I mentioned in Monday’s post that 2026 has been the best start to a movie year in as long as I can remember. Through the first three months — usually a dumping ground for a studio’s weakest material — I have seen more than a half dozen films I can wholeheartedly recommend and a handful more that are at the very least interesting.
Two of those movies will almost certainly make my year-end top ten list: Nirvanna The Band The Show The Movie and 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple. And if they don’t, that will mean the rest of the year is lights-out good.
I won’t say much about Nirvanna here because I’ll be singing its praises a year from now, and because it is best experienced if you know as little as possible going in. I’ll just note that it’s a hilarious, heartfelt, original comedy that has nothing to do with the Seattle band.
The Bone Temple is director Nia Dicosta’s chapter of the 28 Days Later series, the fourth film in the franchise and a direct sequel to last year’s 28 Years Later. It turns the zombie apocalypse into a gorgeously violent and achingly human fantasia and features an incredible Ralph Fiennes performance.
The Bone Temple is one of a quartet of horror movies I’ve really enjoyed this year. Rachel McAdams and Dylan O’Brien have wickedly good chemistry in Sam Raimi’s girlboss satire Send Help. Samara Weaving finds herself in deeper trouble in Ready Or Not 2: Here I Come, a fun sequel to 2019’s great Ready or Not that brings the delightful Kathryn Newton onboard. And Zazie Beetz is a sexy, kickass marvel in They Will Kill You, which feels like a cross between Ready or Not and Kill Bill.
Another film that will vie for my year-end best-of list is Good Luck Have Fun Don’t Die, a bracingly original return to the big screen by director Gore Verbinski. Sam Rockwell leads a wonderful ensemble cast (including Zazie Beetz, having a great year) on a deliriously deranged time travel odyssey.
From the Heat files comes Crime 101, a smart L.A. neo-noir that reminds me of the fun, pulpy crime movies I loved in the 90s. I didn’t love Project Hail Mary as much as the rest of the world, based on the effusive online praise, but it’s a sweet, funny sci-fi tale with beautiful visuals.
The Rip and People We Meet on Vacation both make for perfectly serviceable streaming content, while The Bride! and Wuthering Heights are fascinating failures.
And that leaves Scream 7, the only truly bad movie I’ve seen so far this year. The producers’ cowardice in dismissing original star Melissa Barrera came back to bite them in the ass when they pivoted to make the franchise’s most boring and lifeless entry.
Stay tuned tomorrow for a look at what the next nine months have in store on the big screen.
He’s looking for new slaves
He told me that my life
Could be the one he saves
What happens when you turn the devil down?
I waited at the crossroads
The devil stood me up
Is it that he’s just afraid
Or am I not good enough
What happens when you turn the devil down?
Meet Me In Montauk 
Really, Scream SEVEN was bad? Hard to believe this “franchise” movie, certainly made out of an auteur’s artistic vision and not a studio’s commercial cash-grab like those Disney live actions, could be disappointing! I’m just glad you didn’t generally and completely write-off all “franchise” horror movies (what some rubes might dismissively and disparagingly call “sequels”) since you so loved others this year.
As I have not seen any horror movies other than The Bride, which I wasn’t crazy about, and Project Hail Mary, which I along with 95% of critics and 96% of audiences loved, I cannot share in your opinion about the grand start of the year in movies.
You’re really missing out on Nirvanna and Good Luck. I think both should be on streaming soon.
I’ve loved plenty of sequels (and franchises) in my time, as have you. I can’t say the same for live-action remakes, which are in a different class of soulless greed.
If you seriously believe the latest installment of, say, a James Bond, Mission: Impossible, or Knives Out movie (leaving horror out of it because you don’t do horror) is the same as a shot-for-shot recreation of a beloved animated classic… I don’t know what to tell you.
Scream 7 is no more a franchise film than Back to the Future, Jaws, Grease or Ghostbusters. They are all cash grabbing sequels, the vast majority of which are as unimaginative, soulless and bad as the weakest live action remake. Yet, there are exceptions such as Paddington 2, Top Gun: Maverick, Aliens, and (though not my cup of tea) Mad Max: Fury Road.
The same is true with live action versions of animated films. I grant you that most are shot-by-shot unimaginative cash grabs, but there are exceptions such as Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin and Jungle Book.
Based on the previews, the live action Moana looks bad, and I can certainly appreciate your resentment of making a live action remake of one of your favorite movies. I just think painting all live actions with the same “soulless” brush is extreme and unwarranted, just as it would be to do so for all sequels.
I’m guessing you haven’t seen one Scream movie, let alone seven. If you had, you’d know that most of them are quite good, more Maverick than Jaws.
I’ll grant you that there is a spectrum of quality when it comes to the live-action remakes. But that doesn’t make the very idea of them any less appalling to me as a fan of animation.
One could say the same about sequels – that the very idea of them is appalling when made as cash grabs based on the box office success of great original films that were never initially intended by their creators to be sequelized.
Case in point by the way is the devil wears Prada 2. If you applied your blanket condemnation to cash, grabbing sequels of great original films, you would probably not have that movie on your most anticipated of 2026; likely depriving yourself of pure joy.
I think that’s true of many sequels, and some succeed despite those intentions. But at least a sequel is telling a new story and offering new challenges for characters you’ve come to know. A live-action remake is literally a retelling of the same story (often beat for beat, shot for shot). And it strips the original of the animated artistry that made it special in the first place.
Not all live action remakes are shot for shot copies of the original. Those that differ include Cinderella, the Jungle Book and Beauty and the Beast. Apparently, Pete’s Dragon is another one, but I have never seen either version.
So, I think my comparison to sequels is on point — not all live actions are bad or souless. Like sequels, most are bad cash-grabbing movies, and some are good (even if, as you say, they too are made for the $). My point is that you may want to reconsider writing off and disparaging ALL live actions because of the ones that are nothing more than shot-by-shot remakes.
I agree it’s been an auspicious start to the year for movies and I’m basing that on a list that largely differs from your own. That’s gotta be a good sign!
I loved “Project Hail Mary” in an opinion as you noted many a critic and fan alike held. I found it to be hilarious, visually stunning, extremely well edited, and honestly just a great reminder of why we go to the movies. There was many a sequence in that film that simply made me marvel at the impact of good filmmaking. However, it is the beauty of art that a movie like that can be lower on your list of why it’s been a good year for movies so far!
I also thoroughly enjoyed “How to Make a Killing”. It’s one of my favorite Glen Powell roles to date. I love how he will take seemingly any vehicle to portray as many characters in one film as possible. Arguably, this was most effective in Hit Man. However, in a similar vein here he morphs himself to fit the wealthy inheritors of this massive fortune in a funny and often empathetic manner. This movie was far from perfect, but was entertaining throughout and had a perfect bittersweet ending that upped it a notch for me.
“Hoppers” was bracingly original and gorgeous to look at. That was one I wasn’t as hot on as some, but still always eager to support an original Disney Pixar film! Especially, when that film advocates for nature preservation.
I found “The Bride!” and “”Wuthering Heights”” to be fascinating and I wouldn’t classify them fully as failures! I think it’s great these adaptations found their niche audiences and were the subject of much engaging discourse. “Wuthering Heights” was a big commercial success which we love to see coming out of a woman helmed production. I loved seeing both of these films get a wide release from major studios even if they didn’t fully fulfill their promise one way or another.
I’m eager to hear what you’re looking forward to for the rest of this year and will definitely give that Nirvana movie and Good Luck a shot when I’m able 🙂
are there any rom com/ chick flicks around?