DCU Blog - August 2025 Edition: Superman Follow Up Confirmed, Project Updates And Clayface Filming

It's been a month since Superman hit theatres and less than a fortnight since the start of Peacemaker. It's been another busy month for DC fans.

As of now, Superman (2025) has made over 611 million at the box office and went to digital on August 15th to purchase.

Both David Zaslav and James Gunn have confirmed that the latter will write and direct the follow up and it could be going into production sooner than expected.

Test screenings for Supergirl (June 26th 2026) have been positive. A trailer likely won't appear for another few months. 

Jeffrey Wright and Colin Farrell have both admitted to seeing the script for The Batman - Part II (October 1st 2027) recently. Filming will start next year. There's a rumour Zoe Kravitz might not be in this movie.

Max Minghella and Eddie Marsan have joined the cast of Clayface (September 11th 2026). Filming starts tomorrow in the UK.

James Gunn has admitted that things are going well for The Brave And The Bold, Wonder Woman, Paradise Lost and Booster Gold. Waller is still happening, despite moving slower.

The Krypto shorts (the first was released this month) are not canon to the DCU.

Kyle Rayner and Nikki Jones will factor in the upcoming My Adventures With Green Lantern animated series. Jessica Cruz will lead the show.

The second season premiere of Peacemaker (HBO Max) saw a 22% rise in viewers. There's also been hints of big cameos in the final three episodes, which have not been shown to the media.

Cary Christopher, Paula Patton and Laura Linney have been cast in undisclosed roles for the upcoming HBO series, Lanterns.

Other characters teaming up in the upcoming Batman/Deadpool book include John Constantine/Doctor Strange and Harley Quinn/The Hulk to name a few.

James Gunn has confirmed that another TV show that no one knew about will be one of the next things to film.

Margot Robbie has been asked recently about her future as Harley Quinn, last seen in The Suicide Squad. Right now, we're still none the wiser if she'll reprise the role in the DCU.

George Newborn has recently confirmed that Injustice 3 is happening.

A trailer for Lego Batman: Legacy Of The Dark Knight game was released this month.

Lauren LeFranc has signed a deal with HBO and there's been some talks about a potential second season of The Penguin.

And that's a rundown of the important DC news for this month. I also wrote a blog about a certain topic if you want to read that. 

My Review of The Exorcist (FOX TV Series, 2016-2017)

 

Written by Jeremy Slater And Heather Bellson And Dre Ryan And Adam Stein And David Grimm And Laura Marks And Charise Castro Smith And Marcus Gardley And Franklin Jin Rho And Manny Coto And Rebecca Kirsch And Alyssa Clark And M. Willis And Sean Crouch

Directed by Rupert Wyatt And Michael Nankin And Craig Zisk And Jason Ensler And Jennifer Phang And Tinge Krishnan And Louis Milito And Bill Johnson And Dean Sarafian And Ti West And So Yong Kim And Alex Garcia Lopez And Steven A. Adelson And Meera Menon And Elizabeth Allen Rosenbaum 

Father Tomas: "I was told you were an exorcist."

Father Marcus: "Who exactly told you that?"

Father Tomas: "Does it matter?"

Father Marcus: "Yeah, I think it does."

About two years ago, I watched and reviewed every single sequel/prequel to The Exorcist but there was something that i had missed out on. That thing of course being the television series itself.

This show ran for two seasons on FOX, clocking in twenty episodes overall. It was also a reasonably well received show with two very captivating lead performance from Alfonso Herrera and Ben Daniels. 

Herrera played the more inexperienced Father Tomas Ortega while Daniels played the hardened exorcist in question, Father Marcus Keane. It would be dreams that would ultimately bring these two men together and demonic possessions that would rest their relationship with each other and respective faith.

The first season of this show played out like a legacy sequel to the classic 1973 movie. Yup, this meant the return of Regan MacNeil (Geena Davis), going under the name of Angela Rance. Of course that wasn't revealed until halfway through the season when we had a few episodes with her mother, Chris (Sharon Gless) returned and old family tension reared it's head.

Yes, Pazuzu (Robert Emmet Lunney) effectively was the main threat of the season, terrorising Regan's daughter, Casey (Hannah Kasulka) as well her husband, Henry (Alan Ruck) and other daughter, Kat (Brianne Howey). I'd say as a legacy sequel, this was overall better than expected.

Now while I don't think the second season turned out as good, it was still better than it should've been. This time the focus was on foster dad Andrew Kim (John Cho) falling victim to a possession, which played on his guilt of deceased wife, Nicole (Alicia Witt) while putting his adopted kids like Verity (Brianna Hildebrand) and fellow social worker Rose Cooper (Li Jun Li).

Andy's story isn't as compelling as the Rances from the first season but I did appreciate it trying to be a bit different. In between both possession stories, there was also characters like Father Bennett (Kurt Egyiawan) and Mouse (Zuleikha Robinson) trying to stop the church from actually integrating with demons. It took a bit too long for that plot to circle back to our main cast in the second season.

Now the strength of this show was definitely the team up of Tomas and Marcus. Alfonso Herrera and Ben Daniels are fantastic casting and both are given some compelling material to work with. As characters, they may have certain conflicts but they largely balanced each other out and their separation at the end of the series was expected but slightly sad to watch.

- Season 1 episode titles: And Let Me Cry Unto Thee, Lupus In Fabula, Let 'Em In, The Moveable Feast, Through My Most Grievous Fault, Star Of The Morning, Father Of Lies, The Griefbearers, 162 and Three Rooms.

- Season 2 episode titles: Janus, Safe As Houses, Unclean, One For Sorrow, There But For The Grace Off God, Go I, Darling Nikki, Help Me, A Heaven Of Hell, Ritual & Repetition and Unworthy.

- In the first season, Tomas had an affair with a married woman named Jessica (Mouzam Makkar) while in the second season, Marcus was seeing a man named Peter (Christopher Cousins).

- Fans of Yellowjackets would've spotted Sophie Thatcher as a younger version of Regan in the first season.

- Creator Jeremy Slater would go to run Moon Knight for the MCU and is one of the architects for the DCU.

- Chronology: The first season is set in Chicago while the second season takes in a few different places, including Nachburn in Seattle. 

For a show that would've a little constricted by network television rules, it's impressive just how good this version of The Exorcist turned out to be. Tbe writing for the most part was strong, the scares and possession scenes really effective and the dynamic between Alfonso Herrera and Ben Daniels. Definitely worth watching.

