"What does it say about 2026 that people are getting sliced and diced in every other movie at SXSW, often by losing fingers?” writes @briantallerico.bsky.social in his SXSW Dispatch which covers CHILI FINGER, KILL ME, and FAMILY MOVIE.

In his dispatch highlighting the non-fiction program at SXSW, @briantallerico.bsky.social reviews BLACK ZOMBIE, SERLING, and STORMBOUND.

"Listen, you can watch IMPERFECT WOMEN, and it will be fine … like the absence of an opinion either way. Except for one thing: These women are acting their faces off,” writes Sherin Nicole.

"As for director Jorma Taccone, he struggles to manage tone a few times,” writes @briantallerico.bsky.social about OVER YOUR DEAD BODY, where he critiques how the film fails to properly balance the brutality with the humanity:

“At their core, the Academy Awards are really about uplifting and reassuring the masses: that movies can change the world, that movies still matter, that artistic dreams can come true,” writes @timgrierson.bsky.social in his recap on this year’s Oscars.

“SXSW has carved out a non-fiction identity that opens uncommon doors, looking at subcultures and strong personalities that don’t necessarily scream documentary subject,” writes @briantallerico.bsky.social in his dispatch on BEYOND THE DUPLEX PLANET, CORNBREAD MAFIA, & MY BROTHER’S KILLER.

"Despite some minor pitfalls in its pacing, the latest season of INVINCIBLE reaches an undeniable series high,” writes Kaiya Shunyata.

"SXSW also welcome more traditional storytelling, the kind more focused on character dynamics than hauntings or serial killers,” writes @briantallerico.bsky.social in his dispatch on THE SUN NEVER SETS, A SAFE DISTANCE, & SEAHORSE.

"Despite being in one of the most conservative states in the country, the SXSW Film Festival has long-reflected a more progressive viewpoint through its documentary programming,” writes @briantallerico.bsky.social about ADAM’S APPLE, THE DADS, & YOUR ATTENTION PLEASE.

"There’s a slogan that goes around the city that hosts the SXSW Film Festival that’s on T-shirts, posters, and bumper stickers: “Keep Austin Weird.” The three films in this dispatch are doing their part,” writes @briantallerico.bsky.social about THE PERIL AT PINCER POINT, AMERICAN DOLLHOUSE, & ANIMA

"There are still gems to be found when you get away from the Paramount,” writes @briantallerico.bsky.social in his dispatch out of SXSW on WISHFUL THINKING and THE SAVIORS.

“PRETTY LETHAL is a film rife with solid wind-ups but almost no follow-through,” writes @briantallerico.bsky.social.

"There’s a reason why comfort movies exist, an PIZZA MOVIE is the type of low-calorie guilty pleasure that offers just enough new ingredients to a meal you’ve had many times before,” writes @zacharylee.bsky.social.

“THE RISE OF THE RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS: OUR BROTHER, HILLEL breaks free most impressively from the standard rock doc, but [that breakage] comes later than it should,” writes @briantallerico.bsky.social.

"In the end, the entire team behind this venture understands one of its strongest assets: An increasing desire to watch capitalist monsters get what’s coming to them,” writes @briantallerico.bsky.social about READY OR NOT 2: HERE I COME.

I interviewed Ryan Coogler and Michael B. Jordan in 2013 and Ryan spent several minutes just praising Michael. So happy for them today.

F1 won Best Sound. Read the review from @812filmreviews.com:

MR. NOBODY AGAINST PUTIN won Best Documentary Feature Film. Read the review from @mattzollerseitz.bsky.social:

AVATAR: FIRE AND ASH won Best Visual Effects. Read the review from @briantallerico.bsky.social:

SENTIMENTAL VALUE won Best International Feature Film. Read the review from @briantallerico.bsky.social:

Jessie Buckley won Best Actress for HAMNET. Read the review from @christylemire.bsky.social: www.rogerebert.com/reviews/hamn...

SINNERS won Best Cinematography and Best Actor. Read the review from @812filmreviews.com:

ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER won Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Supporting Actor. Read the review from @briantallerico.bsky.social:

FRANKENSTEIN won two Oscars: Best Production Design and Best Makeup and Hairstyling. Read the review from @glennkenny.bsky.social:

KPOP: DEMON HUNTERS won Best Animated Feature and Best Original Song. Read the review from @briantallerico.bsky.social:

Amy Madigan won Best Supporting Actress for WEAPONS. Read the review from @briantallerico.bsky.social:

“It’s rock-solid, gripping television with multi-generational appeal,” writes Richard Roeper about THE MADISON.

“Its worst feature is how dreadfully long it feels like to get anywhere in this movie. I don’t accept this languid passion in the age of HEATED RIVALRY,” writes @mcastimovies.bsky.social about REMINDERS OF HIM.

“The problem with THE GATES is that the picture is all too readily clear … it doesn’t require much effort on the part of the viewer to sit with the complex themes this film’s attempting to wrestle with,” writes @812filmreviews.com.

