BE REEL

(Sources: IMDb)  We’re not even halfway through the year quite yet and, already, 2026 has become another milestone for the horror genre. In this case, two former YouTube content creators are emerging as genre-defining filmmakers with some impressive, original and unnerving horror features. Both Curry Barker’s terrifying romantic chiller Obsession  and Kane Parson’s bleak and anxiety-inducing Backrooms  were shot on low budgets and are filled with 80s-inspired synthesizer scores. They’re also striking, brilliantly made, and well-written in their own ways.  Barker’s flick  (which he directed, wrote, and edited) centers on an awkward and shy young man (Michael Johnson) who buys a souvenir willow and wishes that the woman he secretly loves (Inde Navarrette) would love him back. It’s no spoiler that he gets his wish. But, like an ancient monkey’s paw, it comes at a terrible price, putting a new twist on the theme of “Be careful what you wish for.” Not to mention a da...

(Source: YouTube )  The Boss Baby: Family Business (2021)  As if DreamWorks hadn't made their weirdest movie to date, it seemed like they would present an even more bizarre one with a sequel to their 2017 fantasy-comedy , starring Alec Baldwin as the voice of a suit-wearing infant. At first, the trailers alone had me convinced  The Boss Baby: Family Business  would be terrible, with a plot centered on grown siblings who decide to turn into babies again in order to help a new "Boss Baby" save her company from a global crisis. Did I mention it clocks in at 1 hour and 47 minutes, setting a surprise new record for a DreamWorks animated movie? But from the first few minutes (double surprise), I didn't expect it to actually be this good.  Granted, this 2021 follow-up still has a strange premise. Its weirdest moment finds grown brothers Ted (voiced by James Marsden) and Tim (Baldwin) drinking a prototype formula and de-aging through various stages of growth, despite m...

(Source: IMDb )   Over the years, people have often compared and contrasted late music stars Michael Jackson and Prince. Both were genre-bending artists. Both were raised as Jehovah’s Witnesses. And both have made a few feature films respectively, with mixed results at best. Prince is best known for his screen work in Purple Rain , while his only two directorial efforts (the period-noir drama  Under the Cherry Moon and music video-style  Graffiti Bridge ) received middling to negative reception. Jackson, on the other hand, made his film debut in the late-70s cult classic The Wiz . Yet, he’s primarily known for his numerous short films throughout the ’80s and ’90s. Moonwalker was meant to be a feature-length companion piece to Jackson’s 1987 album (his fourth major release as a solo artist), Bad . The compilation release (which debuted the following year) combined Jackson’s professional career (via animated montages, news reels, music videos, and short films) with a fant...

(Source: IMDb )   While the new Michael Jackson biopic continues to break records left and right (not to mention divisive responses from critics and audiences), those same viewers should consider the man’s behind-the-scenes concert feature from 2009. Chronicling the making of what would've been Jackson's comeback tour (and his farewell run ), This Is It would’ve marked the pop star and entertainer’s first live performances in over ten years, following numerous allegations throughout the past two decades.  An opening disclaimer states that the footage shot was intended for private archives and concert footage only, until the filmmakers (with permission from the Jackson Estate) decided to turn it into a feature-length tribute—one with a limited theatrical engagement for two weeks. According to one of the documentaries on the 2-Disc DVD release , Jackson did this concert for his children as well as his fans. With Kenny Ortega at the director’s helm, throwback hits include ...