Category Archives: 2026 Movie Reviews

Godzilla Minus Zero

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Godzilla Minus One was a sensational film that found its ability to balance the monster story with the actual human story to be its biggest selling point. Many times, the human stories in the Godzilla movies just get in the way, but Minus One solved that puzzle. I am happy to say that Godzilla Minus Zero continued that ability.

I do think that there was more monster story in Minus Zero than there was in Minus One, which is not a bad thing because the special effects of this film is utterly spectacular. The original film won an Academy Award for Special Effects, and this one has to be considered right up there with any other film that comes out in 2026.

The Shikishima family (Ryûnosuke Kamiki, Minami Hamabe, and Sae Nagatani) are back in the forefront of the story as Noriko has an unexpected connection to Godzilla. We do see the flashback to how she is able to survive the attack that we all thought had killed her in Minus One. Kōichi Shikishima has been recruited as an expert when a danger resurfaced, but he did not want to risk his life again as a pilot.

The film kicked off with an absolutely stunning and brutal action piece that had the best sound design I have heard in an action film in awhile. I do believe this is another category that Godzilla Minus Zero could be nominated for at the Oscars.

The film ties part of the storyline back to Hiroshima, which we get a flashback to, revealing the horror of the after effects of the bombs.

The middle section of the film did drag a bit, specifically with some scenes dealing with Kōichi and Noriko leaving their adopted daughter behind. The film seemed to enjoy showing this trauma to the little girl and every time she cried it was like, please stop. I think part of those moments could have been weaved into one or two scenes.

Having said that, the ending of the film was emotional and I had tears in my eyes as it was playing out. The very end of the movie was extremely satisfying.

Another bit that was satisfying was the score from Naoki Sato, who also scored the original Minus One film. The music does such an amazing job of building feeling and emotion as well as tension and anxiety.

I really enjoyed this movie as well. It could have cut out a few scenes, but it is an incredibly powerful and spectacular looking movie that can really keep me invested in the human characters unlike most Godzilla movies.

4.7 stars

Wicker

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I do love Olivia Colman.

She was the main reason I chose to go to this movie because it seemed to be a weird film.

Surprisingly, I enjoyed this movie a lot.

According to IMDB, “An ostracized fisherwoman commissions the local basketmaker to weave her a husband, but when her wicker creation proves unexpectedly extraordinary, his presence ignites jealousy and upheaval that threatens their quiet village.“

This movie was very funny and the chemistry between Olivia Colman and Alexander Skarsgård was excellent. I was surprised how invested I was with the relationship between Fisherwoman and Wicker Husband. When the conflict was brought into the story, I was really worried about the end result.

The fairy tale was a lot of fun, and it was also quite sexual, unexpectedly so.

The supporting cast of the other villagers was a great list of actors including Elizabeth Debicki, Peter Dinklage, Gustav Lindh, Máté Mészáros, Ben Ashenden, Scott Alexander Young, Kiell Smith-Bynoe, Ella Bruccoleri, Marli Siu, Phil Daniels, Nabhaan Rizwan, Emily Lloyd-Saini, and Daniel Bellus.

It was funny that the story never gives you any real names. They were all Fisherwoman or The Basketmaker or The Tailor’s Wife. This did give it the fairy tale feel to it.

I appreciated that they did not try to go into any real explanation for how Peter Dinklage was able to create a Wicker Husband. He just was able to do so.

This was a lot of fun and I found myself unexpectedly engaged with everything the show was giving me. I do love Olivia Colman, and she is an actor that I believe will elevate even the worst material. Here, she did not have to do that because the film was strong and only made stronger with her performance.

4.5 stars

Cat in the Hat (2026)

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I hated the trailers for this movie. I love Dr. Seuss, but I dreaded every time they showed the trailer for the new animated Cat in the Hat film featuring Bill Hader as the feline protagonist. It made me really not want to see the film. I just did not want to go see it. Nevertheless, I put aside my lack of anticipation and went to Cinemark tonight to see the new film.

Unexpectedly, I found myself enjoying the movie.

While it was nowhere near as epic as some of the other animated movies this year, I was entertained by the movie. Perhaps it was because my expectations were so low heading into it that I thought the new Cat in the Hat was worthwhile.

