My hypothesis is that plenty of people will watch this movie (CREDIT: Prime Video/Screenshot)
Starring: Lili Reinhart, Tom Bateman, Rachel Marsh, Jaboukie Young-White, Nicholas Duvernay, Arty Froushan
Director: Claire Scanlon
Running Time: 110 Minutes
Rating: R for A Notable Deficit of Shyness in the Bedroom
Release Date: September 23, 2026 (Amazon Prime Video)
What’s It About?: It’s hard to think straight in an academic setting. Olive Smith (Lili Reinhart) can certainly attest to that. She’s a biology PhD candidate at Stanford who cares about two things above all else: finding a cure for pancreatic cancer, and her best friend Anh (Rachel Marsh). Regarding the latter, she attempts to convince Anh that she’s over their mutual crush Jeremy (Nicholas Duvernay) by impulsively kissing a random guy in a hallway. Unfortunately, that random guy turns out to be Dr. Adam Carlsen (Tom Bateman), the professor with the most hardass reputation in their department. But somehow, he’s actually willing to enter into a mutually beneficial arrangement with Olive: they’ll pretend to date each other so that her friends can date without feeling guilty and so that Stanford can be convinced that he’s sufficiently committed to his current location for them to release his research funds. Olive might think that she’s objective enough not to catch feelings, but it can get a little slippery when you’re your own test subject.
What Made an Impression?: Getting to the Revelations:The Love Hypothesis is based on Ali Hazelwood’s beloved 2021 novel of the same name, which I bought and devoured just a couple weeks before the movie’s release. When I’m reviewing a movie that’s an adaptation, I don’t always (or often) focus on its fidelity or deviation from the source material. But in this case, it’s the perfect opportunity to do so. With that in mind, I’ll highlight that there’s a major revelation that’s treated as a climactic moment at the end of the book, but in the movie, it’s treated as a more casual revelation as the first act transitions to the second. And honestly, I think it makes sense to reposition in that way. It was kind of drawn out on the page, and it’s ultimately not the biggest deal in Olive and Adam’s journey (though it is meaningful in its own way). Adaptational Flexibility: To quickly sum up the rest of the changes from page to screen: a few supporting players are dropped, some conflicts are compressed, and certain moments of character development are subtly but significantly shifted. These alterations will certainly stick out if you’ve read (or re-read) the novel as close to watching as I have, but none of them fundamentally change what this movie is all about. Instead, they feel like alternative scenarios that Hazelwood herself very could have considered when writing the book. Think of them as shifting puzzle pieces instead of chemical reactions resulting in a new substance. The Passion Can’t Be Denied: There’s an effort to characterize Olive as a demisexual, a fairly new term used to refer to people who can only experience sexual attraction upon developing a strong emotional bond with someone. It’s a little bluntly stated in the screen version, though we certainly do see that bond being formed. The moment of consummation is a lot more intense than you might expect from something with such a frothy premise and color palette. I don’t know how much Lili Reinhart was focusing on the demisexuality of it all while calibrating her performance, but she and Bateman certainly forged the requisite connection. Looking for Meaning in a Meaningless World: During a sequence at a campus picnic, there’s a random shot of an extra chowing down on some food. I don’t know if the editor was having a bit of fun, or if that was just more or less unintentional. But either way, it made an impression on me. Shrinking: With the built-in audience that a beloved book provides, one would think that The Love Hypothesis would be a slam dunk proposition as a theatrical release instead of the straight-to-streaming arrival it’s been fated to. Perhaps that lack of immersion is why some of the scenes that should have had my heart singing at full volume instead fell a little flat. Thus, I must recommend that any of you who are planning to watch must do your best to recreate the theatrical experience at home. So invite a whole bunch of friends, project it on the wall, set up a full-service concession stand – whatever you can manage! And then hopefully we’ll have some more evidence regarding my hypothesis that all movies should be released in theaters.
