My Review of Half Man: "Episode 2"

 

Written by Richard Gadd 

Directed by Alexandra Brodski 

Ruben: "Just say the words."

Niall: "I need you."

I think this show will end up causing me a damn heart attack. It's the ultimate stress test and if the first episode didn't push that, this one sure as fuck did. I actually fucking gasped a few times.

Time moved faster in the flashbacks while going backwards in the present day. Flashbacks first though. Niall had the perfect chance to loosen Ruben's hold on him and he did the exact opposite. College can be stressful but adding Ruben into the mix was a powder keg waiting to go off.

Niall was warned by Lori not to contact Ruben. She knew that he wasn't a good influence on her. Given the events of this episode, it's even more frustrating that Niall ignored his mother's perfectly sound advice. Things really had the potential to go well for Niall had he not contacted Ruben.

There was his flatmates Joanna (Kate Robson-Stuart), Celeste (Philippine Velge) and Alby (Bilal Hasna). Ruben's presence caused tension between Joanna and Celeste and the worst case of crossed wires saw poor Alby getting badly beaten by Ruben. That scene was fucking horrific to watch and actively made me hate Ruben on the spot.

Let's talk about Alby, shall we? I fucking loved him as a character and the chemistry between Mitchell Robertson and Bilal Hasna was wonderful. I saw some say that Alby was pressuring Niall to come out but I didn't see it that way. Alby genuinely cared about Niall and like most characters, he recognised the toxic hold that Ruben had over him.

That same hold made itself too apparent in the present day when even Lori recognised that Niall had feelings for Ruben. The present day stuff led to Ruben's appearance and the reveal that Niall was marrying Alby (Charlie de Melo). Alby's reaction to Ruben's presence was rather telling. Even I was disturbed by Niall practically needing Ruben's permission to marry Alby.

- Alby still had serious facial scars in the present day due to how badly beaten up he was by Ruben. His full name was Albert Franklin Safadi.

- Ruben gave Celeste a lot of drugs, spat on Joanna and smashed up the kitchen. He was also reacting to his father having a child with another woman.

- Celeste called both Niall and Ruben "Porridge Nan" at different point. Niall was visibly upset by his "Student" mug being smashed. Alby likened Niall to a performer. 

- Alby was a fan of E.T: The Extraterrestrial and The Great Escape. Bob Geldof, not so much.

- Standout music: Yazoo's Only You, New Order's Blue Monday and Simple Minds Love Song.

- Chronology: 1989 at Glasgow University for most of the episode while the episode ended with Niall saying "I do" to Alby. 

Well, that episode was both terrifying and electrifying in equal measures. Last week, I praised the performance of both versions of Ruben and Niall and that should go without saying here. On top of that, I've got to praise both Bilal Hasna and Charlie de Melo, both of whom were on excellent form as Alby. 

Rating: 8 out of 10 

My Review of Love, Simon (2018)

 

Written by Elizabeth Berger And Isaac Aptaker

Directed by Greg Berlanti

Simon: "Yeah, maybe not that gay."

I did this the wrong way. You see, I watched all three seasons of sequel show, Love, Victor before ever watching this movie. It's taken me longer than I should've but I finally got around to watching this one. Better late than never I suppose.

Anyways our main character was a highschool student named Simon Spier (Nick Robinson). He's an average guy with a nice set of parents in Jack (Josh Duhamel) and Emily (Jennifer Garner) and not annoying younger sister named Nora (Talitha Bateman). So far, nothing out of the ordinary.

Simon's even got a great set of friends with Leah (Katherine Langford), Nick (Jorge Lendeborg Jr.) and newcomer, Abby (Alexandra Shipp). It's all pretty normal, except that Simon had a secret he was keeping from everyone that was about to come out with no way of stopping.

Yup, Simon's gay and he's been emailing another guy nicknamed Blue. There were three candidates for Blue. Those candidates were theatre guy Cal (Miles Heizer), cute server Lyle (Joey Pollari) and handsome jock Bram (Keiynan Lonsdale). At various points, each one of them was ruled out of being Blue but we'll get back to that in a bit.

Simon's biggest worry wasn't just finding out Blue's identity but he also found himself being blackmailed by annoying fellow classmate Martin (Logan Miller). The latter wanted to date Abby and forced Simon's hand in pushing them together. It seemed like a lot of people wanted to date Abby, including Nick and he eventually did.

Unfortunately for Simon not only did Martin out him after being rejected by Abby but Simon almost lost his friends by inadvertently messing with their love lives. He eventually got them back, even got an ally with fellow gay student Ethan (Clark Moore) and had the heartwarming scenes with both parents that were lovely to watch.

