My Review of My Beautiful Laundrette (1985)

 

Written by Hanif Kureishi

Directed by Stephen Frears 

Omar: "When we were in school, you and your friends were kicking me around the place. And what are you doing now? Washing my floor and that's how I like it."

Continuing my look into LGBT movies for the month of June, I had to watch one that came out the same year I was born. I've heard of this film but until this month, I'd never properly seen it. I'm now glad to say that I have.

This movie focused on a Pakistani-Brirish man named Omar Ali (Gordon Warnecke). It's South London in the mid 1980s and Omar's looking after his father, Hussein (Roshan Seth) as the latter has descended into alcoholism and no longer works as the left wing journalist he once was.

Being a caregiver isn't a vocation that Omar particularly wanted for his life, not to bear the brunt of his father's resentment over the social politics of the time. Of course, there's other family members who have bigger plans for Omar, much to the latter's reluctance.

Throughout the movie, there's a constant attemot to marry Omar off to his cousin, Tania (Rita Wolf) by his uncle, Nasser (Saaed Jaffrey). It's a prospect that doesn't appeal to either Omar or Tania but it's the latter who made sure that neither of them had to go through with it.

Unwanted attempts of arranged marriage aside, Nasser had Omar running his friend's laundrette and working with Omar was his lover and general bad boy, Johnny Burfoot (Daniel Day-Lewis). Johnny had something of a fascist past that the movie explored as well as the growing tension between the Pakistani and punk communities within the movie.

The exploration into Omar and Johnny's relationship certainly had some of its ups and downs along with illegal activities in the mix. Saying that, it's a relationship that did manage to endure throughout with a surprise happy note ending for the two of them during the last scene.

- The movie was originally shot for Channel 4 before it ended up getting a theatrical release. Gary Oldman nearly played Johnny before Daniel Day-Lewis was cast.

- This was one of the first films that publicly made jokes about Margaret Thatcher.

- Standout music: Aaron Copland's Fanfare For The Common Man.

- Chronology: South London in the mid 1980s.

My Beautiful Laundrette was a delight of a movie with very compelling performances from both Gordon Warnecke and Daniel Day-Lewis. There's a good exploration into class and race issues of the time along with the romance between Omar and Johnny. 

Rating: 8 out of 10 

My Review of Clown In A Cornfield (2025)

 

Written by Carter Blanchard And Eli Craig

Directed by Eli Craig 

Cole: "Sorry about tonight, Quinn."

Quinn: "Oh, it's okay. Don't worry about it. You know, except for the clowns trying to kill us and all. That kind of sucks."

An unexpected one for Pride Month would be this movie. Yeah, I was surprised too about this one. I mean, it's a horror slasher with a clown named Frendo who loved killing teenagers and there's a gay love story in the mix.

The reason why I'm emphasising the gay storyline was not only was it genuinely unexpected but it worked very nicely in a slasher movie that's pretty funny. As long as you're not expecting anything groundbreaking, you're in for a good time.

This movie had a grieving father, Dr Glenn Maybrook (Aaron Abrams) and his daughter, Quinn (Katie Douglas) move to the strange town of Kettle Springs. All the adults are either hostile or straight up weird. Fortunately for Quinn, the townspeople in her age group are more friendly.

It didn't take Quinn long to befriend social media pranksters, Cole (Carson MacCormac), Janet (Cassandra Potenza), Ronnie (Verity Marks), Tucker (Ayo Solanke) and Matt (Alexandre Martin Deakin). They're a decent bunch of teenagers who quickly brought Quinn up to speed about the town's Founders Day custom and local mascot, the clown Frendo.

As the movie progressed and Quinn and her father clashed over the former's new friend group, Frendo was also dispatching of that friend group. Frendo made sure they were inventive with the body count method and Frendo was also more than one person. There's a reason why the adults are off in this movie.

It's because all of them are Frendo, notably the Sheriff Dunne (Will Sasso) and Cole's conservative father, Arthur Hill (Kevin Durand). The latter's willingness to murder his own son definitely added to the tension as the few survivors of the movie banded together to take down the Frendo circus, once and for all.

Going back to the gay love story, it's between Cole and outcast Rust (Vincent Muller). It's nicely handled, added a bit of depth to both characters and didn't detract from the main story. It was also an interesting subversion as I assumed the love story was supposed to be between Quinn and Cole. Then again, so did Quinn before she became aware of Coleand Rust.

- This movie's based on a book of the same name by Adam Cesare. It has two sequels. Expect the same with this.

- Frendo would leave little Jack in the boxes as a calling card for his victims. The last scene set up the inevitable sequel.

- Standout music: Dummy's What Do I Owe? and Mother Mother's Get Out Of The Way.

- Chronology: Flashbacks to 1991 Kettle Springs, Missouri as well as the present day. Quinn and her father are from Philadelphia.

I didn't go with huge expectations but I gotta say that I enjoyed Clown In A Cornfield. It doesn't do anything to reinvent the wheel with the slasher but it's fun, got some inventive kills, a nicely handled love story and room for further exploration.

Rating: 7 out of 10 

My Review of Brokeback Mountain (2005)

 

Written by Larry McMurtry And Diana Ossana

Directed by Ang Lee

Jack (to Ennis: "Tell  you what... the truth is... sometimes I miss you so much I can hardly stand it."

I genuinely cannot believe that this film will be celebrating it's twentieth anniversary and confession time, I've only ever watched this film once and that was shortly after it's initial release. Of course, it was time to revisit this one.

In some ways, this movie really was important. It's one of the most mainstream cinematic depictions of a romance between two men and it was also a career breakthrough for both Jake Gyllenhaal and Heath Ledger. Both men are incredible in this movie.

The romance itself stirred an interesting debate. Were both men really gay but unable to come out due to the time they were in? Were they really bisexual as both of them did settle down with women and fathered children? Or was it something more complex than being either gay or bisexual? After watching this film again, I'm none the wiser. 

The men in question being ranch hands, Ennis Del Mar (Ledger) and Jack Twist (Gyllenhaal). Both were hired by a rancher Joe Aguirre (Randy Quaid) to heard his sheep during the summer on Brokeback Mountain. The more time that Ennis and Jack spent together, the closer they got. That closeness became physical as they started a sexual relationship.

