My Review of Bros (2022)

Written by Billy Eichner And Nicholas Stopper

Directed by Nicholas Stoller

Aaron (to Bobby): "Hey! If you don't trust me, that's fine. But if for some reason, underneath all that strength and confidence, you still don't trust that you are lovable enough, I'm living proof... .that you're wrong."

I've been putting this one off for a long time and I was going to leave it until next month but boredom got the better of me. There's a reason I left this one so long and it's the lead actor.

I don't dislike Billy Eichner as an actor but he's quite abrasive at times and for a romcom, I did question whether he was the right choice to lead one. Watching this movie still didn't give me a definitive answer by the way. The box office numbers would suggest no by the way but are they always a good indicator?

Like all romcoms, everyone's well off or affluent enough to afford decent apartments. With Eichner's character, he's playing an opinionated LGBT podcaster named Bobby Lieber. Bobby's not into relationships and had a dim view on certain type of men.

There's Aaron Shepard (Luke Macfarlane). He's the more masc for masc kind of gay man that made Bobby self conscious and Aaron's in a lawyer job that's not satisfying him creatively. Bobby and Aaron try the casual relationship for some of the movie but it got serious rather fast and their differences ended up causing some problems for them.

There's such a thing as being too forthright and Bobby being that was vexing for Aaron when the latter's parents came to town. That led to a temporary split between the two of them. Of course this being a romcom, both men learned from each other before inevitably reuniting with each other.

Aaron learned to loosen up a bit and go into the actual line of work he wanted to do while Bobby embraced a genre of music that normally wasn't to his taste. The reunion was sweet and I'll admit after a shaky start, there's some genuinely solid chemistry between Billy Eichner and Luke Macfarlane. 

- While she's certainly not popular these days, I did find Debra Messing rather funny being exasperated by gay men mistaking her for her most iconic character.

- There's some great supporting roles from LGBT actors such as Dot Marie Jones, Guillermo Diaz, Harvey Fierstein, Amanda Bearse, Jai Rodriguez and TS Madison to name a few.

- Aaron wasn't lying when he said that The Hangover was his favourite movie. I like it when people admit something very mainstream is their favourite rather than their Letterboxd favourite.

- There's cameos from the likes of Seth Meyers, Ben Stiller, Amy Schemer, Kristin Chenowith and Kenan Thompson. Some of them played some very famous LGBT people.

- Standout music: Nat King Cole's Love Is Here To Stay, Orville Peck's Turn To Hate and Billy Eichner's Love Is Not Love.

- Chronology: Took place over several months, included Christmas and then three months later in New York.

I think I seriously misjudged Bros (2022) as a movie. I ended up liking it a lot more than I thought I would and while I'm not sure Billy Eichner is a leading man for this genre, I'll admit there's good chemistry between him and Luke Macfarlane.

Rating: 7 out of 10 

My Review of Half Man: "Episode 3"

 

Written by Richard Gadd 

Directed by Alexandra Brodski 

Ruben: "Say it, please I need to hear it. Who am I?"

Niall: "My brother from another lover."

We are now at the halfway point in this limited series and while time continued to move slower in the present day, things were speeding up in the past a lot.

It's been four years since Ruben viciously attacked Alby and his day in court was imminent. During that time, Ruben was volunteering with young lads and seemed to enjoy being a positive influence on them. Niall was also graduating from college.

It's funny that in the previous episode, Lori was determined for Niall to keep his distance from Ruben but this time around both her and Maura wanted Niall to lie in court. I was rather disgusted with the idea of Niall being strong armed into lying that Alby groped Ruben just so the latter would avoid prison. Niall almost went through with it.

Fortunately there was Joanna. She was the only one who actually confronted Niall on his sexuality, blasted Ruben to his face and to both Lori and Maura and even accepted that Niall was gay. There was a subplot where Niall and Joanna briefly dated and thankfully it was just brief. Joanna for the win in general. 

The court case was rough itself because while Ruben might live Niall in his own fucked up way, the latter made the right call by going against Ruben and sticking up for Alby. Ruben vowing to make Niall ugly still packed a punch. 

As for the present day, both Niall and Alby were now married. The reception was tense as anything and it got even more tense when Ruben sat beside Niall and decided to give a speech. That was a way to end this one on.

- I spotted another Doctor Who actor in Anjli Mohindra as Ava. She was in the previous episode as well.

