So far, I’m typing 🦫🪵🦎 and 👎🏻 in my way, not Rocky’s way.
This would be very rare that I would have two Midway Points in one year-one focusing on the best and worst of the decade so far and this one focusing on the best and worst of 2026 so far. There have been great films with humans hopping into robot beavers, a music comedy with Paul Rudd and Nick Jonas, and two horror hits made by young filmmakers: Curry Barker’s “Obsession” and the 20-year-old Kane Parson’s “Backrooms.” They do say that Gen Z has been helping to bring back the movie-going experience, and these two have been breaking box office records. But there were also movies I disliked, some of them have iconic characters like Ghostface and Mario and Luigi, and one is an extended dick joke gone wrong.
Disclaimer: as always, the following are not my final choices, as they’re subject to change towards the end of the year. But these are what my mind is processing so far.
The Best Films of the Year So Far
- “28 Years Later: The Bone Temple”
- “Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die”
- “Send Help”
- “Obsession”
- “Backrooms”
- “Hokum”
- “The Sheep Detectives”
- “Project Hail Mary”
- “Hoppers”
- “Power Ballad”
The Worst Films of the Year So Far
- “Dracula”
- “Dreams”
- “Mercy”
- “This is Not a Test”
- “They Will Kill You”
- “The Super Mario Galaxy Movie”
- “Ladies First”
- “Animal Farm”
- “Scream 7”
- “Balls Up”
The Best TV Shows of the Year So Far
- “Mating Season” (Netflix)
- “Daredevil: Born Again” (Season 2) (Disney+)
- “Shrinking” (Season 3) (AppleTV)
- “The Dark Wizard” (HBO Max)
- “Spider Noir” (Prime Video)
The Best Celebrities I’ve Met So Far
- Jack Farthing
- Sam Riley
- Stacy Martin
- Mark O’Brien
- Kirk Jones
The Bad Films I Said “No Chance in Hell” To So Far
“Return to Silent Hill,” “The Breadwinner,” “The Strangers: Chapter 3,” “Joe’s College Road Trip,” “Psycho Killer”
I was just in a group text with my older cousins, who asked if I would review “The Breadwinner,” because they like the comedian Nate Bargatze and wondered how he would fare as an actor. And I told them “No chance in Hell,” because the trailers looked bad, as if the guy is getting into accidents on purpose. And they responded: “I was surprised by the New York Times‘ review.” There are bad movies I need to see for myself, and there are those that I wouldn’t want to sit on the NJ Transit train with.
The Best Performances of Both Genders So Far
(No Particular Order)
- Rachel McAdams in “Send Help”
- Nick Jonas in “Power Ballad”
- Haley Liu Richardson in “Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die”
- Adam Scott in “Hokum”
- Meryl Streep in “The Devil Wears Prada 2”
- Renate Renisve in “Backrooms”
- James Ortiz in “Project Hail Mary”
- Vince Vaughn in “Mike and Nick and Nick and Alice”
- Jafaar Jackson in “Michael”
- Inde Navarrette in “Obsession”
Reminder: these are not my final choices, because December is when we find out the overall winners and losers. I know how you readers are going to respond to my choices, so bring on the comments.
Categories: List
