My Review of Mr Burton (2025)

 

Written by Tom Bullough And Josh Hyams

Directed by Marc Evans

Richard: "Mr Burton, I want to be an actor."

Released around this time last year and airing on BBC1 a few months ago, I had wanted to watch this one. I'm not going to declare myself as a Richard Burton fan but I'm intrigued by certain classic actors of old.

Usually when we get biopics depicting him, it's in his later years and often focusing on his relationship, one in particular. This biopic however was more focused on the events that led to a boy from a Welsh mining background into becoming the actor he did.

In particular this movie focused on Richard Jenkins (Harry Lawtey) as a student in Port Talbot. He was a sporty kid with a strained family relationship, though he was shown to be living with older sister, Cis (Aimee-Ffion Edwards) and her family. He didn't particularly get along with Cis's husband.

A man whom Richard did get along with a teacher and mentor named Philip Burton (Toby Jones). The latter saw something in Richard and even adopted him in order to help Richard get further along in his acting career.

Richard's acting was definitely a source of exploration in the movie. He's clearly a talented actor but needed help with his diction and even playing certain scenes with less intensity. He took some of this board but was shown to be prone to lashing out when the pressure got too much to him.

The dynamic between Richard and Philip really anchored this movie. Both men brought out the best in one another and there's a sad moment when Richard turned on Philip. Add in the mix, Philip's landlady and friend, Ma Smith (Lesley Manville) and there's a lovely found family dynamic between the three characters. 

- Richard's romance with women was a little explored here, though the focus was on his acting career.

- There's some good performances from Matthew Gravelled and Daniel Evans as Sir Cyril Cooke and Anthony Quayle. Aneurin Barnard, Steffan Rhodri and Hannah New also appeared.

- The movie did alluded to Philip's sexuality while focusing on his writing career.

- Chronology: 1940s, Port Talbot in Wales for the most part. The movie got released to coincide with centenary passing of Richard's birth.

Mr Burton turned out to be a delightful film. Both Harry Lawtey and Toby Jones are on great form and both truly compliment each other. It's a nice exploration of the student/mentor dynamic along class division, aspirations and family. 

Rating: 8 out of 10 

Bridgerton - Season 5 In Production: Franchaela Rises

In news that should shock absolutely no one whatsoever, not only has the fifth season of popular Netflix Regency series Bridgerton has gone into production but we now know who the focused romance will be.

The focus for Season 5 will be on Francesca Stirling (Hannah Dodd) and Michaela Stirling (Masali Baduza). I can't say that I'm surprised by this news but what do we know about the upcoming season that's now being filmed? Here goes.

• Eight episodes as per usual and likely another split season release.
• Takes place two years after the death of John Stirling (Victor Ali).
• Francesca goes back to the marriage mart for practical reasons.
• Michaela returns to London to the Kilmartin estate, complicating Francesca's feelings for her.
• Show runner Jess Brownell has talked about how groundbreaking it feels to write a sapphic relationship for the show.
• Benedict will be an ally to Francesca.

My overall thoughts would be delight. The show have nicely been building things up between the pair during the third and fourth seasons. Season 5 feels like the right time to put the Francesca/Michaela relationship to the forefront and hopefully book fans can approach it with an open mind. I do feel bad for the book fans of Francesca/Michael and Eloise/Philip fans who have to wait another season for them but I am happy for Francesca/Michaela.

When it comes to LGBT characters and romances, the first season of Bridgerton did have Sir Henry Granville (Julian Ovenden) as a gay artist and then there's Queen Charlotte (Golda Rosheuvel) right hand Brimsley (Hugh Sachs). He's gay and prequel series Queen Charlotte explored the younger version (Sam Clemmett) having a clandestine relationship with King George's secretary, Reynolds (Freddie Dennis). Then there's ...

Benedict Bridgerton (Luke Thompson) himself. The show stuck to his book relationship with Sophie Baek (Yerin Ha) but both the third and fourth seasons did explore his relationships with men, which included a rather nice coming out scene between Benedict and Sophie. All of this does make me optimistic that the show won't drop the ball with Francesca and Michaela.

Season 5 of Bridgerton is currently filming in London. It's likely that it will be released in 2027 on Netflix.

My Review of Matilda (1996)

 

Written by Nicholas Kazan And Robin Swicord

Directed by Danny DeVito

Narrator: "No kid likes being yelled at, but it was precisely Harry's ranting and raving that gave Matilda the key to her power. To unlock that power, all she had to do was practice."

I'll admit seeing scenes from this movie being used as a meme on social media yesterday reminded me of this film. Oh and the fact that it's 30th anniversary will be coming up in the next few months.

I'm not usually a fan of Americanised adaptations of classic British set books but this without a doubt was my introduction to Roald Dahl's story of a precocious girl with some pretty cool powers and the adults impacted by those powers.

Matilda Wormwood (Mara Wilson) was one of those kids born into the wrong family. She's smart, kind and honest. Her family are the opposite of that. Her father Harry (Danny DeVito) knew how to con people while her mother Zinnia (Rhea Perlman) prioritised looks over books. Matilda's brother, Michael (Brian Levinson) was just a dumb bully.

As bad and as anti intellectual as the Wormwoods were, Matilda had a far bigger threat to face when she was eventually allowed to attend school. I'm talking about Miss Agatha Trunchbull (Pam Ferris). She might be one of the most brutal characters ever created. A truly terrifying presence.

Miss Trunchbull had her ways of terrifying the students and took an immediate dislike to Matilda. By contrast, Miss Honey (Embeth Davidtz) was impressed by Matilda's potential and even believed Matilda when she revealed her powers. Matilda also had a friend in classmate Lavender (Kiami Davael), who delighted in playing her own prank on Trunchbull.

For me, Trunchbull was the highlight because she's genuinely terrifying as a baddie. She made poor Bruce Bogtrotter (Jimmy Karz) eat an entire cake and that's not getting to what she did to Amanda Thripp (Jacqueline Steiger) for wearing pigtails. On the other hand, she's also terribly superstitious and a murderer.

For me, I did find the connection between Miss Trunchbull and Miss Honey a little convenient but it did work dramatically. Trunchbull got a glorious comeuppance, the Wormwoods were on the run and both Matilda and Miss Honey ended up with the family they needed.

- There's funny supporting roles Paul Reubens and Tracey Walter as Bob and Bill. Matilda quickly clocked them as FBI agents.

- The picture of Miss Honey's father, Magnus was actually Roald Dahl himself.