However both men insisted they weren't gay and at no point was the idea of either of them being bisexual outright said by either of them. Eventually they went on to have much different lives from one another but at the same time, both Ennis and Jack found themselves also drawn back to each other as well. That caused anguish among themselves and the families they had build in their older years.

Ennis's wife, Alma (Michelle Williams) was very much aware of Ennis and Jack's relationship and eventually divorced him. Ennis ended up living a rather solitary life with a strained relationship between older daughter, Alma Jr (Kate Mara) and a failed attempt of another romance with Cassie Cartwright (Linda Cardellini). 

Jack's life with Lureen (Anne Hathaway) and their son wasn't much better. Lureen might not have known explicitly about the true extent of Jack's relationship with Ennis but the one interaction she had with him was sort of telling. Jack got an ambiguous death that clearly affected Ennis, especially with that quietly beautiful moment Ennis had with Jack's parents and the final shot of the movie.

- I had forgotten that both Anna Faris and David Harbour appeared as a couple that Jack and Lureen made friends with. It's implied that Jack slept with Harbour's character.

- Fishing trips became a way for both Ennis and Jack to spend time with one another. 

- Ennis kept Jack's shirt and then Alma Jr's jacket when the latter forgot it. Alma Jr was engaged to an oil worker named Kurt.

- Heath Ledger and Michelle Williams met on this movie and became a couple afterwards.

- Standout music: The Raven Shadows/Tim Ferguson's Trust In Lies and Gustavo Santaolalla's Angel Went Up In Flames.

- Chronology: Between 1963 to 1983 in Wyoming and Texas.

Seeing as it's been a while since I've seen Brokeback Mountain, I'll admit that my first impression was more mixed but I think I liked more the second time around. Both Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal are superb, even if the pacing's a bit slow at times.

Rating: 8 out of 10 

Freddy's Nightmares - Episodes 6-10 Reviews

For this second batch of episodes, there's a sequel, focus on adult characters and serious daddy issues at play.

Episode 6: Saturday Night Special 

The second episode this season to have an adult cast, this one had unlucky in love Gordon (Scott Burkholder) fantasise about getting together with the hard to get, Lana (Shari Shattuck). Of course he mostly told harmless white lies to impress her but those lies came back to haunt him when a romantic date in an ice rink ended in a bloody mess. Then the second half focused on Lana manipulating her co-worker and housemate, Mary into getting a makeover. The end result of that being a rather grim ending for poor Mary. 6/10

Episode 7: Sister's Keeper 

And here's a sequel to the opening episode. I'm surprised they didn't save this for the finale as a bookend to the season. Twin sisters, Lisa and Merritt are trying to cope with the loss of their father with one of them being more attuned to Freddy's malevolence than the other. Of course as the episode and both were done pretending to be the other, there was an attempt by the twins to get rid of Freddy for good. It very nearly worked but at the last minute, Freddy regained the upper hand and one of the twins died. Oh and Zod himself, Michael Shannon popped up as a boyfriend to one of the twins. 7/10

Episode 8: Mother's Day 

Okay, this one certainly lived up to its titles with two teen protagonists having very different but equally toxic relationships with their mothers. First of all, there was Billy (Byron Thames) who seemed very jealous of his mother remarrying while his new neighbour Barbara (Jill Whitlow) had her own issues with her radio psychologist mother (Elizabeth Savage). Billy's story really came second place with him being an early death. The back and forth between Barbara (under the pseudonym of Weeping Wendy) and her mother made for a stronger story as the latter's spate of bad advice caused all sorts of problems for her. 8/10

Episode 9: Rebel Without A Car 

I got a strong sense of deja vu watching this episode. Yet again, we had a young man, this one named Alex (Craig Hurley) wanting to get out from working in Beefy Burger to leave Springwood, only to be killed within the first half of the episode. We already covered that in the second episode and the second half focused on his grieving girlfriend, Connie (Katie Barberi). Only here, we had Connie jumping through hoops during Hell Week by a Sorority that had no intention of accepting her in the first place. Connie managed to get her own back with a little murder spree that she ended up getting away with. 8/10

Episode 10: The Bride Wore Red 

Getting back to the adults, we got a wedding here between Jessica (Diane Franklin) and Gavin (Eddie Driscoll) and it's a good case for why some people shouldn't marry. They're horribly mismatched and both with their own issues. By comparison, Gavin's issues aren't as bad. Jessica's on the other hand are a severe case of daddy issues as flashbacks showed her skewered views on men stemming from her father's (Arthur Roberts) inability to stay faithful while exposing a lawyer's (Gary Wood) infidelity would come back to get her in the worst way. Oh and there's Freddy's bondage punsas well. 7/10

Next blog I'll look into Do Dreams Bleed?, The End Of The World, Deadline, Black Tickets and School Daze.

The Future Of Ryan Murphy Shows - Part 4

A surprise update here. I was going to hold this off until later in the year but a few tantalising bits have materialised the last few weeks.

Filming for 9-1-1: Nashville has begun and the cast has further expanded. Last time I mentioned Chris O'Donnell as Captain Don Sharpe and Jessica Capshaw as Blythe Warde along with LeAnn Rimes and Kimberly Williams-Paisley in undisclosed roles. Added to the cast include Michael Provost, a cowboy firefighter as well as Don and Blythe's son. Then there's Hunter McVey as haunted bad boy firefighter, Blue, Juanita Felix as former trauma surgeon, Roxie and Hailey Kilgore as singer Taylor. Both Roxie and Taylor are also firefighters. The show will premiere in the Fall on ABC with the ninth season of parent show, 9-1-1.

Speaking of filming, FX's next anthology series, American Love Story has given us some goodies here. First of all, this rather nice photoshoot with leads Paul Kelly and Sarah Pidgeon as JFK Jr and Carolyn Bessette in character mode. On top of that they will be joined by Grace Gummer, Sydney Lemmon and Alessandro Nicola as well as the previously announced Naomi Watts. It was also confirmed the show will premiere on FX from February 2026.