“BODYCAM appears to have something to say and, therefore, a better-than-average sense of how to handle its subgenre’s tropes and tics. Then, in the last 10-15 minutes, the illusion is spoiled,” writes @simonsaybrams.bsky.social.

"The whole film is quite meek in its approach, trepidatiously dipping toes into camp, satire, cultural criticism, and body horror, but never embracing a single one of them to the full extent,” writes Peyton Robinson about SLANTED.

“It’s a wickedly clever skewering of the moral rot at the center of the fashion industry delivered with enough vision to make your eyes hurt,” writes @briantallerico.bsky.social about I LOVE BOOSTERS.

"He doesn’t want you to watch something unfold; he wants you to feel it as sound and image reach something primally fearful,” writes @briantallerico.bsky.social about Ian Tuason’s direction of UNDERTONE. In theaters now:

In which I make a strong case for a) THE MASTERMIND and B) Pam Anderson deserving a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for THE NAKED GUN

Hee-hee-hee! Celebrate the 10th anniversary of one of my most famous @ebertvoices.bsky.social reviews! It's the first zero star review I wrote for the site. People still come up to me today and say "let's play Backgammon! Hee-hee-hee!" I love it! Hee-hee-hee! www.rogerebert.com/reviews/back...

"4 Stars! Genuinely life-affirming" -- @oldfilmsflicker.bsky.social, @ebertvoices.bsky.social ANDRÉ IS AN IDIOT opens this Friday at the Music Box. Q&A with Director Tony Benna in person on Sunday at 2pm! Get Tickets Now: musicboxtheatre.com/films-and-ev... www.rogerebert.com/reviews/andr...

In an interview with @zacharylee.bsky.social, UNDERTONE director Ian Tuason & star Nina Kiri went on a deep dive into the film’s spiritual wavelength and about creating a horror film that explores the reality that we’ll always care for our loved ones imperfectly.

"What should you expect from SXSW? Programming that’s a bit left of center. What will break out this year? Here are twelve that we’re most excited to see try,” writes @briantallerico.bsky.social about the site’s most anticipated films: www.rogerebert.com/festivals/12...

Writing about the True/False Film Festival’s thought-provoking and mesmerizing works, @mcastimovies.bsky.social recaps the highlights worth keeping on your radar, from LANDSCAPES OF MEMORY, BUCK HARBOR, and TROPICAL PARK.

“The dark, brutal, and devilishly funny crime caper SUNNY NIGHTS is the kind of cheerfully warped series that … leaves us unsure of whether to cringe in horror or laugh. It’s usually a bit of both,” writes Richard Roeper.

"Despite Stephen Lang and Elsie Kate Fisher’s exemplary teamwork, THE OPTIMIST never overcomes its clunky plot or its inclination to teach rather than dramatize … This movie is a mess, but it has soul,” writes @mattzollerseitz.bsky.social.

The editors of RogerEbert, @mattzollerseitz.bsky.social, @812filmreviews.com, @nellminow.bsky.social, @clintworthing.bsky.social, and @briantallerico.bsky.social, pick their choices for what will win, should win, and should have been nominated for one of the most unpredictable Oscars of all time:

It appears I’m on the lower end of PROJECT HAIL MARY, a sci-fi adventure I found to be intermittently enjoyable mostly because I could too easily see the seams of the emotional engineering at play. My review via @ebertvoices.bsky.social

I wrote about the problematic history of the Oscars recognizing the work of Black directors. I’m really proud of this one, so please spread it far and wide. It’s an important convo that’s been sadly absent from the Oscars discourse this year.

“SCARPETTA is a frustrating example of what not to do when you’re attempting to create a new franchise adapted from beloved mystery novels,” writes Kaiya Shunyata.

“ENDLESS SEA is an ingenious short that works as a character study, a workplace film, an indictment on our health system, a cautionary tale, and thriller,” writes @collinsouter.bsky.social in his interview with director Sam Shainberg.

“If SINNERS becomes the third movie by a Black filmmaker to win Best Picture but not Best Director, then we can’t pretend the director’s Blackness isn’t the main reason why,” writes @thirdmanmovies.bsky.social about why Ryan Coogler deserves the Oscar.

"For now, though, ONE PIECE remains an imperfect, if entertaining, treat; for those lacking the will or the time to dive into thirty-plus years of manga or anime … it does well in a pinch,” writes @clintworthing.bsky.social about the show’s second season.

I'll admit to a big soft spot for Netflix's live-action One Piece, and Season 2 amps up the scale with bigger budgets, bigger stakes, and an adventure of the week structure that let's our crew, well, feel like a crew. My review for @ebertvoices.bsky.social: www.rogerebert.com/streaming/on...

"It’s an enjoyable, yet overly familiar, excursion. By disavowing narrative and aesthetic boundaries, PROJECT HAIL MARY struggles to become boundless,” writes @812filmreviews.com.