These are strange days indeed, and our home entertainment highlights offer a bit of respite… and different sort of weirdness.
Colin Farrell will turn into a crustacean unless he finds a lover in off-kilter fantasy-dramedy The Lobster, while the fifteen-year relationship of an Aussie gay couple is charted in based-on-a-true-story Holding The Man (above). Finally, our favorite gay bait, Nick Jonas, lands a dangerous affair with a married woman in Careful What You Wish For.
Now for details and trailers!
How about we take this to the next level?
Our newsletter is like a refreshing cocktail (or mocktail) of LGBTQ+ entertainment and pop culture, served up with a side of eye-candy.
($24.99 DVD; Strand)
Based on the bestselling Aussie 1995 autobiography of Tim Conigrave, this romantic drama tracks the relationship between Tim and boyfriend John Caleo from the time they met in High School at age 16, when their parents’ discovery of this forbidden love proves prickly, to their career pursuits and flirtations with a growing, debauched gay scene in Sydney, to the discovery (SPOILER ALERT) that HIV has entered their lives. Playwright Tommy Murphy, who previously brought Conigrave’s memoir to live as a 2006 play, here again fleshes things out for director Neil Armfield, bringing to light this Aussie gay love story for the world at large. Acclaimed Oz actors Guy Pearce, Anthony LaPaglia, and Geoffrey Rush contribute their talents to this passion project. Also available on Netflix!
($12.99 DVD; ANME9)
Nick Jonas has plenty of opportunity to take off his shirt (and, possibly, more) as Doug, a super hot but mite dim teenager on summer holiday who falls in with a married woman, Lena. It turns out Lena is married to a an abusive alcoholic, and Doug – whose virginity she takes – may well be her means out, which leads to some dark turns indeed.
($24.99 Blu-ray, $19.98 DVD; Lionsgate)
In this peculiar and darkly humorous bit of dystopian sci-fi that could well fit into Spike Jonze’s roundhouse, single people have 45 days to find a mate, lest they be transformed into an animal. When Colin Farrell’s everyman character, David, is ditched by his wife for another man, the clock starts ticking – and he faces a future as a lobster unless he gets hitched again soon. Might Rachel Weisz prove a match? And what about the fates of fellow single men Ben Whishaw and John C. Reilly? The English language debut of Greek director Yorgos Lanthimos, this is not your everyday romcom! Extras include a featurette.
ALSO OUT:
Guernica
Mother’s Day
Keanu
High-Rise
The Knick: Complete Second Season
The Trust
Manhattan Night
Dave Downunder
If you enjoyed the stage production of Holding The Man then the DVD version will not disappoint. Great performances and true to the story.