My Review of Misery (1990)

 

Written by William Goldman 

Directed by Rob Reiner

Annie (to Paul): "I'm your number one fan. There's nothing to worry about. You're going to be just fine. I will take good care of you. I'm your number one fan."

Okay, if I said this was my favourite adaptation of a Stephen King novel, what would that say about me? An absolute cautionary tale in fan worship can take a hold of your senses and turn someone into something far scarier than anything a writer could come up.

This was a story about a woman named Annie Wilkes (Kathy Bates). A retired nurse, widowed and living on a farm, her life wasn't much to write home about. As she dealt with an increasingly cruel world, she at least had some literary solice with the exploits of Misery Chastain. Those books were a lifeline to Annie.

Not only just the books but the author behind them - Paul Sheldon (James Caan) was someone who Annie worshipped the ground of. Annie's literary escape and her real life collided when a snowstorm brought Paul into her life for real. Yup, he was badly busted up and who better to take care of him than Annie herself.

Okay, I'll stop. Annie might be the hero of her own story but in the book and the movie itself, she's unquestionably the villain of the piece and one of the most menacing baddies ever committed to the page and screen. To say this was one of Kathy Bates best performance would be underselling it.

Throughout the movie, Annie went from girlishly charming towards Paul to losing the absolute plot upon realising the latter had killed off her favourite character. Her violent outbursts are genuinely shocking, no more than when she decided to break Paul's ankles as a result of him sneaking out of the room.

Annie's other method of dealing with Paul was to get him to write a new Misery book that would resurrect the character. There's a scene where Annie gave Paul one of the best critiques about fairness in writing. I actually think that critique alone helped to make Paul a much better writer.

Saying that, Annie might have gotten the book she wanted all along but she didn't get to live long enough to enjoy it. That fight to the death scene with her and Paul was brutal to watch but only one of them was getting out of that place alive. The ending itself certainly show that Paul won't be forgetting Annie for the rest of his life.

- In the book, there's more details on Annie's victims, a different foot outcome and paragraphs of Misery's Return. None of these appear here.

- Annie had a sow named Misery and she really hated swearing. That didn't stop Annie from swearing itself. I also loved husband/wife duo, Sheriff Buster (Richard Farnsworth) and Deputy Virginia (Frances Sternhagen). Lauren Bacall appeared briefly as Paul's agent, Marcia Sindell.

- Paul's real life background was more in line with the Fast Cars book they Annie made him burn.

- Stephen King was so impressed with Kathy Bates performance that he wrote Dolores Claiborne for her.

- Standout music: Jr. Walker and the All Stars Shotgun and Liberace's Piano Concerto #1.

- Chronology: Paul was living in New York City but was heading to Silver Creek, Colorado before Annie got to him.

Misery (1990) to me is easily the best performance that Kathy Bates and James Caan have given in their careers. It's also the best Stephen King adaptation and one that's painfully on point about fanaticism getting out of hand.

Rating: 9 out of 10 

My Review of Stand By Me (1986)

 

Written by Raynold Gideon And Bruce A. Evans

Directed by Rob Reiner

Gordie: "I never had any friends later on like the ones I had when I was twelve. Jesus, does anyone?"

In a few months time, this movie will hit it's 40th anniversary and it's also one of the best adaptations of a Stephen King short story (specifically The Body). 

You've got four young lads - Gordie Lachance (Wil Wheaton), Chris Chambers (River Phoenix), Teddy Duchamp (Corey Feldman) and Vern Tessio (Jerry O'Connell). Each of them with their own distinct personalities but it's Gordie that was the unofficial centre focus of this story

The lads heard about a dead body of a boy named Ray Brower. Well, it was Vern eavesdropping on his brother, Billy (Casey Siemaszko) and the latter's friend, Charlie (Gary Riley) talking about it. Gordie and company decided that they are going to find the body first before Billy and his friends, led by Ace Merrill (Kiefer Sutherland) get there first.

It's a fun journey where the lads had to dodge trains, fend off actual leeches, ridicule each other at every turn and even combat the cantankerous Milo Pressman (William Bronder) and his not so vicious dog, Chopper. Pressman in particular got under Teddy's skin, making him a rather callous adult.

One of the best things about this movie was how we got to know bits about each of the lads. Teddy's dad was abusive, Chris propped up Gordie but kept putting himself down while Vern and Teddy would drift apart from Gordie and Chris at a later date. Gordie dealing with his older brother, Denny (John Cusack) dying was also rather affecting.

As for the body itself, there's a good stand off between the boys and that gang with Gordie humiliating Ace. The latter's a scumbag, nicely played by Sutherland. Ace himself did vow revenge but no one took him seriously. By the way the film ended, I don't think Ace got his chance to get even.

