Movies, Films & Flix

Quick thoughts:

1. I love it.
2. George MacKay and Callum Turner 
3. Director/writer Mark Jenkin has crafted a wonderful sci-fi film.
4. The 16mm Bolex Camera captures some beautiful images. The blocking, staging and shot selection are inspired.
5. It’s wild that they recorded all the sound in post-production.  The Foley and ADR work are top-notch.
6. Make sure to watch Bait (2019) and Enys Men (2022). 

Between Mad God, Hundreds of Beavers, I Love Boosters, and Rose of Nevada, the 2020s have produced several excellent hand-crafted films created by people who love making movies. There’s something thrilling about watching a filmmaker create unique cinematic experiences that utilizes old-school techniques to create something beautiful. Director/writer/DP/editor Mark Jenkin (Bait, Enys Men, Rose of Nevada  – his Cornish trilogy) has emerged as a filmmaker to watch because of the unique ways he and his collaborators piece together their authentic productions. 

The film opens with a character named Nick (George MacKay) picking up food from a local food bank that is surrounded by closed businesses and abandoned homes. The Cornish fishing village he lives in is surrounded by beauty, but the fishing industry left the village, eliminating jobs and creating a ghost town. Despite the lack of work, Nick lives a happy life with his wife Emily (Mae Voogd) and his daughter. While fixing a leak in his roof, Nick falls through it, creating a large hole that needs to be repaired immediately (it rains a lot in Cornwall). In a good/bad situation, a fishing boat (Rose of Nevada) reappears at the docks after a 30-year absence and is fixed up by its owner, Mike (Edward Rowe), and his friend Tina (Rosalin Eleazar), whose husband disappeared with the boat. Their plans are a bit fishy and mysterious, and the man they hire to captain the boat (Francis Magee) appears to warp time as raindrops defy gravity by rolling up his arms. The third person on the boat crew is Liam (Callum Turner), a homeless traveler who is found sleeping in an abandoned boathouse near the docks. 

The first fishing trip is a success as they pack the boat with fish and return to the docks to get paid. However, Liam and Nick quickly learn that they’ve traveled back 30 years to 1993, where they find a bustling fishing industry and thriving businesses. This is really bad news for Nick, who finds out that his wife and child don’t exist, and he’s mistaken for a man named Luke (who killed himself after the doomed fishing expedition). Things look better for Liam, who is mistaken for a married man named Alan (who disappeared on the journey). Liam doesn’t mind going back in time because he has a wife, kid, and home (which is way better than being homeless). Together, the two navigate their new reality and learn to accept being stuck in the past. It would be a shame to spoil the rest; just know that it involves morning sickness (very funny joke), fishing trips, and acceptance. 

Turner and MacKay had 20-30 seconds per take because the 16mm Bolex Camera could only capture a limited amount of footage while rolling. This meant that their movements were heavily rehearsed as each shot needed to be deliberate and exact. The good news is that despite the deliberateness, the film never feels precious or false. It’s also neat that Jenkin recorded all the sounds in post-production, which must’ve kept him busy as he recorded boat sounds, birds, dialogue, grunting, splashing water, dripping sinks, and thousands of footsteps. The lack of on-set sound recording equipment allowed Jenkin to solely focus on the visuals, which was a smart move because the film is beautiful and patient. 

Like Bait and Enys Men, the deliberate nature won’t be for everyone. However, if you are looking for a hand-crafted experience that explores nostalgia, loss, decay and acceptance, it doesn’t get any better than Rose of Nevada.

The 2026 mid-year random awards are here! We love handing out awards to our favorite 2026 movie moments/performances/props and hope that you enjoy the randomness.

Here are my favorite (not best) films of 2026 so far. Let me know which 2026 movies you love.

My Favorite 2026 Film Award – Nirvana the Band the Show the Movie is hilarious and endlessly entertaining. I love it so much.

Best Shark Gang – The Renny Harlin-directed film Deep Water features a hungry gang of sharks that attack a jet (and its passengers) that crashed in the Pacific Ocean. It’s great. Listen to our Deep Blue Sea – The Podcast episode! 

Best Kitchen Fight – The Forbidden City is one of my favorite films of the year, and it features an all-timer kitchen fight you need to see. 

Best Time Traveling Boat Award – Rose of Nevada is a beautifully shot movie and it features the best time traveling boat of any 2026 film. Watch it!

