My Review of The Guard (2011)

 

Written And Directed by John Michael McDonagh

Everett: "You have anybody you want me to call?"

Boyle: "Nah, I don't have anybody. Just pin a medal on my body like those boys coming home from Iraq."

Everett: "Fuck you again Sergeant."

Catching up with more Irish movies this month, would you believe this one was a first time watch? No, seriously. I only watched it for the first time last night and I nearly burst my sides laughing. 

Brendan Gleeson has given many a career best performance (and long may he do so) but pairing him with Don Cheadle might be one of the most genius double acts to happen. They're the perfect combination of chalk and cheese and bring out the best in each other.

With Gleeson, he's playing Sergeant Gerry Boyle. The character's coarse, vulgar, rude, a tad racist but also surprisingly sympathetic, savvy and quick on the draw when people least expect him to be. The things Gerry would say rightfully cause offend but it's really hard not to root for the guy.

He's got a sick mother, Eileen (Fionnuala Flanagan) who brought out his softer side. Her death also caused quite the blow to him, though it happened off screen. Gerry's also got a soft spot for the ladies as his escapades with two prostitutes resulted in a blackmail. He was more angered about one of them being physically assaulted than he was about being blackmailed by the villains of the piece.

Gerry also felt sadness for the widow (Katarina Čas) for the closeted Garda Aidan McBride (Rory Keenan). The latter was murdered at the behest of crime boss, Francis Sheehy-Skeffington (Liam Cunningham) and his cohorts Clive Cornell (Mark Strong) and the unhinged Liam O'Leary (David Wilmot). The way that Gerry dealt with them all was particularly brutal but deserved.

Circling back to Don Cheadle, his character FBI Agent Wendell Everett was the straight man in this buddy cop dynamic. He was certainly appalled, perplexed and even admiring the utterly batshit antics of Boyle. I absolutely loved their scenes together.

- Gabriela (McBride's widow) was from Croatia. She wasn't shocked by the fact that her husband was gay. Boyle pointed out that Croatia had good football players.

- Boyle was an expert swimmer, which came in handy for how this movie ended the character.

- Standout music: There's a good use of traditional songs and artists such as N.E.R.D. to boot.

- Chronology: Set predominantly in Connemara but Everett was also from Wisconsin.

The Guard was an absolute riot of a movie. Hysterically funny from start to finish and with an incredible double act from Brendan Gleeson and Don Cheadle. Not exactly politically correct mind you.

Rating: 8 out of 10 

Buffy The Vampire Slayer: New Sunnydale Not Picked Up By Hulu

Yesterday certainly threw out the biggest pop entertainment media story it could have with this one, didn't it? On the week of the show's 29th anniversary and all.

Sarah Michelle Gellar took to social media yesterday to announce that Hulu opted to not pick up Buffy The Vampire Slayer: New Sunnydale as a series after the pilot had been filmed last year. A later statement had been made about exploring other possibilities within the popular IP. 

I have to say that my initial reaction was mixed to this news. A part of me was disappointed with the news as I had been looking forward to reconnecting with one of the most iconic television characters of all time. Then another part of me was relieved that perhaps Buffy Summers herself had been spared a fate that might not have done wonders for her enduring legacy.

This also lead to the obvious speculation that in spite of Chloe Zhao's best efforts, perhaps the pilot itself just wasn't good enough for Hulu to risk it. Leaks in the last twenty four hours had revealed that Buffy herself would've only appeared in the last scene. She would've been an insurance broker that was living in New York and going by Anne for some reason.

The rest of the pilot would've focused on both old and new versions of Sunnydale coexisting with long buried vampires coming out of the ground and a young girl named Nova (Ryan Kiera Armstrong) being activated as the new slayer. Also one of her teachers would have become a vampire during the episode. 

On paper, this didn't sound awful but a bit generic. I do think relegating Buffy herself to a mundane role wouldn't have been the best way to reintroduce the character as well. Could the pilot leak? Possibly. It took years for the original Buffy pilot to leak (currently on YouTube) as well as the opening scene from the planned animated show. 

Oh well, at least we still have the 1992 movie, the TV show, Angel, those follow up comics and that audio series from a few years ago. Perhaps this decision will be a blessing in disguise.