Rating: 8 out of 10 

My Review of The Black Phone (2021)

 

Written by Scott Derrickson And C. Robert Cargill

Directed by Scott Derrickson

Finney (to The Grabber): "It's for you!"

With a sequel due in theatres in October, I thought it was time to catch up with this one. I remember there seemed to be some positive buzz, so I had certain expectations for this movie.

Setting in the same year where movies like Grease, Halloween and Superman: The Movie was released, you had a town in terror. Why? Oh, because of a child snatcher named The Grabber (Ethan Hawke) of course.

In this movie, the focus was on sibling duo Finney (Mason Thames) and Gwen (Madeleine McGraw) and their alcoholic father, Terrence (Jeremy Davies). Terrence vented his anger out on his children while both also had to deal with bullies in school and classmates being victims of The Grabber.

Before we got to the halfway point of the movie, it was established that Gwen's dreams had a tendency of predicting future events (something she got from her deceased mother). This was something that Terrence literally tried to beat out of her until even he was forced to accept that she was telling the truth.

As for Finney, he became the latest victim of The Grabber. During his captivity, Finney had to play The Grabber's twisted "Naughty Boy" while also receiving phone calls from a black phone. The calls being from the ghosts of previous victims, including Finney's friend, Robin (Miguel Cazarez Mora). The latter encouraging Finney to fight back against The Grabber.

Of course between Gwen working with the police and her dreams providing clues and Finney giving The Grabber his just desserts, Finney ended up being the sole survivor of the serial killer's reign of terror. If anything, this movie seemed to give a very permanent comeuppance for The Grabber but we're getting a sequel.

- James Ransome (IT: Chapter 2) had the role of Max, who was the brother and final victim of The Grabber.

- A sequel of sorts titled Dreamkill does factor in anthology movie, V/H/S/85.

- Standout music: Pink Floyd's On The Run and Blind Blake's Early Morning Blues.

- Chronology: This film took place during 1978 in North Denver, Colorado.

The Black Phone made for a good cat and mouse serial killer/horror movie. There's strong performances between Ethan Hawke and Mason Thames but it also felt like something that should've been a one and done deal.

Rating: 7 out of 10 

My Review of Peacemaker: "A Man Is As Only Good As His Bird"

 

Written by James Gunn 

Directed by Greg Mottola

Peacemaker (to Vigilante): "Looking in your own eyes just fucks you up."

And we're into the second episode of this second season. Last time we left things, Peacemaker just killed his other self but that's not the only thing that's bothering him this episode.

However seeing as it was the most important of the opening episode, it did make sense to (badly) resolve it first. That meant getting Adrian to help him go all Dexter Morgan on his other self with the body disposal. I guess being responsible for killing your other self can do a number on you.

On the plus side, there was a chance to do some 11th Street Kids celebrating on the roof of Harcourt's apartment block and that mostly went well. I think Chris trying to get Emilia to open up about her self destructive behaviour was where things went wrong. Trying to contact her other self might also be an unwise idea.

Circling to Economos, he had the task of a flashback which introduced Rick Flag Sr as his boss and in the present day Sadha thought it best for him to be accompanied by handler, Fleury (Tim Meadows). I think the words "loathsome character but great performance" spring to mind.

Throughout the episode,I found myself either annoyed or disgusted by every single thing that came out of Fleury's mouth but Tim Meadows also gave such a great performance. I did laugh when Fleury and his team's attempts to break into Chris's house had Eagly do a lot of damage to that team. 

Other than that, this wasn't an episode to hugely move forward much. There's bitterness between Leota and her estranged wife, Emilia snapped at a sympathetic woman and Adrian yet again showed jealousy over Chris having a sex life. I did like the scene with Leota and John though.

- Fleury has a bird blindness, bragged about having sex with women in Oregon and gave his team politically incorrect code names.

- Some archive footage was used from The Suicide Squad and Peacemaker knows that Flag Sr wants revenge on him.

- The post credit was Fleury bragging more about his sexploits. Economos got "Ginger Cool" as a nickname. Waller got "A Dubs" by Economos.

- Is this show being sponsored by Bud Light? Other beers and alcoholic drinks do exist. 

- Standout music: Foxy Shazam's Evil Thoughts and Hardcore Superstar's We Don't Need A Cure.

- Chronology: From where the previous episode left off. Flag Sr has also been ARGUS's leader for the last eight months.

I didn't like A Man Is As Only Good As His Bird as much as the opening episode but it was enjoyable enough. Some nice character moments and further proof that Eagly is the most lethal character on the show.

Rating: 7 out of 10 

My Review of The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It (2021)

 

Written by James Wan And David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick

Directed by Michael Chaves

Ed Warren: "The court accepts the existence of God every time a witness swears to tell the truth. I think it's about time they accept the existence of the Devil."

Usually things end in threes and this really could've been the end of both this part of the franchise or the entire franchise in general. It had a feeling of finality to it.

Once again, we're with paranormal couple, Ed (Patrick Wilson) and Lorraine Warren (Vera Farmiga) but this time, we're not dealing with haunted houses as such. This one was definitely more about the possessions and a bout of occultism in the mix as well.

The movie started with a family's young son, David (Julian Hilliard) being possessed by a demon that Ed and Lorraine really struggled to get rid. In fact to up the ante, Ed ended up hospitalised and in a wheelchair for a bit of the movie. Of course that wasn't the only consequence of saving David.

David might have gotten the demon taken out of him but his sister, Debbie (Sarah Catherine Hook) didn't fare as well. The demon instead up residence in her boyfriend, Arne Cheyenne Johnson (Ruari O'Connor) and as a result, he ended up stabbing his landlord twenty two times and was sent the prison for his crime.

This film tackled the issue of demonic possession being claimed as a defence while also putting Ed and Lorraine through their paces. Along with their assistant, Drew (Shannon Kook) they worked on trying to save Arne from the death penalty while drawing a link to another case involving an occultist (Eugenie Bondurant). 

Unlike the previous movies that were in spin off setting up mode, there's a good focus on the actual threat at hand. Isla/Occultist made for a good villain, the demon certain had both Ed and Arne act, Lorraine had more to do and there was a strong supporting role from John Noble as Kastner. I think this might have had the strongest third act so far.

- Once again we see items from previous movies and spin offs with voice over work filling in the gaps of the real life case this movie was based.

- James Wan co-wrote but didn't direct this one. His wife Ingrid Bisu had a role in this film as well.

