After highlighting the 50 must-see films confirmed to arrive this fall, we turn our attention to the festival-bound titles either without distribution or a confirmed 2026 release date. Across Venice, Toronto, and the New York Film Festival line-ups, we’ve rounded up 20 we can’t wait to see over the next few weeks.

Find our 20 most-anticipated festival premieres below and return for our reviews, as well as news when some of these may hit theaters, by subscribing to our daily newsletter.

Alpha Gang (David Zellner, Nathan Zellner; TIFF)

The Zellner brothers, most recently making a critical splash with the odd, sweet Sasquatch Sunset, return to the festival circuit with Alpha Gang, premiering at TIFF. Following a group of aliens who cannot conquer Earth without, first, feeling the weight of human emotions, the sci-fi comedy looks to blend the Zellners’ absurdist humor with an extraterrestrial bent. It features an ensemble filled with character actors and mainstays, highlighted by Léa Seydoux, Dave Bautista, Lily-Rose Depp, and Cate Blanchett. – Mike F.

Babies (Lauren Miller Rogen; TIFF)

With a murderer’s row of a cast that includes Anna Kendrick, Sharon Stone, (husband) Seth Rogen, David Strathairn, Issa Rae, Zach Cherry, Dan Stevens, Ed Helms, and Kate Berlant, writer-director Lauren Miller Rogen’s sophomore feature shows more comedic promise than most fall-festival titles. Rogen and Kendrick play the lead couple that invite a recently divorced friend (Berlant) and her toddler to move in, much to their disaster. Hints of Neighbors and C’mon C’mon loom large. Moonlight editor Joi McMillon, A Single Man DP Eduard Grau, and Saw / Neighbors production designer Julie Berghoff stand out in an impressive crew. – Luke H.

Bad Lieutenant: Tokyo (Takashi Miike; TIFF)

The producers of the Bad Lieutenant films take their time, but their curation is impeccable. After Abel Ferrara showed us Harvey Keitel as a corrupt cop in New York and Werner Herzog let Nicolas Cage run wild in New Orleans, the series goes global with Japanese legend Takashi Miike and lead actor Shun Oguri (with Lily James thrown in for some sweet co-production funding). Given the series’ history with eccentric filmmakers, here’s hoping Miike’s gonzo sensibilities show up in full force. – C.J. P.

Bucking Fastard (Werner Herzog; Venice, TIFF, NYFF)

Werner Herzog returns with Bucking Fastard, his first narrative feature since 2019, and it sounds like a doozy. A project Herzog wanted to make for decades, it stars Kate and Rooney Mara as sisters who speak synchronously; in typical Herzog fashion, it takes inspiration from real life. The film was originally invited to Cannes, but Herzog declined after they wouldn’t put his film in competition for the Palme d’Or. Now it’s set to premiere in competition at Venice, and based on this clip, it’s going to be weird in all the ways we expect from one of the greats. – C.J. P.

Burgundy (Michael Dweck, Gregory Kershaw; Venice) 

After setting the bar for visually exquisite gems in the documentary space, The Truffle Hunters and Gaucho Gaucho directors Michael Dweck and Gregory Kershaw are back with Burgundy, which explores the France region known for its wine culture and is set to premiere at Venice. We expect another gorgeous, insightful look into the customs and traditions of a rather insular world. – Jordan R.

The Echo Chamber (Andrea Pallaoro; Venice)

Eight years after the death of Bernardo Bertolucci, Italian up-and-comer Andrea Pallaoro (whose last film, Monica, was a sleeper hit in 2022) will usher the legend’s final screenplay into the world at Venice. His fourth and biggest feature to-date—with stars Alicia Vikander, Luca Marinelli, and Susan Sarandon forming the film’s central trio—The Echo Chamber also marks the first film of Pallaoro’s that he didn’t write, despite working with Bertolucci’s original two co-scribes to see the script through. There’s little to say about the vague synopsis (love and life blurring “until they dissolve,” etc.) but we know Vikander and Marinelli are a couple, the former is a physical therapist, the latter is a drug-addict music producer, and Sarandon is an iconic singer that Marinelli is producing. – Luke H.

Edward Said: Between Worlds (Maiken Baird; TIFF and NYFF)

As the genocide inflicted on Palestinians continues with utter devastation, it can be helpful for those looking from the outside to get a comprehensive history of the community’s culture, history, and plight. Captured through the perspective of Palestinian-American academic and activist Edward Said, Maiken Baird’s archival documentary weaves a personal, insightful portrait of one of the great, late minds who dedicated his life to lucidly fighting for dignity and respect. – Jordan R.

The Face of Horror (Anna Biller; TIFF)

No one makes movies like Anna Biller. The cinema-history-obsessed auteur (and novelist!) writes, directs, costume designs, and produces (and sometimes scores, production designs, art directs, and set decorates) her female-revenge-centric films to look, sound, and feel like they were made in the ‘60s or ‘70s, the result proving gobsmacking in both story and technique. With nine years between her first two films and eight between her second and this one, anyone who fell for the idiosyncratic folk horror-dark comedy flavor of 2016’s The Love Witch has been waiting for a Frank Ocean amount of time. And The Face of Horror is exactly what a Biller-head would hope for: a medieval ghost story in which a woman seeks revenge on her husband, and one billed as a “gory tribute to classic Technicolor horror films.” – Luke H.

Heil Jupiter! (Carlos Reygadas, NYFF)

Mexican filmmaker Carlos Reygadas is spiritual and existential, in constant thought on perception and reality. His latest, Heil Jupiter!, world-premiering at NYFF, concerns itself with two couples and an omniscient entity that watches and judges. Reygadas is as much a philosopher as a filmmaker, and his new, 2.5-hour drama looks to be an intersection of his passions. – Mike F. 

I Deserve a Lover Whose Every Rise Sets Fiery Dooms Raging Across the Skies (Mani Haghighi; NYFF) 

Fans of the poetic, radically riveting filmmaking of Sergei Parajanov are sure to adore Mani Haghighi’s latest, which wins the Best Title award for this year’s festivals. I Deserve a Lover Whose Every Rise Sets Fiery Dooms Raging Across the Skies, premiering in the New York Film Festival’s Main Slate, tracks the artistic pursuits of partners Nasser Bakhsh and Roghayeh Najdidi. Haghighi deserves as much acclaim as other contemporary Iranian directors; hopefully this offers a breakout. – Jordan R.

Joy of Joys (Jonathan Glazer; NYFF)

The premise of Oscar-winning director Jonathan Glazer’s first documentary might not immediately sound like a work from the mind that gave us Under the Skin and The Zone of Interest. But this 38-minute, music-filled exploration—about the making of a 2026 charity album from War Child Records, which aids children in conflict zones around the world—should still feel unmistakably Glazer. Even amid its exuberance, he keeps the sobering realities of war and evils confronting war-torn families firmly in view—another intriguing juxtaposition as he detours into non-fiction. – Jake K-S

The Julia Set (Niki Byrne; TIFF)

There aren’t a whole lot of math movies out there—one reason writer-director Niki Byrne’s first major project catches the eye. The concept of someone training to take on “the world’s most challenging math competition” brings the fury of Whiplash, Battle Royale, or They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? to mind… but math. Yet the most enticing thing on paper about The Julia Set is its lead, Chase Infiniti, who broke out as a captivating natural talent with One Battle After Another and has yet to appear in another film since, making The Julia Set a minor event for anyone tracking her career. It doesn’t hurt that Gillian Anderson (who also produced), Jason Isaacs, and Nina Hoss are there, too. – Luke H.

