My Review of Heated Rivalry: "Hunter"

 

Written And Directed by Jacob Tierney 

Scott (to Kip): "I want you more than I've wanted anything in a long time."

I have to admit the secrecy surrounding this episode was absolutely amusing. I mean why did they hold off on revealing the title when most knew that Scott Hunter (Francois Arnaud) was going to be the main focus? It did seem a bit silly.

As for the episode, oh I absolutely enjoyed this one immensely. While it might have been a bit jarring to bench both Shane and Ilya so soon, everything that happened with Scott made me not miss them as much as i thought I would.

I think we all clocked Scott being gay in the first two episodes and he certainly clocked Shane and Ilya as well. This episode confirmed Scott to be gay and focused on his relationship with lovely smoothie barista Kip Grady (Robbie G.K.). I think I might ship Scott/Kip more than Shane/Ilya if I'm being honest.

Francois Arnaud and Robbie G.K. just have such great chemistry with one another and while their story did hit the usual tropes, I didn't care. Bonding over a smoothie choice, nesting about serial killers and asking to stay. Everything just hit beautifully with the two, even though the reality of Scott being closeted was in the background and waiting to split them up.

Kip had a nice support system. His friends Shawn (Brandon Ash-Mohammed) and Elena (Nadine Bhabha) certainly had Kip's back with Nadine giving Scott a bit of a reality check. Then there's Kip's father, George (Matt Gordon), who also had Kip's back when he needed.

As for Scott, I do think the episode provided a sympathetic reason for him being unable to come out. Book fans know it's coming and non book fans would've reduced. We did learn about Scott's family tragedy and how hockey saved him. We also saw the post break up regret he had too.  All of which was played beautifully. 

- Kip worked at Straw+Berry and it was his Blueberry and Banana Smoothie that won Scott over.

- Scott admitted to being too lazy to be a serial killer but knew the difference between that and a spree killer.

- We did briefly see both Shane and Ilya. Both of them got on Scott's nerves this week.

- Chronology: October 2013 to February 2014, focusing on the Scott/Kip relationship.

Hunter was an excellent third episode. I can understand why some might have been disappointed with Shane/Ilya being sidelined but I absolutely loved the focus on Scott/Kip that I wanted more from the pairing.

Rating: 8 out of 10 

My Review of A Night Like This (2025)

 

Written by Diego Scerrati

Directed by Liam Calvert

Lukas (to Oliver): "We all look for signs and we all want to believe the bad things happen for a reason."

I held watching this movie off for this month because I read that it had a Christmas setting. It does by the way but it's mostly in the background as the focus was on two very different men forming a connection on a winter's night.

The men in question couldn't be any more different to one another. There was struggling German gay actor Lukas (Jack Brett Anderson). He was on the verge of ending everything until he happened to bump into the rather talkative and privileged Oliver (Alexander Lincoln). Like I said, two very different men.

Oliver initially stole Lukas's pint and then repaid him with a drink while talking about his failing club, Delirio. Oliver's father had also died and he hated his stepmother. Lukas talked about an audition he had as well as needing to head into his coffee house job in the morning. Both men were not entirely honest with one another.

They weren't totally dishonest but there were bits to their respective stories that unfolded the more time they spent with each other. This time included a sing song at a failing Country Music club ran by John (David Bradley) and his daughter Emma (Beth Rylance). There's a plot involving Oliver's aspirations for music that are nicely explored throughout the movie.

On top of that, there's also the inclusion of teenage tearaway Daniel (Jimmy Ericson). He's an amusing foil for both Oliver and Daniel. He stole from the former and made homophobic remarks to the latter but got his chance to redeem before the movie concluded. Also for a rather immature character, he did manage to give Oliver some good advice.

Now, this film tried to conduct an experiment where Oliver and Lukas would spend until 8am to see if there was a real connection between. There were definitely moments where they clashed over revelations about each other and moments where they really did have a connection. The movie itself ended on a rather positive note.

- The original title for this movie was On A Winter's Night. I liked that title more tbh.

- The Tremors movies are referenced a lot with Lukas only liking the first two and thanks to this movie, I know what the word "apofenia" means. 

- Standout music: Alexander Lincoln to his credit does have a nice singing voice. Fairytales And Lullabies, anyone?

- Chronology: Christmas time in London. Lukas has lived in the UK for a couple of years.

A Night Like This won't sate those who were hoping for something a bit more steamy than kissing but it's a nice movie. I think both Jack Brett Anderson and Alexander Lincoln do a very nice job in making their characters pull towards one another very believable.

