A Reel Preview: The Year in Film 2026 - Episode X

October is the time for cinephiles to pull those frightening favorites off the shelves and welcome back spooky season. This month isn’t too packed with new horror releases, but it still has a lot to offer. Re-releases this month include ATONEMENT (20^th anniversary), DONNIE DARKO (25^TH anniversary), MOONLIGHT (10^thanniversary), and PAN’S LABYRINTH (20^th anniversary). Here’s what else is coming to the big screen for the next 31 days: 

 

 

DIGGER – Oscar-winning director Alejandro Inarritu (BIRDMAN, THE REVENANT), brings us this wacky black comedy where an oil tycoon (Tom Cruise), races to avert a global disaster that his company caused. The cast includes John Goodman, Riz Ahmed, Sandra Huller, Michael Stuhlbarg, and Jesse Plemons. 

 

 

VERITY – Anne Hathaway plays a best-selling erotic novelist who can’t finish a manuscript. Dakota Johnson and Josh Hartnett co-star. 

 

 

OTHER MOMMY – Jessica Chastain stars in this horror film where a supernatural entity takes on the appearance of a little girl’s mother. 

 

 

THE SOCIAL RECKONING – Acclaimed screenwriter Aaron Sorkin (A FEW GOOD MEN), sits in the director’s chair for this direct sequel to the acclaimed THE SOCIAL NETWORK from 2010. This time, Mark Zuckerberg (now played by Jeremy Strong), faces a whistleblower problem. The cast includes Jeremy Allen White, Mikey Madison, and Bill Burr. 

 

 

CRAWLERS – In this horror-thriller, an outbreak of venomous spiders terrorize residents in a quarantined apartment building. 

 

 

SENSE AND SENSIBILITY – Daisy Edgar-Jones stars in yet another adaptation of the famous Jane Austen novel. 

 

 

STREET FIGHTER – The third live-action film based on the popular video game fighting-franchise. 

 

 

WHALEFALL – Austin Abrams plays a deep-sea diver swallowed by a sperm whale in this true story adaptation. Josh Brolin co-stars. 

 

 

CLAYFACE – The (not so) famous Batman villain, Clayface, gets his own film and origin story. Tom Rhys Harries plays Clayface, an actor who is transformed into a being made of clay. Naomi Ackie co-stars. 

 

 

KLARA AND THE SUN – In the near future, an android companion (played by Jenna Ortega), tries to bond with a sick girl. Amy Adams co-stars. It is directed by Taika Waititi (JO JO RABBIT). 

 

 

YOU CAN SEE EVERYTHING – Acclaimed documentary filmmaker Nathan Fielder closely follows, and lives with disgraced Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes in her days before heading to prison. 

 

 

WICKER – In this fantasy comedy, a reclusive fisherwoman makes herself a husband out of wicker. The cast includes Oliva Colman, Alexander Skarsgard, Peter Dinklage, Elizabeth Debecki, and Richard E. Grant. 

 

 

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Next month, Reel Speak previews the massive month of November. 

A Reel Review: PRIMETIME

In the early 2000's, one show that had all of America talking was NBC's To Catch a Predator; a news-based, reality-style program that had investigative journalist Chris Hansen and law enforcement trapping pedophiles. It was a cultural lightning rod that had inner circles of journalism discussing the ethics behind it all and where the lines should be

drawn. That story comes to the big screen in PRIMETIME.

 

Journalist Chris Hansen (Robert Pattinson), and his producer Andie (Merritt Wever), recruit aspiring young actor Dan (Skyler Cisondo), to act as a decoy as they film pedophiles arriving at a sting house.

 

Directed by Lance Oppenheim, PRIMETIME follows the NBC crew using Dan's talents, as they bait and trap sexual predators. The stakes are high as Hansen has an opportunity to bring his show to a prime spot during the week, while he deals with personal issues at home. When the crew apparently baits a possible predator who is high up in government, tensions begin to run high.

 

It feels like it should be a great story in journalism, but PRIMETIME takes one too many left turns in spending too much time with Dan, the aspiring young actor who is a fish out of water in this ambush-journalism world. It is a common technique for filmmakers to use a newcomer as an audience surrogate to bring us into the cinematic world, but here it takes over too much. PRIMETIME feels like it is Dan's story more than Hansen's and the predators he is catching.

While the plot is unfocused, the filmmaking is excellent. The recreation of the stings that we have seen on TV is very well done, and the awkward moments are done so well that audiences will be squirming in their seats, At just 110 minutes the film is brisk and tight.

 

Robert Pattinson is excellent as Hansen, re-creating his unique voice and mannerisms perfectly. Skyler Gisondo steals the show, The rest of the cast, including Merritt Wever, Anna Ferris, Bokeem Woodbine, and Alex Winter...all excellent. 

 

PRIMETIME sticks somewhat close to its real-life roots, right down to the tragedy that ultimately ended the show. It's a banger of a climax, which then settles into a very weird, and out-of-place wrap-up. PRIMETIME has a lot of good stuff worthy of its name, but the unfocused plot keeps it from winning the top ratings.

 

BOTTOM LINE: Rent it

A Reel Legend: Gloria Stuart

This month's Reel Legend is Gloria Stuart.

