The Tameside Radio presenter has been to see Bros and Black Adam at the cinemas this week and gives his verdict...

With Halloween behind us, there are still a number of horror films doing the rounds on the big screen at the moment, and I'm looking forward to catching Barbarian for next week's column. It's had cracking reviews, and features a sinister basement, which is a horror film staple! I've also got plans to watch Prey For The Devil and Watcher, which sees a young actress being stalked and watched from across the street. More on that trio of spine-tingling treats next week!

For this week, I've just watched the best romantic comedy I've seen in years. Bros has been billed as the first "gay rom com", and in spite of a glowing Rotten Tomatoes store, it's taken about half of the amount that the studio forecast for it in America. There have been suggestions that straight people are not comfortable watching an LGBTQ comedy, which I find very sad if so.

It's smart, well scripted, moving in places, and moreover really funny! I haven't laughed as much at a movie in ages. Billy Eichner and Luke Macfarlane are the stars, and this really deserves a much wider audience than it's had so far (my screening saw me make up a third of the audience).

As well as potential prejudice throwing a spanner in the film's works, Box Office Mojo reports only four of the top 100 highest grossing rom-coms have been released in October. For some reason, romance is not a big draw in the season of pumpkins and fireworks! I guess Smile is more of a date movie at the moment. You'd certainly need someone to grab hold of (I went on my own, and was genuinely terrified at times, as mentioned in a previous column!). It makes me sad that Bros is not on most filmgoers' radars, and I hope it becomes a sleeper hit on streaming services. It had a good story, characters you cared about, and belly laughs. Who cares if it's about two men falling in love? It's 2022. Come on, Tameside and Glossop. Give it a whirl.

Meanwhile, Black Adam is the latest big budget DC juggernaut, which sees the Rock on fine form as an ancient antihero who lived in a fictional North African nation around 5000 years ago. It turns out he can be woken up by shouting 'Shazam', which I always thought was a way of identifying obscure Atomic Kitten songs playing on the pub jukebox. I found it formulaic but fun, and whilst it was worth seeing on the big screen, Pierce Brosnan was hopelessly miscast, and it all felt a bit like watching an expensive CGI-heavy computer game. The budget was reportedly up to 200 million dollars, but I imagine it will make more than that.

Critics didn't rate Black Adam all that highly, but audiences are telling a different story. Superheroes sell cinema tickets! I wonder if romantic comedies have reached their shelf life? I hope not! Bros is my tip for the week. Happy movie watching. Let me know if you see something you recommend. It's alex.cann@questmedianetwork.co.uk.

You can listen to Alex every weekday from 7am to 11am and on the 'Super Scoreboard' show on Saturdays from 3pm to 7pm, on Tameside Radio 103.6FM. 

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