Rating: 7 out of 10 

My Review of Jack Frost (1998)

 

Written by Mark Steven Johnson And Steve Bloom And Jonathan Roberts And Jeff Cesario

Directed by Troy Miller

Charlie: "You the man!"

Jack: "NO, I'm the SNOWMAN!"

Confession time: I have never watched this movie in full until this week. I know, it took twenty seven years but better late than never, right? I'm a Michael Keaton fan and this was one of his most interesting performances he's given in his lengthy career.

In this movie he played the lead in a rock band. His name was Jack Frost. He's portrayed to be an absent presence for his wife Gabby (Kelly Preston) and son Charlie (Joseph Cross), although he clearly loved both of them. Jack's also involved in an accident early in the movie and died. Only he didn't stay dead.

Nope, a year passed and for some reason, Jack ended up becoming a sentient snowman and it wasn't long until he reunited with Charlie. I have to say that I did love that Charlie took a little bit of time to believe that his father was now a snowman.

Of course, Gabby and Charlie's friend, Mac MacArthur (Mark Addy) but as a counterpoint, I also loved that Jack as a snowman freaked out ice hockey coach Sid Gronic (Henry Rollins). I also loved that Charlie's rival/bully of sorts, Rory Buck (Taylor Handley) actually stepped up to help Charlie and Jack when the latter was in danger of melting away.

The last act though was a little rushed. I wish that we had more time with Jack and Gabby being reunited before the former faded away. Saying that, it's a nice, sentimental and sweet ending to this movie. 

- John Travolta was originally considered for the title role as were many other actors before Michael Keaton was cast.

- There's a horror movie of the same title that came out a year before this one.

- Standout music: Hanson's Gimme Some Lovin' and Merry Christmas Baby as well as Spice Girls Sleigh Ride and The Jack Frost Band's Have A Little Faith.

- Chronology: The movie's set in Medford, Colorado with a year between Jack's death and return as a snowman.

Jack Frost might be more cult classic (though not at the time of its release) than a straight up classic. I do like it and I thought Michael Keaton did a great job in the title role. I have a soft spot for this one.

Rating: 7 out of 10 

Justice League Unlimited - Episodes 21-25 Reviews

In this batch of episodes, there's trouble for both Hawkgirl and The Question. Meanwhile, the Cadmus arc came to a head.

Episode 21: Hunter's Moon

One of the great things about this show would be the fact that Hawkgirl's betrayal of the Justice League continued to have consequences. This time it was a rogue group of Thanagarians who were determined to get even with her. Another great thing about this episode was Hawkgirl being paired with Vigilante and Vixen while also discussing John Stewart with the latter. Not surprised that Hawkgirl's still got feelings for John. 7/10

Episode 22: Question Authority

Now it's time for some focus on the Question. He confronted Superman about the Justice Lord timeline and believed it was going to happen in this timeline too. The Question also ended up being captured and tortured by Lex Luthor. Question being the distressed dude was a good way of bringing Huntress out as she was the one who rescued him. There's also a subplot with Captain Atom and General Eiling with Mantis as an opening fight scene. 7/10

Episode 23: Flashpoint

The start of the end of the Cadmus arc. Not to be confused with a certain popular DC Comics arc. There's a fight scene with Superman and Captain Atom along with Lex causing absolute mayhem with Cadmus. You had scenes with both Green Arrow and The Flash having to deal with public backlash along with Amanda Waller recruiting Galactea to attack the Watchtower with Ultimen clones. A very good start to ending this arc. 7/10

Episode 24: Panic In The Sky

The middle part of this arc had a pretty great fight scene with Supergirl and Galactea with the former really getting under the latter's skin. There's some great scenes with Batman and Amanda Waller as the pair realised that Lex was responsible for everything that's been happening. The episode ended on the best cliffhanger with Lex having Brainiac emerging from inside him. A brilliant way to lead into the last part of this arc. 8/10

Episode 25: Divided We Fall

This felt like a series finale to me and honestly, it could have been. It tied up the Cadmus arc nicely, forged an uneasy alliance between the Justice League and Amanda Waller and also saw changes being promised with the League moving forward. It was a perfect place to end the show along with Lex/Brainiac's defeat but there's fourteen more episodes to go. 8/10

Next blog I'll tackle Epilogue, I Am Legion, Shadow Of The Hawk, Chaos At The Earth's Core and To Another Shore.

