THEGAYUK

Tag: Movie Genre Comedy

  • FILM REVIEW | Sarah Millican Throughly Modern Millican

    Well, where do I start with this one, pet? I’m no stranger to the comic genius that is Sarah Millican, I’ve seen her perform all over the North East, in various seedy back street comedy clubs that us Geordies love, and even in the City Hall. Our born and bred Sanddancer has now hit my DVD player.

    Not one for the feint hearted, or the easily offended. The latest offering, Thoroughly Modern Millican is filled with more f***s than a Dutch brothel! I guarantee that Sarah’s script will have your stomach muscles aching, like you’ve just done 500 sit ups!

    Sarah tackles the trivial, daily happenings with hilarious revelations. My favourite part of the set sees Sarah enlist the help of her audience to discuss what can be used when we’ve run out of toilet paper! Or the equally hilarious section of the show Sarah spends discussing the usefulness of carrying spare pairs of pants.

    Delivered with her renowned Geordie manner, class and tact – or lack thereof, Sarah spends 90 minutes commanding the audience into fits of laughter and side splitting roars of hilarity.

    Not wishing to give too much away, Sarah looks so comfortable on the stage, even with a mouth filled with childhood favourite popping candy!

    Admittedly, I am slightly biased as us Geordies tend to stick together, but trust me, if you’re looking for a last minute Christmas gift, a stocking filler or even a treat for yourself, this is one festive purchase I promise you won’t regret.

    I urge you, if you haven’t yet seen, bought, borrowed or even stolen Sarah’s DVD, make it the first thing you do tomorrow!

    As always, once you’ve seen it let me know! You can tweet me at @NKMackley.

    TheGayUK does not actually endorse you stealing a copy of the DVD, nor do we encourage you to practise

    Available to buy / view on: Amazon | Amazon Prime

  • FILM REVIEW | Happy Happy

    Kaja is a school teacher who is an eternal optimist. (more…)

  • FILM REVIEW | Pam Ann Live From New York City

    ★★★★ | Pam Ann Live From New York City

    When I moved to London as a pink faced, wide eyed young lad from the midlands, live cabaret was quite an alien concept to me. In those heady days I’d bounce from bars, where bar boys would be doing camp Steps routines, to club nights where the likes of Mariah and Madonna would play, all whilst supping on a bottle of hooch.

    Way back then, Pam Ann was one of the first cabaret acts that I ever saw and even though I’d never even set foot in an airport, let alone on an aeroplane, at that point in my life, I still howled at every bit of her sharp observational humour and the garish persona she had invented.

    Thirteen years on and whilst so many things have come and gone, Caroline Reid, the woman behind the potty-mouthed trolley dolly, is not only still commanding packed out venues in London, she has seemingly charted a meteoric rise to fame worldwide. With a world tour in 2011, sell-out performances at the esteemed London Palladium and the Hammersmith Apollo, Pam has set her sights firmly on breaking America and she’s doing a damn good job of it. In her latest DVD, Pam Ann Live from New York, Pam plays to her ‘gays’ at ‘Joes Pub’: a celebrated showcase venue that has seen the likes of Kiki and Herb, Amy Winehouse and Alicia Keys grace it’s stage.

    Pam’s knowledge of her subject really is astounding. If you’re going to do stand up focussing on such a niche topic then you have to be on the ball and the devil really is in the detail. Pam gives a master class in it. Rolling off gags about every possible airline you know, and some you have never even heard of; mocking certain mannerisms and nuances that she has picked up and exaggerated for comic effect, whilst also working the audience into as much of the show as she can. The content is fresh and appealing and is mixed well with tried and tested older material; with references to recent aviation developments such as British Airways’ recent initiative, ‘what would Kate do’ and Ryanair threatening to introduce porn to their flights (shudders).

    If you’ve never seen Pam before then you’d best buckle up because she doesn’t mince her words and it’s certainly not a DVD for you if you’re at all twee about swearing and sexual suggestiveness. She does love to go on about her appreciation of big black cock A LOT.

    A highly entertaining show that will really put a smile on even the glummest of faces. Pam’s unique brand of stand up is as risible now as it ever was.

    Available to buy / view on: Amazon

  • FILM REVIEW: Four More Years

    David is a Swedish politician with a stellar career ahead of him.

