Tuner (2025): It’s such a shame that this one goes AWOL in the last twenty minutes, after a very composed and engaging set-up. Leo Woodall stars as Niki, a talented piano tuner with a hearing condition. When his employer and mentor Harry, none other than Dustin Hoffman, gets sick and finds himself in dire need of money, Niki embarks on a series of safe-cracking-adventures with a trio of criminals, led by the snake-tongued Uri, played by Lior Raz. There’s also a love interest, the actual piano player and composer Ruthie (Havana Rose Liu), and to keep the name-dropping going, even Jean Reno makes a late appearance. As I’ve said, up to a certain point the movie is taut, deliberate and effective, seemingly willing to punish its lead for his foolish life-choices. But in order to conclude in a more traditional form, director-writer Daniel Rohr sets up a convoluted finale, which is as unlikely as the final scene of the movie. Shame, but still worth its time. 7
Spider-Man: Brand New Day (2026): A brand new day, same old Spider-Man. For better and worse. We’re in the post-memory-wipe era, where Peter Parker is all by his lonesome, his friends having forgotten their bond at the conclusion of the previous entry in the franchise. This makes for a socially dire situation, as our man doesn’t want to let anyone else in, because it would potentially put them in harm’s way. Too bad his body literally can’t stand this situation and when a new villain pops up, he is pushed to the brink. I’m unimpressed by now of seeing the second-tier Avengers characters propping up the solo movies, though in this Spidey it was a bit of a laugh to have Black Widow pop up even now and then. The movie is fun, introspective and pretty much irrelevant, but it does set up new tie-ins effectively. 7
Don’t Say Good Luck (2026): Julia Hart’s movie is a coming of age story x cancer melodrama that isn’t bad at all, but feels like the cliff notes version to a familiar story. I think the one thing that sets it apart, are its slightly more modern sensibilities and avoiding the usual high school shenanigans and rivalries. This is practically dogma now: everyone’s nuanced, from the mean girls to the jerky jocks. Sunny Sandler (i.e. Adam Sandler’s daughter) leads, with Melanie Lynskey and Max Greenfield supporting, a solid cast that finds some emotional balance throughout the trauma (but there’s some criminal underuse of Steve Buscemi too). What’s annoying is how the plot requires butt-dials and unmuted laptop gaffes to move ahead, which felt distinctly lazy and cop-out-y to me. That’s basically why I can’t will myself to rate this better, which is not to say this isn’t an above average fare if you’re willing to accept some shortcomings. 6
Gail Daughtry and the Celebrity Sex Pass (2026): I’ve heard more than once how Hollywood is decrying the straight-out-of-the-gate comedy genre. So it’s not that surprising that when one gets made, it attracts big names. Zoey Deutch leads and Jon Hamm is the McGuffin, but there are also a bunch of other well-known comedy actors in it, as well as A-list cameos. Among them, Veronica Mars’s Ken Marino, who also co-wrote this. The plot is pretty much explained in the title, and most of you will remember it has already been explored in Hall Pass (2011). Well, I only remember it was explored and that I recently saw this clip of Stephen Merchant from the movie. So does GD work? I would say it’s a hit and miss. There’s some really funny moments and good meta-humour, but then there’s also a bit too much meta of how funny everyone seems to think they are. Not great, not terrible. 6
One Night Only (2026): The Purge but for sex, as it has been called, is really silly bordering on outright stupid. Callum Turner and Monica Barbaro are two singles on the one night in post-apocalyptic America when pre-marital sex is permitted. How does this work? ONO really doesn’t bother in explaining it, but then the whole thing never seems assumed enough to play the “we accept it’s just an excuse to make this fun movie happen” card. I would assume people would just get married a lot more quickly and divorced just as fast. Or that when the day comes, it’s as dramatic as what The Purge looks and feels like. ONO doesn’t bring anything out in the characters or the world, except for an insane willingness to put things in your mouth that have been, literally, in the gutter. The best thing that can be said about the movie is that it’s very easy to digest and when it becomes preposterous, it somehow manages to not be completely annoying. But this doesn’t justify the whole affair, really. 4
tributary stu 
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