The 2026 Mid-Year Random Awards!

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