Directed by Denis Villeneuve and written by Villeneuve and Brian K. Vaughan, Dune: Part Three is based on the novel Dune Messiah by Frank Herbert and delivers the epic conclusion to Villeneuve’s trilogy.
The film stars Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya, Jason Momoa, Florence Pugh, Rebecca Ferguson, Isaach De Bankolé, with Charlotte Rampling, with Anya Taylor-Joy, and Robert Pattinson, and Javier Bardem, and features newcomers Nakoa-Wolf Momoa and Ida Brooke.
In 2021, DUNE: PART ONE originally grossed roughly $402 million during its initial run. A 2024 re-release intended to build hype for the sequel added approximately $30 million, bringing its lifetime global total to $431–$433 million. Its theatrical earnings were notably impacted by a “day-and-date” release strategy, where it premiered simultaneously on HBO Max and in theaters.
DUNE: PART TWO opened to $82.5 million domestically in 2024, more than double the opening weekend of the first film. The sequel was a massive hit in premium formats, with IMAX screenings alone accounting for over $145 million of its total global gross. It became the highest-grossing film of 2024 during its initial release period.
DUNE: PART THREE will be in theaters and IMAX on December 18, 2026.
When I read the brief summary for the action film, FORBIDDEN CITY, I expected a standard search and avenge tale, rife with martial arts mayhem. A young Chinese woman named Mei (Yaxi Liu) comes to Rome to find her missing sister, and wreak havoc on any what done her wrong. We get that in fine style, plus a whole lot more.
The tale opens with the sisters as children in China’s era of the one child per family law, requiring one sibling to be hidden from public view. Dad manages to teach kung fu to both, in secret, of course. Fast-forward. An adult Mei, who can’t communicate in Italian without her hand-held translator, starts combing Rome’s Chinese district to find Yun (Haijin Ye), who she fears may have landed in some sort of trouble… or worse. She soon finds a bordello run by a Chinese crime gang where Yun had been forced to work. That group shares dominion over the turf with a Roman gang, headed by Annibale (Marco Giallini). The two have a fragile truce, buoyed by their disdain for, and oppression of, every other ethnic group that’s emigrated to their city.
Mei learns that Yun left her servitude to wind up living with a much older restaurant owner named Alfredo (Luca Zingaretti), who seemingly abandoned his restaurant named Forbidden City (Don’t ask why. Either they never explained, or I missed it.), now run by his wife (Sabrina Farilli) and adult son, Marcello (Enrico Borello).
The ambitious script, co-written by director Gabriele Mainetti, covers a lot of thematic territory in its 140 minutes. The action sequences are first-rate. Yaxi Liu is a legit martial artist, with more credits for stuntwork than acting. This is her first leading part. Despite her slight frame, the attractive artist carries off every aspect of what her role calls for, and is likely headed for success as a featured player, following the career arcs of Zoe Bell, Michelle Lee, Clint Eastwood, Burt Reynolds and others who earned their shots at stardom the hard way. Literally.
The surprise for me came from FORBIDDEN CITY’s Minotaur’s maze of subplots and social issues they worked into the protagonist’s quest. Atypically, there’s long-lasting suspense in who is responsible for whatever happened to whom. The plot dips into racial prejudice, abuse of immigrants, criminal enterprises, romantic sidebars and the fleshing out of more characters than usual for the action genre. Though most of the proceedings occur in sketchy areas of the city, they toss in one long sequence that serves as a travelogue for the Eternal City. That part may have been subsidized by the Department of Tourism, since it didn’t do much to advance the plot. And they squeezed in some humorous bits to relieve the tension. Otherwise, some of the drama seemed nearly operatic in its emotional depth.
There’s only a small amount of sex and nudity, minimizing the bordello element. Action abounds, with Mei kicking ass bigtime, despite taking her lumps along the way. It’s mostly hand-to-hand, using weapons other than guns. They stay rather light on the gore, considering the body count. As is often the case, I thought it could have been 10-20 minutes shorter without losing anything essential, while enhancing the flow of the rest. Mostly, I’m looking forward to whatever else will be coming from Yaxi Liu after this breakout performance.
THE FORBIDDEN CITY, in Italian, Mandarin and English, with subtitles, is available on Digital formats from Well Go USA on March 17, 2026.
Of the several hundred Asian martial arts films I’ve seen, LONE SAMURAI may be the oddest. Even when the Samurai of the title is ethnically unlikely – such leads ranged from Richard Chamberlain to Tom Cruise, among others – one expects the script to lean heavily into swordplay and other action. This one spends most of its time in moody silences before cranking things up to a long, rousing fightfest.
It’s set in 13th Century Japan. Kublai Khan had just been rebuffed in his second naval assault on the country, by a combination of defending warriors and a typhoon that wrecked much of both fleets. We learn that from the opening narration. Our nameless titular samurai (Shogen Ito) washes ashore on some remote island, presumably the only survivor of his vessel’s complement. He sees a few natives, but makes no attempt to engage, possibly because they aren’t really there. He decides to commit ritual suicide – first on the beach, then after schlepping logs and ropes to the top of a mountain to erect a torii – gateway to the afterlife. Just before he plunges his sword into his abdomen for the act of seppuku, he’s kayoed and snatched by a tribe of primitive folk who turn out to be sadistic cannibals. They take him to their own nearby island. The locals like playing with their food, maiming the menu and killing them slowly… but far from softly. Pain on the platter presumably puts pleasure on the palate.
