‘Scream 7’ is Caught at the Crossroads

February 26, 2026

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Here we go again (CREDIT: Paramount Pictures and Spyglass Media Group)

Starring: Neve Campbell, Isabel May, Joel McHale, Courteney Cox, Jasmin Savoy Brown, Mason Gooding, Anna Camp, Michelle Randolph, Jimmy Tatro, McKenna Grace, Asa Germann, Celeste O’Connor, Sam Rechner, Mark Consuelos, Timothy Simons, Ethan Embry, Matthew Lillard

Director: Kevin Williamson

Running Time: 114 Minutes

Rating: R for Some Rough Language and All the Usual Stabbings, Even Gorier Than Usual

Release Date: February 27, 2026 (Theaters)

What’s It About?: Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell) is totally over it, you guys. She doesn’t even go by “Prescott” anymore! Instead, she’s running a coffee shop and living with her husband Mark (Joel McHale) and teenage daughter Tatum (Isabel May) in the humble town of Pine Grove, Indiana, where everybody knows her by her married name of Sidney Evans. Except of course they also know her by her maiden name as well, as her life story and the killers who follow her keep inspiring lurid movies and tabloid documentaries and copycat killers. Also, she did name her daughter after her best friend who died in the first Scream, so it’s not like she’s completely let go of Woodsboro, California either. Not like she ever could even if she tried. Especially not now, as Tatum is about the same age as her mom was when the first massacre happened, which the latest Ghostface(s) use as an opportunity to spook Sidney and her family with freakishly rendered reminders of her bloody past so as to air their grievances or become the star of their own movie or whatever the heck their motivations are this time.

What Made an Impression?: I’m Screaming Inside: Scream is my favorite horror movie franchise (and possibly my favorite franchise of every genre), but I had severe misgivings going into this seventh outing, given its tortured production history. After the success of the fifth and sixth ones, this chapter was originally going to again focus on Melissa Barrera and Jenna Ortega’s characters from those two chapters, but then Barrera was fired following pro-Palestine comments she made on social media, and Ortega soon dropped out in solidarity. Multiple directors left the project as well, and a retooling led to original Scream screenwriter Kevin Williamson stepping in as director and Neve Campbell returning once again to play Sidney, after previously sitting out Scream VI because of a lowball salary offer. None of this backstory is acknowledged within the story of Scream 7 itself, but I can’t accurately and comprehensively review it without fully acknowledging my conflicted headspace.
(Retroactive) Welcome to New York!: While the narrative of Scream 7 may not directly address the behind-the-scenes drama, it does play around with it a bit by making one of its major messages be: “Sidney, you should have been there for the last one!” Seriously, other characters keep telling her how much she was missed in NYC when the most recent Ghostfaces decided to terrorize the Big Apple. Ultimately, this sequel is kind of like an alternate Scream 5, if it had focused primarily on Sidney instead of the new generation of victims and survivors. That makes for an uncanny status quo, and a franchise uncertain of what exactly direction it wants to be heading in.
Stuck In or Rejecting the Past: Scream 7‘s other message appears to be: “We heartily reject artificial intelligence!”, as (ostensible) deepfakes of former villains become the latest weapon in Ghostface’s repertoire. The delivery of that theme feels a little half-baked, though probably genuine, considering the existential crisis that AI is for so many creative professionals. Alas, it also feels strikingly at odds with one of the movie’s promotional pushes.
So What Else Is Going On?: Now that I’ve gotten all the major headlines out of the way, please allow me to talk for a bit about something that was totally unexpected. Before the mayhem fully kicks into gear, Tatum and her friends are just regular teenagers doing regular high school things. In their case, that means rehearsing for a play about fairies and the like. Timothy Simons wrings out some laughs in this section as the awe-inspiringly pompous drama teacher directing the whole affair. It’s quite the bizarre digression.
And Then We Finally Face the Ghost: While I spent the first half of Scream 7 feeling skeptical and tepid, the final act reminded me that this series has an unstoppable knack for delivering consistently killer climaxes. The Ghostface motivation this time around is probably the most nonsensical we’ve seen thus far, but it nevertheless made for a thrilling conclusion. It also against all odds made me excited for the next chapters to come, although I would still really like to see some apologies for the personnel who have been mistreated (though I’m not exactly holding out hope for that).