Ladies and Gentlemen, Brian Mulroney (Matthew Rankin; TIFF)

Matthew Rankin, Canadian filmmaker and absurdist comedy aficionado, returns to TIFF with Ladies and Gentlemen, Brian Mulroney, his follow-up to the acclaimed Universal Language. Rankin once again looks at Canadian Prime Ministers, this documentary focused on Mulroney, the PM from 1984-1993. Featuring a collage format using a collection of media, Rankin’s third feature will surely be another entry contributing to his view of Canadian history. – Mike F.

Let Us Through, Dear Ancestors (Lav Diaz; Venice)

This has always been the case, but especially of late, writer-director Lav Diaz has been on a tear. With at least one feature to his name each year since 2018, the Filipino slow-cinema luminary is coming off one of his best films yet in Magellan and looks to continue down the Filipino history thread that the movie unspooled. Let Us Through takes place in 1617, less than a century after Magellan discovered the Philippines, and focuses on the tyrannical imperial rule of Spanish friar Father Enciso, who perilously used the Filipinos to build a church while raping and plundering the country mid-cataclysm. Also of note: filmmaker Isabel Sandoval will play an animist female healer named Babayeng Intimatandog. – Luke H.

The Life and Deaths of Wilson Shedd (Tim Blake Nelson; TIFF)

In the late ‘90s and early 2000s, beloved actor Tim Blake Nelson quietly made waves as a renegade writer-director. His first works were so dark and subversive that they never found major audiences, but those who were paying attention saw a game-changing filmmaker on the rise. Alas, the actor chose to act. He’s only directed two movies in the 25 years since releasing a modern, racially charged Othello adaptation in O and an Auschwitz film in The Grey Zone (that one Holocaust film scholar calls the best film ever made on the subject) in the same year. The premise of his newest, and first in ten years, follows an abused woman (Amanda Seyfried) who falls for an inmate (Scott McNairy) in the prison where she works. In traditional Nelson style, it looks to push buttons. – Luke H.

Life of Jorge Luis Borges (Mariano Llinás; Venice, TIFF, and NYFF)

La Flor represented such a summit for Mariano Llinás and his El Pampero Cine outfit that the subsequent work of both has perhaps existed in its shadow: the director has since made a delightful docufiction whatsit with Corsini Sings Blomberg & Maciel, while the company produced Trenque Laquen and Pin de Fartie, but—whatever their merits, which I think are plenty—none found a comparable stateside profile. Whatever success Life of Jorge Luis Borges might achieve here, I could only be glad that Llinás turned towards his native Argentina’s most acclaimed writer and one of his most-cited inspirations—a pairing that might seem too easy were one to make the mistake of underestimating the director, who seeks to “narrate Borges’ biography through objects and places.” The journey spans multiple continents and, from the look of it, cinematic forms across a mammoth 330-minute length. That will scare many away; those who go with it, I suspect, shall find it’s the best investment available this fall. – Nick N.

NAZA (Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor; Venice and NYFF)

Two of the filmmakers behind the most vital documentary of 2024, No Other Land (winner of the Academy Award for Best Documentary and Indie Film Site Network Advocate Award), are returning with another look at destruction and violence inflicted on Palestinian lives. A late addition to the Venice and NYFF slates, Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor’s Jonathan Glazer-backed NAZA is shot at night on the rooftops of Tel Aviv, detailing “the systems behind Israel’s calculated mass killing of Palestinian civilians in Gaza.” We imagine the most essential documentary of the year is on its way. – Jordan R.

A Statement (Tom McCarthy; NYFF)

More than a decade after Spotlight won Best Picture, writer-director Tom McCarthy returns to the festival circuit with another true story, all-star ensemble (Paul Rudd, Amy Ryan, Paul Giamatti), and painstaking excavation of ethical debate. This time he turns to the eve of the 1980 presidential election, when environmental activists and policymakers gathered to confront the threat of global warming and devise an action plan for Congress. Like much of McCarthy’s work, it promises to make the past feel urgently present. – Jake K-S

Too Much Sugar (Robert Greene; Venice) 

Too Much Sugar, the new documentary from Robert Greene, is an exercise in collaboration. Greene works with subjects Ryan Holliger and AccRite as they attempt to make their own film filtering working-class America through the Missouran duo of a spread-thin father and hopeful rapper. The Procession and Kate Plays Christine director’s first film in five years premieres at Venice. – Mike F. 

What Can’t Be Mentioned (Dan Sallitt; NYFF)

Dan Sallitt is about as one-of-one as anybody making narrative films in the United States today. You’re forgiven for not noticing, in light of his once-every-seven-years rate, but perhaps What Can’t Be Mentioned will offer a new entry for the unitiated. He’s followed 2019’s magnificent Fourteen with a sequel to 2012’s The Unspeakable Act, which concerned a young woman (Tallie Medel) contending with incestuous desire for her brother (Sky Hirschkron). Quite some time has passed and the siblings find themselves at new stations in life, but—as is the nature of sequels—one suspects too little has changed for such intractable problems to dissipate. Sallitt’s ultra-particular style, which rests somewhere between totally affected and wholly naturalistic, always services his precise dialogue and performers (here filled out by Kit Zauhar and Kyle McCormack), and a slim 61-minute runtime should ensure nary a moment lacks for psychological probity. – Nick N.

More to See

In addition to our 20 most-anticipated fall festival premieres, there’s much more on our radar. Abso Lutely Productions (Nathan For You, Tim & Eric) is back with the TIFF Midnight feature Anchors Aweigh from Matt Barats, while the festival also has Anton Corbijn’s A Talent for Murder, the Platform opener Stuffed starring Harry Melling and Jodie Comer, Rachel Morrison’s Love of Your Life starring Margaret Qualley, and much more.

Venice will host the world premieres of Barbarba Kopple’s trilogy-capper Union Town, Shinya Tsukamoto’s Mr. Nelson, Did You Kill People?, and Luca Guadagnino’s epic Bernardo Bertolucci documentary Joie de vivre. We’re also curious about Xavier Tera’s The Color of the Sun, shot by the great Sayombhu Mukdeeprom.

We should also note many of our Locarno 2026 favorites will stop by fall festivals, including Hong Sangsoo’s Nowhere to Lay My Eyes, Beatrice Gibson’s At Night, Albert Serra’s Sixteen Moments of My Life, and more.

Last, and certainly not least, New York Flim Festival will present the world premiere of Charlotte Wells’ first work since Aftersun with the short New York Never Let Me Down.

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Looking for what to see in theaters? Our feature, updated weekly, highlights our top recommendations for films currently in theaters, from new releases to restorations receiving a proper theatrical run.

While we already provide extensive monthly new-release recommendations and weekly streaming recommendations, as distributors’ roll-outs can vary, this is a one-stop list to share the essential films that may be on a screen near you.

American Doctor (Poh Si Teng)

Poh Si Teng’s American Doctor is a harrowing, heartbreaking portrait of Palestinian, Jewish, and Zoroastrian doctors who are risking their lives to tend to the overwhelming victims of the ongoing genocide in Gaza and speak the truth in any way they can. Dan Mecca said in his Sundance review, “When will this end? When will this bloodshed stop? And when will the United States of America stop supporting it? Filmmaker Poh Si Teng offers a clear-eyed, unrelenting look at the genocide in Gaza with her documentary American Doctor. It follows three doctors––Dr. Feroze Sidhwa, Dr. Thaer Ahmad, and Dr. Mark Perlmutter––that are consistently trying to save lives in the Gaza Strip. On some trips they are approved to enter. On others they are denied for specious reasons. Dr. Perlmutter is Jewish, Dr. Sidhwa is Zoroastrian, and Dr. Ahmad is Palestinian. Their mission is the mission of all medical professionals: to heal everyone they can.”