- The last scene had Richard Dreyfuss as the older Gordie who became a writer. Chris was a lawyer who got stabbed. Gordie read about his death at the start of the movie.

- The grossest moment was Teddy recalling the story of David "Lard-Ass" Hogan (Andy Lindberg) and a certain pie eating contest.

- Gordie's father was the couch from A Nightmare On Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge and his mother was in Gremlins, Footloose and Back To The Future.

- Ray Brower was in the Lard Ass story. I hadn't realised that until I read up on the movie.

- Standout music: Ben E. King's Stand By Me of course.

- Chronology: Mostly in 1959 during Labor Day, Castle Rock but the first and last scenes are set in 1985.

Stand By Me would definitely be in my Top 5 in terms of Stephen King adaptations. It's such a perfect movie and one that does have a genuinely timeless feel to it. A brilliant movie with a great commentary on friendship.

Rating: 9 out of 10 

My Review of The Young Offenders (2016)

 

Written And Directed by Peter Foott

Conor: "There are two things you need for an adventure, a treasure map and someone dumb enough to go with you."

I'll admit that while I haven't discussed this on my blog, I do from time to time watch the popular RTE/BBC series of the same name. This movie, released a decade ago really did lay the groundwork for the ongoing TV show.

It's set in Cork and the offenders in question are local fuck ups Jock Murphy (Chris Walley) and Conor MacSweeney (Alex Murphy). Two young lads who bring out the worst and sometimes the best in one another. They also wreck everyone around them and often on purpose.

One person in particular who was exasperated by them was Conor's long suffering mother, Mairéad (Hilary Rose). Mairéad spent most of the film at her wits end with both Conor and Jock while also having to deal with the toothache from hell. 

At times, Mairéad was almost too harsh on both lads, something which she was even called out on but she's also the best parental figure they have. Mairéad did soften as the film went along and lets just say that she's handy with a pot when the situation called for it.

Both lads have lost a parent each. Conor lost his father and Jock his mother. Jock also had to deal with an abusive father (Michael Sands). That was something that even overzealous Sergeant Healy (Dominic MacHale) could sympathise with. That was when he wasn't spending most of them time trying and failing to stop both Jock and Conor's petty crime spree.

There's inspiration from a real life drug bust that had Jock and Conor looking to get their hands on seven million worth of cocaine. That brought in volatile characters like Billy Murphy (Shane Casey) and the nail gun wielding Ray (PJ Gallagher). Both are brilliantly psychotic baddies but I think Billy was the funnier of the two. He was the one that had the better focus on.

- In the series, PJ Gallagher would go on to play Jock and Conor's school principal. Mairéad works at the fish mongers.

- Jock and Conor used Billy Murphy masks to commit their crimes, which got Billy sent to prison.

- Standout music: Sultans of Ping F.C.'s Where's Me Jumper?

- Chronology: A large part of the plot was based on a massive cocaine seizure that happened in 2007.

The Young Offenders (2016) was an absolute riot. A genuinely funny debut/prelude to the popular series. So many funny lines, some genuinely outlandish scenes (especially with that nail gun) and a few nice emotional ones too. 

Rating: 8 out of 10 

Horror Franchises Update

This might be something I do every once in a while but there's been a few horror franchise news bits that I've wanted to talk about. Here goes.

First of all, let's talk about the Friday The 13th. We haven't had a movie since 2009 but after what has seemed like an eternity, prequel series Crystal Lake will finally come out this year on Peacock. Linda Cardellini will take on the role of Pamela Voorhees while Callum Vinson will play the young Jason Voorhees. Other cast members include William Catlett, Devon Kessler, Gwendolyn Sundstrom and Cameron Scoggins. The pilot episode was written by Brad Caleb Kane and Bryan Fuller while directed by Michael Lennox. UK/Irish viewers will get the show on SkyAtlantic and Now TV.

Back in 2024, the Child's Play franchise came to something of a standstill when SyFy's Chucky TV Series abruptly ended after three seasons and worse still, it ended on a cliffhanger. Now, it seems like a new movie from creator Don Mancini could be in development that may also resolve that cliffhanger. Of course, we do need proper confirmation but hopefully that'll be soon. It's be nice to have a new movie for the franchise's 40th anniversary in 2028.

Speaking of anniversaries, we're two years away from the Halloween franchise hitting the big 50 mark and no sign of an upcoming movie or streaming show. However we will be getting a new game coming out in September on the usual platforms. The game has Michael Myers going after a new bunch of teenagers and it looks pretty decent.

