- Documentary Now! 4th Edition is an Incredible Companion to Beloved Show (May 28, 2026)
The 2015-2022 IFC series “Documentary Now!” remains one of the funniest things that’s ever been on television. One of the show’s conceits is that it’s actually been running much longer than the four seasons we got in the real world, presenting itself as a “60 Minutes”-esque news magazine show that’s been on for generations. In keeping with that premise, McSweeney’s has released a “4th edition” companion book to the series, “updating” the 1975 original companion with a new introduction (to join the original one by Burt Lancaster) by our very own Matt Zoller Seitz, which is a comedic work of art. Everything about this hefty volume plays into the premise of the show, including even pull quotes on the back from people like Questlove and Morgan Neville, who writes that “it’s the documentary Bible.”
It’s certainly a wonderful companion to people who miss this show and long for a fifth season of a show that’s more than just an easy parody of non-fiction filmmaking. It’s a program that understands the filmmaking it’s mimicking on a bone-deep level, not just mocking classics like “Grey Gardens” or “The Thin Blue Line” but recreating why those movies work in terms of both form and content. This book reminds one not just how funny “Documentary Now!” was but how incredibly intelligent it was, never punching down on non-fiction filmmaking, but reflecting its art through comedy.
It contains so much clever writing that mimics filmmakers, journalists, and celebrities. For example, the introduction by Helen Mirren was written by Seth Meyers, but the book itself remains so faithful to its vision that it includes fake essays by Peter Bogdanovich, David Foster Wallace, Tom Wolfe, Joan Didion, and many more, and they all read like the genuine thing.
Bogdanovich writes about “Kunuk the Hunter,” “When you’re shooting a fictional picture, you’re telling a story. When you’re shooting a doc, you’re capturing a story. Or, at least that’s how I see it. But it always matters, doc or not, what you choose to show and how. The moment any subject steps in front of the camera, a performance begins. The minute a splice in the film strip is made, reality is being edited.” It’s a fake article using the name of a real person about a fake movie that’s making an insightful, truthful point about documentary filmmaking. It’s almost breathtaking in its ingenuity.
Of course, everyone has their favorite episodes of “Documentary Now!” and I think often of “Sandy Passage” (the “Grey Gardens” riff penned by Seth Meyers), “Batsh*t Valley, Parts 1 & 2” (inspired by “Wild Wild Country”), “Original Cast Album: Co-Op” (from D.A. Pennebaker’s seminal film about the production of Company), and the Werner Herzog-inspired “Soldier of Illusion, Parts 1 & 2,” written by John Mulaney.
Let’s take that last one as an example of what to expect from this book. You’ll learn about the cameras used on both “Soldier” and the director’s sitcom project “Bachelor Nanny,” along with articles and quotes about the 2003 documentary, like this one from Andrew Sarris: “It takes a genius like Cray to capture a genius like Rainer Wolz. It’s pure divine alchemy.”
Like most sections in the book, you’ll also get dozens of photos, but this volume is more than just coffee table stills. What’s so great about it is how consistently inventive it can be. Turn a page and find part of the original script of “Bachelor Nanny,” which, again, is a fake show in a fake documentary in a TV comedy. There’s a phrase called “Commitment to the Bit” that this book exemplifies in glorious fashion.
The Publisher provided a review copy of this title. It’s now available in stores and online.
- Comedy Is King On Season Two of Hulu’s “Deli Boys” (May 28, 2026)
In a March 2025 interview with Vulture, “Deli Boys” creator Abdullah Saeed asserted that representation was not on his mind when he wrote the story of two spoiled Pakistani-American brothers grappling with their father’s sudden death and the newfound knowledge that their late Baba was a drug kingpin: “The heart of everything is the joke…I’m just letting the characters exist. And that’s where their emotional stories come in. They’re not forced. They’re not trying to please their parents. They’re not trying to justify their South Asian culture or rectify that culture with their American culture. That shit is boring.”
That shit is indeed boring, but “Deli Boys” isn’t. Though its narrative is hampered by a shorter run (season two only has six episodes versus season one’s 10) and a surprisingly sanitized Fred Armisen as a crime boss, the series is funnier than ever. In addition to wisely placing its bets on Poorna Jagannathan’s unmatched talents, Saaed and his writers use the inherent flexibility and humor of Hindi and Urdu in the dialogue, intensifying the series’ references to South Asian culture and making its characters, main and supporting, feel even more lived-in. The result is rich, joyous, and one of the funniest shows of the year.