Buddy (Caspar Kelly)

After bringing much-loved surreal entertainment with his viral Too Many Cooks, Casper Kelly entered big-screen territory with his Sundance premiere Buddy, starring Cristin Milioti, Delaney Quinn, Topher Grace, Keegan-Michael Key, Michael Shannon, and Patton Oswalt. Caleb Hammond said in his Sundance review, “A mix of Barney and Blue’s Clues, the TV program Buddy follows a large pink unicorn who, alongside a supporting cast of anthropomorphized house objects, teaches the program’s children a new lesson each episode. All of the show’s elements—the colorful sets, the ’90s outfits the children wear, the songs they sing—point to Kelly’s deep understanding of the aesthetics and rules of the world that he subverts.”

Coyote vs. Acme (Dave Green)

The first sign that we’re in good hands comes right at the start. One of the script’s earliest character introductions is—of all people—Peter Lorre. In this world, he’s a scientist at the Acme Corporation (not to be confused with the grocery chain) evading security guards with a variety of nefarious devices like Expanding Boulders and Large Magnets. The second sign of quality is the law firm handling the titular court case: Avery, Jones, and Maltese. It’s the kind of naming convention that could only come from a creative team with a deep reverence not just for the Looney Tunes, but the medium of animation itself. – Devan S. (full review)

Dreams in Nightmares (Shatara Michelle Ford)

After their impressive directorial debut Test Pattern, which was nominated for both Gotham and Independent Spirit Awards, Shatara Michelle Ford returned to the festival circuit in 2024 with Dreams in Nightmares. Jourdain Searles said in her review, “Shatara Michelle Ford’s sophomore feature Dreams in Nightmares is a Black road trip film with a big heart, full of warmth, healing, and beauty. With their debut film Test Pattern, Ford announced themselves as an essential new voice in Black cinema, with a focus on the lives and struggles of Black women. Here, Ford tackles similar themes with a wider scope that includes Black femmes, queer love, and non-monogamous relationship structures. An even mix of comedy and drama, Dreams in Nightmares is a work that feels both casual and cathartic.”

Filipiñana (Rafael Manuel)

One of the most formally accomplished feature debuts to premiere at Sundance earlier this year, Rafael Manuel’s Jia Zhangke-backed feature debut Filipiñana is set at a country club in the Philippines as we follow a 17-year-old “tee-girl” who starts uncovering a rotting core of misogyny and violence amongst the higher-ups and clientele. With striking tableaus crafted by cinematographer Xenia Patricia, Manuel effectively pulls back the clashing layers of beauty and systemic issues to capture a country’s disparities. Read Jared Mobarak’s Critic’s Pick review.

I Want Your Sex (Gregg Araki)

Making his long-awaited return to feature filmmaking after a 12-year absence, Gregg Aaraki was back at Sundance this year to premiere I Want Your Sex, an erotic comedy that brings together Olivia Wilde, Cooper Hoffman, Charli XCX, Daveed Diggs, Mason Gooding, Chase Sui Wonders, Margaret Cho, and Johnny Knoxville. Caleb Hammond said in his Sundance review, “I Want Your Sex is Araki, at 66 years old, telling the younger generation that while life experiences can be painful and messy––and the flight instinct might scream at them to stay home and avoid at all cost––the alternative of being old and reflecting on missed opportunities is far more painful.”

Late Fame (Kent Jones)

Returning after his directorial debut Diane, film scholar Kent Jones is back with Late Fame, which brings together Willem Dafoe and Greta Lee, working from a script by Samy Burch (May December) that itself adapts Arthur Schnitzler’s novella. As Leonardo Goi said in our Critic’s Pick review, “One need not be fluent in the ’70s New York poetry scene to appreciate such a piercing snapshot. Jones captures the boys’ milieu with near-ethnographic attention to its textures, patois, and etiquette; Late Fame is never funnier––or more consistently on-point––than when it turns to these pompous fresh graduates and their quirks. In adapting Arthur Schnitzler’s 1895 novella, Burch can posit Ed’s squad as analogue nostalgists in a digital world. But that, of course, is just one of their many poses.”

Maddie’s Secret (John Early)

You can’t accuse John Early of not committing. Through the majority of his acting career, the comedian has become a reliable avatar for a palpable, toxic, hilarious narcissism, playing characters oblivious to the world outside the bubbles they’ve so thoroughly cultivated. That was particularly evident over four seasons of Search Party, as well as last year’s Stress Positions, a Sundance favorite that exposed the absurdity of living in quarantine over a masked summer. As an agoraphobic tenant in a Brooklyn brownstone, Early took the situation’s disaster and approached it through his very specific kind of self-assured, righteous mania to such an extent that his freak-outs are still rattling around in my brain. – Jake K-S. (full review)

The Odyssey (Christopher Nolan)

After a clunky opening setting the table for his time-hopping reworking of Homer’s epic, Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey settles into a rhythm of melding awe-worthy spectacle with the emotional toll of a seemingly never-ending journey of despair and sacrifice. What I was most struck by, even for all its fantastical elements, is how much Nolan mines from the rather spare natural settings to instill a grounded sense of vastness when it comes to Odysseus’ journey. While one wishes for a bit more patience to take it all in, the trademark propulsiveness of the director works wonders as we discover the ingenuity of each setpiece. For another perspective, read Nick Newman’s eloquent review, which details why the technical feat of shooting entirely in IMAX has its drawbacks. – Jordan R.

The Rivals of Amziah King (Andrew Patterson)

Following up his impressive debut The Vast of Night, it’s been a long wait for Andrew Patterson’s delightfully ambitious second feature The Rivals of Amziah King, which premiered at SXSW last year and is now finally in theaters. John Fink said in his review, “Like the Church potluck to which Amziah King introduces his one-time foster daughter Kateri, The Rivals of Amziah King is a gleeful mashup of genres and tones blending bluegrass music, comedy, revenge, and heist-thriller elements into a tasty homestyle buffet full of eccentric characters and thick Southern accents. It’s a strong follow-up to the promise Andrew Patterson displayed in his resourceful debut feature The Vast of Night––even when this mash-up seems a little uneven and indulgent, with a heavy use of formal techniques, from slow-motion to ironic music.”

The Samurai and the Prisoner (Kiyoshi Kurosawa)

After viewing a certain ensemble period epic dominating the box office, the next that should be highest on your radar this summer hails from Kiyoshi Kurosawa. The Samurai and the Prisoner is a knotty, fascinating samurai mystery that sees the Japanese director adopt an entirely different register from most of his work, yet still showcases a thrilling set of formal tricks. Leonardo Goi said in his Cannes review, “Like its protagonist, The Samurai and the Prisoner is a curious oddity. It’s a film that keeps bloodletting to a bare minimum and delights in subverting genre expectations to fascinating effects. Where other recent entries in the canon opted for bigger, action-packed spectacles—recall Takeshi Kitano’s gruesome 2023 Kubi—this is a much more stately, almost contemplative affair, a kind of throwback to mid-century masterpieces from Kenji Mizoguchi and Akira Kurosawa.”

Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma (Jane Schoenbrun)

Jane Schoenbrun’s I Saw the TV Glow follow-up Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma is a wildly entertaining exploration of the slasher film, erotic pleasure, and everything in between. Led by Hannah Einbinder and Gillian Anderson, Rory O’Connor said in his Critic’s Pick review from Cannes, “Shot masterfully by their regular cinematographer Eric Yue (Alex G also makes a welcome return as composer), the movie-within-the-movie’s formative kill scene is so mesmerizing that you’ll welcome Schoenbrun’s decision to play it again and again––all the better to get a feel for how Kris’ obsessions have led them to the movie’s climax, and perhaps their own. Yue and Schoenbrun’s approaches also perfectly align when capturing actresses’ faces, often in achingly beautiful close-ups that only occasionally allow for a flicker of menace. ‘There’s a hole at the bottom of the lake,’ Billy explains to Kris in one of those moments, setting off a sequence that is quickly becoming Schoenbrun’s signature—that churning sense of movie spiraling a drain as it drags you down with it.”

Tony (Matt Johnson)

After crafting one of the highlights of 2026 with the thrilling, hilarious Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie, Matt Johnson is back with a look into the early life of the late, great chef Anthony Bourdain. Devan Suber said in his review, “Those looking for a movie about the man himself won’t necessarily come away with much about Bourdain or his background. As a film about how a small period of time can end up shaping a person, Tony is well observed and distinctive. If nothing else, it’s a welcome sign that Johnson can retain his signature voice while dropping some elements of his style and finding interest in a topic he might not care all that much about.”

More Films Now Playing in Theaters

• The Dog Stars
• The End of Oak Street
• Hanging by a Wire
• How to Divorce During the War
• Idiots
• The Sun Never Sets
• Union County

Read all reviews here. For our NYC-specific repertory round-ups, including many films that will tour the country, bookmark NYC Weekend Watch.

Each week we highlight the noteworthy titles that have recently hit streaming platforms in the United States. Check out this week’s selections below and past round-ups here.

The Christophers (Steven Soderbergh)

Steven Soderbergh continues to stretch his creative muscles with the light but entertaining dramedy The Christophers, which concerns an aging artist (Ian McKellen) and his new “assistant” (Michaela Coel) as they delve into extensive conversations about artistic value, a life of creativity and the sacrifices that entails, and much more. While not reaching the recent highs of the hugely entertaining Black Bag, Ed Solomon’s script and central performances at the center are the main stars, resulting in a film that could be just as effective as a stage play. – Jordan R.

Where to Stream: Hulu

Failed State (Christopher Jason Bell, Mitch Blummer)

This indie gem is a gripping slice-of-life character study with an exceptional performance by Dale A. Smith, following his journey as a messenger in NYC. With a loose script giving spotlight to the authenic character at the center, this is a poignantly painful, riveting portarit of our current broken economy. – Jordan R.

Where to Stream: MeansTV

Dolly Parton

For those looking to remember the infectious joy of Dolly Parton, a number of her films have been recently added to select streaming service in the wake of her passing. 9 to 5 is on Prime Video and Hulu, Straight Talk on Prime Video, The Beverly Hillbillies on Prime Video, Steel Magnolias on Paramount+, and Rhinestone on The Roku Channel, Joyful Noise on The Roku Channel, and The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas on VOD.

Her Private Hell (Nicolas Winding Refn)

The ten years since Nicolas Winding Refn’s prior theatrical feature was just enough time to activate déjà vu when Her Private Hell debuted at Cannes to a mixed-hostile response. While certain of these reactions (like our own) are well stated and eloquently offered, much else rings perfunctory when few directors still attract stars and financing while so staying on their own island. Even as he innovates and surprises, the constituent parts remain consistent: beautiful actors will glare as an ethereal score (usually by Cliff Martinez, this time from Pino Donaggio) underlines constant dread and—if you ask partisans—some greater concept about the aestheticization of rage (particularly as it’s rooted in genre convention) emerges. Continue reading Nick Newman’s interview.

Where to Stream: VOD

I Only Rest In The Storm (Pedro Pinho) 

A bolt from the blue. From the outset, Pinho establishes a temporal plane that will be familiar to fans of the work of Abdellatif Kechiche and Miguel Gomes, filmmakers for whom every scene is an opportunity to craft a sequence where affective relations between different people from various cultures can be staged, where the outsider never gains entrance. It doesn’t hurt that you can’t take your eyes off its gorgeous cast: Sérgio Coragem, Jonathan Guilherme, and Un Certain Regard best-actress-winning Cleo Diára. Its unabashed depiction of sex won me over, solidified in the best surprise threesome of the year, in addition to actively taking on the aftereffects of the history of colonialism with an immersive, dirty realism amplified by Carpotxa and Mazulu’s incantatory music. I had never heard of Pinho before this, but after 217 minutes, I’m a fan. – Nirris N. (top 10 films of 2025)

Where to Stream: Letterboxd Video Store

Nickel Boys (RaMell Ross)

RaMell Ross––the Brown University film professor and writer-director behind 2018’s stunning impressionist portrait of rural Alabama life, Hale County This Morning, This Evening––made a splash with his second film and fiction debut Nickel Boys. This adaptation of Colson Whitehead’s novel is a tender, enchanting movie that quickly develops a mood-defining dread stemming from America’s ugly history with abusive juvenile centers for Black boys. Innovatively shot in first-person to gripping effect, it follows Elwood Curtis, a young man wrongly detained at the Nickel Academy, as he develops a life-changing friendship and navigates the nightmares of Nickel, where the unmarked graves of rule-breaking children haunt the kids who still have to walk its grounds. Bouncing back and forth between Elwood’s days at Nickel and his adult life researching its crimes, Ross submerges us in what feels like a lifetime of beauty and trauma. – Luke H.

Where to Stream: MUBI

Also New to Streaming

Hulu

Desert Warrior

Kino Film Collection

Gerhard Richter Painting
Unmaking of a College

Netflix

I Swear

PBS

Mary Oliver: Saved by the Beauty of the World

VOD

The Deb
Esta Isla
Hadestown: The Musical
Motor City
Olmo
Reading Lolita in Tehran

Note: This review was originally published as part of our 2026 Sundance coverage. The film opens on August 28.

In Casper Kelly’s viral short “Too Many Cooks,” a catchy ’90s sitcom intro repeats for 11 minutes with new characters added to the name roll each time. Eventually, a serial killer looming on the edge of the frame begins hacking up the oversized cast. With Buddy, Kelly essentially expands and tweaks his “Cooks” premise into a feature format, this time within the world of ’90s children’s programming.

A mix of Barney and Blue’s Clues, the TV program Buddy follows a large pink unicorn who, alongside a supporting cast of anthropomorphized house objects, teaches the program’s children a new lesson each episode. All of the show’s elements—the colorful sets, the ’90s outfits the children wear, the songs they sing—point to Kelly’s deep understanding of the aesthetics and rules of the world that he subverts.

Buddy wastes little time setting the plot in motion. By the second episode of the show-within-a-movie, one of the kids has disappeared, and Freddy (Delaney Quinn) discovers his novel in the garbage can covered in blood. From there, the children band together and quickly uncover Buddy’s homicidal tendencies. They plot to escape the house set that, up until that point, has been their entire life and identity. Buddy leans heavily on the classic “children in peril” tool, and by murdering one of them in the very first episode, the stakes are real. Gaslighting is also deployed as a potential metaphor for child abuse, with Buddy consistently manipulating the children by telling them this was all a misunderstanding and that he’s not mad. Buddy occasionally can’t withhold his rage, and these brief moments when he lashes out break the facade of the cheery TV program. They’re well-plotted and funny.