There’s little dialog in the first 90 minutes. We learn mostly from flashbacks that our guy yearns to return to his wife and sons, but despairs of ever doing so. He’s taken to a cave with other future snacks and entrees, some of whom have already had body parts removed – presumably for appetizers. As they’re preparing to start dismantling the star’s anatomy, he manages to kill a couple of guards, escape, and grab a dugout to return to the first place he landed. Thus, he dares them to come and get him.
And that’s when the good times roll for fans of on-screen mayhem. A whole scheisseload of loinclcoth-clad, handmade weapon-wielding dudes frantically row their fleet of canoes in pursuit. Our samurai lays in wait as 50, or so, man-munchers comb the jungle for him. He picks off a bunch of them, one by one. Then the horde assembles back on the beach.
That’s when the one-man army thing really takes over. It’s all swords, spears, clubs and hatchets, with a few arrows in the mix. There’s a generous amount of splatter with some beheadings, though the cannibal catering sequence is generally more gruesome than the later killings.
Writer/director Josh C. Walter made good use of his Indonesia locations. And why not? The country has over 17,000 to choose from. But his script lingered too long on moody silences and time alone with Shogen before getting to the adrenalin stuff. That part is decently staged, with a handful of unique methods of offing his foes.
So, if one has the patience for the dry slog with periodic wistful musings, there is a payoff. Whether one concludes it was worth the time could go either way.
From Well Go USA Entertainment, LONE SAMURAI debuts on Digital, 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray™ & DVD March 17.
The original title of this Finnish police procedural series, “Koskinen”, is the name of the lead detective and star, Eero Aho. The US title “Lakeside Murders” highlights the city he serves, Tampere, which is located between two lakes, providing plenty of lovely scenery, even in a snow-covered season. The ten 45-minute episodes are five two-part crimes for Koskinen and his Violent Crimes squad to solve within several wintry months. All are based on a series of novels by Seppo Jokinen.
The first centers on a cyberterrorist attack on the whole city, starting with a hack of its computerized tram system. The second features a serial killer preying on young women (Don’t they all? Well, at least the ones in movie and TV thrillers). The third starts with a jewelry store heist that turns fatal, but yields screen time to an unlikely series of heart attacks killing patients in a convalescent center. Koskinen’s former colleague Roine (Pertti Sveholm) is living there, and starts raising suspicions. But they’re the only ones who are open to the idea, and must figure it out on their own.
The fourth revolves around drug thefts from pharmacies and a trio of wheelchair-bound residents of a facility. It offers a unique look at the disabled, including the fact that they can be just as loutish as their fully-mobile counterparts. The last starts with a group of teens committing various crimes, leading to drug dealing as the unifying link among them. They work for a truly dangerous boss, whose capacity for violence was learned on battlefields.
As such programs go, this one is relatively dry. The cast is more plain-looking than the attractive stars we choose for our prime-time fare. There’s not a lot of emotional range required for any of the cops. Little levity or banter. Most of the emotion comes from Koskinen’s wife and son who resent the hell out of his preoccupation with his work. Those two grow really annoying. The most likable character might be Roine – a rotund, bearded old-timer who has more common sense and insight than Koskinen’s younger colleagues and mostly persnickety superiors.
The series is quite somber in tone, with little violence until the climactic confrontations in each duo. Some romantic subplots, but no nudity. The four episodes dealing with the elderly and disabled add an extra shot of social relevance to the mysteries. One switches formats by letting us know who the perp is long before the cops figure it out – like a “Columbo” episode. Besides his wife’s nagging, Koskinen must deal with recurring nightmares about a traumatic incident, and his loathing of paperwork that is heaped upon him after a midseason promotion. The dude is hard-wired for the field, not the office.
Caution – This season ends with a major cliffhanger. Normally, I’d resent this, as our regular readers know. But the show has already aired in Finland for four seasons, and I don’t expect a long wait for #2 to stream here.
“Lakeside Murders”, in Finnish with subtitles, begins streaming on MHz Choice on March 17, 2026.
Paul Thomas Anderson, Sarah Murphy, Anthony Carlino, Will Weiske, Andy Jurgensen, Teyana Taylor, Michael Bauman, Cassandra Kulukundis, Regina Hall, Shayna McHale aka Junglepussy, Leonardo DiCaprio, Chase Infiniti and Benicio del Toro accept the Oscar® for Best Picture, presented by Ewan McGregor and Nicole Kidman during the 98th Oscars® at the Dolby® Theatre at Ovation Hollywood on Sunday, March 15, 2026.
Three Warner Bros. films took home 11 golden statues at the 98th Academy Awards, including 6 for ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER, 4 for SINNERS and one for WEAPONS.
ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER won Best Picture, Best Director, Paul Thomas Anderson, Best Adapted Screenplay, Paul Thomas Anderson – Based on the novel Vineland by Thomas Pynchon, Best Supporting Actor, Sean Penn, and Best Film Editing, Andy Jurgensen. It also included the first-time Casting Oscar for Cassandra Kulukundis.
Ryan Coogler, Ludwig Goransson, Autumn Durald Arkapaw, Michael B. Jordan pose backstage with their respective Oscars® during the 98th Oscars® at Dolby® Theatre at Ovation Hollywood on Sunday, March 15, 2026.
SINNERS took home 4 Academy Awards after being nominated for a record 16 Oscar nominations. THIS was the TRUE win of Sunday night!