Cat in the Hat (Bill Hader) was here with shenanigans as he was given one final chance to show that he could help his clients raise their emotional stakes without causing complete chaos. He wound up with a family who had moved to a new neighborhood and the young girl Gabby (Xochitl Gomez) was struggling with the transition. The Cat in the Hat brought his own brand of kookiness into Gabby’s and her brother Sebastian’s (Tiago Martinez) world.

The voice cast was interesting as it included America Ferrera, Giancarlo Esposito, Paula Pell, Matt Berry (who was Laszlo from What We Do in the Shadows- a voice that I was trying to place all through the movie), Tituss Burgess, Bowen Yang, Ryan Gaffney, and the late, great Eric Bauza.

There are some creative montages in the movie. The look of it is spectacular. I liked the ideas behind much of the film. The concept of the Cat in the Hat singing his own theme song through the movie was funny. The story did have some heart to it and I appreciated the effort it gave to make it as emotional that it was.

The story itself was rather messy, and the character of the Cat in the Hat felt inconsistent at times. There were times where it seemed as if the Cat in the Hat had his own secret agenda when it came to Gabby and it seemed as if the Cat knew what he was doing. However, there were a couple of times when the movie explained to us that the Cat was doing the stuff he was doing for his own benefit, and that never came across in the film. That bit of storytelling was confusing.

The whole stuff with Mr. Hoogeboom (Giancarlo Esposito) made little sense and did not seem to really give any reason for the choices that were made. Everything about the company that Cat in the Hat worked for did not work well for me.

Still, overall, I thought this was an entertaining way to spend a early Friday evening. I do believe that I entered with such low expectations that the movie couldn’t help but exceed them. However, exceed them, it did. It may not be on the level of a Wildwood, Toy Story 5, Hoppers, Forgotten Island or Coyote vs. Acme, but it is definitely better than Goat or Super Mario Galaxy Movie.

I also want to shout out to the short that led off the film, “Daffy Season.” It was starting the Looney Tunes, especially Daffy Duck, who wanted the attention of Duck Season, only to find Elmer Fudd entranced by soccer season. Seeing the Looney Tunes characters back in these shorts was such a treat, although, again, it made me sad thinking about the loss of Eric Bauza as this will be his final voice performance.

3.4 stars

The Cycle

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I was surprised by this movie a couple of times. First, I did not expect to see Deborah Ann Woll (Karen Page from the Daredevil series from Marvel Studios/Netflix). Secondly, I did not expect the type of movie that this would turn into.

No spoilers because it was a fun reveal at the end and it made perfect sense and it was a great film for a lazy Halloween afternoon.

According to IMDB, “A daughter unravels her father’s dark past after his body, missing for 36 years, is found at a horrific crime scene.”

Directed by Jordan Downey, The Cycle was his first full length feature which dropped on Shudder and AMC + on Amazon Prime.

There were a lot of practical effects in this that were both effective and shaky. Much of the effects were scary and worked well, but there were a couple that did not look great and pulled me out of the moment. I like the effort to do more of this practically though and the attempt should be appreciated.

Deborah Ann Woll does a wonderful job as the lead of the film, translating the work she did on Daredevil into some solid action chops.

The way the story blends the apparent serial killer elements into the the supernatural aspects work well and turned out satisfyingly.

I am pleased that I found this on Shudder and that I took the time to watch it.

3.5 stars

It Ends

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A thriller/horror film came up on Fandango at Home from 2026 that was a fascinating idea called It Ends. I had the same idea about this as I did with Exit 8. Exit 8 was a much better movie, but It Ends was good too.

According to IMDB, “Friends on a late-night food run become trapped on an infinite highway with otherworldly terrors lurking beyond. Confined in their car, they must decide whether to accept their fate or attempt escape.”

I really liked this premise of It Ends. Four friends trapped on a never ending road with strange things happening around them.

I think the first act was exceptional as the four of them tried to figure out what was happening to them. Their random speculation about what was going on was fun.

It felt as if there were some solid character work int he first half of the film, but I do not know if I liked the resolution to the characters’ arcs.