The repeating episodic structure of the first act makes a stark jump to the real world, a VHS aesthetic swapped for contemporary digital cinematography. In this initially disconnected storyline, a suburban mother, Grace (Cristin Milioti), lives a normal life with a harmless husband (Topher Grace) and two children. But a persistent inner void leads her to conduct some fast investigative work and enlist the help of a psychic. She determines she is missing a child whose memory has been erased from both her and her family. It’s a crazy leap, but Buddy does its best to lead her to this conclusion in a concise, humorous manner. The initial disconnection of the two narratives is thus elaborated: one of these children on the run from Buddy is her missing child. A Severance quality looms large here, especially when Grace ends up in day-to-day proximity with this missing child, both possessing zero knowledge of who the other is. I Saw the TV Glow is another reference point, but where that Sundance hit played on the metaphorical quality of a ’90s TV program possibly being real, Buddy plays out the idea literally.

From an Adult Swim alum, Buddy is funny and irreverent, but its success as a feature lays in never going too far towards irony. Its central plot of a mother searching for her lost child is played mostly straight by Milioti, with some wiggle room for exceptions when the appropriate joke calls for it. Yet Kelly’s experiment has its limits. A scene in which a few characters from an off-air Western program meet the children plays like second-act filler. And by the time Buddy full-blown transforms into a monster chasing the kids around the house in its climax, the “children in peril” trick begins to wear thin. But, by and large, Buddy proves that high-concept, short-form premises can be expanded to a feature format effectively, so long as the final film isn’t too winky and its stakes feel grounded.

Buddy premiered at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival.

Note: This review was originally published as part of our 2026 Sundance coverage. The film opens on August 28.

For its relatable premise and tried-and-true structure, the road movie has a rich cinematic history. Its success has spawned a number of subgenres, including the screwball escort film where opposing personalities often work against each other to reach a destination. Whether it’s getting someone to the Greek or a 3:10 train to Yuma, it’s a beloved trope that resurfaces every few years. In 2026, writer-director Macon Blair revives the formula for Idiots. He plots a tumultuous course for his prisoner-transport comedy that keeps the journey interesting and finds space to add depth to an otherwise broad comedy. The steady two-hander never quite soars, but is elevated by an eclectic batch of supporting roles that supply bursts of energy in the right places. 

Davis (O’Shea Jackson Jr.) is a straight-laced, God-fearing, by-the-book screw-up. He loses his job at a church after unknowingly taking the youth group to a certain inappropriate film that features Willem Dafoe’s “dong.” Coincidentally, the high-energy, substance-abusing, silver-tongued Mark (Dave Franco) is laid off from his office job. As the laws of elementary school science go, these opposites attract as they converge at Dorindo Services, an agency that chaperones troubled teens to rehabilitation facilities, which is run by stripmall kingpin India Dorindo (Grace Junot).  

The two are tasked with transporting Sheridan Kimberly (Mason Thames), the heir to a corporate dynasty. The odd-couple dynamic is immediately established between the fastidious Davis and unruly Mark. Idiots’ road-movie structure places the two in confined spaces that allow their friction to compound with the aid of the devious Sheridan tripping them up along the way. This intended screwball relationship is the weakest facet of Blair’s otherwise sturdy screenplay—the two excel at bickering but never truly get the moments of mutual respect or affection that bind them and invest us in the ebbs and flows of their relationship. Perhaps it’s due to the lack of depth in each. Both are inept dopes with an Oscar and Felix dynamic, but don’t have any greater dreams or desires––other than gainful employment––that allow for any kind of satisfying redemption arc. Jackson Jr. and Franco’s vibrant performances keep them from feeling flat, and are best when mixed with Blair’s supporting cast. 

Throughout the brisk, unexpected journey, Sheridan reveals himself as a spoiled sociopath who manipulates his escorts into chaotic situations. Blair builds Sheridan as an amalgam of societal ills. His wealth only amplifies his persona, itself many of the worst parts of Internet culture distilled. His vicious pranks put Davis and Mark in league with Irina (Kiernan Shipka), a stripper trying to dig her way out from the bottom, as well as her grandmother “Baba” Anastasia (Lynn Wanlass). Flowers must be given to Wanlass as the elderly Baba, who has no problem throwing down when needed, but not before blowing shotties and dancing with Mark. 

Each chapter of the adventure heightens in a satisfying manner. Sheridan slips in and out of their grasp and must be recaptured from a group of schlubby grocery retailers and, later, a memorable rag-tag group of bandits led by wannabe militia-man Koko (Peter Dinklage) and aided by—in what is perhaps Nicholas Braun’s best performance since Cousin Greg—aspiring trap rapper Pricka Bush. 

Paired with that eccentric supporting cast, Blair’s social commentary bolsters this already solid road movie. As in his Toxic Avenger, the genre is woven with the reflection of a downtrodden working class exploited and disrespected by the admired elite. Sheridan is a rich influencer with an enormous online following that idolizes his rotten behavior as a bad boy role model. He makes life difficult not just for the struggling Davis, Mark, and Irina, but everyone he encounters, the destruction of his antics left for others to clean up. He’s a troll who resembles the edgelord tastes of vlogger-cum-celebrities like the Paul brothers; his entitlement is misconstrued as a devil-may-care attitude for which he is lauded by the enabling masses of the Internet. Blair puts a button on this “life isn’t fair” thesis that is both timely and timeless. 

Ultimately, Idiots is a lot more fun than it is funny. I wasn’t cackling at every joke, but I was having a good old time watching. To those who bemoan the lack of mid-budget comedies: now’s your time to show up for the cause.

Idiots premiered at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival.

Note: This review was originally published as part of our 2026 Sundance coverage. The film opens on August 28.

A brisk docu-thriller that could do more with the richness of the players it chronicles, Mohammed Ali Naqvi’s Hanging by a Wire is not without thrills and human drama. Yet it seems focused more on a death-defying rescue than on what could be done to prevent this from happening again.

Mixing archival materials—including cell phone, drone, and news footage—with interviews and recreations, Hanging by a Wire tells the story of a harrowing cable car rescue on August 22, 2023 in Battagram, a remote village in the Himalayan foothills of northern Pakistan. The most efficient way to traverse the mountains here is via rickety cable cars, where each community is connected by an informal network. Students in Battagram must commute to school each day via a wire spanning a 5,250-foot-long trip, 900 feet above a ravine.

As the situation quickly becomes a story of global intrigue, Sumira Khan, a reporter with the national SAMAA network with roots in the region, starts covering the story as soon as she receives a tip from the community, leveraging drone footage to break the news globally. As we learn from her, the region is something of an afterthought for the political elites; while class divisions are hinted at, the film never quite stops to fully explain this history, choosing instead to celebrate the scrappiness of these rural communities.

Heroes of the day emerge, including Sonia Shamroz, the regional chief of police who coordinates resources from the Pakistani Army. This includes a helicopter, which seems like the most logical way to reach the boys except for the fact that the rotor wash and crosswinds further endanger the cable car as it dangles by a single wire. They are only able to save one boy before moving to Plan B.