Scream 7 is Recommended If You: Feel like everything is cursed nowadays

Grade: 3 out of 5 Deepfakes

‘Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die’ Makes the AI Apocalypse Feel Just Like Home

February 24, 2026

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I’m having fun! (CREDIT: Briarcliff Entertainment/Screenshot)

Starring: Sam Rockwell, Haley Lu Richardson, Michael Peña, Zazie Beetz, Asim Chaudhry, Juno Temple

Director: Gore Verbinski

Running Time: 134 Minutes

Rating: R

Release Date: February 13, 2026 (Theaters)

Can I admit something? Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die made me want to fully embrace artificial intelligence.

Before you start throwing analog tomatoes at me, let me clarify that what I mean is: this movie defiantly announces that you can still make great human-produced art in the face of AI slop while fully acknowledging that that slop is very much a part of Life Right Now. It stars Sam Rockwell as a man from the future with a dire warning about the path that our current embrace of technology has us on. And I can’t help but notice how much he seems to be relishing this role. We might be on the cusp of a nightmare, but our capacity for creativity and resilience and warping doesn’t have to be diminished. So honestly, if we are indeed headed for an AI-prompted apocalypse like that seen in GL, HF, DD, then I can’t wait to see what survives and emerges.

Grade: 857 Glitter Bursts out of 1 GiantCatz

‘Psycho Killer’? If You Say So…

February 23, 2026

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[Please insert your preferred Talking Heads reference here] (CREDIT: 20th Century Studios/Screenshot)

Starring: Georgina Campbell, James Preston Rogers, Malcolm McDowell, Logan Miller, Grace Dove, Nigel Shawn Williams

Director: Gavin Polone

Running Time: 91 Minutes

Rating: R

Release Date: February 20, 2026 (Theaters)

In the Tracking-Down-a-Serial-Satanist-Slasher flick Psycho Killer, Georgina Campbell plays a highway patrol officer named Jane Archer. I guess that surname is relevant, because she has good aim. I didn’t notice that while watching the movie, I’m just noticing it now while writing this write-up. That’s probably the most interesting thing about this movie. Otherwise, this is one of the dopiest horror flicks I’ve seen in quite some time, with some (probably unintentional) chuckle-worthy moments making it kind of worth watching. Also making it kind of worth watching is residual goodwill from Campbell having previously starred in Barbarian, one of the most unforgettable horror flicks of the past decade.

Malcolm McDowell sure loves to keep working!

Grade: Not Today, Satan. Maybe Later

Take Me Home, ‘Wuthering Heights’?

February 21, 2026

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Are they such great Heights? (CREDIT: Warner Bros./Screenshot)

Starring: Margot Robbie, Jacob Elordi, Hong Chau, Shazad Latif, Alison Oliver, Martin Clunes, Charlotte Mellington, Owen Cooper, Vy Nguyen

Director: Emerald Fennell

Running Time: 136 Minutes

Rating: R

Release Date: February 13, 2026 (Theaters)

Would I like to live in Wuthering Heights, specifically the version of the property as seen in the Emerald Fennell-directed Cinematic 2026 Version? Well, of course I must caution that I’m dispositionally allergic to all that dreary English weather. But on the other hand, it’s so horny up there! And also squishy and magnificently tactile (in a horny way). And so bright, too. Lots of red. Furthermore, I promise I wouldn’t let my story turn out as tragically as that of Cathy and Heathcliff. So it could mostly work out for me. Anyway, the movie was pretty good. Fabulous set design and costumes and such.

Grade: 7 Cathys out of 10 Heathcliffs, Plus an Avid Sprinkling of Isabella

Entertainment To-Do List: Week of 2/20/26

February 20, 2026

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That Face You Make When You’re in the Scrubs Reboot (CREDIT: Disney/Darko Sikman)

Every week, I list all the upcoming (or recently released) movies, TV shows, albums, podcasts, etc. that I believe are worth checking out.

Movies
–How to Make a Killing (Theaters)
-Oscar-Nominated Shorts (Theaters)
–Psycho Killer (Theaters)
–This Is Not a Test (Theaters)

TV
–American Dad! Season 22 Premiere (February 22 on FOX) – Coming back home.
-BAFTAs (February 22 on E!)
–Scrubs Reboot Premiere (February 25 on ABC)

Music
-Hilary Duff, Luck… or Something
-Peaches, No Lube So Rude

‘Sirāt’ Review: A Rave Descends Into a Nightmare, and That Nightmare Descends Into Hell

February 20, 2026

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The sirāt to Sirāt is paved with… (CREDIT: NEON/Screenshot)

Starring: Sergi López, Bruno Núñez Arjona, Richard Bellamy, Stefania Gadda, Joshua Liam Henderson, Tonin Janvier, Jade Oukid

Director: Óliver Laxe

Running Time: 114 Minutes

Rating: R

Release Date: February 6, 2026 (Theaters)

For my review of Sirāt (Oscar-nominated for International Feature Film and Best Sound), I shall employ my frequent reviewing strategy of asking myself whether or not I would like to live within the world of this film. And it’s an easy answer this time: a resounding NO.

