
Arnold Schwarzenegger Teases Predator and Conan Franchise Returns
Arnold Schwarzenegger hinted at returning to the Predator and Conan franchises during the Arnold Sports Festival. He said director Dan Trachtenberg wants him in the next Predator film and mentioned a new script for a sequel to Commando. Schwarzenegger also revealed plans for a "King Conan" movie with a top writer/director, tailored to his age. The announcements come as Fox Studios revives legacy action properties with sizable budgets.

New Release Review - THE TASTERS
Silvio Soldini’s new film *The Tasters* dramatizes a group of Polish women forced to taste Adolf Hitler’s meals during the final months of World War II. The story draws from Margot Wölk’s memoir, as adapted in Rosella Postorino’s *At the Wolf’s Table*, but...

Deathkeeper Review (2026 Glasgow Frightfest)
Deathkeeper, a low‑budget adaptation of Vasilios Bouzas’s novel, premiered at Glasgow Frightfest 2026. The film’s ambitious premise—an aging rebel angel battling demonic forces—collides with a thin script, uneven tone, and underdeveloped world‑building. While the cast shows commitment, stilted dialogue and...

The Summer I Turned Pretty: Gavin Casalegno Gives an Update on the Prime Video Series Finale Movie
Prime Video’s teen drama “The Summer I Turned Pretty” is slated for a feature‑film continuation, but production remains uncertain. Actor Gavin Casalegno revealed there is still no script and no set filming date, suggesting the project could hinge on a...

We Believe You Sweeps the Board at the René Du Cinéma Awards - Festivals / Awards - Belgium
The debut feature We Believe You, directed by Charlotte Devillers and Arnaud Dufeys, dominated the 15th René du Cinéma Awards, taking eight trophies including Best Film, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Actress and the inaugural Audience Award. The film, which...

The Man Who Refuses to Die Returns: ‘Sisu: Road to Revenge’ Sets Netflix Streaming Date
Sony’s action sequel *Sisu: Road to Revenge* will debut on Netflix US on March 21, 2026, after its November 2025 theatrical run. The film entered Netflix’s exclusive 18‑month “Pay‑1” window, joining other Sony titles in the streaming catalog. Despite a...

New to VOD - H IS FOR HAWK
Philippa Lowthorpe’s film “H is for Hawk”, starring Claire Foy, adapts Helen Macdonald’s bestselling memoir about training a goshawk amid grief. Co‑written with Emma Donoghue, the VOD release condenses the book’s lyrical prose into a visual narrative focused on the protagonist’s bond...

Mikael: Pemburu Dua Alam by Zahir Omar Trailer
The new trailer for Zahir Omar’s "Mikael: Pemburu Dua Alam" introduces elite police officer Mikael, who secretly hunts jinn from Islamic folklore. A brutal wedding massacre sparks an investigation that uncovers a prophecy of a Jinn King poised to invade...

HKIFF50 Names Firebird Awards Juries
The 50th Hong Kong International Film Festival has unveiled its Firebird Awards juries, featuring internationally recognized filmmakers such as Ildikó Enyedi, Ben Rivers, Edwin, Park Ki‑yong, and Philip Yung. The competition will judge 42 films across four categories—Young Cinema (Chinese‑language...
UK Film and High-End Television Spend Rose to £6.8 Billion in 2025, the BFI Reveals - Industry / Market -...
The British Film Institute reported that UK film and high‑end television production spend reached £6.8 billion in 2025, a 22 % year‑on‑year rise and the third‑largest annual total on record. Inward investment drove the surge, accounting for £5.8 billion (85 % of spend), while...

Busan International Film Festival Appoints Karen Park as Deputy Director
Busan International Film Festival (BIFF) has named veteran Karen Park as Deputy Director, a role she assumes after 17 years of service across PR, programming, and guest services. Park previously held senior positions such as Head of Program and Program...

Chouwa Liang on Replica: AI Love, Loneliness, and Digital Intimacy
Chinese director Chouwa Liang’s documentary “Replica,” debuting at the Thessaloniki Documentary Film Festival, investigates the rise of AI romantic partners and digital intimacy. Drawing from her own pandemic‑era AI companion experience, Liang interviewed over a hundred users and focused on...