I am also torn with the ending. I kind of liked it, but I feel as if there would be a lot of people who would feel disappointed with the conclusion because there is a lot of ambiguity with the ending.

I liked most of this film. I was engaged with what was going on for most of the film, but I will say that, even I, would have liked something more.

3.6 stars

The Weight

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The Weight is a film that starred Ethan Hawke and Russell Crowe that did not stay in the theaters for long. I would have gone to the theater to see the film, but, in my area anyway, it was gone pretty quickly and I could not fit it into my schedule. Fortunately, it came up on Fandango at Home this past week, and I was able to get it on the watch.

It was a solid historical drama with a great cast and some tense moments. Ethan Hawke showed, once again, what a versatile and powerful actor he is and his scenes with Russell Crowe were some of the best of the film. Crowe was not in the film as much, as his character was used at the beginning and then at the end of the movie.

According to IMDB, ” Desperate to save what is left of his family, during the height of the Great Depression, a battle-scarred veteran is hired to help smuggle a fortune in gold across 100 miles of impenetrable wilderness.“

The scenes set in the wilderness featured some spectacular imagery that stood out from the background. There is a scene on a rope bridge that takes that well-worn trope to a different level with some serious suspense in the crossing.

The ensemble cast was very good as well as it included Julia Jones, Austin Amelio, Avi Nash, Lucas Lynggaard Tønnesen, Sam Hazeldine, George Burgess, Alec Newman, and Cameron Brady.

The Weight is directed by Padraic McKinley, and he does a solid job with this, his first full length feature film. This is a director who knew the kind of movie he wanted to make and placed the story an his actors into situations to get the best from them.

The Weight was a very strong film that has some great acting and a visual story to tell. It deserved more time in the theater.

3.75 stars

Wildwood

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The new Laika top-action animation film was released this weekend. It was named Wildwood, and the trailers for this film looked tremendous. After seeing the whole film, it was even better than tremendous.

According to IMDB, “The adventures of Prue McKeel as she sets off to the forests outside Portland to find her kidnapped brother.“

Prue McKeel was voiced by Peyton Elizabeth Lee, and she was the main protagonist as she attempted to enter the Impassable Forest to save her little brother Mac, who had been abducted by a murder of crows.

The story is a master class in narrative storytelling. Everything combines together in such a perfect way and there are no loose ends or unimportant moments. Every character had an arc and the story did not leave anyone out. It is a top notch, emotional film that had me teary eyed in several moments of the third act.

It is also a masterpiece in stop-motion animation. It was the best stop-motion animation that I think I have ever seen. Every moment on the screen was gorgeous and filled with imagery and amazing color. I think this may be my favorite animation of the year.

The voice cast was powerful too. Along with Peyton Elizabeth Lee, the cast included Jacob Tremblay, Carey Mulligan, Richard E. Grant, Mahershala Ali, Jemaine Clement, Tom Waits, Charlie Day, Tantoo Cardinal, Marc Evan Jackson, Jake Johnson, Angela Bassett, Awkwafina, Maya Erskine, and Amandla Stenberg.

This is an epic fantasy that does not spare on the violence because it is animated. Several characters are killed and it is right up front about it. This is not a film for the youngest of the kids, but mid to teen would love this. It is such an amazing feature that showed what filmmakers are capable of with the medium. Director Travis Knight, who directed Kubo and the Two Strings, Bumblebee, and new Masters of the Universe, was also a producer on ParaNorman and Missing Link. He clearly has some skill when it comes to animation.

There are not many flaws to this magnificent movie. It may be a touch long, but it did not feel that way.

5 stars

You Can See Everything

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I do not usually have documentaries on the year end Best Movies because they are more difficult to compare them to scripted films. Won’t You Be My Neighbor about Mr. Rogers was a exception.

You Can See Everything will also be an exception. It will be on my Best Movies list for 2026.

I did not know anything about Elizabeth Holmes, nor did I watch the Hulu series The Dropout, so I came into the doc without any knowledge of what I was going to see. All I knew was that there was going to be some kind of twist, and that this was very well received. None of that was going to affect my enjoyment.

The fact is that I think the documentary started off a little slow. Part of that, I assume, is that I did not know any of the story previously. However, one this thing got cooking, man it was something else.