- Standout music: Rusted Root's Send Me On My Way.

- Chronology: 1990s America. The Wormwoods decided to flee to Guam to escape the feds.

Matilda (1996) might have changed the setting but it's an excellent adaptation of a beloved book. The performances from everyone are brilliant, there's some genuinely hilarious lines (most from Trunchbull herself) and it ended on a lovely note. 

Rating: 8 out of 10 

My Review of The Groomsmen: Second Chances (2024)

 

Written by Rick Garman

Directed by Ron Oliver

Danny (re Zack): "What if he doesn't have feelings for me?"

Jackson/Pete: "What if he does?"

Why am I reviewing the middle part of a Hallmark trilogy of The Groomsmen? Well, it's pretty obvious, isn't it? It's the gay love story part and despite not watching the first or last parts, it wasn't too hard to keep up with things.

Funnily enough we started off with a runaway bride named Elizabeth (Lily Dodsworth-Evans) who hid in a tavern owned by Kate (Annie Bird). For the life of me, I couldn't figure Kate's accent out but her curiosity as to why Elizabeth ditched her own wedding led to the latter revealing the focal point of this installment.

Our love story centred on two best friends. You've got retired baseball player turned coach, Danny (Jonathan Bennett) and you've got business manager, Zack (Alexander Lincoln). They're chalk and cheese but get along brilliantly as mates. Then there's prosecutor Nolan (Adam Rhys-Charles). He's Zack's actual boyfriend turned fiancée.

In typical fashion the moment that Danny realised he was actually in love with the Zack was also the moment where the latter got engaged to Nolan. On top of that, Danny got roped into organising the wedding and the second half of this movie relocated to Santorini.

Moving this film to Greece was definitely a good move. It gave us colourful characters like Ophelia (Sue Kelvin) and her estranged husband Constantinos (Andreas Karras) while Danny's best friends Jackson (Tyler Hines) and Pete (B.J. Britt) were there for moral support. Did Danny and Zack get together?

Yes, of course they did. It's a romantic comedy and it's usually at the last minute when couples get together. They even dived into the beautiful Greek water and got married a year later. It ended well for the pairing. Even Nolan got his own happy ending, albeit off screen.

- The movie ended with Elizabeth telling Kate that there was another story. Elizabeth was clearly meant to be the older version of Jackson's daughter, right?

- Nolan had a fear of heights that got resolved during a climbing exercise during a stag event organised by Danny. Nolan also married a weatherman and had four kids with him.

- The movie won a GLAAD media award for Outstanding Film - Streaming or TV.

- Chronology: Present day in the USA and then Greece with a flashback forward to a year. Zack's British but has known Danny since he was nine.

You know what, I'm not really a Hallmark kind of guy but that's not to say that I don't occasionally see them from time time. As a trilogy, this was a neat from Jonathan Bennett. Both him and Alexander Lincoln are on a good form with some nice chemistry with each other. The Groomsmen: Second Chances isn't anything revolutionary in terms of gay movies but it's sweet natured enough to enjoy.

Rating: 7 out of 10 

My Review of Tarzan (1999)

 

Written by Tab Murphy And Bob Tzudiker And Noni White

Directed by Kevin Lima And Chris Buck

Tarzan: "No matter where I go, you will always be my mother."

Kala: "And you will always be in my heart."

Another Disney movie that I haven't watched before until last night. For some reason, I just decided to watch this one and I was pleasantly surprised it.

One of the last of the 1990s Disney movies, we open with a shipwrecked couple and their new born son in Equatorial Africa. It's not long before the couple are killed and the baby son ended up being raised by a gorilla named Kala (Glenn Close), much to the disapproval of her mate, Kerchak (Lance Henriksen).

The boy of course was Tarzan (Alex D. Linz/Tony Goldwyn). The latter often stoked Kerchak's disappointment while Kala loved him like he was her own son. Tarzan also befriended gorilla Terk (Rosie O'Donnell) and African forest elephant, Tantor (Wayne Knight). They made for a nice friendship group.

Cut to Tarzan being all grown up and realising that he's not the only human after all. There was the arrival of an expedition group comprising of Professor Archimedes Q. Porter (Nigel Hawthorne), his daughter Jane (Minnie Driver) and the rather treacherous William Cecil Clayton (Brian Blessed). Add a few henchmen for the latter and you have got your humans here.

With Jane, she's clearly the love interest for Tarzan and while not the best written love interest, there's a likeable enough chemistry between the pair. By the end of this movie, even her father recognised that her and Tarzan were meant to be together. 

As for Clayton, he's a nasty enough baddie. It took little for him to turn on Archimedes and Jane and he had no problem with capturing Tarzan or even causing the death of Kerchak. Like all Disney villains, he got a rather suitable comeuppance to boot.

- Clayton might have been the human villain of the piece but the leopard Sabor was responsible for the deaths of Tarzan's parents and Kala's son.

- Prior to Rosie O'Donnell's casting, Terk was intended to be a male character.

- Standout music: Phil Collins gave us You'll Be In My Heart, Two Worlds, Strangers Like Me and Son Of Man.

- Chronology: 1870s then 1890s in Equatorial Africa. Porter's crew were English.

Tarzan made for something of a decent adventure. While it doesn't hit in the same way for me that either Aladdin or Hercules did, it's a very enjoyable watch with a great soundtrack from Phil Collins.

Rating: 7 out of 10 

Baywatch - FOX Greenlight New Series

Yes, in the year 2026 we are getting a brand new series of Baywatch. It'll be on FOX for the 2026-2027 TV season and right now, the pilot is currently being filmed.

What do we know so far? We know that the role of Hobie Buchannon will now be played by former Arrow actor Stephen Amell, who'll be leading a new team of recruits. The recruits are Luke (Noah Beck), Nat (Hassie Harrison), Charlie Vale (Jessica Belkin), Grace (Livvy Dunne), Brad (Thaddeus LaGrone) and Trina (Shay Mitchell) and Diego (Kylar Miranda) to round off the majority of the main and recurring cast.

In particular, a lot of the filming pics seemed to heavily focus on Noah Beck. The guy's mostly been a social media star with a football background. In terms of acting experience, he's appeared in Tubi movies and guest starred in the short-lived Doctor Odyssey. Going by the character description for his character, Luke, he does seem to be a newcomer to the team. Also looking at those filming pics with the cast, they're definitely making the effort to recapture the allure of the original series. This pilot is being directed by McG from a script written by Lara Olsen.