- Standout music: Eddie Money's Baby Hold On and Blondie's Call Me.

- Chronology: 1981 in Brookfield, Connecticut as well as Dancers, Massachusetts.

I think I might have liked The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It the best of these movies so far. The story helped by being a little different from the first two. It's also the movie where I think the reshoots helped strengthen the actual plot and third act itself.

Rating: 7 out of 10 

My Review of The Conjuring 2 (2016)

 

Written by Chad Hayes And Carey W. Hayes And James Wan And David Leslie Johnson

Directed by James Wan

Lorraine Warren: "After everything we've seen, there isn't much that rattles either of us anymore. But this one... this one still haunts me."

Following the events of the first movie and spin off movie, Annabelle, it was time to venture into the first sequel of this franchise. This meantt another case with husband and wife demonologist team, Ed (Patrick Wilson) and Lorraine Warren (Vera Farmiga).

Back in the 1970s, it wasn't just the US having their share of paranormal cases but even the UK had an infamous one with the Enfield Haunting. It was time for the Warrens to take a trip overseas for this particular case.

The case focused on a single mother, Peggy Hodgson (Frances O'Connor) and her family, Janet (Madison Wolfe), Margaret (Lauren Esposito), Billy (Benjamin Haigh) and Johnny (Patrick McAuley). Let's just say kids really shouldn't be messing with ouija boards.

It was Janet and Margaret playing with one that suddenly saw their home being terrorised by the ghost of Bill Wilkins (Bob Adkins), who communicated through Janet and certainly made the effort to unnerve Ed during their initial encounter in the house.

However, it wasn't just one ghost. No, there was also the Crooked Man (Javier Batet) terrorising the house and even Ed and Lorraine needed the helps of others such as Maurice Grosse (Simon McBurney) and Anita Gregory (Franka Potente) in saving the Hodgson family.

Then there was another spin off to help set up. Lorraine was having visions of a demonic nun named Valak (Bonnie Aarons) and there's a battle between the pair in order to save Ed. Personally, I found this set up a little clumsy and distracting from the main plot itself.

- The last scene contained the Annabelle doll, a haunted "Crooked Man" zoetrope and one of the Perrons music boxes.

- There's some nice supporting performances from Maria Doyle Kennedy and Simon Delaney as a couple who were friends with Peggy and her family.

- Standout music: Elvis's I Can't Help Falling In Love With You and The Clash's London Calling.

- Chronology: The movie started with the Lutz family in Amityville in 1976 before moving to the Enfield Haunting in 1977. Christmas played a part here too.

The Conjuring 2 for the most part did make for a good sequel. I liked the London setting, the jump scares were still good but it did feel like they could've weaved the Valak story a lot better into the movie or just hinted at it in a post credit scene instead.

Rating: 7 out of 10 

My Review of The Conjuring (2013)

 

Written by Chad Hayes And Carey W. Hayes

Directed by James Wan

Ed Warren: "The devil exists. God exists. And for us, as people, our very destiny hinges upon which one we elect to follow."

With the last month of these movies due for theatres next month, I went back to rewatch the first three. This franchise has definitely been a good mine for WB but often a mixed bag in terms of quality.

Focusing on real life couple Ed (Patrick Wilson) and Lorraine Warren (Vera Farmiga), these two are quite the experts in the paranormal field. Though their credibility has often been called into question.

With this movie, we open with the demonologist couple investigating the infamous Annabelle doll that has been terrorising friends Camilla (Amy Tipton) and Debbie (Morganna May). Of course that would be more in line with setting up the next movie in this franchise rather than the crux of this one.

Instead the action pivoted towards the Perron family. You had Roger (Ron Livingston) and Carolyn (Lili Taylor) moving into a new home with their five daughters. It's not long before strange stuff happens at a specific time, Carolyn wound up with bruises and the poor dog Sadie ended up being dead as a result.

Of course that meant the Perron family getting Ed and Lorraine to try and sort out their supernatural problem along with their assistant Drew Thomas (Shannon Kook) and police officer Brad Hamilton (John Brotherton). Honestly, the Warrens needed all the help they could get.

The house had a history of Satanism and Witchcraft, notably Bathsheba Sherman (Joseph Bishara). The remainder of the film played as a tense battle for two families souls and it's one that's played well enough with the Warrens being able to save the Perrons from their Satanic house.

- The end of the movie set up the events for Annabelle (2014), which in my opinion is still the best film in this whole franchise.

- The real Lorraine Warren had a cameo appearance in the movie.

- Standout music: The Zombies Time Of The Season and Dead Man Bones In The Room Where You Sleep.

- Chronology: The film started in 1968 for the Annabelle case before the main events in Harrisville, Rhode Island during 1971.

The Conjuring was a strong start to this franchise, adapting the real life Perron case and setting up the events for another movie. James Wan does good with the jump scares and there's no denying that Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga are excellent in these roles.

Rating: 7 out of 10 

My Review of Lost Boys: The Tribe (2008)

 

Written by Hans Rodionoff

Directed by P.J. Pesce

Edgar Frog: "Let's get one thing straight, I hate damn vampires!"

The 2000s really were the wildest time for the horror genre. If it was an unnecessary reboot, it was also the unnecessary sequel. This was 94 minutes of my time in which I should have something far more constructive with my time.

Take two siblings - Chris Emerson (Tad Hilgenbrink) and his sister, Nicole (Autumn Reeser). Throw them into a certain town, renting a house from their aunt Jillian (Gabrielle Rose) and you'll see where this one will go.

The sister Nicole being the rebellious one of the bunch made some new friends such as surfer dude, Shane Powers (Angus Sutherland). It doesn't take long for Nicole to be tricked into drinking blood or for Shane and his friends to be the new vampires of this town.

It also didn't take long for Chris to "join" Shane and his gang in a bid to rescue his sister and stop her drinking from local boy Evan (Greyston Holt). Of course there's another aspect of this movie I've not touched on.

Having a link to the 1987 movie, there was also the return of Edgar Frog (Corey Feldman). He's become a vampire hunter, had an unconvincing grizzled accent and teamed up with Chris and Nicole to take out Shane and his friends. His performance was horrible and that's putting it mildly.

- A post credit scene revealed that Sam Emerson (Corey Haim) became a vampire between movies.

- Alan Frog (Jamison Newlander) had filmed scenes that were ultimately cut from the movie.

- Alternative scenes included subplots with Edgar, Sam and Alan that likely were meant to set up Lost Boys: The Thirst.