- Niall's best man went from promising to protect him to moving very fast when Ruben appeared.

- I know Maura was dead in the present day but I thought she was faking cancer in the past to manipulate Niall to help Ruben avoid prison. Ruben alluded to being abused by his father.

- Alby was in a coma for six months. Joanna didn't want to be a teacher, in spite of her qualifications and Niall was in a production of Hamlet at one point.

- Standout music: Echo And The Bunnymen's The Killer Moon.

- Chronology: The flashbacks were set in 1993. Present day was the reception.

A strong third outing. The 1993 flashbacks made progress in Niall getting closer to accepting his sexuality and Ruben's hold on him starting to falter. If this was the last episode for the younger versions, then both Stuart Campbell and Mitchell Robertson went out on a strong note.

Rating: 8 out of 10 

My Review of Lurker (2025)

 

Written And Directed by Alex Russell 

Oliver (to Matthew): "I guess that means you're like my best friend."

Catching up with movies, this one's due to make its debut on HBO Max this month. It's been on my list for a while and it's a tale about toxic friendships.

You've got two men. There's aspiring singer/musician Oliver (Archie Madekwe) who definitely wanted to have a huge career but found himself surrounded by too many yes men. To be fair that wasn't something Oliver seemed to be that bothered about for most of the movie.

On the other hand, there's also retail employee Matthew Morning (Théodore Pellerin) and to be fair, the movie was more geared towards his obsession with Oliver than anything. Matthew was desperate to be a part of Oliver's life, no matter what.

At first, Matthew succeeded in doing just that. He bonded with Oliver over obscure music, got the backstage pass and found a way to make himself vital by helping Oliver with his documentary. Despite the fact that some of Oliver's crew were a bit wary of him, things were going Matthew's way.

Where it went wrong was Matthew reluctantly agreeing to let his former co-worker Jamie (Sunny Suljic) into Oliver's world as well. This brought Matthew's jealous side and it had been up to Shai (Havana Rose Liu) to tell Matthew that he was no longer part of the group.

Of course Matthew wasn't going to accept that and created a scenario that forced Oliver into taking him back into the group. There's a real battle of wills between Oliver and Matthew but the latter made a point about wanting it more. Matthew wanting it more might have compromised his morality but it certainly got the desired results throughout. 

- Matthew's only family figure was his grandmother, who appeared in a few scenes. Despite the premise, Matthew was seemingly straight.

- Oliver didn't have supportive parents when it came to his music career. He also feared being misunderstood the most.

- Standout music: Oliver's Love And Obsession was fitting considering the events of this movie.

- Chronology: Mostly set in Los Angeles but there was a trip to London and the movie ended with Oliver being a Grammy nominee while promoting his documentary at a film festival.

For the most part, I rather liked Lurker as a movie. We've done these toxic/obsessive friendship tropes and there's certainly blurred lines between how Matthew viewed Oliver throughout the whole film. Good performances from the leads help it.

Rating: 7 out of 10 

My Review of The Drama (2026)

 

Written And Directed by Kristoffer Borgli

Emma (to Charlie): "Do you live around here?"

Well, I've been waiting a bit to watch this one. It's garnered a bit of a reputation but was it as good as everyone said it was? Funnily enough, it was.

I'm actually surprised they didn't try a Valentine's release for this one because it would've been perfect. Anyways you've got a couple named Emma Harwood (Zendaya) and Charlie Thompson (Robert Pattinson). Their journey to the altar was draught and that's an understatement.

Their meet cute stemmed from Charlie faking an interest in a book that Emma was reading in a café. It was also during their first encounter that it was revealed Emma was deaf in one ear. Charlie assumed it was since birth. The real story on the other hand was a lot worse.

With Charlie and Emma about to get married, there was a dinner with their friends Mike (Mamoudou Athie) and Rachel (Alana Haim). The dinner took a dark turn when they all confessed to their worse deeds. Emma admitting that she originally planned a massive shooting wasn't on my bingo card.

I'll admit that genuinely shocked me when she went into detail and while Rachel's reaction was one that most people would have, the latter would get progressively annoying as the movie went on. In particular, at the actual wedding itself, Rachel delivered the type of speech that would kill any friendship stone dead.

