Tag: 2026

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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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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Thrash (2026) | REVIEW

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

Directed by Tommy Wirkola — Screenplay by Tommy Wirkola.

Norwegian filmmaker Tommy Wirkola, best known for the Christmas action-comedy film starring David Harbour titled Violent Nights, is the writer-director behind this week’s big Netflix film release, Thrash. Thrash is a survival thriller with a, as you might expect given Wirkola’s involvement, tongue-in-cheek comedic approach. It is a film about shark-infested waters in a flooded American town that has been hit by intense waves as a result of an intense hurricane.

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Ready or Not 2: Here I Come (2026) | REVIEW

Kathryn Newton and Samara Weaving in READY OR NOT 2: HERE I COME. Photo courtesy of Searchlight Pictures. © 2026 Searchlight Pictures. All Rights Reserved.

Directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett (Scream; Abigail) — Screenplay by Guy Busick and R. Christopher Murphy.

Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett’s Ready or Not 2: Here I Come kicks off right where the popular first film left off. Grace (played by Samara Weaving) has just survived a crazy ordeal moments after getting married. Her new family — the Le Domas’, who were secretly satanists — tried to kill her before sunrise, as they believed they would all die if they didn’t. Grace, now in a bloodied wedding dress, survived the night, while her in-laws and her new husband all exploded at dawn for not fulfilling their satanic bargain. But things aren’t over for our bloodsoaked heroine. When she meets up with her sister Faith (played by Kathryn Newton), with whom she hasn’t spoken in years, at a hospital, they’re both incapacitated and taken to the manor of a wealthy and influential family known as the Danforths. The Danforths are one of multiple families with a seat on a council of elite families, who all owe their successes to their supernatural satanic lord known as Le Bail. Because Grace survived the night, the families must compete in another game of diabolical hide-and-seek to determine who will have the ‘high seat’ on the council and, essentially, control the world. To survive, Grace, now alongside her sister, must again overcome the odds and hold out until dawn.

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The Drama (2026) | REVIEW

Robert Pattinson and Zendaya in Krstoffer Borgli’s THE DRAMA — PHOTO: A24 (Still image from trailers).

Directed by Kristoffer Borgli — Screenplay by Kristoffer Borgli.

The Drama is one of the most heavily anticipated wedding films in recent years. But it isn’t just any wedding film; it is also the third feature film from Norwegian filmmaker Kristoffer Borgli, best known for his sophomore effort (and English-language debut), Dream Scenario, starring Nicolas Cage, about a university professor who, much to his surprise, starts popping up in people’s dreams around the world. His latest film has a similarly fascinating premise, but one that is much more grounded in reality. The Drama is an American-set dark, cringe rom-com with psychological elements about relationships, performativity, outrage, and the skeletons in our closets. It has all the makings of what could very well end up being one of the most hotly debated and divisive films of the year, partly due to the way it touches on difficult and very dark subject matter. On first viewing, I found it to be an intriguing conversation starter that also manages to be a thoroughly entertaining film, perhaps especially because of one of the particularly well-tuned central performances, but also because of key and clever visual and textual storytelling decisions.

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Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice (2026) | REVIEW

(L-R) Eiza Gonzalez, James Marsden, and Vince Vaughn (x2) in Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice — PHOTO: 20th Century Studios (Still image from trailers).

Directed by BenDavid Grabinski — Screenplay by BenDavis Grabinski.

BenDavid Grabinski’s Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice takes place in a somewhat goofy version of an organized crime world, wherein we meet Quick-Draw Mike (played by James Marsden), who has fallen in love with Alice (played by Eiza Gonzalez). Alice, however, is married to another member of the crime world, Nick (played by Vince Vaughn), who, unbeknownst to Mike, has framed Mike as a so-called rat. Things take a strange turn when Mike agrees to help Nick complete a job. The thing is, Nick needs Mike to chloroform someone who just so happens to look exactly like Nick. Why? Well, one of the two Nicks has used a time machine to stop his past self from making the worst mistake of his life.

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Project Hail Mary (2026) | REVIEW

Ryan Gosling in PROJECT HAIL MARY — PHOTO: AMAZON MGM STUDIOS (Still image from trailers).

Directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller (21 Jump Street; The LEGO Movie) — Screenplay by Drew Goddard (The Martian).

Based on the Andy Weir novel of the same name, Phil Lord and Christopher Miller’s Project Hail Mary follows Dr. Ryland Grace (played by Ryan Gosling), a former molecular biologist and middle school teacher, who wakes up on a spacecraft several light-years away from Earth with no memory of how he got there. As Grace’s memory slowly comes back to him, he investigates the spacecraft and finds that he is the sole survivor of a three-person crew sent out to find out how we can stop an extinction-level event from further harming Earth. A microorganism known as Astrophage, which is exponentially increasing its size, appears to be dimming our Sun and several stars in our solar neighborhood. The crew, including Grace, was sent out to figure out why Tau Ceti is the only unaffected star in the vicinity. Unsure about how to carry out his mission, Grace eventually comes into contact with an alien entity, which he dubs ‘Rocky,’ and its own glorious spacecraft. When Grace finds a way to communicate with Rocky, named so because of his ‘pile of rocks’-like body, Grace figures out that they’re there for the same reason. So, he now must figure out how to save lives at home and light-years away from our solar system.

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