Shelby Oaks (2025) | REVIEW

Camille Sullivan in SHELBY OAKS — PHOTO: Neon (Still image from trailers).

Directed by Chris Stuckmann — Screenplay by Chris Stuckmann.

I don’t think it was possible to frequent YouTube in the 2010s as a film fan without eventually running into a film review uploaded by Chris Stuckmann. Stuckmann earned himself a loyal following over the years and became one of the premier YouTube film critics until the early 2020s, at which point he admitted to wanting to focus on filmmaking. He stated that he felt it wouldn’t be right for him to speak negatively about projects going forward if he wanted to break into the industry. Although his channel still posts videos wherein he talks about new releases, this change in approach has led to a litany of videos scolding him for his decision-making. But, at the same time, Stuckmann did get his wish, as his feature debut as a filmmaker, Shelby Oaks, was released theatrically in North America in 2025. This was notably after Neon picked the film up for distribution and prominent horror filmmaker Mike Flanagan attached himself to the project as an executive producer. I finally got the chance to see Stuckmann’s first film as a writer-director yesterday, and, well, while I thought it was nice to see Stuckmann’s dream come true, the film didn’t do much for me.

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Making Sense of the New Oscars Rules | Special Features

Yesterday, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) announced what changes are being made for the upcoming 99th Academy Awards in a lengthy news update and press release. These are significant rule changes in certain categories that, in one case, frankly, needed an update. There are also more technical adjustments to be found in the press release, as well as an attempt to rule out the influence of artificial intelligence on what is considered award-worthy. Do note that while a Best Stunt Design category has previously been announced, this new category will not be a part of the Oscars until the 100th ceremony in 2028; these rule changes do not take into account said category. So, today, I’m going to go through the most significant changes and answer whether these award rule changes make sense, so that you can better understand their reasoning for changing things and be better prepared for the upcoming 99th Academy Awards, which will take place on March 14th, 2027.

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Apex (2026) | REVIEW

Trailer title card — PHOTO: Netflix (Still image from trailers).

Directed by Baltasar Kormákur (Everest; Beast) — Screenplay by Jeremy Robbins.

Baltasar Kormákur’s Apex is a straight-to-streaming Netflix survival thriller that follows Sasha (played by Charlize Theron), a rock climber who lost her partner, Tommy (played by Eric Bana), in a rock-climbing accident. Some time later, Sasha finds herself in the wilderness of Australia, where she encounters Ben (played by Taron Egerton), a stranger who knows the surroundings like the back of his hand. After he intervenes and helps Sasha from a possible confrontation with two strange hunters, Ben gives Sasha two routes to her desired location, and she chooses the harder one. After kayaking, she sleeps in the wilderness and awakes to see that some of her things have been stolen. She makes her way to Ben’s camp, eventually, and he gives her the supplies she needs. But here she learns that his intentions aren’t good. He takes out a crossbow and gives her a chance to run for her escape, as he now intends to hunt her.

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War Machine (2026) | REVIEW

Trailer title card — PHOTO: Netflix (Still image from trailers).

Directed by Patrick Hughes — Screenplay by Patrick Hughes.

It is so strange that one of the biggest Netflix releases in the first half of the year is titled War Machine. Now, you might be thinking that you don’t really see how that is odd or particularly significant. But if you, like me, have paid attention to Netflix’s releases over the years, since they became a major streaming service, then you would know that one of the first major Netflix film acquisitions was that of David Michôd’s War Machine, a satirical war film starring Brad Pitt, Tilda Swinton, Ben Kingsley, and others. That 2017 release was a largely forgettable flick that is probably rarely seen these days, as it is likely lost in the vast Netflix library by now, but you would think that Netflix wouldn’t want to create confusion about two of their own releases. Although the 2017 release was a satirical war film and the 2026 flick is more at home alongside other sci-fi action films like it, the title isn’t the only thing these two movies have in common, as they’re both, in one way or another, related to America’s presence in Afghanistan. So, as you might be asking yourself, which is the better film at the end of the day? At the end of the day, I’m not sure one is drastically better than the other.

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Serenity (2019) | REVIEW

Matthew McConaughey in Steven Knight’s Serenity — PHOTO: Aviron Pictures (Still image from trailers).

Directed by Steven Knight — Screenplay by Steven Knight.

Steven Knight’s Serenity follows Baker Dill (played by Matthew McConaughey), a fishing boat captain living on the relatively secluded Plymouth Island. Dill is obsessed with catching a tuna that he nicknames ‘Justice,’ and when he isn’t smoking, fishing, or drinking, he spends time with Diane Lane’s character, ‘Constance.’ One day, Dill’s ex-wife Karen (played by Anne Hathaway) shows up and begs him to take her new husband, Frank (played by Jason Clarke), out on the water and have him killed for abusing her and Dill and Karen’s son. As Dill contemplates whether or not he should do it, he starts to question the nature of his own reality. Since this isn’t a new release, and since I’d like to address the craziness of this film directly, this is going to be more of a spoiler review, best read after you’ve seen the film.

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Godzilla Minus One (2023) | REVIEW

Trailer title card — PHOTO: Toho (Still image from trailers).

Directed by Takashi Yamazaki — Screenplay by Takashi Yamazaki.

