My Review of Bring Them Down (2025)

 

Written by Christopher Andrews And Jonathan Hourigan

Directed by Christopher Andrews

Ray (to Michael): "I want you to bring him his fucking head!"

Decided to watch anotheg Irish movie last night and this was one that went under the radar upon its releaae last year. In fact, it was my sister who suggestef seeing it. 

Splitting the narrative, the movie opened with rural shepherd Michael O'Shea (Christopher Abbott/Youssef Quinn) being responsible for the death of his mother, Peggy (Susan Lynch) and wounding former girlfriend, Caroline (Grace Daly/Nora-Jane Noone). 

In the present, he's got a volatile relationship with his Irish speaking father, Ray (Colm Meaney) and there's a rivalry of sorts between Michael and Caroline's husband, Gary (Paul Ready) and her son, Jack (Barry Keoghan). The latter's friend, Lee (Aaron Heffernan) also doesn't help matters.

Halfway through the movie, there's a dispute of sheep with Michael's flick being slaughtered by Jack. There's also a rather brutal scene involving Michael having to kill his own dog to relieve it's suffering that I wasn't prepared for. It's easily the most harrowing moment in the whole film.

Anyways the sequences of events played first from Michael's perspective and then it played from Jack's. Jack was heartbroken over his parents getting a divorce, though it was clear he preferred Caroline to Gary. Keoghan did play the role with an endearing enough innocence.

Then there's the climactic fight between Michael and Jack. Both men fought dirty and one of them came close enough to death. Sympathy was afforded to both men with Michael even apologising for the events at the start of the movie. Oh and for an American, Christopher Abbott managed a decent Irish accent.

- Originally Paul Mescal had been cast for the role of Michael but dropped out due to filming Gladiator II. Barry Keoghan replaced Tom Burke.

- Not only did Christopher Abbott deliver a convincing Irish accent but even sounded believable when speaking Irish in his scenes with Colm Meaney.

- Standout music: Michael Chapman's Among The Trees.

- Chronology: Present day and the movie was filmed in Wicklow.

Bring Them Down turned out to be a strong enough movie. An intense battle between two families with old grudges rearing their head in brutal fashion. Both Christopher Abbott and Barry Keoghan did a great job.

Rating: 7 out of 10 

My Review of Knock Knock (2015)

 

Written by Eli Roth And Guillermo Amoedo And Nicolás López

Directed by Eli Roth

Bel (to Evan): "I'm glad we knocked on your door."

Okay, when it comes to Eli Roth as a writer and director, he's not that much better or worse than Rob Zombie. There's sometimes traces of brilliance and a lot of times, frustration and questionable writing for women.

This film somewhat encapsulated that to a tee. Remember when Quentin Tarantino delivered three female revenge films with both volumes of Kill Bill and Death Proof. Perhaps Roth was hoping for the same results here. 

You've got Keanu Reeves as architect Evan Webber. He's married to sculptor Karen (Ignacia Allamand) and the have two kids and a cute little dog named Monkey. The wife and kids are away for the weekend, which left Evan alone to look after Monkey, watch his shoulder and be terrorised by two unhinged women upon stupidly letting them into his house.

The women in question were Genesis (Lorenza Izzo) and Bel (Ana de Armas). They tricked Evan into believing that they were sent to wrong neighbourhood. Evan for the most part tried to be helpful by letting them dry off, giving them tea and repairing Genesis's phone. He also called them a cab.

Unfortunately for Evan, he doomed himself by falling for their obvious attempts of seduction and had a threesome. When he did manage to get rid of them, they returned to terrorise and sexually assault him. They also kept accusing him of being a paedophile, despite the fact that Evan wasn't.

I'll admit this movie really will test anyone's patience. Usually in these revenge thrillers, the woman has a good reason to go after the men they go after. Genesis and Bel were just psychopaths who purposely terrorise innocent men in order to break up their marriages for no reason. 

As characters, they're just straight up evil. Evan was foolish for letting them in but none of what's inflicted upon him was something that he deserved. The movie's ending in particular just rubbed me up the wrong way.

- Eli Roth was married to Lorenza Izzo at the time of this movie being made. 

- This movie is a remake of the 1977 psychological thriller, Death Game.

- Standout music: Goyele's Winter Nights.

- Chronology: Took place over the course of two days. Evan's 43 and Father's Day factored in for half the movie.

Knock Knock (2015) would just turn out to be a frustrating movie with okay-ish performances from everyone involved. It's a film that trivialised sexual assault towards men with some one dimensional villains in both Genesis and Bel.

Rating: 5 out of 10 

My Review of The Devil Wears Prada (2006)

 

Written by Aline Brosh McKenna

Directed by David Frankel

Andrea: "But what if this isn't what I want? I mean what if I don't wanna live the way you live?"

Miranda: "Oh, don't be ridiculous. Andrea. Everybody wants this. Everybody wants to be us."

With a sequel due in theatres in less than a month's time, I just knew that I had to go back and watch the original itself. Can you believe it's been nearly twenty years since this movie? A part of me didn't but then I watched and realised how it's very much a product of its time.

Instead of Vogue and Anna Wintour, you've got Runway and the similarly fearsome editor in chief, Miranda Priestly (Meryl Streep). This was a woman who'd terrifying even the hardest of men and also inspired the fiercest of loyalty to boot. Two things that our protagonist of the piece felt for Miranda.