It actually starts out promisingly enough, as the opening scene presents a rave soundtracked to a hypnotic EDM track. Quite frankly, I would have loved it if the whole movie were just one long desert freakout with the music never stopping. But that’s actually fool’s gold. I don’t want to be sweating in the desert, and those blaringly loud tunes are only really enjoyable for me from the safety of the movie theater.

And it only gets dicier from there, as a father’s trek to find his missing daughter with his young son in tow features driving along a terrifyingly steep cliff and an excursion in a minefield, with occasional radio reports announcing the looming threat of a possible World War III. So yeah, you could say I sure don’t want to live in the world of Sirāt.

Grade: Sounds Stunning, Feels Aggravating

What’s the Situation on the ‘Crime 101’?

February 19, 2026

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Taking the 101 (CREDIT: Amazon MGM Studios)

Starring: Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Barry Keoghan, Halle Berry, Monica Barbaro, Corey Hawkins, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Nick Nolte, Tate Donovan, Devon Bostick, Paymaan Maadik, Babak Tafti, Deborah Hedwall, Paul Adelstein, Drew Powell, Matthew Del Negro, Andra Nechita, John Douglas

Director: Bart Layton

Running Time: 140 Minutes

Rating: R

Release Date: February 13, 2026 (Theaters)

When I first saw the trailer for Crime 101, I thought, “Jeez, are they really going that generic?” But then I eventually learned that the titular “101” didn’t refer to an introductory course but rather to the major California highway. So then I got my demented hopes up that we could be due for cameos from Fred Armisen, Bill Hader, and Kristen Wiig as their traffic-obsessed characters from SNL‘s “Californians” sketches. Of course, that didn’t actually come to fruition, but I nevertheless still want to put the idea out there, just in case the universe is in the mood to manifest anything. Anyway, I guess the moral of this movie is that if you’re a non-violent criminal, you just might be allowed to get away with it.

Grade: Whuuuuuut Are These Guys Doing Here?

‘How to Make a Killing’ Wades Through the Light and the Dark

February 18, 2026

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Pictured: One Example of How to Make a Killing (CREDIT: A24)

Starring: Glen Powell, Margaret Qualley, Jessica Henwick, Bill Camp, Nell Williams, Zach Woods, Topher Grace, Ed Harris, Bianco Amato, Raff Law, Sean Cameron Michael

Director: John Patton Ford

Running Time: 105 Minutes

Rating: R for Stark Bursts of Sudden Violence

Release Date: February 20, 2026 (Theaters)

What’s It About?: When heiress Mary Redfellow (Nell Williams) gets knocked up at the age of 18 and refuses to give up the baby, her father Whitelaw (Ed Harris) disowns her from the family. Left to her own devices as a single mother, she dies young, leaving her boy Becket (Glen Powell) orphaned but self-sufficient and hungry to inherit the fortune that’s owed him. Here’s the good news: even though his grandfather has cut off all contact, Becket is still officially in the Redfellow will. But here’s where it gets tricky: the inheritance is doled out in birth order, and he’s got a couple of uncles, an aunt, and a few older cousins ahead of him. However, with the universe proving again and again to be fantastically unfair, he can’t help but wonder: would it really be so  wrong if he went ahead and eliminated all of them? And does he have what it takes to get away with it?