- Chronology: 2000s, Luna Bay in California.

Awful, just awful. I can vibe with a terrible sequel but when it's as draining and as dreadful as Lost Boys: The Tribe, I'd rather not. If you haven't seen it, don't bother. 

Rating: 3 out of 10 

My Review of The Lost Boys (1987)

 

Written by Janice Fischer And James Jeremias And Jeffrey Boam

Directed by Joel Schumacher 

Grandpa: "One thing about living in Santa Carla I never could stomach; all the damn vampires."

With Autumn fast approaching, I'm definitely in the mood for some vampire flicks and one of the best would be this gem from the late 1980s, directed by Joel Schumacher. 

Focusing on a single mother - Lucy Emerson (Dianne Wiest) and her sons, Michael (Jason Patric) and Sam (Corey Haim). They move to Santa Carla in order to live with Lucy's father (Barnard Hughes) and it's not long before they learn that their new town has some secrets of its own.

Notably the vampire population but it's the brothers who learn of this first. With Michael, he met a girl named Star (Jami Gertz). Star happened to be a vampire and so did her friends, David (Kiefer Sutherland), Paul (Brooke McCarter), Dwayne (Billy Wirth) and Marko (Alexander Winter). It didn't take Michael long to become one as well.

Then there's Sam. He's a massive comic book nerd but not much of a horror fan. He met up with the Frog brothers - Edgar (Corey Feldman) and Alan (Jamison Newlander). They brought Sam up to speed about vampires and were not best pleased upon learning that Michael was one of them. Still, they were handy to have around for this movie.

As for Lucy, she was mostly exasperated by her sons being different now they were in a new town. She was also trying to start a relationship with local man, Max (Edward Herrmann). Max seemed like a nice guy but looks can be deceiving.

Max being the head of the vampires was a nice twist but obvious. Wanting Lucy to be the mother of his made family was also expected. Grandpa being the one to set things back to normal before casually dropping that he knew about vampires all along. That I didn't expect. Good reveal though.

- Being invited into a home can make vampires immune to garlic and holy water. Michael, Star and Laddie reverted to normal at the end.

- Sam was something of a DC fan, specifically Superman. Eight years after this movie Joel Schumacher would direct Batman Forever and then Batman & Robin.

- Standout music: Good Times by INXS and Jimmy Barnes, Lost In The Shadows (The Lost Boys) by Lou Gramm and People Are Strange by Echo And The Bunnyman.

- Chronology: 1980s Santa Carla, California.

The Lost Boys lives up to its reputation. It's a fun vampire movie with great characters, some nice scare moments and scenes that are genuinely funny. A very enjoyable movie.

Rating: 8 out of 10 

My Review of Practical Magic (1998)

 

Written by Robin Swicord And Akiva Goldsman And Adam Brooks

Directed by Griffin Dunne

Sally Owens: "I dream of a love that even time will lie down and be still for."

With an unexpected sequel currently filming, it was time to go back and watch this movie. I watched it once in my teens but never felt compelled to watch again. Then they announced a sequel, so I'm watching this again.

The movie opened in the past with Maria Owens (Caprice Benedetti) surviving the locals trying to kill her for being a witch. Dealing with heartbreak, Maria also cast a spell never to fall in love again. That spell had it's own consequences such as dooming any man that would fall in love with an Owens woman.

Cut to more recent times and you've got sister duo, Sally (Sandra Bullock/Camilla Belle) and Gillian Owens (Nicole Kidman/Lora Anne Criswell). Their parents are killed and they go live with their eccentric aunts Frances (Stockard Channing) and Bridget Owens (Dianne Wiest). How Sally and Gillian would differ with magic certainly made things interesting.

Sally's use of magic had get a husband named (Mark Feuerstein) and two daughters, Kylie (Evan Rachel Wood) and Antonia (Alexandra Artrip). However the family curse struck, Michael died and Sally swore off magic for good. That didn't stop the locals from gossiping about the Owens family.

As for Gillian, she lived a lot more recklessly with her magic. Her choice in romantic partners was diabolical. Gillian's current boyfriend, James Angelov (Goran Visnjic) was not only physically abusive towards Gillian but he was also a serial killer. Jimmy ended up being killed twice by Gillian and Sally and then found a way to control over Gillian's body.

In between sisterly conflict, body possession and a detective named Gary Hallet (Aidan Quinn), we did have a community bonding together in order to flush out a very dangerous man. This movie wore it's feminist themes on its sleeves but it worked during that third act team up. 

- Griffin Dunne revealed that the studio stopped the film from being much darker than intended. The drunk scene was real thanks to Nicole Kidman.

- This movie wasn't a financial hit but it has drawn a cult audience and the sequel will come out next year.

- Standout music: Faith Hill's This Kiss, Harry Nilsson's Coconut and Stevie Nicks Crystal.

- Chronology: 1600s and the 1990s in a small Massachusetts town.

While Practical Magic doesn't quite hit the heights of other witch themed movies for me, it's a fairly enjoyable one nonetheless. I think Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman elevate it a bit.

Rating: 7 out of 10 

My Review of Peacemaker: "The Ties That Grind"

 

Written And Directed by James Gunn 

Peacemaker (Other): "Who the fuck are you?"

Peacemaker: "I can explain."

Can you believe it's been a month since Superman (2025) debuted in theatres and now we're on to our third DCU entry in less than a year? Where the hell does the time actually go, huh?

My initial plan for the second season of Peacemaker was to watch the whole season and then do one blog on it like I did with the first season. As you can tell I changed my mind about that one. As for this opening episode, it certainly had a lot to go on.

From the rather brisk way it chose to tackle the DCEU/DCU canon debate, it just swapped out the Justice League for the Justice Gang. Peacemaker aka Christopher Smith (John Cena) wanted to join up but Maxwell Lord (Sean Gunn), Hawkgirl (Isabela Merced) and Guy Gardner (Nathan Fillion) were more interested in making fun of Peacemaker than signing him up as a member of their group.

You'd think saving the world from the Butterflies and exposing Task Force X would've made things better but the exact opposite happened. Leota Adebayo (Danielle Brooks) has become unemployed and dumped by her wife. On the other hand, she did seem happy to be around both Peacemaker and John Economos (Steve Agee) in the few scenes they share together.

Someone arguably having a shitter time though would be Emilia Harcourt (Jennifer Holland). She's been blacklisted from every government job going and she's got a worse dose of toxic masculinity. On the other hand, she got into a rather bloody barfight and there's a lingering "will they/won't they" arc with Peacemaker that I'm indifferent to for now.

