Category Archives: 2026 Movie Reviews

Martin: Life is Short

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I have always been a fan of Martin Short, even more so since Only Murders in the Building. When the new documentary entitled Martin: Life is Short dropped on Netflix recently, I placed it on my queue so I could get around to watching it. I watched it this Sunday.

This gives the life story of Martin Short, from his childhood, including some terrible tragedies, to his remarkable career, from the flops and major successes.

There were a lot of great interviews from Short’s friends and family including his brothers Michael, Brian, his sister Nora, and Tom Hanks, Steve Martin, Catherine O’Hara, Eugene Levy, John Mulaney, Andrea Martin, Paul Shaffer, Steven Spielberg, and Rita Wilson.

The story spends a lot of time on the relationship between Martin and his wife Nancy. They are shown as the perfect couple, one that others wished they had relationships like.

I loved watching this documentary and it went by quite quickly.

4 stars

Power Ballad

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Director John Carney, who has had musical-based movies in the past with Once and Sing Street, is back in Ireland with another film about music.

Power Ballad starred Paul Rudd and Nick Jonas and they both do a top notch job as their characters in this film, and Paul Rudd did way more singing than I ever thought he would.

According to IMDB, “Rick, a washed-up wedding singer, and Danny, a fading boy band star, bond over music and a late-night jam session. When Danny turns Rick’s song into a hit, Rick sets out to reclaim the recognition he believes he deserves.”

The music of the film was fabulous. Paul Rudd did a great job performing all of these songs and Nick Jonas was excellent too. I liked the scene where Rick and Danny spends time together, drinking and jamming, and writing some songs. It was like a background of how songs are written.

The film was funny and entertaining. Rick’s arc was wonderful and you could feel his loss and his anger over the slight by Danny. The ending was very satisfying.

I wanted to go out of the way to see Power Ballad, as it was not going to fit well in my viewing schedule. I am thankful that I was able to make it work because I enjoyed this a lot. It may not be as brilliant as Sing Street, but there are plenty of positives to make it worth my time, especially Paul Rudd who is awesome as ever.

4 stars

Disclosure Day

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Steven Spielberg is back in the director’s chair for the new film, Disclosure Day, which brings Spielberg back to a topic that he seems to love… aliens.

Some of Spielberg’s greatest movies of all time have aliens at the center, from Close Encounters of the Third Kind to E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial to War of the Worlds. Now he is back with Disclosure Day, a film starring Emily Blunt and Josh O’Connor.

This sci-fi film had just about everything that I would have wanted in it. Josh O’Connor played a man named Daniel Kellner, who had been working for the people trying to keep the existence of aliens hidden, but he had a change of heart, stealing away data proving the truth behind aliens and the government’s knowledge and involvement. Daniel was on the run, hoping to be able to show the data to the public.

Meanwhile, Emily Blunt, who played Margaret Fairchild, a weather girl in Kansas City, suddenly begins t show abilities that she had never had before. Speaking languages she did not know and knowing information about people she had never met before. When she started speaking in a strange language on live TV, things got weird for her.

Emily Blunt is absolutely on fire in this film. Her performance might just be arguably the greatest performance of her career, despite having plenty of banger performances to choose from. Emily Blunt takes the story to another level every second that she is on screen and she elevated the whole script. I truly believe that she should be nominated for Best Actress at the Academy Awards next year from this work.

The rest of the cast is great, albeit looking a little less in comparison to Blunt. Josh O’Connor has been doing amazing work recently, including his great performance in the last Knives Out film. We also have Colman Domingo, Wyatt Russell, Elizabeth Marvel, Eve Hewson, and Jeremy Shamos.

Then there was the film’s main antagonist, Colin Firth. Firth played Noah, who was the agent with the top secret government agency trying to keep things under wrap, and he pursued Margaret and Daniel across the midwest.

I would not define this movie as an action movie, but they had some really good action, which included a scene with a train that was as good of an action sequence as you are going to see in any movie.