My Review of It - Welcome To Derry: "In The Name Of The Father"

 

Written by Jason Fuchs And Cord Jefferson And Brad Caleb Kane

Directed by Jamie Travis

Pennywise: "Hello Mabel. You finally came and you brought a friend."

Ingrid: "Papa?"

Well, gotta admit, I didn't see that coming. Ingrid Kirsch really did turn out to be a woman of many secrets. Last week, there was the reveal that she was sleeping with Hank but that now seemed like small potatoes compared to what happened here.

A flashback to 1935 in Juniper Hill revealed that Ingrid used a young girl named Mabel in order to summon Pennywise. Granted while it wasn't Ingrid's intention for Mabel to be harmed, that's exactly what ended up happening. Why was Ingrid so desperate to get Pennywise's attention?

It turned out that Ingrid was convinced that Pennywise was her father who disappeared when she was a girl. Her father was part of a circus act as was Ingrid herself and she's convinced herself about the truth of Pennywise's real identity. Of course, it got better/worse, depending on perspective here.

In the worse category, this meant that Ingrid had effectively betrayed Lilly and put the latter and her friends in danger. Ingrid was the clown at the graveyard and she did a horrible job of trying to get her side of the story across to Lilly. Needless to say Lilly's reaction to this news was an expected one.

As for the rest of the Losers, we had both Lilly and Ronnie fall out big time with Will, Marge and Rich caught in the middle of them both. On the plus side, Ronnie did get a reunion with Hank but then things took a turn for the worst with Bowers by the end of the episode. Saying that, it was expected.

Last but not least, Leroy well and truly messed up with this episode. His slapping of Will was a shocker that even Charlotte ended up packing her bags. Things with him and Hallorann weren't exactly great. Hallorann in particular was pretty snappy this week. 

- Ingrid went by Periwinkle in her own clown costume. Cool name for a sidekick.

- Rich and Marge got closer as did Will and Ronnie. Lilly was the most isolated member of the group.

- I liked the use of black and white during the Ingrid flashbacks. Marge also standing up to the Pattycakes was a nice moment.

- Chronology: From where the previous episode left off and 1935 flashbacks. Nice set up for Season 2 there.

In The Name Of The Father was a very strong episode. Madeleine Stowe and Chris Chalk gave the best performances but again, this show's casting has been so strong and the new layers with Pennywise are great.

Rating: 8 out of 10 

My Review of The Death Of Bunny Munro (2025, Sky TV Series)

 

Written by Pete Jackson 

Directed by Isabella Eklöf

Bunny: "You won't catch Bunny Munro."

Ah, Matt Smith. When it comes to television shows, his instincts tend to be the strongest in ending up in projects that play o his strengths as an actor. We've seen that with Doctor Who, The Crown, House Of The Dragon and now this six part miniseries.

Based on a book from Nick Cave of the same time, The Death Of Bunny Munro had Smith playing the titular character. Bunny's a misogynistic ageing lothario/salesman with a wife named Libby (Sarah Greene) and a son named Bunny Junior (Rafael Mathé). Bunny's not done right by either one of them.

In fact the show opened with Bunny cheating on Libby and not for the first time. Only this time, Libby killed herself and would appear to both her husband and son via flashbacks and dream sequences. Libby's death naturally had consequences for Bunny. Mostly because he had to deal with the continuing threat of social services taking his son for him.

As a character, Bunny doesn't deal with anything particularly well. He continued to sleep with women after Libby's death and even lost of his few friends, Poodle (Johann Myers) as a result. On top of that, Bunny's sales skills were clearly on the decline.

There's moments in the show when his sales patter really faltered. An encounter with Charlotte Parnovar (Elizabeth Bennington) had Bunny ripped to pieces as a character. Bunny retaliated by wrecking the woman's house. There's another encounter with an elderly woman that's almost played for laughs.

Another component of this series was the reports of a serial killer looming in the background. The show ended with Bunny being killed, which wasn't shocking given how destructive he was throughout the show. A minor quibble but I do wish they had fleshed that side story a bit better in between the devolving dynamic between Bunny and his son.

- Episode titles were Family Man, Salesman, Cocksman, Con Man, Dead Man and Showman.

- There's some nice support roles from Lindsay Duncan and David Threlfall. The former played Libby's mother and the latter played Bunny's father. Robert Glenister also appeared as Bunny's boss, Geoffrey.

- Standout music: Nick Cave sang the theme tune and guest starred in the finale.

- Chronology: 2003 Sussex.

The Death Of Bunny Munro really did further highlight how underrated an actor Matt Smith truly is. Bunny Munro might not be the most sympathetic of lead characters but Smith drew a lot of sympathy for an ultimately tragic character. A great miniseries.

