acted film by its two lead stars. Writer and Director Jay Dockendorf interviewed Muslims, including closeted gays, to get a realistic point of view. It’s an impressive first feature from Dockendorf.

    Available on Amazon

  • FILM REVIEW | Eden, It Is About The Music

    If you’re a big fan of garage and dance music, then you’re gonna love ‘Eden,’ a film about one of the pioneer DJ’s of the French underground dance music scene, with a great soundtrack. ★★★★

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  • FILM REVIEW | Chemsex

    A hard-hitting and eye-opening look at gay men and their sexual lifestyles is on full display in the new documentary ‘Chemsex.’ ★★★★

    It’s not all gay men, but, as the documentary tells us, it’s but a few who go on drug binges, coupled with lots of unsafe sex, that last all weekend. And it’s these men who are more than likely to become infected with HIV.

    We meet several of these men. One of the first is Dick, who is not shy to tell us about his sexual exploits, while on drugs, and freely admits that he’s just taken drugs before the camera crew arrives (a couple of the guys interviewed admit to this). We also meet clean cut Simon, a well-educated man who happens to be a geneticist. He’s had a hard time beating the temptation to take part in drugs and unsafe sex. He also admits that he’s HIV+, but he’s also a denialist who doesn’t believe that he’s got it. We then meet Enrique, a 30-something good looking Spanish man who says he was a commercial banker for 10 years but lost everything because of his chemicals habit.

    After losing pretty much everything, including his job, he resorted to prostitution to make money. More importantly, we meet David Stuart, Substance Use Lead, GUM/HIV Manager at Soho’s 56 Dean Street Clinic. We see his discussions with Simon, who he tells to try to go a week, and two weeks, then another without taking drugs. Stuart is the voice of reason in ‘Chemsex.’ He’s there as an advisor, and also as a friend, to many of his patients. Stuart bluntly says in the film that him and a friend used to regularly do cocaine while he was hooked up to a IV drip while he was close to death with an HIV illness many years ago. No doubt his experience with both HIV and drugs enables him to relate to his patients at the clinic. And his program at the Clinic is one of its kind and is being used as a model for clinics in the country.

    It’s a disturbing documentary. Not only after hearing about these men’s behaviour but also to digest the fact that there are organised private parties for men who want to combine unsafe sex and various types of drugs. We meet one party organiser who opens up his home to the cameras, and we see the men who are there, engaging in unsafe sex all around the house, with most of them openly taking drugs, mostly provided by the host.

    Of the estimated 107,800 people living in the UK with HIV, 24% are undiagnosed and possibly spreading the virus. And men who have sex with men have the highest risk of infection in the UK and, in 2013, they accounted for 54% of new diagnoses. One in 11 gay men in London is living with HIV. And a record high of 3,360 gay men were diagnosed with HIV in 2014. It’s statistics like these that make you wonder why gay men partake in drugs and unsafe safe, with Chemsex being the term for this. Directors William Fairman and Max Gogarty spectacularly highlight this epidemic in the gay community in a very powerful and potent film about the underworld of modern gay life with it’s easy access to sex using mobile apps and the internet, and drugs.

    Statistics in a chemsex study from 2014 by 56 Dean Street Clinic showed that 3,000 gay men accessing the clinic each month are using recreational drugs, though not necessarily wishing to address their drug use. 100 new gay men access specific ChemSex support each month; 70% of these reported no ‘chem-free’ sex in previous six months while 98% had never accessed statutory drug use support.