This film saw Spielberg beg the legendary John Williams, 94 years old, to come out of retirement to score Disclosure Day. Williams provided yet another amazing score for Spielberg, capping off an unbelievable career.

The movie might be a touch too long, but I do like how it took its time to develop the story and not just throw out everything about what was happening. The central mystery is handled well and kept me hooked from the beginning. The ending of the film has had some detractors, but I think it worked well. If anything, I wanted a little more before the screen went to black. I found the ending of the film to be quite an emotional moment.

Steven Spielberg is one of the greatest directors of all time, and a member of the EYG Hall of Fame. His latest film recaptured some of the magic from his earlier filmography, especially feeling connected to films like Close Encounters. I saw this in IMAX and I found that to be a great viewing experience. I would recommend seeing this on a big screen while it is in the theater.

4.6 stars

The Pout-Pout Fish

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The animated film The Pout-Pout Fish dropped on Amazon Prime recently. It was one of the films I did not see in the theaters, so I streamed it on Prime.

I’ll get this out of the way. The animation was excellent. It looked great, and the designs of the fish were clever and fun.

That was about all I liked about this one.

According to IMDB, “Living on a rundown shipwreck, Mr. Fish one day discovers a hyperactive young sea dragon Pip – who had mistaken his home for a junkyard – pilfering his belongings. The heated argument that ensues leaves both their houses in ruin. But there is hope. Embarking on a seemingly impossible quest in search of the mythical “Shimmer” to grant them a wish, there’s only one problem: someone else is on the hunt.“

I am afraid that this movie just never hit with me. I had a lot of trouble with some of the physics of the story. It seemed like they forgot at times that there was water around everyone. Things seemed to fall like they would without water and it bugged me.

Then, the character of Pip was just about as annoying as I have ever heard in animation. I was done with this character very early as well.

The film was very predictable and overall bland. Nick Offerman, who I have always enjoyed, just did not seem to fit the voice of the character of Mr. Fish.

I thought the trio of pink dolphins (voiced by Amy Sedaris) were the best part of the film, because you do not usually see dolphins as antagonists.

This one was a disappointment. I did not enjoy watching it and it felt like it took forever, even though it wasn’t that long time wise. I thought the ending was okay, but by that point, I was checked out.

2.2 stars

Monkey’s Magic Merry Go Round

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I was on Amazon Prime and I saw a film that grabbed my attention immediately. It was a rental called Monkey’s Magic Merry Go Round, a horror movie with an intriguing hook.

According to IMDB, “A children’s TV show host, ensnared in a case of amnesia, must confront his missing memories as his puppet co-stars turn on him.”

This is really creepy and there is a solid performance at the center of it by Michael Gilio. The Mr. Rogers Neighborhood feel is obvious and it is subtle at first with the slow burn on the mystery of Mr. Jensen and what had happened to him.

When I first saw this, I immediately thought about Bray Wyatt and the Firefly Funhouse from the WWE. I could absolutely see Bray Wyatt doing something like this. The movie listed something about “Freak” which immediately made me think of The Fiend. I have a hard time believing that the Firefly Funhouse wasn’t an inspiration for this movie.

This developed into a creepy, downright frightening film with the puppets and Mr. Jensen. The flashbacks were so effective and were doled out slowly, creating a great pace for the movie.

The character of “Kneel” had me yelling out loud.

Aiden Leary made his feature length film directorial debut with this movie and he does an admirable job with some of the creepy shots and lighting of the show. He provided a movie that played with people’s anxiety and gives us a top notch psychological horror/thriller.

It has been a solid year for horror movies so far and this one adds right to the list of strong newcomers. It is currently available for rental on Prime or for free on Screambox.

4.3 stars

Masters of the Universe

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“By the power of Grayskull…I have the Power!”

The new version of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe came out this weekend, an IP that has been redone several times, both in live action and animation.