Now, let's talk about the original series, shall we? It ran for eleven seasons between 1989 to 2001, first on NBC and then on Syndication. This included spin offs movies (1995-2003) and a supernatural themed spin-off series named Baywatch Nights (1995-1997). It gave David Hasselhoff a career boost after Knight Rider (1982-1986) and launched the career of Pamela Anderson and Jason Momoa (during the Hawaii era) among other actors. As a show, it wasn't exactly known for it's complex writing and Emmy type acting but it was a delightful guilty pleasure that I did watch when I was younger as did many in my generation. Not to mention that theme tune was pretty iconic.

I think the question that should be asked - can the show work in the modern era? It's very much a show that feels like a product of its time and a previous attempt of modernising it with Dwayne Johnson and Zac Efron's 2017 movie failed. Will this FOX attempt actually work? It's definitely going the sequel series route with Amell now playing Hobie Buchannon and David Chokachi reprising his role of Cody Madison for this show. I also wouldn't be surprised if the show at least attempts to get David Hasselhoff and/or Pamela Anderson or other former cast members to try and appear on the show if it's a hit for FOX.

The new Baywatch show will air on FOX during the autumn while the original series is available on streaming platforms to watch.

The Cottage Again, 90s Love And Game Time

And once again, here we are with a catch up of everything I've been watching since the last time I did one of these.

911: Will this show ever give audiences what they truly want with Buck and Eddie or are doomed to this weird place both characters are stuck in for eternity? They continue to act like a couple without actually being one and Eddie went into protective boyfriend mode during Buck's kidnapping episode. It's really long past time for this show to either go there with Buddie or give them permanent love interests.

911: Nashville: There's no denying that this show might be the weakest in the brand but there's a few moments where some hints of improvement are creeping in. I liked Don's flashbacks with Dixie and Blythe, the Blue/Taylor romance has potential and we even got some backstory for Roxy. Not to mention having Buck and Eddie appear certainly didn't hurt things.

Bridgerton: Into the second half of the love story between Benedict Bridgerton and Sophie Baek. While their wedding was a mid credit scene (odd choice), the show did an excellent job with building towards their romantic conclusion. Luke Thompson and Yerin Ha absolutely delivered in their scenes together. Also, who the hell is the new Lady Whistledown? There was also Anthony/Kate's return, Francesca losing John, Violet choosing herself and good scenes with Queen Charlotte/Lady Danbury but the show could've done something with Cressida and Araminta. 

How To Get To Heaven From Belfast: How do you follow up a show like Derry Girls? Lisa McGee certainly had a task on her hands but this turned out to be a worthy follow up. Saoirse, Robyn and Dara working together to solve the mystery of their "dead" friend. Some familiar faces in the mix with Bronagh Gallagher on fine form as well as the more skittish Saoirse Monica Jackson. Oh and that ending nicely set up a potential second season.

Love Story: Ryan Murphy will forever stoke ire for these anthologies based on real people but the more they're watched, the more he's gonna keep making them. Paul Anthony Kelly and Sarah Pidgeon are on great form with the show giving a good depiction of John F. Kennedy Jr and Carolyn Bessette's turbulent relationship. I do think Pidgeon's the stronger actor of the two but Kelly held his own. Saying that, Naomi Watts was a bit wasted as Jackie Kennedy.

Vladimir: You know what, I totally get it. Netflix wanted a more unhinged version of Fleabag and this show kind of did that. I can't blame Rachel Weisx going cuckoo for Leo Woodall's titular character and her obsession with him was oddly entertaining to watch. Less interesting was anything involving the family of Weisz's character and some of the MeToo commentary just didn't land as well as it could've done. Given it's viewership numbers, I wouldn't expect a second season though.

• Netflix have officially cast their Scooby Doo live action show. McKenna Grace, Tanner Hagen, Abby Ryder Forston and Maxwell Jenkins will play Daphne, Shaggy, Velma and Fred respectively. Frank Weller will voice Scooby Doo.
• Amazon Prime has renewed Cross for a third season. The second season is currently being released weekly.
• The White Lotus has added more to its cast including Max Greenfield, Kumail Nanjiani and Chloe Bennett to name a few. Filming begins in France next month.
• Danielle Deadwyler has been cast as a lead in the reboot of Hulu's The X-Files.
• Firefly is being revived as an animated series with the original cast slated to reprise their roles.
• The Bear will end with it's upcoming fifth season. It'll air on FX during the summer.
• AMC have renewed The Audacity for a second season, ahead of it's first one airing next month.
• The Harry Potter series will film it's second season later this year. The first will premiere on HBO in 2027.
• FOX have renewed Doc for a 22 episode third season.
• ABC have renewed both 911 shows for further seasons.
• Family Guy is getting a Stewie based spin-off. FOX have given a two season order for the show, due to debut in the 2027-2028 TV season.
• The Vampire Lestat (aka Interview With The Vampire Season 3) will premiere on AMC from June 7th.

Spider-Man: Brand New Day - First Trailer Released

It's been a long time coming and we've had a whole series of Wonder Man and teasers for Avengers: Doomsday. This morning, Sony/Marvel released the first trailer for Spider-Man: Brand New Day.

So, what were the highlights of the trailer then? Highlights and some facts as well.

• It's the fourth solo movie with Tom Holland as Peter Parker/Spider-Man and it's been four years since the events of the previous one.
• Written by Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers and directed by Destin Daniel Cretton (Shang-Chi, Wonder Man).
• Both MJ (Zendaya) and Ned (Jacob Batalon) are back and still don't remember their prior connections to Peter.
• Peter is shown to be in a cocoon and to be developing organic webbing.
• For the gays he's also in a nice black tank top, shirtless and in boxers at different points. Like the MCU don't know their audience.

• Sadie Sink's mystery character only very briefly appears. She's got to be playing someone major for this level of secrecy, right?
• MJ has a new boyfriend played by Eman Esfandi.
• There's scenes that Peter and Spider-Man share with Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo) and Frank Castle (Jon Bernthal).
• Villain wise, there's an appearance of Scorpion (Michael Mando) as well as Boomerang, Tarantula and The Hand.
• Charlie Cox is expected to appear as Daredevil/Matt Murdock as well as Tombstone (Marvin Jones III).

As a trailer, I think it did a really good job in selling it. It definitely feels like a smaller scale one, compared to Tom Holland's original trilogy but that's certainly a good thing. I think it's going to do very well.

Spider-Man: Brand New Day will be in theatres from July 31st. The trailer is on YouTube.