Failson brothers Mir (Asif Ali) and Raj Dar (Saagar Shaikh) went through it in season one: just as they learned that their father Arshad (Iqbal Theba) was murdered, the culprit, family business associate Ahmad Uncle (Brian George, having a damn good time), went on the run. A bomb detonated inside the family’s last convenience store just as the brothers strolled outside, signaling a greater external threat. As season two begins, though, the brothers, guided by their indefatigable Lucky Aunty (Jagannathan), have turned things around. Now the biggest coke distributor in Philly, Dar Co., is in need of a money launderer.
Fred Armisen in “Deli Boys.” (Hulu)
Enter Max Sugar (Armisen), local casino owner and crime impresario. The Dars begin laundering money at his casino, but the brothers’ efforts to stabilize the family business are complicated by their ongoing quest for revenge against Ahmad Uncle. It doesn’t help that District Attorney Andrew Chadwater (Andrew Rannells) has made the eradication of Sugar’s casino, and therefore the Dar empire, a central part of his mayoral campaign. When Raj is framed for murder (and attains massive online fame à la Luigi Mangione), his defense lawyer, Danyal, is played by none other than Kumail Nanjiani, dressed like a matinee idol with charisma to match. His presence reignites the embers of a long-lost love with Lucky, which in turn jams up the workings of her newfound romance with Sugar.
There’s so much here that works, and very little that does not. Rannells is having a ball satirizing tough-on-crime conservatives; he won’t curse in public but will in private, he mentions 9/11 at the drop of a hat because “it belongs to everyone!” and has a bizarre, almost unseemly obsession with milk. Nanjiani racks up a ton of laughs in a frustratingly short amount of screentime. He and Jagannathan could hold their own in a romcom, especially when the writers marry ghazal (Urdu poetry) structure with Hindi curse words to convey whole worlds of history between their characters. Amita Rao, as Raj’s wife and social media manager, Nandika, steals every scene she’s in, walking confidently in clothes stolen from Lucky, letting just a little too much spill about their bedroom activities with complete nonchalance. I wanted an entire series starring Shahjehan Khan as Dar Co.’s head of distribution, Ali, and Lilly Singh as his wife Aisha, whose domestic spat, filled with Urdu curses and jabs at each other’s mothers, will be familiar to anyone who has spent time in a South Asian household. Shaikh and Ali, too, are finding new shades in their roles as brothers who must support each other just as much as they expand the family business.
Maybe the only component of season two, aside from the shorter episode count, that doesn’t work for me is Armisen. We’re told, and shown, just how violent and ruthless Sugar can be, and yes, his incipient romance with Lucky definitely elicits laughs, but Armisen just doesn’t commit to this like I know he can; he brought more personality to a minute-long scene on “Fallout.”
DELI BOYS – “Sweaty Boys” – Mercer and Simpson close in on the sticky, chewy, nutty center of the Dar crime ring. Raj rides a scooter. Mir channels his inner tech bro. Lucky pulls a fast one. Ahmad finally gets to pull down the pull-down gate outside the ABC Deli. (Disney/James Washington)ASIF ALI, BRIAN GEORGE, POORNA JAGANNATHAN, SAAGAR SHAIKH
Ultimately, it doesn’t matter: this is, and has always been, the Lucky show. There is no emotion, no physical comedy routine, no action setpiece, to which Jagannathan is not wholly committed. Whether she weepingly calls a jailed Raj “my gaajar ka halwa” (“my carrot pudding”) or dismissively waves a terrified couple’s therapist back into a chair with her “emotional support gun,” Jagannathan is in complete command of “Deli Boys.” It helps that Cailey Breneman’s costumes land Lucky in the femme fatale hall of fame: animal prints, gorgeous leather purses, elegant silk jumpsuits, but everything with a little bit of edge, a little danger, a little metal, just like Lucky.
For all its cartoonish hijinks and “30 Rock”-esque bits (including a hysterical “Challengers” parody), “Deli Boys” works as well as it does because its performances are grounded. Its immersion in South Asian culture is deep-rooted but incidental, with loads of jokes about life from their perspective: a character running a bevy of security cameras is nicknamed “Patriot Act,” a white character’s declaration that “all men are innocent no matter what they’ve done” is something to which the brown characters react very differently.