The Next Best Picture Podcast: Episode 482 – Our Final Oscar Winner Predictions For The 98th Academy Awards, “I Swear”...
Episode 482 of the Next Best Picture Podcast, released ahead of the 98th Academy Awards on March 15, presents the hosts’ final Oscar winner predictions across all categories. The episode also reviews the new trailers for “I Swear” and “Scary...
Sinners Aces MPSE Awards
The Motion Picture Sound Editors (MPSE) announced winners across 24 categories, highlighting achievements in dialogue, ADR, effects, Foley, and music for film, TV, animation, documentaries, and games. Warner Bros.’ "Sinners" captured top honors in both feature dialogue/ADR and feature music...

In The Land Of Lost Angels - Jennie Kermode - 20232
‘In The Land Of Lost Angels’ is Bishrel Mashbat’s noir‑styled debut, following two Mongolian immigrants who kidnap a wealthy man’s son in night‑time Los Angeles. The film intertwines a tense kidnapping plot with probing questions of cultural identity and assimilation....

Turner & Constable - Jennie Kermode - 20233
The Exhibition on Screen documentary spotlights the first joint Turner‑Constable showcase at Tate Britain, running November 2025 to April 2026. It contrasts Turner’s dramatic light experiments with Constable’s grounded English landscapes, while highlighting their shared influences such as Claude Lorrain....

Silence = Death – Short Film Review
Trace Pope’s short film *Silence = Death* dramatizes ACT UP’s 1990 “Storm the NIH” protest, placing viewers amid the AIDS crisis. It follows filmmaker Jamie as he documents the protest while caring for a dying partner, interweaving three narrative threads—including Dr....
True/False Film Fest Dispatch #2: ‘Phenomena,’ ‘Who Moves America,’ ‘Landscapes of Memory’
The 2026 True/False Film Fest in Columbia, Missouri debuted ten world‑premiere documentaries, spotlighting three standouts: *Phenomena*, *Who Moves America* and *Landscapes of Memory*. *Phenomena* follows a father‑son duo turning everyday experiments into visual poetry, earning a C‑ for its repetitive...

Red Riding - Jennie Kermode - 20231
Red Riding, a Scottish reinterpretation of Little Red Riding Hood, marks actor Craig Conway’s directorial debut. The film follows teen Redele (Victoria Tait) as she navigates grief, family secrets, and class tension on a remote estate. Critics praise the moody atmosphere and Tait’s...
Indomitable Spirit by Jennie Kermode
Effi O Blaenau, a low‑budget Welsh‑language film adapted from Gary Owen’s play Iphigenia In Splott, premiered at the Glasgow Film Festival. Director Marc Evans and lead Leisa Gwenllian turned the monologue‑heavy stage work into a full‑length drama, shooting on location in...

Most Indie Films Don’t Miss Funding Because They’re Bad
Indie filmmakers often blame poor scripts for funding failures, but the real culprit is a broken financial structure. Investors evaluate risk, recoupment probability, liquidity timeline, and market position within minutes, discarding projects that lack realistic budgets, clear audience targeting, solid...

The Fall Of Sir Douglas Weatherford - Jennie Kermode - 20229
The Fall Of Sir Douglas Weatherford, screened at the 2026 Glasgow Film Festival, follows Kenneth (Peter Mullan), a grieving museum caretaker forced to replace his historic tours with a fantasy production called White Stag Of Emberfell. Mullan’s gravitas anchors a...

Jaripeo - Edin Custo - 20230
Jaripeo, co‑directed by Efraín Mojica and Rebecca Zweig, documents gay men embedded in Mexico’s traditional rodeo culture. The film follows participants in Michoacán’s jaripeo scene, exposing how they negotiate machismo, family expectations, and religious faith while expressing diverse queer identities. It highlights...

Shooting The Western With Dean Semler
Dean Semler, an Australian cinematographer known for his early work on thrillers and Mad Max 2, pivoted to westerns in the late 1980s and quickly became the genre’s visual architect. His breakthrough came with the commercially successful Young Guns (1988), followed...

Care, Courage, and Comedy
The post spotlights three recent releases—Juliette Binoche’s drama "Queen at Sea," the Dardenne brothers’ Cannes‑winning "Young Mothers," and Taylor Tomlinson’s Netflix comedy special "Prodigal Daughter." Each work centers on women navigating caregiving, poverty, or personal turmoil, offering nuanced portrayals of...

