{"id":64619,"date":"2026-02-17T08:25:02","date_gmt":"2026-02-17T08:25:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/itsnotaboutme.tv\/news\/?p=64619"},"modified":"2026-02-17T08:25:02","modified_gmt":"2026-02-17T08:25:02","slug":"movie-reviews-mini-movie-reviews-2026-part-ii","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/itsnotaboutme.tv\/news\/movie-reviews-mini-movie-reviews-2026-part-ii\/","title":{"rendered":"MOVIE REVIEWS: MINI MOVIE REVIEWS 2026\u2014PART II"},"content":{"rendered":"

MINI MOVIE REVIEWS 2026\u2014PART II<\/h1>\n

I had to pause my pre-Golden Globes<\/em> movie-viewing last month because the films were all so depressing that I felt my soul being squashed down!!!<\/p>\n

\"Screenshot<\/a>So now that I\u2019ve had a bit of a breather, I had<\/em> to dive back into them so I can vote fairly for the upcoming Actor Awards<\/em>, which is the new name for the SAGs<\/em> this year. (Kind-of a stupid\/pretentious change, I know.)<\/p>\n

But at least it gives me the chance to steer you guys in the right directions. So here is my second batch of Mini Movie Reviews<\/em> of the 2026 films, most of which have at least one nomination for someone or something in one awards-bestowing organization or another. (If you missed the first bunch, you can still read about them here: itsnotaboutme.tv\/news\/movie-reviews-mini-movie-reviews-2026-part-i<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

As I did in Part I, I\u2019m summing each one up with one word, followed by a few brief (for me) thoughts in specific. I\u2019ll go worst, (and I do<\/em> mean worst<\/em>,) to first this time.<\/p>\n

Sinners<\/em><\/strong>\u2014Weird. And\u00a0horrible.<\/p>\n

This is truly one of the worst movies I\u2019ve ever seen! It\u2019s like one veeeery long SNL<\/em> skit\u2014a mashup of an old-time Southern black experience story and\u2026vampires. To paraphrase Trevor Noah\u2019s every-few-seconds dramatic queries while hosting the recent Grammys<\/em>\u2014Are they kidding me?<\/p>\n

\"Sinners.\"<\/a>

Sinners.<\/p><\/div>\n

For those who have been fortunate enough to have missed this one\u2014I\u2019m not exaggerating. Sinners<\/em> is a horror vampire story taking place in the very racist south, (Mississippi, to be exact,) in 1932!!! Who thought of this??? It actually makes Frankenstein<\/em> look like a comedy<\/em>!<\/p>\n

I noticed in the credits that the company had an \u201cEmotional Wellness Coordinator\u201d listed. Yeah, they needed one\u2026just for the audience<\/em>!!! Me in particular. Because of all the graphic sex talk, (and an act<\/em> or two, as well,) this is not appropriate for young people. Or me<\/em>! (Oh no\u2014I just also noticed that Sinners<\/em> is also being presented on IMAX! So it does<\/em> get worse!)<\/p>\n

I\u2019m sure the story was meant as an allegory or metaphor for something, but its meaning escapes me. And I don\u2019t want to spend any more time on it.<\/p>\n

And there\u2019s a dance an hour in that is one of the stupidest things I\u2019ve seen in film. The jumping to the future, totally out of context, would usually have bothered me, but at that point, I just really didn\u2019t care at all. But the scene is worse than even my<\/em> worst dance club night! And that\u2019s sayin\u2019 somethin\u2019.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t know the exact politically correct way to state this next sentiment, but I feel all those Oscar nods, (a record-setting sixteen<\/em>,) are to make-up for all the years that movie awards, specially the Oscars, have been considered \u201cso white.\u201d (Remember the social media movement, declaring \u201c#OscarsSoWhite\u201d? It\u2019s been going on for eleven years now!) I don\u2019t agree with either<\/em> situation\u2014works should be judged solely on their merit, not their race, not the reputations of the people involved, (such as white director Paul Thomas Anderson, whose film this year,\u00a0One Battle After Another<\/em>, is almost as dreadful as this one, yet it keeps winning awards, as well.)<\/p>\n