After months of radio silence, we finally got the tiniest of crumbs for American Horror Story. Now, it's nothing to get too excited about but someone did ask Ryan Murphy if we were going to get Season 13 in 2025 and while Murphy didn't exactly confirm that we would, he did give something. He confirmed that both him and Sarah Paulson were working on something cool in regards to the long running FX stalwart. It's not really anything to go on but here's hoping that more concrete information will surface soon enough. I'd be surprised if Season 13 does air this year but stranger things have happened.

Announced after my last blog on Ryan Murphy shows, it does look like he's collaborating with Kaia Gerber once again. This time, it's adaptation of Bret Easton Ellis's The Shards for FX. The book released in 2023 focused on a coming of age story set in 1981 where a group of privileged prep school students navigate their senior year as well as the presence of a serial killer. Gerber's character will be the lead and so far, she's the only cast member announced with Max Winkler set to direct the pilot episode. Filming has yet to start, so this one might be a while yet. I hope this fares better for Murphy than Scream Queens did a decade ago for him.

Last but not least, there's Doctor Odyssey. It's been a month since the first season wrapped up on an unsatisfying note on ABC. The lack of an update on the nautical series is definitely frustrating as both ABC and Ryan Murphy seem to yet to decide on its fate. If it is returning, it's definitely moving to another night on ABC and will likely be a mid season return. If it's cancelled, then why not just the few people curious about the show out of their misery and tell them? I expect this with streaming and cable shows but not a network TV show. Make a decision already.

That's my update for now. Unless major news is revealed about multiple Ryan Murphy soon, it'll be a while before I do another of these blogs.

My Review of Green Lantern: Emerald Knights (2011)

Written by Eddie Berganza And Alan Burnett And Todd Casey And Dave Gibbons And Michael Green And Marc Guggenheim And Geoff Johns And Peter Tomasi

Directed by Christopher Berkeley And Lauren Montgomery And Jay Oliva

Arisia: "I guess this is the blackest night everyone talks about."

Sinestro: "No, my dear. Only dusk."

A few weeks ago, I watched and reviewed Green Lantern: First Flight, so of course, I had to catch up with this one. A sequel of sorts to that movie, this one told a few different stories about various ring heaters in this part of the DC Universe.

The first story focused on Avra (Mitchell Whitfield). He's the Guardians humble scribe and one of the first chosen by the Corps rings, despite not being a warrior. He's got a team to help him take out the Dominators. Avra's responsible for the way the rings made constructs while his own ring went from Abin Sur (Arnold Vosloo) and eventually, Hal Jordan (Nathan Fillion).

Hal's role in this movie was to mentor newcomer, Arisia Rrab (Elizabeth Moss). He introduced her to Kilowog (Henry Rolins) and then we learned more about Kilowog. Kilowog's story involved his training with Sergeant Deegan (Wade Williams), which included not being dependent on the power ring and defending a nearby planet from the Khunds.

The story of Laira (Kelly Hu) delved into her family and homeworld of Jayd. This meant hostile reunions with both her brother and father as well as addressing war crimes and a suicide from Laura's father. It's a fairly dark story in this batch.

Then there's Mogo. Yes, there's a Green Lantern that's a sentient planet who'd prefer not to socialise with anyone. For Mogo's story, he's got the warmonger, Bolphunga (Roddy Piper) to deal with. Bolphunga's realisation as to what Mogo really was certainly made this the strongest of the stories. Also Mogo would come in handy by the conclusion of this movie.

The last two stories gave some backstory for both Abin Sur and Sinestro (Jason Isaacs) as well as the origins for Atrocitus (Bruce Thomas). Then you had the current Lanterns fighting Krona and his shadow demons. This came with severe casualties, including Oa itself. It's a good job that a sentient planet was able to be the Corps current base.

- The movie was broken into the following segments - Green Lantern, Kilowog, Laira, Mogo Doesn't Socialize, Abin Sur and Emerald Knights.

- Other Lanterns who appeared include Tomar-Re, Ganthet, Salaak and Boodikka to name a few.

- The animated series, Young Justice (different continuity) used the same animation style as this movie did.

- Chronology: Various timelines as the stories all linked to one another before the big battle with Krona.

Green Lantern: Emerald Knights mostly succeeded as a series of vignettes that connected to a bigger story. Some of the stories are stronger than others but none of them are bad. A solid follow up from the previous animated movie.

Rating: 7 out of 10 

Doctor Who - CBeebies Animated Spin Off In The Works

Well, this was news I wasn't expecting to be honest. Sorry for the #RIPDoctorWho crowd I guess.

This morning, it was announced that CBeebies was looking to expand the Doctor Who universe by commissioning an animated spin-off. Details revealed include.

• Aimed for the pre-school audience.
• Will see the Doctor travelling through time and space and solving mysteries with companions and other friends.
• Will be independent from the main show itself.
• CBeebies are looking for companies to pitch for the show as they commit to the UK's animation industry.
• 52 episodes, 11 minutes long. 26 for a first season for 2027-2028 and the other 26 for a second season for 2028-2029 transmission.

Now, Doctor Who entering the world of animation isn't that new a concept. For the last few years, we've had various episodes from the classic series restored in animation. We've also had animated spin-offs with The Infinity Quest, Dreamland and Daleks!. Even the live action show itself has had animated sequences in episodes such as Can You Hear Me? and Lux. Perhaps this was inevitable after all.

So far, the idea does seem rather vague but if I were to make an educated guess, I'm not expecting this show to focus on a recent Doctor. In fact, I'm willing to bet that the Doctor for this show will either be a younger version of the First Doctor or a new Doctor from an unspecified timeline but either way, I expect movement on this spin off to happen pretty fast.

Now what about the main show itself? It's been nearly two weeks since we saw Ncuti Gatwa regenerate into Billie Piper (or did he?) in the divisive finale The Reality War. The BBC haven't exactly rushed to confirm what to expect next and it's gotten fans and detractors alike assuming the worst. However two rumours have been floating around the last week with the tabloids lasering in on one of them.

Rumour 1: David Tennant and Billie Piper will head up a Christmas special for this year. If that were true, filming would really need to start soon. I'm not sure of this one but it's also not one I'd dismiss out of hand either. File it under "maybe".