Getting back to Peacemaker, he's been messing around his father's portals and attracting the attention of Rick Flag Sr (Frank Grillo) and Sasha Bordeaux (Sol Rodriguez). More concerning was stepping into a world where Chris inadvertently killed the heroic version of himself after spending time with heroic versions of Auggie (Robert Patrick) and Keith (David Denman) also known as the Top Trio. Safe to say that Christopher fucked up real good this time around.

- The scene with the Justice League last season got replaced in the recap with the Justice Gang, plus Superman and Supergirl. David Corenswet, Milly Alcock and Edi Gathegi didn't physically appear though.

- Maxwell Lord was really rude about White Rabbit (Brey Noelle) and Guy Gardner was a tad biphobic about Peacemaker. Rick Flag Sr has replaced Amanda Waller at ARGUS.

- Peacemaker in the other world did date Harcourt but she's with a "jar head" right about now. Peacemaker in our world hosted an orgy where one male licked his face.

- Vigilante (Freddie Stroma) and Eagly had the least amount to do and the credit scene was an extended diss about a former DCEU actor's band.

- Standout music: Foxy Shazam's Oh Lord made up the new title sequence song. It's gonna take a while to get used to it. 

- Chronology: Six months since the events of the previous season. Events from both Creature Commandos and Superman (2025) are referenced too.

The Ties That Grind certainly got things off to a heck of a start. It's a chaotic opener with a few reflective moments and James Gunn at his most signature if that makes any sense. If you liked the first season, then you'll like this.

Rating: 8 out of 10 

The Future Of The Whoniverse: Actual Details To Discuss

Yes, it's been months since I've posted anything in relation to Doctor Who and given how there's been very little to talk about, can you blame me? Today however changed that. Let's dive in.

So, what exactly is going on with Doctor Who itself? Well, according to BBC Chief Content Officer Kate Phillips "the TARDIS is going absolutely nowhere" and I quote. Whether the show will remain in partnership with Disney+ however does continue to be the unanswered question but Phillips has reassured that the show will continue on BBC regardless of the outcome with the streamer. This was mentioned at the Edinburgh Television Festival today.

It's not an entirely satisfying answer of sorts. Right now, we had an extremely divisive finale back in May that saw Ncuti Gatwa regenerate into Billie Piper and we're still none the wiser as to whether the latter will be playing the 16th Doctor and in what capacity. Looks like we're going to wait longer for that answer.

However in news that likely won't shock anyone, the indecision regarding the main show's Disney+ future has likely impacted upcoming spin off, The War Between The Land And The Sea. First of all, this had a trailer premiere back in May that got eclipsed by the reaction to the recent finale of the main show itself.

It's been now confirmed that this spin off won't air this year as originally thought. Instead, it'll go to 2026, so for those who were looking forward to UNIT versus the Sea Devils or a potential interspecies romance between main characters Barclay (Russell Tovey) and Salt (Gugu Mbatha-Raw), you'll be waiting a bit longer for that. Sadly, I did suspect this show was going to be delayed.

As for current showrunner, Russell T. Davies, he has been doing recent interviews but not really providing anything concrete in regards to the future of Doctor Who. A few weeks ago, he did talk about having the scripts completed for his upcoming Channel 4 show, TipToe. 

Speaking of Channel 4, it was confirmed this week that Steven Moffat would be writing a drama for them called Number10, based on a certain famous British house that's due to start filming soon. Casting announcements will be imminent.

What of Chris Chibnall though? He's got upcoming Agatha Christie adaptation, The Seven Dials Mystery for Netflix and an ITV adaptation of his book, Death At The White Hart.

Doctor Who fans, we're in for a long wait for some proper answers regarding the show's future.

My Review of Stonewall (2015)

 

Written by Jon Robin Baitz

Directed by Roland Emmerich 

Bob Kohler (to Danny): "Every guy has to get over falling in love with someone who can't love him back."

It's coming up to the tenth anniversary of this particular movie. It's a movie that has such a bad reputation and after watching it for the first time, it's more than justified. Yikes.

I get that history pieces can often play around with the truth but when you have a movie that so shamelessly distorted it like this one, it's not hard to see why it's so loathed. This movie literally chose to whitewash a vital part of gay history.

With this movie, a lot of the focus was on a young white man named Danny Winters (Jeremy Irvine). Coming from a small town, he was an outcast. A sexual liaison with football star, Joe (Karl Glusman) saw him at odds with his father (David Cubitt) with his mother (Andrea Frankle) and sister (Joey King) bring unable to help him.

Anyways Danny headed to New York and while his college dreams were dying, it didn't take long for him to find a gay community to befriend. The community did have a diverse enough group with Ray (Jonny Beauchamp), Little Orphan Annie (Caleb Landry Jones), Queen Ong (Vladimir Alexis) and Quiet Paul (Ben Sullivan) and of course, Marsha P. Johnson (Otoja Abit) herself.

Danny stood out for being white and not into drag or genderfluid. However he did get to first hand witness the abuse that his new family had to experience underneath the cops. It also didn't help that Stonewall bar owner, Ed Murphy (Ron Perlman) was running a prostitutiion ring or that older boyfriend Trevor (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) was an ineffectual activist. Oh and then Danny had his own white privilege to deal with.

Where this movie fell apart was universally horrible creative decision to have Danny be the instigator of the Stonewall Riots by throwing the first brick and yelling "Gay Power". It's a genuinely embarrassing scene, right down from acting and directing that it soured what was already a bad movie.

If this movie had stuck to being a coming of age story where Danny befriended a queer community and got closure with his family and Joe, it would've been passable. It's inclusion of the riots and rewriting of history completed annihilated any good will that could've been bestowed on it.

- Roland Emmerich hired Jon Robin Baitz after seeing his play, Other Desert Cities to write the script for this.

- The epilogue did provide updates for Marsha P. Johnson, Bob Kohler, Seymour Pine, Ed Murphy, Frank Kameny and the Mattachine Society.

- Standout music: Stingray Music I Say A Little Prayer.

- Chronology: 1960s Indiana and New York for this movie. The riots took place in 1969.

Stonewall is a genuine embarrassment of a movie. I try to be fair with reviews but I cannot in good conscience give this anything other than a negative review. The fact the talent involved knew better but doubled down on the justified criticism only made it worse.