    He’s also a bit of a silver fox and cuts a fine figure in a business suit. After an unexpected political defeat leaves him feeling adrift, he bumps into fellow politician Martin and the two quickly fall in love. This isn’t the usual romantic comedy though. David is from a strict Baptist family, straight and married. Martin is openly gay and a senior politician for the opposing party. It’s a relationship fraught with issues.

    The film is a gentle comedy which follows the men through a series of turbulent events and the usual misunderstandings and mix-ups. The humour is subtle, rather than raucous, and the film is beautifully compiled with artful shots and stylish views. What raises the film above the romantic comedy genre is the quirky way it deals with him being gay.

    Interestingly, the film doesn’t portray David’s sexuality as a major problem; more of a shock to him. The scene where his wife reflects on him being gay is hilarious and unexpected. Instead the film concentrates more on what it means to fall in love with someone who you aren’t supposed to fall in love with.

    Overall the film was actually quite touching and the three main characters were likeable and engaging. This is definitely a film which leaves you feeling a bit better about the world. Recommended for a rainy autumnal afternoon.

  • FILM REVIEW | Hegwig And The Angry Inch

    ★★★★★ | Hedwig And The Angry Inch

    I’ve got to say, I’m not a big fan of film musicals, but when I was introduced to Hegwig and the Angry Inch, this all changed.

    I’m a huge fan of John Cameron Mitchell, who plays the lead: Hegwig, a transexual entertainer who changes sex in order to leave a segregated war torn Germany for a life of stardom (she hoped) in the USA.

    The film follows Hegwig and her merry bunch of band mates following Tommy Gnosis, a world famous rock star, whom she wrote songs with, before he got famous. Gnosis, once famous, denies Hegwig’s existence.

    The music is bitter sweet, with toe thumpers: Wig In A Box and thought provoking ballads, like The Origin Of Love.

    At the core of this bright and brilliantly directed piece is a sad iconic transexual, whose hair (slightly resembling a late Farah Fawcett) is looking for recognition, both for her music and for her Angry Inch…

    The soundtrack is a sound buy!

     

    BUY ON AMAZON | BUY ON iTunes

  • FILM REVIEW | Shortbus

    ★★★★★ | Shortbus

    You’ll never look at a splatter painting in the way away again.

    If you’ve ever wondered what it would feel like to have you face stuffed into a film’s never regions, then Shortbus is the film for you to see. Stat.

    Director John Cameron Mitchell (Hedwig And The Angry Inch) bravely circumnavigates the world of sexuality in this stylist, almost uncomplicated observation of sexual dysfunction.

    Shortbus is a New York club where the focus is sexual liberation with a heady blend of punters. Transgenders, aging homosexuals, hot young boys, a straight female sex therapist all looking to get their rocks off – a bit like Piccadilly on a Thursday night but more scintillating.

    The creators and actors of Shortbus have genuinely created and sustained characters the viewer can befriend and have some feeling for. It’s almost as though you can see that the actual actors forged a real relationship with each other, which gathering from the DVD’s ‘extras’ they had to, as part of the film development process was having sexual relations with each other.

    Shortbus did give me a tingling sensation. Not just because you get to see: self sucking, a blinding rim job, a 3 way, the national anthem sung into a sizable cock and Mr Cameron-Mitchell himself being sucked off by an extra (no really) but it caused me to think of my own sexuality and my relationship to it. If you’ve ever wondered how the standard British sexual sensibility is compared to an American one – go to New York, hook up with a bar tender and you might understand the discomfort that this film might create. Sex is ‘in your face.’ It is about sexual roles. It’s about ‘this moment, now’ Being British and naturally reserved such talk and this movie is better left after 2 bottles of Chablis and a handful of bar nuts.

    Some fantastic performances and an introduction to one Jay Brannan – who I suggest you get yourself into – socially so to speak. He has a Facebook, twitter, albums and tours his music about regularly.

    If you’re sexually revolutionize you might watch this and think, whats all the fuss about, but worth a punt anyway. You can pass it of as porn with a story line and real actors. No mention of rusty pipes than need a lube down.

    If you’re a fan of the slightly psychedelic, smash colour, animatic world of John Cameron Mitchell you’ll like this movie. It isn’t one however to watch with your Mother. You get to see quite a bit of peen!

    Available to buy / view on: Amazon