Now let's talk about Mike Flanagan for a moment. First of all in October, Amazon Prime will premiere Carrie, starring Summer H. Howell in the title role. The miniseries will run for eight episodes with many Flanagan's alumni factoring into the cast. Meanwhile on October 23rd, Clayface which stars Tom Rhys Harries in the title role will release it's first trailer tomorrow. Mike Flanagan co-wrote the script with Hossein Amini doing rewrites. The movie was directed by James Watkins. Meanwhile Flanagan's yet to be titled The Exorcist movie starring Scarlett Johansson is currently being filmed in New York with a March 12th 2027 release date. Flanagan has also signed on to direct a new version of The Mist for the WB while still trying to work on a series adaptation of The Dark Tower for Amazon Prime.

• Filming for the third season of Wednesday (Netflix) has moved to Paris. It'll be released next year.
• A seventh Final Destination movie is in development.
• The trailer for Practical Magic 2 was released. The film will be in theatres from September 11th.
• A new movie for The Texas Chainsaw Massacre has found it's writer and director in Curry Barker.
• Skeet Ulrich has confirmed that filming for the third Five Nights At Freddy's will start soon.
• A new Gremlins movie is also in development.
• The Saw franchise will be overseen by Blumhouse with James Wan also returning in a creative capacity.
• Dan Stevens will be in both The Terror: Devil In Silver (AMC) and Dexter: Resurrection (Showtime/Paramount+) this year.
• Irish fans have Hokum coming out May 1st, starring Adam Scott.
• Gay themed Australian horror Leviticus will get a US theatre release from June 19th.
• Evil Dead Burns will be in theatres from July 10th.
• Amy Madigan will likely reprise her iconic villain role in Gladys, which will be in theatres from September 8th 2028.

A change of pace for this blog or perhaps not. This might be a sporadic thing I do.

My Review of Outcome (2026)

 

Written by Jonah Hill And Ezra Woods

Directed by Jonah Hill

Reef: "I have a lot to apologise to you for."

I fancied something a bit lighter last night, so I opted for this. I knew the reviews weren't good but I was curious to see if it was a total disaster or just mediocre at best. It's mostly the latter.

When he's not getting his action on, Keanu Reeves can sometimes do a bit of comedy. In this movie, he's playing a 56 year old slightly washed up actor named Reef Hawk. He's stepped from acting to focus on sobriety and building a new home. He's also on the verge of cancellation.

That's the main plot for the movie as a mystery blackmailer was threatening to destroy Reef's reputation. Fortunately, Reef had a support system with friends Kyle (Cameron Diaz) and Xander (Matt Bomer) and his crisis lawyer, Ira Slitz (Jonah Hill). All of them were on the case to nail down who was blackmailing Reef.

It didn't take long for this movie to reveal that Reef had annoyed so many people in his career. There was a former agent named Richie "Red" Rodriguez (Martin Scorsese). Reef's attempts of asking Red how he was getting on led to a clumsy scene about crossed wires. Saying that, I did find Scorsese funny in his few scenes with Reeves.

Someone who wants a lot funnier was Susan Lucci as Reef's mother, Dinah Hawk. I could see why Reef had the issues he had with her. There's also some entertaining enough scenes with David Spade as Buddy and that crisis meeting that it included Laverne Cox as Virginia Allen Green was the height of cringe with some choice references.

The best part of the movie would be Reef's relationships with both Kyle and Xander. I do think Keanu Reeves had the best chemistry with Cameron Diaz and Matt Bomer and there's a good sense of real history between the three of them. By the end of the film, it was nice to see them reunited.

- Drew Barrymore popped up as herself and her reaction to Xander completely missing the point of E.T was funny.

- That reference to Jussie Smollett really didn't work during that crisis meeting scene.

- Standout music: Joey Lawrence's Give My Regards To Broadway.

- Chronology: Reef had been sober for five years. He was also in Albuquerque.

Outcome (2026) isn't a bad film but it's definitely one of those movies that was wisely put to Apple TV rather than sent to theatres to die. Good enough performances, some funny moments but also some misjudged ones too.

Rating: 6 out of 10 

My Review of Euphoria - Season 2 (2022, HBO Series)

 

Written And Directed by Sam Levinson

Maddy: "Wait, is this fucking play about us?"

If the first season had buzz about it, then the second season absolutely blew up. I remember back in 2022 when this particular season first aired on HBO, it was impossible to avoid it. In fact, some of the most meme'd moments are from this season alone. There's a lot to unpack here.

Let's look at Rue once again, shall we? The girl was doing very little to stay off drugs in the first season and this time around, she was actively putting herself into more danger because of her addiction. The opening episode alone had her and new girl Faye (Chloe Cherry) stripped along with Fezco and almost killed.

This season introduced a drug dealer in retired school teacher Laurie (Martha Kelly). She might seem like a harmless pusher but her interactions with Rue are some of the most quietly frightening moments in the season. Laurie's a woman who'll help you come down off a bad dose while also threatening to sell you to pay off a debt in the same breath. She's legitimately terrifying in the few scenes that she appeared in this season.

