“Sentimental Value”: The Magic of Movies Comes With a Price

Stellan Skarsgard and Renate Reinsve share a darkened restaurant table in front of a window at sundown, He has an empty plate, her side is empty. Both have neutral expressions.

The winner of the “Have Dinner With a Marvel Star!” Sweepstakes was really hoping she’d be meeting Chris Evans.

Previously on Midlife Crisis Crossover: Oscars Quest ’26 continues! Once again we see how many among the latest wave of Academy Award nominees I can catch before the big ABC ceremony. Sometimes it’s surprising how many actors and filmmakers return from previous years to pop up on my to-do list again, whether from Hollywood or from faraway lands.

I wasn’t the biggest fan of writer/director Joachim Trier’s The Worst Person in the World, a sex-forward Norwegian dramedy of thirtysomething dysfunction that definitely wasn’t made for fussy prudes like me. Trier, his co-writer Eskil Vogt, and star Renate Reinsve (who subsequently crossed over into the U.S. in 2024’s A Different Man opposite Sebastian Stan) reunite and return to the Oscar spotlight with Sentimental Value, this year’s only Best Picture contender that I hadn’t already seen before the nominations were announced. With 20/20 hindsight I’m sorry I didn’t make time for it sooner.

Continue reading

“Predator: Badlands”: Yautja, Yutani! Yutani, Yautja!

Elle Fanning and guy in Predator costume standing back to back, sternly.

She’s a happy-go-lucky corporate android! He’s a space hunter with a grudge! THEY FIGHT CRIME!

The Predalienator Cinematic Universe is in full effect, or whatever we’re calling it! Fans of the formerly standalone IPs never expected 20th Century Studios would use the two Alien vs. Predator crossover films — one a mediocre slog with a decent Final Boss Battle; the other, amateurish drek — as the foundation of a unified transmedia empire a la Marvel and DC. After both lay fallow for years except in licensed comics, they’ve been called back to active duty and merged into a single science fiction canon through the magical power of Easter eggs.

Continue reading