There’s some cultural beauty too, which could have been expanded in a longer season: I was delighted by a flashback set at a party where musicians sing the 14th-century Sufi song “Chaap Tilak,” the opening lyrics of which could be considered foreshadowing. Wendy Wang’s original score, which has significantly upped its use of the tabla, might be the cherry on the sundae here; it helps cement the goofiness of these characters but also the necessity of Saeed’s voice.
How often do you watch a crime caper with South Asian classical instruments as part of the soundtrack? That’s right—not nearly often enough.
Entire season screened for review. Currently streaming on Hulu.
- Season 2 of Netflix’s ‘“The Four Seasons” Proves that Some Things Do Get Better with Age (May 28, 2026)
Netflix is back with a second iteration of “The Four Seasons,” the Tina Fey production modernizing Alan Alda’s 1981 film of the same name. And these eight episodes make for a more entertaining experience than the first, largely because the show has figured out how to manage its comedically bittersweet tone.
In the 2025 episodes, “The Four Seasons” gave us a pretty damning portrayal of life in your fifties—the cast of long-time friends, consisting of three couples who go on regular vacations together, all seemed stuck. Unhappy marriages, poor communication, empty nests, and unfulfilling work/life were everywhere.
This season is still sad, but the show has given its protagonists specific things to be sad about, rather than just a broad moroseness of middle age. Now, they’re mourning the friend, Steve Carell’s Nick, who died at the end of season one. They’re still traumatized by COVID and what living through the pandemic really looked like. And they’re making hard decisions about how they want to spend their remaining years, realizing that life and energy are time-bound.
THE FOUR SEASONS, SEASON 2. (L to R) Tina Fey as Kate, Kerri Kenney-Silver as Anne, and Colman Domingo as Danny in Episode 203 of The Four Seasons, Season 2. Cr. Emily V. Aragones/Netflix © 2025
Part of what they come to appreciate is the role of friendship in their lives. Fey’s Kate and Colman Domingo’s Dannt get a particularly sweet arc on this front, testing and reaffirming their connection. It turns out old friends are really like no other. And their chemistry—as friends, as actors, and as comedians—gives the whole thing lots of weight and laughs (see Fey’s physical comedy sequence in the penultimate episode with Domingo playing the straight man).
Domingo’s partner, Claude (Marco Calvani), finally gets some justice this season, freed from his ditzy characterization in season one. We get to some in his native Italy, oozing confidence and strength in a way immigrant Claude, speaking in a foreign language, just isn’t able to. He’s clearly right in many of his arguments with Danny. And what he brings to their relationship has never been clearer. The evolution is palatable but not overwrought as Calvani hits his comedic and dramatic beats with equal ease.
Unfortunately, Fey’s fictional husband Jack (Will Forte) doesn’t fare so well, stuck in the downer role. Forte does what he can with this sad sack, but the show just keeps hurling more fuel for his depression at him. It’s hard to watch, but even as the couple tries various strategies to pull through, it’s hard to figure out what we should make of Jack’s arc. Sometimes people go through dark times, I guess, and there’s nothing to do but stick around.
THE FOUR SEASONS, SEASON 2. (L to R) Marco Calvani as Claude, Tina Fey as Kate, and Kerri Kenney-Silver as Anne in Episode 208 of The Four Seasons, Season 2. Cr. Courtesy of Netflix © 2026
Of them all, though, Anne (a mischievous Kerri Kenney-Silver) has the best story. The widow and ex of Carell’s Nick, she starts the season needing to sort her emotions about how she feels both about Ginny (Erika Henningsen), the woman Nick left her for, and, of course, the baby she’s carrying. In response, Anne tries on a variety of different identities, effectively creating her own coming-of-(middle)-age story. She’s free to be whoever she wants now, and her attempts at exploration are hilarious, echoing the fierce young woman she once was and the more experienced widow and mom she is now, even if she gets frustrated about her own lack of “executive functioning.”
In this iteration of “The Four Seasons,” the characters grow in compelling, hilarious ways. Anne gets to share prescient truths of early motherhood in one episode, while making a sexting mistake in another. Danny must face his limitations even as he protests that somehow, the little Italian car he’s attempting to move just doesn’t understand that he’s “good at everything.” And the list goes on.