The protagonist being aspiring journalist Andrea Sachs (Anne Hathaway), who found herself working at Runway as the number two to the recently appointed number one Emily Charlton (Emily Blunt). I'm talking assistants here. Emily's both trying her best to be helpful to Andrea while at the same time deriding the fact that the latter had no interest in the fashion industry.

Andrea's lack of interest in fashion led to that cerulean speech from Miranda that gave someone as fashion unconscious as myself food for thought. I felt personally attacked during that scene. Anyways, Andrea forming a friendship with fashion director Nigel Kipling (Stanley Tucci) did result in a bit of a makeover.

If there's only thing this film completely failed at, it was it's attempts of trying to make Anne Hathaway look dowdy before the character glow up. She's stunningly beautiful and Andrea had a chef boyfriend in Nate Cooper (Adrian Grenier) and an admirer in journalist Christian Thompson (Simon Baker). The latter in particular was rather helpful in getting Andrea a certain manuscript for her.

As the film progressed, there's a shift between Andrea and Miranda. Both women were more alike and while the latter could admit it, the former didn't seem like the idea. Saying that, Andrea made the right career decision and it was one that even Miranda respected her for making. Even Emily grew to grudgingly respect Andrea by the end of this movie.

- The film's based on a novel of the same name by Lauren Weisberger. That novel had two sequels to it.

- Andrea was run ragged trying to get the Harry Potter manuscript. A year after this movie came out, I remember the queue in my town for that book.

- There's some nice supporting performances from Tracie Thoms, Richard Sommer and Daniel Sunjata to name a few.

- Miranda's actually British in the book but American here. She's got twin daughters and was getting divorced towards the end of the movie.

- Standout music: Madonna's Vogue and Jump as well as KT Tunstall's Suddenly I See.

- Chronology: Andrea worked for Miranda for less than a year before changing to a new place.

The Devil Wears Prada easily could've veered too much into a parody of the brutality of the fashion industry but it hit the correct mark instead. Meryl Streep, Anne Hathaway, Emily Blunt and Stanley Tucci are all excellent. It's genuinely funny from start to finish.

Rating: 9 out of 10 

My Review of Wasteman (2026)

 

Written by Hunter Andrews And Eoin Doran

Directed by Cal McMau

Taylor: "I just want to see my boy again."

Last year I caught up with Starred Up, which I really enjoyed as a movie. I wanted to venture into another British prison themed movie and this recently came to my attention. I've also watched both leads in other things over the last few months.

First of all, there's David Jonsson. He's playing a man named Taylor, who's about to be paroled. Taylor's also got a fourteen year old son named Adam that he's never met. On top of that, Taylor's a drug addict who gets his stash from the likes of Gaz (Corin Silva) and Paul (Alex Hassell).

I should mention that Taylor's a barber too and seemingly the only one in the prison. That's relevant later in the movie as his new cellmate Dee (Tom Blyth) would want him to utilise those talents to take out the competition. Dee's the main problem here for everyone.

He's a problem for Gaz and Paul as Dee was muscling in on their drug trade. Dee suffered the consequences of trying to be the top dealer of the prison. Dee being beaten up also meant that Taylor bore the brunt of his attempts to take over the drug trade. Of course Dee also had to threaten Adam to get Taylor in line.

Throughout the movie, Taylor's a man that's been constantly pushed around and it made sense that his former partner didn't want him anywhere near Adam. I did think he was going to kill Gaz and Paul in order to protect his estranged son. The fact that he went for Dee instead was better.

Dee's not a remotely sympathetic character. There's no nuance or attempts to explain why he's the way he is. He did work well as an antagonist with Tom Blyth serving as a perfect counter to David Jonsson's more earnest Taylor. There's also something suitably karmic about Dee's ultimate comeuppance.

- The film got a BAFTA nomination for Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director, or Producer.

- This movie was the director debut for Cal McMau. 

- Standout music: Jamie XX's Kill Dem and A Guy Called Gerald's Voodoo Ray.

- Chronology: Taylor spent thirteen years in prison before getting his early release.

Wasteman (2026) was a movie that really relied on both David Jonsson and Tom Blyth to deliver, performance wise. Both of them easily did that. It's a strong, gritty enough prison drama and a promising debut from Cal McMau.

Rating: 7 out of 10 

My Review of Psycho Killer (2026)

Written by Andrew Kevin Walker

Directed by Gavin Polone

Satanic Slasher (to Jane): "What I hope to help you come to grips with. No matter how many times you replayed what happened, the outcome is inescapable."

If there's a contender for one of the worst horror movies of 2026, then I definitely think this will be on many a list. Once again, a good idea mired by some absolutely horrible execution.

There's a killer named The Satanic Slasher (James Preston Rogers). Hes also known as an infamous serial killer named Richard Joshua Reeves. Reeves had quite the reputation, including Satanism. Is this slasher Reeves or a copycat killer?

That was for Highway patrol officer Jane Archer (Georgina Campbell) to figure out. The death of her husband Mike at the start of the movie made things personal for her. Jane was determined to bring the Satanic Slasher to justice. Just about everyone else seemed more of a deterrent to her cause.

Of course Jane didn't let any doubters get in her way.  She was willing to cross States in order to get her killed and with a little help, she actually did track him down. There was also a scuffle between the two of them in a motel room and Jane also discovered that she was pregnant.