What Made an Impression?: It’s Kind to Be Cruel: If the plot of How to Make a Killing rings a bell, perhaps you’ve seen its loose inspiration, Kind Hearts and Coronets, which was itself loosely based on the novel Israel Rank: The Autobiography of a Criminal and is probably most famous for Alec Guiness playing eight different characters. There’s no need to backtrack to the original if you haven’t seen it, though, as these “eat the rich” narratives will remain relevant for as long as wealth inequality persists. This one leans hard on the black comedy, of the silly “oops, now there’s a dead body” variety (or at least as silly as that scenario can be). Put simply, Becket’s relatives are generally too clueless and/or vain to do anything right besides have money. Zach Woods and Topher Grace (as an infuriating artist and a religious huckster,  respectively) are the clear standouts among the cousins you’ll love to hate.
Getting Locked: While HtMaK is an Eat the Rich Thriller at premise, it’s a neo-noir at heart, with Becket forever trapped once he takes the first step on his family-slaying journey, and Powell providing the thousand-mile stare-into-the-distance of lost hope that such a story requires. Playing the femme fatale is Margaret Qualley as Becket’s childhood friend Julia, who returns into his life at just the worst moment (or just the right moment, depending on how you look at it). Complicating the affairs of the heart is the genuinely sweet Ruth (Jessica Henwick), girlfriend of one of Becket’s cousins whom he takes a shine to. The two ladies serve as the opposite poles of where the rest of his life could end up. Julia is a bit more of a cypher than Ruth, though, and while that shallowness fits this movie’s approach, I now want to revisit the story from her point of view, so that we can discover where the humanity is hiding within the schemer.
Left Alone to Be Right: Like plenty of noir flicks, this is a morality tale at heart. That’s not to say that Becket has to eventually pay for his transgressions, though I guess it depends on what you mean by “pay for.” The story begins with his mother making him promise that he won’t settle for anything other than “the right kind of life.” But what is that right kind of life, regardless of whether or not it’s the one that Mom is endorsing? That answer is kind of obvious, but is there anyone in Becket’s life who cares about him enough to offer that? Maybe there actually is, if he knows where to look. Sometimes we can become blinded by righteousness, and How to Make a Killing makes for quite the blind journey.

How to Make a Killing is Recommended If You: Want to stir Parasite, Double Indemnity, and The Righteous Gemstones up in a blender, with a sprinkling of Maxine from the X Trilogy

Grade: 4 out of 5 Inheritances

 

‘EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert’ Throws It Back for Full-On Immersion

February 17, 2026

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Based on this evidence, I have my doubts that Elvis ever left the building (CREDIT: NEON)

Starring: Elvis Presley

Director: Baz Luhrmann

Running Time: 100 Minutes

Rating: PG-13 for Tobacco Usage and Some Language

Release Date: February 20, 2026 (IMAX Theaters)/February 27, 2026 (General Theaters)

What’s It About?: In the course of turning Austin Butler into a biopic version of the King of Rock and Roll, director Baz Luhrmann unearthed hours of previously unseen concert footage of the real Elvis Presley. Now a good chunk of those performances have been assembled into the cinematic experience EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert, which mixes the King on stage with interviews and clips from his acting career. You can experience it for yourself on the big BIG screen if you head to IMAX theaters on February 20, or you can wait a week for the less immersive theaters. Or you could wait for the eventual home entertainment release, but this is undoubtedly a presentation that demands to be taken in communally.

What Made an Impression?: The Dream of Rock ‘n’ Roll is Still Alive: There doesn’t seem to be much rhyme or reason to the editing order in EPiC, at least none that I could readily detect. It’s more about just maintaining the energy for a feature-length period of time. As we freely weave through space and time, there is a bit of a surreal energy to the proceedings (though not nearly as much as there is in something like the David Bowie doc Moonage Daydream). I think I generally prefer that freewheeling approach to something more straightforward in this genre, and I wish that this outing had been even more impressionistic.
To Leave or To Enter (the Building)?: And now for the big question: is EPiC epic enough to convert the unconverted? I have little doubt that the Elvis superfans will be sufficiently entertained, but as for the rest of us? I enjoy the King well enough when his hip-shaking is right in front of me, but I’ve never had any desire to go off and visit Graceland. And this flick didn’t do anything to move the needle in that regard. So while EPiC is undeniably well-crafted, I wouldn’t call it game-changing. Still, I do have to give it up to the fine jobs performed by the audio and visual technicians restoring all this footage to such pristine quality.

EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert is Recommended If You: Want a little less conversation and a little more action every single day

Grade: 3 out of 5 Sweat Drops

‘Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie’ the Review* (*-a Review)

February 16, 2026

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Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie the Screenshot (CREDIT: NEON)

Starring: Matt Johnson

Director: Matt Johnson, Jay McCarroll, Jared Raab

Running Time: 100 Minutes

Rating: R

Release Date: February 13, 2026 (Theaters)

Yes, it’s true what you’ve heard: you can achieve nirvana while watching Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie. Or maybe that should be spelled “nirvanna” (double-n) like it is in the title? Either way, if you share even a smidgen of moviegoing DNA with me, chances are high that you will feel tremendously in-the-moment. You’ll immediately want to go back in time so that you can see it for the first time all over again, and you’ll also want to travel ahead in time so that you can see it for the second, fourth, and fiftieth times as soon as possible, all while keeping your consciousness in the present-day of a raucous theater.

Grade: Infinity Nirvannas out of Infinity Bands out of Infinity Shows out of Infinity Movies

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