Rating: 8 out of 10 

DCU Blog - November 2025 Edition: Super Family Expands, CCXP Time

Into the penultimate round up of DC news for the month and it's certainly circling around one particular part of the DC Universe.

James Gunn continues to give some brief hints on Man Of Tomorrow (July 9th 2027). Though not officially confirmed, it does appear that Brainiac will be the main villain for this follow up.

Superman (2025) however has made over $100 million in profit, including home releases as well. It's also being submitted for both the Golden Globes and Oscars.

Swaybox Studios held auditions for Dynamic Duo (June 30th 2028) on November 15th.

Alan Ritchson has confirmed that he's in talks for a "messier" DCU role.

Supergirl (June 26th 2026) will have a presence at CCXP from December 6th. A trailer is rumoured to be released at the event. Ferdinand Kingsley has been cast as Ruthye's father for the movie.

Filming for Clayface (September 11th 2026) has finished up. Mike Flanagan again pointed out that his script was influenced by Batman: The Animated Series.

Peacemaker Season 2 finally managed to chart on Nielson, due to the finale.

Matt Reeves has tapped Luke Hall for production design for The Batman - Part II (October 1st 2027). Casting news should be soon.

A HBO Max podcast crime series Jimmy Olsen themed spin-off is currently in the works. Skyler Gisondo will reprise the role for the show, which will have Gorilla Grodd as a central threat. The duo behind American Vandal are tackling the show.

A V For Vendetta show is also in development for HBO, though it may be an Elseworlds series. Pete Jackson will take on the show.

More shorts for Krypto have been released on YouTube. I need to catch up with them.

The DC Absolute Universe will have more crossovers next year, including Batman and Wonder Woman facing off.

HBO will air Lanterns, starring Kyle Chandler and Aaron Pierre in the latter half of 2026. Late summer release.

Netflix, Comcast/Universal and Paramount are the current bidders to acquire Warner Brothers. We should know in 2026 how this will impact DC Studios.

Brendan Fraser recently talked about his disappointment over Batgirl being unreleased. He played Firefly in that movie.

As of yet, no new development on Wonder Woman for the DCU. Hopefully something's coming very soon. 

That's it for this month. Let's hope next month closes this year out with some major news.

My Review of A Christmas Carol (1938)

 

Written by Hugo Butler

Directed by Edwin L. Marin

Christmas Present: "No! You don't like Christmas!"

Scrooge: "Yes! Yes I do! I like Christmas! I LOVE Christmas!"

Spoiler alert: This isn't the first time I've reviewed something in relation to A Christmas Carol and it might be the last time either in 2025 either. We'll see. However this version was a first time viewing for me, so there's that.

Taking on the role of Ebenezer Scrooge was Reginald Owen. While it's not my favourite version, it's still a pretty great performance nonetheless as Ebenezer was the most miserly of men in Victorian London.

The film started with him berating loyal employee Bob Cratchit (Gene Lockhart) for wanting Christmas Day off to spend with his family. On top of that, Scrooge then fired Cratchit for a harmless snowball first. Cratchit was too embarrassed to admit that he had been sacked, even though his daughter got it out of him.

Keeping with tradition, of course there were the three Ghosts. Christmas Past (Ann Rutherford) showed a time when Ebenezer was a more considerate person who was close to his sister, Fan (Elvira Stevens) as well as his early days in business.

Christmas Present (Lionel Braham) appeared to show Scrooge a look into his nephew Fred (Barry MacKay) and his fiancée Bess (Lynne Carver) enjoying their engagement party without Scrooge ruining the mood for everyone as well as a look into the Cratchit household and death for Tiny Tim (Terry Kilburn).

Christmas Yet To Come (D'Arcy Corrigan) presented Scrooge with the harshest lesson if the latter wouldn't change for the better. If course, it worked and Scrooge changed for the better and Tiny Tim didn't die. 

- Marley's Ghost was played by Leo G. Carroll. Other prominent cast members included June Lockhart, Ronald Sinclair and Forrester Harvey to name a few.

- Lionel Barrymore was originally set to start as Scrooge but had to drop out due to arthritis.

- Standout music: Hark! The Herald Angels Sing, God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen, O Come All Ye Faithful and Silent Night, Holy Night.

- Chronology: Christmas Eve and Day in Victorian London.

You know what, for a first time, this was great. It's a short but lovely version of A Christmas Carol and I do think Reginald Owen did a great job as Scrooge. It's just lovely.

