Be Careful, or ‘How to Rob a Bank’ Might Just Recruit Yinz

November 11, 2026

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Making Bank (CREDIT: Megan Schoenbachler
© 2026 Amazon Content Services LLC. All Rights Reserved.)

Starring: Nicholas Hoult, John C. Reilly, Zoë Kravitz, Anna Sawai, Rhenzy Feliz, Pete Davidson, Christian Slater, Tati Gabrielle, Paul Sparks

Director: David Leitch

Running Time: 122 Minutes

Rating: R for Some Spicy Language and Violence That Threatens to Tip Into Anarchy

Release Date: November 13, 2026 (Theaters)

What’s It About?: A crew of righteous thieves with animal mask disguises have been documenting their bank heists on social media. Led by Ryan aka The Wolf (Nicholas Hoult), they’re not being boastful but instead spreading a message of revolution and recruitment. Because according to their understanding of today’s economy, the odds of a successful bank robbery are much higher than that of homeownership. Ryan’s girlfriend Emi (Anna Sawai) and their associates Hugo (Rhenzy Feliz) and Vince (Pete Davidson) have all fully bought into the mission after being chewed up and spit out by modern capitalism. They’ve attracted millions of viewers, including FBI Agent John West (John C. Reilly), who is stumped about how to catch them, as they’ve given away very little about their whereabouts despite their massive digital footprint. So he recruits Reagan Gardner (Zoë Kravitz), a hacker behind a tracking system that might be able to crack the case (that is, if Reagan’s sympathies for the crew don’t get in the way too much).

What Made an Impression?: Demanding a Better Deal: How to Rob a Bank works as well as it does because it is a little dangerous. I don’t actually anticipate a spate of copycat robbers in the wake of its release, but its message ought to resonate, as it’s not exactly hard to make the case that so many of our current regulations are designed to protect billionaire executives more than the average worker. Are the statistics that Ryan cites to justify his criminality fully accurate? I don’t know, but Hoult delivers them with so much conviction that I’m absolutely going to listen to all of his lectures. That does leave me a little queasy about the chaos it advocates for, but that might also be a marker of its effectiveness.
Johnny C. Goode: How has it taken this long for John C. Reilly to play a disgruntled FBI agent? Maybe we were just waiting for him to age up to the point where he could convincingly grumble about how he’s five years away from retirement. He absolutely leans hard into all the most appetizing stereotypes of this sort of authority figure. Accordingly, I wouldn’t call this the most realistic portrayal, but nor would I want it to be. Nevertheless, it’s authentic in all the ways that matter.
Black and Yellow: To fit its working class message, HtRaB has chosen an appropriately working class setting in the form of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Anyone who has ever spent any time in the Steel City will appreciate all the care put into lovingly showcasing the bridges, the yinzers, and a certain iconic sandwich shop. If this movie is playing in 4DX anywhere, they better be pumping in the scent of fresh French fries mingling with coleslaw.

How to Rob a Bank is Recommended If You Like: Bonnie and Clyde, How to Blow Up a Pipeline, Mr. Beast-level stunts, Primanti Bros., Modeling your entire personality around Point Break

Grade: 3.5 out of 5 Wolf Masks

Some Mildly Wild Takeaways About ‘Wildwood’

November 9, 2026

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Ooh, baby, it’s a Wild Wood (CREDIT: Laika/Screenshot)

Starring: Peyton Elizabeth Lee, Jacob Tremblay, Carey Mulligan, Mahershala Ali, Richard E. Grant, Angela Bassett, Awkwafina, Amandla Stenberg, Tom Waits, Charlie Day, Blythe Danner, Arthur Knight, Maya Erskine, Jake Johnson, Rob Delaney, Tantoo Cardinal, Jemaine Clement, Marc Evan Jackson, Len Cariou, Ólafur Darri Ólafsson, Colleen O’Shaughnessey

Director: Travis Knight

Running Time: 132 Minutes

Rating: PG

Release Date: October 23, 2026 (Theaters)

MAJOR SPOILER ALERT!!* (*-In a manner of thinking.) My favorite part of Wildwood is a blink-and-you-miss-it moment early on when Prue rides her bike past a fellow cyclist who’s sporting a chin beard and stretched earlobes. This being an Oregon-set film, I figured it must be Spyke from Portlandia. And well, Fred Armisen was thanked in the credits, so that sure appears to be the case. I had a similar reaction to the character of Roger Swindon, he of the slick-backed dark hair and stern countenance, as I wondered if he was an homage to gothic rocker Nick Cave. Alas, despite the physical resemblance, this seems like it might just be a coincidence, as he is voiced by a very different musician (Jemaine Clement) and I haven’t found any acknowledgement that this was intended in any way. Anyway, as for the movie overall, it features plenty of imagination and adept storytelling.