Ryan Coogler won for Best Original Screenplay, Best Actor went to Michael B. Jordan, Autumn Durald Arkapaw became the first woman in history to win Best Cinematography, and Ludwig Göransson won his third Oscar for the film’s score.
And Amy Madigan won Best Supporting Actress for her role as Aunt Gladys in WEAPONS.
Guillermo del Toro’s FRANKENSTEIN won 3 for Best Production Design, Best Costume Design and Best Makeup and Hairstyling,
It was remarkable night for these three horror films.
Michael B. Jordan with his Oscar® for Actor in a Leading Role during the 98th Oscars® at Dolby® Theatre at Ovation Hollywood on Sunday, March 15, 2026.
Actor in a Leading Role
Timothée Chalamet Marty Supreme
Leonardo DiCaprio One Battle after Another
Ethan Hawke Blue Moon
Michael B. Jordan Sinners – WINNER
Wagner Moura The Secret Agent
Listen to the cheering in the pressroom!
Actor in a Supporting Role
Benicio Del Toro One Battle after Another
Jacob Elordi Frankenstein
Delroy Lindo Sinners
Sean Penn One Battle after Another – WINNER
Stellan Skarsgård Sentimental Value
Jessie Buckley with her Oscar® for Actress in a Leading Role during the 98th Oscars® at Dolby® Theatre at Ovation Hollywood on Sunday, March 15, 2026.
Actress in a Leading Role
Jessie Buckley Hamnet – WINNER
Rose Byrne If I Had Legs I’d Kick You
Kate Hudson Song Sung Blue
Renate Reinsve Sentimental Value
Emma Stone Bugonia
Actress in a Supporting Role
Elle Fanning Sentimental Value
Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas Sentimental Value
Amy Madigan Weapons – WINNER
Wunmi Mosaku Sinners
Teyana Taylor One Battle after Another
Animated Feature Film
Arco Ugo Bienvenu, Félix de Givry, Sophie Mas and Natalie Portman
Elio Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi, Adrian Molina and Mary Alice Drumm
KPop Demon Hunters Maggie Kang, Chris Appelhans and Michelle L.M. Wong – WINNER
Little Amélie or the Character of Rain Maïlys Vallade, Liane-Cho Han, Nidia Santiago and Henri Magalon
Zootopia 2 Jared Bush, Byron Howard and Yvett Merino
Animated Short Film
Butterfly Florence Miailhe and Ron Dyens
Forevergreen Nathan Engelhardt and Jeremy Spears
The Girl Who Cried Pearls Chris Lavis and Maciek Szczerbowski – WINNER
Retirement Plan John Kelly and Andrew Freedman
The Three Sisters Konstantin Bronzit
Casting
Hamnet Nina Gold
Marty Supreme Jennifer Venditti
One Battle after Another Cassandra Kulukundis – WINNER
The Secret Agent Gabriel Domingues
Sinners Francine Maisler
Cinematography
Frankenstein Dan Laustsen
Marty Supreme Darius Khondji
One Battle after Another Michael Bauman
Sinners Autumn Durald Arkapaw – WINNER
Train Dreams Adolpho Veloso
Costume Design
Avatar: Fire and Ash Deborah L. Scott
Frankenstein Kate Hawley – WINNER
Hamnet Malgosia Turzanska
Marty Supreme Miyako Bellizzi
Sinners Ruth E. Carter
Directing
Hamnet Chloé Zhao
Marty Supreme Josh Safdie
One Battle after Another Paul Thomas Anderson – WINNER
Sentimental Value Joachim Trier
Sinners Ryan Coogler
Paul Thomas Anderson accepts the Oscar® for Best Picture during the 98th Oscars® at the Dolby® Theatre at Ovation Hollywood on Sunday, March 15, 2026.
Documentary Feature Film
The Alabama Solution Andrew Jarecki and Charlotte Kaufman
Come See Me in the Good Light Ryan White, Jessica Hargrave, Tig Notaro and Stef Willen
Cutting through Rocks Sara Khaki and Mohammadreza Eyni
Mr. Nobody against Putin David Borenstein, Pavel Talankin, Helle Faber and Alžběta Karásková – WINNER
The Perfect Neighbor Geeta Gandbhir, Alisa Payne, Nikon Kwantu and Sam Bisbee
Documentary Short Film
All the Empty Rooms Joshua Seftel and Conall Jones – WINNER
WAMG asked the filmmakers about their film…
Q: Congratulations on your win. As a human being and a parent, this film was beautiful and devastating. So how did you navigate making it just that, and not a pity party, or making it seem like exploitive of what these parents went through?
A: [Joshua Seftel] Yeah, that was a big thing. Do you want to start that one? [Conall Jones] You can. [Joshua Seftel] One of the things that helped us was that all the parents that participated in our film, which were four families, they all very much wanted to tell the stories of their children. And so we were working together as collaborators in a sense, in that we wanted to tell their stories and they wanted to, the parents wanted to share their stories because they do not want their children to be forgotten. That’s the most important thing in their lives. And so by focusing on the kids and on the empty bedrooms, and on the absence of these children, we felt that that could be a powerful way to talk about gun violence. We don’t mention the word gun in this film, not once, but we didn’t think we needed to because you learn about these children, and you feel how wrong this is, what’s happening in our society. And ideally, people will do things to try to create change, and we’ve already seen that as a result of the film.