This Guy Might Be an Immortal Award – The Furious rules, and it provides a great showcase for Brian Le (watch Gladiator Underground now!).

Best Sad Face Made By a Person Under the Influence of a Devious Wish Award – Obsession – Listen, Inde Navarrette deserves Oscar consideration. She is great. 

I Would’ve Sold the Backrooms Furniture in My Store Award – The Backrooms – If I owned a  furniture store, and I discovered a portal in the basement that transported me to a place filled with furniture, I’d take the furniture and sell it. Free inventory!

When “Teacake” Meets Deadly Fungus Award – Cold Storage – Georgina Campbell and Joe “Teacake” Keery are super likable in Cold Storage. Watching them battle fungus put a big smile on my face .

Most Iconic Sweater Worn By a Guy Who Has Worn a Bunch of Iconic Jacket/Sweaters in Movies Award – Project Hail Mary – Ryan Gosling knows how to rock an iconic sweater/jacket. 

Best WWF Wrestler Paper Figures – My Father’s Shadow made me wish I had the patience to create cool hand-drawn WWF (now WWE) wrestling figures. 

Best Driving Up An Escalator Award – I Love Boosters is a thrillingly hand-crafted film that proves director Boots Riley loves cinema. 

Best Party Princess Who is Allergic to Electronics Award – Good Luck, Have Fun. Don’t Die – Haley Lu Richardson (watch Columbus) is wonderful, and she makes for a great party princess who is allergic to electronics. 

Best Easily Transportable Time Machine – Redux Redux is an excellent sci-fi revenge film that features an easily transportable hopping machine that takes the lead character to parallel universes. It looks heavy, but it’s not, and I love it. 

Comfiest Sweater Worn by a Grumpy Guy Who Has Exiled Himself to an Island – Shelter – I love when Jason Statham rocks a sweater and cardigan. 

Most Delicious Food Prepared on a Desert Island Award – Send Help – Sam Raimi is a madman director who thankfully gave Rachel McAdams a fun showcase for her skills. 

Best Slow Dancing Fueled by Morphine Award – 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple is one of my favorite films of 2026 (top three), and I appreciate how director Nia DaCosta showcases the dancing in gorgeous wide shots. 

Why Would They Allow an Immortal Guy into a Fighting Tournament Called Mortal Kombat Award? – Mortal Kombat II is absolutely delightful and features several wonderful brawls that end with squishy fatalities. 

Best But Worms Award – Masters of the Universe – Hearing Idris Elba say “but worms?” made me very happy. 

Best Italian Hit Man Who Gets His Face Dunked Into a Bowl of Minestrone Award – Gail Daughtry and the Celebrity Sex Pass is another gloriously weird comedy from director David Wain, and it might be the most rewatchable movie of 2026. 

Best Coincidence Award – Tuner is a solid throwback thriller featuring an all-timer coincidence. It doesn’t wreck the movie at all, but it definitely makes you say “that is a gnarly coincidence.”

Best Kitchen Fight During a Restaurant Fight Award – Normal – Director Ben Wheatley + Bob Odenkirk + the Yakuza + a kitchen great = a good time. 

Best Feud Between All You Can Eat Buffet Restaurants Award –  Buffet Infinity is a creative blast of fresh air that has lingered in my memory for months. Watch it!

Best Usage of an Industrial Washing Machine Award – Ready or Not 2: Here I Come – Just when I thought I’d seen all the ways a cultist could be killed, Ready or Not 2: Here I Come came up with a beautiful new way to die. 

Best Worst Foster Parent Award – Thrash is insane and it features some of the worst cinematic foster parents ever. I love it. 

Triple Trauma Award – Killer Whale – TRIPLE TRAUMA! Listen to the DBS podcast episode, and you will understand. 

Best Man in a Suit Riding a Jet Ski Award – Kraken – I’d be happy if all Norwegian creature features featured a man in a suit riding a jet ski. 

Best Caiman Attack Award – The Bluff – More movies should feature crocodiles eating pirates. 

Why Did You Think This Was a Good Idea Award? – The Devil Wears Prada 2 is a fun movie, but there’s a moment on an airplane that still annoys me. 

Best Bludgeoning For a Loaf of Bread Award – The Death of Robin Hood features a guy getting bludgeoned for a loaf of bread. It’s probably the most memorable thing about the movie. 

Best Letterkenny Actor Appearance – Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice – LETTERKENNY! Between Influencers (2025) and Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice, I like seeing Dylan Playfair (AKA Reilly) popping up in movies).