My Review of Young Sherlock - Season 1 (2026, Amazon Prime)

 

Written by Matthew Parkhill And Peter Harness And Steve Thompson And Melissa Bubnic

Directed by Guy Ritchie And Anders Engström And Dennie Gordon And Tricia Bock

Moriarty (to Sherlock): "When you've eliminated the impossible, whatever remains must be the truth."

Ah, yes. For the latest take on Sherlock Holmes, let's go younger with the character and keep John Watson out of his orbit. That might sound a little snarky but it was my gut reaction. Fortunately, it didn't deter me from actually watching the show.

The show itself introduced a nineteen year old version of the amateur detective. This Sherlock (Hero Fiennes Tiffin) spent some time in prison, got released by his oldest brother, Mycroft (Max Irons) and ended up with a porter job at Oxford's Candlin College. This would be where Sherlock would meet future enemy/current friend, James Moriarty (Dónal Finn).

Now the biggest strength of this show undoubtedly would be the Sherlock/Moriarty dynamic. Both Hero Fiennes Tiffin and Dónal Finn are fantastic in their scenes together. Both are smart and both were outcasts from their peers, so the both they form as the series unfolded made total sense. It's an incredibly strong partnership that made for the best viewing.

Of course there were mysteries afoot to keep things interesting. One of them involved Princess Gulun Shou'an/Xiao Wei (Zine Tseng). Throughout the series, there was some switching back and forth between identities and there were times when she went from being an ally as well as a nuisance to both Sherlock and Moriarty. Colin Firth popped up in the first half of the season as Sir Bucephalus Hodge but he's one of the few weaker elements of the show.

The second half of the season made things more into a rather complicated family affair. I enjoyed the gentle bickering between Sherlock and Mycroft along with the presence of their mother, Cordelia (Natascha McElhone). The latter in particular spent time in an asylum being recorded before she was released. This also played a part into the main plot of the season.

Of course it's the Holmes patriarch, Silas (Joseph Fiennes) and the not so dead daughter, Beatrice (Holly Cattle) that made up our final villains of the piece. There's shades of Guy Ritchie's movies and the 2010-2017 BBC series in this show but that's to it's strength and there's a few nice hooks for future seasons. 

- Episode titles are The Case Of The Missing Scrolls, The Case Of The Burnt Photograph, The Case Of The Unarmed Man, The Case Of The Missing Button, The Case Of Young Sherlock Holmes, The Case Of The Killing Jar, The Case Of The Two Corners and The Case Of Beatrice Holmes.

- Steve Thompson previous wrote for Sherlock and Guy Ritchie directed the Robert Downey Jr movies.

- Standout music: Kasabian's Days Are Forgotten, which was the theme tune for the show.

- Chronology: The show takes place in 19th century London along with Constantinople for the last two episodes.

Young Sherlock definitely hit the right spots. If you've missed the Robert Downey Jr movies and Benedict Cumberbatch TV show, this show's a perfect blend of both. Both Hero Fiennes Tiffin and Dónal Finn are excellent young versions of the iconic frenemy duo.

Rating: 8 out of 10 

My Review of The Bride! (2026)

 

Written And Directed by Maggie Gyllenhaal 

Frank: "The Bride of Frankenstein."

The Bride: "Just the Bride."

I was really hoping that the critical were going to be wrong about this movie. I really wanted them to be. This movie had talent both in front and behind the camera and an interesting variation on a classic monster story. How did it go so wrong?

I think maybe the bouncing back and forth between Mary Shelley (the author of Frankenstein) and a young woman named Ida, both of whom were played by Jessie Buckley certainly didn't help matters. For some reason, Mary was able to possess Ida but the movie made no effort to explain it as such.

When Ida was possessed by Mary, she went on feminist rants that were written in a very purple prose sort of way. Ida's rants eventually got her killed but death wouldn't be the ending of her story. Instead, it was a prelude to a literal rebirth for her.

This was where Frank aka Frankenstein (Christian Bale) and mad scientist Dr. Cornelia Euphronious (Annette Bening) factored into things. Frank needed a lover and Euphronious went along with in spite her initial misgivings about playing with the dead. If anything, she could have resisted a bit more before resurrecting Ida.