Takashi Yamazaki’s Godzilla Minus One takes place at the end of the Second World War in Japan, and it follows a disgraced, failed kamikaze pilot, Koichi Shikishima (played by Ryunosuke Kamiki), struggling with PTSD. As Shikishima tries to build a life for himself in post-war Japan, the nuclear test-impacted dinosaur-esque kaiju known as Godzilla, which Shikishima first encountered on a Japanese base some years earlier, makes its way to Japan, where it can cause further destruction on the already heavily impacted country. To defend themselves against the gigantic mutated lizard, citizens must come together and find new ways of fighting back.

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Lee Cronin’s The Mummy (2026) | REVIEW

Natalie Grace as “Katie,” the titular mummy in LEE CRONIN’S THE MUMMY — PHOTO: Warner Bros. Pictures (Still image from trailers).

Directed by Lee Cronin — Screenplay by Lee Cronin.

Given that more than a dozen movies about a mummified corpse coming back to life have been released over the years, including but not limited to the Universal Classic Monsters films, you can’t just name your movie The Mummy anymore without confusing audiences. To distinguish their latest film from the multiple other films called The Mummy — including the iconic Boris Karloff-led original, the beloved Brendan Fraser-led action-adventure film from 1999, and the Tom Cruise-led 2017 film, which was designed to kickstart a shared universe of Universal Monsters (called the Dark Universe), which was cancelled as a result of that very 2017 film failing — producer Jason Blum suggested that they should put their writer-director’s name in the title of the film, despite Lee Cronin by no means being a household name, not even with many horror film fans. Cronin, however, did put himself on the map with his sophomore feature Evil Dead Rise, which was both a critical and box office success. Because I really liked his Evil Dead installment (and some pretty strong trailers), I was really excited to see his vision of The Mummy. Having now seen it, I can say that while there are things that I really liked here, this is a pretty significant step down from his aforementioned sophomore effort.

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Industry – Season Four (2026) | TV REVIEW

Myha’la and Marisa Abela in INDUSTRY (Season 4 – Episode 8) — Photograph by Simon Ridgway/HBO.

I don’t like to be out of the loop when it comes to great, big HBO shows, so one of the goals I set for myself in the first few months of 2026 was catching up on HBO’s Industry, Mickey Down and Konrad Kay’s acclaimed financial thriller-drama. which started way back in 2020 and has changed shape over the years. Back in the day, I tried to get into the show, but despite liking the first episode, I didn’t manage to make time for it then. The fourth season of the show, which I recently learned was going to be the penultimate season, premiered in January of this year, and I managed to catch up to it two weeks before the final episode hit in early March. I was really happy I made it a goal to find time for it, because this is a show that is much more than the ‘new Succession‘ that some have branded it. Although I see the comparison and acknowledge there are certain comparable elements (e.g., a race to the top of the ladder of one’s field, complex characters, and a focus on corporations, wealthy customers, and wealth management), it is very much its own thing entirely.

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A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms – Season One (2026) | TV REVIEW

Peter Claffey and Dexter Sol Ansell in A KNIGHT OF THE SEVEN KINGDOMS — Photograph by Steffan Hill/HBO.

The internet has not been kind to the world of A Song of Ice and Fire in recent years. The long wait for new novels has frustrated fans all over the world, as Game of Thrones eventually outpaced the George R. R. Martin books they were adapting and thus told an ending to the story before the creator did. Then that ending got so much criticism from critics and fans alike — in my review of the final season, I wrote that the show limped across the finish line — that it has tarnished the memory of that iconic fantasy series, despite it still being one of the biggest achievements of television entertainment this century. Then there’s the case of House of the Dragon, the spin-off show, which got off to a strong start, but which also threw away a lot of the goodwill due to how unsatisfyingly the second season concluded. Although I knew how popular the Tales of Dunk and Egg stories from George R. R. Martin were to book readers, I didn’t sense a lot of optimism from the TV-only audience when an adaptation of them was announced as A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms. Then I saw the, in some way, quite different new Game of Thrones spin-off (compared to the other shows) a few months ago, and I was delighted. Here was a show that had all the ingredients needed for the kind of storytelling that could revive the brand. It’s one of the best new shows I’ve seen thus far this year.

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No Other Choice (2025) | REVIEW

Lee Byung-hun, as Man-su, considering dropping a potted plant of red peppers onto a competitor on the job market in NO OTHER CHOICE — PHOTO: NEON / CJ Entertainment (Still image from trailers).

Directed by Park Chan-wook — Screenplay by Park Chan-wook, Lee Kyoung-mi, Don McKellar, and Lee Ja-hye.

Whenever a new film from South Korean master filmmaker Park Chan-wook comes out, it flies right to the top of my watchlist. Every film of his that I have seen thus far, like his iconic, violent, and shocking Vengeance Trilogy or his phenomenal erotic historical thriller The Handmaiden, has wowed me. Just a few years ago, he released yet another masterpiece with the incredibly rewatchable crime-romance thriller Decision to Leave, whose style showcased Park at his very best and cemented him as one of the world’s best visual storytellers. His latest film, No Other Choice, an adaptation of Donald Westlake’s novel The Ax (which was previously adapted in the mid-2000s by Costa-Gavras, to whom Park’s film is dedicated), is yet another fantastic example of Park’s strengths.

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