Rating: 4 out of 10

My Review of Benediction (2021)

 

Written And Directed by Terence Davies

Siegfried Sassoon: "Pain is not the only terror. There are many more."

Dr. Rivers: "Can you name them?"

Siegfried Sassoon: "If I could name them, they would cease to be terrors."

As the summer concludes and there's still some Pride events happening, there's a few more LGBT themed movies I wanted to get in before the month came to an end. This was one of them of course.

Focusing on British poet and World War I combat veteran, Siegfried Sassoon, this movie split it's time between the younger and older versions of Sassoon as played by Jack Lowden and Peter Capaldi respectively. Basically, twice the great acting.

Focusing on the younger version first, Sassoon was committed to a hospital having suffered trauma from his involvement in World War I. Being vocally opposed to the war's continuation also put something of a target on his back as well.

During the younger years, three of Siegfried's most significant relationships are put into focus. There's his romance with actor and musician, Ivor Novello (Jeremy Irvine). It's not a relationship that brought out the best in either man, but at least we're treated to one sex scene between the two. I'll say that Jeremy Irvine camped it up quite a bit with his portrayal of Novello.

Then there's the relationship with socialite Stephen Tennant (Calam Lynch). Lynch himself also camped it up playing Tennant but there's a delightful back and forth with the pairing that made their scenes a delight to watch. However, there's also no getting away from the fact that both Siegfried and Stephen screwed each other over.

Then Siegfried did that thing that a lot of gay men did at the time - he married a woman named Hester Gatty (Kate Phillips) and had a son with her. This was after scoffing over another gay man for doing similar earlier into the movie. On the other hand, Hester was well aware of Siegfried's sexuality but chose to marry him anyways.

There's not as much focus on his older self but with the screen time given to him, Peter Capaldi did a great job talking about Siegfried's resentment and regrets. There's some nice performances as well from Gemma Jones and Anton Lesser as the older versions of Hester and Stephen respectively. Not to mention a rather bittersweet final scene between Siegfriens and his son, George (Richard Goulding).

- Other actors who appear in this movie include Simon Russell Beale, Ben Daniels, Julian Sands, Matthew Tennyson, Tom Blyth and Harry Lawtey. Some get more scenes than others.

- The movie spaces out the references to some of Sassoon's most known work in between WW1 clips.

- Siegfried mentioned not being a fan of The Beatles. He's pretty critical about music in general.

- Chronology: World War I and 1920s and 1950s England.

Benediction was a rather nice movie that didn't overstay it's welcome. The split narrative worked and there's equally compelling performances from Jack Lowden and Peter Capaldi as Sassoon in the different stages of his life.

Rating: 8 out of 10 

My Review of Opus (2025)

 

Written And Directed by Mark Anthony Green

Moretti: "The back row is asleep but the front row is ready."

Sometimes you watch a movie because the premise is so batshit crazy that you think it's going to be right up your alley. Add some incredibly talented actors and you think you're on to a winner. Then you watch the movie itself and reality kicked in.

That's the sentiment for this off-kilter writer/director from former GQ Editor and journalist, Mark Anthony Green.. On paper, this was a great idea for an elevated horror. On screen, it completely fell apart.

The movie revolved around a reclusive 90s popstar named Alfred Moretti (John Malkovich). After decades of obscurity, he decided to release some new music. He also had a compound in Utah and invited a select few for a listening party.

The unlucky few turned out to be young journalist Ariel Ecton (Ayo Edibri), her editor Stan Sullivan (Murray Bartlett), TV host Clara Armstrong (Juliette Lewis), influencer Emily Katz (Stephanie Suganami), radio shock jock Bill Lotto (Mark Sivertsen) and paparazza, Bianca Tyson (Melissa Chambers). A reasonably eclectic group, all of whom were going to get the story of a lifetime.

It turned out that in between Moretti giving a performance and a rather creepy puppet show, the compound was filled with fans called Levellists and each of the guest had a chaperone. Ariel in particular had Belle (Amber Midthunder). Oh and people started to die, one by one.

The closest to a protagonist in this movie was Ariel and she was the only one of the group that Moretti and his cult followers were unable to kill. The ending also took a turn as even prison and a telly all expose couldn't quell Moretti's influence.

- There's a voice over role for Rosario Dawson, a cool supporting role for Tony Hale and cameos from Lil Nas X and Lenny Kravitz.

- Moretti was served a blue lobster during the meal. Only one in every two million exist.

- Standout music: John Malkovich going into popstar mode with Dina, Simone, Tomorrow My Love and 35mm.

- Chronology: 2025 in that Utah compound.

Opus made for a frustrating experience. It's premise was so intriguing, it's well cast and there's a few interesting moments but it's largely flat and lifeless as a movie. A shame because I really wanted to like it.

Rating: 5 out of 10 

Opinion Piece: Why I Think The Batman Universe Should Fold Into The DCU

I was so tempted to NOT write this piece and I can already tell the title will have certain people adamantly disagree. I should tell because up until a few weeks ago, I was one of those people. It's funny how things can change, huh?

Below are a list of reasons behind my new stance. Agree, disagree. Just be civil about it either way.

Less Complications: The biggest reason behind my new stance might not be a selfless one but here it is. The less complications DC has moving forward as a cinematic franchise, the better. Whether certain people are willing to admit it or not, having two live action versions of Batman at the same time will both overstretch the general audience and have more infighting among DC fans. Both of these things should be avoided moving with this franchise.

Comic Book Movie Fatigue: Which, according to some fans on social media doesn't exist. Hate to burst your bubble but it flipping does exist and if the way the comic book movies have performed internationally hasn't proved that, then what will? Iconic as Batman is, do you really think international audiences who are showing less interest in the genre want to see two versions of the same character? Not anymore they don't. Robert Pattinson has already proved himself in the role. Another actor, talented as they are might could struggle to win over everyone else.

The Gunn/Reeves Dynamic: I think we can all agree that with James Gunn, regardless of how you feel about him, he's been pretty respectful of Matt Reeves and has even defended the latter when fans accused Reeves of being too slow with the script for The Batman - Part II. Are you seriously telling me that Gunn/Reeves couldn't work something out that benefits both of them as filmmakers and doesn't confuse fans/general audiences? 

The Brave And The Bold: Let's be honest, does anyone genuinely believe this movie will see the light of day? Or that Andy Muschietti will still direct it? Think very long and very hard before answering that question. It's been over two and a half years since this movie has been announced and not a single bit of tangible progress seems to have been made. The idea has always felt like a backup plan and the longer we don't get any progress with it, the less likely it'll happen.