 

Born in California on July 4, 1910, Gloria Stuart began acting onstage before signing with Universal Pictures in the early 1930's. She quickly became a leading lady of Pre-Code Hollywood, appearing in more than 40 films during the decade, including the horror films THE OLD DARK HOUSE (1932) with Boris Karloff, and the Universal Horror Classic THE INVISIBLE MAN (1933), along with HERE COMES THE NAVY (1934), with James Cagney, GOLD DIGGERS OF 1935 (1935), THE PRISONER OF SHARK ISLAND (1936), and two Shirley Temple films.

 

Stuart became dissatisfied with the studio system, and left acting in the 1940's. She devoted herself to painting and the visual arts, becoming an accomplished artist with her

work exhibited internationally. She gradually returned to acting in the 1970's and appeared in MY FAVORITE YEAR (1982), and WILDCATS (1986), with Goldie Hawn. Her likeness was used in the 1997 superhero film BATMAN & ROBIN, as the sister to Alfred. 

 

But her greatest role arrived in 1997, when at 86 years old, James Cameron cast her as the

100-year-old Rose in TITANIC. Her performance earned her a Screen Actors Guild Award and an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress. At 87, she became the oldest person ever nominated for an acting Oscar at the time.

 

Gloria Stuart would pass away in 2010 at the (ironic), age of 100. 

 

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From her sharp humor and wit, piercing gaze and friendly face…Gloria Stuart was an elemental force in the massive success TITANIC would have; quite the feat in a film packed with cinematic forces. Her warmth and dignity gave the enormous spectacle a human heart, and on Oscar night there could not have been a soul who wasn’t rooting for her to win. 

 

Her legacy is unique; she is remembered both as a star of classic 1930’s Hollywood and as an artist who built a life outside of the movie business. TITANIC introduced her to a new generation and beyond over 40 years after she appeared with towering names such as James Cagney and Boris Karloff; taking ownership of one of cinema’s most memorable…and legendary comebacks. 

A Reel 75: ALICE IN WONDERLAND

“I’m late! I’m late, for a very important date!” 

This month marks the 75th anniversary of Walt Disney's ALICE IN WONDERLAND.

 

The ambitious adaptation of Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass, ALICE IN WONDERLAND was the beloved tale of a young girl who falls down a rabbit hole and enters a fantastical, nonsensical world. Early production on ALICE started as far back as the 1930's, but things were delayed by WWIl and other Disney commitments. Work picked up again and accelerated through the 1940's, with a screenplay drawing on Carroll's books and a distinctive visual style based on concept art by Mary Blair. Kathryn Beaumont, who was 14 years old at the time, would be cast as the voice of Alice. She would be joined by Ed Wynn, Richard Haydn, Sterling Holloway, and Jerry Colonna.

 

ALICE IN WONDERLAND had its premiere in July of 1951 before going into wide release in September. Reviews were mixed and the film initially disappointed at the box office, although the score would be nominated for an Oscar. Its reputation would change over time as television broadcasts and theatrical re-issues introduced the film to new generations.

 

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ALICE IN WONDERLAND can be a bizarre, fever-dream of a film; with not much making sense and things shifting episodically with little to no connection. But the bizarre-ness of it is part of its charm, along with some colorful characters that would become Disney icons and memorable songs. Today ALICE IN WONDERLAND is regarded as one of Disney's most imaginative animated films, and an example of a studio pushing the boundaries of traditional storytelling.

 

“Curiosity often leads to trouble.”

 

A Reel Preview: The Year in Film 2026 - Episode IX

The Summer Movie Season of 2026 is over. September usually starts rolling in the awards hopefuls, although this year the first month of Award Season looks a little light…with only two possible films that we will still be talking about in February. The biggest release of this month is a re-release, with Marvel sending their epic AVENGERS: ENDGAME back into theatres for another go. Sub-titled ENCORE, this new edition promises new footage that will lead us into AVENGERS: DOOMSDAY in December. Other re-releases this month include Pixar’s CARS (20 years). Here’s what else is coming to the big screen in September: 

 

 

 

BY ANY MEANS – In this historical crime thriller, Mark Wahlberg plays a mafia hit man who teams up with the FBI to investigate the murders of civil rights leaders in 1966. 

 

 

THE FIX – Liam Neeson starts in this action film where a group of former CIA operatives enter Tehran to pull off a score. 

 

 

PRACTICAL MAGIC 2 – The sequel to the 1998 hit. Set 25 years after the events of the first film, the Owens family faces a new crisis when their history is uncovered. The cast includes Sandra Bullock, Nicole Kidman, Stockard Channing, Dianne West, Maisie Williams, Lee Pace, and Joey King. 

 

 

THE UPRISING – Famed action director Paul Greengrass (THE BOURNE SUPREMECY, CAPTAIN PHILLIPS), helms this historical epic about the rebellion against Richard II of England. Andrew Garfield leads the way. 

 

 

RESIDENT EVIL – The second reboot of the popular video game series. Zach Cregger, director of the acclaimed horror films BARBARIAN (2022), and WEAPONS (2025), directs. 

 

 

HEART OF THE BEAST – Brad Pitt plays a Special Forces officer stranded in the wilderness after a plane crash with only his combat dog with him. David Ayer (FURY, TRAINING DAY), directs. 

 

 

PRIMETIME – Robert Pattinson plays former NBC correspondent Chris Hansen in this thriller which follows the production of To Catch a Predator. 

 

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Next month, Reel Speak previews the month of October.