These juxtapositions make your fifties seem, if not something to aspire to, not something to dread either. We can laugh at the vagaries of getting older without positing that they’re the only thing there is. And getting to do that with Kenney-Silver, Fey, and Domingo is a real joy, delivering on the promise of this series in its second outing. Some things really do get better with age.
Whole season screened for review. Currently streaming on Netflix.
- Throwback “Mina the Hollower” is One of the Best Games of 2026 (May 27, 2026)
With the enormous platformer “Shovel Knight,” developer Yacht Club Games cemented itself as a legendary indie studio. Its second game, “Mina the Hollower,” is finally here after years of “Shovel Knight” expansions and spin-offs. What I really admire about “Mina the Hollower” is that it’s an incredibly different game than “Shovel Knight”. Whereas the latter was a platformer inspired by the NES era, the former is an action-adventure that feels like a “Zelda” game on the Game Boy Color.
“Mina the Hollower” follows our eponymous protagonist, Mina, a genius mouse whose inventions have brought prosperity to Ossex, the lone major city in Tanebrous Isle. One of her creations, the Spark Generators, have shut down and she goes on a journey to restore the seven generators scattered throughout the island. While well-intentioned, she slowly learns that her generators might be used for nefarious purposes that she must uncover. The story is straightforward and sets a solid foundation and incentive for Mina to explore Tanebrous Isle.
The various different regions around the island are wonderfully diverse, from the sandy shores of Bone Beach to the icy tundras of Coltrane Peak, each environment is graphically pushed to its limits while still strictly sticking with the pixel design. The way the game utilizes colors keeps the adventure visually interesting.
Exploration in Tanebrous is a bit more open-ended too. True to its retro roots, the game doesn’t have any objective markers like modern games do, so you’ll need to rely on your instincts to figure out what to do next or how to reach a certain region. I wish there was a bit more hand-holding in this regard, but honestly I applaud “Mina the Hollower” for sticking with its guns here. Exploration is rewarding too, as you’ll be able to find upgrades such as being able to hold more healing vials, which can boost your survivability.
What really makes the world of “Mina the Hollower” truly alive is the hustle and bustle of Ossex, which acts as your central hub. Its citizens constantly move around, carrying out their days by running shops or simply just kicking objects down the street. It makes Mina’s solo adventure less lonely.
You can pick from several different weapons, such as her whip, as well as daggers and hammers. They all feel radically different. The whip lets Mina hit enemies safely from a distance, but can take a bit longer to come out as opposed to the daggers, which are near instantaneous but require her to be close up. There’s always a trade off to using certain weapons over others, so pick one that best fits your own playstyle.
Additionally, you can customize Mina further by equipping different trinkets, which augment her with passive abilities. The Proto Spark gives Mina a second lease on life should she fall, while Steady Shoes lets her move normally on terrain—she won’t slip on ice and shallow water won’t slow her down. It’s a great way to add some light RPG elements to spice up the gameplay.
Whereas many action adventure games let players roll or dodge attacks, Mina takes a unique approach. She can burrow underground for a short time to avoid enemies and their moves. However, Mina has to first do a short jump before going underground, so you’ll have to take that into account when timing your burrows. The trade off here is that Mina’s invincibility frames last considerably longer. This allows you to reposition Mina with a greater degree of freedom than a simple dodge would do. Admittedly, this took me a while to get used to, but once I got the hang of burrowing, I loved how fast and agile it made Mina feel.
However, one downside to the 2D-inspired graphics is that it’s sometimes hard to judge distances. During boss fights, I would burrow underground, and try to pop up behind the boss. Instead, I would appear right on top of them, and it’s a frustrating issue since simply touching enemies inflicts damage onto you.
Platforming is a bit tricky too, but there are plenty of quality-of-life mechanics that make judging jump distances easier. For example, Mina’s shadow will always appear, visually guiding your eyes on where to land.
“Mina the Hollower” is not an easy game by any stretch of the imagination. The bosses hit hard as if they were in a Soulslike game and you’ll have to learn their attack patterns in order to succeed. You can also collect Bones that are used as both currency to buy items like vials to heal or new trinkets, as well as act as EXP to level up Mina’s parameters such as attack and defense.
