DCU Blog - May 2026 Edition: The Batman Pt II Casting, Super Summer Mark 2

Yup, this month certainly delivered on the front of casting news, among other things. Without further ado, let's get into it.

In addition to Scarlett Johansson and Sebastian Stan, The Batman Part II (October 1st 2027) has added Charles Dance, Brian Tyree Henry and Sebastian Koch to the cast. Dance will play Christopher Dent.

James Gunn confirmed on Threads that between General Zod, Doomsday, Doctor Fate, Black Adam, Ultraman and Darkseid that two of them will be showing up in the DCU soon.

Tom King has been hyping the casting for his upcoming Mister Miracle animated show. Casting should be revealed soon enough.

As of now, there are no directors being talked to about Teen Titans.

Matthew Lillard has joined the cast of Man Of Tomorrow (July 9th 2027) in an undisclosed role. Sinqua Walls has also been cast.

Volker Bertelmann will score Clayface (October 23rd 2026).

Greg Mottolo is seemingly in the mix to direct the Deathstroke And Bane movie, which has yet to be officially greenlit.

The arrival of Supergirl (June 26th) is close and we've been getting plenty of TV spots and interviews from Milly Alcock herself. She'll reprise the role in Man Of Tomorrow.

Absolute Wonder Woman has concluded it's current arc and is now moving into a new one with Barbara Minerva becoming the latest Cheetah.

Nicole Maines will be writing this year's DC Pride titled Justice League: Dream Girls - A DC Pride Event. The four part series will be released throughout the month of June.

Darren Criss will voice the role of Superboy for the third season of My Adventures With Superman, which premieres on Adult Swim from June 13th. Jessica Cruz will also feature.

Lanterns has officially been confirmed for August 16th on HBO with the latest trailer also confirming Laura Linney's casting. Chris Cantwell has been hired for the second season.

DC Animation/Warner Brothers will premiere Knightfall at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival among upcoming DC animated shows.

The second season of Creature Commandos will premiere on HBO Max after Man Of Tomorrow. The first episode is titled Starry Night.

And that's your lot for this month. Hope you liked. 

My Review of Ex-Husbands (2023)

 

Written And Directed by Noah Pritzker

Mickey: "With everything you're going through, you present yourself as a bit needy."

Peter: "That's interesting. I don't see myself that way."

As I'm heading into Pride Month, there will be a lot of LGBT themed movies I'll be covering during that month and over the summer in general. This was one that recently came to my attention.

It's not so much a gay themed movie but one of the three main characters happened to be gay and his love life was given a bit of focus. Mostly, it's a film about fathers and sons and divorce/separation. 

The father in question was dentist Peter Pearce (Griffin Dunne). At the start of this movie he wasn't happy about his own father, Simon (Richard Benjamin) divorcing his mother, Eunice (Marcia Jean Kurtz) after sixty five years of marriage. Simon on the other hand believed that he could love again.

The opposite happened and Simon ended up in a nursing home while Peter himself was now getting divorced from his own wife, Maria (Rosanna Arquette). On top of that, he was kind of seen as a bit of an inconvenience to his grown sons, Nick (James Norton) and Mickey (Miles Heizer). Neither of them were thrilled when apeter announced he was going to Tulum, Mexico during Nick's bachelor party.

I thought once the movie shifted to Mexico that Peter would be a source of contention for his sons but he actually tried to keep his distance. He even befriended a couple named Otto (Nate Mann) and Hewette (Zora Casebere). There was even a hint of a possible romance with Hewette's godmother, Eileen (Eisa Davis) but it fizzled out too quickly.

Among the bachelor party, it turned out that Nick and Thea (Rachel Zeiger-Haag) broke up and Mickey hooked up with the straight Arroyo (Pedro Fontaine). Some of Nick's friends such as Lowry (Simon Van Buyten), Chris (Echo Kellum) and Aaron (Lou Taylor Pucci) are there to make up the numbers while Simon's eventual death became something of a bonding experience between Peter and his sons.

- Arroyo definitely came across as more bisexual than straight. I'm guessing he's got an arrangement with his wife about hook ups.

- Simon's favourite movie was To Be Or Not To Be. Peter had gotten him a huge poster.

- Both Nick and Mickey and even Arroyo all seemed to have forms of depression and were taking medication for it.

- Chronology: Present day New York City and Mexico, though there's a six year time jump early in the film.

Ex-Husbands (or Men Of Divorce) presented itself as a charming enough story, looking into themes of divorce, loneliness, male mental health and even coming. There's an easy going rapport with Griffin Dunne, James Norton and Miles Heizer and the three work very well together.

Rating: 7 out of 10 

My Review of Over Your Dead Body (2026)

 

Written by Nick Kocher And Brian McElhaney

Directed by Jorma Taccone

Lisa (to Henry, re Dan): "I will give you one million dollars to shoot him in the fucking face!"

Last night, I went for another recently released movie and this one was something of a dive into what would happen if a couple decided divorce wasn't an option.

Miserable pair Dan (Jason Segel) and Lisa Burton (Samara Weaving) go to a cabin in the middle of nowhere for the weekend. Within a few minutes, it's revealed that he's a director who never hit the big time and she's not a very good actress. Oh and he's a controlling manchild and she's a cheat.

Truthfully, they're both terrible people who seemed to have more in common than they realised. While their intended methods differed, both Dan and Lisa thought murdering each other was the best way to solve their problems. They're both equally crap at trying to kill each other as well.

Even with the inclusion of Dan's idiotic friend, Henry (Jake Curran), the former couldn't succeed in killing Lisa and her attempts of murder weren't any better. They're both so inept at killing each other, it's comical.

Of course the inclusion of fugitives Allegra (Juliette Lewis), Pete (Timothy Olyphant) and Todd (Keith Jardine) complicated matters for the warring couple. Instead of trying to kill each other, we had both Dan and Lisa realising they didn't want the other and had to survive their captors trying to kill them.

The second half was the most entertaining, even with the brief inclusion of Dan's reckless father, Michael (Paul Guilfoyle). The gore got upped, body parts were lost, one relationship ended messily and the other got saved. That last bit was predictable but fun.

- Kumail Nanjiani played the Hollywood version of Dan while Lisa got to play herself. Andy Cohen also appeared.

- Lisa's plan for Dan was to have him accidentally shoot himself. Dan's for Lisa was much more darker and complicated. 