According to IMDB, “A young man on Earth discovers a fabulous secret legacy as the prince of an alien planet, and must recover a magic sword and return home to protect his kingdom.“

I was never a big fan of He-Man, although I did not dislike the IP. I watched the Kevin Smith animated versions on Netflix.

This movie was not my favorite. I had several problems with the film which I will go into later. However, it was not a total loss as there were some things I liked.

First off, I thought Nicholas Galitzine did a great job as Prince Adam. I may not necessarily like how they had him playing the role, but I do think he did a great job in the role. He had a Chris Hemsworth vibe to him.

Jared Leto, whose had some questionable roles, was an outstanding Skeletor. Again, there are some of the writing that did not work well, but Leto stood out among the cast.

There was some good action, especially in the later stages of the film. I enjoyed the finale of the third act, action-wise.

There were a lot of issues though. The biggest one is the tone. This is meant to be too humorous, kind of in the veins of a Thor: Love and Thunder. There were several times when there was a good scene, some times even an emotional scene, but it did not get a chance to settle in because there was a joke coming after.

And for a film that wanted the humor to be so front and center, the film was not very funny. I am not sure I laughed at all, certainly not more than a giggle here and there, and I found myself rolling my eyes more than anything else. I’m not opposed to a healthy dose of humor in my action movies, but the humor needs to be doled out in proper doses and in the correct moments. This film did not do that.

The earth section of this film could have easily been removed, because it did nothing and it was just a way to extend the run time. I really did not like the roommate character in this, and I wonder why people did not have this guy committed with his talk about swords and other planets. And there was a monster that showed up on earth and knocked away by an Amazon truck. This is an Amazon film. Brought me memories of War of the Worlds. Amazon is clearly the biggest heroes in all movies.

And, boy was there an obvious Coca-Cola product placement too. I laughed audibly at this.

There are a ton of secondary characters that were just here to stand in the background and not have any sort of story to them. Alison Brie as Evil-Lyn was a total waste, as was Morena Baccarin as the Sorceress.

It is not the worst movie to watch, but I did find myself bored in a good chunk of the film and very noticeably, not laughing. The last third of the film was better and one would wish it was the style the whole film would have taken.

2.5 stars

Hokum

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Ahhhhhhhhh

This was one of the creepiest movies of the year. I legitimately had chills as the movie progressed.

I missed this one in the theater because of schedule so when it popped up on Fandango at Home today for rental, I was ready to watch it. Then, I was scared throughout it.

Typically, I am not scared by movies, but there was no denying that this one hit just right for me.

According to IMDB, “A horror writer visits an Irish inn to scatter his parents’ ashes, unaware the property is said to be haunted by a witch.”

Adam Scott starred as writer Ohm Bauman, a bad-tempered man who came to the area to spread the ashes of his recently deceased parents. He was really an unlikable character at the beginning of this movie, but you get past that very quick after a shocking event at the hotel.

This film falls into the sub-genre of haunted house films, and it does it in a magnificent way. The jump scares were kept at a minimum and when they happen, they are so well executed that it fit into the story.

Everything looked great, the music really worked well, and I was engaged in this film. I was rooting for Bauman to get out of the hotel and the story did not disappoint me.

I was so happy that I got to see this one.

4.5 stars

Pressure

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When I saw the trailer for this movie, it felt like a silly idea. How the meteorologists helped save D-Day? Apparently it was a true story, but it really seemed ridiculous. However, this movie rocked.

According to IMDB, “In the tense 72 hours before D-Day, General Dwight D. Eisenhower and Captain James Stagg face an impossible choice–launch the most dangerous seaborne invasion in history or risk losing the war altogether.“

This movie was fascinating and full of intensity. I was very impressed with both Andrew Scott and Brendan Fraser. Fraser was Dwight D. Eisenhower and Scott was James Stagg, the meteorologist. The tension between the characters is absolutely sharp and fills the screen. Scott has some great performances with the stuff that he got to play was amazing.