As for Charlie and Emma, the latter's confession which came with flashbacks of her being an anti-gun activist during her high school years created a lot of tension. Their wedding day couldn't go without Charlie getting punched by a co-worker's boyfriend. As for the ending, well we did get another meet cute, so maybe Charlie and Emma will be fine.

- Misha (Hailey Gates) was the co-worker that Charlie attempted to kiss when he was having a meltdown about Emma.

- Charlie cyberbullied a kid, Mike used an ex-girlfriend as a human shield and Rachel locked a disabled child in a trailer overnight.

- Emma's father was in the military, adding more context to her story. Charlie's grandparents were also alive.

- Rachel's cousin Sam (Anna Baryshnikov) was a victim of a school shooting but survived. I didn't like the way Charlie accosted her.

- Standout music: Mackeeper's Pieces Of You.

- Chronology: Set in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Two years timeline.

I really did like The Drama (2026) a lot as a movie. There's genuinely great chemistry with Zendaya and Robert Pattinson. They're wonderful to watch and i can't wait to see how they will interact in two other movies coming out this year.

Rating: 8 out of 10 

My Review of Drive-Away Dolls (2024)

 

Written by Ethan Coen And Tricia Cooke 

Directed by Ethan Coen

Jamie: "I've had it with love. I know bards and troubadours are high on it, but I don't believe it's relevant to the modern twentieth soon to be twenty first century lesbian."

Last week, I made a booboo and watched Honey Don't! before I watched this one. Not that it mattered because they're separate stories, despite the link that was Margaret Qualley.

In this movie, she's a much different character named Jamie. Jamie had issues with fidelity and it led to her relationship with Sukie (Beanie Feldstein) coming to an ending. Sukie got to keep the dog. Sukie didn't want the dog. Sukie's also not someone to mess with when she's mad. 

Anyways, Jamie spent most of the movie with her friend Marian (Geraldine Viswanathan). The latter was planning a trip to Tallahassee and she wasn't amused with Jamie being inquisitive about her sex life. It turned out that Marian hasn't had it in a while since a former conservative ex-girlfriend.

Now the big thing about this movie actually started off with a character named Santos (Pedro Pascal) who got a horrible death when he tried to flee away with a mystery briefcase. That briefcase also ended up in the car that Jamie and Marian were currently driving in. Needless to say, that put both women in considerable danger.

Enter the danger in the form of a motley trio consisting of Chief (Colman Domingo), Arliss (Joey Slotnick) and Flint (C.J. Wilson). These men were determined to get that briefcase back and while two of them underestimated Sukie, it didn't take too long for them to catch up with Jamie and Marian. It also took very little for one of the men to go rogue as well.

As for the briefcase, what was the big deal? Well it turned out that it contained certain toys shaped from something that Gary Channel (Matt Damon) didn't want made public knowledge. He got his item back, Jamie and Marian got a million bucks and we met the latter's aunt for a very funny final scene.

- The alternative title was Henry James's Drive-Away Dykes. Jamie made a point of not being an avid reader.

- Miley Cyrus had an uncredited role as Tiffany Plastercaster. We should've gotten more of her.

- Standout music: Linda Ronstadt's Blue Bayou and The Liverbirds Peanut Butter.

- Chronology: 1999 in Philadelphia, Tallahassee and Massachusetts.

I had great fun with Drive-Away Dolls. A chaotic road trip with two likeable characters, a fun commentary on love in many forms and a great use of certain actors. 

Rating: 8 out of 10 

My Review of They Will Kill You (2026)

 

Written by Kirill Sokolov And Alex Litvak

Directed by Kirill Sokolov 

Lily (re Asia): "Our offering is on the loose, be on the lookout. I just dropped her picture in the group chat."

Halfway through this film, I was struck by the most obvious realisation. I had already seen this before. I saw it when I had watched Ready Or Not 2: Here I Come. This film pretty much had the same premise. Did that bother me? Not really tbh.

The film started with Asia Reaves (Zazie Beetz) trying to protect her younger sister, Maria (Orefile Moloi) from their abusive father. Asia ended up in prison and Maria's life ended being a lot worse as a direct result.

Of course, Asia would get out of prison, take on the name of Isabel in order to secure a job at The Virgil. The place was run by Lilith Woodhouse (Patricia Arquette) and her husband, Ray (Paterson Joseph). It was a place that also had a few guests that would surprise Asia.

