[Get the exclusive video version of these weekly reviews each Friday by becoming a paid subscriber!] My Film Critic pants are quite fetching; they are on, pressed, and ironed. I'm ready to review three new movies in this week's capsule (short) movie reviews for Friday, May 15th, 2026. 1) IN THE GREY I am not a Guy Ritchie fan. I have never been a Guy Ritchie fan. I missed the boat completely when everybody lost their minds over Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch b

The new animated film adaptation of George Orwell's Animal Farm (directed by Andy Serkis and featuring the voices of Seth Rogen, Woody Harrelson, Glenn Close and Kieran Culkin) is an absolute train wreck and should be avoided at all costs, especially if you're a true fan of Orwell's...like I am. Okay, so here’s the thing about George Orwell (and yeah, I know, everybody throws that name around like they’ve actually read him, like they didn’t just pick up Nineteen Eighty-Four i

Alright, this one is special. This one is really special. If you know me at all (and I mean at all) you know two things: I love John Carpenter, and I love the drive-in. And when those two things come together? That’s not just an event. That’s heaven. So I am beyond thrilled, honored, and honestly a little giddy to be hosting Carpenter Fest 2: Dusk-to-Dawn at the legendary Midway Drive-In in Dixon, Illinois on Saturday, May 16th. This is a full-on, all-night celebration of Joh

[Get the exclusive video version of these weekly reviews each Friday by becoming a paid subscriber!] My Film Critic pants are quite fetching; they are on, pressed, and ironed. I'm ready to review three new movies in this week's capsule (short) movie reviews for Friday, May 8th, 2026. 1) MORTAL KOMBAT II With every review I do of a movie based on a video game, I feel compelled to repeat the same disclaimer over and over again: I do not play video games. I’m not a gamer. Never

It is once again time for my monthly 'Nick’s Pix' screening at the beautiful Lake Theater in Oak Park, and this one…this one is a big one for me. It’s May, summer is right around the corner, and I wanted to kick things off early with something fun, something loud, something nostalgic, something that absolutely kills with an audience. So I went back 45 years (to the summer of 1981) and picked one of my all-time favorite comedies. We are celebrating the 45th anniversary of Stri

Anne Hathaway is one of those actresses I will defend forever. I am an unapologetic, enthusiastic, full-on Anne Hathaway fan, and I have been from the beginning. She has been working now for over 25 years, which is insane because I still think of her as the fresh-faced kid from The Princess Diaries, even though she is now an Oscar-winning, hugely successful, incredibly versatile actress who has basically done every kind of movie you can do. Anne Jacqueline Hathaway, born Nove