The pregnancy reveal added a little stakes into the mix and things led to a Satanic cult led by Mr Pendleton (Malcolm McDowell) and a final showdown at a prison where the Satanic Slasher literally wanted to open the gates. What should've been an exciting conclusion to this cross state event was a damp squib.

- The project had been in development since 2007. At one point, Fred Durst was poised to direct it.

- Georgina Campbell certainly seems to be a modern day horror queen. This movie was in theatres the same time as Cold Storage.

- Standout music: Cole Simon's Do You Dare.

- Chronology: Took place during 2007 in Kansas, Nebraska, Pennsylvania before ending in Death Valley, California.

Psycho Killer (2026) was such a disappointment for a movie. The idea was great and Georgina Campbell did the best she could but it's such a dire movie. Some okay kills but not enough to make this a worthwhile experience.

Rating: 4 out of 10 

My Review of Ready Or Not 2: Here I Come (2026)

 

Written by Guy Busick And R. Christopher Murphy

Directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin And Tyler Gillett

Faith (to Grace): "I'm really not used to people combusting all over me."

In 2019, Radio Silence gave audiences Ready Or Not with Samara Weaving as beleaguered bride Grace MacCaullay. It was a massive hit, which meant a sequel had to happen. I think the problem with this sequel might have been timing.

Perhaps it was too long between movies because I'm genuinely mystified as to why this follow up hasn't hit like the first one. Maybe it's also the fact that while this one added more mythology, it just didn't feel big enough for audiences to return for seconds. If you haven't seen it, you're missing out.

Anyways, Grace didn't have time to process the fact that the Le Domas family tried to kill her on her wedding. Nope, she ended up in hospital, was under suspicion of murder and then reunited with her younger sister, Faith (Kathryn Newton). Oh and both sisters are kind of mad with one another as well.

On top of all of that, both Grace and Faith ended up being kidnapped by the other families, whom like the La Domas clan are also under the same deal with Mr Le Bail (James Vanderbilt) as they were. Elijah Wood popped up as Le Bail's neutral party lawyer while also laying out the rules.

Grace and Faith had to be handcuffed and hunted by six families during another game of hide and seek. If they survive until dawn, they're free. If they don't, the winning family would be seated at the highest table and practically control the world. Needless to say the families in question were desperate to kill those sisters.

The most memorable family of course are Danfoth family. Homicidal twins Ursula (Sarah Michelle Gellar) and Titus (Shawn Hatosy). They're an absolutely brilliant counterpart to both Grace and Faith. While Grace and Faith's relationship gradually repaired as the movie went on, the exact opposite happened with Ursula and Titus. Oh and there was another wedding that wouldn't have looked out of place on Game Of Thrones.

The other families aren't as well developed but they do get some very funny and often brutal deaths. I had to laugh at the sheer incompetence of Ignacio El Caido (Nestor Carbonell) as well as his embittered daughter, Francesca (Maia Jae). The latter's unbridled hatred for Grace led to one of the best fight scenes in the movie and set to one hell of a song as well.

- The families fighting for survival were Danforth, Cing, Rajan, El Caido and Wilkinson. Kevin Durand played the head of the latter.

- The movie really upped the Satanism but while we got plenty of human deaths, the goat survived. Grace also got a black wedding dress during her near marriage to Titus.

- Originally the director pitched a different movie with sisters before this idea got made into this sequel.

- Grace's look is a homage to Buffy Summers. It was recently revealed that Kathryn Newton was going to be a part of Buffy The Vampire Slayer: New Sunnydale.

- Standout music: Bonnie Tyler's Total Eclipse Of The Heart.

- Chronology: Takes place from where the first movie left off. Grace and Faith are three years apart in age and hadn't seen each other in seven years.

I really wish this movie was doing better because Ready Or Not 2: Here I Come in my opinion turned out to be a great. A brilliant double act with Samara Weaving and Kathryn Newton, fun villains, more lore building and some batshit deaths. I had so much fun with this one.

Rating: 8 out of 10 

My Review of Sleepwalker (2026)

 

Written And Directed by Brandon Auman

Sarah: "I haven't sleepwalked since I was a kid but it's never been like this."

In another timeline, Hayden Panettiere would've been in Scream 7 but in this timeline however, she was in this tepid horror thriller that was a mash up of domestic family drama and not so well executed scares.

The movie started with frazzled separated mother, Sarah Pangborn (Panettiere). She had her son Holden (Laird LaCoste) but was coping with both her daughter Aimee (Corinne Sweeney) and estranged husband Michael (Justin Chatwin). Both are in a coma. Both are haunting Sarah's dreams.

In flashbacks we learned that Sarah and Michael had a volatile marriage with the former being abused by the latter. Sarah eventually decided to leave Michael and the latter retaliated by trying to take their children. This resulted in both Michael and Aimee being in comas.

As the movie went along, Sarah wanted to pull the plug on Michael and fell out with the latter's sister, Joelle (Mischa Barton). Sarah was also living with her mother, Gloria (Beverly D'Angelo) and succumbing to sleepwalking, which ended in the latter's death.

I'll be honest, the more this movie went on, the more exhausting and clichéd it got. We saw supporting characters die, Michael being an evil force, wanting to own Sarah even in death and then, the movie ended on a drab note.

- It's a remake of a 2024 short movie from the same writer/director.

- There's a use of medium character but she didn't make it out of the movie alive.

- Joelle was also seeing Michael in her dreams but the movie didn't do anything with it.

- Chronology: Present day America.