Armed Only with a Camera: The Life and Death of Brent Renaud Craig Renaud and Juan Arredondo
Children No More: “Were and Are Gone” Hilla Medalia and Sheila Nevins
The Devil Is Busy Christalyn Hampton and Geeta Gandbhir
Perfectly a Strangeness Alison McAlpine
Andy Jurgensen accepts the Oscar® for Film Editing during the 98th Oscars® at the Dolby® Theatre at Ovation Hollywood on Sunday, March 15, 2026.
Film Editing
F1 Stephen Mirrione
Marty Supreme Ronald Bronstein and Josh Safdie
One Battle after Another Andy Jurgensen – WINNER
Sentimental Value Olivier Bugge Coutté
Sinners Michael P. Shawver
International Feature Film
Brazil The Secret Agent
France It Was Just an Accident
Norway Sentimental Value – WINNER
Spain Sirāt
Tunisia The Voice of Hind Rajab
Live Action Short Film
Butcher’s Stain Meyer Levinson-Blount and Oron Caspi
A Friend of Dorothy Lee Knight and James Dean
Jane Austen’s Period Drama Julia Aks and Steve Pinder
The Singers Sam A. Davis and Jack Piatt – WINNER
Two People Exchanging Saliva Alexandre Singh and Natalie Musteata – WINNER
Makeup and Hairstyling
Frankenstein Mike Hill, Jordan Samuel and Cliona Furey – WINNER
Kokuho Kyoko Toyokawa, Naomi Hibino and Tadashi Nishimatsu
Sinners Ken Diaz, Mike Fontaine and Shunika Terry
The Smashing Machine Kazu Hiro, Glen Griffin and Bjoern Rehbein
The Ugly Stepsister Thomas Foldberg and Anne Cathrine Sauerberg
Dear Me from Diane Warren: Relentless; Music and Lyric by Diane Warren
Golden from KPop Demon Hunters; Music and Lyric by EJAE, Mark Sonnenblick, Joong Gyu Kwak, Yu Han Lee, Hee Dong Nam, Jeong Hoon Seo and Teddy Park – WINNER
I Lied To You from Sinners; Music and Lyric by Raphael Saadiq and Ludwig Goransson
Sweet Dreams Of Joy from Viva Verdi!; Music and Lyric by Nicholas Pike
Train Dreams from Train Dreams; Music by Nick Cave and Bryce Dessner; Lyric by Nick Cave
Best Picture
Bugonia Ed Guiney & Andrew Lowe, Yorgos Lanthimos, Emma Stone and Lars Knudsen, Producers
F1 Chad Oman, Brad Pitt, Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, Joseph Kosinski and Jerry Bruckheimer, Producers
Frankenstein Guillermo del Toro, J. Miles Dale and Scott Stuber, Producers
Hamnet Liza Marshall, Pippa Harris, Nicolas Gonda, Steven Spielberg and Sam Mendes, Producers
Marty Supreme Eli Bush, Ronald Bronstein, Josh Safdie, Anthony Katagas and Timothée Chalamet, Producers
One Battle after Another Adam Somner, Sara Murphy and Paul Thomas Anderson, Producers – WINNER
The Secret Agent Emilie Lesclaux, Producer
Sentimental Value Maria Ekerhovd and Andrea Berentsen Ottmar, Producers
Sinners Zinzi Coogler, Sev Ohanian and Ryan Coogler, Producers
Train Dreams Marissa McMahon, Teddy Schwarzman, Will Janowitz, Ashley Schlaifer and Michael Heimler, Producers
Production Design
Frankenstein Production Design: Tamara Deverell; Set Decoration: Shane Vieau – WINNER
Hamnet Production Design: Fiona Crombie; Set Decoration: Alice Felton
Marty Supreme Production Design: Jack Fisk; Set Decoration: Adam Willis
One Battle after Another Production Design: Florencia Martin; Set Decoration: Anthony Carlino
Sinners Production Design: Hannah Beachler; Set Decoration: Monique Champagne
Sound
F1 Gareth John, Al Nelson, Gwendolyn Yates Whittle, Gary A. Rizzo and Juan Peralta – WINNER
Frankenstein Greg Chapman, Nathan Robitaille, Nelson Ferreira, Christian Cooke and Brad Zoern
One Battle after Another José Antonio García, Christopher Scarabosio and Tony Villaflor
Sinners Chris Welcker, Benjamin A. Burtt, Felipe Pacheco, Brandon Proctor and Steve Boeddeker
Sirāt Amanda Villavieja, Laia Casanovas and Yasmina Praderas
Visual Effects
Avatar: Fire and Ash Joe Letteri, Richard Baneham, Eric Saindon and Daniel Barrett – WINNER
F1 Ryan Tudhope, Nicolas Chevallier, Robert Harrington and Keith Dawson
Jurassic World Rebirth David Vickery, Stephen Aplin, Charmaine Chan and Neil Corbould
The Lost Bus Charlie Noble, David Zaretti, Russell Bowen and Brandon K. McLaughlin
Sinners Michael Ralla, Espen Nordahl, Guido Wolter and Donnie Dean
Writing (Adapted Screenplay)
Bugonia Screenplay by Will Tracy
Frankenstein Written for the Screen by Guillermo del Toro
Hamnet Screenplay by Chloé Zhao & Maggie O’Farrell
One Battle after Another Written by Paul Thomas Anderson – WINNER
Train Dreams Screenplay by Clint Bentley & Greg Kwedar
Ryan Coogler poses backstage with the Oscar® for Original Screenplay during the 98th Oscars® at Dolby® Theatre at Ovation Hollywood on Sunday, March 15, 2026.