- Standout music: Chromatics Kill For Love and Barenaked Ladies One Week.

- Chronology: There's a lot of time jumps within the movie itself. It's a little disorienting.

There's a lot of fun to be had with Over Your Dead Body. Both Jason Segel and Samara Weaving are on fine form as were everyone else involved. Throw in some inventive enough moments of violence and gore and you've got a good offering here.

Rating: 7 out of 10 

My Review of Half Man: "Episode 6"

 

Written by Richard Gadd 

Directed by Eshref Reybrouch

Ruben (to Niall): "You love me, don't you?"

In a different reality, Ruben Pallister would've gotten his shit together, worked through the abuse he suffered at the hands of his father, made amends for the abuse he inflicted on so many people and likely been a decent father to Baird and an ally to Niall.

That's a different reality. In this one, it was revealed early into the episode that Niall got both Mona and Ava pregnant but the focus on Baird being his and not Ruben's was a factor into the events of the whole show. Niall's proof that confession isn't always good for the soul.

Ruben was in prison for his attack on Benji, who miraculously actually survived. During that time, Maura finally died, Ruben suspected that Niall and Mona were keeping secrets from him and then the latter went all confessional during a prison visit.

The best part of the confessional was having both Niall and Ruben being honest with each other. Niall finally admitted that he was gay and in a relationship with Alby. Both of these things Ruben had no problem with. Ruben even opened up the fact that he was abused by his father. That was something suspected from the start of this miniseries.

Of course Niall had to go and make the whole situation worse by admitting to Ruben that he slept with Mona and was Baird's actual father. Needless to say Ruben didn't take that information well at all.

Thematically, it made sense for both Ruben and Niall to be the death of one another. Niall had managed to stab Ruben before the latter strangled him. It was probably the only way this show could end. Saying that, I'm still mixed on it as an outcome, inevitable as it were.

- Niall and Ava had split. We didn't even find out what his kid with her was called. Niall was also contracting STDs and getting arrested for indecency.

- I really liked seeing Alby in his own work, positively trying to help Niall before they got together. 

- I'll give a shout out to Tom Andrews as Niall's friend and lawyer, Butch. I thought he had some great moments in this episode.

- Niall used his own father's knife to stab Ruben. Lori had given it to him earlier in the show.

- Standout music: There's a rather haunting version of Danny Boy by Shane McGowan and the Pogues used in this episode.

- Chronology: 2014 for most of the episode.

While I don't think the finale was as satisfying as it could've been, I still really liked it a lot. Richard Gadd really did deliver one hell of a conversation piece about masculinity with this six episode show.

Rating: 8 out of 10 

My Review of Forbidden Fruits (2026)

 

Written by Lily Houghton And Meredith Alloway

Directed by Meredith Alloway

Cherry: "Are we still best friends?"

Apple: "You know I don't believe in hierarchy in female relationships."

If Gen Z were ever going to get their own version of The Craft (1996), then I guess they couldn't do too shabbily with this one. It's a feminist take on sisterhood or a smackdown of performative sisterhood. I think it's ultimately both.

Set in a shopping mall, the Free Eden employees have mobilised their own after hours witchy femme cult. They're led by the dominating Apple (Lili Reinhart) but there's an opening for a new member to the ranks.

This was where newcomer Pumpkin (Lola Tung) found herself. She made an impression on Apple but also Fig (Alexandra Shipp) and Cherry (Victoria Pedretti). Following a few rituals and rules, Pumpkin got herself into Apple's little cult and she took little time in attempting to unravel it as well.

Pumpkin had an agenda for joining. She needed to get closer to Apple for later reasons that made enough sense. Pumpkin was also smart enough to exploit Cherry's sex addiction and Fig being involved with a man named Norman (Siddharth Sharma) to her advantage and then there was former member, Pickle (Emma Chamberlain).

Apple really hated the idea of her cult members being involved with men and resorted into performing hexes in order to deal with snakes. Pickle fell victim to two hexes with the latter killing her and then a hurricane really turned the group against each other.

These movies thrive on a final girl but what happened when it's the villain who actually survived? Yup, it's Apple that was the last "witch" standing. Both Cherry and Fig are given some rather grisly deaths and the half sister connection between Apple and Pumpkin (same father who Apple killed) didn't exactly save Pumpkin. Now you've got Apple on the loose and ready to form a new performative sisterhood.

- The movie's based on Lily Houghton's stage play Of the woman came the beginning of sin, and through her we all die. That's an extremely long title.

- A mid credit scene revealed that Apple's boss, Sharon (Gabrielle Union) was an undercover detective, aware of Apple's antics.

- Standout music: Scantily Clad by Haute & Freddy.

- Chronology: Took place over the course of a month in Dallas, Texas. Apple fled to Arizona by the end of the film.

Forbidden Fruits started off as a bit of a slog with some really cringe Gen Z dialogue but as the movie progressed, I found it improved. The four leads are mostly great and there's some good ideas that are a little underdeveloped but overall, a breezy watch.

Rating: 6 out of 10 

My Review of Obsession (2026)

 

Written And Directed by Curry Barker 

Nikki (to Bear): "You wished for this."

Well, I got around to watching the most hyped horror film this year with a character that's now generated her own official Wikipedia page. Nikki Freeman (Inde Navarrette) your impact has emerged here.

Let's be honest, Nikki has been the character that has been very front and centre and given so many deep dives. Did anyone really think she was a villain? Yes, she did some truly shocking things in this movie but it's also clear from the start that she's more a victim than villain of the piece.

Nikki being a victim came down to a wish from her co-worker and friend, Baron "Bear" Bailey (Michael Johnston) wanting a romantic relationship with her and resorting to a supernatural toy in order to make it into a reality. It would be a wish that Bear wouldn't live to regret given the ending for this one.

If you ever happen to find something like the "One Wish Willow" before you snap it in half, maybe take a long think about the kind of wish you want to make. Bear thought that Nikki being in love with him would be a dream come true but it turned into a living nightmare for both.

Nikki became obsessed with Bear and despite being disturbed by her change in personality, Bear also dated her. This caused some tension with their friends Ian (Cooper Tomlinson) and Sarah (Megan Lawless), neither of whom approved of Bear and Nikki being a couple. Both would also become collateral damage as a direct result.

If this movie could have an influenced Nikki lie about her father having cancer, kill two people, use cat remains in a sandwich and self harm herself but still underline that's she's a victim, why would anyone see her as a villain? I mean she's genuinely scary at times but there's also those glimpses of the old Nikki at times to remind audiences that her agency had been taken from her.