Simultaneously, Sahib Khan—a local builder of cable systems who considers himself a “sky pirate”—swings into action. He hikes across the valley and heads out on a self-designed pulley system before being warned by Shamroz to let her chosen rescuer take over. That rescuer, Ali Swati, is a fitness influencer and gym owner who also runs a zip-line adventure business. Director Naqvi interjects to ask why one rescuer was chosen over another, with Khan believing it was because of his lower social status. The film decides not to dig any further after Shamroz brushes the question off in a standard talking-head interview sandwiched between the usual B-roll.

Ultimately a briskly paced, slickly executed rescue story running just 77 minutes, Hanging by a Wire leaves viewers somewhat stranded. The emotional hook of parents fearing for their children’s well-being is a powerful way to drive the narrative, but there’s so much more here that the film feels like it’s just politely scratching the surface rather than creating a rich portrait of place, time, and character. The only passages that offer a verité look at the characters’ work involve Sahib Khan, as we see him execute a cable lift of heavy construction equipment across a river.

What’s missing is the politics of the place. It’s as if Naqvi is too polite to really dive into the differences between urban and rural living or the conflicting approaches taken by the heroes of the day. It is right to celebrate the smart thinking of Chief Shamroz, the reporting of Sumira Khan, and the “balls of steel” shown by Sahib Khan and Ali Swati to manually rescue those trapped all night—all while acknowledging the trauma of the survivors and their fathers. They are all unique, rich characters, and I wish the film had lingered a bit longer, if only to provide a greater sense of place and emotional impact.

Hanging by a Wire premiered at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival.

Returning with his first feature since 2008’s Ballast, Lance Hammer’s Queen at Sea premiered at Berlinale earlier this year and will now be hitting theaters on October 30. Led by Juliette Binoche and Tom Courtenay, with cinematography by Academy Award nominee Adolpho Veloso (Train Dreams), Greenwich Entertainment has now released the first trailer.

Here’s the synopsis: “Amanda and her stepfather Martin struggle with a moral issue that divides them. Has Amanda’s mother Leslie, who has dementia, lost the ability to make critical decisions in her own best interests? And, if so, who is responsible – a spouse, a child, an institution – for making such a determination? As Amanda and Martin are forced to make increasingly difficult choices, the repercussions spiral out of their control. Academy Award winner Juliette Binoche (The Taste of Things), Academy Award nominee Tom Courtenay (45 Years), Anna Calder-Marshall (Wuthering Heights), and Florence Hunt (Bridgerton) star in this unflinching drama. The film won the Silver Bear Jury Prize and Tom Courtenay and Anna Calder-Marshall won the Silver Bear for Best Supporting Performance at the 2026 Berlin International Film Festival.”

Rory O’Connor said in his review, “Eleven years ago, Tom Courtenay arrived at the Berlinale with Andrew Haigh’s 45 Years, an exquisitely observed study of emotional dilemma in which the British actor played a doddery romantic whose selfish tendencies threatened to get the better of him. He returns to the German festival with a performance of similar weight and resonance in Lance Hammer’s Queen at Sea, a film that centers on an even more challenging moral dilemma—albeit with results that are slightly less delightfully ambiguous than those Haigh managed in 2015.”

See the trailer below.

NYC Weekend Watch is our weekly round-up of repertory offerings.

BAM
Kino Canines offers films by Tarkovsky, Kelly Reichardt, and Jonathan Demme, plus The Wizard of Oz and The Thin Man.

Film Forum
A Francis Ford Coppola retrospective continues, featuring prints of The Rainmaker, The Conversation, and Bram Stoker’s Dracula; restorations of Billy Liar and Center Stage continue.

Roxy Cinema
A retrospective of 2006 continues with 35mm presentations of The Black Dahlia and The Wind That Shakes the Barley; City Dudes returns on Saturday.

Anthology Film Archives
Westerns by Kelly Reichardt, Jim Jarmusch, Alex Cox, and more play.

Museum of Modern Art
Films by Sean Baker, Jonas Mekas, Werner Herzog, and more play in Immigrant Nation.

Museum of the Moving Image
A new edition of See It Big: 70mm concludes with 2001 and The Untouchables.

IFC Center
Gregg Araki’s new cut of Mysterious Skin and Manhunter: The Final Cut continue; Dead Ringers, The Departed, and Jawbreaker show late.

Nitehawk Prospect Park
Tommy and a print of Harriet the Spy screen early.

Metrograph
Lady in the Water, House, The Dark Knight show on 35mm while Der Fan begins a run; That Most Taboo of Red Meats, Going Up the Country, The Night Has Opened My Eyes, and Gary Oldman continue.

Never one to play it safe, Cristian Mungiu earned his second Palme d’Or under somewhat contentious circumstances. While (obviously) well-liked in plenty corners, Fjord engendered seemingly as many skeptical, if not outright incensed reactions—perhaps a film about the legal consequences of religiously aligned parenting techniques that doesn’t (or, let’s imagine, does?) take a side wasn’t so easy as making a movie about cops in Miami. But it’ll probably fuel a better post-screening discussion, and Neon will begin Fjord‘s North American run on October 9, ahead of which is a new trailer.

As Luke Hicks said in our Critics’ Pick review out of Cannes, “As with R.M.N., Mungiu is in top-shelf operation. Fjord is a triumphant film that tugs at the spiritual and soulful in all of us, regardless of nation, creed, faith, or the rejection of all three. What the court will rule in both cases, and whether or not the Gheorghius will get back their kids, pulses with a pregnant tension as the nearly two-and-a-half-hour film proceeds in what seems 30 minutes. And its end will have you falling off the edge of your seat.”

Here’s the official synopsis: “From two time Palme d’Or winner Cristian Mungiu, a Norwegian woman and her devout Romanian husband relocate with their five children to a remote, close-knit, coastal town. Their teenage children form a fast bond with a neighboring family as unease begins to simmer around their rigid beliefs. When allegations of abuse emerge, they are forced to confront a system of judgement that blurs the lines between concern and prejudice.”

Watch below:

After a few seasons delighting audiences on HBO, John Wilson is hitting the big screen. The History of Concrete, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year, was picked up by Magnolia Pictures and will now roll out next month. Ahead of a September 18 theatrical release, the full trailer has now arrived.

Here’s the synopsis: “Following the finale of his TV series, filmmaker John Wilson looks to the bedrock of his beloved New York City for inspiration and structure. Concrete, the world’s most widely used building material, appears as an ever-present life force, and John sets out to make the definitive documentary on the matter. To tell this seemingly drab story, he decides to use the industry-approved Hallmark formula to increase his movie’s appeal. But his foundation soon begins to crumble—literally and figuratively—as he struggles to balance artistic freedom with the realities of the modern film industry.”

Caleb Hammond said in his review, “Like a movie tie-in, John Wilson’s debut documentary feature, The History of Concrete, picks up immediately where his HBO series How To with John Wilson left off after three seasons. An elevated public profile does not lead to the next bigger, better project. Instead it’s illustrated via Wilson stumbling upon an empty bag of weed featuring an unauthorized branding of his likeness. The full-sized crew afforded by his show now absent, Wilson is forced back to his roots, filming the day-to-day scenes of New York City life solo.”

See the preview and poster below:

Catchfly Pictures today announced the launch of American Thread, a documentary series that profiles local businesses with deep community ties and films them with the craft and scale of feature cinema. The first episode, The Matunuck Oysterman, is available to watch for free at americanthread.tv.