My Review of Calvary (2014)

 

Written And Directed by John Michael McDonagh

Father James: "What do you want to say to me? I'm here to listen to whatever you have to say."

Jack: "I'm going to kill you, Father."

Father James: "Certainly a startling opening line."

After watching The Guard (2011), of course I had to catch up with Calvary (2014). Brendan Gleeson going from an amoral garda to a cantankerous priest and the way this movie opened, it's not hard to see why he'd be pissed off.

The movie started with Gleeson's priest, Father James taking confession with a mystery man. The latter informed Father James that he was a victim of sexual abuse by the priests and even though James wasn't an abuser, he was going to be killed on the next Sunday.

Now, given this advanced warning, you'd think James would've just relocated and avoided death but alas, he didn't. Even after getting rather unhelpful advice from fellow priest, Father Leary (David Wilmot) and Bishop Garret Montgomery (David McSavage), he stuck around.

Then again when Father James wasn't contemplating imminent death, he was spending time with estranged daughter, Fiona (Kelly Reilly). They had something of a complicated relationship, though there was a clear affection between the two of them. Perhaps James should have gone with her instead of waiting to be killed.

Then there's the mystery man himself. The local butcher Jack Brennan (Chris O'Dowd). He wanted revenge for the abuse he suffered. His wife Veronica (Orla O'Rourke) was sleeping with another man named Simon (Isaach de Bankolé) and he didn't care. He just wanted revenge for his past trauma.

There's a great dramatic performance from Chris O'Dowd on that beach as Jack succeeded in actually killing Father James. Then he went to prison with Fiona paying him a visit. It certainly ended this film on a complex note.

- There's an array of well written supporting characters played by Killian Scott (the porn addled Milo Herlihy), Aiden Gillen (the arrogant Dr Frank Harte), M. Emmett Walsh (a writer named Ger Ryan) and Owen Sharpe (a rather talkative rent boy named Leo). Domhnall Gleeson also appeared as Freddie Joyce.

- Father James never finished Moby Dick so Jack had to be a dick and spoil the book. At least Jack wasn't responsible for the death of James's dog.

-Standour music: Fred Neil's The Dolphins.

- Chronology: In a small parish, likely Sligo as that was where the movie was filmed.

As a follow up movie, Calvary (2014) did lose a point for the dog death. Saying that, it's very funny and very bleak in parts and the cast are on excellent form. It's definitely worth watching.

Rating: 8 out of 10 

My Review of The Guard (2011)

 

Written And Directed by John Michael McDonagh

Everett: "You have anybody you want me to call?"

Boyle: "Nah, I don't have anybody. Just pin a medal on my body like those boys coming home from Iraq."

Everett: "Fuck you again Sergeant."

Catching up with more Irish movies this month, would you believe this one was a first time watch? No, seriously. I only watched it for the first time last night and I nearly burst my sides laughing. 

Brendan Gleeson has given many a career best performance (and long may he do so) but pairing him with Don Cheadle might be one of the most genius double acts to happen. They're the perfect combination of chalk and cheese and bring out the best in each other.

With Gleeson, he's playing Sergeant Gerry Boyle. The character's coarse, vulgar, rude, a tad racist but also surprisingly sympathetic, savvy and quick on the draw when people least expect him to be. The things Gerry would say rightfully cause offend but it's really hard not to root for the guy.

He's got a sick mother, Eileen (Fionnuala Flanagan) who brought out his softer side. Her death also caused quite the blow to him, though it happened off screen. Gerry's also got a soft spot for the ladies as his escapades with two prostitutes resulted in a blackmail. He was more angered about one of them being physically assaulted than he was about being blackmailed by the villains of the piece.

Gerry also felt sadness for the widow (Katarina Čas) for the closeted Garda Aidan McBride (Rory Keenan). The latter was murdered at the behest of crime boss, Francis Sheehy-Skeffington (Liam Cunningham) and his cohorts Clive Cornell (Mark Strong) and the unhinged Liam O'Leary (David Wilmot). The way that Gerry dealt with them all was particularly brutal but deserved.

Circling back to Don Cheadle, his character FBI Agent Wendell Everett was the straight man in this buddy cop dynamic. He was certainly appalled, perplexed and even admiring the utterly batshit antics of Boyle. I absolutely loved their scenes together.

- Gabriela (McBride's widow) was from Croatia. She wasn't shocked by the fact that her husband was gay. Boyle pointed out that Croatia had good football players.

- Boyle was an expert swimmer, which came in handy for how this movie ended the character.

- Standout music: There's a good use of traditional songs and artists such as N.E.R.D. to boot.

- Chronology: Set predominantly in Connemara but Everett was also from Wisconsin.

The Guard was an absolute riot of a movie. Hysterically funny from start to finish and with an incredible double act from Brendan Gleeson and Don Cheadle. Not exactly politically correct mind you.

Rating: 8 out of 10 

Buffy The Vampire Slayer: New Sunnydale Not Picked Up By Hulu

Yesterday certainly threw out the biggest pop entertainment media story it could have with this one, didn't it? On the week of the show's 29th anniversary and all.

Sarah Michelle Gellar took to social media yesterday to announce that Hulu opted to not pick up Buffy The Vampire Slayer: New Sunnydale as a series after the pilot had been filmed last year. A later statement had been made about exploring other possibilities within the popular IP. 

I have to say that my initial reaction was mixed to this news. A part of me was disappointed with the news as I had been looking forward to reconnecting with one of the most iconic television characters of all time. Then another part of me was relieved that perhaps Buffy Summers herself had been spared a fate that might not have done wonders for her enduring legacy.

This also lead to the obvious speculation that in spite of Chloe Zhao's best efforts, perhaps the pilot itself just wasn't good enough for Hulu to risk it. Leaks in the last twenty four hours had revealed that Buffy herself would've only appeared in the last scene. She would've been an insurance broker that was living in New York and going by Anne for some reason.

The rest of the pilot would've focused on both old and new versions of Sunnydale coexisting with long buried vampires coming out of the ground and a young girl named Nova (Ryan Kiera Armstrong) being activated as the new slayer. Also one of her teachers would have become a vampire during the episode. 

On paper, this didn't sound awful but a bit generic. I do think relegating Buffy herself to a mundane role wouldn't have been the best way to reintroduce the character as well. Could the pilot leak? Possibly. It took years for the original Buffy pilot to leak (currently on YouTube) as well as the opening scene from the planned animated show. 