Rumour 2: The show's time with Disney+ has come to an end. Other streamers are interested in taking on the show with the BBC but want more creative control. This one I suspect is true. I have mixed feelings on that tbh.

Right now, we still don't know for definite what's going on with Doctor Who. I will say that by commissioning another spin-off, it does seem to me that the BBC aren't quite ready to retire the ongoing series just yet.

I'll keep posting more updates about the show and it's expanded universe as they come to light.

My Review of Sauna The Dead: A Fairy Tale (2016)

 

Written And Directed by Tom Frederic 

Jacob: "I'll have to find us a room. The cubicles get so busy this time of year."

Aseem: "I know, right?"

As part of Pride Month, my reviews for LGBT themed movies will sometimes extend to short ones as well. How does a subtle Christmas themed one set in a gay sauna sound? Surprisingly, not a bad choice, lol.

The cute but somewhat standoffish Jacob (Tom Frederic) visits a local gay sauna but also rejected every single guy who took the slightest interest in him. One of those guys included Aseem (Kumar Munlandy) but as this short film progressed, things would changed.

Notably because everyone else would turn into a zombie and both Jacob and Aseem were the only two not infected. Saying that, Jacob wasn't initially a team player and rationed that his odds of survival were better without Aseem. Jacob would soon be proven wrong in that regard. 

It turned out that despite his reluctance, working with Aseem to not get infected by zombies was actually a smart idea. Play acting as a zombie also helped a bit. Aseem did need a bit of persuasion with that though but at least there was a spark between him and Jacob.

Naturally while trying to survive a zombie plague, a romance between Jacob and Aseem factored into things. In fact, it was this along with Aseem being infected that sort of snapped Jacob back to reality. The zombie stuff was a dream of sorts, Jacob became more receptive to his environment and we ended things with him and Aseem going to get a room together.

- The film was set in Chariots gay sauna in Vauxhall, London. The business has since closed down. 

- Aseem gave Jacob back his necklace at the start of their encounter with Jacob realising it wasn't on right later in the movie.

- There was a moment I thought Jacob was trying to use a broom handle for stakes before it was revealed that he was using it to help him and Aseem breathe underwater.

- Chronology: Christmas time in London. It's influenced by A Christmas Carol.

Sauna The Dead: A Fairy Tale was an enjoyable bit of gay horror. I've seen better and worse and while the commentary about how men consume each other might have been a bit obvious, it didn't detract from things. The Jacob/Aseem team up was rather sweet.

Rating: 7 out of 10 

My Review of Rialto (2019)

Written by Mark O'Halloran

Directed by Peter Mackie Burns

Colm (to Jay): "There's no lies between us."

Keeping with Pride Month and I'm determined to watch a few more Irish LGBT themed movies and this was one I'd seen before but rewatched late last night to familiarise myself with it again. It's an interesting one.

Mostly because, it's about a man going through a mid life crisis more than discovery his sexuality. Saying that, the latter's also rather prominent too, so to speak. The man in question being dock manager, Colm (Tom Vaughan-Lawlor).

At the start of the movie, we see Colm embark on an encounter with young hustler, Jay (Tom Glynn-Carney). I wouldn't say it's a great encounter as Colm ended up getting bruised and Jay spotted an opportunity for blackmail.

To say that Colm and Jay have a toxic relationship would be underselling it. Jay made it clear that he viewed Colm with a certain amount of disdain while Colm seemed to be blinded by lust with the more time he spent with Jay and money he spent on Jay too.

As for Colm's personal life, he's got a put upon wife named Claire (Monica Dolan), who eventually grew tired of Colm's distant behaviour. Then there was his kids, particularly his son, Shane (Scott Graham) who reacted badly to Colm's confession about Jay while Colm's own mother, Muriel (Deirdre Donnelly) was grieving the death og Colm's father.

Throw in an unhelpful co-worker, Noel (Michael Smiley) and boss Paula (Eileen Walsh), there wasn't much for Colm to enjoy either. He lost his job, his wife, his son and was made a fool out of by Jay. By the end of the movie, Colm didn't really have much to be happy about.

- Jay seemed to hate his mother more than his father and had a daughter named Chloe that Colm briefly met.

- Colm had his own issues with his deceased father and Shane hated Colm throughout the whole movie.

- There's only one sex scene of note between Colm and Jay. Colm's 46 and Jay's 19. 

- Chronology: 2010s Dublin. The movie hit the festivals in 209 before it was released in theatres a year later.

Rialto isn't a love story type of movie but a decent meditation on one man going through a midlife crisis, coming to some terms with his sexuality but also hitting the self destruct button on his life. Tom Vaughan-Lawlor is fantastic but the ending's a bit anticlimactic.

Rating: 7 out of 10 

My Review of Doctor Who Unleashed: 20 Years In Wales

Narrated by Steffan Powell

Directed by Jonathon Aiken

Billie Piper: "I would come back. What's funny is that I feel I've never left Doctor Who because there is this huge Doctor Who afterlife, which, obviously because people still really wanna talk about it."

Well, that speech certainly aged appropriately. However, a week later and this celebratory special later and we're still none the wiser. Is Billie Piper the 16th Doctor or not? If you were expecting answers to that question, you'll be sorely disappointed.

To be though, Doctor Who Unleashed: 20 Years In Wales was filmed before the airing of The Reality War. How much longer before we get an answer though? It might be a while. It's certainly gotten people talking though.

Anyways this special could be broken down into four parts as host Steffan Powell talked to various cast members, past and present as well as the threee show runners who've revived the show and reinvented it for modern audiences.

First of all was the humble beginnings of the show. For that you had both Russell T. Davies and Julie Gardner going over the task they had in reviving the show. That was largely helped with Christopher Eccleston being cast as the 9th Doctor. Sadly, there's no contribution from Eccleston here himself. 

Then there's David Tennant and Billie Piper. The iconic team of the 10th Doctor and Rose Tyler. I loved seeing them together on camera and both were on great form here. Billie in particular giving us some cryptic hints about returning to the show.

