HOPPERS (2026) review
written by: Jesse Andrews (screenplay) and Daniel Chong (story)
produced by: Nicole Paradis Grindle
directed by: Daniel Chong
rated: PG (for action/peril, some scary images, and mild language)
runtime: 104 min.
U.S. release date: March 6, 2026
“Hopper”, the latest animated feature from Pixar Animation Studios, is about a robot that integrates itself into the wild world of animals. That may sound like 2024’s award-winning “The Wild Robot”. It’s also about an activist/conservationist who transfers into a robot that looks, feels, and sounds like the wild animals it interacts with. That sounds like what we’ve seen in the “Avatar” movies. Comparisons are both understandable and inevitable, but “Hoppers”, which was directed by Daniel Chong (“The Bare Bear Movie”) and written by novelist Jesse Andrews, is weird and silly enough to be doing its own thing. It’s more than just a cutesy, talking animals movie, but even if it were, there’s a need for family-friendly fare in theaters. Read more…
DOLLY (2026) review
written by: Rod Blackhurst and Brandon Weavil
produced by: Rod Blackhurst, Joseph C. Grano, Noah Lang, Bryce McGuire, Ross O’Connor, Esteban Sanchez, Isaiah Smallman & Betty Tong
directed by: Rod Blackhurst
rated: R (for strong violence, gore, grisly images, language, and some nudity)
runtime: 83 min.
U.S. release date: March 6, 2026
Although it’s filmed in Tennessee, “Dolly” is not a Dolly Parton biopic, nor is it an exhaustive look at the history of dolly shots in film. Think more along the lines of Tobe Hooper’s “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre”, minus the chainsaws and the massacre, which co-producer/director Rod Blackhurst certainly had in mind when he and his crew filmed this demented, gory, and grisly horror flick in the Chattanooga woods on 16mm in 2024. There may not be much of a story in this middle-of-nowhere nightmare, and horror tropes are intact, but the mise-en-scène of the feature proves Blackhurst isn’t fooling around here. Read more…
GHOST ELEPHANTS (2025) review
produced by: Ariel Leon Isacovitch
directed by: Werner Herzog
rated: not rated
runtime: 98 min.
U.S. release date: February 27, 2026 (theaters) and March 7, 2026 (Disney+/Hulu)
Last August at the Venice International Film Festival, veteran German filmmaker Werner Herzog received the festival’s highest prize, the Golden Lion, which is awarded to directors, actors, and other personalities from the world of cinema who have distinguished themselves in the art. Herzog is indeed a director, making some of the industry’s most notable narrative features and documentaries, but he’s also an actor, writer, producer, and much more. It’s a well-deserved award, but the 82-year-old artist was also attending the festival to promote his latest documentary, “Ghost Elephants”, which follows Steve Boyes, a South African conservationist and National Geographic Explorer who has dedicated his career to studying and protecting Africa’s river ecosystems and wilderness areas. Read more…
SOLO MIO (2026) review
written by: Kevin James, Patrick Kinnane, and John Kinnane
produced by: Mark Fasano and Jeffrey Greenstein
directed by: Chuck Kinnane and Dan Kinnane
rated: PG (for some suggestive material, brief language, violence, and smoking)
runtime: 96 min.
U.S. release date: February 6, 2026
The Kinnane Brothers are described as an “American filmmaking collective” on Wikipedia. They consist of six Kinnane brothers and one brother-in-law, Jeffrey Azize, and indeed, all of them have worked together on directing, writing, producing, and editing films and documentaries. For their latest family endeavor, they’ve partnered with Angel Studios for “Solo Mio”, a romcom starring Kevin James. A look at the credits shows Kinnane all over the place: Charles and Daniel Kinnane handle directing duties, John and Patrick Kinnane write the script (with James), Pete Kinnane edits the picture, and Brendan, Jeffrey, and William serve as executive producers. Knowing this makes me more interesting an documentary on the Kinnane family. How do they not get sick of each other? Read more…
PILLION (2025) review
written by: Harry Lighton
produced by: Emma Norton, Lee Groombridge, Ed Guiney, and Andrew Lowe
directed by: Harry Lighton
rated: not rated
runtime: 107 min.