I had no idea that weather could be as exciting as it was. The differing ideas behind the way to predict the weather from Stagg and Col. Krick (played by Chris Messina) was interesting. It showed how two different meteorologists can look at the same thing and come up with different points of view.

There was not much war scenes in this war movie, as it was more in the vein of Darkest Hour, but the scenes that they did include was very tough to watch.

Another actor who I thought did great job was Kerry Condon, who played Eisenhower’s associate Kay Summersby. She was one of the most empathic characters I have seen in a long time in a movie like this. She felt like she was holding everything together.

I never thought I was going to like this movie, and it turned out to be sensational. It goes to show that you should not make up your mind on a trailer before you actually see the product.

4.4 stars

Backrooms

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So far this year, we have had several YouTubers taking a step into the world of big theatrical movies. Mark “Markiplier” Fischbach’s film Iron Lung, which made $51 million on a three million dollar budget, and Curry Barker’s film Obsession was hugely successful over the last couple of weekends.

This week, 20-year-old Kane Parsons entered the world of big screen films with this adaptation of his own web series, Backrooms.

Backrooms has been anticipated by a lot of the movie audience as they have done a great job of promoting the creepiness of the film.

Starring Chiwetel Ejiofor, Renate Reinsve, Mark Duplass, Finn Bennett, and Lukita Maxwell, this film was a crazy, weird, creepy film, using techniques of found footage movies, to build the suspense and anxiety of the situation.

According to IMDB, “After a therapist’s patient disappears into a dimension beyond reality, she must venture into the unknown to save him.“

The film was great. The mystery of what was going on was very psychologically scary and unsettling. The found footage camera work showed the strength of that technique. I found it thrilling and there was great acting involved in it.

This does a great job of using the concept of liminal space, which is one of those internet memes/deep dives that many are intrigued by.

I am not sure how I felt about the ending of the film. I was not as satisfied by the ending as I was the rest of the film. Obviously, I can not spoil it, but I just did not love the end.

I found this creative film fun and engaging, keeping the audience unsettled and anxious.

4.1 stars

Swapped

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The final movie I got a chance to see today in an animated movie on Netflix called Swapped from Skydance. The main character of the show was voiced by Michael B. Jordan.

The synopsis of this movie says that two creatures swap bodies, hence the title, but to be honest, that is not accurate. They do not actually swap bodies like in Freaky Friday or any other number of movies. Instead, there is a magic plant that changes them into a different species. It is only coincidental that they change into the species of each other.

This movie started real slowly for me. I was having a hard time getting into the film and it was not grabbing my attention. However, the movie picked up and by the middle of the film, and by the end, I was fully engaged with the story and the results.

The animation was lovely and the character designs were very impressive. The kids will love the look of this movie.

Along with Michael B. Jordan, the voice cast included Juno Temple, Tracy Morgan, Cedric the Entertainer, Justina Machado, Ambika Mod, John Ratzenberger, and Nate Torrence.

It did feel a little long, but the last half of the film flied along with a better pace. I think this eventually found its voice and turned out well.

3.4 stars

The Crash

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Next up came a documentary on Netflix that looked at the story of a crash that cost the life of two boys and the trial of the driver, a teenage girl suspected of crashing her car intentionally in an attempt to murder her boyfriend.

The Netflix doc focused on Mackenzie Shirilla, an Ohio teenager who was behind the wheel of the car crashed into a brick house, killing her boyfriend Dominic Russo and friend, Davion Flanagan.

We got to hear from all of the family members of the three kids, including Shirilla’s father, who was wearing a tee-shirt with the word “BOOM” on it, in what had to be one of the dumbest wardrobe choices in the history of TV.

The doc laid out the case against Mackenzie Shirilla, giving info from both sides of the case, however it did feel as if the prosecution side was given more compelling moments.