Now we had three women at once for Jessie Buckley to play. She was Mary Shelley who had another story to tell. She was Ida who was conflicted about her past. She was also The Bride determined to make her own choices, including rejecting Frank's proposal attempts as she grew closer to him. I mean they did have a Bonnie & Clyde dynamic in the second half of the movie.

As a duo, both The Bride and Frank caused a lot of chaos, which included terrorising an actor named Ronnie Reed (Jake Gyllenhaal) when The Bride wasn't ripping out a corrupt cop's tongue. There was also a detective duo with Ida's ex, Jake Wiles (Peter Sarsgaard) and his protégé Myrna Malloy (Penelope Cruz).

The movie hurtled towards a hamfisted conclusion that combined elements of the original source material and the criminal couple that our leads tried so hard to emulate. The feminist messaging on the other hand kind of got lost in the shuffle as it turned out that death really wasn't an obstacle.

- The Bride Of Frankenstein (1935) had the same idea of Mary Shelley and The Bride being played by the same actor. It worked better there.

- This was the second time that Maggie Gyllenhaal had directed both Jessie Buckley and Peter Sarsgaard and cast them as volatile exes. 

- Standout music: Jake Gyllenhaal's My Sin and Luther Allison's Maelstrom.

- Chronology: 1930s Chicago for the duration of the movie with flashbacks to Mary Shelley in the 1800s.

The Bride! had all the potential in the world to be one of the best movies of 2026. It had the right people behind and in front of the camera but it's a misfire all round. The performances are erratic, the script's clunky and the messaging just didn't land. A genuine shame.

Rating: 6 out of 10 

My Review of In The Name Of The Father (1993)

 

Written by Terry George And Jim Sheridan

Directed by Jim Sheridan

Gareth Peirce: "You got 15 years of blood and sweat and pain from my client - whose only crime was that he was bloody well Irish. And he was foolish, and he was in the wrong place at the wrong time!"

Okay, continuing to watch more Irish movies this month, I went back to rewatch one that I had only seen once and not for the longest time. It's one of the more political themed and based on a true story. It's also got one of the best performances from Daniel Day-Lewis.

Taking on the role of Gerry Conlon, Day-Lewis played a man who started the movie being mistook for an IRA sniper. Gerry wasn't of course but he did steal from a prostitute and he had a rather strained relationship with his father, Giuseppe (Pete Postlethwaite). The latter didn't approve of a lot of Gerry's life choices.

Anyways the main crux of the film came down to Gerry and three of his friends - Paul Hill (John Lynch), Carole Richardson (Beatie Edney) and Paddy Armstrong (Mark Sheppard) being falsely accused the Guildford pub bombings and the Woolwich pub bombing. Undergoing police brutality and a trial, all four of them were given harsh sentences.

However, it wasn't just those four who received harsh sentences. Even poor Guiseppe ended up being a consequence of a corrupted system that wanted results for two high profile bombings. We saw through the interrogations that the police were concerned more with getting a conviction, even if it meant that they put the wrong people away.

In the confines of prison, both Gerry and Guiseppe had to deal with their own issues towards one another while Gerry also made other friends inside. Guiseppe died during his sentence and the movie also had Gerry working with solicitor Gareth Peirce (Emma Thompson) to get his sentence overturned. 

Gareth herself had to deal with both corruption and incompetence in order to help Gerry and the others regain their freedom. It's a bittersweet ending for Gerry, having lost his father and spent fifteen years of his life for something he didn't do. 

- There's some strong supporting performances from Paterson Joseph, Marie Jones, Gerard McSorley and Corin Redgrave.

- Gabriel Byrne had an executive producer role but distanced himself from the film due to creative liberties that Jim Sheridan took.

- Standout music: Bono and Gavin Friday's In The Name Of The Father and Sinead O'Connor's You Made Me The Thief Of Your Heart.

- Chronology: The bombings too place in October and November 1974. The Guilford Four were released in 1989 and Maguire Seven in 1991.

In The Name Of The Father (1993) might take creative liberties with the events that really transpired but I will admit that Jim Sheridan's directing was great. There's excellent performances from Daniel Day-Lewis, Pete Postlethwaite and Emma Thompson.