Writing (Original Screenplay)
Blue Moon Written by Robert Kaplow
It Was Just an Accident Written by Jafar Panahi; Script collaborators – Nader Saïvar, Shadmehr Rastin, Mehdi Mahmoudian
Marty Supreme Written by Ronald Bronstein & Josh Safdie
Sentimental Value Written by Eskil Vogt, Joachim Trier
Sinners Written by Ryan Coogler – WINNER
Contributed by Michelle McCue and Melissa Thompson
Since 2010, We Are Movie Geeks has been among the global journalists invited by The Academy in the pressroom as the winners make their way backstage with their statues for their first interviews.
When supplying the Media Guide, The Academy told the outlets, “we greatly appreciate your time, attention, and the effort you and your teams dedicate to helping us share the Oscars with the world. Your work plays a critical role in telling our story and we are incredibly grateful. We look forward to working alongside you and appreciate all that you do.”
You are welcome AMPAS and 16 years later, we’ll be there for the big show!
Here’s the staff’s final predictions:
Cate Marquis:
Best Picture Who Will win: ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER Who Should win: SINNERS
Best Director Who Will win: Paul Thomas Anderson, ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER Who Should win: Paul Thomas Anderson, ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER
Best Actor Who Will win: Michael B Jordan, SINNERS Who Should win: Michael B Jordan, SINNERS
Best Actress Who Will win: Jessie Buckley, HAMNET Who Should win: Jessie Buckley, HAMNET
Best Supporting Actor Who Will win: Delroy Lindo, SINNERS Who Should win: Sean Penn, ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER
Best Supporting Actress Who Will win: Wunmi Mosaku, SINNERS Who Should win: Wunmi Mosaku, SINNERS
Melissa Thompson:
Best Picture Who Will win: HAMNET Who Should win: ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER
Best Director Who Will win: Paul Thomas Anderson, ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER Who Should win: Paul Thomas Anderson, ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER
Best Actor Who Will win: Leonardo DiCaprio, ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER Who Should win: Leonardo DiCaprio, ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER
Best Actress Who Will win: Jessie Buckley, HAMNET Who Should win: Jessie Buckley, HAMNET
Best Supporting Actor Who Will win: Sean Penn, ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER Who Should win: Sean Penn, ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER
Best Supporting Actress Who Will win: Teyana Taylor, ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER Who Should win: Amy Madigan, WEAPONS
Michelle McCue:
Best Picture Who Will win: SINNERS Who Should win: SINNERS
Best Director Who Will win: Paul Thomas Anderson, ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER Who Should win: Ryan Coogler, SINNERS
Best Actor Who Will win: Michael B Jordan, SINNERS Who Should win: Michael B Jordan, SINNERS
Best Actress Who Will win: Jessie Buckley, HAMNET Who Should win: Jessie Buckley, HAMNET
Best Supporting Actor Who Will win: Stellan Skarsgård, SENTIMENTAL VALUE Who Should win: Delroy Lindo, SINNERS
Best Supporting Actress Who Will win: Amy Madigan, WEAPONS Who Should win: Amy Madigan, WEAPONS
Gary Salem: “Will Win”
Best Picture – ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER
Best Director – Paul Thomas Anderson, ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER
Best Actor – Michael B Jordan, SINNERS
Best Actress – Jessie Buckley, HAMNET
Best Supporting Actor – Sean Penn, ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER
Best Supporting Actress – Amy Madigan, WEAPONS
Jim Batts:
Best Picture Who will win: SINNERS Who Should Win: One Battle After Another
Best Director Who Will Win: Ryan Coogler SINNERS Who Should Win: Paul Thomas Anderson ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER
Best Actor Who Will Win: Michael B. Jordan SINNERS Who Should Win: Ethan Hawke BLUE MOON
Best Actress Who Will Win: Jesse Buckley HAMNET Who Should Win: Jesse Buckley HAMNET
Best Supporting Actor Who Will Win: Stellan Skarsgard SENTIMENTAL VALUE Who Should Win: Sean Penn ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER
Best Supporting Actress Who Will Win: Amy Madigan WEAPONS Who Should Win: Amy Madigan WEAPONS
Are you hosting a party?
WAMG has your printable Oscar ballot for your golden party!
As you’re filling out your ballot, some tips and facts from The Academy –
With 16 nominations, Sinners sets the record for most nominations for a film. The previous record of 14 was shared by All about Eve (1950), Titanic (1997) and La La Land (2016). In the acting categories, 11 individuals are first-time nominees (Rose Byrne, Jacob Elordi, Elle Fanning, Michael B. Jordan, Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas, Delroy Lindo, Wunmi Mosaku, Wagner Moura, Renate Reinsve, Stellan Skarsgård and Teyana Taylor). Four are previous acting winners (Benicio Del Toro, Leonardo DiCaprio, Sean Penn and Emma Stone). Timothée Chalamet is the only acting nominee who was also nominated last year. Amy Madigan’s acting nomination for Weapons comes 40 years after her first nomination for her supporting role in Twice in a Lifetime (1985), which is the third-longest span between acting nominations, after Judd Hirsch (42 years) and Henry Fonda (41).