The Soulslike comparisons don’t end there! Dying will cause Mina to drop a “Spark” and she has to recover it before dying again, otherwise she’ll lose all of the Bones currently in her possession. So there’s a constant balance of trying to stay alive while gathering enough Bones. This tension forces you to be more careful when exploring and engaging with enemies, but ultimately leads to an intensely satisfying feeling when you do succeed or reach the next checkpoint to regroup and take a breather.
The game also has a bevy of modifiers you can turn on and off if the default experience is too hard. You can turn on settings like infinite health so you never die, or even crank up the difficulty with Mina taking three times as much damage as usual. It also tells you whether enabling a certain modifier will disable the ability to unlock Achievements/Trophies on your platform. That way, you won’t be able to cheat your way to 100% completion.
“Mina the Hollower” is another bold retro-inspired adventure with rewarding exploration, challenging combat, and a stylish presentation. Despite a few frustrations with depth perception and some aimlessness with story progression, its creative gameplay mechanics and exciting world makes it one of the best games of 2026.
Yacht Club Games provided a PC review copy of this title. It launches on May 29 for PC, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, Switch 2, and Xbox Series X|S.
- Going the Distance: Seeing “Rocky” in Concert (May 27, 2026)
On a recent summery Saturday evening in Chicago, moviegoers had the opportunity to take in any number of current releases, from “Michael” to “The Devil Wears Prada 2,” from “Obsession” to “The Sheep Detectives.” There were even some limited engagement showings of the two “Top Gun” movies.
Still, the largest crowd for any single screening—by far—was for a film that turns 50 this November.
“Rocky.”
Some 1,540 fans flocked to the Auditorium Theatre in the Loop for a “live-to-picture” screening, with the Chicago Philharmonic performing Bill Conti’s iconic, Oscar-nominated score. I saw “Rocky” twice at the River Oaks Theatre in Calumet City in the winter of 1976-1977, and I’ve watched it somewhere around a million-trillion times on TV over the years, but this was my first time seeing it with an audience in nearly five decades. It was also my first time ever seeing it with a live orchestra providing the musical accompaniment, from the melancholy, piano-driven sounds of the early scenes to the rousing “Gonna Fly Now” during the world-famous training sequence.
It made for a glorious night at the movies.
Live music and cinema have co-starred together for more than a century—a move borne in part out of practical necessity. Early 35mm projectors produced loud, grating mechanical clatter, and with no recorded audio track for films of the 1910s and well into the 1920s, organists, pianists, or even entire orchestras were brought in. Movie palaces such as the Mark Strand Theatre on Broadway, the Million Dollar Theatre in Los Angeles (built by Sid Grauman), and the Chicago Theatre on State Street in Chicago featured full orchestral accompaniment.
Cut to the early 2000s and the Live-to-Projection concerts of “The Lord of the Rings” movies, with orchestras in cities around the world performing Howard Shore’s music to the films in the original trilogy. Over the last decade, the live-to-picture event has become a staple of popular culture, with films ranging from the “Star Wars” and “Spider-Man” franchises to “La La Land,” “Hook,” and “The Lion King” getting the full orchestral treatment. The trend has extended to the video game industry, with live concert experiences highlighting titles such as “The Legend of Zelda” and “Final Fantasy.”
The “Auditorium Philm” series in Chicago officially launched in 2024 with “Blade Runner.” This year’s roster includes “Top Gun: Maverick,” “Edward Scissorhands,” and “Home Alone 2: Lost in New York”–yes, “Home Alone 2.” Says Rich Regan, CEO of The Auditorium: “Experiencing these iconic films with each magnificent score performed by the Chicago Philharmonic amplified by The Auditorium’s perfect acoustics creates an unforgettable energy.”
You could feel that energy for the “Rocky” screening. Couples, groups of fans, guys wearing vintage “ROCKY” and “Mighty Mick’s Boxing Gym” T-shirts. 1976, meet 2026.