Nathan Fielder was one of the co-directors for this doc and he was the main, on-screen interviewer. He spent the last 34 days before Elizabeth Holmes surrendered herself to go to the prison.

This doc really kicked off for me when Nathan was interviewing Elizabeth’s father, and Elizabeth’s partner Billy Evans, interrupted, causing the father to change his entire attitude. It was creepy and very suspicious. There was also an awesome use of Abbot & Costello’s Who’s on First.

I was very impressed with the amount of participation this documentary got out of Amanda Seyfried, who played Holmes in The Dropout. The last part of this movie felt more like a movie than a documentary. I had to keep telling myself that the scenes with Amanda Seyfried were real. I thought this was designed so well that it gave me a total different feel (the whole scene about Charlie Kirk was uncomfortable as could be).

I was completely enthralled in the story this doc was telling and I was trying to figure out what was going to happen. Of course, doc endings are many times lacking because of the nature of the story. This ending was as satisfying as it could have been considering what had happened.

This is really not only a great documentary, but a great movie too.

4.8 stars

Clayface

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So the next DC Studios movie dropped today with the debut of Clayface, a body horror film featuring the classic Batman villain.

Straight up first, as this is a Batman villain without Batman, this is better than any of Sony’s Spider-Man villain films (Morbius, Madame Web, Kraven) sans Spider-Man. However, I did not find Clayface to be a great film. At best, it is mid.

According to IMDB, “Rising Hollywood star Matt Hagen descends into a horrifying revenge-filled monster when scientific ambition strips him of his identity and humanity.”

What did I like about Clayface: Most of the CGI was strong. I may not have loved the last look of Clayface, but most of the brutal body horror was great work. There were many scenes where I could not help but squint my eyes or look away. Those were strong moments.

Tom Rhys Harries does a good job as Matt Hagen, the actor who gets his face cut up and comes to the become Clayface. I liked his performance.

The story was fine, but I have to say that the dialogue of this movie was horrendous. There was a ton of cheesy lines that really were laughable. I wish the writing was better because it was one of the biggest drags on the film.

I did not love the third act very much either. Some of the developments of the story near the end of the film did not work for me well. Again, no spoilers here, but there are moments that I just did not like.

I left the theater feeling mixed about the movie. There were things I enjoyed about it. I did not hate the film, by any stretch, but it feels like it is right on the line between positive review and negative review. In the end, I think I would say that I liked more than I did not.

3 stars

Whalefall

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The new thriller with a credibility-stretching premise came out this weekend. Whalefall sees our main character getting swallowed by a sperm whale.

According to IMDB, “Follows a scuba diver who, while looking for his father’s remains, is swallowed by an 80-foot, 60-ton sperm whale and has just one hour to get out before his oxygen runs out.”

Austin Abrams starred as Jay Gardiner, the kid who winds up inside the whale. Josh Brolin played his father, Mitt Gardiner. I think that Austin Abrams does a great job, and he is having a big year after starring in the new Resident Evil film. I think he is a star in the making.

Now, the whale in the room is this… you absolutely need to suspend your disbelief in order to accept this premise. The idea that someone could be swallowed by a whale and attempt to survive is just ridiculous and implausible. If you can get past that, the scenes where Abrams is swallowed by the whale (thanks a lot squid) and trying to survive inside the whale are compelling, stressful and engaging as hell. I was fully tense the entire time Jay was inside the whale.

The film used flashbacks to give more details to the relationship between Jay and Mitt. Most of these flashbacks were okay, even if the ones that they showed were kind of heavy-handed. All of the flashbacks played a role in the situation Jay was in. The flashbacks were nowhere near as captivating as the scenes inside the whale. Josh Brolin was fine, if not good, as Mitt, but the character itself was fairly stereotypical.

The first two acts of Whalefall were tremendous and created such a suspenseful tone that it was feeling as if it was going to be one of the best movies of the year. Sadly, the third act was nowhere near as strong and, while still not keeping me from enjoying the film overall, it did bring my opinion of the film down. No spoilers of course, but I just did not think the ending reached the high levels of the first two acts.

