Scary Movie is a 2026 horror-comedy that revives the long-dormant spoof franchise, reuniting brothers Marlon and Shawn Wayans with the series they helped create a quarter-century earlier. Distributed by Paramount, the reboot returns the Wayans clan to the parody format they popularized with the original 2000 film, taking aim at the modern wave of horror hits that has dominated screens in the years since.
The film strings together its gags around a familiar setup of oblivious young characters stalked by a masked killer, using that skeleton to lampoon recent scary movies, prestige horror and pop-culture obsessions alike. The cast reunites multiple members of the Wayans family, including Damon Wayans Jr. and Kim Wayans, alongside comic performers such as Heidi Gardner and a roster of Saturday Night Live alumni, all game for the franchise's trademark barrage of sight gags, pratfalls and pop-culture riffs.
Arriving twenty-five years after the original, the reboot leaned on nostalgia for the Wayans brothers' brand of anything-goes comedy while updating its targets for a new generation of horror fans. It became an immediate streaming hit after its theatrical run. Scary Movie is streaming on Paramount+.
Matinee fans have learned, over the years, to expect little from sequels…except when the sequels come from Disney-Pixar. Witness how the "toy stories" just got better and better. Cars 2 promises to keep the streak alive. Everything you loved in the original Cars reappears in el dos, but this time all your favourite vehicles seem to have discovered and liberated their inner turbo-chargers."In Cars 2, Lightning McQueen competes in the first-ever World Grand Prix, the race for the title of "world's fastest car." The quest for glory might be enough to sustain an ordinary plot, but in this second-time-around, the guy who played second-fiddle emerges as a reluctant hero, an international tow-truck of mystery. "Mater," inimitably voiced by Larry the Cable Guy, gets tangled up in international espionage and intrigue. Determined to complete his top-secret spy mission while maintaining his loyalty to Lightning McQueen, Mater ends-up in "an explosive chase" through mean and twisted streets of Europe and Japan. There probably will be a Cars 2 app for that."
For at least a moment, you have to regret director Carlos Saldanha and screenwriter Don Rhymer did not assemble this all-star comedy cast for a live-action film. Imagine queen of irony Anne Hathaway starring with George Lopez, Wanda Sykes, Tracy Morgan, will.i.am, and Jamie Foxx in a satirical send-up of almost anything! For now, audiences must feel grateful the crew that brought you Ice Age has lined-up these headliners to add their voice talents to Rio. And, for the sake of straight-faced gravity, Jesse Eisenberg is the voice of Blu, a Minnesota Macaw with a fear of flying."Of course, Rio is a boy-meets-girl movie laced with proper doses of romance, suspense, and intrigue. As the movie opens, Blu lives with Linda, his owner, in Moose Lake, Minnesota, the two of them convinced Blu is the last of his kind. When they learn of Jewel, Blu's female counterpart, they take their walk on the wild side, heading for Rio de Janeiro to meet the bird of Blu's dreams. Of course, adventures and mis-adventures multiply as poachers kidnap Blu and Jewel and the birds-of-a-feather attempt their escape. Naturally, because love conquers all, Blu ultimately must face his fear of flying in order to win Jewel's love."
A genuinely suspenseful thriller featuring accomplished actresses in uncharacteristic roles, Hanna combines the considerable talents of Saoirse Roana, notable for her compelling performance in The Lovely Bones, and Academy Award winner Cate Blanchett. No longer a long-suffering ingénue, Ms. Roana plays Hanna herself, "the perfect killing machine," and Ms. Blanchett plays a ruthless intelligence agent with clear family ties to Cruella DeVille, Ma Barker, Catherine Tramell, and other stellar sociopaths. "Please suspend disbelief for Hanna's fundamental premise: Hanna's father, formerly CIA and now resident of Finland's rugged frontier, has trained his daughter to become the consummate assassin. Whether or not you find it plausible, you must admit it's not a bad idea: Who ever would suspect the innocent abroad would be hell-bent on killing? Well, okay, who but Blanchett's character? As Hanna evades capture and approaches her ultimate target, she discovers a character attribute which feels and acts surprisingly like a conscience. Remember the time-honoured themes in modern literature—good versus evil, and character versus his or her own human nature? Hanna updates and intensifies those themes in a well-paced, white-knuckle post-modern, girl-power package.
For the legions of loyal Easter Bunny fans who have been long convinced the dentists' best springtime friend has not enjoyed nearly enough big-screen face-time, a tragic victim of the movie industry's pro-Santa preference, Hop brings a welcome measure of relief…maybe. Hugh Laurie does the voice of Easter Bunny, Sr., in this CG/real-life mash-up; Russell Brand lends his vocal talents to "E.B.," the Big Rabbit's prodigal son, who has run-off to Hollywood in hot pursuit of his career as a drummer, and clearly in the game for more than hard-boiled eggs. "In fact, Hop enjoys one distinct advantage over the truckload of CG/real-life hybrids currently headed your way: it has a decent plot and a well-crafted script. E.B. was supposed to take-over the family business when he split; and when Hollywood turns-out less than rewarding, he fakes injury from a car accident, imposing his own slacking self on another L.A. slacker, whom E.B. entrusts with the business of saving Easter. James Marsden plays Fred, unrepentant slacker and reluctant host. Kaley Cuoco, Elizabeth Perkins, and Chelsea Handler add depth, style, and spice to Hop.
