The nominees for the 82nd Academy Awards have been announced and I have been left feeling a little flat. I always look forward to the nominations but I feel that this year the pickings are very slim indeed. There doesn’t seem to be an out and out winner and I’m not convinced that many of these films will stand the test of time, as an Oscar winner should.

One of the films of the year so far is Precious. This is a tough film by any stretch of the imagination and I just can’t do it. I can’t sit for 90 minutes and be assaulted by the violence in an emotionally gut-wrenching story. I know I’m not alone, many will stay away for the same reason. But is that selfish? Is this the type of film people should see for the very reasons we will stay away – because we don’t want to face the reality of abuse?

So, it’s that time of the year again, Halloween, one of the three gay Christmases (Halloween, AMI and Pride)! You’d better start getting those costumes ready, because there is a LOT on, and most of them are fancy dress. With prizes. And everyone loves a good prize. You have absolutely no excuse to go out and have a ball over the Halloween weekend. The only problem will be trying to decide where to go.

Those fabulous people in Enlightenment have given us some wonderful prizes especially for you, dearest Gaelicker. We have one copy of each of Shamim Sarif’s films to give away, plus one copy of her three books.
Just answer some quesitons which are an insult to your intelligence.

Last Saturday I headed out with a friend to see Watchmen, I love superhero films so I was really looking forward to this one. Without saying too much, a lesbian superhero is killed in the opening montage, and to be honest the film never recovered in my eyes.

Love a duck – March this year sees the release of UK production, Lesbian Vampire Killers. But wot’s it all about, Alfie?

Changeling is the first film in a while that I’ve really been looking forward to. It’s the true story of a woman’s courage when faced with a corrupt police force in 1920’s America.
A struggle many people throughout the world can empathise with

[All links open in a new window]
My girlfriend is obsessed with disaster movies, so I have sat though quite a few in recent times. Some are ok, some are truly forgettable and apparently, some are just so bad, they are fantastically brilliant (according to her, at least).
So I wasn’t sure what to make of [...]

I have been waiting for this film to come out for ages! I saw the trailer (here) a while ago and just loved it, but then I love animated films.
The story is of a Panda, played by Jack Black, who is a fanatic for Kung Fu but finds himself working, for his Dad, in [...]

Right so, Diary of the Dead is one of those ‘If we make this film with a hand-held camera it’ll look like totally rad and it’ll be like dead cheap’ films. Let’s call it Cloverfieldesque. It does, however, manage to avoid vomit-inducing camera wibbliness (yes it’s a word).