There are several questions that were brushed aside that may have been significant. Mackenzie was not a very likable girl, at least from what we saw. Her persona may have been why she chose to forego a jury trial, which I think was a big mistake. The defense attorney did not seem to be remarkably competent in his defense as there were things that could have/should have been brought up that were not. Of course, we did not see the full defense and only see what the documentarians chose t include.

It is a fascinating story and I am not sure what side I fall on. I can absolutely say that, as the driver, Mackenzie Shirilla was responsible, but was she attempting to kill Dominic in the process? I am not sure.

3.75 stars

Exit 8

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Exit 8 was another film that I could have seen in the theater, but could not make it fit the schedule. So I rented it today on Fandango at Home. The Japanese sci-fi/thriller is one of the best movies that I have seen in 2026.

According to IMDB, “A man trapped in a endless sterile subway passageway sets out to find Exit 8. The rules of his quest are simple: do not overlook anything out of the ordinary. If you discover an anomaly, turn back immediately. If you don’t, carry on. Then leave from Exit 8. But even a single oversight will send him back to the beginning. Will he ever reach his goal and escape this infinite corridor?“

This movie engaged me so much, I was literally yelling at my computer screen, wanting the characters to follow my instructions. It was a simple set up with a complex morality tale. I absolutely loved this film and the experience of watching it.

The film was in Japanese, but the dialogue was limited, which made it a breeze to follow along with the subtitles.

Kazunari Ninomiya was our main protagonist whose point of view we start with in the very beginning of the movie. His eyes were literally the camera to the scenes we were watching. However, that does not last long as the POV switched once he was inside the subway corridor.

There was also the “Walking Man,” played by Yamato Kochi and the Boy, played by Naru Asanuma. The young actor does a sensational job with nearly zero dialogue. To be honest, I am not sure I understood the Walking Man’s role in this narrative, but that did not stop me from being invested in the characer.

Based on a video game, Exit 8 had me looking for every little detail and found me frustrated when the characters did not see the same.

The ending of the film had me screaming out loud, first in desperation and then in joyousness. It was beautifully shot and made me extremely happy.

I loved this movie. I did not expect that this was going to be one of the best movies I would see in 2026, but I am so pleased that I took the chance with a Japanese film.

5 stars

They Will Kill You

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Happy Memorial Day. With the day off school, I am using today to catch up on a bunch of films, now on streaming, that I have not yet seen in 2026. The first film up today is a horror/action/comedy movie called They Will Kill You starring Zazie Beetz.

I had seen the trailer for this film in the theaters, but it only lasted like a week or so in the theaters and I did not get to see it. Honestly, I did not think I would miss it much. It did not seem to be my cup of tea. However, after watching the film this morning, I have to say that I was wrong. This was a heck of a good time.

According to IMDB, “A woman takes a job as a housekeeper in a NYC high-rise, unaware of the building’s history of disappearances. She soon realizes the community is shrouded in mystery.”

That synopsis does not do justice to this story, which, admittedly, is rather thin and coincidental. Still, this is not one of those films where you go in expecting a deep and fully developed story. There was just enough background in the film to make the action and brutality to come understandable.

Zazie Beetz is sensational in her violent, bad ass way. After her first scene in her room inside the building, the shocking reveal of what was going on was out of nowhere and I was here for it.

The rest of the cast was fun, featuring some reasonably big names including Patricia Arquette, Tom Felton, Heather Graham, Myha’la, James Remar, and Paterson Joseph.

I found much of the film very funny. Again, this movie does an admirable job of blending tones through the film. It has comedic beats that feel like they work well with the gory horror moments and the action/adventure moments. It is not easy to blend tones and more movies that try to do it fail than succeed. They Will Kill You is one that makes it look easy.

I wish I had seen this on the big screen. I think the violence would have popped all the more. Still, I enjoyed renting this on Fandango at Home and it kicked off today’s binge in a exciting and dramatic manner.

3.8 stars

Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu

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It has been seven years since we got a new Star Wars film on the big screen. That last film was the much maligned Rise of Skywalker, which most of the fanbase either disliked it or outright hated.