Now circling back to Blue, it turned out to be Bram and the reveal was nicely handled (amongst Martin's attempts of redemption). Like all romcoms, Simon got the guy, learned some much needed life lessons and things ended on a happy note for everyone concerned. 

- The movie's based on the book, Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli.

- In the book, Leah was bisexual as was Cal but that wasn't addressed here. Leah's crush on Simon however was given some screen time. Simon used the alias of Jacques when emailing Blue.

- Both Tony Hale and Natasha Rothwell were given the vice principal/drama teacher roles of Mr. Worth and Ms. Albright. The latter in particular got a genuinely satisfying moment upon dealing with two homophobic students.

- Drew Starkey popped up briefly in the movie. Abby dressed as Wonder Woman for a party while Simon and Leah were John Lennon and Yoko Ono.

- Standout music: Brenton Woods The Oogum Boogum Song and Jackson 5's Someday At Christmas to name a few.

- Chronology: Set in a suburb in Atlanta, Georgia and taking in the likes of Halloween and Christmas at different points.

Love, Simon, in my opinion turned out to be an excellent coming of age story. It's everything a romcom for the younger generation need it to be and it's got a slew of great performances throughout. Nick Robinson's career definitely should've blown up more from this movie.

Rating: 8 out of 10 

DCU Blog - April 2026 Edition: Clayface Trailer, Lanterns Airdate And Major Casting News

Well, April turned out to be one hell of a month for DC fans. There really was so much going on.

Adria Arjona has joined the cast of Man Of Tomorrow (July 9th 2027) but is she playing Maxima or Wonder Woman? Time will tell on that one. Filming has now begun on the Superman (2025) sequel. Andre Royo has also been cast in an undisclosed role.

Charles Dance has been cast as Christopher Dent for The Batman - Part II (October 1st 2027). Filming starts from June in London.

James Gunn has recently confirmed not to expect The Authority any time soon, due to the script not working out.

Season 3 of My Adventures With Superman will premiere at midnight from June 13th on Adult Swim's Toonami with a next day release on HBO Max.

Supergirl (June 26th 2026) got her flowers at both CinemaCon and CCXP Mexico this month. Both Milly Alcock and Craig Gillespie were promoting the movie at both events.

We will be seeing more of Sean Gunn's Maxwell Lord in future DCU projects. I imagine that'll be sooner than later.

James Gunn has also stated after filming for Man Of Tomorrow is complete, he'll discuss what is and isn't canon from The Suicide Squad and Blue Beetle in relation to the DCU. 

The first trailer for Clayface (October 23rd 2026) has been watched by over 11 millions views on YouTube so far. The movie will be set before the events of Superman (2025).

Funko Pops will be released for John Constantine, Midnighter, Apollo and Dreamer to commence with Pride Month.

Correction from last month but Dark Knights Of Steel will be released from July.

Lanterns will seemingly air on HBO from August 16th. The trailer is currently down.

Both Booster Gold and Paradise Lost are still in development with the latter being in extreme development.

Sidney Chandler is rumoured to be cast as Nosferata for the second season of Creature Commandos.

The fourth episode of the Krypto show is now available on YouTube.

That's it for this month. We're going to get a lot of more reveals over the coming months.

My Review of Michael (2026)

 

Written by John Logan

Directed by Antoine Fuqua

Michael Jackson: "I believe music can change the world. Spread love, joy, and peace. That is what I want the world to feel... magic!"

I'm not gonna lie. I had preconceived notions before watching this biopic. My fear was that it was going to be a heavily sanitised affair and to be honest, those fears were justified. This biopic needed a far more objective pair of hands working on it. That's not what we got here.

Casting Michael Jackson's own nephew Jaafar to play the infamous singer was alarming enough. I'll give Jaafar some credit. He did look and sound enough like his uncle to suspend some disbelief but it's still not something that should've been done in the first place.

Of course the movie started off with Michael (Juliano Krue Valdi) at the start of the Jackson 5 being worked excessively by his his overambitious and violent father, Joe (Colman Domingo). Joe's mistreatment of Michael was something that the movie didn't shy on. It was made pretty clear that Joe had no problem hurting his son for success.

As Michael got older, he wanted a solo career and independence from his family. He needed his legal team to almost trick Joe in order to let him record a solo album. The latter resented Michael's solo success but it was also the thing that gave Michael the confidence to take his career to the next level.

The movie delved into Michael visiting children's hospitals but there was a bigger focus on his body issues. There was scenes that focused on his vitiligo and rhinoplasty. There are some of the stronger moments in this movie along with the consequences of a stage accident.