Oh well, at least we still have the 1992 movie, the TV show, Angel, those follow up comics and that audio series from a few years ago. Perhaps this decision will be a blessing in disguise.

My Review of Young Sherlock - Season 1 (2026, Amazon Prime)

 

Written by Matthew Parkhill And Peter Harness And Steve Thompson And Melissa Bubnic

Directed by Guy Ritchie And Anders Engström And Dennie Gordon And Tricia Bock

Moriarty (to Sherlock): "When you've eliminated the impossible, whatever remains must be the truth."

Ah, yes. For the latest take on Sherlock Holmes, let's go younger with the character and keep John Watson out of his orbit. That might sound a little snarky but it was my gut reaction. Fortunately, it didn't deter me from actually watching the show.

The show itself introduced a nineteen year old version of the amateur detective. This Sherlock (Hero Fiennes Tiffin) spent some time in prison, got released by his oldest brother, Mycroft (Max Irons) and ended up with a porter job at Oxford's Candlin College. This would be where Sherlock would meet future enemy/current friend, James Moriarty (Dónal Finn).

Now the biggest strength of this show undoubtedly would be the Sherlock/Moriarty dynamic. Both Hero Fiennes Tiffin and Dónal Finn are fantastic in their scenes together. Both are smart and both were outcasts from their peers, so the both they form as the series unfolded made total sense. It's an incredibly strong partnership that made for the best viewing.

Of course there were mysteries afoot to keep things interesting. One of them involved Princess Gulun Shou'an/Xiao Wei (Zine Tseng). Throughout the series, there was some switching back and forth between identities and there were times when she went from being an ally as well as a nuisance to both Sherlock and Moriarty. Colin Firth popped up in the first half of the season as Sir Bucephalus Hodge but he's one of the few weaker elements of the show.

The second half of the season made things more into a rather complicated family affair. I enjoyed the gentle bickering between Sherlock and Mycroft along with the presence of their mother, Cordelia (Natascha McElhone). The latter in particular spent time in an asylum being recorded before she was released. This also played a part into the main plot of the season.

Of course it's the Holmes patriarch, Silas (Joseph Fiennes) and the not so dead daughter, Beatrice (Holly Cattle) that made up our final villains of the piece. There's shades of Guy Ritchie's movies and the 2010-2017 BBC series in this show but that's to it's strength and there's a few nice hooks for future seasons. 

- Episode titles are The Case Of The Missing Scrolls, The Case Of The Burnt Photograph, The Case Of The Unarmed Man, The Case Of The Missing Button, The Case Of Young Sherlock Holmes, The Case Of The Killing Jar, The Case Of The Two Corners and The Case Of Beatrice Holmes.

- Steve Thompson previous wrote for Sherlock and Guy Ritchie directed the Robert Downey Jr movies.

- Standout music: Kasabian's Days Are Forgotten, which was the theme tune for the show.

- Chronology: The show takes place in 19th century London along with Constantinople for the last two episodes.

Young Sherlock definitely hit the right spots. If you've missed the Robert Downey Jr movies and Benedict Cumberbatch TV show, this show's a perfect blend of both. Both Hero Fiennes Tiffin and Dónal Finn are excellent young versions of the iconic frenemy duo.

Rating: 8 out of 10 

My Review of The Bride! (2026)

 

Written And Directed by Maggie Gyllenhaal 

Frank: "The Bride of Frankenstein."

The Bride: "Just the Bride."

I was really hoping that the critical were going to be wrong about this movie. I really wanted them to be. This movie had talent both in front and behind the camera and an interesting variation on a classic monster story. How did it go so wrong?

I think maybe the bouncing back and forth between Mary Shelley (the author of Frankenstein) and a young woman named Ida, both of whom were played by Jessie Buckley certainly didn't help matters. For some reason, Mary was able to possess Ida but the movie made no effort to explain it as such.

When Ida was possessed by Mary, she went on feminist rants that were written in a very purple prose sort of way. Ida's rants eventually got her killed but death wouldn't be the ending of her story. Instead, it was a prelude to a literal rebirth for her.

This was where Frank aka Frankenstein (Christian Bale) and mad scientist Dr. Cornelia Euphronious (Annette Bening) factored into things. Frank needed a lover and Euphronious went along with in spite her initial misgivings about playing with the dead. If anything, she could have resisted a bit more before resurrecting Ida.

Now we had three women at once for Jessie Buckley to play. She was Mary Shelley who had another story to tell. She was Ida who was conflicted about her past. She was also The Bride determined to make her own choices, including rejecting Frank's proposal attempts as she grew closer to him. I mean they did have a Bonnie & Clyde dynamic in the second half of the movie.

As a duo, both The Bride and Frank caused a lot of chaos, which included terrorising an actor named Ronnie Reed (Jake Gyllenhaal) when The Bride wasn't ripping out a corrupt cop's tongue. There was also a detective duo with Ida's ex, Jake Wiles (Peter Sarsgaard) and his protégé Myrna Malloy (Penelope Cruz).

The movie hurtled towards a hamfisted conclusion that combined elements of the original source material and the criminal couple that our leads tried so hard to emulate. The feminist messaging on the other hand kind of got lost in the shuffle as it turned out that death really wasn't an obstacle.

- The Bride Of Frankenstein (1935) had the same idea of Mary Shelley and The Bride being played by the same actor. It worked better there.

- This was the second time that Maggie Gyllenhaal had directed both Jessie Buckley and Peter Sarsgaard and cast them as volatile exes. 

- Standout music: Jake Gyllenhaal's My Sin and Luther Allison's Maelstrom.

- Chronology: 1930s Chicago for the duration of the movie with flashbacks to Mary Shelley in the 1800s.

The Bride! had all the potential in the world to be one of the best movies of 2026. It had the right people behind and in front of the camera but it's a misfire all round. The performances are erratic, the script's clunky and the messaging just didn't land. A genuine shame.

Rating: 6 out of 10 

My Review of In The Name Of The Father (1993)

 

Written by Terry George And Jim Sheridan

Directed by Jim Sheridan

Gareth Peirce: "You got 15 years of blood and sweat and pain from my client - whose only crime was that he was bloody well Irish. And he was foolish, and he was in the wrong place at the wrong time!"

Okay, continuing to watch more Irish movies this month, I went back to rewatch one that I had only seen once and not for the longest time. It's one of the more political themed and based on a true story. It's also got one of the best performances from Daniel Day-Lewis.