Then there's the Steven Moffat era. The longest era from a showrunner and Moffat is a write who I'll always enjoy listening. There's great contributions from Karen Gillan, Arthur Darvill and Pearl Mackie but again, sadly, nothing from either Matt Smith or Peter Capaldi.

As for the Chris Chibnall, time has been kind because I've found myself softening to it a lot. Chibnall gave some good insight here and the friendship between Jodie Whittaker and Mandip Gill is really sweet. I also loved how both Jodie and Mandip talked about the crew members as well. That really was lovely of them.

Circling back to the current era, there was a look at David Tennant playing the 14th Doctor for the 60th anniversary. We also got clips of Ncuti Gatwa and Varada Sethu from the premiere of the recent series and a reminder of last week's shock regeneration to boot.

- Fans of Martha and Clara might be disappointed with the lack of mentions of them. 

- Blink got a lot of emphasis, more than I would've given it and I love that episode.

- Filming in Wales since 2004 has done a lot for the country's film industry.

- Steffan did put some focus on various crew members as well for this special.

- Spin-offs were mentioned in the broader context but it's almost like Class didn't exist, lol.

- It really does feel like we're in unknown waters in regards to the show's future at the moment.

Doctor Who Unleashed: 20 Years In Wales had a lot to cover in the space of 58 minutes. I think it did a mostly good job and while I wish we had gotten some more contributions from other cast members, I was happy to see everyone who appeared on here. 

Rating: 8 out of 10 

My Review of The Black Cauldron (1985)

 

Written by David Jonas And Al Wilson And Vance Gerry And Roy Morita And Ted Berman And Peter Young And Richard Rich And Art Stevens And Joe Hale

Directed by Ted Berman And Richard Rich 

The Horned King: "My, what a brave, handsome group. A pig keeper, a scullery maid, and a broken-down minstrel. Perhaps it would interest you to see what fate has in store for you."

I guess I am one of the lucky ones who had a Disney movie come out the same year they were born. Now, is this a favourite Disney movie of mine? I can't say that it is but it's certainly one of Disney's more experimental of movies. In its own way.

First of all, it's a movie in the Middle Ages, located within the mystical land of Prydain and it's a chance for Disney to explore some Welsh mythology. It's main villain was the Horned King (John Hurt) and he had specific goals in mind.

Namely he wanted the titular Black Cauldron but also needed a pig named Hen Wen to locate the cauldron. Yes, the pig's got oracle style powers but getting a hold of the pig would be quite a task for the Horned King. Mainly because there's a plucky teen hero who was an obstacle for him.

The would be hero in question being pig keeper Taran (Grant Bardsley), who'd go above and beyond to keep Hen Wen out of the Horned King's grasp. He's also aided by Princess Eilonwy (Susan Sheridan) and the too eager to help but often cowardly Gurgi (John Byner).

The movie's a classic heroes journey for everyone but mostly for Taran and Gurgi, with the latter getting a nice arc. The characters that Taran interacted also included his master, Dallben (Freddie Jones), lyre player, Fflewddur Fflam (Nigel Hawthorne) and fairy king, Eidilleg (Arthur Malet) to name a few. They're decent supporting characters.

As for the Horned King, he's not a villain that would make many favourite lists for Disney baddies but he's menacing enough. That's largely down to John Hurt's performance and there's a good henchman quality in the odious Creeper (Phil Fondacaro). I actually thought the three witches - Orddu (Eda Reiss Merin), Orwen (Adele Malis-Morey) and Orgach (Billie Hayes) had a bit more potential and I would've liked to have seen more of them.

- It took over a decade for this movie to get a physical release, due to how poorly it performed in theatres.

- Disney back in 2016 got the rights to The Chronicles of Prydain, so maybe a live action take willbe considered.

- Standout music: Taran, The Witches, The Horned King and Finale. It's not a very musical Disney movie.

- Chronology: Middle Ages, Prydain.

I'm not gonna pretend that The Black Cauldron would make my Top 20 Disney animated movies but I'm also not gonna pretend to dislike it. It's charming enough, only a tiny bit darker than some animated movies and had a decent enough story to go with it. It's worth giving a chance.

Rating: 7 out of 10 

I Turned 40 So Here's An 1985 Post

Yeah, turned 40 as of today and I thought a fun way of passing that milestone would be a blog talking about media events that happened in 1985.

Thinking of it as my less serious take on Reeling In The Years. 

Seeing as I talk about DC Comics quite a lot on this blog, of course one of things that sprang to mind was that this month also marked the 40th anniversary of Vertigo/Black Label/DC bad boy bisexual occult detective John Constantine. The character debuted properly in Issue #37 of Saga Of The Swamp Thing and became so popular, he ended up having 300 issues of his own comics from 1988-2013. Since then, he's had other runs for both the Black Label and mainstream DC, been on the Justice League Dark team and popped up in other characters and groups books, including Birds Of Prey recently. In live action, we've had the likes of Keanu Reeves, Matt Ryan and Jenna Coleman provide different takes, Taron Egerton through audio and we've had animated movies and shows too. Not too shabby for the character, eh?

Debut a few months before my birthday and the only soap that I consistently watch nowadays would be EastEnders. I start watching this around the mid 90s and I have been since then. Like all soaps, it has definitely had it's highs and lows but it's the one soap that I always find myself the most drawn to. I enjoyed the 40th anniversary celebrations back in February and the aftermath to that has been mostly entertaining since then. On the other side of the world, Neighbours also debuted the same year and will be ending for good towards the end of this year.

Are you really a gay man if you haven't watched The Golden Girls at some point in your life? Again, caught some of it as a kid and have rewatched it over the years as an adult. As a show, it never fails to make me laugh with Dorothy (Bea Arthur), Sophia (Estelle Getty), Blanche (Rue McClanahan) and Rose (Betty White) being the most entertaining foursome on the planet. Later in the year, to line up with this show's 40th anniversary, I'll do a blog about the show and it's short-lived spinoff, The Golden Palace.