Grade: 63 Murders out of 77 Crows

Entertainment To-Do List: Week of 11/6/26

November 6, 2026

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Congratulations! (CREDIT: Screenshot)

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

Movies
–Club Kid (Theaters)
–Godzilla Minus Zero (Theaters)
–I Play Rocky (Theaters)
–Jimmy (Theaters)
–Ramayana: Rise of a Legend (Theaters)

TV
-Jalen Brunson Guest Starring on Law & Order SVU (Originally Aired November 5 on NBC, now on Peacock)

Music
-Bryan Adams, How’s It Goin’
-Dove Cameron, Final Girl
-Boys Noize, 7llvsion
-Django Django, Loveland
-Kings of Leon, O My Beloved
-La Roux, Old Flames
-Alanis Morissette, Good Weather for Immaculate Conception

Does ‘Wicker’ Drive Me Wild?

November 5, 2026

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Light it up! (CREDIT: Courtesy of Sundance Institute | photo by Lol Crawley)

Starring: Olivia Colman, Alexander Skarsgård, Elizabeth Debicki, Peter Dinklage, Marli Siu, Nabhaan Rizwan, Phil Daniels, Richard E. Grant, Gustav Lindh, Ella Bruccoleri, Ben Ashenden, Kiell Smith-Bynoe, Emily Lloyd-Saini

Directors: Alex Huston Fischer and Eleanor Wilson

Running Time: 105 Minutes

Rating: R

Release Date: October 23, 2026 (Theaters)

Would I like to live in the world proposed by Wicker, wherein lovers can be woven out of the titular material? I would have been inclined to say no. Or perhaps it might be a decent world to reside in, but I would just politely decline any wicker-based companionship offers. It’s just not the most pleasurable surface to rub against human skin! But the experiences of the Fisherwoman (and everyone else in the village, really) suggests otherwise. Hmm, I guess it’s good to be open to new experiences.

Grade: 44 Babies out of 66 Baskets

The Latest ‘Cat in the Hat’ Movie Begs the Question: Why Do We Allow Him to Get Up to Such Shenanigans?

November 4, 2026

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Happy Toot Fart Day (CREDIT: Warner Bros./Screenshot)

Starring: Bill Hader, Matt Berry, Xochitl Gomez, Quinta Brunson, Giancarlo Esposito, America Ferrera, Tiago Martinez, Bowen Yang, Paul Pell, Tituss Burgess

Directors: Erica Rivinoja and Alessandro Carloni

Running Time: 107 Minutes

Rating: PG for Surprisingly Frightening Action and Some Cheeky Dialogue

Release Date: November 6, 2026 (Theaters)

What’s It About?: That irrepressible fancy feline is back on the job, but this time he’s on the thinnest of ice! That’s right, the Cat in the Hat (voiced by Bill Hader) is quite the notorious employee at the Institute for the Institution of Imagination and Inspiration. He can brighten up childrens’ days like nobody else, but his reputation for leaving behind a mess is even more off the charts. So his boss, the two-dimensional Mr. Hoogeboom (Giancarlo Esposito), gives him one last assignment to save his job. His clients are Gabby (Xochitl Gomez) and her younger brother Sebastian (Tiago Martinez), who are reeling from the disruption of moving into a new apartment after their mom Carmen (America Ferrera) got a new nursing job. Gabby would like nothing more than to just go back to their old life, so she gets pretty excited when she discovers that the Cat has brought along a time-manipulating device called the Go-Backer. But abusing the Go-Backer could rip apart the entire fabric of reality, as could a looming dark entity from the Cat’s past.