The Love Hypothesis is Recommended If You Like: AO3
Here’s Mr. Onslaught (CREDIT: Richard Foreman/A24)
Starring: Adria Arjona, Dan Stevens, Eric Wareheim, Reginald VelJohnson, Michael Biehn, Blake Kennedy, Alex Pereira, Drew Starkey, Rebecca Hall, Jacob Scipio
Director: Adam Wingard
Running Time: 92 Minutes
Rating: R
Release Date: September 4, 2026 (Theaters)
Onslaught is a pretty satisfying genre exercise, and there’s plenty that can be said about its blend of approaches and ideas. But mostly I just want to say: hell, yeah, Reginald VelJohnson is still alive and kicking! Who knew that Carl Winslow still had this much left in the tank? Anyone willing to think about it for just a minute, that’s who. And what a treat to see him team up with Eric Wareheim. I mean, Adria Arjona may play the lead, and she’s great and all, but for my money, this is the Reggie & Eric Show above all else.
Mariska Hargitay hosted the Emmys, can you believe it? (CREDIT: NBC/Screenshot)
Aunt Beth, Jeff, and Returning Guest Bob Malone noticed that Mariska Hargitay emceed an awards program, and naturally they had some things to say about it.
(Sorry for any audio miscues! This episode was recorded on a cellular phone instead of our usual fancy studio equipment.)
Every week, I list all the upcoming (or recently released) movies, TV shows, albums, podcasts, etc. that I believe are worth checking out.
Movies
–The History of Concrete (Theaters)
–The Love Hypothesis (September 23 on Amazon Prime)
–Resident Evil (Theaters)
–Shaun the Sheep: The Beast of Mossy Bottom (Theaters)
–The Weight (Theaters)
–You Had to Be There: How the Toronto Godspell Ignited the Comedy Revolution, Spread Love & Overalls, and Created a Community That Changed the World (in a Canadian Kind of Way) (Theaters)
TV
–Best Medicine Season 2 Premiere (September 20 on FOX)
–Celebrity Name That Tune Season Premiere (September 21 on FOX)
Music
-Anthrax, Cursum Perficio
-Beabadoobee, Pylon
-Beck, Ride Lonesome
-Carly Rae Jepsen, Day and Night
-Echo & the Bunnymen, Apples for Isaac
-Miley, Bass Persuades – The “Miley” in this case is Cyrus.
-MNEK, Bulldozer!!
-Rodrigo y Gabriela, OurHome
-Roger Taylor, Violence Insane in a Beautiful World
-Tove Lo, Estrus
-Neil Young and the Chrome Hearts, Second Song
Which one’s Resident and which one’s Evil? (CREDIT: Dušan Martinček/Columbia Pictures)
Starring: Austin Abrams, Zach Cherry, Kali Reis, Paul Walter Hauser, Johnno Wilson
Director: Zach Cregger
Running Time: 95 Minutes
Rating: R for Monstrous Violence and the Profanity It Provokes
Release Date: September 18, 2026 (Theaters)
What’s It About?: A scrappy medical courier named Bryan (Austin Abrams) is ready to call it a night after getting through his shift of organ deliveries. But then he’s enticed by one more high-paying dropoff that will require traversing through snowy, mountainous terrain on his way to Raccoon City General hospital. It’s a dangerous enough journey during even the most ideal conditions. But it soon becomes clear that the conditions are pretty much the opposite of ideal, as Bryan encounters a series of infectious, mutated human beings (and a few animals). So he spends the rest of the night running for his life, while also doing his best to get that package to where it belongs, which might just be the key to ensuring that the entire world doesn’t start looking like Raccoon City.