Rating: 8 out of 10 

My Review of Keeper (2025)

Written by Nick Lepard 

Directed by Osgood Perkins

Liz (to Malcolm): "This fork is going in your head one way or another. Might as well taste good."

I got to say when it comes to actor/director combos, I'm not totally sure this combination of Osgood Perkins and Tatiana Maslany has been a total success so far. I knew this film was going to be a dud but I was hoping to be wrong on the matter.

With this film, Tatiana Maslany played a woman named Liz. Liz happens to be celebrating a year anniversary dating a doctor named Malcolm Westbridge (Rossif Sutherland). A nice time in a cabin seemed to be the order of the day. Anything but a nice time was had.

In the cabin alone, Liz had to encounter Malcolm's awful brother, Darren (Birkett Turton) and his girlfriend, Minka (Eden Weiss). There was also cake but it wasn't particularly good. Minka made a point of pointing that out. Liz also found out for herself that it was a bad cake. 

The cake wasn't the only problem for Liz. She had doubts about her relationship with Malcolm and the latter leaving her alone for a long while didn't help. Liz's friend Maggie (Tess Degenstein) wast shy in pointing out that something was off with Malcolm. Liz really should've listened to her friend.

As the movie went on, there was too much spooky stuff going on in the woods and mystery creatures. It wasn't too shock to learn that Malcolm was actually setting Liz up to be sacrificed and it wasn't shocking when she inevitably turned the tables on him as well. I mean, Malcolm absolutely deserved it but it wasn't shocking.

- Osgood Perkins previously worked with Tatiana Maslany on The Monkey (2025) and will again for the 2026 release of The Young People.

- Liz didn't like chocolate cake. She also thought that Malcolm was married until she realised the truth was far worse.

- The film was actually made during the writers strike by being filmed in Canada. 

- Chronology: Present day in the countryside. Malcolm and Darren are over two hundred years old.

Keeper might be one of the worst horror films I've seen this year and it's such a waste of Tatiana Maslany's talents. It's such a dull, plodding and lifeless movie with a final twist so poorly executed. Osgood Perkins really has proven to be a very hit and miss director.

Rating: 4 out of 10

My Review of Heated Rivalry: "Olympians"

 

Written And Directed by Jacob Tierney

Ilya: "Do you want to know it feels?
Shane: "How's what feel?"

Ilya: "Holding the cup."

It's nice to know the first episode wasn't a false alarm. Although shorter and not as strong, this episode also continued to depict both Ilya and Shane's relationship as unabashed in it's sexiness and this one, they were largely at odds with one another. 

The episode again jumped around with time as Shane and Ilya spent more time with each, both on and off the ice rink. Roles had been established I their relationship with Ilya as a top and Shane as a bottom. I got to say, I don't know who I envied more as yet again, Connor Storrie and Hudson Williams are selling this relationship so well.

Things between Shane and Ilya were going so well, so of course something had yo emerge for conflict. In this case, it was Ilya's winning streak coming to an end during the Winter Olympics in Sochi. Ilya might be a charming asshole but he's also a very sore loser, which brought out his pettier side.

Losing was such a blow to Ilya's ego that he froze Shane out for six months, much to the latter's justified annoyance. It wasng Shane's fault that Ilya lost during the Winter Olympics but Ilya had to take it out on someone. Their reunion in Las Vegas also saw a further division between the pair.

Of course before Ilya got testy with Shane again, he agreed to give the latter something he wanted but only in his penthouse. I swear that entire scene in the penthouse leading up to their sex scene was one of the sexiest scenes I've seen this year. These two characters/actors have such great chemistry together.

In fact there's such great chemistry that Ilya turned down the chance to sleep with Svetlana's friend, Sasha (Kaden Connors). Even Shane doesn't seem to be getting anything outside of his stolen moments with Ilya. I do wonder how long that will last as Shane will likely be bearded with a woman soon.

- I thought Svetlana was Ilya's girlfriend but nope, she's definitely aware that he's gay. She left him alone with Sasha.
- Scott seems to be retired from the Montreal Metros but still met up with Shane for ice cream. 
- The Lily and Jane thing was cute but at one moment I did think Shane's teammate was going to figure it out.
- Chronology: Spring 2011 to Fall 2014. Again, we're taking in Montreal, Boston, Las Vegas, Sochi and Moscow.

Olympians rounded off a strong opening double bill for the show. The Ilya and Shane sex scenes have definitely made the show so far, along with the slow burning love between the pair of them. I'm really enjoying this show.

Rating: 7 out of 10