Taking on the role of Gerry Conlon, Day-Lewis played a man who started the movie being mistook for an IRA sniper. Gerry wasn't of course but he did steal from a prostitute and he had a rather strained relationship with his father, Giuseppe (Pete Postlethwaite). The latter didn't approve of a lot of Gerry's life choices.

Anyways the main crux of the film came down to Gerry and three of his friends - Paul Hill (John Lynch), Carole Richardson (Beatie Edney) and Paddy Armstrong (Mark Sheppard) being falsely accused the Guildford pub bombings and the Woolwich pub bombing. Undergoing police brutality and a trial, all four of them were given harsh sentences.

However, it wasn't just those four who received harsh sentences. Even poor Guiseppe ended up being a consequence of a corrupted system that wanted results for two high profile bombings. We saw through the interrogations that the police were concerned more with getting a conviction, even if it meant that they put the wrong people away.

In the confines of prison, both Gerry and Guiseppe had to deal with their own issues towards one another while Gerry also made other friends inside. Guiseppe died during his sentence and the movie also had Gerry working with solicitor Gareth Peirce (Emma Thompson) to get his sentence overturned. 

Gareth herself had to deal with both corruption and incompetence in order to help Gerry and the others regain their freedom. It's a bittersweet ending for Gerry, having lost his father and spent fifteen years of his life for something he didn't do. 

- There's some strong supporting performances from Paterson Joseph, Marie Jones, Gerard McSorley and Corin Redgrave.

- Gabriel Byrne had an executive producer role but distanced himself from the film due to creative liberties that Jim Sheridan took.

- Standout music: Bono and Gavin Friday's In The Name Of The Father and Sinead O'Connor's You Made Me The Thief Of Your Heart.

- Chronology: The bombings too place in October and November 1974. The Guilford Four were released in 1989 and Maguire Seven in 1991.

In The Name Of The Father (1993) might take creative liberties with the events that really transpired but I will admit that Jim Sheridan's directing was great. There's excellent performances from Daniel Day-Lewis, Pete Postlethwaite and Emma Thompson.

Rating: 8 out of 10 

My Review of A Dark Song (2016)

 

Written And Directed by Liam Gavin 

Solomon: "H-hoo. I've seen things. I've seen gods. Demons. I let gods rain silver on me. And the dead and the damned - Most of us are damned you know?"

Sophia: "Have you seen anything that *scared* you?"

Solomon: "It all scares me."

Okay, this was one of those films I half watched a while back but for some reason I was in the mood to go back and give it a proper viewing. It's was something alright.

A movie that focused on a grieving mother named Sophia Howard (Catherine Walker). She's lost her son and was desperate to have some communication with him, even though he was dead. This would be where occultist Joseph Solomon (Steve Oram) stepped in.

It's been a while since I've truly loathed a character in a movie as much as I did Solomon. He's a vile character from start to finish and his abuse of Sophia genuinely made this a rather uncomfortable movie to watch. It also didn't help that Sophia seemed to be a bit too gullible at times.

Solomon subjected Sophia to a series of demeaning tasks (including one that went too far) before the latter finally snapped at him for good. I actually cheered when Sophia stabbed the annoying git and spent far too much of time wanting him to die a horrible death.

Saying that as awful as Solomon was to watch as a character, at least he knew his supernatural stuff. Sophia did get to talk to her son but also had to face some demons and do exactly to Solomon what he did to her. Personally, I think he deserved a lot worse.

- The book that Solomon was using as a guide was The Book Of Abramelin to summon a guardian angel.

- Solomon wanted to be invisible so he could away from people for the rest of his life.

- The movie premiered at the Galway Film Fleadh before getting a theatrical and digital release a year later.

- Chronology: Although this was filmed in Ireland, it was set in rural Wales.

A Dark Song made for an uncomfortable double hander before two desperate characters. Sophia was likable but often too gullible for her own good and Solomon crossed the lines between disillusioned and despicable. The scares are good as was the occult use.

Rating: 7 out of 10 

My Review of Whistle (2026)

 

Written by Owen Egerton 

Directed by Corin Hardy

Chrys: "What if I don't want to die?"

Ivy: "Then you shouldn't have been born."

So far this year and with one exception, every 2026 movie I've watched so far had been in the horror genre. That might not change any time soon as there's other movies I need to catch up this month.

This one was released last month but I caught up with it late last night. You've got a bunch of high school students, a religious hypocrite and a cursed whistle. The ideas were perfectly sound but the execution left a little bit to be desired.

The cursed whistle in question turned out to be a death whistle. If you want to die, just blow into it and death would soon follow. This was explained by occult collector Ivy Raymore (Michelle Farley). She explained it following the death of her grandson, Mason (Stephen Kalyn). It was needed exposition for this movie.

The group of students who had the misfortune to deal with the cursed whistle were a mixed bunch. There was Chrys Willet (Dafnee Keen), who had substance issues as well as dead parents. She was living with her cousin, Rel Taylor (Sky Yang). Throw in a jock named Dean Jackson (Jhaleil Swaby), his girlfriend Grace Browning (Ali Skovbye) and a love interest for Chrys named Ellie Gains (Sophie Nélisse).

With this group, they are mostly decent characters but largely they're scrambling to beat the cursed whistle while also having to deal with an annoying youth pastor/drug dealer Noah Haggerty (Percy Hines White). As a human antagonist, Noah's pretty annoying to watch, which did make his comeuppance a bit more satisfying to watch.

The love story between Chrys and Ellie drove some of the second half of the movie. The two of them were able to work together to outsmart the cursed whistle and there's decent chemistry between Dafnee Keen and Sophie Nélisse.

- A mid credit scene had a new student blow the whistle in front of the whole school. Nick Frost briefly appeared as the teacher Mr. Craven.

- Olmec alluded to Mexico, which was where the whistle originated from. Chrys was short for Chrysanthemum.

- Standout music: Divinyls Back To The Wall.

- Chronology: Months passed between the opening kill to the main story to the aftermath of the story.

Whistle (2026) was an okay teen horror film. Decent enough cast, main love story and scares. It's diverting, won't tax your brain but I'll be surprised if it's on anyone's favourite horror movie list by the end of the year.

Rating: 6 out of 10 

My Review of The Van (1996)

 

Written by Roddy Doyle 

Directed by Stephen Frears 

Bimbo: "I'm going to kill it."

Larry: "What?"

Bimbo: "I'm going to kill the poxy van."

In the final part of The Barrytown Trilogy and I'll admit that while I do like this movie, it's probably my least favourite of the three. Saying that, it's still a worthy watch.