Rating: 8 out of 10 

My Review of A Dark Song (2016)

 

Written And Directed by Liam Gavin 

Solomon: "H-hoo. I've seen things. I've seen gods. Demons. I let gods rain silver on me. And the dead and the damned - Most of us are damned you know?"

Sophia: "Have you seen anything that *scared* you?"

Solomon: "It all scares me."

Okay, this was one of those films I half watched a while back but for some reason I was in the mood to go back and give it a proper viewing. It's was something alright.

A movie that focused on a grieving mother named Sophia Howard (Catherine Walker). She's lost her son and was desperate to have some communication with him, even though he was dead. This would be where occultist Joseph Solomon (Steve Oram) stepped in.

It's been a while since I've truly loathed a character in a movie as much as I did Solomon. He's a vile character from start to finish and his abuse of Sophia genuinely made this a rather uncomfortable movie to watch. It also didn't help that Sophia seemed to be a bit too gullible at times.

Solomon subjected Sophia to a series of demeaning tasks (including one that went too far) before the latter finally snapped at him for good. I actually cheered when Sophia stabbed the annoying git and spent far too much of time wanting him to die a horrible death.

Saying that as awful as Solomon was to watch as a character, at least he knew his supernatural stuff. Sophia did get to talk to her son but also had to face some demons and do exactly to Solomon what he did to her. Personally, I think he deserved a lot worse.

- The book that Solomon was using as a guide was The Book Of Abramelin to summon a guardian angel.

- Solomon wanted to be invisible so he could away from people for the rest of his life.

- The movie premiered at the Galway Film Fleadh before getting a theatrical and digital release a year later.

- Chronology: Although this was filmed in Ireland, it was set in rural Wales.

A Dark Song made for an uncomfortable double hander before two desperate characters. Sophia was likable but often too gullible for her own good and Solomon crossed the lines between disillusioned and despicable. The scares are good as was the occult use.

Rating: 7 out of 10 

My Review of Whistle (2026)

 

Written by Owen Egerton 

Directed by Corin Hardy

Chrys: "What if I don't want to die?"

Ivy: "Then you shouldn't have been born."

So far this year and with one exception, every 2026 movie I've watched so far had been in the horror genre. That might not change any time soon as there's other movies I need to catch up this month.

This one was released last month but I caught up with it late last night. You've got a bunch of high school students, a religious hypocrite and a cursed whistle. The ideas were perfectly sound but the execution left a little bit to be desired.

The cursed whistle in question turned out to be a death whistle. If you want to die, just blow into it and death would soon follow. This was explained by occult collector Ivy Raymore (Michelle Farley). She explained it following the death of her grandson, Mason (Stephen Kalyn). It was needed exposition for this movie.

The group of students who had the misfortune to deal with the cursed whistle were a mixed bunch. There was Chrys Willet (Dafnee Keen), who had substance issues as well as dead parents. She was living with her cousin, Rel Taylor (Sky Yang). Throw in a jock named Dean Jackson (Jhaleil Swaby), his girlfriend Grace Browning (Ali Skovbye) and a love interest for Chrys named Ellie Gains (Sophie Nélisse).

With this group, they are mostly decent characters but largely they're scrambling to beat the cursed whistle while also having to deal with an annoying youth pastor/drug dealer Noah Haggerty (Percy Hines White). As a human antagonist, Noah's pretty annoying to watch, which did make his comeuppance a bit more satisfying to watch.

The love story between Chrys and Ellie drove some of the second half of the movie. The two of them were able to work together to outsmart the cursed whistle and there's decent chemistry between Dafnee Keen and Sophie Nélisse.

- A mid credit scene had a new student blow the whistle in front of the whole school. Nick Frost briefly appeared as the teacher Mr. Craven.

- Olmec alluded to Mexico, which was where the whistle originated from. Chrys was short for Chrysanthemum.

- Standout music: Divinyls Back To The Wall.

- Chronology: Months passed between the opening kill to the main story to the aftermath of the story.

Whistle (2026) was an okay teen horror film. Decent enough cast, main love story and scares. It's diverting, won't tax your brain but I'll be surprised if it's on anyone's favourite horror movie list by the end of the year.

Rating: 6 out of 10