I wanted to like Sleepwalker (2026) but it's such a lifeless, dull slightly of a movie with everyone practically sleepwalking through the whole thing. Don't bother with this one.

Rating: 4 out of 10 

American Horror Story - Season 13 Begins/Updates On Other Projects

It's been a long time coming but Season 13 of American Horror Story finally has started production and it looks like we're re-entering some very familiar territory.

Ryan Murphy took to Instagram to announce the start of the new season filming with a candid shot of Jessica Lange. Going by this image, it's very likely that the veteran actress will be reprising her role as Constance Langdon from Murder House/Apocalypse. It's also possible she's playing a new character but I'm not confident at that being the case here.

I suspected the minute the cast (plus Ariana Grande) for Season 13 was announced back in October 2025 that we were getting a continuation from Coven/Apocalypse and Murphy further confirmed that by mentioning that Angela Bassett will be reprising her role of Marie Laveau for the new season. Sarah Paulson and Emma Roberts have been confirmed as Cordelia Goode and Madison Montgomery respectively.

I do have mixed feelings on this. After Delicate, do we really need another witch themed season right away? Especially if this isn't the last season for the show itself. A part of me was hoping for something brand new.

I'm also editing this blog entry as it's currently being rumoured by several fan accounts that Joey Pollari has been cast a male lead for the new season. The actor has already appeared in both Monster: The Ed Gein Story and The Beauty and if true, this will make his fourth collaboration with Ryan Murphy. He will also be in the upcoming Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story. No details as to whom he might be playing, though some have speculated it's an older version of a character introduced in Apocalypse. Also rumoured is cult director John Waters in an undisclosed role. Waters previously appeared in Feud: Bette And Joan.

As for other Ryan Murphy shows, given the viewing numbers for Love Story on FX/Hulu, I think a second season will definitely be happening. Both 9-1-1 shows will finish up their current seasons next month on ABC and have already been renewed. The Beauty ended on a cliffhanger and has yet to be renewed while the second season of All's Fair will begin production soon.

Then there's The Shards. Viewers can expect that to air on FX/Hulu during the summer while Netflix will release Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story around October. American Horror Stories is currently in limbo while there are no plans for either American Crime Story or Feud. As for the likes of Grotesquerie and American Sports Story, I think it's safe to assume both shows are unlikely to return for further seasons.

And that's a run down of the current Ryan Murphy shows. I'll update again when more information comes to light.

My Review of My Policeman (2022)

 

Written by Ron Nyswaner

Directed by Michael Grandage

Patrick: "There he was. I recognized him even from behind. That fine head. The unmistakable line of his shoulder. My policeman was magnificently alive in front of me."

In terms of movies I've left too long to actually review, this was another. In the time it's been released, I've watched/reviewed several gay themed movies and shows since. I've heard mixed things about this one.

This would be one of those movies in two different eras for it's three main characters. In the present day, Patrick Hazelwood (Rupert Everett) suffered a stroke and was being taken care of by his friend, Marion Taylor (Gina McKee). The latter's husband, Tom Burgess (Linus Roache) wasn't pleased about this.

In the past, we saw the younger versions of Marion and Tom, as played by Emma Corrin and Harry Styles meet and fall in love with one another. Then there was the younger version of Patrick, played by David Dawson. It didn't take long for things to become complicated for everyone.

Marion was a school teacher, Tom was a policeman and Patrick was a museum curator. As the three learned from each other, there was an affair brewing between Tom and Patrick. If I'm being pedantic, Tom was with Patrick before he decided to marry Marion. Tom also wanted to keep seeing Patrick, which didn't end well for anyone.

Yes, Marion found out about the affair and reported Patrick to the police. Patrick went to jail and Marion's marriage to Tom was never the same again. The fact that Marion in the present day chose to look after Patrick stemmed from guilt. It also led to her having the most honest conversation she ever had with Tom.

As with these period movies for gay men, there's a lot of angst and consequences of discovery but this one managed to end on a positive note. Marion left Tom and Patrick and the latter two finally held hands. I'll admit that little moment actually got to me and it's informed my rating for this movie too.

- Ron Nyswaner who wrote the script would go on to create the Showtime miniseries, Fellow Travellers. I've reviewed all of that on this blog.

- The movie's based on a 2012 book of the same name and of a relationship between writer E.M. Forster and Bob Buckingham. The latter was a married policeman.

- Standout music: Dean Martin's Memories Are Made Of This.

- Chronology: Present day in Peacehaven but the flashbacks started in 1957 Brighton.

I got to admit that I really like My Policeman as a movie. While it certainly felt familiar, I do think the central performances from both group of actors in both time settings genuinely worked. That ending also gave it an extra point for me.

Rating: 7 out of 10 

My Review of Bent (1997)

Written by Martin Sherman

Directed by Sean Mathias

Max: "I love you... What's wrong with that?"

I'll admit that seeing a random gif on X/Twitter might have motivated me into watching this movie. I had vaugely heard of it but had never seen it until yesterday.

We've had a lot of movies in this specific genre but not many that have focused on the persecution of gay men during the rise of Nazism in Germany at the time. This movie centred on a gay man named Max (Clive Owen).

Max's been living in Berlin, had a boyfriend named Rudy (Brian Webber II) but a sexual encounter with Wolf (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) would be the ruin for both of them. It turned out that Wolf was a Sturmabteilung man and SS men killed him as both Max and Rudy tried to flee for their lives.