What Made an Impression?: The Seuss is Loose: While The Cat in the Hat is certainly one of Dr. Suess’ most famous children’s books, it doesn’t have much of a plot beyond “anthropomorphic kitty and kids have a silly day of messy fun.” So any feature-length adaptation can quite reasonably expand on those bare bones. But I certainly wasn’t expecting such a deranged end product that had me doing, “What in the Multiverse of MacGuffins?” It also gets quite dark in a way that had me legitimately worried we were heading in a much deadlier direction. I guess the target audience is people whose emotional age is simultaneously 5, 13, and 65.
Would Aesop Be Proud?: Before we meet Gabby and Sebastian, The Cat commences this cinematic adventure by making his way into a dour, gray house populated by a couple of seemingly paralyzed kids staring slack-jawed at their screens. It looks like the message of this adaptation is going to be a warning about the pitfalls of modern technology as fun-sucking devices. But then that idea isn’t really present in the rest of the movie at all. Honestly, I have no idea what the intended message is supposed to be. Something about friendship? Some worthwhile lessons might be lurking if you keep out an eagle eye, but The Cat can be credited for them only insofar as he chaotically stumbles into them.
Please Make Me Laugh: You know how movies ostensibly made for kids often feature jokes that only adults are going to get? There’s some of that in Cat in the Hat, particularly when the Cat asks his colleague Sherri (Quinta Brunson) if her dad went on long business trips when she realizes that she might have secret siblings. But those moments are few and far between. At least Matt Berry voices a mildly annoyed goldfish. That was fairly amusing.

The Cat in the Hat (2026) is Recommended If You Like: Tapping your cheeks to make sounds, The cardboard box industry, Unreasonable behavior

Grade: 2.5 out of 5 Messes

‘Ramayana: Rise of a Legend’ Review: Can this Epic Deliver the Magic?

November 3, 2026

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Get Your Ram On (CREDIT: Sony Pictures)

Starring: Ranbir Kapoor, Yash, Sai Pallavi, Ravi Dubey, Sunny Deol, Arun Govil, Lara Dutta, Indira Krishnan, Sonal Jha, Rajiv Kumar, Adinath Kothare, Nitish Sharma, Kajal Aggarwal, Rakul Preet Singh, Anupam Kher, Vivek Oberoi, Harish Uthaman, Kunal Kapoor, Suhail Nayyar, Sheeba Chaddha, Shishir Sharma, Ajinkya Deo, Mukesh Tiwari, Sonia Balani, Riya Kapoor, Surabhi Das, Shobana, Faisal Malik, Parminder Chhada, Saurabh Sachdeva, Kanchan Chetal, Chetan Hansraj, Rhyah Narasimhan, Dishita Sehgal

Director: Nitesh Tiwari

Running Time: 165 Minutes

Rating: PG-13 for God-Like Action Violence

Release Date: November 6, 2026 (Theaters)

What’s It About?: Based on the ancient Indian Hindu epic, Ramayana: Rise of a Legend (aka Ramayana: Part 1) chronicles the rise of Prince Rama (Ranbir Kapoor) in a world on the verge of being torn apart. From the moment of his royal birth, he was fated to lead his kingdom to glory. With his brother Lakshmana (Ravi Dubey) and the sage Vishvamitra (Ajinkya Deo) constantly by his side, he dutifully follows the calls of dharma. On the bright side, this means marrying the beautiful princess Sita (Sai Pallavi). On the less bright side, this means agreeing to be exiled for fourteen years because of palace intrigue orchestrated by his stepmother. While living alongside Sita and Lakshmana in the forest, Rama is tempted by trickster forces, while battles of cosmic significance loom on the horizon.

What Made an Impression?: For Fans Only?: My familiarity with ancient Hindu texts consists of having read the Bhagavad Gita (or at least part of it) a couple of decades ago in high school. I thought I may have read some of the Ramayana as well, but none of this movie felt familiar. So while it was occasionally hard to keep track of this dense milieu, I found it generally rousing and intimate enough in parts to keep me entertained. If you, however, are coming at this from the opposite end of the familiarity scale, perhaps it will be easier to feel connected to it. Or perhaps instead you’ll be more easily disappointed by how it doesn’t live up to the source material. Either way, it’s probably best to think of this story the way my plus-one described it: i.e., this culture’s version of a superhero tale.
Modern Storytelling: Ramayana looks like it has the budget and scope to stand alongside Hollywood blockbusters in American multiplexes without having to succumb to an inferiority complex. But there are plenty of moments (particularly in crowd shots) when it looks like the visuals have been generated by an algorithm. To be fair, that’s a scourge of much of modern cinema. And the entire movie isn’t plagued by that, as the smaller-scale scenes offer much more satisfying effects. Nothing groundbreaking, but sufficiently charming.
Smoothed in Translation: This American release of Ramayana features English dialogue with artificial intelligence-lip syncing, presumably to prevent any outrageously mismatched mouth movements. I’m not an absolutist about completely keeping AI out of movies, but this approach does feel rather soulless. I’d much rather watch a subtitled version, or an even a dubbed edition that hilariously misses the mark in terms of matching the lips to the phonemes. But I guess the makers of Ramayana were going for something a little more polished. They accomplished that, but that means that this journey really only truly comes alive in fits and starts.