Zazie Beetz Rules Award – They Will Kill You – Zazie Beetz is 100% believable in They Will Kill You, and it makes the movie better. 

Best Grumpy Writer Who Has a Bad Night in an Irish Hotel Award – Hokum – Adam Scott needs to play more grumpy writers who get stuck in shifty Irish hotels. 

Never Listen to a Squirrelly Guy Who Sells Homemade Beef Jerky Award – Apex is cool because it’s the rare Netflix film that was filmed outdoors. I like it. The location makes it work. 

Tony Leung Ka-fai is Having a Very Good Action Year Award – Watch Blades of the Guardians and The Shadow’s Edge, they are wonderful. 

Best Gun Fingers Award – The Drama – No spoilers here, watch The Drama!

Seagulls + Great White Shark = Greatness Award – Hoppers – Any movie that features seagulls diving into the ocean to pick up a friendly great white shark is cool with me. 

Yo! This Movie is Going For it Award – Primate goes hard, and it’s a solid example of a well-crafted horror movie that goes for it (and features likable characters). 

Best Insult Aimed at a Pastor Award – Dead Man’s Wire – Bill Skarsgård tells a preacher to “wash his ass,” and it’s very funny. 

Best Low Blow Award – I Swear is an excellent film, and it features the best low blow of any 2025/2026 film. Watching Peter Mullan get hit by Robert Aramayo is pretty great. 

I Think There’s a Good Movie Somewhere In Here But All I Can Think About is How Many F-Bombs Are Being Dropped – The Rip features so many F-bombs that all you can think about is how many F-bombs are being dropped.

Megan Hofmeyer

• Best Lobster Tower – Dracula
• Best Cannibal Assassin (the Barron) – Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice
• Best Actor Sent to Save the World (but he left his trunk open) – Mortal Kombat II
• Best Suit While Riding on a Jet Ski – Kraken
• Best Annoyed Spider Wife  (It’s an arrow, Ted) – Hoppers
• Best Weapons:
• I’m going to get the Crossbow – Hokum
• Faith & a flintlock – The Bluff
• Best Cheek Squeezing – Blades of the Guardians 
• Best Celebrity Cookbook: Straightforward Suppers – Gail Daughtry and the Celebrity Sex Pass
• Best Tiny Castle Art Studio – The Super Mario Galaxy Movie
• Best Squeaky Leather Apparel Since K-Pop Demon Hunters – Normal
• Best Tuna Salad in a Desk – Send Help
• Best Closing Line of a Movie – I Love Boosters

Aaron Neuwirth – Listen to the Out Now With Aaron and Abe Podcast AND 2 Black Guys Talk Godzilla. 

• Best Potty-Training Device – Toy Story 5
• Best Use of Humans as Marinettes – Jackass: Best and Last
• Best Literal Slugfest – The Mandalorian and Grogu
• Best Sequel to Revive Previously Dead Characters – Mortal Kombat II
• Best Road Trip/Revenge Movie – Is God Is
• Best Use of Chemical Brothers – Apex
• The Touch of the Tuc Award for Best Stanley Tucci Performance – The Devil Wears Prada 2
• The Guy Ritchie Award for Best Dressed Mercenaries – In the Grey
• Best Thriller Reenactment Since 13 Going on 30 – Michael
• Best Dressed Anne Hathaway Movie – Mother Mary
• Best Lee Cronin the Movie – Lee Cronin’s The Mummy
• Best Use of Childhood Mishaps and Trauma as Dinner Conversation – The Drama
• Best Decapitations – They Will Kill You
• Best Avatar Movie of 2026 – Hoppers
• Best Karaoke Scene – tie: Project Hail Mary and Balls Up
• Best Caravan of Bounty Hunters – Blades of the Guardians
• Best 5-Way Action Climax – The Furious
• Best Quest To Go Down One Floor of a Building – Pizza Movie
• Best Wedding Band – Power Ballad
• Best Helicopter Moment (and I don’t mean the vehicle): Tie – The Wrecking Crew and Jackass: Best and Last
• Best Bed and Breakfast: Hokum 

Joey Lewandowski – Listen to the 2 Fast 2 Forever Podcast!