While Max had some connection through a wealthy uncle named Freddie (Ian McKellen), it was his refusal to abandon Rudy that resulted in the two of them being arrested by the Gestapo. Worse than that, Max was forced to kill his boyfriend while also concealing his own sexuality.

Max being in denial about his sexuality didn't shield him that much in the concentration camp he ended up, which was Dachau. He was still horribly treated by the Nazis and it seemed clear in some scenes that they were well aware that he was actually gay.  The way they would make him witness a particular death drove that point home.

The second half of the movie explored a relationship of sorts between Max and fellow prisoner, Horst (Lothaire Bluteau). It was a relationship that was intimate without physical touching and Horst's brutal death saw Max take his own life. It's a heartbreaking final moment.

- This movie also featured Mick Jagger, Paul Brittany, Jude Law and Rachel Weisz in prominent roles.

- Based on the 1979 play of the same name by Martin Sherman, who wrote the script for the movie.

- Standout music: Mick Jagger's Streets Of Berlin.

- Chronology: 1934, Germany and taking in the events of the Night of the Long Knives.

Bent (1997) for obvious reasons doesn't make for an easy watch. There's excellent performances throughout, notably from Clive Owen. This movie definitely saw one of his best work with Max being one hell of a character to watch. 

Rating: 8 out of 10 

Doctor Who News - Missing Episodes Recovered And Other Bits

It's been a while since I've done a Doctor Who related blog. Actually, I think this might be the first one this year.

Let's start things off on a positive note first. There was the recent news of two more missing episodes being recovered. Those episodes were The Nightmare Begins and Devil's Planet from The Daleks Master Plan. This now means that there's 95 episodes from the classic era that are still missing. These recovered episodes are now available to watch on BBC iPlayer. I watched both of them last night and it made me happy to have seen them properly for the first time. Here's to more missing episodes getting recovered.

Now on to more frustrating things. 

Christmas 2026. Six months since a special was announced, we are still none the wiser as to what the hell is going on with it. Aside from Russell T. Davies causing more division among fans with his poor choice of sound bites (love RTD but he's not helping himself these days), both him and the BBC have given us little to work with. 

If the special is going to be a David Tennant and Billie Piper led one and it looks like it will be, then it could be a while before filming commences as both are filming upcoming seasons of Time and Wednesday respectively.

That's assuming it's this particular pair leading the upcoming special. Surely, we're due some actual news on the special within the next few weeks? 

Last but not least but what the hell is going on with The War Between The Land And The Sea? It's been nearly four months since it's debut on BBC1 and Disney+ have yet to release it to international audiences. In fact, at this point it's starting to look less and less likely they'll even bother with this show. 

After publicly cutting ties with the main show itself, are Disney+ going to bother releasing a spin off to it? I don't think they will. In fact, I'm surprised they just didn't dump it all at once during the start of the year. If you still haven't seen it, you might have to find other methods in order to watch the show.

Hopefully my next blog in relation to the show will be something more telling about it's actual future.

Scream 8 Finds It's Writers

This was announced a few days ago and I was meaning to get around to it, but yes - Scream continues to be the franchise that will make more movies.

Following the success of Scream 7 (currently in at $204.9 million and now available on digital), an eighth instalment of the popular horror is in the works. Penning the script for the movie are Nora and Lillla Zuckerman. Both have worked on the Peacock show Poker Face, which ran for two seasons. They also recently worked on the pilot for Buffy The Vampire Slayer: New Sunnydale, which Hulu chose not to pick up.

The film, which is in development with Paramount and Spyglass have no director confirmed as of now. It seems going by recent reports that Kevin Williamson will not return to direct while no cast members as of now haven't been confirmed.

So, I'm doing a list of things that I'd like to see in Scream 8.

• Returning cast should just be Sidney (Neve Campbell), Gale (Courtney Cox), Tatum (Isabel May) and Mark (Joel McHale)
• Perhaps have Robbie Rogers (Mark Consuelos) as an opening kill.
• Eight to ten new cast members. Two of them filling in as Ghostface. At least one new character surviving for a potential ninth movie.
• Ghostface motive to be better fleshed out and for them to interact with main cast a lot in the movie.
• All the new characters to be better fleshed out, including a new friendship group and love interest for Tatum.

Honestly, that's it. As news materialises for the movie, I'll report it here. 

My Review of This Is Not A Test (2026)

 

Written And Directed by Adam MacDonald 

Rhys (to everyone): "Never have I ever survived a zombie invasion."

Keeping with the horror for this year, I went for something on the zombie side of things. Not really my favourite subgenre within the horror space and this movie wouldn't be one to convert me either.

The movie started off like a grim family drama with a young girl named Sloane Price (Olivia Holt) about to attempt suicide in the bathtub. She doesn't go through with it but an altercation with her father (Jeff Roop) showed him to be an abusive scumbag towards her.

There's flashbacks peppered throughout the movie that showed Sloane's older sister, Lily (Joelle Farrow) being no longer able to tolerate their father and leaving. Lily promised to come back and get Sloane. It's not a promise that she's able to keep and their eventual reunion would be horrifying for both of them.

Anyways the film itself revolved around an outbreak with most of the town being infected. Sloane's dad didn't last long and Sloane ended up going to her highschool for sanctuary and also teamed up with fellow students. Those included boyfriend of sorts, Rhys Moreno (Froy Gutierrez), brother and sister duo Trace (Carson MacCormac) and Grace Casper (Chloe Avakian) and bad boy Cary Chen (Corteon Moore).