Created by director and editor Tim Ringwood and producer Dan Mecca, co-founder of The Film Stage, this series seeks out forward-thinking businesses that, rather than just build a loyal following, become economic anchors in the communities that made them. The tone sits between two familiar poles: the unglamorous, hands-on labor of Dirty Jobs presented in the patient, cinematic register of Chef’s Table.

The Matunuck Oysterman dives into the world of oyster farming and the work of building a restaurant around it. The film follows Perry Raso, who built a life and an industry on Rhode Island’s Potter Pond, tracing his rise from modest beginnings to economic cornerstone through the lifecycle of a Matunuck oyster. Along the way it reveals a trial-by-fire work ethic, deep community roots, and the devastating 2025 fire that reshaped everything.

Much like the subjects of each episode, Ringwood and Mecca set out to give back to each community they profile. On August 9, they held a local screening of The Matunuck Oysterman in nearby Wakefield, R.I., where half of all ticket sales went to the Rhode Island Community Food Bank. A principle they hope to bring to every community they visit.

“We are trying something different,” said Ringwood. “The hope is to cultivate an active audience while also doing something positive and giving back to each community we profile.”

The first episode is streaming now at americanthread.tv. Viewing is free; a no-cost account is required to watch. Additional episodes are in development.

We still have a bit more summer to enjoy, but many of the books included here have an autumn feel to me. So, join me as we say goodbye to summer and hello to fall with the latest book from one of the titans of film writing, David Thomson.

A Sudden Flicker of Light: A Revisionist History of Movies by David Thomson (Simon & Schuster)

Every few years I re-read David Thomson’s stupendous Alien Quartet: A Bloomsbury Movie Guide, the film historian and writer’s analysis of Alien, Aliens, Alien 3, and Alien: Resurrection. And when I do so, I am reminded that no one does it better than Thomson. His latest, A Sudden Flicker of Light, finds him grappling with cinema’s destructive history. Sometimes, Thomson’s opinions are tad upsetting, such as this line on Orson Welles and the authorship of Kane: “In just a few years, he had laid down a new principle, that it was him, he, who made the movie—me—but don’t trust the arrogant bastard.” But even at those moments, his reasoning is airtight. And while he tackles biggies like Chinatown, Thomson also finds time for surprising digressions, such as his steely and slightly self-deprecating look at Al Pacino’s The Local Stigmatic: “This film has never been released. You can say that is because at 54 minutes it isn’t commercially manageable. Or it could be because it is terrible. Not that being terrible always prevents films from getting released. Scent of a Woman, it seems to me, is absurd, and forty-five minutes too long. But it won Al his Oscar, and did very well. That is just opinion, and it doesn’t matter.” Thomson is being modest; his opinion matters as much now as ever before.

The Otherworld by Scout Tafoya (Primedia eLaunch LLC)

There are moviegoing eras of my life that are a bit blurry as I age, especially the early 2000s. Yet I vividly recall seeing and being mesmerized by Christophe Gans’ delightfully wild and woolly 2001 horror extravaganza, The Brotherhood of the Wolf. As the great film critic Scout Tafoya writes in The Otherworld, his wonderfully deep analysis of Gans’ work, the filmmaker is “steeped in De Palma, Clive Barker, John Woo and video games.” He has made just five films in three decades, “and each is stupendous, but each is also an eager B picture with A picture  production value.” Indeed, Tafoya finds that Gans “will always be out of time and out of fashion;  but he will always be an extraordinary stylist who belongs neither to France, Japan, America. Gans lives in his own mountain of images.” Like his books on John Ford and Tobe Hooper, Tafoya’s The Otherworld is a triumph that is—like Gans’ Wolf and Silent Hill—throbbing with lustful joy and excitement.

Sydney Pollack: Collected Interviews edited by Patrick McGilligan and Paul Cronin (University Press of Kentucky)

It’s almost impossible now to imagine a career as varied as Sydney Pollack’s. An Oscar-winning director (for Out of Africa) capable of handling classic comedy (Tootsie), crowd-pleasing thrillers (Three Days of the Condor, The Firm) and enjoyable schlock (The Way We Were), Pollack was also a magnificent actor in films like Husbands and Wives and Eyes Wide Shut. Sydney Pollack: Collected Interviews touches on every section of his career, offering a fascinating window into the evolution of American cinema from the decaying studio system of the 1960s into the more socially significant cinema of the 1970s. It must be said, though, that the interview here that most resonates involves Pollack’s time working with Stanley Kubrick on Eyes Wide Shut. “What Stanley Wanted,” a 1999 interview with Michael Henry for Positif, is absolutely riveting. Here, Pollack wrestles with watching himself onscreen as Ziegler: “I don’t like myself much in the film. I felt a certain falseness, an exaggeration, although I’m aware that this is what Stanley wanted, and I trusted him. He wanted those theatrical gestures, those pauses in my performance. It wasn’t easy for me to watch because I don’t think my character is believable. But perhaps he isn’t supposed to be.”

Cinematic Immunity: An Oral History of New York Filmmaking As Told by the Crews That Got the Shot by Michael Lee Nirenberg (Feral House)

It’s rare to see the spotlight turned toward film crews, which is why Cinematic Immunity proves such a worthy text. The focus here is on New York crew members, of all types. Indeed, the “Cast of Characters” that opens the book features everyone from electricians and gaffers to helicopter pilots and makeup artists. Immunity is often grouped by project (The Taking of Pelham One Two Three, Cruising, The Cotton Club) or long-term gigs (“Woody Allen’s Yearly Project,” “Law and Order Franchise”). Many of the stories included here are hilarious, some shocking. Consider this memory of Ishtar from scenic artist Bruno Robotti: “They were supposed to do the palace in Morocco. But the story goes that the movie company ran over a kid crossing the street and killed him. I was told that it ended up that he was the son of a bigwig in the area, and they actually had to leave town really quick.” Gulp.

Hardcover histories

I always enjoy a nice hardcover dive into a noteworthy film, and this column has quite a few of these to share. We will start with the absolutely massive Superman: The Definitive History (Revised Edition) by Robert Greenberger and Edward Gross (Insight Editions). Clocking in at 500 pages, Definitive History truly covers everything connected to the Man of Steel—right down to military enlistment ads from World War II. The book is also chock-full of fun ephemera, including some neat reproductions. Make no mistake, this is a must-own for the Supes faithful. 

The reissue of Giger’s Alien (Titan Books), first published in 1989, is unsettling and utterly brilliant. It features the legendary H.R. Giger’s designs for Ridley Scott’s Alien, along with text from Giger himself. Alongside his drawings and some production stills are journal-entry explanations of what he was creating: “A good design should clearly indicate the object’s function, so I equip the facehugger with a tail that functions as a spring (modeled on the jack-in-the-box joke).”

You can always count on a Luc Besson film to feature knockout visuals and design (see 2025’s silly but pleasurable Dracula), and there’s no greater example than his 1997 sci-fi smash The Fifth Element. Patrice Girod and Arnaud Grunberg explore concept art, costumes, props, and more in The Fifth Element: A Visual Retrospective (Titan Books). The colorful book also includes the screenplay by Besson and Robert Mark Kamen, along with a gushing foreword from Joe Johnston.