• Coolest Nuns: Disclosure Day
• (Coolest Nuns, NBA Edition: the San Antonio Spurs nuns)
• Soda of the Year: Orbitz
• Best Short: Paper Trail by Don Hertzfeldt
• Worst Title for a Good Movie: Is God Is
• Best DIY Art Project: Duct Taping a Front Door in Obsession
• Best Concert Film: EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert
• Best Dance Moves, Non-Elvis Edition: Ralph Fiennes in The Bone Temple

Quick Thoughts:

1. Gail Daughtry and the Celebrity Sex Pass is an immensely likable comedy that’s jam-packed with funny gags, minestrone soup, and phone computers. I love it.
2. Zoey Deutch rules.
3. Slat-Man!
4. More movies need to focus on small-town hairdressers traveling to Los Angeles to hook up with Jon Hamm.
5. Ben Wang, Miles Gutierrez-Riley, Ken Marino, and John Slattery should exclusively act with each other. They have wonderful chemistry.
6. I’d buy Jennifer Aniston’s cookbook.
7. I like it when it takes a long time to make a long story short.
8. It features the best foot-smashing scene of any 2026 film (so far).

Gail Daughtry and the Celebrity Sex Pass tells the age-old story of what happens when a Kansas-based hairdresser named Gail Daughtry (Zoey Deutch) travels to Los Angeles so she can have sex with Jon Hamm. If you’ve ever wanted to see an interpretation of The Wizard of Oz from the mind of writer/director David Wain (Wet Hot American Summer, They Came Together, Role Models), you’re in luck, because Gail Daughtry and the Celebrity Sex Pass features red shoes, a character named Otto (think about it), and a wicked Italian gangster who uses minestrone soup as a torture device. Also, it has nothing to do with The Wizard of Oz, but it makes me very happy that Wain and co-writer Ken Marino decided to make an Oz-esque film in which John “Slat-Man” Slattery is kicked in the balls. The end product is super likable and might be the most rewatchable movie released this year.

Kicking off in Kansas, Gail is about to get married to her high school crush, Tom Soursap McNoodleman (Michael Cassidy). Things quickly go awry when they attend a cookbook reading at a local bookstore headlined by Jennifer Aniston. After the reading, Gail catches Tom hooking up with Anniston because she’s his celebrity sex pass (It was Tilda Swinton, but Anniston’s charms changed his mind). Distraught over the friendly bookstore fling, Gail and her hairdresser friend Otto fly to Los Angeles so they can attend a convention featuring an appearance by Remy Fontaine (Thomas Lennon), the King of the Whip Curl. When they arrive, the duo visit McDonald’s, drink Starbucks coffee, and visit Psychic Journeys LLC Co-Owner Charlotte Manetti (Kerry Kenney-Silver), who tells Gail she should hook up with Jon Hamm to even the scales in her relationship.

During Gail and Otto’s journey, they meet a CAA junior staffer (Ben Wang), a celebrity photographer (Ken Marino), and a washed-up John “Slat-Man” Slattery. Together, the unlikely squad is almost shot by “Weird Al” Yankovic, and one of them gets their foot obliterated by a door (since it’s a Wain film, the bashing is excessively long). What follows is a journey that involves Italian assassins, swapped suitcases, sick threats, dozens of dead bodies, and a hot air balloon. It’s all very silly, but the actors are totally dedicated to Wain’s absurdity. The film was shot independently, and you can feel the budget being stretched, but the scrappy vibe fits the tone of the scrappy movie. While researching the production, I learned that Wain and Marino wrote the comedy during a seven-day binge-writing session, which feels right because the structure is very loose. However, after decades of writing and directing absurd comedies (with tiny budgets), Wain knows how to organize comedic elements into very funny experiences.

Zoey Deutch (Everybody Wants Some!!, Set It Up) fits perfectly in Wain’s world as she’s down for everything and has perfect comedic timing. Also, it’s nice seeing Ben Wang (The Long Walk, Karate Kid: Legends) and Miles Gutierrez-Riley (Smile 2, Agatha All Along) getting a chance to flex their comedic chops. The MVP of the film is John Slattery, who plays a version of himself who didn’t get any work after Mad Men. Slattery leans into the absurdity and gets a chance to become an action hero when he (and his obvious stunt double) beat up dozens of henchmen in an abandoned film set.

Final thoughts – It will put a big smile on your face. Watch it!