If I Had Legs I\u2019d Kick You<\/em><\/strong>\u2014Waste-of-time.<\/p>\n

This one is actually a supreme<\/em> waste of time. Except that Rose Byrne is great, and is such a pretty woman.<\/p>\n

The extreme close-ups are sooooo annoying! The whole time, I felt like they were doing that Martin Short 60 Minutes<\/em> spoof from SNL<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\"A$AP<\/a>

A$AP Rocky, (whose handsome self was a fun surprise in the film,) and Rose Byrne.<\/p><\/div>\n

And what\u2019s up with the silly ultra-long title??? I had assumed it was about the struggles of a woman in a wheelchair. No lie. (I still<\/em> have no idea what\u2019s up with that title.)<\/p>\n

And how is this even close to being a comedy<\/em>??? I think nominating committees don\u2019t know the definition of \u201ccomedy.\u201d<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve read all kinds of artistic excuses as to why the young, sick daughter is never shown, but I say it\u2019s because the producers knew better than to exploit an emancipated child. You can fake sickly-looking on film, but not anorexic-being. (They never explain the kid\u2019s malady, but she needs a feeding tube, and doesn\u2019t eat otherwise, and the doctor keeps saying she has to gain weight, so it can\u2019t be anything simple.)<\/p>\n

Blue Moon<\/em><\/strong>\u2014Interesting-yet-boring.<\/p>\n

This story of one night in the life of old school Broadway lyricist Lorenz Hart is semi-true, possibly enough.<\/p>\n

\"Andrew<\/a>

Andrew Scott and Ethan Hawke as songwriting team Rodgers and Hart in Blue Moon.<\/p><\/div>\n

I haven\u2019t seen Ethan Hawke in anything, (that I can remember, anyway,)* but he\u2019s really excellent in this one, playing Hart. He has to carry the entire film, doing practically a ninety-minute monologue! (Who does he think he is\u2014me<\/em>???) *[Note: After I wrote this article, I researched Hawke\u2019s films. And out of his four decades of constant movie-making, I\u2019ve seen only 1999\u2019s Snow Falling On Cedars<\/em> and 2001\u2019s\u00a0<\/em>Training Day<\/i>. And I don\u2019t even remember him in either<\/em>!]<\/p>\n

But, as good as he is, he totally reminded me of Andy Cohen on New Year\u2019s Eve. (If Anderson Cooper had played the bartender, everyone would see the comparison.)<\/p>\n

Blue Moon<\/em> really seems like more of a play than a movie. So I assumed it had already been, but the answer is no, it has not. But if it ever is produced as such, it cannot star Ethan Hawke. And that\u2019s not because he\u2019s a movie star, or too busy, or hates doing live shows, or is just not interested, but rather due to the fact that he\u2019s normal height! Hart was 4\u201911\u201d!\u00a0(I dare you to find more than a couple of photos of him standing next to anyone!) Movie magic made Hawke look diminutive, but that cannot be done on stage. This just might be a vehicle for the talented Peter Dinklage, though!<\/p>\n

Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery<\/em><\/strong>\u2014Tedious.<\/p>\n

\"Josh<\/a>

Josh O’Connor and Daniel Craig.<\/p><\/div>\n

This was the only current movie, (in the Fall, when awards season began,) I had even a drop of interest in seeing because it was a whodunit from the Knives Out<\/em> franchise. But even it<\/em> was a disappointment.<\/p>\n

And it\u2019s not nominated for anything, so I should have just passed.<\/p>\n

In all three of the Knives Out<\/em> movies, I\u2019ve felt that Daniel Craig is thinking how good he is at being an (unnecessarily) Southern detective. And he is actually not. Good at it, that is.<\/p>\n

