The Mackintosh Man (1973)

Based on “The Freedom Trap”

Despite it’s stars, Paul Newman and James Mason, and director John Huston nothing could save this film.

Although based on the novel, scriptwriter Walter Hill wrote 90% of the first half, various people wrote the rest. So the explosive ending in the book is replaced with a brief chat and some killings.

The only ‘action’ scene of note is a car chase with obvious back screen projection.

A real dissapointment.

The AI Doc: Or How I Became an Apocaloptimist

2026 American documentary film directed by Daniel Roher and Charlie Tyrell.

Told through the perspective of filmmaker Daniel Roher as he prepares to become a father, the film investigates the existential threats and potential promises of artificial intelligence. Roher conducts interviews with leading experts in the field to understand the world his child will inherit, balancing anxiety with “apocaloptimism”.

Interviewees

• Deborah Raji
• Jason Matheny
• Aza Raskin
• Tristan Harris
• Dan Hendrycks
• Connor Leahy
• Yoshua Bengio
• Ilya Sutskever
• Shane Legg
• Daniel Kokotajlo
• Jan Leike
• Demis Hassabis
• Yuval Noah Harari
• Eliezer Yudkowsky
• Peter Diamandis
• Guillaume Verdon
• Daniela Amodei
• Reid Hoffman
• Karen Hao
• Emily M. Bender
• Timnit Gebru
• Sneha Revanur
• Ramesh Srinivasan
• Sam Altman
• Dario Amodei
• Shaw Walters

An extensive look at the AI landscape. The main thing missing is the financial ramifications of this bubble bursting. But for that, see Ed Zitron.

Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu

2026 film directed by Jon Favreau, who co-wrote the film with Dave Filoni and Noah Kloor.

It is a continuation of The Mandalorian (2019–2023). Pedro Pascal stars again as Din Djarin / The Mandalorian with Sigourney Weaver.

The film, which is set following the fall of the Galactic Empire, Djarin and his apprentice Grogu are enlisted by the New Republic to rescue Rotta the Hutt in exchange for information on a target.

Just the same as the TV series, but with more action and CGI monsters. The character is verging on the Superman trope of never being killed. But it does deliver for the fans.

Man of the Year is a 2006 American comedy-drama thriller written and directed by Barry Levinson, produced by James G. Robinson and starring Robin Williams.

The film also features Christopher Walken, Laura Linney, Lewis Black and Jeff Goldblum. Williams portrays Tom Dobbs, the host of a humorous political talk show. After an offhand remark, four million people are prompted to e-mail their support, so he decides to campaign for President.

On Rotten Tomatoes the website’s consensus is: “Weakened by second-half attempts at thriller and romance, this presidential comedy also fails to hit any sharp political notes, resulting in a confused and unsatisfying mess.”

I would generally agree. Robin Williams is up to his usual comedy standards, but the third act takes an easy turn. It could have been much better.

Watching in 2026, it’s interesting to see the parallels with Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The comedian that did become a leader and rose to the challenge.

The Fabulous Baker Boys is a 1989 American romantic comedy drama musical film written and directed by Steve Kloves. The film follows a piano act consisting of two brothers, who hire an attractive female singer to help revive their waning career. After a period of success, complications ensue when the younger brother develops romantic feelings for the singer. Brothers Jeff Bridges and Beau Bridges star as the Baker Boys, while Michelle Pfeiffer plays lounge singer Susie Diamond.

Budget $11.5 million
Box office $18.4 million

The Fabulous Baker Boys was Kloves’s directorial debut and second screenplay. He conceived the story based on Ferrante & Teicher, a piano duo he had grown up watching perform on The Ed Sullivan Show, which inspired him to write a film about working class musicians who are also siblings.

I remember seeing this in its theatrical release. Mainly for the song and a steamy scene between Jeff and Michelle. What holds up well is the changing relationship between the main characters. But the story is inconsequential. At the end the brother have broken up, but that’s about it.

Dave Grusin composed the film’s score, largely consisting of jazz music and pop standards, performed by Grusin on keyboards with tenor saxophonist Ernie Watts, guitarist Lee Ritenour, trumpeter Sal Marquez, bassist Brian Bromberg, and drummer Harvey Mason.

Zootopia 2 is a 2025 American animated buddy cop comedy film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios and the sequel to Zootopia (2016).

Directed by Jared Bush and Byron Howard and written by Bush, the film stars Ginnifer Goodwin, Jason Bateman, Shakira, Idris Elba, Alan Tudyk, Nate Torrence, Don Lake, Bonnie Hunt, and Jenny Slate reprising their roles from the first film

The film follows Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde as they pursue a pit viper named Gary De’Snake across Zootopia and try to clear their names after being framed.

Prime Minister is a 2025 documentary film about Jacinda Ardern, the prime minister of New Zealand from 2017 to 2023. The film is directed by Lindsay Utz and Michelle Walshe. It premiered in January 2025 at the Sundance Film Festival.