As for Bear, there are moments of sympathy and even attempts to undo the damage his wished had caused. You can feel almost a little bad for him while being appalled with the way his behaviour darkened. In the end, he did do the right thing to free Nikki of being obsessed with him but even his exit left Nikki in a horrible position.

- Nikki's screams were all down to Inde Navarrette. It's amazing how quickly certain scenes of Nikki have become viral.

- Curry Barker has another horror movie called, Milk & Serial. After watching this movie, I'll definitely look it up before Anything But Ghosts gets released.

- Nikki putting some of Bear's cat remains into his sandwich was by far the most disgusting thing in the film. Nikki had also been sleeping with Ian and Sarah had a crush on Bear.

- Both Curry Barker and Andy Richter have small roles in the film.

- Standout music: Rock Burwell's Make Believe.

- Chronology: Present day Los Angeles. 

I'll admit, I was worried that Obsession might not have lived up to the huge hype that surrounded it but I'm pleased to say that it did. There's a Star making performance from Inde Navarrette undoubtedly but Michael Johnston also played his part brilliantly and the two of them together made for a brilliant and tragic look at one sided love.

Rating: 8 out of 10 

Doctor Who - Christmas 2026 Special Shelved? 30th Anniversary of TV Movie

I didn't think I'd be doing two Doctor Who blog posts this month but here we are. A part of this of course is celebrating a certain piece of the show's history but most of this will look at the show's future and in the latter case, I'm starting to worry.

On Monday, The Sun newspaper (yes that infernal rag) posted that the upcoming Christmas special could be delayed to Easter 2027, due to casting availability. On top of that, they've also claimed that the show is currently struggling cast an actor to succeed Ncuti Gatwa (who recently hosted the UK version of Saturday Night Live). Apparently the role has now become a poison chalice.

For months, most viewers/fans, etc naturally assumed that the upcoming special, written by Russell T. Davies would be lead by David Tennant and Billie Piper. There was also the possible chance of the actor cast as the 16th Doctor would likely factor at the end of the special. How naive we were?

We're about to head into the summer months and we're still none the wiser with what's going on. In the past the show could film close to time and get a Christmas special on the air. With rumours of a September filming, it's unlikely the special would be complete, post production wise to make the Christmas Day slot of old.

Adding to the frustration, when the Radio Times pressed the BBC for confirmation, they declined to comment on the matter. As much as I'd rather not be negative, I think the writings on the wall with this one. Until confirmed otherwise, I have a horrible feeling the special will be moved to Easter 2027 and that the show at the moment is struggling to find a new actor.

I was hoping with AMC+ recently acquiring the 2005-2022 era for their streaming service that maybe we were due a more positive announcement but alas, it wasn't meant to be for now.

On a brighter note, today marks the 30th anniversary of The TV Movie or The Enemy Within. It's been thirty years since we first met Paul McGann's Eighth Doctor and while the movie wasn't initially a fan favourite, it's something that's grown in love overtime. Eight things I loved about it.

• The actual interior of the TARDIS. It's gorgeous.
• Paul's performance as the Eighth Doctor. 
• Eric Roberts as the Master. This one took a while but I do love his take on the Doctor's best enemy.
• Daphne Ashbrook as Dr. Grace Holloway. 
• Setting the events over the course of New Year's Eve.
• I actually liked Chang Lee the more I've rewatched this film.
• The Eight/Grace romance was nicely handled.
• "I always dress for the occasion" - that line cracks me up.

I'll definitely be watching the movie over the weekend. I imagine many Doctor Who fans will be doing the same.

Hopefully answers surrounding the show's future will be confirmed soon because right now, I think we should all be a little concerned.

My Review of Heartbeats (2010)

 

Written And Directed by Xavier Dolan 

Francis: "I love you. I really want to kiss you. I don't know why I'm telling you this."

Last week, I finally watched I Killed My Mother and I thought it was an impressive debut from Canadian director, Xavier Dolan. This follow up certainly proved that he wasn't a one trick pony.

Once again, Dolan cast himself in a lead role and tbh, I kind of like that he's cast himself as characters that while not entirely likable, they can at least merit a decent amount of sympathy for them.

In this one, he's playing the role of Francis. Francis and his friend Marie (Monia Chokri) were at a dinner party with other friends when Nicolas (Niels Schneider) came into their orbit. Both Francis and Marie were taken by Nicolas and both were determined to get him.

There's a fun, passive aggressive way in which both Francis and Marie pursued Nicolas throughout the movie. Both tried to derail the other and both got their moments with the curly haired guy. Nicolas also seemed to be egging both Francis and Marie on as the movie progressed.

There's a whole segment where the three of them ended up at the vacation home of Nicolas's aunt. For a guy who was happy to make Francis eating a marshmallow into seduction play, even I was a tad surprised when Nicolas eventually spurned his advances. Oh and Marie didn't get lucky with him either.

I guess the lesson to be learned here would be that it's never a good idea to be friends with someone who shares the same taste in men. This however would be a lesson that both Francis and Marie would fail to learn if that last scene was anything to go by.

- Anne Dorval had a small but amusing role as Désirée. Louis Garrel also played the party guest that both Francis and Marie lusted for at the end of this movie.

- There's also a scene with a cherry that's more effective than the marshmallow one.

- Standout music: Dalida's Bang Bang was used effectively a few times here.

- Chronology: It took place over the course of a year in Montréal.

Heartbeats (2010) was definitely a strong second director outing for Xavier Dolan. A fun and slightly complicated love triangle that temporarily frayed a friendship between two characters. I found this rather entertaining.

Rating: 7 out of 10 

My Review of Crimes Of Passion (1984)

 

Written by Barry Sandler

Directed by Ken Russell

Rev. Shayne: "Don't fight me, child. I'm the messenger of God and I only want to heal you."

China: "Heal thyself, pimp shit!"

I watched this one a few years ago and it somewhat stuck with me, so I went back to watch it again late last night. This might be one of the most fucked up films I've seen. Well, just about.

Kathleen Turner gave one of the most daring performances in her career with this film. By day, she's Joanna Crane, a hardworking woman at a fashion house that's arpused the suspicions of her boss, Lou Bateman (Norman Burton). He doesn't trust anyone that hardworking.