Harvey’s Hellhole: Il Postino (The Postman)
Harvey Weinstein aggressively positioned the Italian romance Il Postino for Oscar glory in 1996, expanding its theatrical run and launching a high‑profile awards campaign. The film earned over $21 million domestically, secured five Academy Award nominations—including Best Picture—and won Best Original Score....

Lay Lefty Down – Short Film Review
Lay Lefty Down, a short film by writer‑director Traven Rice, stages a surprise funeral for a woman’s left breast after a mastectomy, blending dark comedy with genuine emotion. Alexandra Seal anchors the story as Abby, navigating grief amid absurd pageantry,...
Who Will Remember You?: “The Secret Agent” And the Humanities as Resistance
Kleber Mendonça Filho’s new film “The Secret Agent” revisits Brazil’s 1977 military dictatorship through a pulpy thriller that abruptly shifts to a present‑day university archivist’s quest to recover erased histories. The narrative intertwines the fate of Armando, a persecuted researcher,...
The Mechanic [4K UHD]
Under the Radar Magazine’s 4K UHD review spotlights the 1972 thriller *The Mechanic*, starring Charles Bronson as a meticulous, paid assassin. The Kino Lorber 4K Ultra HD + Blu‑ray edition restores the film’s original visual texture and adds extensive audio commentaries plus a screenwriter interview....

First Trailer and Poster for Giallo Influenced Thriller CITY WIDE FEVER
Writer‑director Josh Heaps unveils the first trailer and poster for his Giallo‑inspired thriller City Wide Fever, starring Diletta Guglielmi and a mix of emerging and veteran actors. The film follows a film student who uncovers a violent conspiracy while investigating...

First Teaser for POV Horror DEAD EYES
Australian filmmaker Richard E. Williams unveils the first teaser for his POV horror "Dead Eyes," shot with a custom head‑mounted Sony camera. The story follows Sean and his fiancée Grace as they hunt for Sean’s missing father in a remote forest, uncovering...

‘Lady’ Trailer: Sian Clifford Stars in Surreal British Comedy Opening in UK Cinemas This July
MetFilm Distribution has released the trailer for ‘Lady,’ a surreal British comedy debuting in UK and Irish cinemas on July 3, 2024. Written and directed by BAFTA‑nominated Samuel Abrahams, the film marks his first narrative feature after acclaimed shorts like ‘Connect.’...

‘Lorne’ Trailer: Morgan Neville’s Documentary Explores the Legacy of Lorne Michaels
Focus Features released a new trailer for "Lorne," an Oscar‑winning filmmaker Morgan Neville’s documentary about Saturday Night Live creator Lorne Michaels. The film promises unprecedented behind‑the‑scenes access, rare archival footage and candid interviews with comedy heavyweights such as Tina Fey,...
Effi O Blaenau - Jennie Kermode - 20228
Effi O Blaenau, a Welsh‑language film directed by Marc Evans, adapts Gary Owen’s acclaimed play Iphigenia In Splott and follows the turbulent life of Effi, a benefit‑dependent young woman in Blaenau Ffestiniog. Leisa Gwenllian’s raw, magnetic performance anchors a story that...

The Wizard Of The Kremlin - Jennie Kermode - 20227
The Wizard of the Kremlin, directed by Olivier Assayas, adapts Giuliano da Empoli’s novel into a political thriller that follows a Surkov‑like figure recounting his rise alongside Vladimir Putin. Paul Dano delivers a deliberately flat performance, while the film rushes...

PICK OF THE WEEK: "Napa Boys"
The Substack post spotlights "Napa Boys," a new comedy that follows three wine‑obsessed friends on a chaotic California wine‑country road trip. Directed by Nick Corirossi and co‑written with Armen Weitzman, the film is described as a mash‑up of Sideways, American Pie,...
ESG, Ross McElwee, and Other Exciting Artists Take Over True/False 2026
The 23rd True/False Film Festival opens in Columbia, Missouri from March 5‑8, 2026 under the "You Are Here" theme selected by artistic director Yance Ford. The program blends non‑fiction world premieres—Ross McElwee’s "Remake," Josef Gatti’s "Phenomena," Bryn Silverman’s "Pinball," Carolina González Valencia’s "How to Clean a House...
“A Trippy, Psychedelic Musical Odyssey”: Josef Gatti on Phenomena
Australian filmmaker Josef Gatti’s debut feature Phenomena transforms a decade‑long series of scientific short films into a 90‑minute documentary that captures real molecular reactions with high‑speed cameras. The film pairs these trippy visuals with original scores by Nils Frahm and...