As someone who's not a big football fan, I also have some flashbacks to how much of a big deal Ireland's performance in the World Cup in 1990 was for the country. It's a bit of a plot for this movie as well.

The focus here was on a baker named Brendan "Bimbo" Reeves (Donal O'Kelly). He lost his job but gained a van and decided to go into business with his friend, Larry (Colm Meaney). The business being to sell fish and chips to the locals. As business ideas went, it was a guaranteed success.

In fact for a good portion of the movie, there was a good team up with Bimbo and Larry as well as the former's daughter, Diane (Neilí Conroy). That was until the van itself got shut down due to poor hygiene, thanks to the rather officious health inspector, Des O'Callaghan.

There's a breakdown in friendship between Bimbo and Larry and there was also a look into the former's marriage to Maggie (Ger Ryan) but again, the focus was largely on Bimbo and Larry. The latter in particular resorted to extreme measures in order to get their friendship back on track.

- Again because of rights issues, Colm Meaney had to play Larry instead of Jimmy Rabbitte Sr.

- Neilí Conroy's brother, Rúaidhrí also appeared as Kevin and Brendan O'Carroll popped up as Weslie.

- Standout music: Frederick Loewe's Wand'rin' Star.

- Chronology: Once again, we're in Barrytown, Dublin, during the 1990 World Cup.

While it is the weakest of The Barrytown Trilogy, I still would recommend watching The Van. It's a good enough closing story to this trilogy of films and both Colm Meaney and Donal O'Kelly are on good form.

Rating: 7 out of 10 

My Review of The Snapper (1993)

 

Written by Roddy Doyle

Directed by Stephen Frears

George: "Sharon, please, I have to talk. I'm tormented!"

Sharon: "You're tormented? You've made me the laughing stock of Barrytown, I can't go out without being jeered at. You're tormented? You prick ya!"

If I ever compile a list of Top 10 Irish movies (and I really should at some point), I promise that this particular movie will be very high on that list. I've seen it a ridiculous amount of times and it's without a doubt the best movie in The Barrytown Trilogy. I genuinely mean that.

Had rights issues not been a thing, this would've been directly connected to The Commitments but alas they were, so the Rabbitte family became the Curly family for this movie alone. Don't worry, that doesn't negatively impact the overall story as such.

Our protagonist would be twenty year old supermarket worker Sharon (Tina Kellegher). She's just found that a drunken one night stand with her best friend's father has resulted in an unexpected pregnancy. Of course there's her own family to break that news to.

Ireland in the 1990s wasn't always the most progressive with issues like this but here, Sharon had a support system. Both her father, Dessie (Colm Meaney) and Kay (Ruth McCabe) accepted that they were going to be grandparents and Sharon's five siblings also seemed to be unfazed about her being pregnant as well.

Sharon even had the support of her friends - Yvonne (Karen Woodley), Jackie (Fionnuala Murphy) and Mary (Deirdre O'Brien). Except when it was revealed that it was Yvonne's creepy father, George Burgess (Pat Laffan) that slept with Sharon and was the father of her child. That certainly created an even split in the friends group.

Anyways, the rest of the film dealt with Sharon being something of a local pariah with tension in her own family before the movie ended up with her giving birth to a girl. Of all the names and in spite of her insistence that it was a Spanish sailor who did the deed, Sharon willingly chose to name the girl Georgina. I don't think she thought that one through to be fair.

- Sharon's siblings for the movie were Craig (Eanna MacLiam), Darren (Colm O'Byrne), Sonny (Peter Rowan), Lisa (Joanne Gerard) and Kimberley (Ciara Duffy).

- Brendan Gleeson popped up as Dessie's well meaning but slightly dim friend, Lester. 

- Standout music: Lick The Tins Can't Help Falling In Love.

- Chronology: Set in 1990s Barrytown, Dublin. The book came out in 1990 itself.

I absolutely love The Snapper. Yes, it's a topical film that came out at a rather pivotal time in Ireland but it's also a deeply funny and heartfelt movie as well. Both Tina Kellegher and Colm Meaney are brilliant throughout the whole thing.

Rating: 9 out of 10 

My Review of The Commitments (1991)

 

Written by Dick Clement And Ian La Frenais And Roddy Doyle

Directed by Alan Parker

Dean: "You don't think, eh, well, like maybe we're a little white - for that kind o' thing."

Jimmy: "Do ya not get it, lads? The Irish are the blacks of Europe. And Dubliners are the blacks of Ireland. And the Northside Dubliners are the blacks of Dublin. So say it once, say it loud. I'm black an' I'm proud!"

Seeing as it's the month of March, I do want to try and get a few Irish films in as best I can and there's a certain trilogy that I've been meaning to review for a while now. Yup, it's The Barrytown Trilogy of course.

Starting with this one, what do you do with a group of strangers who want to form their own soul band? That was something that working class lad Jimmy Rabbitte (Robert Arkins) was about to find out as he really wanted to break into the music scene and couldn't do it all by himself.

Nope, he needed a band who could play instruments and could sing soul music like he could. This band would be called The Commitments and it's members were definitely a lively bunch of people, who brought their own talent and chaos into the group.

The back up singers included Bernie McGloughlin (Bronagh Gallagher), Natalie Murphy (Maria Doyle Kennedy) and Imelda Quirke (Angelina Ball). All three women would be seduced by trumpet player Joey Fagin (Johnny Murphy). This caused a certain degree of tension within the group itself.

The rest of the group included lead singer Deco Cuffe (Andrew Strong), guitarist Outspan Foster (Glen Hansard), keyboardist Steven Clifford (Michael Ahearne), alto saxophonist Dean Fay (Félim Gormley) as well as bassist Derek Scully (Kenneth McCluskey) and drummer Billy Mooney (Dick Massey). It's a large group of characters to focus on.

As a band, The Commitments actually did have talent and were even securing some good gigs until one of them lead to disaster and the band's eventually dissolution. There's a nice montage towards the end that showed how each of the groups lives changed and in most cases, for the better tbh.

- The other two movies in this trilogy are The Snapper (1993) and The Van (1996). Colm Meaney played Mr Rabbitte in this movie but different characters in the other ones.

- If you're a fan of The Corrs (it was the 1990s), Andrea had played Sharon Rabbitte while her siblings had smaller roles here.

- Standout music: Mustang Sally, Dark End Of The Street and Try A Little Tenderness.