If Insidious is anything like their previous effort (the SAW series) it will be a tremendous hit at the box office. The writer/director team of James Wan and Leigh Whannell definitely know how to scare the "bejesus" out of us. A happy couple Josh and Renai, played by Patrick Wilson (Watchmen) and Rose Byrne (Get Him to the Greek) think their lives are just about perfect. Three kids and a nice home make for a serene lifestyle until some unruly dark spirited ghosts begin tormenting them. Dalton, their son, is knocked out and ends up in a coma. Is his weak state drawing the scary entities or is it the house? After moving they find that the house may not have been the culprit of their fears."Excellent timing and the addition of some wry humor make this movie a cut above the normal "horror" flick and the actors are really good. For a small (one million dollar) budget, this movie stands a cut above the rest and will thoroughly entertain."
In a more sophisticated "golden age" when American public schools actually taught people to read, Hollywood made movies from literature—Grapes of Wrath, for example, or To Have and Have Not. According to Oliver Stone, in the 1990s, film became the literature of the age. In 2011, driven by a fetish for "CG integration," Hollywood adopted the comic book as its model of choice. Not "the graphic novel," which has a slightly more elevated ring to it. No. The comic book. "Comic book novices may have difficulty differentiating their Green super-heroes: The Green Lantern does not attract The Green Hornet as moth to flame. Green Lantern may, however, attract almost as many teen girls as teen geeks, because it features Ryan Reynolds, People Magazine's sexiest man, archetype of "obscenely cut" abs. Critics already have remarked and documented strong similarities between Green Lantern and the IronMan series. Given its comic book origins, you know how Green Lantern goes: Cocky gonna-be super-hero must grow into and take responsibility for his super-powers. He becomes part of an inter-galactic super-squadron charged to protect and serve the universe. Of course, hard-rockin' soundtrack and jaw-droppingly attractive women, both good and evil, accompany him wherever he goes. "After summer's spate of cartoon movies, literate viewers may wax nostalgic for Hemingway in collaboration with Bogart and Steinbeck inspiring Henry Fonda.
The trailer-teasers for Super 8 inspire millions more questions than they answer, but they do give lots of proof the "old Spielberg magic" is on the comeback trail. Super 8's characters, suspense, and imagery strongly remind veteran dreamworkers of ET and Jurassic Park—strangely scary yet still kid-friendly. For all that they tantalize, though, the Super 8 trailers preserve the film's secrets. The State Department and CIA should study in the J.J. Abrams School of Secret-Keeping; even the WikiLeaks guys would struggle to dig up much more than the trailer's suggestion that a bunch of cute and cool kids have to deal with an "unknown incredible creature." All we really know is that, in the small Ohio town, just about everything that can blow up will blow up. Oh yeah, and we know the kids will film everything on their super-8 movie camera."Super 8 may go into Hollywood history as the movie with sibling rivalry in the sub-text. Elle Fanning, Dakota's younger sister, and Amanda Michalka, Allyson's sister, come out of the big kids' shadows and into their own, proving they have talent and skills. The big kids should feel very afraid. Gabriel Basso, the one child star without famous siblings but who may be a direct descendant of Tom Sawyer, continues the tradition of impish, resourceful Spielberg boy-heroes. Kyle Chandler, uber-dad from "Friday Night Lights," brings that same manly command to Super 8, reassuring everyone that everything will be okay.
A hilarious sequel to Kung Fu Panda from 2008, Panda 2 is filled with animated pratfalls and delightful dialog voiced by such talented actors as Dustin Hoffman, Angelina Jolie, Seth Rogen, and Jackie Chan.This time around we find that Po (Jack Black) is now a master of kung fu and fights tremendous battles with Master Shifu (voiced by Dustin Hoffman) and with able assistance from the Furious Five. Those five remain the most powerful team and include Crane, Monkey, Tigress, Mantis, and viper. Challengers include Croc (Jean-Claude Van Damme), Thundering Rhino (Victor Garber), and Soothsayer (Michelle Yeoh) battling for supremacy in the Valley of Peace. They have a new and powerful weapon that seems unstoppable and use it to conquer China."This weapon is capable of destroying kung fu and Po realizes it may be even more deadly and dangerous than he can handle this time. He needs to examine his past to find secrets long hidden about his origins, and then get the strength needed to be successful as they battle their enemy. Kung Fu Panda 2 is a fun filled ride for an audience of any age."
Do not misread the connotations in the title X-Men: First Class. "First class" is a phrase which here does not mean "the best, the finest, the most luxurious," nor does it signify "the part of the plane with complimentary cocktails and room to stretch out." Take the phrase literally. In strangely oxymoronic style, the studio's promotional materials claim X-Men: First Class "charts the epic beginning (sic) of the X-Men saga," the first group of students to graduate from Professor X's school for reluctant super-heroes. "Who knew an "epic beginning" was possible? In their salad days, Charles Xavier and Erik Lensherr, ultimately sworn mortal enemies, were the best of buds, experimenting with and testing their newly discovered powers, preparing to join other Mutants to prevent Armageddon. X-Men: First Class documents their nasty break-up. They could not be "just friends.""Although the men allegedly star in X-Men: First Class, the so-called "supporting actresses" threaten to steal the show. January Jones of "Madmen" fame plays Emma Frost, villainesse supreme, co-conspirator with Kevin Bacon as Sebastian Shaw, criminal mastermind. More notably, Jennifer Lawrence—yes that Jennifer Lawrence, low-keyed "It Girl" from Winter's Bone and the Oscars' red carpet—plays Mystique, aka Raven Darkholme, shape-shifting mutant. By film's end, girl power may trump super-powers.