Review: Pompei: Below the Clouds
Gianfranco Rosi’s new black‑and‑white documentary *Pompei: Below the Clouds* offers a poetic, narration‑free portrait of life in the shadow of Mount Vesuvius. The film juxtaposes serene daily routines with the ever‑present threat of volcanic eruption, using stark imagery and ambient...
How The Secret Agent Became Brazil’s Reluctant Political Rorschach Test
Brazil’s period drama *The Secret Agent* has emerged as a surprise Oscar contender, leading the domestic box office among Best Picture nominees. The film’s success coincides with Brazil’s October presidential election, where incumbent Lula seeks a historic fourth term against...

The Dummy Detective: Here’s Looking at You, Doll
The Dummy Detective is a low‑budget indie film that blends classic film‑noir tropes with a ventriloquist‑detective premise, positioning itself as both homage and satire. Written and headlined by professional ventriloquist Jonathan Geffner, the movie leans on Sean Young’s quirky innkeeper...

How To Make A Killing – The BRWC Review
John Patton Ford’s second feature *How to Make a Killing* attempts a satirical, class‑based thriller but delivers a bland, undercooked narrative. The film follows Beckett Redfellow, a low‑level salesman who murders his billionaire relatives to claim a $10 billion inheritance, yet it...
For Once, the Oscars Are Unpredictable
The Oscar race has become unusually fluid, with the usual frontrunners reduced to maybes as final voting approaches. Michael B. Jordan’s surprise best‑actor win for *Sinners* at the SAG Awards rattled the field, while Sean Penn’s supporting win and Amy Madigan’s horror‑genre...

A Matter of Time: L.A. Confidential and the Art of Aging Well
L.A. Confidential, Curtis Hanson’s 1997 neo‑noir thriller, earned nine Oscar nominations but only two wins, losing Best Picture to Titanic. While critics’ groups crowned it Best Picture across major cities, the film has outlasted many contemporaries, becoming a benchmark for...

Your Movie Rocks: Super Mario Bros.
The 1995 Super Mario Bros. film arrived with a $48 million budget, promising a live‑action translation of Nintendo’s iconic platformer, but its gritty, cyber‑punk reinterpretation clashed with the franchise’s family‑friendly image. Critical backlash and a domestic box‑office of only $20 million signaled a major...

The Martini Shot (2025)
Stephen Wallis’s new existential comedy‑drama *The Martini Shot* debuts on UK digital platforms via Miracle Media. The film stars a veteran ensemble—including John Cleese, Derek Jacobi and Morgana Robinson—centered on a terminally ill director who stages a final, surreal shoot. While the cast...

The Tasters (2025)
The Tasters, directed by Silvio Soldini, dramatizes the true‑story of seven German women forced to sample Adolf Hitler’s meals to guard against poison. Elisa Schlott leads as Rosa Sauer, a Berlin refugee who balances loyalty, love for an SS officer,...

Dead Souls (2026) Rotterdam Film Festival 2026
Alex Cox’s 2026 film Dead Souls, debuting at the Rotterdam Film Festival, is the first Western‑made adaptation of Nikolai Gogol’s surreal poem. The director blends classic frontier imagery with hallucinatory sequences, supported by striking cinematography from Ignacio Aguilar and Chance...
PODCAST: Getting a $75K Feature On HBO & Selling a Video Agency For $17MM With Stefan Van De Graaff
Filmmaker Stefan van de Graaff turned a $75,000 micro‑budget feature, *Simmer*, into an HBO title after the short went viral on Facebook, amassing one million views. He leveraged that success to finance a $1 million international production using tax incentives, grants,...

The Sommelier’s Amulet: Nick Corirossi and Armen Weitzman on The Napa Boys
Comedians Nick Corirossi and Armen Weitzman have written, co‑directed and starred in “The Napa Boys,” a self‑referential comedy that imagines a fourth installment of a fictional wine‑centric franchise. The film debuted in TIFF’s Midnight Madness program, screened in IMAX, and...