Movie Review: Masters of the Universe (2026)

Trying to get Masters of the Universe back on the big screen was quite the adventure. The second live action film (the 1987 version with Dolph Lundgren as He-Man has earned a bit of a cult following over the years but was widely panned and tanked hard upon release) based on the popular Mattel toy line/comic series/animated series entered development all the way back in 2009 following the success of Michael Bay's Transformers movies and G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra. During this long period where it failed to get across the finish line, the distribution rights bounced around between a few studios (Warner Brothers, Netflix, Sony) and had a number of Hollywood vets attached to direct including Jon M. Chu, McG and Jeff Wadlow. Real forward momentum on the project finally came in November 2023 when Amazon acquired the rights from Netflix and hired Travis Knight to direct in February 2024. About a year after Knight was hired, Masters of the Universe began to roll cameras in London and last weekend, it arrived in theaters around the globe. While releasing it now when the audiences for 80's cartoon IP's have largely dried up isn't going to be good for the old profit margins, MOTU fans have to be really excited that a proper blockbuster version of He-Man and co. finally exists. 

For the people out there like me who weren't even alive when Masters of the Universe was at the peak of its popularity, the IP is a sword and sorcery/sci-fi hybrid that takes place on the fantastical planet of Eternia. At the start of this film, we're introduced to Adam Glenn (Nicholas Galitzine) as he's toiling away at a human resources job in Oklahoma City. Adam was a prince on Eternia who was sent through a portal to Earth by his parents (Charlotte Riley, James Purefoy) and a sorceress (Morena Baccarin) who protects their skull-shaped castle known as Castle Grayskull after the tyrannical Skeletor (Jared Leto) and his goons (Alison Brie, Sam C. Wilson, Kojo Attah, James Apps) take over Eternia. Right before Adam is sent to Earth, he's handed a sword known as the Sword of Destiney by the Sorceress that will allow him to travel home when the time is right. During his psychedelic wormhole travel from Eternia to Earth, the teenage Adam fumbles the Sword of Power and basically suddenly gets banished to a permanent lonely existence on a new plant. 15 years later, Adam's obsession with returning to the home that no one he's ever met on Earth believes is real pays off as The Sword of Power shows up at a comic store near his apartment. Once Adam touches the sword, Skeletor's goon Beast Man comes to take it from, and Adam's childhood best friend Teela (Camila Mendes) shows up to save the day and bring him home. After seeing the destruction of his once-gorgeous planet for the first time, Adam sets out on a journey to embrace the power within him and transform into the noble warrior that can liberate Eternia from Skeletor's wrath once and for all.

Out of the gate, Masters of the Universe had me hooked. There's a really fun Saturday Morning Cartoon aesthetic to its flashback sequences, the introduction of the Barbie-esque deconstruction of masculinity that serves as the primary subtext of this story through the King questioning young Adam's manhood after Teela thoroughly beats him in a weapons training exercise run by her father Duncan (Idris Elba) who serves as the head of the King's guard is strong and Galitzine does a really good job of portraying a purehearted guy who is really hurt by the fact that he has no place in the universe where he's truly accepted. Once the story shifts back to Eternia, the movie kind of gets away from Knight. The 52-year-old who rose to prominence in Hollywood as a stop motion animator and director wants everybody to know that he's aware Masters of the Universe is really dumb. Every time the movie does something earnestly or endearingly cheesy like drop a crazy slow motion fight scene where He-Man lays waste to a bunch of Skeletor's henchman with his sword, deliver a monologue about how Adam's real weapon is his big heart or let Leto's Skeletor chew the scenery with his cartoon villain theatricality, Knight quickly dampens the mood by having the characters express their displeasure with the ridiculousness of what just transpired on screen. 

What really amuses me about Knight acting like he's above this material is that it's a form of weakness that runs parallel to the macho bullshit the insecure alpha male characters spew at Adam when he dares to show his vulnerability. Walking around like you're being weighed down by this immense burden of shame because you like something that's viewed as uncool by people who aren't fans of the property is fucking embarrassing behavior for an adult to be engaging in. Just own that you love this corny shit man! Everybody on the planet loves some corny shit and it's not hard at all to be unapologetic about the corny shit you love! You'd think the guy who made such an earnestly sentimental movie in Bumblebee would know better, but apparently his love for the Transformers gang was much less embarrassing to him than the love he has for He-Man and co. It really sucks that Knight's insecurity over his enjoyment of an 80's cartoon property looms so large here because there's plenty of evidence present in the vibrant action and rare moments where it's unafraid to wear its big mushy heart on its sleeve that this movie would've ripped hard if it had embraced the campiness that drives MOTU instead of running from it like an image-conscious teenage boy who doesn't want to get bullied by the popular kids at school for still playing with action figures at 14. Oh well, at least Knight will soon be able to return to having pride in his work as his next serious stop motion movie Wildwood is set to hit theaters on October 23rd. 

Grade: B-

Movie Review: Scary Movie (2026)

It was only a matter of time before the Scary Movie franchise was revived. Horror movies are one of the biggest drivers of the box office during the 2020's, and the legacy of the original films have managed to endure across generations. The only way to do a Scary Movie reboot right would be to reunite the people (Anna Faris, Regina Hall, The Wayans Brothers) who were most responsible for the franchise's success and staying power for the first time since Scary Movie 2 and that's precisely what happened with Scary Movie 6 aka Scary Movie.