Settling in for the screening of “Rocky,” I was reminded of the darkness of Sylvester Stallone’s screenplay. Director John Avildsen and cinematographer James Crabe leaned into the grittiness of the story–and the music, at first, is spare and achingly sad. At times, the orchestra stood rigid still on the stage, as we bear witness to the hopelessness of Rocky’s world, from his brutal bout with fellow “tomato can” Spider Rico (Pedro Lovell) to his daytime job as an enforcer for the loan shark mobster Gazzo (Joe Spinell) to his halting and awkward attempts at courting Talia Shire’s Adrian. Sometimes the music would gently underscore glimpses of Rocky’s humanity, whether he’s opting not to break the thumbs of Bob, the dock worker who owes Gazzo, or trying to give a life lesson to Jodie Letizia’s Marie. Not that Rocky is rewarded for such efforts; Gazzo chastises him, and Marie delivers a parting shot: “Hey Rocky! Screw you, creepo!”
Many of these early scenes are punctuated by just a tinkling piano or a plaintive French horn, with the unresolved, hanging cadences sounding even more lonely and wistful in the live orchestral setting. It’s a minimalist score, punching home the desperate reality of Rocky’s day-to-day existence.
Still, a shard of optimism begins to emerge with the recurring strings and piano of “Adrian’s Theme,” which highlights the tender, sweet budding romance—the love story at the heart of “Rocky.” By the time Carl Weathers’ Apollo Creed literally picks Rocky’s name out of a book of fighters (“The EYE-Talian Stallion”), Rocky and Adrian are a couple. The music reflects that for the first time in a long time or maybe ever, they’re experiencing something new.
Hope.
After the intermission, the Chicago Philharmonic really went to work.
As you’d expect, the audience loved the orchestra’s note-perfect rendition of “Gonna Fly Now,” with that familiar horn fanfare and the bass line driving home Rocky’s triumphant training sequence, culminating with him conquering the museum steps that knocked the wind out of him earlier. That scene has been played, replayed, and parodied countless times over the last 50 years, but seeing it on the big screen with the live orchestral accompaniment took me back to my teenage years watching “Rocky” in Cal City. The thrill is decidedly not gone.
My favorite musical passage in the entire film is “Going the Distance,” which accompanies the punishing, round-by-round montage of the fight, with Rocky Balboa and Apollo Creed exchanging blows and knocking each other around the ring, until they’re both bloodied, bruised, exhausted, and barely able to lift their arms into a fighting stance. The Chicago Philharmonic’s performance of the swelling and stirring suite was so brilliant and so spot-on that if you didn’t see them onstage, you’d swear you were listening to a particularly pristine audio track. The climactic bell of the fight is synced to “The Final Bell” number, with Rocky crying out “Adrian!” until they embrace in the ring.
We have a lot of big event films coming out in the summer of 2026, but I’m not sure I’ll have a better moviegoing experience this year.
- Colin Farrell is Back as a Private Eye in 'Sugar' Series - Season 2 Trailer (May 28, 2026)
"In this world, everyone has secrets..." Apple TV has revealed the first official trailer for the continuation of this peculiar mystery thriller series called Sugar, starring Colin Farrell as a private eye in Los Angeles. The big shocking, WTF reveal at the end of Season 1 is that he's an alien. Super weird, right? But apparently they're continuing on in Season 2 acting as if everything is normal and he's a regular human (except for the part about skipping the question of where he's from). Farrell returns for a new case, tracking the troubled older brother of an up-and-coming local boxer as his search for his beloved missing sister continues. As the investigation expands into a citywide conspiracy with sinister intentions, Sugar must reckon with himself to answer the question — how far will he go to do what’s right? I wonder what he'll discover in LA's underbelly this time. The new cast for Season 2 includes Jin Ha, Raymond Lee, Tony Dalton, Laura Donnelly, Sasha Calle, and special guest star Shea Whigham. This looks like it's packed with tons of twists & turns as the series tumbles its way into secrets & lies around Los Angeles. Will he make it out of safe? Take a look. // Continue Reading ›
- Official Trailer for Pawlikowski's Film 'Fatherland' with Sandra Hüller (May 28, 2026)