Getting to the music side of things, most the Jackson 5 and Michael's biggest hits are recreated here. They're done reasonably well with the movie ending on the Bad tour at Wembley Stadium.

- There's some solid performances from Nia Long, Miles Teller and Kendrick Sampson as Katherine Scruse-Jackson, John Branca and Quincy Jones respectively.

- Not all of MJ's siblings feature in the movie and scenes with Kat Graham's Diana Ross were cut from the movie.

- Standout music: The likes of Billie Jean, Bad, I Want You Back etc are done well.

- Chronology: This movie covered from 1969 to 1988 in Michael's career and life.

Michael (2026) needed a more objective pair of hands working on this movie. It's too sanitised  and often quite bland at times too. Jaafar did an okay enough job in taking on his uncle's legacy. It'll make enough for that sequel to happen.

Rating: 6 out of 10 

My Review of Things Like These (2025)

 

Written And Directed by Max Talisman

Zack A: "I like you and I'm trying so hard not to."

Zack M: "Yeah, that's what liking someone is like. It's terrifying. All you wanna do is run."

Sometimes you hear about a movie being so bad that morbid curiosity will take over and you've got to watch it. That's partly why I chose to watch this one last night. I'd love to say that the reputation wasn't deserved but I'd be lying.

First things first and because I try to be fair, I will give writer, director and lead actor Max Talisman props for trying to tell a slightly different gay romance. Saying that, he should've put his business hat on here and not cast himself as one of the leads. This movie would've benefitted from a more experienced actor in the role.

Anyways our writer and director cast himself as Zack Anthony. He's a fat guy (something which the movie isn't shy about mentioning) who's also an aspiring writer of vampire fiction. This film opened up with him getting dumped by Ben (James Leone). The latter isn't just repulsed by Zack's physical appearance but his personality in general.

Zack A's personality in general definitely would be one of the biggest problems with the movie. In some ways, we're clearly meant to find his bluntness more charming but oftentimes, it did come across as far too rude. Fortunately, Zack A did manage to temper some of that attitude upon meeting the love of his life.

Yup, this was where Zack Mandel (Joey Pollari) aka Zack M factored into things. Zack M quickly ditched his boyfriend of two years Eric (Taylor Trensch) in order to hook up with Zack A. Slightly stretching credulity a tad it turned out that both Zacks met at a summer camp fifteen years prior and were each others first kisses. Also both mens penchant for self sabotage provided some moderate tension before the big finale reunion at a high school prom.

Yeah, there's a lot of contrivances and sitcom/romcom style tropes that alternate between kind of endearing and rather annoying at times. Zack M's friend Ava (Jackie Cruz), boss Margie (Cara Bueno) and father Paul (Eric Roberts) are a mixed bag of characters. Saying that, Ava can be thanked/blamed for reuniting the Zacks. Zack A's friends get some focus as well but seem slightly less drawn out.

- Zack A's book was called Undeath In The Family. He got a publishing deal while Zack M got fired and decided to set up his own talent agency.

- Zack A made a point about hating actresses but didn't mind his straight actor friend, Peter (Danny Chavarriago). Willem Belli also had a brief cameo appearance.

- Standout music: There's a decent cover version of Linger during the prom scene.

- Chronology: Alternates between New York and Jersey, over the course of week during the winter.

I will give Things Like These points for effort and for trying something a little different in the gay romcom genre. I think there's a lot of gay men who are similar to Zack A and wanting to find their Zack M. I just wish the chemistry with Max Talisman and Joey Pollari was there but sadly it's desperately lacking.

Rating: 5 out of 10 

My Review of Half Man: "Episode 1"

 

Written by Richard Gadd

Directed by Alexandra Brodski

Ruben (to Niall): "My brother from another lover."

My original plan for this show was to watch it weekly and then do a series overview. However, after watching the first episode late last night, I couldn't stop thinking about it. I also couldn't wait until the end of next month to do a series review, so I'm doing this instead.

Things started off with the wedding of Niall Kennedy (Jamie Bell). We don't see the person that Niall's marrying but we do see his estranged "brother" Ruben Pallister (Richard Gadd). They're in a barn, their interactions laced with a strong homoerotic tension and then Niall ended up being punched by Ruben.

After that, it's basically a look into their past as teenagers in 1980s Scotland. The younger Niall (Mitchell Robertson) wasn't pleased about the recently released Ruben (Stuart Campbell) sharing a bedroom with him. At this point, it's largely implied that Niall and Ruben's mothers - Lori (Neve McIntosh) and Maura (Marianne McIvor) are in a relationship with each other. Ruben seemed less phased by this than Niall was.