What Made an Impression?: Oops, He Did It Again: This latest adaptation of Resident Evil is at its heart a slapstick adventure. But if you’re confused because you came here to be scared out of your boots, don’t fret! It’s possible to be hilarious without undercutting the terror, and director Zach Cregger nails that balancing act. That’s what happens when survival instincts team up with lack of experience, after all. Bryan has no idea how to make sense of this nightmare, but he undeniably wants to make it out alive. So sometimes, he successfully blasts away zombies, while other times he shoots his own car. Sometimes he lures zombies into splatting against each other, and other times he just falls over a fence. Abrams has the perfect jittery energy for all of this, and my theater just lapped it up. What’s That Hiding Around the Corner?: When you direct a couple of the most acclaimed horror movies of the past few years, as ZachCregger has, it creates certain expectations for your subsequent fright flicks. In Cregger’s case, more than anything else, it’s his knack for mid-act reveals that recontextualize everything that came before. That’s easier to pull off with an original screenplay than it is with a property with a decades-long cultural footprint like Resident Evil. But it’s not impossible! While there’s nothing quite as massively world-flipping here as there was in Barbarian and Weapons, there are plenty of smaller moments that had me gratefully cheering, “Hoo boy, I was not expecting that!” He’s quite the magician, this Cregger fellow, always orienting our attention where it needs to go for maximum effect. Great Care Was Taken: The makeup crew and visual effects artists also deserve plenty of direct praise. I’ve never played any of the RE games, so I don’t know what percentage of their designs were recreations and how much were original. But I do know that it was all effective! Leonardo da Vinci would’ve been quite proud if he were alive today. Give Yourself Time to Recover: This Resident Evil runs a brisk hour and a half, seemingly more or less in real time. You’ll be thrilled at all the chills and spills packed into that efficient duration, and grateful for the extra minutes to devote to the rest of your day. I recommend spending a chunk of it re-listening to Ryan and Hays Holladays’ score while mulling over what you’ve endured.
Resident Evil is Recommended If You Like: Screaming + Laughing + Cheering
They put The Weight right on us (CREDIT: Vertical)
Starring: Ethan Hawke, Russell Crowe, Julia Jones, Austin Amelio, Avi Nash, Lucas Lynggaad Tonnesen, George Burgess, Cameron Brady, Avy Berry, Alec Newman, Sam Hazeldine, Jeffrey Lee Hallman, Dylan Page, Peter Lewys Preston, Caspar Steinbeck
Director: Padraic McKinley
Running Time: 113 Minutes
Rating: R for Language and Some Shockingly Intense Violence
Release Date: September 18, 2026 (Theaters)
What’s It About?: Samuel Murphy (Ethan Hawke) has found himself in a greatly depressing situation, which is appropriate given the setting of his movie, i.e. 1933 Oregon. After he and his young daughter Penny (Avy Berry) are evicted, a violent misunderstanding with the police leads to Murphy being arrested and placed in a hard labor camp. There’s a chance he can be released in a few months with good behavior, but that’s not soon enough to be reunited with his daughter before she’ll become a ward of the state. So the man in charge of the labor camp, Warden Clancy (Russell Crowe), offers him an out: he’ll sign the papers granting Murphy an even earlier release as long as Murphy does a certain favor for him. Specifically, he must assemble a small crew of his fellow convicts and transport gold bars to a designated dropoff point. It sure sounds dangerous, possibly even deadly, and probably not exactly legal. But Murphy never doubts that it’s his best hope to get Penny back in his arms.
What Made an Impression?: Surely There’s Got to Be a Better Way!: You know those rickety rope bridges hanging between cliffs that are just waiting to have their wooden planks scooched down into the abyss? I always assumed that they were invented for the Indiana Jones movies and their ilk, but maybe they are a real thing after all. The Weight would certainly like us to believe that they existed in the early 20th century Pacific Northwest wilderness, as there’s a marvelously tense set piece in which Murphy and his crew realize that the bridge they’re crossing is not going to hold the weight of a man and all the gold he’s lugging around in his backpack. So Murphy stands in the middle while someone on one end tosses him one bar at a time, and then he tosses each bar one at a time to the other end. Every little movement is a life-or-death proposition, doubly so. One false step could be the end for Murphy, and furthermore, Clancy has assured them that losing just one of the bars means they’ve failed the entire mission. It’s the movie’s entire dramatic tension captured in one white-knuckle sequence. Flying Gracefully Forever: Ethan Hawke is one of those actors that I’ll see in basically anything. (That preference was solidified during his turn in 2010s genre flicks like The Purge and Sinister.) The Weight is just the latest evidence of the wisdom of that attitude. There’s one scene in particular when Hawke as Murphy figures out how to move a massive boulder off the road that makes it abundantly clear that we’re in the care of someone who knows exactly what he’s doing. It’s a perfect distillation of his team player instincts, as he makes everyone else in the ensemble exponentially better. Never Comfortable Again:The Weight is a constantly damp movie, as the gold transporters must traverse multiple river crossings and occasionally sleep under unforgiving rainstorms. And it’s not like they brought any change of clothes for the journey. This isn’t exactly the sort of thing I’m in the mood for in September, as its overcast outlook threatens that the end of the month will give way to a perpetually cloudy autumn. It’s a well-made movie, for sure, but you just gotta make sure you’re equipped to handle that lack of sunshine.
