Homosexuality is written into their entire set of interactions. You can read Ebert or a hosts of others. I don't know what the point of "it was the story they wanted to tell" as if that means anything important to criticism of art. Most directors tell the story they want to tell; other than large studio films and producer interference, this is almost always true in the independent cinema realm. The point is that the story is told poorly and the focus that was chosen is less interesting than it would have been if we had seen the dynamic of either man around women, particularly strong women. Dominik, like many other directors, has a very strong technical sense of how to create imagery, but there is nothing holding it up. It is considerably worse in Killing Them Softly than in The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, but when it is compared to the two other 2007 films that dealt with western themes it pales in comparison.
I think I might be one of the only people on the planet who didn't mind the Andrew Garfield Spider-Man films. They had flaws sure, but I found them way better than the Tobey Maguire trash. Haven't seen Tusk, but I love Kevin Smith movies a whole lot. Mallrats and Clerks are two of my all-time favourites, and I'm hoping he brings back some of those old-school Smith vibes for Clerks III.
I don't mind that you don't like the Raimi movies. If you don't like the Maguire or Dunst, or can't get down with Sam Raimi's style, that's totally fair. If you really, really want to know why I have such issues with Webb's films, I reviewed them on Letterboxd here (tASM) and here (tASM2) (I know we've talked about them before, but I re-watched them semi-recently and feel like those pieces are the best I can explain my issues with the films). I think I went through a sort of Phantom Menace-like state where I wanted to like Man of Steel so much I mentally forced myself to. Superman is my favorite superhero (Spidey second), and I think Cavill and Costner were such excellent casting for those characters and Amy Adams is one of the best actresses working and Zack Snyder certainly made a visually impressive movie, there was enough to overlook an ocean of garbage and hope for the future. Then BvS and Suicide Squad came along and it's hard to come up with a reason to see another superhero movie ever again. I did love Tom Holland in the Spider-Man role though.
Prometheus stands out. Was really hoping for something intense, scary, and enjoyable. What a wet fart that movie was. Also agree with Killing Them Softly, and (to a lesser extent) S4 of Arrested Development.
I remember I had watched Heat for the first time and loved it a few months before Public Enemies came out so I was excited for Michael Mann's newest film. I had also liked Collateral when I saw it beforehand. But yea, Public Enemies was just boring at times and since been pretty forgettable.