Of course for Niall, not only did he have to deal with Ruben being a volatile presence in his life, he was also victim of being bullied by the likes of John (Scott Greenan), Drew (Calum Manchip) and Murray (Gordon Brown). The bullying bordered on homophobic until Ruben put a stop to it. Niall returned the favour by helping Ruben pass his prelam.

Then there's Mona (Charlotte Blackwood). I could be wrong but I really do get the vibe that Niall's gay because the only he seemed to be able to have sex with Mona was when he looked at Ruben. Ruben also seemed to be kind of aware of that too. For two guys who were essentially "brothers", the homoerotic tension between the two of them was off the flipping charts.

While the majority of this first episode largely focused on the younger versions of Niall and Ruben, we did go back to the older versions to cap the episode off. Ruben went from trying to steady Niall's breathing to trying to suffocate him. Ignoring the "weeks ahead" trailer that gave some context, Ruben was genuinely terrifying in his interactions with Niall in both timelines.

- I wish HBO Max and BBC1 had synced up the release better. Why are they five days apart? This feels like it should be a Sunday show.

- There's a nice supporting role for Stuart McQuarrie as the weary teacher, Mr. Jenkins. He had a few funny lines.

- Niall liked Indiana Jones and Doctor Who. Neve McIntosh played Madame Vastra during the Steven Moffat era of the show.

- Ruben gifted Niall a pair of boxing gloves. Niall wanted to be a writer and his father died when he was eight. Ruben was in Young Offenders. Ruben gave Niall the nickname of "Bambi".

- Standout music: Ian Dury's Clever Trevor was used well during the end of the episode.

- Chronology: Mostly in 1987 and a more present day setting for the older versions of Niall and Ruben.

The first episode really stuck the landing and I've been thinking about it since last night. Richard Gadd clearly wants to give a more layered insight into masculinity. That was evident with Baby Reindeer but this show definitely seems like it's going to push that conversation even harder and I can't wait to see more.

Rating: 8 out of 10 

My Review of Project Hail Mary (2026)

 

Written by Drew Goddard

Directed by Phil Lord And Christopher Miller

Ryland (re Rocky): "He tells me what to do, he tells me why to do it, he tells me how to do it, he tells me when to do it, and then when I do it, he's like, "what are you doing?""

Okay, decided to finally catch up on one of the biggest movies of 2026 so far. I had to see this one. There was way too much surrounding it. Did it live up to the hype? Yes it did.

Ryan Gosling has had such a mixed bag at the box office. He's had a strong of flops and I genuinely this was going to be another. I thought it's budget alone wouldn't get made back. I was wrong. Anyways on to the actual movie itself.

There's a science teacher named Ryland Grace (Gosling). He's also a former molecular biologist but teaching middle school science became something that he genuinely liked doing. He seemed content with it as a profession but fate had other ideas for Ryland.

In particular a bunch of scientists and government officials under agent Eva Stratt (Sandra Hüller) have discovered that the sun has started to dim due to a microorganism and it's up to both Ryland and other scientists to figure out to stop this. This was something that Ryland had to be persuaded into doing by excessive force.

The movie bounced between the build up of sending Ryland into space and then everything that Ryland got up to while he was in space. In particular, there's the introduction of an alien named Rocky (James Ortiz) and it's the biggest highlight in the movie. Yes, Ryan Gosling's best scene partner was through a puppet controlled alien.

Watching Ryland and Rocky form a bond and learning about each others cultures was fun. It's a friendship that was nicely fleshed out during the second and third acts of the movie and both characters bonded over a similar mission. By the end of this movie, I think Ryland made the right choice about his future.

- I'm going to give this movie props for avoiding a Ryland/Eva romance as I felt the more professional relationship worked much better.

- The film's based on a 2021 book of the same name by Andy Weir.

- Ryland and Rocky lamented about past lovers. Rocky didn't quite perfect the first bump.

- While it was totally predictable, I did smile when Ryland referred to Rocky's girlfriend as Adrian.

- Standout music: Sandra Hüller's version of Sign Of The Times certainly hit the spot.

- Chronology: 2032 Earth, space, Venus, the 40 Eridani A System and the biodome on the Eridanians planet.

After watching this film, I get the hype for Project Hail Mary. While I'll admit that I did think it lagged a little, once Rocky was introduced, I really do think the movie came alive. Ryan Gosling definitely gave one hell of a performance too.

Rating: 8 out of 10