The effects inside the whale were absolutely spectacular. They created such a feeling of claustrophobia and tension that the scenes were hard to watch at times. I was always waiting for the next thing to drop to cause trouble for Jay. The sound mix was perhaps Oscar level as the sounds inside the whale and the lead up to Jay being inside was just amazing.

One area that was a problem was the fact that Jay had to keep a mouthpiece in his mouth the whole time he was in the whale because of the toxic air in the whale’s stomach, and that led to Austin Abrams having to mumble a lot of the lines he had. It was difficult to understand what he was saying through much of the movie. So much so that perhaps they should have given an ADR for Abrams so he could be heard. It may have been used to give some realism to a series of scenes that had little to no realism about them. Maybe they could have placed words on the screen so the audience could know what Jay was saying.

I enjoyed this movie for most of the runtime, though it did slip from my initial thoughts of it challenging for the top 10 of the year to a point where it is a movie that I would recommend and liked, but not loved.

3.8 stars

Street Fighter (2026)

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I did not think that the trailer to this new version of the video game, Street Fighter, was very good. In fact, I thought it looked bad. However, I knew that WWE Superstars Cody Rhodes and Joe ‘Roman Reigns’ Anoai appeared as characters, and so, even with Cody displaying the ridiculous hairdo of Guile, I wanted to see the film.

After watching the new Street Fighter, I confirm that the trailer was an accurate description of the film. This really did suck.

According to IMDB, “Street Fighters Ryu and Ken reunite when Chun-Li recruits them for the World Warrior Tournament. As they face a hidden conspiracy, they must confront each other and their past-or face destruction.“

Ken was played by DC Movie Black Adam’s Atom Smasher himself, Noah Centineo and Ryo was played by GI Joe’s Stormshadow, Andrew Koji. I am sorry to say that neither of these actors were good in this movie. Ken was especially difficult to watch because the character was meant to be stupid. He sure was that, so maybe Centineo does a better job of it than I expected.

Oddly enough, I thought Cody Rhodes was the most entertaining aspect of this movie, as Guile and his incompetent, smart-aleck quips. I even got use to the ridiculous hairdo. Unfortunately, Roman did not get much of a character in the film. But he did look great. I acknowledge that.

The story of Street Fighter is so dumb that it takes away from anything positive that the film may have. I found it boring for a good chunk of the film and I could not close my mind off enough to enjoy it. Things happened off screen that seemed to be important to the overall film.

I do like David Dastmalchian, who is always a great choice for a villain, even if M. Bison is a one-note villain. Jason Momoa was in this too, but I spent most of his time on screen trying to figure out if that was Roman Reigns playing the role.

The film looked decent. I liked the color and the design of most of the film. The music was filled with needledrops that were really on the nose.

The ending was left open for a sequel that, I can imagine, that if you were enjoying the movie, you would have been upset at the lack of a satisfying conclusion. I had long since given up on enjoying the movie so the crappy ending did not bother me any more.

The film was too long. It was too dumb. It was not a fun kind of dumb. It was more the stupid kind of dumb. This could have had a role as a satire/parody, but it was supposed to be too serious.

I did like the animated sections they used to fill in the exposition. They should have done more with that. Any time they went back to the live action, this movie suffered.

This was much worse that the Mortal Kombat film from earlier this year. Thank goodness for Cody Rhodes.

1.5 stars

Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma

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I thought about using this film in The October 13, but I decided against it. It certainly would have fit. I rented this a few weeks ago at Fandango at Home with the expectation that I would get it watched within the month time frame allowed. However, I was down to seven days this morning, and so I decided that the time was now.

According to IMDB, “A director making a slasher sequel becomes obsessed with casting the original film’s ‘final girl,’ leading both women into psychological and sexual chaos.”

I have to say that this movie was a strange, bizarre, surreal and satirical film that I had a difficult time getting into. The overall story was some kind of amalgam of slasher movies, romantic and dark, dark comedy.

I have been a fan of Gillian Anderson ever since The X-Files, and her performance is one that I enjoyed. It became so weird that it lost me.

At the beginning, when the slasher would kill someone and there would be a massive spurting blood that was so cartoonish that it pulled me out of the film.

I am not sure how to feel about a lot of this film. I liked the performances, especially with Gillian Anderson and Hannah Einbinder. I’m just not sure how I feel about the story being told.