However, the Disney + show, The Mandalorian, has been popular over the first three seasons, and the announcement of the next movie being a continuation of the show received mixed responses. The character of Grogu, who was known first as Baby Yoda, was a phenomenon in pop culture and was suddenly everywhere.

With the new film, starring Pedro Pascal as The Mandalorian, we get a mixed bag of a movie with some positives and some negatives that does not feel like a return to the big screen for Star Wars. It really does feel like a TV season crammed into two hours of a film.

Start with the positives. I love these two titular characters and I love the idea of spending more time with them. However, if I had not already watched three seasons of TV, I might not understand what was going on. The film does not spend much time setting up the relationship between Mando and Grogu. It just feels as if they are expected to know it.

The action sequences are mostly excellent. The beginning sequence, in particular, was exceptional. I did enjoy much of the action of the film.

The CGI had its moments, but there were also moments of CGI that were not well done. Some of the green screen (or is it The Volume?) was painfully apparent and below what one would expect from this franchise.

The story feels stitched together among the different moments of the script. There are things that happen in the film that show up out of nowhere and does not play much of a part in the film. There was a scene with a creature in the woods that helps out Grogu that feels like the character was going to be more significant than it turned out to be. It is possible that this character is known in the Star Wars universe and I am not recognizing the Easter egg.

The middle of this film was pretty boring and repetitive. There is only so many times that I need to see Grogu steal some food to eat.

Interestingly enough, they never once call the Mandalorian by his name Din Djarin, referring to him as Mando instead.

Sigourney Weaver is in the film, doing little. Jeremy Allen White voiced Rotta the Hutt, a character that debuted in the animated programs. Much of the dialogue of this film was not great and fairly surface level at best.

The best part of the film was the score by Ludwig Göransson, who has won an Academy Award. The score was very engaging.

The Mandalorian and Grogu is an okay movie. I liked much of the film, but I do not think that it elevated my enjoyment of any of the characters or the franchise. It was okay. I did not come out of this hating it, but there just is not anything that I feel needed to be on the big screen.

3 stars

Remarkably Bright Creatures

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It has been a good couple of weeks for talking animal movies.

Last week, I was absolutely taken with Sheep Detectives and this week, I was able to watch the Netflix film starring Sally Field and Louis Pullman called Remarkably Bright Creatures. This featured an octopus, voiced by Alfred Molina (who coincidentally played Doctor Octopus in Spider-Man 2 and No Way Home) as the narrator.

According to IMDB, “Through unlikely bonds formed during night shifts at a local aquarium, Tova, an elderly widow, learns of a life-changing discovery that may bring her joy and wonder once again.“

Sally Field really came to work in this movie. Her portrayal as Tova was just so sweet and touching, but more than just that. She had a real emotional arc for her character and a tragic backstory that was impactful as could be. I was really impressed with her work in this movie.

I did not recognize Louis Pullman at first, but about midway through the movie, I thought to myself… “Hey, that’s Sentry… Bob.” He, as well, was fabulous, giving a depth to a performance with a character that could have been one note, but turned out to be extremely developed.

I also loved seeing Kathy Baker back on my screen. Kathy Baker was one of the stars of Picket Fences, a show that I loved, and it was just a nice surprise seeing her in this.

Alfred Molina’s narration was kind of odd, but it did provide some important relevant details as the movie progressed. Plus, there were some emotionally powerful moments with Marcellus, the name of the octopus that Molina was voicing. It took a little bit of time for me to get used to the idea, but by the end of the movie, this was an important role.

I enjoyed this story. Even though it did feel a bit scattered early on, it came together beautifully. I did enjoy the presence of Colm Meaney as Ethan. His character may have felt kind of unnecessary, but the film took time to actually give him a personality.

This was a lovely film with some solid characters and some excellent performances. It is available for streaming on Netflix and it is a worthwhile time.

4.5 stars