Matt Reeves Other Involvement: Doesn't anyone else find it rather odd that Matt Reeves has become involved in other Batman related projects that are not a part of his Epic Crime Universe? There's his role on Amazon Prime animated show, Batman: Caped Crusader and he's going to be a producer on the upcoming Clayface movie, starring Tom Rhys Harries. Does Reeves really need to be involved in Batman related projects if they're not in the same continuity as his universe with Robert Pattinson? Think about it for a moment.

Not Shutting The Rumour Down: Another thing that's hard not to think about is James Gunn doing very little to properly shut down the idea of a merge. Things like officially casting an actor for the DCU Batman, confirming the writer and director for The Brave And The Bold and giving that movie a potential release date would help put this whole merger idea to bed. The longer that James Gunn avoids doing any of that, the more likely a merging feels. Prove me wrong, James. Prove me wrong.

Moving Forward: Looking at DC for the next while, we've got the second season of Peacemaker, which will be having some Multiverse hijinks, then there's the detective themed HBO show Lanterns as well as a space revenge story with Supergirl. That's before we get to a Superman (2025) follow up that's been confirmed and of course The Batman - Part II, both likely to be released in 2027. Superman and Batman movies in the same year feels right. Sequels too I might add.

David Zaslav: I think people are also forgetting there's a pecking order at play too. Matt Reeves is answerable to James Gunn and Peter Safran but Gunn/Safran are also answerable to David Zaslav. The latter has made it clear that he doesn't want multiple versions of Batman at once and has cancelled multiple DC projects over the years. It's also no coincidence that Wonder Woman has been sped up while things like The Authority are looking less likely to happen. Zaslav wants instant results and very likely could make Gunn/Reeves merge. I certainly wouldn't put it past him to do such a thing.

They Just Look Good Together: Seriously, they do. You put images of Robert Pattinson and David Corenswet together and it feels right. I could genuinely see their versions of Batman and Superman playing off each other so well. Robert Pattinson wouldn't need to appear in multiple DCU projects outside a potential third movie in his own universe and a World's Finest team up and maybe one Justice League event to see out the DCU. That would be it at most.

The DCU Batman Fancasts Suck: Seriously, they really do. No matter how much comic book movie social media tries to convince me of the likes of Jensen Ackles, Alan Ritchson or Brandon Sklenar to name the three most overused fancasts choices, the more I'm reminded those men and other mentioned names are either too old for the part, don't look/give Batman vibes, aren't strong enough actors compared to Robert Pattinson or are even compelling to watch. Why take the risk when you already have a well received live action Batman who could go easily toe to toe with David Corenswet's Superman? And if Deadpool can get around originating in it's own space before being brought into the MCU, why can't the same happen with The Batman and the DCU without compromising Matt Reeves vision or Robert Pattinson's availability? It can be done.

Those are my thoughts on the matter. Should a merge happen? In my opinion, yes and for the stated reasons above. Will it happen? Right now, I'd say it's odds are 50/50. Time will tell though. Thoughts anyone?

My Review of Weapons (2025)

 

Written And Directed by Zach Cregger 

Narrator: "This is a true story that happened in my town. So this one Wednesday is like a normal day for the whole school, but today was different. Every other class had all their kids, but Mrs. Gandy's room was totally empty. And do you know why? Because the night before, at 2:17 in the morning, every kid woke up, got out of bed, walked downstairs, and into the dark... and they never came back."

2025 might be a contender for horror movies and if Barbarian wasn't an impressive showcase of Zach Cregger's credentials, then Weapons really showed what he was capable of.

Focusing on the disappearance of seventeen children, this movie was broken in five segments. The first focused on schoolteacher Justine Gandy (Julia Garner). She bore the brunt of the community who blamed her for the missing kids and yeah, a jealous wife of a former lover to boot.

The second segment focused on Paul Morgan (Alden Ehrenreich). He's a cop that cheated on his wife, Donna (June Diane Raphael) with Justine while also getting into it with a local drug addict. As cops go, he's rather bad at his job and seemed to be no close to solving the case of the missing kids.

The third segment focused on drug addict, James (Austin Abrams). He's stealing to fund his habit, barely escaping Paul's wrath in the process, encountering a creepy woman. Then both Paul and James wound up in the house of the only kid not to go missing and things really took quite a turn.

The fourth character to be focused on was Principal Marcus Miller (Benedict Wong) and his husband, Terry (Clayton Farris). Thanks to the main antagonist, one of them died horribly and then the other attacked Justine and grieving parent Archer Graff (Josh Brolin). That person also received a very grisly death.

The last characters to be focused on were Alex Lilly (Cary Christopher) and Aunt Gladys (Amy Madigan). The former was the only student who didn't go missing and the latter wasn't really Alex's aunt. Nope, she was a creepy witch who needed the kids lifespan to sustain herself. 

If there's an award for the most creepy and hate worthy horror villain this year, it might be Gladys. She's genuinely horrifying in parts, delightfully funny and the level of carnage she caused was something. She also got one of the most satisfying deaths seen onscreen this year too.

- Sara Paxton popped up again as a parent of one of the missing kids. She's Zach Cregger's wife in real life.

- Originally, it was Pedro Pascal, Renate Reinsve, Brian Tyree Henry, Austin Abrams, Tom Burke, and June Diane Raphael were cast in the film. Only two of the cast members remained with this production.

- Standout music: George Harrison's Beware Of Darkness and MGMT's Under The Porch.

- Chronology: Maybrook, Pennsylvania. Wednesday at 2.17am, the kids went missing.

Weapons certainly proved that Zach Cregger does have the horror credentials to make name for himself. This was certainly an excellent character piece with a truly compelling antagonist with Gladys. 

Rating: 8 out of 10 

My Review of Barbarian (2022)

 

Written And Directed by Zach Cregger

Tess: "Why is it always the girls who get their hearts ripped out in these things?"

Keith: "Girls can rip. Trust me."

Ah, the joys of the Airbnb business. Well, I'd say joys but seeing as this happened to be a horror movie, the word "terror" would be closer to the mark. Yes, definitely terror.

You had Tess Marshall (Georgina Campbell). She had landed in Brightmoor, Detroit for a job interview and found herself having to share her Airbnb experience with a man named Keith (Bill Skarsgard). Naturally, she's suspicious of Keith.

