We’re still smack dab in the middle of that time of year when most of what’s getting released doesn’t have much cultural cachet (or a massive marketing budget) and so gets quietly released around the end of January or the top half of February…just somewhere in the first quarter of the year. I still spent entirely too much of my time watching movies, because I am nothing if not dedicated, so here are six random releases that are either worth your time or that I destroyed myself to witness, I’m not saying which.
“Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die:” The first film from criminally underrated filmmaker Gore Verbinski since 2016’s “A Cure for Wellness,” and it was absolutely worth the wait. This sci-fi/comedy/adventure sees the always amazing Sam Rockwell as a time traveller from the future, sent back to modern times to recruit a handful of people from a diner to help him save the world from a rogue AI. Equal parts “12 Monkeys,” “Buckaroo Banzai,” “Donnie Darko” and “Black Mirror,” the film is a wildly entertaining and unpredictable rollercoaster from top to bottom. Filled with honest performances, limitless imagination, kinetic and jaw-dropping filmmaking and a timely warning about the dangers of AI, it also plays like an over-the-top satire aimed at anyone thinking “Dr. Strangelove” was too subtle. While the film is overstuffed and messy at times, it’s still an absolute blast that demands to be seen in a big room full of people.
“Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die.”
Dir. Gore Verbinski
Grade: B+
Now playing at Regal Old Mill
“Whistle:” A teen horror flick about a cursed Aztec whistle that summons your future death in ways so ironic, unsubtle and ridiculous that it plays like an unintentional comedy half the time. As dumb as that premise is, I was excited because it starred future greats Sophie Nélisse (“Yellowjackets”) and Dafne Keen (“Logan”), and was directed by Corin Hardy, who made the fun English/Irish folk horror flick, “The Hallow.” Instead of fun, with “Whistle,” we get an early-2000s-coded thriller complete with hilariously stupid teenagers, lazy jump scares, terrible CGI and endlessly inane dialogue, but it also has a couple of wonderfully gnarly and inventive deaths, a sweet lesbian romance and an Olivia Rodrigo needle-drop, so it’s hard to hate it completely. This is what you get if you order “Final Destination” from Temu.
“Whistle”
Dir. Corin Hardy
Grade: C-
Now Playing at Regal Old Mill
“The Strangers- Chapter 3:” Makes the same mistakes that Rob Zombie’s “Halloween” movies did by trying to humanize the true personification of evil, but being limited by imagination and writing ability. By giving us psychological motivation for this franchise’s trio of serial killers, director Renny Harlin and writers Alan R. Cohen and Alan Freedland have robbed these terrifying masked maniacs of what made them frightening in the first place. Having evil be an unstoppable, unknowable force is why Michael Myers is still an icon after 50 years, not because we relate to him as a person. This horrible third entry not only kills the vibe of the first two (and Bryan Bertino’s 2008 original), but makes the entire trilogy ultimately worthless, if fitfully entertaining.
“The Strangers-Chapter 3”
Dir. Renny Harlin
Grade: F
Now Playing at Regal Old Mill
“Shelter:” Jason Statham IS John Shelter, an ex-assassin living in an abandoned lighthouse off the coast of Scotland. When a young girl crashes on his island and needs protection, he will step out of the shadows for the first time in a decade and be hunted by rogue MI6 agents who want him dead. Actually, Statham’s character is named Michael Mason, but John Shelter would have been so much cooler. “Shelter” has an almost identical plot to 2012’s “Safe” (I’m a Statham completist, sorry), but without the style. In fact, even with great supporting performances by Naomi Ackie and Bill Nighy, this is still too self-serious and plodding to be as fun as recent Statham joints like “The Beekeeper” and “Wrath of Man.” He (and we) can do better.
“Shelter”
Dir. Ric Roman Waugh
Grade: D
Now Playing at Regal Old Mill
“Send Help:” This feels like someone gave Sam Raimi a few million dollars to make an oversized episode of “Tales from the Crypt,” and he just went for it. Featuring an instantly iconic performance from Rachel McAdams as Linda Liddle, a beleaguered strategy and planning worker who gets stranded on a desert island with her douche-bro boss (played by a note-perfect Dylan O’Brien) and finally has the upper hand. See, she’s been training to get on Survivor for years, so while her boss is miserable and terrified, Linda is living her best life. Watching McAdams and O’Brien bounce off each other for 90 minutes is almost as much of a treat as seeing Raimi let loose with some goofy slapstick gore and pitch-black comedy. While the special effects are sometimes painfully bad and the writing confuses predictability for inevitability, the film is ultimately a much-needed throwback blast to the kind of mid-budget thriller that we stopped getting from studios years ago. Big, dumb and fun.
“Send Help”
Dir. Sam Raimi
Grade: B-
Now Playing at Regal Old Mill, Redmond Cinema, Madras Cinema 5
“Mel Brooks: The 99-Year-Old Man!:” This lovely three and a half hour documentary chronicles the life of one of the OG disruptors in cinema, Mel Brooks. From his childhood in Brooklyn to his current filming of “Spaceballs 2,” this reverently follows almost a hundred years in the life of a groundbreaking comedian who has dedicated those decades to making people laugh and not regretting it for a second. If you’re a fan of the man, this is crucial. Just make sure you have lots of time to kill, because you’ll immediately want to watch “Blazing Saddles” and “Young Frankenstein” when it ends. This is good for the soul.
“Mel Brooks: The 99-Year-Old Man!”
Dir. Judd Apatow & Michael Bonfiglio
Grade: B+
Streaming on HBO Max
This article appears in the Source February 19, 2026.
MAKE LOCAL JOURNALISM HAPPEN
Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license.