As a group, they're not exactly a united front and the discovery of their teacher Mr. Baxter (Luke Macfarlane) brought out their worst and then the death of Grace further splintered the group. Throw in a subplot where Lily was apparently in a safe area and things really ended on a tragic family note for Sloane and a bittersweet note overall.

- This book is based on Courtney Summers 2012 young adult novel of the same name.

- At one point in the movie, Sloane catches Grace and Cary hooking up before Grace died.

- Standout music: Orbital's Halycon and On and On.

- Chronology: December 12th 1998.

This Is Not A Test (2026) made for a rather middle of the road zombie film. There's decent chemistry with the main cast but it's very plodding in parts and generally a bit dull.

Rating: 5 out of 10 

My Review of Pretty Lethal (2026)

 

Written by Kate Freund

Directed by Vicki Jewson

Bones: "These guys are drunk and out of shape, and we're prima fucking ballerinas."

Was anyone in the mood for a ballet meets Hostel (sort of) themed movie? Well, Amazon Prime recently served up something in that regard and it's kind of a mixed bag. Partly entertaining and very much ridiculous but here we are.

You've got a ballet troupe comprising of Bones (Maddie Ziegler), Zoe (Iris Apatow) and her sister, Chloe (Millicent Simmonds), Grace (Avantika) and Princess (Lana Condor). For the most part, they're a troupe that were largely at odds with one another until the movie needed them to step up or get killed.

They're mostly kept in line by their dance instructor Thorna Davenport (Lydia Leonard) but upon entering the wrong hotel owned by Devora Kasimer (Uma Thurman). Let's just say that it didn't take long for all hell to break loose or for Thorna to be shot in the head. From this point onwards, it just got more and more violent.

Every man in this movie, including characters such as Pasha (Tamás Szabó Sipos), Lothar (Michael Culkin), Doktor (Gábor Nagypál) and Yuri (Julian Krenn) etc would be revealed to be a violent would be rapist and general misogynist. Because of this, the ballerinas had to put their many differences to one side and work together to make it out of the movie alive.

I'll admit the characters themselves are likable enough if not the most well drawn out. Bones somewhat became the defacto leader of the group and almost lost her leg when it turned out that Devora was a former ballerina missing a leg. Much as I love Uma Thurman as an actor, her European accent tended to verge on parody at times here.

The movie itself though did have some fun in the way the girls used their ballet skills to actually fight back against their oppressors. I'll give the movie points for some incentive enough scenes there before Devora's act of extremism took care of a bigger threat. 

- The film was originally titled Ballerina Overdrive. Lena Headey was attached at one point to star in it.

- Kate Freund played Sona, a character who ended switching sides by the third act.

- Standout music: Snap! Rhythm Is A Dancer (Ballerina Remix).

- Chronology: Present day Los Angeles at the start with the majority of the movie set in Budapest. 

As I said at the start of this review, I found Pretty Lethal to be mostly entertaining but it's also a bit messy too. Overall, it's decent enough with a few incentive moments of violence and team work. It won't be the best thing you watch this year but neither will it be the worst either.

Rating: 6 out of 10 

DCU Blog - March 2026 Edition: Supergirl Promo, Lanterns Trailer And More

We're a quarter into 2026 and the DC news has been a little sparse but we did get some good bits this month.

Later today will see the release of a new trailer for Supergirl (June 26th). David Corenswet's Superman is confirmed to feature in it. Claudia Sarne is now the composer.

Filming for Man Of Tomorrow (July 9th 2027) will begin in three weeks in Atlanta, Georgia. 

Aaron Pierre will reprise his role as John Stewart in Man Of Tomorrow. An actress has also been rumoured to play Maxima in the movie. Eva de Dominic is the rumoured actress.

Paramount's deal to acquire Warner Brothers will be decided next month. It might not even happen.

Robert Pattinson has talked about The Batman - Part II (October 1st 2027) taking some big swings. Filming will start during the end of May in the UK.

Ruby Sear has been cast in an undisclosed role for Clayface (October 23rd). A trailer is likely to appear at CinemaCon next month. The WB panel will be on April 14th from 4.30pm to 6.30pm.

Phil Lord and Chris Miller have written a movie for The Flash for the DCU but it hasn't been picked up.

Peacemaker won Best Superhero TV Series at the Saturn Awards.

The first trailer for HBO's Lanterns was released. The show will air from August on the cable channel.

Fans of the Absolute Batman series will be seeing Two Face in an upcoming issue while Absolute Wonder Woman will debut a new Cheetah in the next arc.

David Jenkins has confirmed once again that he's still the show runner for the upcoming Booster Gold show.

Superman worldwide collection now stands at $624.3 million.

A casting announcement for the Mister Miracle animated show from Tom King is on the way. It'll air on HBO Max.

The Jimmy Olsen show will be a crime mystery comedy according to co-showrunner Dan Perrault.

Freddie Stroma has confirmed that he doesn't know when he'll return as Vigilante in the DCU.

The 2026 DC Pride will be released in June and will factor in a Justice League: Dream Girls event. June will also see the release of the Dark Knights Of Steel sequel series.

That's your lot for this month. Bigger things on the way for DC no doubt.

My Review of Superman/Batman: Apocalypse (2010)

 

Written by Tab Murphy

Directed by Lauren Montgomery 

Kara: "Little nervous, I guess. It's just, you have this life. You can be Clark, or Kal-El, or Superman. Even a son. Who am I going to be?"