The guests being Kevin Sullivan (Tom Felton), Sharon Vanderbilt (Heather Graham) and a few others. Not only did they try to kill Asia but they're also members of a Satanic cult and they themselves couldn't be killed. Asia herself certainly tried to kill them but they refused to die.

On the plus side, she did reunite with her sister Maria (Myha'la) but both sisters were at odds with one another. Maria had joined the same Satanic cult and needed to make a sacrifice in order to solidify her loyalty to Satan (James Remar). 

The film certainly skimmed over Asia and Maria's abandonment issues and while the outcome was expected, I loved the madcap insanity that led to it. That and the fact that Satan was a talking pig's head was rather amusing. There was so much fun to be had with this one.

- The movie was broken up into various chapter titles. There's a nice supporting role for Angus Sampson as Asia's private investigator/lawyer.

- Patricia Arquette's Irish accent was not good. 

- Standout music: Dead Man's Bones Lose Your Soul.

- Chronology: A ten year time jump between the first scene and the main event. The Virgil was set in NYC.

They Will Kill You was a riot. Satanism, Tarantino style violence, sisterly relationships and awful corrupted people. Oh and a talking pig's head. I had a lot of fun with this one.

Rating: 7 out of 10 

My Review of The Devil Wears Prada 2 (2026)

 

Written by Aline Brosh McKenna

Directed by David Frankel 

Miranda: "I always knew that you would end up doing something great."

Andy: "You forgot I existed."

Miranda: "Right, but... before that, I knew."

Ah, the legacy sequel. For every Top Gun: Maverick, there are others that don't fare well. Then there's this sequel. I can't believe it's been twenty years but it has and the gang are back for this second offering.

Miranda Priestly (Meryl Streep), the fearsome icon she may be found herself at something of a disadvantage in this sequel. She might still have Nigel Kipling (Stanley Tucci) and new assistants in Amara (Simone Ashley) and Charlie (Caleb Heaton) but there were two people missing from her life that the events of this movie reunited her with.

Those women being Andrea Sachs (Anne Hathaway) and Emily Charlton (Emily Blunt). A rather public faux pas saw Irv Ravitz (Tibor Feldman) bring the former to something help Miranda with the running of Runway. The timing was great for Andrea, given that she just lost her job and was on the verge of writing a book about Miranda herself.

Then there's Emily. She's the senior executive at Dior and she was more than happy to help Miranda as long as it benefitted her. I've had a soft spot for Emily and the grudging admiration that Emily and Andrea have for each other was once again a lot of fun to watch. Emily also had a rich love interest in Benji Barnes (Justin Theroux).

Now, let's have a deep dive into Miranda as a character. She's a fearsome character but this was a movie that tried to deconstruct her with very mixed result. Was Miranda really a thing of the past? Was Emily justified in trying to take Runway from under her? Was Andrea really going to turn down so much money in order to profess her loyalty to Miranda?

I think both Emily and Miranda mostly had the measure of each other and I liked that Miranda also spoke sense into Andrea while giving Nigel his moment to shine. There's also a nice subplot involving Lucy Liu's Sasha that did lead into Miranda and Andrea's newly changed dynamic by the end of the movie. Print media might be struggling but there's clearly some fight in it.

- While there are plenty of cameos from the likes of Lady Gaga, Donatella Versace etc, people like Anna Wintour, Sydney Sweeney and Conrad Ricamora had their scenes cut.

- Andrea and Miranda had love interests in Peter (Patrick Brammall) and Stuart (Kenneth Branagh). Emily had two kids. Irv's son, Jay (B.J. Novak) didn't seem to care for Miranda.

- Miranda was the subject of certain memes and Andrea got her own assistant in Jin (Helen J. Shen). I also liked the return of Lily (Tracie Thoms).

- Andrea really was still living in a modern apartment twenty years on from the last time we met her.

- Standout music: Lady Gaga/Doechi's Runway, Miley Cyrus/Brittany Howard's Walk Of Fame and The Marias No One Noticed.

- Chronology: Twenty years since the first movie. Set in New York and Milan. 

Well, I'll admit that this was something of a sequel. The Devil Wears Prada 2 won't beat out the first movie in terms of quality but it turned out to be a much better handled return than I expected it to be. A good commentary on the industries respectively and some genuinely funny/sweet moments, I don't think we'll have to wait another twenty years for next one.

Rating: 7 out of 10