"Mr. Mann, which side are you on? Stalin or Mickey Mouse?" Mubi has unveiled the official trailer for the film Fatherland, the latest from acclaimed Polish filmmaker Paweł Pawlikowski. This just premiered at the 2026 Cannes Film Festival earlier this month, where it won the Best Director prize (in a tie) at the end. Our critic wrote an excellent review of it at the festival - one of the best in this year's line-up. After the end of WWII, Fatherland centers on the relationship between writer Thomas Mann and his daughter Erika — actress, writer & rally driver — as they embark on a road trip in a black Buick cruiser across a Germany in ruins, from U.S. dominated Frankfurt to Soviet controlled Weimar. Pawlikowski picks up where he left off with his award-winning Ida and Cold War, exploring – in his elliptic, distilled way – the themes of identity, family, love and guilt amid the turmoil and confusion of post-war Europe. Starring Sandra Hüller and Hanns Zischler, with August Diehl, Devid Striesow, Anna Madeley. With cinematography by iconic Polish DP Lukasz Zal. Releasing this fall after it plays at other festivals, too. Gorgeous trailer! A must see. // Continue Reading ›
- Bailee Madison in Modern RomCom '40 Dates and 40 Nights' Trailer (May 28, 2026)
"It's okay to let people know you." Brainstorm Media has unveiled the official trailer for another fun indie romantic comedy film titled 40 Dates and 40 Nights, arriving to watch in June this summer. The title is a spin on the other fun romcom movie from 2002 called 40 Days and 40 Nights, which had Josh Hartnett & Shannyn Sossamon. This time it's a different premise about a girl trying out 40 dates in rapid succession. Burned out on dating and ready to quit, Leah accepts her grandma's outrageous challenge: 40 dates in 40 nights and if she completes this she'll pay her rent for a year. From awkward dinners to unexpected sparks, she discovers the biggest obstacle to love might be herself. "Love doesn't happen overnight... it takes time." Starring Bailee Madison (from "Pretty Little Liars") as Leah, Joel Courtney as a nice boy, Annie Potts as grandma, Jai Rodriguez, Jack Schumacher, Luxy Banner, Eric Nelsen, plus tons of forgettable guys. The film is a fun, modern rom-com with lots of heart and humor, offering a relatable take on today's dating culture. This looks extra cheesy and exactly like what a direct-to-VOD movie is expected to look like. // Continue Reading ›
- Official Trailer for 'Reading Lolita in Tehran' with Golshifteh Farahani (May 27, 2026)
"Great books are supposed to make you feel uneasy, and make you question what you take for granted." Greenwich Entertainment & Kanopy have revealed the official US trailer for the film Reading Lolita in Tehran, a story about Iranian resistance now releasing in July this summer. This originally premiered in 2024 at the Rome Film Fest, where it won the Audience Award as well as Special Jury Prize. It also played at numerous other festivals but isn't getting a full release in US theaters until this year. In revolutionary Iran, as fundamentalists tighten their grip on society, a professor secretly gathers a handful of her most dedicated female students from her university to read and discuss forbidden classics of Western literature, including Lolita and Pride & Prejudice. Based on the bestselling memoir by Azar Nafisi about her life in 1980s Tehran. Starring Golshifteh Farahani as Azar Nafisi, Zar Amir Ebrahimi, Mina Kavani, Reza Diako, Arash Marandi, Catayoune Ahmadi, & Sina Parvaneh. The reviews are pretty good for this, describing it as a story about "culture as a tool against oppression." An inspiring story that we need right now. Worth a watch. // Continue Reading ›
- New US Trailer for Jean Dujardin's 'Zorro' Action Adventure TV Series (May 27, 2026)
"Let's try it!" Zorro returns! MHz Choice has revealed the official US trailer for the new Zorro action series, a French production based on the legendary character created in 1919 by American pulp writer Johnston McCulley. It's the first time since the film Zorro (1975) starring Alain Delon that a French actor has played the character of Zorro in live-action. There have been tons of other Zorro series, movies, and more - mostly notably 90s action movie The Mask of Zorro with Antonio Banderas, and the classic 1950s TV series with Guy Williams as Zorro. Blending swashbuckling action, light comic flair & romance, the 8-episode series, subtitled in English, premieres this June in the US. Starring acclaimed French actor Jean Dujardin as Don Diego de la Vega / Zorro, with Audrey Dana, André Dussollier, and Salvatore Ficarra as Bernardo, Don Diego's mute servant. The filming took place in southern Spain and the post-production was done in Belgium, with the series debuting in France on TV back at the end of 2024. Ready to give it a look? This new interpretation of Zorro carries a playful visual style inspired by the legendary filmmaker Ernst Lubitsch, and was conceived in the tradition of swashbuckling films & French vaudeville. Yeah - this looks like tons of fun. // Continue Reading ›