1985 was also a very interesting time for Doctor Who. It was the proper debut season of Colin Baker's Sixth Doctor, paired with Peri Brown (Nicola Bryant). In their debut year, they'd face Daleks and Davros (Terry Molloy), the Master (Anthony Ainley) and the Rani (Kate O'Mara), Cybermen, Sontarans and the odious Sil (Nabil Shabam). Oh and there would be a rather nice team up with the Second Doctor (Patrick Troughton) and Jamie McCrimmon (Frazer Hines) but that wasn't all. The show's future would be in doubt, following a hiatus for the next season and the unforgettable (for all the wrong reasons) charity single, Doctor In Distress. Go and listen to it, I dare you. Also, 2025 Doctor Who looks like it could be heading down a similar path.

And then there were movies. 1985 gave Disney fans, The Black Cauldron (tomorrow's blog) and horror fans such sequels as A Nightmare On Elm Street: Freddy's Revenge and Friday The 13th: A New Beginning. It also gave audiences Back To The Future with Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd as Marty McFly and Doc Brown respectively. One of my favourite childhood movies includes Return To Oz while other movies from this year include The Breakfast Club, Desperately Seeking Susan, The Goonies, Cocoon, St. Elmo's Fire, Fright Night, Teen Wolf, Santa Clause: The Movie, Clue and Legend to name but a few. Most of these I've seen, some I've reviewed and others I need to catch up on.

As for music, 1985 was a good year for it. A list of some of the best songs from that year, so to speak.

• Kate Bush - Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God)
• Tears For Fears - Everybody Wants To Rule The World
• Eurythmics - There Must Be An Angel (Playing With My Heart)
• Madonna - Into The Groove 
• Wham! - I'm Your Man
• Dead or Alive - You Spin Me Around (Like A Record)
• David Bowie/Mick Jaggar - Dancing In The Street
• Whitney Houston - Saving All My Love For You
• Bronski Beat - I Feel Love 
• Lionel Ritchie - Say You, Say Me

Well, that's a brief-ish on some noteworthy media things in the year of my birth that pertain to my interests. Hope you enjoyed reading it.

My Review of Juice - Series 1 (2023, BBC3 Series)

 

Written by Mawann Rizwan And Emily Lloyd-Saini

Directed by Rosco 5

Farida (re Jamma): "He's such a drama queen."

With Pride Month, I'm doing some rewatches and new ones absolutely this fell into the former category. With the second series currently being filmed, I went back to the first series of this rather zany sitcom.

Former YouTube star and actor, Mawann Rizwan lead this show with a cheeky, chaotic aplomb. In the six part show, he played Jamal "Jamma" Jamshidi, a young gay man working in marketing and currently dating an older man, a therapist named Guy (Russell Tovey).

Jamma and Guy's relationship should be better than it was, considering that Guy was giving Jamma the validation he wanted, was keen for them to live together and didn't outshine him. Guy was kind of the perfect boyfriend for Jamma but the latter spent most of the series keeping Guy at arm's length, lying to him and eventually the two of them broke up with each other.

Then there was Jamma's family. He's got a mother named Farida (Shahnaz Rizwan), a former actress that was running a community centre in danger of being shut down. Jamma's relationship with his mother was intriguing enough, especially in the penultimate episode when Jamma got one hell of an insight into his mother's past.

As for his relationships with younger brother, Isaac (Nabhaan Rizwan) and Saif (Jeff Mirza), they're not as compelling as the one with Farida but they have their moments. Isaac mostly cakes as a pretentious art school dropout while Saif seemed resentful of being overshadowed by Farida.

As for the work side of things, Isaac was briefly an obstacle in Jamma's world but it's the dynamic with boss Susan (Nathalie Armin), best friend Winnie (Emily Lloyd-Saini) and rival Pat (Hugh Coles) that some fun moments. Honestly I'm not surprised that Jamma ended up losing his job as often the show didn't do a great job in him being good at it.

- The episode titles are Cake, Helluva View, The Jamma Show, A Saif Space, Lights, Cameras, Escape and Home.

- In the third episode, Farida talked about having a relationship a woman and the fifth episode proved that she was telling the truth.

- Guy's ex boyfriend Dan (Marc Elliott) popped up in the second episode. They had a dog named Custard.

- This show had a lot of fun with the trippy sequences whenever Jamma's emotions were heightened. Jamma even saw his father as a mouse at one point.

- That face cream ad campaign Jamma was in charge of really was sexist. Jamma didn't exactly help with it either.

- Chronology: 2023 London. 

The first series of Juice managed to be a mad, chaotic fun with Jamma being an amusing but frustrating protagonist. The supporting characters are largely good, particularly Farida. She's the perfect foil to Jamma and felt like the most rounded character in the show.

Rating: 7 out of 10 

My Review of Man In An Orange Shirt (2017, BBC1 Miniseries)

 

Written by Patrick Gale

Directed by Michael Samuels

Michael (to Thomas): "The love I feel for you is beyond my control. I love you, Thomas. I've always loved you. I see that now. Tell me I'm not too late."

I watched this miniseries back in 2017 when it originally aired on BBC1 during the summer of that year. However, I never got around to reviewing it, so of course I was determined to amend that after watching it again last night.

Split into two episodes and with an interconnecting generational story, you've got the past informing the present quite a bit. The first half focused on the forbidden love story between two World War II era soldiers - Captain Michael Berryman (Oliver Jackson-Cohen) and Thomas March (James McArdle). It's a compelling love story but marred by the era it's based in.

Michael had a cottage and after the war ended, there was a weekend of bliss where both him and Thomas were able to be a couple. Then the crushing reality of Michael having to marry school teacher, Flora Talbot (Joanna Vanderham) set in and things weren't quite the same between Michael and Thomas.

In fact, it's an entire cycle of everyone being miserable. Flora found herself married to a gay man she couldn't leave and had a son with him. Thomas did a spell in prison because he was a gay man and Michael almost had the courage to run away with Thomas but bolted at the last minute. The performances from the three leads here are sublime and do elevate the somewhat expected outcomes for these characters.

Then we cut to modern times where a much older Flora (Vanessa Redgrave) has been a widow for a long time and now has a testy relationship with her grandson, Adam (Julian Morris). In this episode, while Flora's prejudices do rear their head, there's more of an attempt to be understanding to her grandson.

