Film Brain

Hello, everyone! Just wanted to keep you updated with what I’ve been up to for the last month. It’s been a very busy month - although not as busy as I would have liked, as I’ve come down with a nasty flu and bronchitis over the last fortnight. Hoping to pick things back up very soon.

Before that, I did spend a week at the BFI London Film Festival, so you’ll be seeing some reviews from things I saw there soon, and I was an extra on a horror movie for a day too - but obviously more news on that later next year.

In long form reviews, I looked at Dwayne Johnson’s dramatic comeback in The Smashing Machine, comparing it to the documentary it was inspired from!
The Smashing Machine (2025): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5vYF...

In Shorts reviews, a dog tries to save his owner from a supernatural presence in Good Boy; Harris Dickinson makes his directorial debut with homelessness drama Urchin; a cop goes undercover in the Tamil area of Paris in Little Jaffna; two people are trapped underground with monsters in Scurry; and Kate Mara is The Astronaut who thinks that something has followed her home.
Good Boy: www.youtube.com/shorts/iylkLE...
Urchin: www.youtube.com/shorts/zCJlk3...
Little Jaffna: www.youtube.com/shorts/5VaIfL...
Scurry: www.youtube.com/shorts/aTmRI8...
The Astronaut: www.youtube.com/shorts/6PxsUa...

Elsewhere, over with ‪@AllisonPregler‬ and ‪@phelous‬, I’ve edited their videos on the third and fourth entries of the Halloweentown saga, and those movies definitely get worse with each passing entry! Pretty spooky, huh, folks?
Halloweeentown High: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Juo7S...
Return to Halloweentown: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zrdZ1...

Hope you’re keeping safe and well, and hope you keep enjoying my work!

3 days ago | [YT] | 189

Film Brain

Hallow Road, with Rosamund Pike and Matthew Rhys, finally makes it to the US this Halloween, as part of a special double feature with Vincent Must Die. Here's my review from when it opened in the UK in May. youtube.com/shorts/A4KToVv7sD...

1 week ago | [YT] | 15

Film Brain

It's coming up to Halloween this week, so why not treat yourself to my playlist of horror films I've covered over the years, and adds recent reviews like The Long Walk, The Astronaut, Scurry, and more! youtube.com/playlist?list=PL4...

(Apologies I've not been more active, I've had an absolutely terrible cold and cough that left me mostly in bed for part of the weekend. Getting better, thankfully.)

1 week ago (edited) | [YT] | 42

Film Brain

I edited ‪@AllisonPregler‬ and ‪@phelous‬ looking at Return to Halloweentown, which is far from a return to form, with recastings, lots of missing cast members, badly out-of-character writing, a lot of badly retconned lore... yeah, it's a franchise killer.

1 week ago | [YT] | 27

Film Brain

To coincide with my review of The Smashing Machine, I've put all my reviews of Dwayne Johnson's films in one handy playlist! www.youtube.com/playlist?list...

2 weeks ago | [YT] | 66

Film Brain

Hi, everyone! Sorry this September update is a little late, but I’ve been at the BFI London Film Festival for the past week, and caught quite a few films there! I’m back home now, so videos should be back shortly too - got some exciting stuff lined up!

Anyway, in case you missed them, in long-form videos, Orlando Bloom goes the distance in a career best performance in boxing drama (that’s not really about boxing) The Cut, while Cooper Hoffman and David Jonsson lead the brilliant and chilling Stephen King adaptation The Long Walk - a review that, astonishingly, got Mark Hamill’s seal of approval! That was a bit surreal, to say the least!
The Cut: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U7ISN...
The Long Walk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ceyBs...

In Shorts reviews, An Ordinary Case turns out to have a devastating sting in the tail; a woman confronts a dark truth about her husband in Unmoored; a macabre young couple find romance in Paris’ places of historical horror in Paul & Paulette Take a Bath; a transatlantic world record attempt goes violently off-course in Row; Seann William Scott’s cop is definitely a Bad Man; and Glenn Close reconnects with nature and her granddaughter in The Summer Book!
An Ordinary Case: www.youtube.com/shorts/Ff5RDc...
Unmoored: www.youtube.com/shorts/ynvr1Y...
Paul & Paulette Take a Bath: www.youtube.com/shorts/2SV_JO...
Row: www.youtube.com/shorts/DLaxnS...
Bad Man: www.youtube.com/shorts/VBeX0K...
The Summer Book: www.youtube.com/shorts/RJswim...

I’ve also been doing quite a few guest spots as well! While I was with ‪@DiamandaHagan‬​, I reviewed K-Pop Demon Hunters on Backseat Critique! Meanwhile, I popped up on ‪@queercinemaclassics‬​ in his amusing spoof video on Carry On Dracula!
K-Pop Demon Hunters: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x69gF...
Carry On Dracula: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDWvr...

Elsewhere, I’ve edited the latest Movie Nights with ‪@AllisonPregler‬​ and ‪@phelous‬​, as they go to Halloweentown High, a film so disappointing that it doesn’t even take place in Halloweentown! And I’m currently working on the fourth and final film for the next episode later this month, and it doesn’t get better…
Halloweentown High: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Juo7S...

So, yeah, a busy month last month, even busier this one! Hope you’re doing well wherever you are, and keep safe!

3 weeks ago (edited) | [YT] | 170

Film Brain

ICYMI - although given I used YouTube's new Collaboration feature, you likely saw it - I did a guest spot on ‪@queercinemaclassics‬'s sendup of the Carry On films! Sink your teeth in!

1 month ago | [YT] | 23

Film Brain

I edited ‪@AllisonPregler‬​ and ‪@phelous‬ looking at the third Halloweentown movie! Think it's set in a school in the magical world? WRONG! Prepare to be baffled by the plot holes and clumsy allegories!

1 month ago (edited) | [YT] | 23

Film Brain

Well, this happened! My Long Walk review got Mark Hamill's endorsement! If you missed it, here's the link: https://youtu.be/ceyBsCp0dDs?si=B56BR...

1 month ago | [YT] | 448

Film Brain

Apparently I completely messed this up the other day with the wrong link and only realised just now, but here is the Stephen King playlist I made! www.youtube.com/playlist?list...

1 month ago | [YT] | 41