Meanwhile, The Hammer Story: Revised and Expanded Edition, written by Marcus Hearn and Alan Barnes (Titan Books), is a lovingly written history of the British horror studio and includes an introduction from the late Christopher Lee, while The Art & Making of Highlander by Jonathan Melville (Titan Books) chronicles the creation and legacy of the 1986 Christopher Lambert-starrer. Melville shares how the “action fantasy whose journey from student screenplay to global phenomenon defied the odds, much like its immortal protagonist.” The book also details how Sean Connery’s work on the film was completed in just one busy week. 

And while few would claim the Gore Vidal-Bob Guccione-Tinto Brass concoction that is Caligula is a great film, it is certainly, well, something. And that means Caligula: The Official Story of the Film by Aaron Shaps (Titan Books) is a highly enjoyable read. Shaps details how the strong personalities involved—Vidal famously stated that “most directors are parasites,” while Penthouse publisher Guccione took great pains to stress “that the film was not pornography, referring to it, instead, as ‘paganography’”—led to a brutally disjointed production and film. Also detailed is the controversy and, in some cases, outright banning, that accompanied its release. However, Shaps finds that Caligula “has not only survived the moral outrage it initially provoked, but has gradually transformed into a cultural artifact of fascination, debate, and, for some, admiration.”

Quick hits:

I have always adored the BFI Film Classics series, although I am surprised it took so long for the Beatles’ 1964 cinematic debut to enter the canon. It was worth the wait, as BFI Film Classics: A Hard Day’s Night by Samira Ahmed (Bloomsbury Publishing) is a treat for Fab Four and film fans. Ahmed’s writing is full of insights, such as this one: “Examining the presence of women in AHDN reveals how the film, while always making clear that the Beatles are lively young heterosexual men, never relies—in their encounters with females—on promoting the kind of stereotype that has dated so many British social realist films of the time.”

Similarly, Fashioning Hitchcock: Stories Behind the Costumes from The Lodger to Marnie by Caroline Young (Bloomsbury Academic) treads new ground by focusing on costumes in the work of Alfred Hitchcock. “Typically, Hitchcock planned out the colors of the costumes while the script was being written,” Young writes, “as it helped him shape the characters and their psychology.” Young shows how “Hitchcock’s forensic attention to detail” found a match with legends like Edith Head, who designed 12 of his films. 

I Wanna Be Loved By You: Marilyn Monroe: A Life in 100 Takes by Andrew Wilson (Grand Central Publishing) smartly tells the screen icon’s story in a hundred brief chunks. Forgoing the usual birth-life-death structure makes for an involving if awfully somber read. It was especially sad to read of the messy production of The Misfits, written by her then-husband Arthur Miller. The marriage was splintering, and this was reflected in the oft-changing script. “At times during filming,” Wilson writes, “she heard herself uttering lines that came directly from her own past—moments she had shared with Arthur Miller and which he had then transposed into the script.”

Richard Fleischer: Journeyman by Jason A. Ney (University Press of Kentucky) is a long overdue overview of the 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea and Fantastic Voyage director. It’s also a reminder that Fleischer took real risks. Ney notes that one of his finest films received no Oscar noms and little audience enthusiasm: “Had The Boston Strangler arrived in theaters with the name of a young, up-and-coming director in its credits, the new crop of critics probably would have hailed it as a bold original vision.” Coming just one year after Doctor Dolittle, though, Strangler probably did not stand a chance.  

Kristen Lopez is a reliably insightful critic, and her 2023 But Have You Read the Book? provided neat intros for some classic adaptations. Her latest, But Have You Read the Book? Romance Edition (Running Press), is subtitled “40 Love Stories That Inspired Our Favorite Films.” Presented under the Turner Classic Movies banner, it demonstrates that the super-knowledgeable Lopez should really be presenting films like Random Harvest and The Graduate on the channel. 

Our next column will feature a number of music-related books, but in the meantime, consider checking out Lessons & Lace: Stevie Nicks (Harmony/Penguin Random House) by Rachel Brodsky and due for release on September 15. As the subtitle—“Everything I Know About Dreams, Heartbreak, and Magic I Learned from Stevie Nicks”—indicates, the book is both a Nicks biography and a collection of lessons the author has taken from the Fleetwood Mac icon’s life and career. Writing with wit and candor, Brodsky shows that despite ups and downs, and countless romantic and professional successes and setbacks, Nicks “has generally always circled back to herself. Not in a self-absorbed way, but in an unwillingness to sacrifice her personal freedom and happiness.”

And finally, A24 has acquired the film rights to Patrick Radden Keefe’s London Falling: A Mysterious Death in a Gilded City and a Family’s Search for Truth (Doubleday), a sobering non-fiction look into the life and (seemingly) sudden death of London teenager Zac Brettler in 2019. This is a haunting read for any parent, but a tremendous achievement for Keefe.

New to Blu-ray and 4K:

Recent months have seen lots of killer Blu-ray and 4K releases from the likes of Warner Home Entertainment, Criterion, A24, NEON, and, of course, Kino Lorber. 

My current favorites from Kino Lorber include Charli XCX: Alone Together, the COVID-era documentary that captured Charli right on the cusp of next-level international success; the endlessly quotable Dan Aykroyd-John Candy favorite The Great Outdoors; Oliver Stone’s prescient and somewhat overlooked Talk Radio; and Visconti’s penultimate film, Conversation Piece, which reunited the master with Burt Lancaster. And while it’s hard to call The Snowman (Kino Lorber) a “good movie,” it’s certainly a fascinating misfire. The 4K release of the Jo Nesbø adaptation includes two new commentaries that may shed some new light on why the Michael Fassbender-starring detective vehicle fell so flat. 

Another film that is of debatable quality but certainly watchable and discussion-worthy is Emerald Fennell’s Wuthering Heights (Warner Home Entertainment). I was impressed with Margot Robbie, Jacob Elordi, and, most of all, Alison Oliver, and the ultra-stylized Brontë adaptation is definitely ambitious. I do wonder if Heights will be re-evaluated down the road; this was certainly the case with two Warner releases making long-awaited debuts on 4K, Speed Racer and Mars Attacks! The former, a would-be summer blockbuster from the Wachowskis, might go down as one of the most important 4K releases ever. There has never been a film that looked quite like Speed Racer, and in 4K it has never felt mightier. And Tim Burton’s Mars Attacks! Is a delightfully wacky and underrated take on the infamous Tops card series. The new making-of features offer some nice anecdotes from screenwriter Jonathan Gems and cinematographer Peter Suschitzky. 

Some recent Criterion gems include a feature-packed restoration of Five Easy Pieces, which was previously available in the America Lost and Found: The BBS Story box set; Stanley Donen’s Cary Grant-Audrey Hepburn romp, Charade, featuring Donen’s 1999 commentary; Lawrence Kasdan’s smoldering Body Heat, accompanied by a Megan Abbott essay; Monty Python’s The Life of Brian, with a lengthy list of features such as audio commentaries with Pythons Terry Gilliam, John Cleese, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, and Michael Palin; and Joachim Trier’s Sentimental Value, which includes an interview between Trier and Mike Mills. 

Time has not diminished my affection for two 2025 releases, Die My Love (Mubi) and Marty Supreme (A24), and both hold up well when viewed at home. And two films that are sure to show up on my year-end top 10 list are both available for home viewing. On paper, The Drama (A24) and EPiC: Elvis Presley In Concert (NEON) don’t seem to have a great deal in common. However, both are big ambitious swings from two major directors—Kristoffer Borgli and Baz Luhrmann, respectively—and not to be missed. Just watch out for The Drama’s Rachel (Alana Haim) and EPiC’s Colonel Tom Parker.