Gifting Adam that cottage where Michael and Thomas were their truest brought up the past for Flora. She had to open up about Michael being gay to Adam and her role in sabotaging Michael and Thomas's relationship. Flora did however try to mend Adam's relationship with architect Steve (David Gyasi).

The Adam and Steve relationship was a stark contrast to Michael and Thomas. Adam's sex addiction and overuse of hook up apps nearly killed it. Then there was Steve's relationship with art dealer, Casper (Julian Sands). Their union was more of a representation of some modern relationships beyond the culture of hook up apps.

The second half of this miniseries managed to keep the momentum of the first half and looping back Michael's poignant love letter to Thomas was such a great way of getting Adam and Steve to reconnect. Arguably, it felt a little easy but it worked nonetheless, ending this miniseries on a nicely positive note.

- There's some nice supporting performances from Laura Carmichael, Paul Clayton, Frances De La Tour, Angel Coulby and Phil Dunster to name a few.

- Keeping with the title, Michael did wear an orange shirt and was painted by Thomas. The painting was hidden under the cottage one. Michael died in his 60s.

- The series didn't shy from the sex scenes with the male cast one bit, especially with Adam in the second half.

- Some of this miniseries was based on writer Patrick Gale's own real life.

- This miniseries was part of the BBC's Gay Britannia season in 2017, marking the 50th anniversary of the decriminalisation of homosexuality in Britain.

- Chronology: World War II era Italy and London and 2017 London and the countryside.

Man In An Orange Shirt might have some slightly expected moments but I can honestly, it's a beautiful miniseries with two equally compelling love stories. The parallels between Michael/Thomas and Adam/Steve are presented well and the performances from Oliver Jackson-Cohen, James McArdle, Julian Morris and David Gyasi are sublime. 

Rating: 9 out of 10 

Freddy's Nightmares - Episodes 1-5 Reviews

I meant to do this last year but things got away from me. Anyways for the next nine blogs, I'll briefly break down each episode of this TV spin off.

Episode : No More Mr Nice Guy

First and foremost and for obvious reason, Robert Englund is the only actor to appear in every episode of this show. This first episode served as a prequel for A Nightmare On Elm Street and it certainly set the tone for the show. Freddy being on trial for killing kids in Springwood but getting off because his rights were never read. The parents of course took it upon themselves to enact their own justice on Freddy and that should've been the end of that. Of course, it wasn't and Freddy soon started taking a few out a few adults himself. The events of this opening episode would result in a sequel a few episodes. Interesting side note would be that Tobe Hopper (Texas Chainsaw Massacre) directed this episode. 7/10

Episode 2: It's A Miserable Life

The format from this episode onwards for the majority of the series would be a story pivoting from one character to another with Freddy as the antagonist. The first half of this episode had dissatisfied would be college kid, Bryan (John Cameron Mitchell) wanting to get out of the drudgery of his father's fast food restaurant. Bryan's desperation for escape had some unsettling dream sequences before he became a victim of a drive by shooting, witnessed by his girlfriend, Karyn (Lar Park Lincoln). Karyn became the focus of the second half, stuck in hospital and generally being terrorised by the staff as Freddy closed in on her. Fans of the Friday The 13th franchise should recognise a certain actor in this one. 7/10

Episode 3: Killer Instinct

Who fancies a bit of non friendly competition? That's pretty much the premise of this episode. Chris (Lori Petty) and Nickie (Yvette Nipar) are running rivals and the first half of the episode was focused on Chris's mommy issues, her need to win and a magical charm that gave her the edge. Then on one run, Chris lost the charm and her life, only for it to turn out that Nickie took the charm. The change of viewpoint to Nickie almost made her a sympathetic character but not quite. Her competitive drive was certainly given more context in light of her parents but it wasn't enough to make me care when she eventually got her comeuppance. 6/10

Episode 4: Freddy's Tricks And Treats 

I always wanted a Halloween scenario for this franchise and the fourth episode being a Halloween one was a nice treat. Not so much for our bookish protagonist Marsha Wildmon (Mariska Hargitay). She couldn't study in a party house, her boyfriend was a distraction, her grandmother a sexually repressed control freak and her cynicism about Freddy Krueger being real didn't end well for her. Then the episode flipped things where it turned out that her dreams were being studied while Freddy continued to terrorise Marsha. It's the strongest episode of this bunch and yes, there's another Friday The 13th reference to look out for. 8/10

Episode 5: Judy Miller, Come On Down 

Breaking the pattern a little here, this episode focus on an adult couple - Judy (Siobhan E. McCafferty) and Tom Miller (John DeMita). Granted they're living with Tom's parents and Judy's obsession with game shows has become something that Tom ridicules her for. However Judy ended winning big on a gameshow and Tom suddenly changed his tune. Judy's life should d been great but then an older version of herself (Susan Oliver) warned Judy about Tom's infidelity and money control. This was one of those episodes that almost could've done without Freddy as his role felt more like an observer. I did like the focus on older characters here. 6/10

Next blog I'll cover Saturday Night Special, Sister's Keeper, Mother's Day, Rebel Without A Car and The Bride Wore Red.

The Maybe Uncertain Future Of Doctor Who - Opinion Piece

After last night's extremely divisive finale, The Reality War, the future of Doctor Who seems to be a much dicier place than before.

Where to begin with this one? Let's start with THAT regeneration scene.

Last night, and after 18 and a bit episodes, Ncuti Gatwa regenerated into Billie Piper. Yes, I couldn't believe it with my eyes and I had known about it for two weeks as did most Doctor Who fans. What the hell is going on?

If you look at the credits, Billie Piper is credited but not as the Doctor or Rose Tyler or even Bad Wolf/The Moment. It's very unusual, is it not? I mean, surely she's the Doctor. If not the 16th, then a yet to be labelled differently one.

The BBC press site had comments from Russell T. Davies and Billie Piper and both of them were vague about the nature of Piper's return to the series. Also with no news as to when the next series is happening, the show does seem to be in rather murky waters at the moment in regards to it's future.

Russell T. Davies has mentioned writing for the third series in his run with stories mapped out for a fourth run. It's also been rumoured in the press that the show will continue on BBC1, even if Disney+ abandon the series and I'm suspecting they will at this point.