That's where Bobby Grady (John Laughlin) factored into things. He was hired by Bateman to follow Joanna and catch whatever criminal activity she was involved in. Instead he got romantically involved with her as his marriage to Amy (Annie Potts) was falling apart.

Joanna's other life was that she was a prostitute named China Blue who specialised in fulfilling men's deepest fetishes. In this role she also attracted the attention of the hypocritical and hyper twitchy Reverend Peter Shayne (Anthony Perkins). She just couldn't get rid of the man.

The dynamic between China and Shayne drove the movie in a big way. He claimed he wanted to save her soul and hated himself for being sexually attracted to her. In some ways, Perkins was channelling a version of his most infamous role. There's even a scene involving crossdressing before Shayne's overzealous obsession came to a boiling point.

With the heavy amount of salacious antics going on in the movie, Grady somewhat served as a grounding force. His marriage breaking down got room to breathe and he's presented as a stabilising alternative to the hedonistic lifestyle that Joanna was experiencing as China. It's a believable enough love story among the craziness.

- Anthony Perkins was constantly sweating in this movie. Shayne was seen taking poppers multiple times and had an array of sex toys.

- China's clients included a man with a fetish for sexual assault, a dying man who didn't sleep with her and a rather obnoxious business couple that China lost her patience with.

- Standout music: Anthony Perkins performing a rather psychotic version of Get Happy during one particular scene.

- Chronology: 1980s America. 

Crimes Of Passion, I'll admit that I found this to be a rather fucked up movie. Kathleen Turner delighted in straddling dual identities, Anthony Perkins seemed completely off his gord and boundaries certainly got pushed. 

Rating: 8 out of 10 

My Review of Mother Mary (2026)

 

Written And Directed by David Lowery 

Sam: "There may be only one of us standing when this is over."

Mary: "I know."

I had such high hopes for this one. I genuinely thought it was going to end up being one of my favourites for 2026 but alas, I guess it wasn't meant to be.

A few years ago, Anne Hathaway played a woman in love with a pop singer. This time around she's the pop singer named Mother Mary and she's got something of a costume crisis. Enough of a crisis for her to hop on a plane and reunited with someone who she previously cut out of her life.

The person in question being costume designer and former friend Sam Anselm (Michaela Coel). The way this movie went, I sometimes wonder if Mary and Sam has a relationship that transcended friendship. They're written like an ex couple at times.

Now this was a very talkative movie and predominantly took place in one area of Sam's rundown home. If it was for a slew supporting characters in the present and flashbacks, this would've almost been a two hander between Hathway and Coel. They mostly keep this movie afloat.

Anyways, the tension between Mary and Sam was down to the former feeling like she was losing her identity in the latter's designs, so she wanted a break. There's also something involving a red fabric spirit being unleashed and some ritual with a fan named Imogen (FKA Twigs) that went horribly wrong.

I'll admit the flashbacks and anything that ventured properly into the horror side of things helped the movie. The music parts while fine were better handled in movies such as Trap (2024) and Smile 2. On the plus side, at least two estranged friends exorcised some past demons and forgave one another.

- Hunter Schafer had a few scenes as Sam's assistant Hilda. Kaia Gerber, Sian Clifford and Jessica Brown Findlay all had good supporting roles.

- Mary's mother died at some point. Sam did seem sympathetic during that reveal. Sam also broke her tooth at one of Mary's concerts.

- Standout music: All courtesy of Mary of course. Burial, Cut Ties, My Mouth Is Lonely For You and Holy Spirit.

- Chronology: Mary flew from LAX to land in thr English countryside to meet with Sam. That incident also took place in Dublin.

Mother Mary (2026) really should've been a winner because you've got both Anne Hathaway and Michaela Coel giving it their all but for some reason, it just didn't come together. A shame.

Rating: 6 out of 10 

My Review of Half Man: "Episode 5"

 

Written by Richard Gadd 

Directed by Eshref Reybrouck

Niall: "Ava is pregnant."

Ruben: "Wow. Wow. Honestly that's amazing. I'm gonna be an uncle."

And yet, everything that followed from that little moment indicated that Ruben wasn't best pleased about Niall's potency. In fact it highlighted his own lack of potency and that led to some really tough scenes in this penultimate episode.

In flashbacks for the previous episode, both Niall and Ruben came to some sort of understanding. They were even having double date last with Mona and Ava respectively but issues of money, fatherhood and old insecurities reared their head once again.

Ruben can only mimic being normal for so long but his penchant for explosive rage resulted him having been unemployed for over a year and borrowing money to support both Niall and Mona respectively. His intense jealousy over both got extreme during this episode as well.

Mona wanting her own independence by teaching dance classes had Ruben convinced that she was sleeping with Benji (Gunnar Bjercke). Ruben was right but the way Niall confirmed his brother's worst fears just to save his own skin was awful. Congrats Niall, you just caused a man's death.

This episode sadly was Niall at his absolute worst. His indignant stance at having to pay Ruben back, borrowing money from Ava's father for conversion therapy that obviously didn't work and his refusal to accept his sexuality. For the first time, I actually found myself unsympathetic towards. Add to that, he also slept with Mona after being aware that Ruben's unable to father children.

Back in the current day, this did lead to Niall losing his rag with Ruben outside and the two of them heading into the shed. I'm glad there's one episode left because I don't think I could handle any more stress from this chaotic duo.

- Lori was right to point out that Niall was lying to himself about his sexuality. Even Ava knew he was gay but only ditched him after he slept with a male prostitute.

- Mona quickly realised that Cosmo in Niall's book was actually Ruben. Ruben spoke poorly of her during the episode.

- Did Ava keep the baby? I don't think we've seen them during the present day scenes.

- Yet again, Ruben made a play for Niall's cock as a reaction to Ava being pregnant.

- Standout music: Kylie Minogue's All The Lovers.

- Chronology: 2010 in the flashback. Ava mentioned having a geriatric pregnancy at 42. Anjli Mohindra is younger than Ava.

Although this one might be the weakest compared to what we've had, I did rather like it. I'm gonna give a shout out to both Anjli Mohindra and Amy Manson who were every bit as excellent as Richard Gadd and Jamie Bell have been.

Rating: 7 out of 10 

My Review of Hokum (2026)

Written And Directed by Damian McCarthy 

Ohm (to Mal): "Can I get a room as far away from the craic as possible?"