- Chronology: Roddy Doyle's book came out in 1987 and it's set in the Northside of Dublin.

The Commitments gets The Barrytown Trilogy off to an excellent start. It's a riot of a film with a brilliant cast, a brilliant soundtrack and a nice exploration into the working class and aspirations for more. How can anyone not be entertained by this one?

Rating: 8 out of 10 

My Review of The Beauty: "Beautiful Betrayal"

 

Written by Ryan Murphy And Matthew Hodgson 

Directed by Michael Uppendahl 

Diana (re Cooper): "The rebirth has begun."

And we're into the finale - or will it be series finale? If it's the latter, then Ryan Murphy learned nothing when he ended the likes of Ratched and Grotesquerie on cliffhangers. Hopefully the same fate isn't awaiting this one.

To this finale's credit, it's an improvement on the penultimate with three plot strands being weaved into one another with decent results. Even the Bella plot suddenly became a lot more interesting as a result of this episode.

Bella met up with the hunky Conor (Carson Rowland) who offered to sleep with her to pass on the Beauty. Conor also took an extra dose and Bella became horribly mutated as a direct result. It's probably the most sci-fi looking moment we've had in the entire show.

Bella's grotesque transformation was not only pitiful to look at but it became another reason for Byron to grow a conscience. Yes, our villain of the piece finally realised that his little product was causing a 17% rate of damage. What also spurred this change of tack? Oh yes, Byron's dopey sons.

Being good looking did nothing to improve Tig and Gunther's IQ as they decided to inject Franny with the Beauty. Franny now looked like Nicola Peltz Beckham and she wasn't happy about being younger. In fact, her reasoning for it not only made perfect sense in general but it was the thing to get through to Byron. That also put both Byron and Tig at odds with each other.

Tig aligned with Diana and they had a reverse for the Beauty that Cooper was willing to try. The cliffhanger being everyone reacting to the reversed version of Cooper. Do we get Evan Peters back next season? Will there even be a next season? 

- Franny II was styled the same way that Isabella Rossellini was in Death Becomes Her. It was a nice nod.

- Ray was killed off screen and Gunther didn't seem to be part of Tig's attempts to usurp Byron.

- Standout music: Guns N' Roses Sweet Child O' Mine.

- Chronology: From where the penultimate episode left off.

Beautiful Betrayal made for a strong enough finale. The main plots looped together rather nicely but has the show done enough to get a second season? I bloody hope so.

Rating: 7 out of 10

My Review of The Beauty: "Beautiful Beauty Day"

 

Written by Ryan Murphy And Matthew Hodgson 

Directed by Michael Uppendahl 

Student (re Tina): "She got the shot."

To get this one thing out of the way first - I would have taken these last two episodes, condensed parts of this one and merged it with the last episode. This was a complete filler episode that probably needed to happen earlier in the season or not at all.

I mean it did pick up from where Cooper had been transformed into a pre-teen and Jordan doing her best to reassure. The reality was that Jordan had no idea if Cooper would ever grow up and I think Cooper knew that as well.

On the other hand, I liked the bond that Jordan has formed with both Jeremy and the Assassin. Some snarky banter, both of them seemed surprisingly sympathetic to Cooper's current predicament. Cooper remained determined to actually stop Byron in his tracks.

Then there's Beauty Day. It came and went and The Beauty itself was spreading like wildfire among the American population. The focus on most of this episode was on the unfortunate Bella Grant (Emma Halleen).

Bella wanted to get The Beauty having witnessed a formerly dumpy classmate named Tina get the desired results as well as an influencer she followed online. Bella's parents on the other hand weren't going to let her do, rightly pointing out the possible side effects of the treatment.

The last scene saw Bella being openly envious of her friend Ruthie (Annabelle Wachtel/Paige McGarvin) being turned so dramatically by the process. Ruthie explained to Bella there was another way fot her to get the treatment. Then the episode abruptly ended.

- Bella's father was using Ozempic and this episode was rather critical of that too.

- Emma Halleen who played Bella previously appeared in American Horror Stories episode, Bestie. 

- I think people were way too calm about Tina being aggressive and even that classmate starting his transformation in the middle of class.

- Chronology: A week since the events of Beauty Day.

Beautiful Beauty Day was pure filler as an episode. It's fine for what it is but it didn't need to be it's own episode. I would've merged these last two episodes together.

Rating: 6 out of 10 

My Review of I Swear (2025)

 

Written And Directed by Kirk Jones

John Davidson: "The problem is not Tourette's, the problem is that people don't know enough about Tourette's."

After the uproar of last week's BAFTAs, this movie was something I needed to watch. I'll admit that I don't have an extensive knowledge on Tourette's but I was familiar with real life campaigner John Davidson. This movie was about the earlier part of his life.

The movie began with his early days as a 12 year old and when played by Scott Ellis Watson. He had aspirations to be a footballer but it was around this time his Tourette's had started to come into play. It was something that also saw his parents Heather (Shirley Henderson) and David (Steven Cree) desperate as well.

The movie mostly focused on an older version of John, played by Robert Aramayo. We saw the strain between John and his mother while a chance reunion with John's old school friend, Murray Achenbach (Francesco Piacentini-Smith) had John moving in with the latter's mother, Dottie (Maxine Peake).

The relationship between John and Dottie was by far the best thing about the movie. Dottie's experience as a nurse factored into her empathy for John. Dottie seemed to be able to help John in ways that his mother wasn't able to. She helped him get a job in the community centre and John formed a close relationship with his boss, Tommy (Peter Mullan).

As the movie progressed, John had to witness Tommy's death, had been a victim of an assault and had interactions with the law. They weren't as understanding of his condition. He also learned to live on his own and even stepped up for the community centre after Tommy's death.

Towards the end of the movie, we saw the ways in which John was able to live with his condition and even saw the positive impact he was making within his community as more people were trying to understand Tourettes. From this movie alone, it's hard not to admire John Davidson.

- The end credits of the movie had clips from the John's Not Mad documentary as well as others.

- A lot of this movie did focus on John's meeting with the Queen and how that went down.

- Standout music: New Order's Blue Monday and Oasis's Stop Crying Your Heart Out.

- Chronology: This started in the early 1980s Galashiels, Scotland with most of the movie set in the 1990s and 2000s.

I would definitely recommend watching I Swear as a movie. It's a brilliant look into the condition and into the life of John Davidson. Robert Aramayo gave one hell of a performance throughout as do Maxine Peake, Shirley Henderson and Peter Mullan.

Rating: 8 out of 10