To be fair, it's hard not to see why she wouldn't be as Keith could potentially be a serial killer underneath his unassuming manner. He's not by the way but in a neighbourhood that's in a state of urban decay, it didn't take Tess long to realise the place she was staying in had a lot wrong with it.

Notably the secret passage that both Tess and Keith discovered and a frightening figure named The Mother (Matthew Patrick Davis). The Mother killed Keith and took a rather maternal fondness to Tess, which was rather unsettling in itself.

The second half of this movie pivoted towards soon to be cancelled actor, AJ (Justin Long). Accused of raping a co-star, AJ was also revealed to be the owner of the Airbnb house and he was in for a shock when he discovered both The Mother and Tess while trying to fight for his survival.

There's a backstory in the second half provided for The Mother involving a man named Frank (Richard Brake) that implied a really grotesque history about the character. The Mother just wanted to be a mother. Tess and AJ just wanted to get away and had to work together. AJ betrayed Tess to save himself and got his just desserts. Tess had to be the one to end The Mother's reign of terror with the only option left to her.

- Zach Cregger, Sara Paxton and Kate Bosworth all have unseen/voice cameos in the movie.

- The non fiction book, The Gift Of Fear by Gavin de Becker somewhat inspired the events of this movie.

- Standout music: Benny Reid's Lonely At The Bar and The Ronettes Be My Baby.

- Chronology: 2022 in Brightmoor, Detroit as well as flashbacks to 1982.

I had watched this movie in preparation for another one I plan to see later today. Barbarian was an impressive movie with a well executed premise, a scary but sympathetic antagonist and a likeable lead in Tess. Worth watching.

Rating: 8 out of 10 

My Review of Freakier Friday (2025)

 

Written by Elyse Hollander And Jordan Weiss

Directed by Nisha Ganatra

Madame Jen (to Anna/Tess): "You two have walked in each other's path. You learned a lesson. A lesson that may serve you again."

Disney and their sequels. A few years ago, Hocus Pocus 2 premiered on Disney+ and an update of Haunted Mansion died a quick death in theatres due to being unwisely released during the summer of Barbenheimer.

Now we've got a sequel to 2003 hit, Freaky Friday and it proved that past mistakes can be repeated and there's actually a solid way of further expanding on the body swapping premise. Why do it with two characters when you can have four characters swap bodies?

Once again, mother and daughter duo, Tess (Jamie Lee Curtis) and Anna Coleman (Lindsay Lohan) are the heart of this switcheroo but this time there's also Anna's tomboyish daughter, Harper (Julia Butters) and soon to be stepdaughter, Lily (Sophia Hammons).

With this movie, it's a fortune teller named Madame Jen (Vanessa Bayer) and the swaps are funnier. This time, both Anna and Harper swap bodies while Tess and Lily also swap bodies. As usual, both groups either dress up or down, try to improve the others while indulging in some sabotage.

In particular, both Harper and Lily are determined for Anna and Eric Reyes (Manny Jacinto) not to get married. There's an immigration interview they attempt to botch and then there's also the return of Anna's ex boyfriend Jake (Chad Michael Murray) but over twenty years, he's more interested in Tess than Anna.

I mean a lot of the same beats are revisited here from the first movie. Anna and Eric's engagement briefly got cancelled, there's a musical moment with the return of Pink Slip and Anna's client, Ella (Maitreyi Ramakrishnan), lessons are learned, bodies restored, family bonds are strengthened and a wedding took place.

- Other returning characters included Harry Coleman, Mr Bates, Pei Pei and Ryan Volvo. All of them played by the same actors.

- Elaine Hendrix also had a small role in this movie, so that was a nice mini reunion for The Parent Trap.

- Standout music: Chapel Roan's HOTTOGO, Spice Girl's Spice Up Your Life and Pink Slip's Take Me Away.

- Chronology: 2025 California. Both Eric and Lily were from London.

And just like that .... Freakier Friday actually worked great as a sequel. Yes, it replayed certain things but there was fun in seeing it happen again with Jamie Lee Curtis, Lindsay Lohan, Julia Butters and Sophia Hammons on great form. I really enjoyed this one.

Rating: 8 out of 10 

My Review of Freaky Friday (2003)

 

Written by Heather Hach And Leslie Dixon

Directed by Mark Waters

Anna: "I'm old!"

Tess: "I beg your pardon!"

Anna: "Oh, I'm like the Cryptkeeper!"

With the sequel currently in theatres, it was time to go back and rewatch the original. It's been a long while but I can say that it definitely holds up.

Back in 2003, Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan were in interesting places in their careers. Here, they're a mother and daughter duo - psychologist Tess Coleman and rebellious teen wannabe musician Anna.

Both Tess and Anna would drive each other to distraction with Anna also not being particularly pleased that her mother was getting married to Ryan Volvo (Mark Harmon). Throw in a bratty younger brother, Harry (Ryan Malgarini) and a dotty grandfather, Alan (Harold Gould) and Anna was in bigger rebellion mode.

A trip out in a family restaurant and a refusal to be permitted to attend a music contest for her band, Pink Slip and Anna became even more at odds with Tess. Throw in some fortune cookies, courtesy of Pei Pei's mother (Lucille Soong) and soon enough, both Anna and Tess have swapped bodies. 

The body swap was where the movie had its most fun. Yes, both Tess and Anna freaked out but it didn't long for one to dress up as the other dressed down. It also didn't take long for both of them to sabotage/improve each others lives while Anna's crush on Jake (Chad Michael Murray) took a rather humourous turn.

The rest of the movie hinged on both Anna and Tess having to learn a lesson about the other and while it took them going through a wedding rehearsal and Pink Slip's performance at the Wango Tango, I did love how they eventually regained their bodies. By the end of this movie, both Tess and Anna definitely had a better appreciation for each other.

- Other characters include Anna's bandmates, Maddie (Christina Viddal) and Peg (Harley Hudson), restaurant manager, Pei Pei (Rosalind Chao), teacher Mr Bates (Steve Tobolowsly) and Tess's patient, Evan (Willie Carson).

- This is the fifth movie in the franchise, following a loose trilogy and a standalone movie.

- Standout music: Bowling For Soup's Baby One More Time and Pink Slip's Take Me Away.

- Chronology: 2003 California. Anna's mentioned to be fifteen in the movie.

Freaky Friday is a lot of fun to be had. Both Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan did a wonderful job with the body swap hijinks between Tess and Anna. There's so many genuinely funny moments throughout.

Rating: 8 out of 10