Earlier this year, I caught up with the director's first two movies, Caveat and Oddity and I saw the potential. With this movie, it was a case of putting an American character in an Irish setting with some interesting results.

The American in question was a burned out writer named Ohm Bauman (Adam Scott). He's trying to come up with a satisfying end to a Conquistador trilogy he's been working on and the ghost of his dead mother, Delia (Mallory Adams) would bring him to the Emerald Isle of course.

This meant Ohm going to Ireland and specifically to The Bilberry Woods Hotel where his parents spent their honeymoon. The place was owned by the rather odd Cob (Brendan Conroy), though more time was given to his son in law and desk clerk Mal (Peter Coonan) and creepy groundskeeper, Fergal (Michael Patrick). 

Ohm lost a lot of points here because the way he was towards the staff, notably bellhop Alby (Will O'Connell) was far too mean spirited. Ohm only seemed to have a soft spot for bartender Fiona (Florence Ordesh) because she knew where an old redwood tree was. Ohm also seemed to have some kindness to local man Jerry (David Wilmot) but only just about.

I get with Ohm, both his parents were dead and there's some guilt over that for him but he's not an immediately likable main character. However the disappearance of Fiona and the rumblings of the Honeymoon Suite in the hotel harbouring a witch (Sioux Carroll) did give this movie something to work with.

The witch herself was a local legend that Ohm was initially dismissive of. However teaming up with Jerry to look into the Honeymoon Suite after hours and trips to the underworld certainly did more to make Ohm a believer than anything else. It's all rather unsettling and it even ended on a strong note with Ohm getting clarity on how to finish his book.

- Mushroom powder factored into the goats jumping on the cars and Alby even spiked Ohm with it as revenge for burning his hand with a spoon.

- Will O'Connell also played Jack the Jackass while Austin Amelio and Ezra Carlisle played the Conquistador and boy from Ohm's book.

- Standout music: Harry Bird and the Rubber Wellies Lonesome Road.

- Chronology: Like the previous two movies, this was filmed in Cork and I assume it's set there.

Hokum might be the strongest of the movies from Damian McCarthy so far. A great central performance from Adam Scott, coupled with strong supporting and a genuinely unsettling witch. I really liked this one.

Rating: 8 out of 10 

My Review of Superman (1941)

 

Written by Seymour Kneitel And Isadore Sparber

Directed by Dave Fleischer 

Clark: "This looks like a job for Superman."

Am I really reviewing a ten minute animated Superman movie? Yes, yes I am. How could I not? After all, it's one of the first debuts for the character, cinematic wise. It's also a rather straightforward enough story.

There's Clark Kent (Bud Collyer). He's a reporter living in Metropolis and working for The Daily Planet. He's also the superhero known as Superman and the latter had a villain to take out in such a short space of time.

The villain in question was known as The Mad Scientist (Jack Mercer). He's got a deadly Electrothanasia-Ray that he intended to use on Metropolis. Superman to one side, the other obstacle for The Mad Scientist was a certain reporter.

In the early days, Lois Lane (Joan Alexander) really was the stereotypical damsel in distress and that's pretty much her function here. She's smart enough to work out where The Mad Scientist but still ended up being captured by the villain and needing Superman to rescue her.

The battle between Superman and The Mad Scientist was fairly straightforward too. The Electrothanasia-Ray got easily destroyed, the baddie defeated while Lois got her scoop and no one was the wiser on Clark's true identity. 

- Apparently there's seventeen of these short films on the character. They're in the public domain. This short is available on YouTube.

- Perry White (Julian Noa) also appeared while Jackson Beck voiced the narrator and a radio broadcaster.

- The catchphrase "Truth and Justice" popped up here.

- Chronology: 1940s Metropolis.

Superman (1941) told a pretty straightforward story and told it rather well. It's a great debut with some gorgeous animation and strong voice acting.

Rating: 8 out of 10 

Another Seaside Town Of Doom

It's been a while and there's some omission that will surface at a later but here's a rundown of recent shows that I've been watching.

9-1-1: Season 9 has probably been the weakest season of the show and there's a part of me that doesn't want to continue watching but I might. I do think Buck going from being kidnapped, having an addiction and now potentially being a father to his dead friends rambunctious son were all storylines that needed more time to breathe. Instead they're all rushed. As for Athena, I guess I am curious to see how she'll fare as a detective next season.

9-1-1: Nashville: Let's be honest, the rivalry between Blythe and Dixie might be repetitive every episode but it's one of the few times where the show's campiness actually works in it's favour. The diss track saga might even be the best story from this largely uneven first season. It even led to a fricking cat fight cliffhanger with the pair.

Daredevil: Born Again: A classic example of wanting to like a season, liking certain aspects but being largely bored with it as it further went along. At this point, I am well and truly over Matt Murdock vs. Wilson Fisk and if this show has any hope of going beyond next season, it needs to get over it as well. There was a decent rivalry between Karen and Heather, death for Vanessa and Daniel, the welcomed return of Jessica Jones but too often this season felt like it was sleepwalking.

The Boys: Season 5 hasn't turned out to be grand epic final that most fans were hoping but it's not quite been the Game Of Thrones style misfire. It's mostly been in between and would fall into "serviceable" at best. Too much time did seem to focus on setting up on Vought Rising and that much hyped Supernatural reunion amounted to very little. Homelander had too much plot armour as per usual but at least we're free of both him and Butcher. I've never been happier to see two main characters die than those two. I will not be covering that prequel series. After this final season, I'm definitely out of interest in this universe.

Widow's Bay: Matthew Rhys continues to build himself as an underrated king of television and his latest show would be one in my current favourite genre. Well, it's more horror comedy and the first half of the season has seen a lot of crazy shit happen in a seaside town. Rhys himself has proven to be well cast as the town's slightly inept Mayor doing his best to help his town and there's a good slew of characters for him to bounce off. I can see this show ending up in a few favourite lists towards the end of the year.

• Dan Stevens and Brian Cox will play different killers in the second season of Dexter: Resurrection. Uma Thurman and Desmond Harrington will also return.
• Sky have acquired the rights to the new Baywatch. The show will premiere on FOX from January 2027.
• A Texas based spin-off for Grey's Anatomy has been commissioned at ABC.
• Vision Quest will premiere on Disney+ from October 12th.
• HBO limited series The Chain has found it's lead in Jodie Comer.
• The Vampire Lestat will premiere on AMC from June 7th. An After show will also air alongside the new season.
• Season 6 of Only Murders In The Building has now gone into production.
• Stuart Fails To Save The Universe will now premiere on HBO Max from July 23rd.
• Scrubs has been renewed for an eleventh season at ABC.
• Netflix have renewed Running Point for a third season.
• The White Lotus has replaced Helena Bonham Carter with Laura Dern. Season 4 is now filming in France.
• Bridgerton will premiere it's fifth season in 2027.
• The final season of The Bear will premiere on FX from June 25th.

