Whalefall (2026)

whalefall movie posterThis thing was rough. Setting aside the implausibility, Brian Duffield’s (Underwater, No One Will Save You) Whalefall still doesn’t offer anything we haven’t seen before. The imperfect father-son relationship. The conversations we had, and the ones we didn’t. The anger. The wishing we had one more day together. The regret. The guilt. Duffield uses an 80-foot, 60-ton sperm whale that swallows his lead character whole as the vessel for his story of life, loss, and redemption. 

One year after his father, Mitt (Josh Brolin – The Dog Stars, Sicario), a deep sea diving legend turned cancer-ridden sufferer, commits suicide by sinking himself with weights attached to his body in an ocean bay, Jay (Austin Abrams – Resident Evil, The Starling Girl) makes the decision to gear up with his scuba suit and search the floor of where his father sank, hoping to find his father’s bone or some other remnant that can give closure for him, his mother Zara (Elizabeth Shue – Leaving Las Vegas, Hollow Man), and his two sisters who haven’t successfully reconciled with the fact that the tomb they visit at the graveyard is empty. Great premise…

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Materialists (2025)

materialists movie posterEach year, I see only a handful of movies I’d ever consider unless circumstances warranted it. These are mostly films nominated for several Academy Awards (especially Best Picture) and those consistently recommended by social media influencers I follow. Sometimes I’ll check aggregate scores before deciding. Celine Song’s (Past Lives) Materialists won’t earn any Oscar nominations. It had lukewarm aggregate scores (77% critics, 65% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, 6.2/10 on IMDB, 70 on Metacritic). These two things, combined with a plot that didn’t pique my interest, made me think this movie wouldn’t see the light of day. However, it felt like every movie influencer I follow kept singing its praise, with many in their end-of-year Top 20. It was enough to give it its fair chance.

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Heart of the Beast (2026)

heart of the beast movie posterYou’ll probably cry, but should you? Director David Ayer (End of Watch, Harsh Times) reunites with Brad Pitt (F1: The Movie, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button) for the first time since 2014’s Fury. At the time, Fury was Ayer’s most successful movie, earning $85 million at the box office domestically while receiving positive critic (75%) and audience (84%) scores on Rotten Tomatoes. Since then, Ayer’s directed films have mostly been hit or miss, except for 2024’s The Beekeeper. Known for edgier, in-your-face action movies, Heart of the Beast shows he can deliver a more personal, poignant story without an array of characters.

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The Dog Stars (2026)

the dog stars movie posterMuch has been made of Ridley Scott’s (Prometheus, Robin Hood) films in the last decade or so as being a far cry from those earlier in his career. Highly anticipated, high-budget films such as House of Gucci, The Last Duel, Gladiator II, and Napoleon have failed to deliver either critically or financially. While three of the films turned a profit, The Last Duel grossed just $30 million off a $100 million budget, though it was the highest-rated of the four on Rotten Tomatoes (critics), IMDB, and Metacritic. I saw all four in the theater. I thought The Last Duel was great, Gladiator II was good, and the other two were terrible. The budget for his most recent film, The Dog Stars, was around $80 million, similar to House of Gucci and The Last Duel. Based on its audience and critics’ scores (40%, 71% on Rotten Tomatoes) and opening-weekend box office gross of just $8 million, The Dog Stars appears to be well on its way to being a massive flop. This will be a shame as it’s a pretty good, albeit flawed, film. Continue reading The Dog Stars (2026) →

Little Fish (2020)

little fish movie posterLittle Fish, the limited release and widely underseen 2020 film from Chad Hartigan (The Threesome, Morris From America), was a movie that captivated me so much that I turned it off 30 minutes in while falling asleep late at night, knowing I could not give the film the full justice it needed, and started it from the beginning the next morning. Released straight to streaming during the COVID-19 pandemic, most who have watched this film likely did so through word of mouth or because they are fans of one or both of the two lead characters, each an A-list actor with a large following.

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Movies I Watch That Inspire Me to Critique!