Marty Supreme<\/em><\/strong>\u2014Good!<\/p>\n

Even though this is the longest of the bunch, it\u2019s the most entertaining. And it\u2019s a normal sort-of film, which I like better. We can basically follow it, and the action is linear, which makes it more enjoyable.<\/p>\n

However, (and this is a major \u201cbut,\u201d) almost none of the story is true, even though it\u2019s about a real-life ping-pong champion from back in the day! If you read enough materials on it, you\u2019ll discover that the creatives refer to the story as “a fictionalized original,\u201d saying it\u2019s not meant to be a biopic. But most viewers won\u2019t research the topic, as I<\/em> incessantly do, for just about everything<\/em>. So the writers and producers are doing an injustice to not only the subject, (the late Marty Reisman in real life,) and his family and friends, but to the movie-going public! And to history!<\/p>\n

But there are<\/em> two very<\/em> impressive aspects of Marty Supreme<\/em>. One is that Timothee Chalamet is actually doing the complex ping-pong playing! He trained for years<\/em> for it! So good for him. He\u2019s a tough kid.<\/p>\n

\"Marty<\/a>

Marty Supreme.<\/p><\/div>\n

The other is that even my<\/em> critical-of-looks self believed that Timothee\u2019s bad skin in the film is real! (But, sadly, his bad teeth<\/em> are.) I read that even Gwyneth Paltrow, with whom he has sex in a few scenes, (meaning that she saw his skin as up-close as one can,) was fooled\u2014she advised him what to do to get rid of acne!<\/p>\n

But, very annoyingly, there is sooo much weird stunt casting! None are necessary, especially creepy Fran Drescher, (as Marty\u2019s mother,) and also-creepy Sandra Bernard, (as her caregiver or something,) except that those two characters are also creepy. (or it actually might just be that the actors personalities come through!) And although the man from Shark Tank<\/em>, (Kevin O\u2019Leary,) is perfectly despicable as his character, (as he appears to be in real life,) I hate it when actors lose jobs to non-actors.\u00a0 It reminded me of a small confrontation I had over a dozen years ago with a famous director on his same decision of hiring non-actors. So, now that I\u2019m at the end of this set of Mini Movie Reviews<\/em>,) here\u2019s that intense personal story:<\/p>\n

After seeing Reitman\u2019s Up In The Air<\/em> in a Screen Actors Guild screening, (which means we were all actors and our guests,) star George Clooney and director Jason Reitman were doing a Q-and-A with the audience. Jason was proudly boasting that, instead of actors, he had used many \u201creal people,\u201d as he put it, who had been fired in real life, as the fire-ees in the film. But he was bragging about that to a theatre full of actors<\/em>!<\/p>\n

Even though I never<\/em> participate in these post-screening Q-and-As, I very bravely (and nicely) asked him, \u201cDon\u2019t you feel a little funny to announce to a room full of mainly unemployed actors that you hired so many non<\/em>-actors instead of us<\/em>???\u201d He obnoxiously answered that he wouldn\u2019t have gotten the lines that these real-life fire-ees came up with had he used actors. I was dying to chime in again and ask if he didn\u2019t know that half of us do improv and may have come up with something even better<\/em>! Or that most of us have been fired in our lives, most likely even from acting jobs!!! We know the experience more than most!<\/p>\n

Reitman didn\u2019t even want<\/em> to answer me to begin with, but George Clooney made<\/em> him, saying, \u201cWait now\u2013the girl deserves an answer.\u201d I\u2019m just glad that he saw me as still young-looking enough to be categorized as a girl<\/em>!<\/p>\n

You can read my final-for-the-season batch of Mini Movie Reviews<\/em> after the Olympics, when I will force myself to watch the rest of the nominees.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MINI MOVIE REVIEWS 2026\u2014PART II I had to pause my pre-Golden Globes movie-viewing last month because the films were all so depressing that I felt my soul being squashed down!!! So now that I\u2019ve had a bit of a breather, I had to dive back into them so I can vote fairly for the upcoming<\/p>\n

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