My Review of I Killed My Mother aka J'ai tué ma mère (2009)

 

Written And Directed by Xavier Dolan

Hubert: "What would you do if I died today?"

Chantale: "I'd die tomorrow."

Well, this one's been on my list for a while now and given that it's been seventeen years since it's released, I finally got around to seeing it. I can see why this has developed the following it's gotten.

Our protagonist was a man named Hubert Minel (Xavier Dolan). Hubert had something of a frustrating relationship with his mother, Chantale Lemming (Anne Dorval). Hubert for the most part loves his mother but also hated being her son. There's something believable in that sort of family dynamic. 

I think on Hubert's case, it's probably not helped by the fact that both him and his mother seem to clash a bit too easily and that the latter had a tendency to publicly embarrass Hubert as well. In fact, it's down to this that Hubert told his teacher, Julie Cloutier (Suzanne Clément) that his mother was dead. 

On top of that obvious lie that Julie quickly debunked, Hubert actually wrote an essay about Chantale being dead. It turned out that Hubert craved his family home as a child and that was where he ended up by the end of this movie. There's even a nice scene where it seemed like Hubert and Chantale came to some sort of truce with one another.

Another big part of this movie was Hubert's relationship with his boyfriend, Antonin (François Arnaud). The latter by contrast had a much healthier relationship with his own mother, Hélène Rimbaud (Patricia Tulasne) and even pointed out Hubert's selfishness in a way that actually made Hubert take note.

There's some legitimately strong chemistry between Xavier Dolan and François Arnaud with Antonin doing a lot to temper some of Hubert's worse qualities. That didn't stop Hubert from cheating on Antonin with Éric (Niels Schneider) in a minor subplot. Saying that, I'm glad both Hubert and Antonin were together by the end of the film.

- We did briefly meet Hubert's father, Richard (Pierre Chagnon). Hubert lashed out at him.

- Xavier Dolan wrote the script when he was sixteen. Hubert was sixteen for most of the film.

- Standout music: André Hébert's Des roses rouges pour toi maman.

- Chronology: During Hubert's teenage years in suburban Montreal. There's black and white scenes to an older version.

For a first time look into Xavier Dolan's filmography, it's not hard to see why I Killed My Mother (2009) would be held in such high regard. It's an impressive debut with strong central performances and a complex look at a mother/son relationship. I really liked this one.

Rating: 8 out of 10

My Review of Macabre (1980)

 

Written by Pupi Avati And Roberto Gandus And Lamberto Bava And Antonio Avati

Directed by Lamberto Bava And John Gayford

Opening Title Card: "Inspired by a series of actual events that took place in New Orleans a few years ago..."

Prior to yesterday evening, I didn't even know this movie was even a thing. Funny that. Anyways, I'll say that it's title though turned out to be rather justified, so points for that.

In this movie, you've got Bernice Stegers as the rather dissatisfied housewife Jane Baker. Despite living in a nice house with a seemingly nice husband, Leslie (Fernando Pannullo) and two kids, she's been sleeping with a man named Fred Kellerman (Roberto Posse) at a boarding house, owned by a nice woman named Mrs. Duval (Elisa Kadigia Bove) and her blind son, Robert (Stanko Molnar).

Anyways, Jane's affair was on the verge of being exposed by her bratty daughter, Lucy (Veronica Zinny) and the death of her son, Michael pretty much ended her marriage. There was also her affair being exposed and her lover dying in a grisly accident that she managed to survive.

The majority had Jane living with Robert at the boarding house as Robert's mother died off screen. Jane had been mostly distant with Robert until she tried one attempt of seduction. Then there's also how she coped with Fred's death. She didn't deal with it at all.

Nope, she dedicated a shrine to her dead lover and keeping with the macabre side of things, she kept his head. Worse than that, she often cavorted with it as well in some genuinely sickening to watch scenes. It also didn't long for both Robert and Lucy to discover this, though how they dealt with this information differed.

I knew there was something off about Lucy and felt vindicated when she confessed to killing her brother. Trying to trick Jane into eating Fred's earlobe was gross and Jane's reaction certainly pushed things into very dark territory. The ending with poor Robert. That man really suffered having to deal with that mother and daughter duo.

- John Gayford directed the English version. It's an Italian movie despite not being set in Italy.

- Lucy drowned Michael and Jane ended up doing the same to her. Robert got attacked by Fred's head, which came to life.

- Standout music: Norberto Gil Ventura's Jane In Love.

- Chronology: A year happened during the New Orleans set movie.

Macabre (1980) definitely lived up to it's title. It's definitely a rather messed up movie with some truly unhinged moments. Robert aside, I wouldn't say it's a movie with many sympathetic characters but isn't it amazing how awful both Jane and Lucy were? 

Rating: 7 out of 10 

My Review of Twinless (2025)

 

Written And Directed by James Sweeney

Dennis (to Roman): "You know how people say "just be yourself"? Like, what version of me? I hate most of them. But the version of me that was just hanging out with you, I... I wanted to be him all the time."

I'm going to start this review by pointing out that I'm a twin myself and the polar opposite of my siblings, though we do share some things in common. The premise of this movie certainly intrigued me.

Dylan O'Brien as an actor has definitely done his best to shed his teen heartthrob identity from his Teen Wolf days by taking on of a variety of different roles. In this movie, he's a set of twins. There's Rocky, who's gay and Roman who happened to be straight.

Then there's Dennis, played by writer and director James Sweeney himself. Dennis was briefly involved with Rocky until the latter ghosted him for George (Chris Perfetti). Dennis was also one of two people who last saw Rocky alive before the latter got hit by a car.

Now that wasn't strictly Dennis's fault but everything else from that point onwards absolutely was. No one told Dennis to wear a wig and attend Rocky's funeral and no one told Dennis to befriend Roman under false pretenses. These were things that Dennis chose to talong with lying about having a dead twin.