U.S. release date: February 27, 2026
Based on the 2020 book “Box Hill,” in which author Adam Mars-Jones explores the loneliness of a gay man unable to find connection in the world, “Pillion” eventually finds relief from a most unusual person and his particular demands for attention. While the story has apparently changed on the road to a film adaptation, writer/director Harry Lighton has nevertheless kept the story’s core the same: the strong feelings between two men as they attempt to work out a dominant/submissive relationship. What stands out the most is how Lighton displays such filmmaking confidence and storytelling efficiency for his feature-length directorial debut. It’s a tall task considering there are some dark emotional spaces to explore along the way, but the film winds up displaying a delightful amount of warmth as we watch an unusual romantic development occur, one that explores wants, desire, and, of course, a good amount of kink. Read more…
NIRVANNA THE BAND THE SHOW THE MOVIE (2026) review
written by: Matt Johnson & Jay McCarrol, story by Johnson, McCarrol, Jared Raab, Curt Lobb, Matthew Miller, Matt Greyson, Luca Tarantini, & Evan Morgan
produced by: Matt Greyson & Matthew Miller
directed by: Matt Johnson
rated: R (for language and brief violence)
runtime: 99 min.
U.S. release date: February 13, 2026
“As far as I’m concerned, Nirvanna the Band is playing the Rivoli tonight.”
In our current franchise-saturated landscape, it’s almost impossible to walk into a movie completely cold, knowing nothing about its past iterations, and enjoy the movie for what it is. This makes the notion of seeing a film called “Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie” seem daunting on the surface, as the film’s origins date back to a 2007 Canadian web series. However, the miracle of “Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie” is that absolutely none of that matters, and it can be enjoyed fully by anyone at any level of familiarity with the source material. Read more…
VIVA VERDI! (2025) review
written by: Yvonne Russo and Christine La Monte
produced by: Christine La Monte, Yvonne Russo and Ron Simons
directed by: Yvonne Russo
rated: not rated
runtime: 77 min.
U.S. release date: October 3, 2025 (limited)
For those who feel that becoming an octogenarian is the equivalent of a death sentence, I urge you to watch “Viva Verdi”, which confirms the exact opposite. Director Vvonne Russo’s documentary takes viewers to Casa Verdi, located in Milan, Italy. The expansive estate in northern Italy is known as a home for retired opera singers and musicians, founded by Italian composer Giuseppe Verdi in 1896. Russo’s film will definitely enlighten a broader audience to Casa Verdi, but her documentary is a reminder that such a place is simply a museum if it’s not populated by artists who can benefit from living and learning in a place that values and appreciates them. Read more…
Oscar-Nominated Documentary Shorts (2026) review
Of the three Short categories that the Academy has each year, the Documentary Shorts is typically the best. This is where we’ll see the most compelling stories, not just because they’re real-life stories, but because of the combination of the subject matter and how they’re told. That’s definitely the situation this year. All five nominees are compelling in their own way. One stands out as the clear frontrunner, but they’re all worth your time. Read more…
Oscar-Nominated Animated Shorts (2026) review
This year’s five nominees in the Best Animated Short category show an impressive range of creative variety and style. It is once again proof that anything can happen with Animation, a medium that allows for unquantifiable possibilities. Here are passion projects that have been labored over for years, and there is something to appreciate in each nominee in this category. All of these shorts have spent the past year touring the festival circuit, and earning Oscar nominations is a treat for us, as it gives them an opportunity to reach a wider audience. Read more…
Oscar-Nominated Live-Action Shorts (2026) review
It’s a strange surprise that none of this year’s Oscar-nominated Live-Action shorts stand out or are as impressive as they should be. They should be because they’re Oscar-nominated. Granted, none of them are bad, but I expect to be wowed or impressed by a Short that receives an Oscar nomination. Only one piqued my curiosity and had me thinking; the other four were fine or good. Many of these nominees have toured the festival circuit in the past year after their world premieres at the Tribeca Film Festival, South by Southwest, and the Toronto International Film Festival, and now they are getting a theatrical release thanks to Roadside Attractions, leading up to the March 15th Oscar telecast, where a winner will be announced. Read more…