2.75 stars

Other Mommy

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It has been a great year for horror. I spoke about it in a review just a few weeks ago after watching Resident Evil.

Then came Other Mommy.

They can’t all be winners.

Other Mommy was a huge disappointment because the initial trailer for this movie was so good. How could a trailer be so intense, creepy and disturbing while the movie it is from is dull, stupid and downright pathetic.

According to IMDB, “Bela, an 8-year-old girl living in a home with marital problems, confronts a sinister entity which comes out of her closet. The presence, whom she calls “Other Mommy,” becomes increasingly threatening to her and her family.”

Jessica Chastain committed to the role, but I was underwhelmed by the performance. It was funny at times, and that is not what the film wanted.

I will say that the young debuting actor Arabella Olivia Clark as Bela did a good job. She handled a lot of the heavy lifting in the story as she had most of the story on her shoulders.

The problem is the story itself was lacking in too many ways. There is no specific plot involved. What is Other Mommy’s motive? Not really sure. There are moments when the tone of the film is all over the place. It felt like they tried to infuse some humor into the story that just never worked and only served to pull me out of the film.

The biggest problem of Other Mommy is that, outside of the great jump scare that they showed in the trailer, this movie was just not scary. It was nowhere near as creepy or intense for almost the entire run time of the film. The trailer made me think this would be a tense and anxious film. Nope. I actually laughed at several of the scenes that were supposed to be scary.

I thought the acting was fine, but there are just too many problems with the film to add to the list of great 2026 horror films.

1.2 stars

The Social Reckoning

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Aaron Sorkin’s new film is a kind of sequel to the iconic classic, The Social Network. While it is not a bad movie by any stretch, it falls quite short of that first amazing film.

According to IMDB, “Follows Frances Haugen, a young Facebook engineer, who enlisted the help of Jeff Horwitz, a Wall Street Journal reporter, to blow the whistle on the social network’s most guarded secrets.”

The performances of the film are solid. Mikey Madison is Francis an employee inside Facebook who has discovered the questionable choices made by the social network. She recruited Jeremy Allen White, who played Jeff Horwitz, a reporter for the Wall Street Journal.

Jeremy Strong played Mark Zuckerberg, in all his arrogant glory. Strong is a great actor and his work as Zuckerberg was a highlight of the movie. His argument with Bill Barr is a powerful series of scenes.

Now, there are several scenes that dragged on, especially at the beginning of the film, and the ending felt a little too preachy.

Dialogue in an Aaron Sorkin movie is always great, and this was as well. However, the story itself seemed to lack a little oomph. While it was a good enough presentation of the true story, it did not stand out like the previous film did. It was perfectly watchable, but it felt underwhelming at times.

In a movie where Facebook seemed to be the villain, I will be posting this review on the social network.

3.1 stars

Digger

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Digger was the wildest, absurd, most bat-sh*t film I have seen all year.

And I think I loved it.

I went to Digger, the new film starring Tom Cruise, with the knowledge that it had been very divisive. Honestly, I went in with the expectation of not liking it.

Then, about halfway through the film, I realized that I was really enjoying Digger and I had no idea of what kind of movie this was.

Speaking of that, it is nearly impossible to talk about the plot of this movie without spoiling things, so I am going to have to be very cautious with what I say.

Tom Cruise, who played Digger Rockwell, is spectacular in this movie. He is clearly game for anything that the film brings to him, as he is doing a bunch of crazy stuff. This character is played so over-the-top, but for a specific reason, that I do believe that Cruise may be a contender for an Oscar, even if the divisiveness of the film hurts its other potentials.

John Goodman played President Compson, and he was extremely funny. Goodman’s performance played off Cruise well and was every bit as impressive as the lead. Riz Ahmed was also great in the film as Dr. Ganesh. The acting was superb.

I have heard a lot of people comparing this to the iconic Dr. Strangelove, but that is only partially correct. Director Alejandro G. Iñárritu does a wonderful job with this bizarre, satirical, oddball film. I can understand why many people come out of this with such negative feelings. It is a big swing. I just found it to be such a remarkably creative and original idea.

4.2 stars