A record four non-English language performances are nominated this year (Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas, Wagner Moura, Renate Reinsve and Stellan Skarsgård). The previous record of three was set in 1976 (Marie-Christine Barrault, Giancarlo Giannini and Liv Ullmann).
The Secret Agent and Sentimental Value are the 12th and 13th non-English language films to be nominated for both International Feature Film and Best Picture in the same year. To date, Parasite is the only film to win both International Feature Film and Best Picture.
Rose Byrne, Nicole Kidman, Jimmy Kimmel, Delroy Lindo, Ewan McGregor, Wagner Moura, Pedro Pascal, Bill Pullman, Lewis Pullman, Channing Tatum and Sigourney Weaver will present at the 98th Oscars®, executive producer and showrunner Raj Kapoor and executive producer Katy Mullan announced last week. Matt Berrywill serve as the announcer for this year’s show. Hosted by Conan O’Brien, the Oscars will air live on ABC and stream live on Hulu on Sunday, March 15, 2026, at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT, with the official live red carpet show airing at 6:30 p.m. ET/3:30 p.m. PT.
Previously announced Oscars presenters include Will Arnett, Adrien Brody, Javier Bardem, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Kieran Culkin, Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Anne Hathaway, Chase Infiniti, Mikey Madison, Paul Mescal, Demi Moore, Kumail Nanjiani, Gwyneth Paltrow, Maya Rudolph and Zoe Saldaña.
The 98th Oscars will be held on Sunday, March 15, 2026, at the Dolby® Theatre at Ovation Hollywood and will be televised live on ABC, streamed live on Hulu and airs live in more than 200 territories worldwide.
The annual St. Louis Jewish Film Festival returns, Mar. 15-26, 2026, bursting with moving documentaries, gripping historical, thriller or romantic dramas, dramedies and comedies from around the globe, all with Jewish themes. This year’s film fest includes major releases such as NUREMBERG, ELEANOR THE GREAT, the new historical thriller VINDICTA, and documentary ELIE WIESEL: SOUL ON FIRE , a new, more personal look at Elie Wiesel, the famous author of the bestselling “Night” about his experiences in a Nazi concentration camp and Nobel Peace Prize-winning tireless human rights advocate who fought for the idea that the world should “never forget” the Holocaust.
John Wilson, the Director of Cultural Arts at the Jewish Community Center of St. Louis, which puts on the festival, described it as “a fantastic tapestry of documentaries, dramas and comedies.” As always, this is an international film festival and not just for the Jewish community but all audiences, non-Jewish and Jewish. “[The festival selection committee] watches nearly 80 films a year, so when we get to the final 12, our committee truly feels like we’re offering our community 6 full days of stellar cinema,” Wilson said.
Many of the selections fit in well with an aim of cultural outreach as well as offering top-notch films for the Jewish community. One example is ELEANOR THE GREAT (Mar. 26, 7pm), the drama starring June Squibb that is the directorial debut of Scarlet Johansson, and is about gray areas of identity and representation. Another example is THE PIANIST’S CHOICE (Mar. 22, 3pm), a gripping epic, romantic French drama that spans the 1920s to the post-war 1940s, told through the experiences of a non-Jewish musician in love with a Jewish woman.
Yet another example is the Opening Night film at the SLJFF, which is NUREMBERG (Mar. 15, 7pm), which stars Russell Crowe as Nazi leader Joseph Goebbels and Rami Malek as a Nuremberg war crimes trial-assigned psychiatrist, who is charged with keeping the Nazi prisoner fit for trial but who becomes embroiled in a tense game of cat-and-mouse with Goebbels. This fascinating historical drama also stars Michael Shannon as a U.S. Supreme Court Justice turned war crimes prosecutor.
The St. Louis Jewish Film Festival begins Mar. 15, with two film programs and an opening day buffet provided to ticket-holders for either film, NUREMBERG at 7pm, or FOR THE LIVING at 3pm, a documentary about a group of cyclists retracing a Holocaust survivor’s journey after being liberated from Auschwitz to his hometown of Krakow, Poland.
All films are shown at the B&B Theatre West Olive in Creve Coeur, MO, with one film making its St. Louis debut, VINDICTA, getting an additional preview screening at the St. Louis’ Alamo Drafthouse Cinema City Foundry, in midtown St. Louis. VINDICTA is an American-made thriller-like historical drama, inspired by several true stories, about a young Jewish woman who witnesses the murder of her parents by a Nazi officer, but escapes and assumes a new identity, where she embarks on a campaign of vengeance.
The festival runs Mar. 15-26 but not every night, so check their schedule online at www.stljewishfilmfestival.org for screening dates, showtimes and films, as well as ticket information. Several of the films come with guest speakers or Q&A post-film discussions to spark meaningful conversation and deepen connections with the film’s topics. Many of the films are in English but those in other languages are all subtitled in English. The films are paired together with themes, such as “Memory and Moral Reckoning” or “Faith, Family and Finding Yourself.”
A few more festival highlights include the very funny biographical dramedy ONCE UPON MY MOTHER, about a man born with a club foot who is raised by his Moroccan Sephardic Jewish immigrant parents in Paris, focusing especially on his unpredictable, fiercely-supportive, offbeat mother. Documentary highlights include ELIE WIESEL: SOUL ON FIRE, a more personal documentary about the world-famous man who worked tirelessly to ensure what happened in the Holocaust would never be forgotten, a documentary that goes beyond his work to examine the man himself. ETHAN BLOOM is a light, farcical coming-of-age comedy about a Jewish boy in the cusp of turning 13 who is supposed to be preparing for his bat mitzvah but is also secretly exploring Christian beliefs at a local church.