Ramayana: Rise of a Legend is Recommended If You Like: Morphing, Ancient soap operas, Being dutiful

Grade: 3 out of 5 Dharmas

jmunney’s Top Cinematic Choices for November 2026

November 1, 2026

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Giddyup! (CREDIT: Searchlight Pictures/Screenshot)

They keep making new movies, and some of them are even worth watching. Here’s what’s at the top of the slate for November 2026:

Godzilla Minus Zero: 2023’s Godzilla Minus One was the best movie starring the Big Green Guy in… perhaps ever! Minus Zero is a direct sequel, so hopefully it’ll be just as destructive and thoughtful as the previous effort.

Godzilla Minus Zero crashes into American theaters on November 6.

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Entertainment To-Do List: Week of 10/30/26

October 30, 2026

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You gotta laugh! (CREDIT: Netflix/Screenshot)

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

Movies
–SCTV: The Greatest Show You’ve Never Heard Of (October 30 on Netflix) – But I have heard of it!

TV
–The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins Season 2 Premiere (November 2 on NBC)
–St. Denis Medical Season 3 Premiere (November 2 on NBC)
–MP3 Series Premiere (November 4 on Dropout) – Satire of music video countdowns; Jeremy Culhane stars.

Music
-Ministry, Hate to Go – Take Out or Delivery
-Queens of the Stone Age, Perfecth

Sports
-New York City Marathon (November 1 on ESPN and WABC Locally)

‘Whalefall’ Quick Take: Lessons Learned

October 28, 2026

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A whale of a time (CREDIT: 20th Century Studios/Screenshot)

Starring: Austin Abrams, Josh Brolin, Elisabeth Shue, John Ortiz, Jane Levy, Emily Rudd

Director: Brian Duffield

Running Time: 106 Minutes

Rating: PG-13

Release Date: October 16, 2026 (Theaters)

So it turns out that Whalefall is a pretty good movie to watch if you’re trying to cure your claustrophobia. But probably only really mild cases that aren’t severe enough that they could be diagnosed by a medical professional. After Jay Gardiner (Austin Abrams) found himself in the belly of a sperm whale, I was definitely feeling immersed in the compression. So I floated out of the screen and looked around at the walls and ceiling of the theater to remind myself that I in fact had much more room than Jay to luxuriate in. I’ve never been terribly affected by reasonably confined spaces, but I have had thoughts about just how debilitating it would be to get stuck in dangerously tight locations with no exit in sight. So it’s nice to have it confirmed that when those thoughts are fed by something I’m watching, I can avoid freaking out by (literally) opening up my perspective.

Grade: 17.3 Jellyfish out of 23.7 Squid

What Simply Must Be Said About ‘Clayface’

October 27, 2026

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Molding Our Perceptions (CREDIT: Warner Bros./Screenshot)

Starring: Tom Rhys Harries, Naomi Ackie, David Dencik, Max Minghella, Eddie Marsan

Director: James Watkins

Running Time: 108 Minutes

Rating: R

Release Date: October 23, 2026 (Theaters)

Now that I’ve seen the 2026 movie Clayface, I have to ask: can there be a person with the name “Clay Face”? It wouldn’t even have to be the name of the guy who becomes Clayface in Clayface (although we could certainly do better than “Matt Hagen” if the goal is to be exciting). And this theoretical human being wouldn’t be required to have any Clayface powers. In fact, it would probably be more hilarious if that weren’t the case. So in conclusion, I guess what I’m trying to say is: this movie did a pretty good job doing exactly what it was trying to do, but not to the point where the main thought I have related to it isn’t something silly that has basically nothing to do with the movie itself.

Grade: 35 out of 50 Clayfaces

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