Clark: "I can't answer that, Kara. Only you can. Whatever you decide, I'll be there for you. I promise."

Yesterday I reviewed Superman/Batman: Public Enemies, so of course the follow up was going to be next. Though I should say this movie was more focused on Supergirl (Summer Glau) and that's not a bad thing.

Supergirl's ship crash landed in Gotham City River and she caused a commotion in the city until Batman (Kevin Conroy) managed to detain her and Superman (Tim Daly) made his presence known to her. Not surprising was Superman being nicer to his cousin than Batman himself.

In the first half of the movie, Kara struggled with controlling her powers, was at odds with both Batman and Krypto, embraced certain aspects of posing as a human girl and even was overwhelmed with how Superman was seen by the public. Then the Amazons led by Wonder Woman (Susan Eisenberg) felt she needed better training.

Sending Kara to Themyscira was the wisest move. She was starting to get her powers under control and even befriended Lyla/Harbinger (Rachel Quaintance). The latter had visions of Kara being in danger and sure enough, Darkseid (Andre Braugher) being interested in a new captain for his Furies made that clear.

The second half of this movie definitely was the highlight. We had Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman join up with Big Barda (Julianne Grossman) to rescue Kara from Apokolips. There's a great battle with Wonder Woman and Big Barda having to take on the likes of Granny Goodness (Ed Asner), Gilotina/Mad Harriet (Salli Saffioti), Stompa (Andrea Romano) and Lashina (Tara Strong). It's a rather brutal sequence.

Also brutal was Batman finding a way into manipulating Darkseid to relinquish his hols on Kara while the latter temporarily went against her cousin. Add a follow up battle with super cousins and Kara realised exactly what her destiny was supposed to be.

- Lex has officially been impeached and Gotham had security blimps flying over the city.

- Artemis went from being annoyed with Superman to having some respect for him during the fight with the Doomsday clones.

- We heard Vicki Vale, saw the Mister Miracle costume and Treasure was quickly defeated by the Furies.

- Chronology: Gotham City, Metropolis, Krypton, Apokolips, Themyscira and Smallville.

Superman/Batman: Apocalypse was even better than the previous movie. The focus on Supergirl was a good move for this sequel and Darkseid/Furies were also used really well. I really enjoyed this sequel.

Rating: 8 out of 10 

My Review of Superman/Batman: Public Enemies (2009)

 

Written by Stan Berkowitz

Directed by Sam Liu

Superman: "Why is it that good villains never die?"

Batman: "Clark, what the hell are good villains?"

A while ago, I watched the Superman/Batman animated movies based on the comic of the same name. I went back to see them again just to review them for this blog. These are good movies.

Focusing a lot on Lex Luthor (Clancy Brown), this film saw the guy not only becoming president but he also seemed to have several superheroes under his thumb. Except for Superman (Tim Daly) and Batman (Kevin Conroy) but Lex had a plan for that.

With a meteor set to hit the Earth, Lex didn't want Superman saving the day and he also didn't take kindly to Amanda Waller (CCG Pounder) giving advice on using the superheroes he did have under his control. In fact, Lex was behaving erratically until it was revealed that he was injecting himself with Kryptonite.

Anyways Superman was made to look like he was responsible for the death of Metallo (John C. McGinley) but it was really Major Force (Ricardo Chavira) who did the deed. That reveal did manage to get the likes of Power Girl (Allison Mack), Captain Atom (Xander Berkeley), Starfire (Jennifer Hale) and Black Lightning (LeVar Burton) back on the good guys side.

Actually there's a lot of heroes and villains flying about the place as Lex put a billion dollar bounty on Superman. We even got both Hawkman (Michael Gough) and Shazam (Corey Burton) in fights with Superman and Batman before the tables were turned on Lex. Toyman (Calvin Tran) even tried to be a force for good before Led almost ruined everything.

There's a pretty big fight between Superman and Lex Luthor with the former having lost ant patience towards the latter while Batman nearly sacrificed himself to stop the meteor. As for Lex, well it's safe to say that his presidency came to an abrupt ending by the end of this movie.

- Villains that popped up included Killer Frost, Silver Banshee, Gorilla Grodd, Solomon Grundy, Mongul, Deadshot, Nightshade, Lady Shiva, Giganta and Captain Cold. There's a lot more in the mix.

- Both Lois Lane and Katana had brief appearances as well and Superman referenced already having a funeral.

- There's a follow up movie titled Superman/Batman: Apocalypse that'll be reviewed tomorrow.

- Chronology: Present day during a severe economic depression. Citizens were looting at one point in the movie.

Superman/Batman: Public Enemies turned out to be a strong adaptation of the source with a few changes that worked in its favour. A strong team up with the title characters and a pretty despicable Lex Luthor to boot.

Rating: 8 out of 10 

My Review of How To Make A Killing (2026)

 

Written And Directed by John Patton Ford

Julia: "Whatever happened to the Redfellow family fortune?"

Beckett: "Oh, I'll inherit it someday."

Glen Powell does seem to be having something of a time with getting out a hit movie these days. Is he making the wrong choices? Is every movie he's chosen in recent times a bad one? Or do we live in an era where no actor has consistent hits these days?

I think with this particular movie, it might have been one of his more interesting roles. He's playing a man named Beckett Redfellow, who began this movie on death row talking to a priest (Adrian Lukis) about the events that led to his current situation.