It's a pretty messed up lie because the sad thing was that under different circumstances maybe Dennis and Roman would've been friends. They enjoyed grocery shopping together and each others company. However it was Dennis inadvertently pairing Roman with his co-worker, Marcie (Aisling Franciosi) that saw the big lie unravel.

I do like that in spite of his growing resentment towards Marcie, Dennis knew that he couldn't lie to Roman any longer. I don't like that Roman's reaction was a violent one, even if the movie made a point of highlighting his anger issues. There's a rather bittersweet final scene between Dennis and Roman that ended the movie on a complicated note.

- There's a few strong support performances from Lauren Graham as Rocky/Roman's mother, Lisa, Susan Park as Dennis's boss Sage, Tasha Smith as twinless twins group woman Charlotte and Francois Arnaud as Roman's gay friend, Sammy. Katie Findley also appeared.

- Dennis's "twin" was called Dean. He pretended he wanted to be a lawyer, worked for a book company before switching to real estate after being fired.

- Standout music: Haim's Leaning On You and Evan and Jaron's Crazy For This Girl.

- Chronology: The movie was mostly set in Portland, Oregon and briefly in Moscow, Idaho. Halloween, Christmas and Valentine's Day all factored in.

Twinless turned out to be an interesting second effort from writer/director James Sweeney (I may or may not watch his debut, Straight Up at a later date). Solid enough chemistry with Dylan O'Brien and a rather murky story, it did make for an interesting experience.

Rating: 7 out of 10 

My Review of Half Man: "Episode 4"

 

Written by Richard Gadd 

Directed by Eshref Reybrouck

Ruben (to Niall): "I'm the soundtrack to your greatest moments and it pains you to know that all of your achievements fill you with a void whereas a smile from me fill you with all the fucking energy you need."

What a fucking episode. Earlier in the year, I said the Dear Henry episode of Industry Season 4 was my favourite due to the toxicity of the Henry/Whitney ship but that's starting to look relatively tame compared to the absolute insanity of Ruben/Niall.

We've left the younger versions of both men behind and it's now Richard Gadd and Jamie Bell back at the forefront. We're also into more recent history with Ruben and Niall having very different lives where one turned out to be a more successful than the other. In some ways, it's not actually that surprising.

Prison seemed to be the making of Ruben in a way. He did some reading, showed a little self reflection and while he contemplated getting revenge on Niall, he actually avoiding interacting with him. Until Niall literally forced his hand into doing so. Niall really was his own worst enemy.

Niall's post trial life was mostly shit. He wrote one book that barely sold 100 copies and his editor Daniel (Tim Downie) wasn't impressed with his recent follow up efforts. He also made himself vulnerable to blackmail when Glenn (Mark Kydd) caught him having sex with men in the bathrooms of the library.

Niall's life was such a car crash that Lori had no choice but to admit that Ruben's been bailing Niall out for a while. Niall trashed Ruben's car and scared the latter's wife. Then there was that whole hospital scene.

I'm trying not to be too hyperbolic here but if Richard Gadd and Jamie Bell don't get Emmy nominated for this episode alone, I will be genuinely shocked. Both men give such visceral performances as Ruben and Niall tore into one another. Both men made valid points at each other and both seemed to come to some form of an understanding as well. It's incredible television. 

Cutting back to the present day, Ruben commanded the wedding speech and certainly unsettled both Niall and Alby. As for the last scene, I didn't see that coming and it's gonna be interesting to see how that will transpire on screen.

- Lori kept saying she wasn't homophobic but the way she treated Niall, it did seem like she didn't like him being gay.

- Maura tried to kill herself while Ruben was in prison. I'm not surprised the trial broke Lori and Maura up.

- Niall's former bully Gus (Sandy Batchelor) turned out to be gay but was married to a woman and had kids. Joanna (Kate Robson-Stuart) had her own kids and got an apology off Ruben off screen.

- Ruben married Mona (Amy Manson) and told Niall that Maura referred to him as King Rat. Ruben also sexually assaulted Niall in hospital.

- Standout music: Devastations The Saddest Sound.

- Chronology: The flashbacks were set in 2008. Niall had quite Oxford and was sectioned after having a breakdown.

The fourth episode set a high bar for the last two episodes. It's an incredible piece of writing, acting and plotting. Both Richard Gadd and Jamie Bell were utterly sensational throughout. 

Rating: 9 out of 10 

Doctor Who - AMC+ Acquire US Streaming Rights

I was hoping the next time I'd do a Doctor Who blog it was going to be revealing information about this year's Christmas special but apparently not yet. 

With the Disney+ deal well and truly over, it's been revealed that the 2005-2022 era of Doctor Who will exclusively stream on AMC+ for US audiences from June 11th. I can't say it's entirely a shock.

There was rumours for a while that the show would land on that particular service. Could this mean that the BBC have a potential new streaming partner from 2027 onwards? I guess we'll have to wait and see.

As for this year's Christmas special, it looks like we're going to have to wait a while before any news coming to light.

Meanwhile Big Finish and fans of the Fugitive Doctor in general can enjoy the multimedia event, Circuit Breaker. This event will also include a novel written by Jo Martin herself, due for release in September.

As for The War Between The Land And The Sea, I think we can safely assume that Disney+ will never release this show. It's been five months since it aired on BBC1 and not a sign yet they're bothered with it.

I'll post more Doctor Who stuff when new information comes to light.

My Review of Juice - Series 2 (2025, BBC3 Series)

 

Written by Mawann Rizwan And Nabhaan Rizwan And Emily Llyod-Saini

Directed by Eros V

Winnie: "Welcome to adulthood, Jamma."

Jamma: "I don't like it."

Winnie: "No, it's not very nice."

I watched this last year but I had forgotten about it until the other day. I went back to rewatch it and I'll admit that it's a bit of a patchy second series of the zany show that got better as it went along.

The rest of the first series saw Jamma (Mawann Rizwan) and therapist boyfriend Guy (Russell Tovey) break up. In between that time, Jamma also decided to become an actual clown and in no surprise whatsoever, he's rather bad at it. He also really missed being with Guy, so most of this series was Jamma trying to get back with him.

For Jamma, this meant becoming the very thing he dreaded more in thr world. He became boring for half the series, courtesy of making a deal with Kevin Eldon's Majal character. This would be something that have some rather unique consequences as the series went on.