The Weight is Recommended If You Like: Forrest hiking, Pre-seat belt era car chases, Climactic dealmaking
What’s your Emmy mantra? (CREDIT: Television Academy/Screenshot)
It’s Emmy Monday!!! Since I am a hopeless devotee of the boob tube, I do indeed make sure to annually view the presentation of the Primetime Emmy Awards. And along with that viewing tradition, I also enjoy making predictions of the winners in the major categories, along with my selections of whom I would vote for if I were a member of the TV Academy.
Now, I haven’t watched every single nominated program, so in some cases, my preference might be for a nominee that I believe would give an entertaining acceptance speech, as opposed to necessarily who I thought was the best at making quality television in the past year.
Anyway, we’ll all find out together how it goes down when Mariska Hargitay emcees the ceremony on Monday, September 14 on NBC and Peacock.
I had never seen the first Practical Magic by the time that I saw Practical Magic 2. And in fact, I still haven’t seen the original PM as of writing this review. Some might consider that rather impractical. That consideration makes me think of the prank series Impractical Jokers, which I’ve similarly never seen. So did Sandy Bullock and Nic Kidman’s supernatural shenanigans make me want to finally check out The Tenderloins pulling off their practical jokes? Well, to put it plainly: not at all. Has this all been a rather impractical way of reviewing this particular cinematic experience? I suppose it has. Anyway, I enjoyed Sandy bantering with Lee Pace a bit.
Every week, I list all the upcoming (or recently released) movies, TV shows, albums, podcasts, etc. that I believe are worth checking out.
Movies
–The Fix (Theaters)
–Practical Magic 2 (Theaters) – I’ve never seen the first one.
–Runner (Theaters)
–The Uprising (Theaters)
TV
-Creative Arts Emmys (September 12 on FXX)
–Saturday Night Live UK Season 2 Premiere (September 12 on Sky One for UK Viewers, Peacock the Next Day for Yanks) – Jeff Goldblum and CMAT headline the premiere.
–The Floor Season 6 Premiere (September 13 on FOX)
–The Terrors of Jordan Mendoza (September 13 on Adult Swim) – I saw a commercial for this, and it looked pretty interesting.
–Jeopardy! Season 43 Premiere (Check local listings)
-78th Primetime Emmy Awards (September 14 on NBC) – Hosted by Mariska Hargitay.
–South Park Season 29 Premiere (September 16 on Comedy Central)
Music
-Bloc Party, Anatomy of a Brief Romance
-Sylvan Esso, Ow ∞
There was a movie sign, so I followed it to my local multiplex. Yes indeed, I went to see the special theatrical premiere of the first episode of MST3K: The Rifftrax Experiments, in which Mike Nelson and the bots checked out the 1960s Portuguese man o’ war-centric thriller Sting of Death. And well, I’m pleased to report that there were plenty of terrific riffs! My favorite was assuredly the one about how young people used to be much older, while the biggest collective laugh overall in my theater had to be the observation that the director dared to film upside-down butts. I would list some riffs verbatim here, but I want to make sure I don’t get any verbiage incorrect (even slightly), so I’ll wait until I can rewatch this episode once it arrives on Rifftrax proper before I do anything like that. And rewatch I shall, as MST3K has always thrived in its rewatchability.