It turned out that Beckett came from an incredibly wealthy background but his mother Mary (Nell Williams) was cut off of sorts by his grandfather, Whitelaw (Ed Harris) for being pregnant with him. Mary dying early in the movie however gave Beckett a sense of direction.

Beckett intended to get his family fortune and in order to do that, he was going to kill his way up to the top of the ladder. This resulted in some rather cool deaths for not so sympathetic Redfellows such as Taylor (Raff Law), Noah (Zach Woods), Steven (Topher Grace), Cassandra (Bianca Amato), and MacArthur (Alexander Hanson).

There was seven members to kill but Beckett had a hard time killing his uncle Warren (Bill Camp) but the latter had given him a job and showed genuine kindness to him. Fortunately for Beckett, a heart attack took Warren out of the mix but Beckett's killing spree was causing him a lot of problems.

It got in the way of his relationship with Ruth (Jessica Henwick) and it made him a blackmail target for former friend, Julia (Margaret Qualley). The way this movie ended did confirm that it was a tragedy but not quite the way that Beckett intended.

- The script had been on a Black List since 2014 under a different title before it got made.

- It's also loosely based on the 1949 film, Kind Hearts And Coronets.

- Standout music: Lincoln Chase's The Clapping Song.

- Chronology: Predominantly set in New York but Beckett also lived in New Jersey for most of his life.

I actually found myself enjoying How To Make A Killing. It might be one of the better choices that Glen Powell made and he's pretty good as a bumbling murderer. I definitely would recommend giving this one a chance.

Rating: 7 out of 10 

My Review of Vicious (2025)

 

Written And Directed by Bryan Bertino

The Woman (to Polly): "You're going to die tonight."

I got to be honest, I just picked watching this movie at random. I didn't even know it existed prior to clicking into it. It was a random choice and something of an uneven experience.

I do like Dakota Fanning as an actor and here she's playing a directionless woman named Polly. She's stuck in a dead end job, appears to be rather miserable and an encounter from a strange old woman (Kathryn Hunter) only made things a lot worse.

The woman in question left Polly a box. This box had to be filled with the things or Polly would die. It took Polly a little moment to believe what the woman was telling her to be true. The things that needed to get in the box were something she hated, something she needed and something she loved.

Trying to get help from the neighbours was a bust because most of them ignored Polly and the only one who answered the door ended up dismissing Polly. Oh, did I mention the box had an entity that needed those things? That's kind of important to this story.

As the movie went along, the gore quotient escalated with Polly cutting off toes and fingers to appease the damn thing. Polly even was motivated into visiting her sister, Lainie (Rachel Blanchard) and niece, Aly (Emily Mitchell) to order to get a lock of the latter's hair for the box.

Things moved at a chaotic pace with this film. There was a neighbour named Tara (Devyn Nekoda) who kind of provided a solution to Polly's problem, although the latter felt guilty about it. Yup, that box will be dooming the whole neighbourhood.

- Polly received a creepy phone call from her dead mother (Mary McCormack) at one point in the movie.

- The movie was originally slated for a theatrical release before going to Paramount+ instead.

- Standout music: The Mamas And The Papas Dedicated To The One I Love.

- Chronology: Present day, Christmas setting in an American neighborhood.

Vicious (2025) had an interesting premise and suitable goes moments and even solid performances from Dakota Fanning and Kathryn Hunter but it's not a great movie. I wish it were but I'm not surprised it was pulled from theatres and went to Paramount+ instead. Not the worst I've seen but disappointing.

Rating: 5 out of 10 

HBO Max - UK & Ireland Launch Today

Today's the day. After nearly six years since it's initial launch in 2020, HBO Max has finally become available to the UK and Ireland and it's not a moment too soon.

In London there was a press launch with cast members from shows such The Pitt, Rooster, The Comeback, The Last Of Us, House Of The Dragon and A Kight Of The Seven Kingdoms to name but a few. The first show in particular will now finally and legally be accessible to UK and Irish audiences as the HBO Max app will be apart of the Sky and Now TV packages. I do think I'm overdue in watching this.

HBO Max offers a range of stuff including everything from HBO itself, classic WB TV shows such as Friends, TNT Sports and for my personal enjoyment, access to the DC Universe. Yes, that'll include various movies, including Zack Snyder's Justice League as well as shows such Peacemaker, The Penguin and the upcoming Lanterns. Sky/Now TV have aired these shows but they are now on the HBO Max app.

Then there's the biggest promotion for HBO Max itself. Yesterday saw the trailer for the Harry Potter TV show released. Titled Harry Potter And The Philosopher's Stone, the first season of course will adapt the first book from JK Rowling's beloved books (it's what the trailer said). Of course there's controversy afoot. Many don't want to watch the show because JK's views on trans issues (spoiler alert: not gonna defend JK here) and others are more divided on the casting choices (particularly Snape) or feel it's too soon for a TV series when the movies are still fresh to a lot of audiences.

Now I do think these are important factors but at the same time, there's no getting away from the fact that the show was trending all day yesterday on social media, including positive responses among the mixed and negative ones. I think this show will end up being a huge hit for HBO and releasing it weekly from Christmas 2026 onwards is definitely smart, marketing wise. Also as we've seen in recent times, online boycotting rarely works and I don't think it will with this show either.

HBO Max is now available as an app or part of your Sky and Now TV packages.

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 Alli).
• 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/Phillip 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.