The Reel World

“Your blood. My blood. Our blood.”

Well, I can’t say I saw this coming. Of all the movies to get a sequel, this film wasn’t even on my list. Though when I think about it, maybe I shouldn’t be surprised given that the first film was an adaptation of a series with four books in it. In 1998, Sandra Bullock’s and Nicole Kidman’s chemistry is what made the first one work, and it is the same in this sequel. In fact, it’s as if no time has passed as the pair play off one another with ease.  The gang is all back for the most part with the exception of Goran Visnjic (which isn’t surprising given that he was the previous film’s antagonist) and Aidan Quinn (although is character is referenced, with Diane Wiest and Stockard Channing returning as well). The film is noteworthy for Channing because it marks her first theatrical release in 13 years. Also joining the film are Joey King, Maise Williams, Xolo Mariduena, and Lee Pace.

It’s not often that a horror movie comes along that reflects what is happening in pop culture or feels as though it was ripped from the headlines. I’m surprised there hasn’t been much buzz about Nightborn, considering it’s about the horrors of post-partum depression and media attention surrounding the Lindsay Clancy case. I know everyone has their opinions on the case, and because of the case I kind of let this film simmer for a while before deciding to write this. I’ll start by saying that if you're sensitive to the topic of the film, you may just want to skip it altogether, and don’t bother reading this review, I’m not here to spoil anything, and I don’t want to upset anyone, either. One other thing that may turn people off to this film is that it is a Finnish film with a mix of English and Finnish poken throughout, and I know some people just hate subtitles … With all that out of the way, how is the movie, what is it all about, and most importantly, is it any good? The film opens up with a young couple, Saga (Seidi Haarla) and Jon (Rupert Grint), who move into an old family home that rests on the outskirts of a Finnish forest. After engaging in some adult activities in the woods, surrounded by some disturbing looking trees, we definitely get the impression they are being watched by some unseen entity. It’s not long after that Saga discovers she’s pregnant and we see her have the baby, and, well, let's just say the birth scene is a bit gory and not what the young couple expects.

When you consider how many Texas Chainsaw Massacre films there are and how many of them are just not good, can you really get mad when a knockoff comes along that’s kind of fun? No, Dolly isn’t about a family of cannibals, but the character of Dolly is mostly Leatherface in a dress, replacing a skin mask for a doll mask and instead of a chainsaw, Dolly’s weapon of choice is a shovel. The film is also a nice departure from the typical psycho killer hillbillies running around the woods. No victims are being forced to squeal like a pig but instead are coddled like a baby, still creepy but just not as traumatizing. This is a film that certainly knows where it’s inspiration came from, and the result is a film that is ripe for watching late at night, and even better if you have a camping trip or hike planned in the near future. Does this mean the film's any good? Well, grab onto your nearest and dearest dolly or plushy, and I’ll tell you all about it.

You know exactly what you are getting when you go to watch a Jason Statham movie. There is a playbook that is followed with just enough deviation to make the film slightly different from its predecessors. They usually have a one-word title (Mutiny makes 17 one-word title movies that he’s made), and Statham is portraying some kind of stoic or loner, usually with some kind of military, law enforcement, or possibly assassin background. And finally, typically due to circumstances beyond his control, he is forced to break his isolation, usually to help the innocent and bring down a governmental or criminal conspiracy. Like I said, you know what you are getting when you go to see a Jason Statham movie, and in many respects, Mutiny follows that playbook to a tee. The thing is one thing I can honestly say has never happened while I watched a Jason Statham movie: I’ve never been bored. And Mutiny is no different. Because no matter what the plot is, Statham is going to deliver an action-packed experience that doesn’t rely on a lot of unrealistic sequences. Practically everything that he does, every way that he dispatches someone, is grounded in reality, and I have zero trouble believing that he could kill someone that way if he really wanted to.

“We got to fit a year’s worth into 12 hours.”