It also turned out that making deals to change yourself was a family trait. Saif (Jeff Mirza) had made a similar pact and it was partly a reason why he was avoiding divorcing Farida (Shahnaz Rizwan). When he plucked up the courage, things took another shift between the pair.

Then there's younger brother, Isaac (Nabhaan Rizwan) and flatmate/friend, Winnie (Emily Llyod-Saini). They get some fun moments in the series, including a realisation that they're not compatible as a couple. On the other hand, Isaac's quest to find his trauma certainly had an amusing final outcome.

Going back to Jamma and Guy. It was obvious that they would reunite before the show ended but both characters needed to get their shit together so their reunion would feel earned. Guy also spent a lot of the series promoting a book and dealing with some past family trauma of his own.

- Episode titles were Sup, House Sh*tting, Emporium's New Clothes, The Bullfighter And The Egg, The Storm Is Coming and Last Chapter.

- Mark Gatiss guest starred in the penultimate episode as Guy's father. Julien Ovenden's Nigel was teased as a love rival but he turned out to be straight.

- Standout music: Shik Ma Van by Mawann Rizwan.

- Chronology: Six months since the events of the first series. 

Series 2 didn't initially land as well as the first series but I'm glad I did a rewatch of it. Seeing it a few months again later gave me a better appreciation for this show. That last episode also felt like a neatly wrapped series finale to me.

Rating: 7 out of 10 

My Review of Lee Cronin's The Mummy (2026)

 

Written And Directed by Lee Cronin

Katie: "Don't worry, grandma, it's fun to be dead!"

Ah, it was time to check out this take. It's not really part of the Universal Monsters but more of a reimagined version with an even heavier focus on a father and daughter. Of course that's the biggest strength of the film.

The father being a TV reporter named Charlie Cannon (Jack Reynor). He's living in Cairo with his pregnant wife, Larissa (Laia Costa) and their children, Katie (Natalie Grace/Emily Mitchell) and Sebastián (Shylo Molina/Dean Allen Williams). Theyre a happy family until they weren't.

Early in the movie, Katie encountered a creepy woman known as the Magician (Hayat Kamille). She was the mother of Katie's friend, Layla (May Elghety/Aisha Laouini). She also abducted Katie and it was years later before Charlie and Larissa were reunited with their daughter.

Katie didn't exactly return as the same child she was beforehand. She was using Morse Code to reveal stuff about her friend Layla and her abduction and it turned out that Katie and her younger sister Maud (Billie Roy) were both possessed and had no problem disrupting a funeral among other destructive things that happened throughout the film.

I got to be honest. While there's a few decent jumpscares in places, I found myself struggling to keep with this movie. There's a fair bit to try and engage with and it's not very engaging to watch. Characters die, get possessed and so on. It's been done better in other movies.

- May Calamawy had a decent supporting role as Detective Dalia Zaki. 

- Nasmaranian was the entity possessing most of the characters in the movie.

- Standout music: Sharmoofer's Khamsa Santy.

- Chronology: Takes in Aswan, Cairo and Albuquerque, New Mexico.

I wanted to like Lee Cronin's The Mummy but I genuinely struggled to engage with it. It's a bit too long, plodding and even the few decent jumpscares weren't enough to save it. I wouldn't recommend it.

Rating: 6 out of 10 

American Horror Story - Season 13 Casting/Spoilers/Disney Upfronts 2026

With filming for Season 13 of FX's American Horror Story continuing, I wanted to hold back on posting more stuff but after last night, I felt another blog was in order.

First of all, let's confirm some returns, shall we? In the above picture, we had the very people at the Disney Upfronts last night. Over the last few weeks, it's been confirmed that Sarah Paulson, Emma Roberts, Gabourey Sidibe and Angela Bassett are reprising their Coven roles. Yup, we get to see Cordelia Goode, Madison Montgomery, Queenie and Marie Laveau in the upcoming season.

Now what about Evan Peters? If rumours are correct, he'll be reprising his role of James Patrick March from Hotel. It's also likely he'll play another character in the season. Billie Lourd and Leslie Grossman will reprise Mallory and Coco St. Pierre Vanderbilt respectively from Apocalypse. There's still a question regarding who Kathy Bates might be playing but an educated guess, it's likely Madame Delphine Lalaurie once again.

There's no question mark surrounding Jessica Lange. She's absolutely reprising her Murder House character, Constance Langdon. Keeping with that ...

Last month Joey Pollari was confirmed as a new male lead for the thirteenth season. It's been revealed (not officially) that he'll be playing a new character named Ben DeSoto. Pollari's character encounters the number 13 in unusual places and filming confirmed that Ben will interact with Constance in the Apollyon Hotel. This will also be the third season in a row set in New York.

Pollari's casting wasn't the only thing revealed over the last few weeks. While we're still in the dark about who John Waters and Ariana Grande are playing, we do know that Avantika and Alex Consani have been cast, likely as new witches. However the biggest casting actually came at the Disney Upfronts last night.

Fresh from his performance as JFK Jr. in FX's Love Story, Paul Anthony Kelly was introduced on stage as a new cast member for American Horror Story. Dressed in cultish robes and a mask, the actor joked about being a fresh nightmare and 13 being his lucky number. Could he be playing a baddie this season? 

I did say that the show needed more men this season and it seems like Ryan Murphy has gotten the message. Other rumoured cast members include Jamie Brewer, Mena Suvari, Seth Gabel, Zach Villa and Fedor Steer. Most of these actors will be reprising characters from previous seasons. 

As for everything else, Ryan Murphy has directed the first episode of Season 13 with Tim Minear and Jennifer Salt returning as producers. Both Charlie Carver and Ned Martel will be writing for the show and Crystle Roberson Dorsey will direct some episodes. On top of that, a recent bit of filming at an airport indicated that references to every previous season will be made.

As for the logline, we got something to mull over ....

"Created and produced by Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk, 'American Horror Story' has redefined the genre with various installments featuring a creepy murder house, a coven of witches, a traveling freak show, a haunted hotel and the apocalypse itself. Which iconic horrors will return to haunt the hallowed halls of 13 and what new terrors await? Light your candles, draw your pentagrams and prepare for a supreme surprise."

I can't lie, that does sound pretty exciting. A nice mix of a greatest hits package along with some new elements in the mix. I'm looking forward to seeing how they're going to make 13 into such a plot point. While the official subtitles has yet to be confirmed, I think we can all guess what it'll be.

American Horror Story Season 13 will air on FX from September. Disney+ for everyone else.