Quick thoughts:

1. Milly Alcock is wonderful.
2. Jason Momoa is Jason Momoa.
3. Between green suns, poison, kryptonite darts, and red suns, the film does its best to prevent the OP Supergirl from crushing all the villains who get in her way. It gets excessive
4. I wish director Craig Gillespie and writer Ana Nogueira had more faith in Milly Alcock and her character. Kara Zor-El gets lost amongst revenge-driven teenagers, angry immortals, hungry villains, flashbacks, and Superman cameos.
5. The action scenes blend together into a blob of punching, throwing, and smooshing.
6. The human trafficking plot doesn’t blend well with the cheeky tone. It’s an odd mix.
7. Grade – 5 out of 10 CGI smack-em-ups
8. Never eat alien poop snacks

Adapted from the 2021 comic miniseries Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow by Tom King and Bilquis, Supergirl is a decent superhero film that promises bigger things for star Milly Alcock.  Director Craig Gillespie (I, Tonya, Lars and the Real Girl, Dumb Money) has proven that he can successfully direct big-budget fare like Cruella and Finest Hours, but he seems more comfortable crafting character-driven indies such as I, Tonya and Lars and the Real Girl. In his smaller films (and in shows such as The United States of Tara), he loves exploring the lives of damaged people who find themselves in unique situations involving broken legs and odd love interests. So, on paper, Supergirl is a nice match with Gillespie, but the biggest problem with Supergirl is that Gillespie and writer Ana Nogueira used their filmmaking superpowers to sideline the adventures of Kara Zor-El (Alcock) by frequently taking her out of the action and cynically shoehorning in Jason Momoa’s Lobo (who doesn’t appear in the 2021 miniseries). It’s like they didn’t trust the Supergirl character to carry the 108-minute film, so they didn’t solely focus on the interesting alien with a unique backstory.

The film revolves around Kara Zor-El celebrating her 23rd birthday with an intergalactic pub crawl that takes her to planets lit by red suns, which allow her to get lit (AKA super drunk). Her trip is loaded with drunken nights, hungover mornings, and a mid-afternoon yellow sun refresher (it’s like a hangover IV bag for humans) that recharges her super batteries. Her ship is a mess, she ignores messages from her cousin Kal-El (David Corenswet – very funny), and she shares her cereal with her dog Krypto. All of this is understandable because her home planet is gone, her parents are dead, and she doesn’t spend enough time on Earth to make it feel like home. It’s a deserved birthday bender that ends when she comes across Ruthye Marye Knoll (Eve Ridley), a sword-wielding teenager who is trying (and failing) to avenge the death of her parents. Ruthye’s parents were killed by an irredeemable space pirate named Krem of the Yellow Hills (Matthias Schoenaerts), who is the leader of a gang of rogues named the Brigands.

The plot kicks in when Krem steals Kara’s ship and shoots Krypto with a poisoned dart that will kill her beloved pet in three days. This forces Kara and Ruthye to hitch a ride on an intergalactic bus that’s hijacked by techno-space pirates (lots of pirates in this film) who conveniently know Krem’s whereabouts. Once they arrive at Krem’s supposed location, Kara beats up dozens of cantina patrons, which leads to a CGI smack-em-up involving kidnapped female teenagers and a bounty hunter named Lobo (Jason Momoa) who is hunting down a Brigand mark. After the brawl, Krem escapes to a planet with a green sun, which leads to an uninteresting brawl filled with dust, slow-motion action, large explosions, and a cover of the Jimmy Eat World song “The Middle.”

The rest of the film plays like Guardians of the Galaxy met Mad: Max: Fury Road, and they started a band with Momoa’s serial killer character from Fast X. The result is a mess of comedic and dramatic tones that follows an orphaned superhero battling space pirates who prowl the galaxy looking for young female slaves to carry on their line (it’s odd). It’s obvious that Momoa’s character was shoehorned into the film for future DC installments, but his loud shenanigans undermine Kara’s adventures and do nothing for the plot. Jason Momoa rules, but it would’ve been nice if the Supergirl creators had more faith in the lead character.

The best parts of Supergirl involve Kara’s tragic backstory, which explains her booze-fueled intergalactic benders. She’s a 23-year-old with no people, home, or friends, and was forced to figure out who she is in a new world. Supergirl is an interesting character in a not-so-interesting film. Other highlights include a space bug that poops out candied pecans (or something similar), and a sassy intergalactic bus driver voiced by Seth Rogan. The makeup and creature design are fantastic as well, and I thoroughly enjoyed all the creatures that inhabit the world.

Final thoughts – If there’s a Supergirl 2, I hope they have more confidence in the Supergirl character.