More information about the 2026 St. Louis Jewish Film Festival, with all the films as well as showtimes and ticket information, can be found at their website www.stljewishfilmfestival.org.
June Squibb in Scarlet Johansson’s ELEANOR THE GREAT. Courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics
UNDERTONE (stylized as “undertone,” all lower case) is an atmospheric horror film that uses innovative sound for much of its effect. It focuses on a young woman, Evy Babic (Nina Kiri) caring alone for her dying mother (Michele Duquet) in the mother’s home, presumably the house where the young woman grew up. The mother is in the finally stages of dying, having stopped eating or drinking and appears to sleep continually. Evy’s major contact with the outside world right now is through a podcast that she and a friend, Justin (Adam DiMarco), co-host together, a podcast about the paranormal called “undertone,” in which the pair of them examine supernatural phenomenon, with him playing the role of the believer and her playing the skeptic.
For most the film, we see only Nina Kiri as Evy, and occasionally the unconcious mother. Justin contributes to the podcast remotely, as he lives in another city. Apart from a couple of brief scenes, everything takes place in the mother’s home, giving the film a claustrophic feel.
UNDERTONE (“undertone”) won the Audience Award at Montreal’s Fantasia International Film Festival and then went on to play the 2026 Sundance Film Festival as part of the Midnight program.
Caring for her mother alone is Evy’s choice, and she gentle turns down her podcast co-host Justin’s offer to flying out to visit her, as well as his suggestion she ask for help from her brother, who in the small town were their mother lives. Evy’s mother is religious and the house is filled with crucifixes, framed religious art and little figurines, but we sense Evy is not. The daughter gently cares for her unconcious mother, checking on her, tending to her needs, talking to her in a gentle voice, and singing the nursery rhyme “Ba Ba Black Sheep” to soothe her.
Downstairs in the dining room, Evy communicates with Justin over her laptop, as she sets up to record their podcast for its weekly release. Justin thinks he has found an intriguing mystery for this podcast, a series of ten audio recordings sent to him by email, from a mysterious, unknown address, and with little explanation about them in the email. Tossing aside any fear of viruses in the the files, he clicked on the first one and listened, hearing a man talking about his wife is saying stranging things in her sleep and that he has decided to record her (with her permission) as she sleeps, to trying to understand them. What Justin hears is bizarre, including some snippets of nursery rhymes, played fast or too slow or backwards, and Evy agrees to use them for the podcast, without hearing them, so she can listen as they record the podcast. They start to listen to them in sequence, discussing each as it ends.
The film is built around what happens as they listen to those audio recordings. Eventually, they learn that they are a married couple and the woman is pregnant, which feeds into some of what heard in the later podcasts. There are tidbitst about dark, hidden stories behind innocent-seeming nursery rhymes (which is true, many do have dark stories behind them) and there something about an evil spirit menances babies.
Most of the film takes place in the house where the woman is caring for her mother, apart from a few hours when she reluctantly agrees to meet her boyfriend at a party for a few hours and when she visits a doctor. Mostly, we just see her and her mother, although there is a scene, perhaps a flashback, where a hospice nurse tells her that once her mother stopped eating, they are near the final phase, which she will recognize by a change in her breathing, but there is no way to know how long that will take.
The looming death and the uncertainty about when the end comes, the eerie recordings Evy listens to alone in a darkened room for the podcast, and references in those recordings to sinister meanings behind some nursery rhymes all combine to create a powerrful sense of unease. That feeling is boosted by the innovative use of sound in the film. Evy hears the recordings and their disturbing sounds through her headphones, but we are never sure those sounds aren’t also echoing through the dark, nearly empty house. The brilliant effect raises the hairs on the back of the neck, and is the most striking aspect of the film.
Additionally, the acting is well done, with Nina Kiri very effective in carrying most of the film alone. The half-lit photography adds well to the unsettling atmosphere and the sets are exactly as they should be for a haunting tale. It always seems to be 3 o’clock but in the darkened home, we are never sure if it is 3am or 3pm.
Everything comes together perfectly to set the stage for horror. And then writer-director Ian Tuasin does not follow through on all that promise. While all those elements are very unnerving and the film has created enormous tension, the film does not give us a full story to make use of all this great material. Things go bump in the night perfectly – but that is never tied into a narrative or an explanation. There is basically no story here beyond the set-up of a woman alone in a house with her dying mother, a woman is maybe feeling some guilt for the past, and the creepy audio recordings for the podcast. There are hints about a true story behind the mysterious recordings, and also hints that Evy may be losing touch with reality in the finally sequence, but it is all very vague and incomplete. There isn’t even enough there to make up an explanation for oneself.
Which is a shame. The film does such a good job setting up the story, setting the tone of dread and fear through it’s masterful use of sound, that the audience is primed to be terrified, But then the film just fails to give the audience any story, any plot to hang all that dread on, which is a waste and so disappointing.
UNDERTONE opens in select theaters on Friday, Mar. 13, 2026.
