Don't bury the lead ... don't bury the lead ... my question is what, if anything, the cinephiles in our midst might have their eyes on. Sound off if you've heard of something that (1) sounds interesting to you, and (2) might interest other freepers.
This is just a prompt. There are many such lists floating around right now. I'm not familiar with this author or website. I had been scanning "Most Anticipated" lists, and this caught my eye because it is very mainstream. 50 movies. His choices. But at least six or seven of them I've at least heard of and already know I will check out. I will probably end up watching most of these six or seven, and several more besides, although I'll watch trailers and read reviews first.
And I'll watch most of them in the theater if possible, because if we don't want Netflix, Prime, Amazon, Apple+, Disney -- and now maybe Skydance Paramount -- to be the sole gatekeepers of everything that's available, the independent producers should be supported, i.e. we need to buy some tickets.
I will scan many such lists as they pop up. It only takes a minute. If I see five possibly interesting titles in a list of 50, that's a decent hit rate. How else am I supposed to find good new movies? Wait for the Netflix landing page to highlight them? LOL. And no thanks.
This list is only a starting point. It caught my eye because it has so many top directors and actors attached. These are people with pretty solid track records. That's a good first screen, not a guarantee, but ya gotta start somewhere.
My choices on this list? Since somebody has to break the ice: number 1 would be Good Luck, Have Fun, Don't Die, for reasons I've hyped several times on FR already.
Following that, in no particular order: The Odyssey; Dune Part 3; Bucking Fastard (I hadn't heard of that one, but Werner Herzog, Kate and Rooney Mara, Domhnall Gleeson, Orlando Bloom. I am not a fan of Orlando Bloom, who peaked with Legolas, but the others are worth at least watching a trailer ...); Coyote vs. Acme (a lot of buzz about this one for some time; supposed to be pretty funny); Disclosure Day; Werwulf (hadn't heard of this one, but Robert Eggers and Willem Dafoe catch my eye); Wild Horse Nine (hadn't heard of it, but Sam Rockwell, Steve Buscemi, John Malkovich, Parker Posey ... I will at least check out the trailers and reviews).
As to the film festivals ... it doesn't hurt to scan a few selections lists. Sundance is coming up soon. Sundance has sagged under new management in the last few years, and with Robert Redford gone, it may collapse into irrelevance as the new people seem to be all about identity politics first and movies maybe later. But that doesn't mean one shouldn't scan the list.
I've always respected what Robert Reford was trying to do with Sundance, which was to bypass the big studio gatekeeper machine, and give a chance to unknowns. So Robert Redford: R.I.P.
Even with the new deplorable management, I had no trouble picking out four or five movies that I know I will watch eventually, and one -- Zi, a microbudgeted experimental film shot in complete secrecy; no one even knew it existed until Sundance announced it as a selection -- in which I am keenly interested, now that I know it exists.
The microbudget, guerrilla filming aspect especially interests me. Watch Nouvelle Vague, 2025 -- a very good movie, and funny -- for a hint of what this might entail, and this one might be Godard on steroids. I would not be surprised if none of the actors were paid; they may be working for a percentage of the backend, if it somehow makes some money, or at most they worked for bare minimum. No sound stage, no rigged lighting, guerrilla filming on the streets in found spaces (in Hong Kong!) with ambient lighting and light, hand-held cameras. If it's good -- and I like the director -- it could be a big thumb in the eye of the big studio Borg.
If it's not good ... well, I'm sure they at least had fun making it, because all three of the named actors (all also listed as producers) have worked with the director before, and I think this is a group of talented friends improvising a movie on the cheap. It will still be hard to beat Primer, which was made for $6,000, but why not give it a try? If Disney can blow $250 million making flops, why can't some creative friends get down to the basics and see what can be done for next to nothing?
Oh, by the way, I will give Sundance credit for sticking with a hybrid model. They started this during covid and are still making many of their selections available for screening during the festival. Tickets are limited, so scan the list and maybe take a chance on a couple of movies you would not even hear of otherwise. It won't hurt you, and you will be saving money because you can have the "festival experience" online without having to spring for a trip to Telluride or TIFF or London or Cannes, Venice, Berlin, or the other biggies.
movie ping list
Happy 2026 viewing ... for those who aren’t content to limit themselves to watching 60 year old movies and are willing to grok something new.
I’m kind of looking forward to “Sheep Detectives.”
Westworld season 5.
The third Dune movie is all I’m really interested in.
Catch it all on one of the underground streaming sites.
Not all movies made by Hollywood are bad. Usually Blockbusters are terrible so ignore them. You can find a gem or two and go to your local theater.
Ive always been pro independent. I had hoped that technology would have allowed control to have already been wrested from Hollywood. With AI available to everyone its imminently inevitable.
I wanted to see a movie this last weekend. Everything running at all the local movie theaters was crap. Obviously I couldnt look at every theater in the country but I did go to Marcus because they are all over the country. Almost exactly the same bad movies in every one of them nation wide.
Anything I can do to help the independent producers is worth my time looking in to.
Mostly hackers, unwatchables, stinkers.