Looking a bit closer ahead, last night also saw the first trailer for upcoming spin-off, The War Between The Land And The Sea released and it too confirmed a lot of rumours from months ago. It also looked pretty good, so I'm intrigued by it.

First of all, we've got Gugu Mbatha-Raw playing a Sea Devil named Salt. In fact, she's clearly the main character from the Sea Devils and her motive does seem to be one of peace. In particular, Salt seemed to be drawn to a human named Barclay, played by Russell Tovey. If rumours are correct, expect a romance between Salt and Barclay akin to The Shape Of Water.

Created and co-written by Russell T. Davies and Pete McTighe and directed by Dylan Holmes Williams, the five part series is coming soon to both BBC1, iPlayer and Disney+. The show will see the returns of current UNIT team Kate Stewart (Jemma Redgrave), Shirley Bingham (Ruth Madeley) and Colonel Ibrahim (Alexander Devrient). There also the inclusion of General Austin Pierce (Colin McFarlane) from Torchwood: Children Of Earth.

The trailer was brief but tantalising enough to intrigue. I just hope the spin-off can stick the landing.

Last but not least, here's a picture of a deleted scene from The Reality War. It's supposed to be the original ending, which would have had the Doctor, Belinda and Ruby celebrating May Day with Susan Foreman (Carole Ann Ford) spying on them, setting up the arc for a third season had Ncuti Gatwa remained on the show. That's the rumour at least. I would've preferred that ending.

We'll have to wait and see the future of Doctor Who. There's an episode of Doctor Who Unleashed celebrating twenty years of the revived series, featuring Russell T. Davies, Steven Moffat, Chris Chibnall, David Tennant, Ncuti Gatwa, Jodie Whittaker, Billie Piper, Varada Sethu, Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill to name a few. Hopefully answers are coming soon, regardless of outcome.

What do you think is about to happen to the series? What should happen with it?

My Review of Doctor Who: "The Reality War"

 

Written by Russell T. Davies

Directed by Alex Sanjiv Pillai

The Doctor: "This has been an absolute joy."

I held off writing my review for this episode because much as it pains me to admit, this was one of the strangest regeneration episodes ever. I knew it was coming by the way. I read the rumours and I knew the tabloids were telling the truth back in February. Ncuti Gatwa, you gave it your all in an era that quite frankly wasted it's potential.

In his longest episode yet, the 15th Doctor had a lot to resolve. Some plot strands weren't resolved here and others were so sloppily handled, it beggars belief. First though, let's take about that regeneration because I have so many mixed feelings on it.

Ncuti Gatwa delivered in his final moments with the 15th Doctor actively choosing to generate in order to save one last person. He also had time to have one last meaningful conversation with Belinda before his departure. Belinda's another topic that I have thoughts on and none of them good to be frank.

Anyways, the regeneration (thank god, it was that) into Billie Piper raises a lot of questions. Is she really the 16th Doctor? Why haven't the BBC, Piper and RTD confirmed it if so? Or is there something else at play that's messing with the Doctor regenerating properly? Billie Piper could easily play the Doctor in her sleep but there's no denying it's an odd creative decision to go back to another old face after David Tennant a year and a half ago. 

Getting back to the episode itself, boy, was it overstuffed or what? I had a horrible feeling that Omega was going to be a massive flop and he was. Unnecessary and downright ugly CGI to one side, there was no attempt to give him a character. He wanted to be the God of Time, chowed down on the Rani (inelegant indeed) and then got blasted back to the Underverse by the Doctor. A complete and utter waste of the character.

As for the Rani, damn did this episode do her dirty. That horrible "death" at the hands of Omega was so undignified for the character. I did love her general plot to restore Gallifrey but this show had to stop that, so the Doctor can still be the last of his kind. I'm over the last of the Time Lords. I think every fan is at this point. At least Mrs Flood was smart enough to get out of dodge. Saying that, I wouldn't bring her back next season.

Then there's the UNIT and Anita side of things. Yup, the hotelier from Joy To The World returned to save the Doctor from the Underverse and helped with everyone's memories. Honestly she was more helpful than UNIT and Belinda and about the same amount of helpful as Ruby was. I did like seeing Anita but she was nearly lost in the shuffle with the amount of plotlines this episode.

Then there's Ruby. By far, the best companion of this era but in an episode where she didn't get to have a proper final scene with her Doctor. She did however manage to take down Conrad and give him a merciful comeuppance while Wish Baby became her adopted brother. She also had a better reaction to Poppy being displaced than even the Doctor and Belinda did.

Speaking of Belinda, I am genuinely surprised with how horribly handled she's been and more so by the outcome of her ending. Varada Sethu was a great find for the show and had great chemistry with Ncuti Gatwa but Belinda's lack of agency as a character was shockingly bad. Belinda essentially got rewritten to be a single mother to Poppy in order to discontinue travelling with the Doctor. In 2025, it's an incredibly tone deaf way of writing the character out.

- There were reshoots back in February to accommodate the Gatwa/Piper regeneration and Belinda's rewritten ending.

- The Rani/Mrs Flood took great delight in taunting Ruby, Belinda and Mel while pointing out why bigeneration became a thing. 

- This show seriously needs to either drop Rose and Shirley as characters or do something meaningful with them. Susan Triad could've easily sat this one out too.

- I absolutely loved the cameo from the 13th Doctor. Jodie Whittaker worked brilliantly with Ncuti Gatwa in their scene together. Nice archive footage of 3rd and 11th Doctor too.

- I'm guessing the Rogue plot will be dropped and both Susan Foreman and The Boss are for the next Doctor to discover.

- Chronology: May 23rd and 24th 2025. 

Without a shadow of a doubt, The Reality War has got to be the most disappointing finale that Russell T. Davies has done for the show. An abrupt exit for Ncuti Gatwa, an uncertain start for Billie Piper, horrible exits for Ruby and Belinda, butchering of the Rani and Omega and too many unresolved strands. I've liked a lot in this era but RTD really does need someone to pull him aside and show him what isn't working.

Rating: 7 out of 10