Also when Rue wasn't pissing off drug lords, she was actively pissing off both her mother and sister, her friends and even her sponsor. All of them bore the brunt of Rue at her absolute worst and the inclusion of fellow addict Elliot (Dominic Fike) certainly fucked up the Rue/Jules dynamic. I don't even dislike Elliot but it's hard not to blame him for his part in that particular relationship going south nonetheless.

Going back to the drugs plot this season, I like that we had someone actually challenge Fezco's duality with being a good person but also a drug dealer. Making that person be Lexi was a smart creative choice and there's something rather charming about the Lexi/Fezco relationship in this season. They even each other out in a nice way. Throw in Faye being an entertaining enough presence and what happened to Ashtray and Fezco really went through it this season.

Now what about everyone else? Lexi wrote a play that let's be honest as funny as it was, it was also incredibly mean spirited and showed how blasé the school were that they allowed her to run in the first place. Saying that, watching the various audience reactions and Ethan's sublime range while pretending to be Suze Howard (Alanna Ubach) and Nate was freaking hysterical.

Then there's the Maddy, Nate and Cassie triangle. I do think that while this season tried to humanise Nate and give him more context, he's still an awful person and tried too much to blame Cassie for something he took part in as well. Maddy on the other hand at least managed to get revenge and even clarity while Cassie destroyed her only friendship for a guy that wasn't worth it. As for Kat, she really did get fuck all to do because have a few erotic fantasies and dump Ethan. No wonder Barbie Ferreira decided to leave the show.

- Episode titles were Trying to Get to Heaven Before They Close the Door, Out Of Touch, Ruminations: Big and Little Bullys, You Who Cannot See, Think of Those Who Can, Stand Still Like the Hummingbird, A Thousand Little Trees of Blood, The Theater and Its Double and All My Life, My Heart Has Yearned for a Thing I Cannot Name.

- Flashbacks for the season included Fezco's backstory with his grandmother and Ashtray, Rue's father's funeral and Cal's relationship with a male classmate. Nate took revenge on Cal and almost atoned for Jules.

- Suze had some genuinely hilarious moments and I loved how into Lexi's play she was. Let the woman watch her Millionaire Matchmaker in peace.

- There's a nice moment in the season where Rue/Jules spoof classic romances ranging from Snow White to Brokeback Mountain.

- Standout music: Lana Del Rey's Watercolor Eyes and Bonnie Tyler's Holding Out For A Hero.

- Chronology: Took place during New Year's Eve at the start. Rue managed to stay clean, post finale.

I'll admit that while Season 2 definitely had some similar problems to the first season, it's also the best season to boot. Going back and properly watching it, there's a lot that worked and the bits that didn't aren't enough to derail the season either.

Rating: 8 out of 10 

My Review of The Gates (2026)

 

Written and Directed by John Burr

Derek (re Jacob): "We saw something and now the psycho is after us."

To get the elephant out of the room first. This movie was the last thing that James Van Der Beek filmed prior to his untimely passing. In this movie, he's taken on something of a villainous role. Actually, he's definitely the villain of the piece.

Throw in a gated community as the main setting and you've got Van Der Beek as Pastor Jacob. He's set up the perfect neighbourhood to keep any one he saw as undesirable out but when it came to getting away with murder, he had an obstacle to overcome.

The obstacle ended up being three outsiders - Derek (Mason Gooding) and his friends Kevin (Algee Smith) and Tyon (Keith Powers). These three men saw Jacob strike and potentially kill a woman named Elizabeth (Elle Evans). Jacob also had a tight-knit community to mostly protect him.

It's interesting that you had characters like former alcoholic Christopher (Brad Leland) and wannabe singer Roxy (Sofia Hublitz) having very different interactions with Derek and his friends. Roxy was willing to help get the men out of the community if she could join them. There's a plot where one of the men had to sing for the access code.

Then there was Christopher. He was quick to disbelief Derek and friends until Jacob's action made him realise that the pastor was off his rocker. Same was applicable to Officer Bobby (Kylr Coffman) and both men didn't live to tell the tale.

As a villain, I think James Van Der Beek did a decent job as Jacob. He certainly got more threatening as the movie progress and Mason Gooding's Derek was a decent foil to him. There's also a good insight into the fractured relationship between the three outsiders that got resolved by the end of the movie.

- Derek wanted to be a lawyer while Kevin had been a football star. Christopher admired that about him.

- Derek's family also factored into the movie when Pastor Jacob later threatened them.

- I do think it's funny that none of the men thought to steal a phone during a party where everyone was distracted.

- Chronology: Set within a gated community for the majority of the film.

The Gates (2026) isn't what I'd call a must see movie. James Van Der Beek did give a good performance as Jacob and the film itself took a few surprise twists along the way.

Rating: 6 out of 10