So I went into this movie completely blind. All I knew were the two actors playing the lead, Callum Turner and Monica Barbaro. I was expecting your typical rom com that I’m not the intended target audience for. Then I walk into the theater and read the following tagline: Two New Yorkers search for love on the one night of the year when sex is legal. And at that moment all I can think is, what in The Purge is this nonsense? So, in this Will Gluck-directed (Friends with Benefits and Anybody But You) feature film, Turner and Barbaro play two strangers, Owen and Allie respectively, who crash into each other in an ever-so-slightly fictionalized New York on the one night when single people are allowed to have sex. Recently dumped Owen and hopeful romantic Allie may be the only two singles in the city looking for more than a quick encounter. They feel a spark when they meet, but a series of missteps and side quests complicate their night. It’s among the most ridiculous plots that I’ve heard in a while. But funnily enough, somehow it’s also one of the most entertaining movies that I’ve seen all year.

"Tell me, O Muse, of that ingenious hero who travelled far and wide after he did sack the famous town of Troy. Many cities did he visit, and many were the nations with whose manners and customs he was acquainted. Moreover he suffered much by sea while trying to save his own life and bring his men safely to their homes; but do what he might he could not save his men, for they perished through their own sheer folly in eating the cattle of the Sun-god  Hyperion; so the god prevented them from ever reaching home. Tell me, too, about all of these things, oh daughter of Zeus, from whatsoever source you may know them." - Homer c750 B.C.

Christopher Nolan has a tell, and he exposes it almost every time he makes a film. He's not a one-source kind of a guy, and he's not above creating composite characters or adding a flourish here and there in order to tell a good story. Like Homer before him, he knows how to tell a good story, and while the film is called The Odyssey, it borrows rather heavily from other ancient sources, most notably Virgil's Aeneid.

"We're going to make a monster movie ... Oh yeah."

It's hard to believe that it was over 16 years ago that Despicable Me came out from Illumination Studios. I have to admit I wasn't that impressed, and it was one of my least favorite animation features at the time. I would never have imagined that it would become a very successful franchise and that in 2026 I would be watching the seventh film in the franchise. Here's what is more shocking. I could have not have predicted that the seventh entry in the franchise would suddenly become my favorite and one of the better animated films I've seen in recent memory. What a difference 16 years can make. Over those years the franchise has kind of split into two different intertwined sub-franchises. The Despicable Me films would continue the exploits of Steve Carell's Gru, a mastermind arch-villain wannabe.

“If you found out we weren't alone, if someone showed you, proved it to you, would that frighten you?” 

This movie marks the 30th collaboration between Steven Spielberg and John Williams. Their first was The Sugarland Express, over 50 years prior. This is even more noteworthy, given that when Spielberg initially approached Williams about making the score, Williams first suggested four other composers take the job, since Williams had retired from film scoring. Spielberg insisted Williams score the film himself, and Williams finally agreed. This film also marks a personal achievement for Steven Spielberg, directing at least one sci-fi movie in each decade of his career: Firelight (1964), Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977), E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982), Jurassic Park (1993), The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997), A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001), Minority Report (2002), War of the Worlds (2005) and Ready Player One (2018).

"We're not rock stars. We're human jukeboxes."

A little bit of quick background. I'm a recording artist with eight albums under my belt, so I likely approached this film a little differently than most folks. I wasn't really all that enthused about seeing the film. You see, I tend to hate when songwriters write songs about writing songs. I think it's pretentious. So what have I done? Written at least a handful of songs about writing songs, so I don't do a lot of practicing what I preach. That's the mindset I had going into the screening. It turned out maybe I do like songs about songwriting and just haven't had the guts to admit it. There aren't any maybes about one thing. I can tell you for certain that Power Ballad turned out to be one of the best films I've seen in the first half of 2026. Who knew? I think that director/writer John Carney knew. It's possible that Paul Rudd and Nick Jonas did. Now I know, and in a minute, so will you.

Let's just get this out of the way from the jump. I very much doubt that any film or filmmaker is going to ever come close to giving us the D-Day invasion of France in any better detail or realism than Stephen Spielberg did with Saving Private Ryan. There have already been countless documentaries. There have been enough films on the subject to make just about anyone a "Hollywood" expert on what is likely the greatest military campaign in the history of warfare. The only way you're going to get anyone's attention or leave any kind of mark on the cinematic history of D-Day is to find an angle that no one else has found. Good luck with that... or maybe there is an aspect that hasn't yet been mined. I didn't think so before I saw director Anthony Maras's latest film Pressure. The approach is so simple it's almost crazy that it hasn't been covered before. What is it everyone always complains about but no one ever does anything about? The weather.