And now, borrowing from the sports world, here’s a fairly remarkable literary/cinematic “hat trick”. For the third year in a row, the multiplex becomes a “book club” with the new movie adaptation of a novel by Colleen Hoover. She’s the best-selling author of IT END WITH US (released in 2024, though the legal theatrics seem to drag on and on and…) and last year’s regrettable REGRETTING YOU. Perhaps Ms. Hoover wants to be as prolific in the 2020’s as Nicholas Sparks was for the first two decades of this century, though she got a lot of typing ahead of her. The results of these movie interpretations have been mixed (US) to downright scathing pans (YOU). So will she and the filmmakers hit that cinema “sweet spot” with REMINDERS OF HIM (Hoover has a thing with title pronouns)? Okay, here goes…chapter one…
Actually, the story’s opening is a return, or a homecoming. Keena Rowan (Maika Monroe) takes a taxi into the picturesque village of Paradise, Wyoming. Well, this is after the driver pauses for her to uproot one of those roadside memorials. She is able to rent a room at the somewhat squalid Paradise Hotel after putting up a big deposit, because the landlady tries to give everyone a “second chance” (and a kitten). Yes, Keena has just been released from prison. This makes her employment search even more difficult. Cut to our introduction to Ledger Ward (Tyriq Withers), a former pro-footballer (let go by the Broncos after his arm “blew out”) who also returned to Paradise to run a bar. He lives across the street from old friends Grace and Patrick Landry (Lauren Graham and Bradley Whitford), who are raising their late son’s adorable five-year-old daughter Diem (Zoe Kasovic), almost like an adored niece to him. After a day “pounding the dusty pavement”, Keena is stunned that the old bookstore/ coffee is now a “watering hole” owned by, yup, Ledger. The two exchange a bit of flirty banter while she exits through the back door. She’s stunned again by the sight of a battered orange pickup truck. It’s then that its owner, Ledger, discovers that Keena is the former girlfriend of his deceased BFF, Scottie Landry (Rudy Pankow). Ledger had loaned his truck to him during his short NFL stint. Naturally, the banter soon ends. The next morning, he’s gobsmacked when he sees her marching toward the Landry house to finally meet her daughter. Yes, she had been sent up the river after that fatal crash (the courts determined that she was driving under the influence) while only a few weeks pregnant. Soon after giving birth, the baby was taken away to Scotty’s folks. Ledger prevents her from making a scene, but is a bitter reunion inevitable (it’s a tiny town)? And what will become of the blossoming attraction between the duo connected by tragedy?
Can it really be a dozen years since Ms. Monroe appeared on my “radar” in the indie horror gem, IT FOLLOWS? Oh yes, and she’s been fairly busy in genre films, whether it’s more horror like last year’s LONGLEGS, or thrillers like (again, 2025) the remake of THE HAND THAT ROCKS THE CRADLE, or sci-fi with that silly INDEPENDENCE DAY sequel (whew). She can do wonders with very little in the way of a script, and here she proves more than up to the task of carrying a romantic drama. We see how life has battered Keena through Monroe’s down-turned gaze and her deliberate body language and slow gait. But when Keena begins her quest to reunite with her baby, Monroe is energized and dynamic, then gives way to a “softer side” as Keena cautiously lets love back into her heart. Here’s hoping for an even greater variety of lead roles for her. Withers weathers (see what I did) last year’s dreadful horror/sports mash-up mess HIM, to become a strong, complex lead as Ledger, a man trying to deal with his own past issues while being stretched in a dozen different directions at once by the people he cares so deeply about, but still full of charm and grit. Almost as much of it as Pankow as the doomed and endearing Scotty. As his folks, Whitford, as “Nono” Landry, is trying to leave his loss behind until Keena pops back. Ditto for Graham, as his still-healing wife, as she tries to protect her granddaughter, now the only physical part of her only child. Much has been made of the screen debut of country crooner Lainey Wilson, who does well in the small (only a few minutes) role of Keena’s boss/buddy. Amid the turmoil, Monika Meyers provides some comic relief as Keen’s special needs co-worker/ neighbor, Lady Diana.
With her second theatrical feature film, director Vanessa Caswill keeps the pace flowing, though she leans heavily into prolonged close-ups to convey the budding attraction (and they are attractive) of the principals. Plus, she makes great use of the stunning visuals with Canada (again) subbing for its southern neighbor. But then there’s the script, which hammers the dramatic conflicts, veering into melodrama, and gives way to cloying heart-tugging. frequently in the dialogues with Diem and the earlier-mentioned Diana, going to the “cute well” till it’s nearly dry. I did find it interesting that Hoover, adapting her novel with Lauren Levine, opted to leave the big city, lush settings of US and YOU to focus on those struggling to get by, though the under-constructed home of Ledger seems far too opulent. Still, fans of her work will probably be pleased while the rest of us ponder just how this “basic cable TV’ terajerker “escaped” into the multiplex (those literary roots, I suppose). But the potent chemistry between the engaging Monroe and Withers smooths out much of the potboiler tropes of REMINDERS OF HIM (sound of paperback closing).
1.5 Out of 4
REMINDERS OF HIM opens exclusively in theatres on Friday, March 13, 2026.
Damian McCarthy is back with another great horror film, HOKUM, and today we got a first look at the brand new trailer.
When novelist Ohm Bauman retreats to a remote inn to scatter his parents’ ashes, he is consumed by tales of a witch haunting the honeymoon suite. Disturbing visions and a shocking disappearance forces him to confront dark corners of his past.
HOKUM stars Adam Scott, Peter Coonan, David Wilmot, Florence Ordesh, Will O’Connell, Michael Patric, Siox C, Brendan Conroy, Austin Amelio, Ezra Carlisle.
