MINI MOVIE REVIEWS 2026—PART III

With the Actor Awards finally behind us, we now turn our movie attention to next weekend’s Oscars. So here’s my third, and final, installment of my Mini Movie Reviews. (If you missed the first two, you can still read them here: itsnotaboutme.tv/news/movie-reviews-mini-movie-reviews-2026-part-i, and here: itsnotaboutme.tv/news/movie-reviews-mini-movie-reviews-2026-part-ii.)

In case you didn’t realize this, the nominees vary a bit from awards show to awards show. I will try to see the few that didn’t overlap with the Oscars in the next two weeks, so if I have any pressing thoughts on those few, I’ll most likely just tweet them out. (I’m @MajorCelebrity, in case you’d like to follow me now.)

However, Mr. X and I were obligated to force ourselves to continue watching these mostly-not-fun films because we had to vote for the Actor Awards, (the former SAGs,) which took place last weekend. I’m a big believer in fairness, so I insisted on viewing all the performances, no matter how unworthy of awards most of them are.

But I’m afraid that the spate of lackluster films for this year continues. If I did not firmly adhere to those fair voting practices, I would have quit most of the flicks in the first ten minutes or so. The only movie I really enjoyed, (except for the occasional sadness in it,) is Song Sung Blue. So let’s begin with that one:

Song Sung Blue—Outside of the ending sadness, which isn’t even true, this was my favorite movie of the year, and the most normal one.

For those nescients among you who think this is a Neil Diamond biopic, (I’ve read that error from people who have even seen the film, which is just insane,) it definitely is not! It’s the true (to a point) story of a couple in Milwaukee who do a Neil Diamond “tribute band” beginning in the late ’80s.

I was shocked at how good Kate Hudson is in it; she’s just about perfect. Now I’m glad she’s received so many nominations for the role. And my long-lasting crush, Hugh Jackman, should have definitely been nominated, as well. It’s a shonda that he has not been.

Now I can’t wait to see the 2008 documentary about the couple on which this fictionalized is based, but that endeavor will have to wait until after the Oscars because my dance card is full until then.

Wicked: For Good—Even having seen the stage musical…*twice, I still had no idea what the premise of this second part of the Wicked story is. They should have not broken the one Broadway show up into two films; that was greedy of them. This second half really needed the thing they do at the beginning of TV series’ episodes, where they show us the highlights of “previously on…” So I had to stop the movie halfway through and look-up what was going on with it.

*[Note: Even though other commitments made me miss the Opening Night the first time Wicked was out here in LA, I saw it a few weeks later, in order to review it on my TV show. And my old pal Adam Lambert was in it…in the chorus! Don’t ask. But it was soooo disappointing. I didn’t need to ever see it again, but I knew that two of my friends in New York wanted to see it on Broadway when I was visiting, and I had an in for tickets, so I was happy to take them to the musical. But even those two usual Pollyanas didn’t care about the show!]

It is very visually interesting, and—I’m surprising even myself to say this—Ariana Grande is really lovely in it. So there’s that. I began watching it just because she was nominated, so, in my fair mind, I had to, but I wound-up wanting to finish it, perhaps just to hear Ariana and Cynthia Erivo sing For Good, which is a beautiful and powerful song. I haven’t stopped singing it in my mind for weeks now!

Hamnet—As Mr. X declared, this is superior filmmaking. But I say mostly—get the F out of here with it! (I’ll elaborate in the next paragraph.)

Even though I’m not a fan of this one, the two boys in it are revelations. And they’re brothers in real life. Jacobi Jupe plays the young, (about eleven years old) son, the titular Hamnet, while his older brother Noah Jupe plays the lead actor of Shakespeare’s play, Hamlet. After I saw the movie, I realized that Noah was also the wonderful young actor who had played Nicole Kidman’s son in 2020’s The Undoing! I had lauded him in a couple of articles back then, and am shocked it’s taken this long for him to get to the forefront of moviegoers’ consciousness. And little Jacobi’s performance is like he’s channeling a grown-up great actor; it’s almost haunted.

But the movie is a mess. Just as its director Chloe Zhao’s hair always is. The lead character, Agnes, (Shakespeare’s wife, although they never once mention his last name, and refer to him as, “Will” just once, near the end,) wore one dress for the entire many-years-long film. (Or perhaps iterations of it, which is almost equally crazy.) And the couple never ages over the many years, although they both work outside, (with no sunscreen,) and lose a child, which ages you immediately.

And worst of all…the story is false! About a real-life person who was a cultural icon!!! That’s inexcusable. They also never make the years known, so all the action is a confusing jumble. And it’s hard to figure-out where everyone is living. Or why anyone’s upset. And why it seems to be perpetually summer, in England, of all places! And why the wife had to be lying down to have one of the twins, but then have to sit on a “birthing stool,” (or some such name,) to have the other one a minute later. Also, what ever happened to Shakespeare’s father? He was there one minute, then totally disappeared from the narrative!

I hate movies that are not clear. It’s just so pretentious of the writer and director.

Weapons—I watched this odd film the same night as The State of the Union Address, and this horrific movie was less of a horror than what Orange Hitler had to say!!!

But outside of that, despite all the excellent performances, and interesting presentation for the first half, Mr. X and I wound-up hating it. It totally fell apart near the end, seeming like the writer/director just got tired of figuring-out how to wrap it all up, and threw a bunch of horror movie cliches at the audience.

But just about everyone in the cast, especially Benedict Wong as the school Principal, is excellent in it.

Bugonia—Yet another movie that I hated with every fiber of my being! This is one of the worst movies I’ve ever seen, possibly even worse than Sinners, actually.

How the heck is it labeled a “black comedy” and a “thriller?!” It’s neither. It’s more horror than anything. By now I realize that Emma Stone and her director buddy, Yorgos Lanthimos, are just creepy weirdos. Upon researching the film, (in the middle of watching it, actually, because it was so awful that I needed a break,) I discovered that it’s a remake of a 2003 South Korean film, but that fact does not excuse this disturbing duo from foisting it on the public. They owe us all our time back.

But Jesse Plemons is wonderful in it. It’s a shame the Academy Award voters didn’t see fit to nominate him for an Oscar, as he has been for the Actors and the Golden Globes.

And Aidan Delbis, as Jesse’s autistic cousin, is good, although I have a feeling that, unlike Leonardo DiCaprio’s incredible performance in What’s Eating Gilbert Grape, he’s just playing himself.

And that’s it for my 2026 film reviews. I really hope that next year’s are better, but with everyone trying to be so “different” in show biz, I don’t have much optimism on the subject.

The Oscars aren’t until next Sunday, March 15th, so you all have time to follow me on Twitter (or X) @MajorCelebrity before then. (If you don’t already, of course.) After what is sure to be a crazy and exhausting few days before the awards show, I’m looking forward to just sitting in front of the television and live-tweeting it all for you guys! May the best people win.