1. Digger
2. Dune: Part Three
3. Sheep In the Box
4. Possible Love
5. Bucking Fastard
6. The Odyssey
7. Untitled Mike Leigh Film
8. Coyote vs Acme
9. I Love Boosters
10. Minotaur
11. Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die
12. Remain
13. Wake of Umbra
14. Wildwood
15. All of a Sudden
16. 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple
17. At the Middle of Life
18. On Land and Sea
19. Fjord
20. Mother Mary
21. The Entertainment System is Down
22. Artificial
23. The Dog Stars Ridley Scott
24. Parallel Tales
25. Look Back
26. Disclosure Day Steven Spielberg
27. If Love Should Die
28. Butterfly Jam
29. Flowervale Street
30. Full Phil
31. The Drama
32. Ink
33. Paper Tiger
34. The Basics of Philosophy
35. Mimesis
36. Project Hail Mary
37. Werwulf
38. A Long Winter
39. October
40. Hope
41. Send Help
42. Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma
43. Out of This World
44. Burning Rainbow Farm
45. Tony
46. Bitter Christmas
47. Wild Horse Nine
48. Ray Gunn
49. Her Private Hell
50. Jack of Spades
I can’t imagine spending 100 hours watching movies.
50?
Kind of a niche one, but the Peaky Blinders movie comes out in March. Cillion Murphy takes the TV character to the big screen.
I loved me some Peaky Blinders. It’s not for everyone.
We saw Anaconda yesterday it was pretty good
Project Hail Mary is the only one I am truly excited about.
Enjoyed the heck out of the book.
Trailers look promising.
I’m done with sequels, remakes and screwing over animation movies with lousy actors and a woke message.
Very very few I watch
It’s nearly always programmed for woke indoctrination like the NFL commercials rotation 95% black and minorities
No accident
Lots of westerns coming which is good
I’m watching Billy the Kid miniseries now
Very good
I’m a kid expert for the record
I got a subscription to Britbox. My wife and I devour the mystery shows. Most are quite good and far less woke than one would expect.
1. digger : huh?
2. Dune : book was boomer crap, first movie (80s) was crap, didnt see the first of these new ones wont watch this.
3. Sheep in the box: another android gone berserk movie...seriously?
4. Possible Love: hate relationship dramas of any kind
5. Bucking Fastard: Mmmm...doenoef...depends which way he took it. Its not a comedy its a drama so probably no.
6. The Odyssey: We know its a good story so it would be worth seeing. Im not the kind that pays too much attention to actors and wish movies had unknowns. My hate for Matt Damon is somewhat tempered by Anne and Tom. Despite Matts presence I will see this one, there should be some exceptional action and adventure provided it doesnt somehow get DEIed.
7. Too little information
8. Coyote vs Acme : has potential, that could be really good and it could be trash. This just has too much potential for activism that could sink it.
9. I Love Boosters: Calims to be Comedy, Science Fiction. Im going to have to wait for the trailers. If this is part of a well known story then I missed it. Potential for activism.
10. Minotaur: relationship “drama”, never, no way in hell
Thats the “top” ten.
11. Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die : scifi, action, adventure. About the only way this could go wrong is if they made just a less violent remake of Terminator. Definitely will see.
14. Wildwood: Will almost certainly see this with the little ones as long as the lead isnt a Mary Sue and they dont DEI.
18. On Land and Sea: Its a drama but the kind that has potential to draw one into the story. Will likely see this one.
19. Fjord: Maybe. As long as the Romanians arent poor gypsies being picked on by evil ultra white Norwegians then yes.
23. The Dog Stars: Ridley Scott, Science Fiction, Adventure, and survivors searching. I dont remember talking to him but he must have written this for me.
26. Disclosure Day: The dishonest marketing has already turned me off as though Spielberg needs my money. It seems to be one of those movies trying to trick dumbasses into believing that there is some sort of answers within. Wont see it out of principle.
36. Project Hail Mary: Seems kind of silly but I think I will likely see this one. I was surprised how much I liked The Martian (same author) and Spaceman. I suspect by the trailer that this in one that will tickle that same spot. The close intimate shots of the almost certainly doomed everyman suddenly thrust into an epic vastness full of potential I would think speaks to nearly all males.
37. Werwulf: Maybe, offhand Im not familiar with anything else done by this director. The setting of the story is interesting and the type of story is one that Im attracted to but horror genre movies can go either way. The jump scare splatter slasher movies are pointless and irritating, I can sit at home and squirt ketchup on the walls for far less money.
42. Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma : If this were a comedy with this title then it would be a must. Queer slasher horror is a definite no.
43. Out of This World: Oh for Christ sakes! I dont know this story or author but I suspect this is for anyone that thought the Israel First Zeepers couldnt be any more clueless or antagonistic. Ill wait to see the trailers but Im pretty sure this propaganda is going to wind up in the same trash can as the queer slasher.
I looked at some of the other “anticipated” movies presented in some videos and elsewhere. It looks like overall there are some real stinkers heading our way and that should allow for the better ones on this list to really do well.
For us FReepers more interested in politics than movies, the trend to watch is the direction of Skydance Paramount under new owner Ellison, good friend of Trump and how they contrast with the TDS movies.
No “Faces of Death” reboot? Well, this list is obviously stupid! ;)