So, what does the Scary Movie reunion tour look like? Well, a whole lot like the original run. 26 years away from the franchise they created has not inspired to The Wayans Brothers to reevaluate their formula of frantically firing out horror movie/topical pop culture references and lowbrow "shock" humor with the hopes of making the viewer laugh or becoming repulsed to the point where they view them as sadistic torturers instead of comedians. About the only thing that has changed is a more prevalent meta streak brought on by the horror genre's requel boom (what passes as the plot here is a riff on Scream 5 as the legacy characters and their kin have to fight off the return of the Ghostface killer from the original Scary Movie) and less mean-spirited humor aimed at the LGBT community, presumably due to Marlon Wayans' child coming out as a trans man a few years back. 

While I'm not going to pretend that unearthing this early 2000's-time capsule didn't come without its share of groans and winces, it was still kind of fun to watch a modern version of Scary Movie. The Wayans Brothers, Farris and Hall brush off 20+ years of dust like it's nothing as they waste no time slipping back into the franchise's hyperactive goofy rhythm, new cast member Olivia Rose Keegan frequently steals the show as Cindy Campbell's estranged daughter Sara with her elite mimicking of Faris' voice/comic delivery and the moments at the high end of the wide joke effectiveness spectrum Wayans always deliver are funny enough (the Scream VI-inspired opening scene, the I Know What You Did Last Summer' 25 bit and surprisingly clever ending were the top standouts for me) to drown out the painful record scratch moments that the major whiffs produce (fortunately, 90% of these were in the trailers). Getting a Scary Movie reboot where the entire original cast is happy to be there and there's some real laughs to be had was the best possible outcome and hopefully, they'll fare similarly well when they all return for Scary Movie 7 in the not-too-distant future. 

Grade: B-
 

2026 NFL Position Rankings: Top 50 Edge Rushers

Note: In 2025, the players below were spread out between the outside linebacker and defensive end rankings. All of the players that were featured in the series in 2025 will have an OLB or DE tag accompanying last year's ranking.

()=2025 ranking

+=Unranked or ineligible in 2025

50.(+) Nic Scourton (Panthers)

49.(OLB-23) Zaven Collins (Cardinals)

48.(DE-28) Kwity Paye (Raiders)

47.(DE-26) Dorance Armstrong (Commanders)

46.(+) Donovan Ezeiruaku (Cowboys)

45.(+) Jalyx Hunt (Eagles)

44.(+) Dallas Turner (Vikings)

43.(+) Abdul Carter (Giants)

42.(+) Al-Quadin Muhammad (Buccaneers)

41.(DE-14) John Franklin-Myers (Titans)

40.(OLB-7) Bradley Chubb (Bills)

39.(OLB-32) Uchena Nwosu (Seahawks)

38.(+) Dre'Mont Jones (Patriots)

37.(DE-25) Travon Walker (Jaguars)

36.(OLB-18) Yaya Diaby (Buccaneers)

35.(DE-16) Carl Granderson (Saints)

34.(OLB-9) Andrew Van Ginkel (Vikings)

33.(DE-17) Rashan Gary (Cowboys)

32.(OLB-16) Harold Landry (Patriots)

31.(OLB-13) Jonathon Cooper (Broncos)

30.(OLB-19) Tuli Tuipulotu (Chargers)

29.(DE-29) Chase Young (Saints)

28.(+) Alex Wright (Browns)

27.(OLB-2) Khalil Mack (Chargers)

26.(OLB-21) Boye Mafe (Bengals)

25.(OLB-22) Jaelan Phillips (Panthers)

24.(DE-18) Montez Sweat (Bears)

23.(OLB-14) DeMarcus Lawrence (Seahawks)

22.(OLB-12) Odafe Oweh (Commanders)

21.(OLB-3) Jonathan Greenard (Eagles)

20.(OLB-11) Josh Sweat (Cardinals)

19.(DE-27) George Karlaftis (Chiefs)

18.(OLB-25) Nick Herbig (Steelers)

17.(OLB-5) Brian Burns (Giants)

16(DE-22) Laiatu Latu (Colts)

15.(OLB-4) Alex Highsmith (Steelers)

14.(OLB-28) Byron Young (Rams)

13.(OLB-10) Nik Bonitto (Broncos)

12.(OLB-8) Jared Verse (Browns)

11.(DE-3) Trey Hendrickson (Ravens)

10.(DE-7) Maxx Crosby (Raiders)

9.(DE-12) Greg Rousseau (Bills)

8.(DE-4) Nick Bosa (49ers)

7.(OLB-1) T.J. Watt (Steelers)

6.(DE-6) Josh Hines-Allen (Jaguars)

5.(DE-9) Danielle Hunter (Texans)

4.(DE-10) Will Anderson Jr. (Texans)

3.(DE-5) Aidan Hutchinson (Lions)

2.(DE-2) Micah Parsons (Packers)

1.(DE-1) Myles Garrett (Rams)

2026 NFL Position Rankings: Top 20 Centers

()=2025 ranking

+=Unranked or ineligible in 2025

20.(+) Jalen Sundell (Seahawks)

19.(+) Cade Mays (Lions)

18.(15) Ted Karras (Bengals)

17.(20) Robert Hainsey (Jaguars)

16.(13) Elgton Jenkins (Browns)

15.(12) Cam Jurgens (Eagles)

14.(19) Cooper Beebe (Cowboys)

13.(18) Luke Wattenberg (Broncos)

12.(16) Coleman Shelton (Rams)

11.(11) Connor McGovern (Bills)

10.(7) Hjalte Froholdt (Cardinals)

9.(9) Tyler Biadasz (Chargers)

8.(5) Erik McCoy (Saints)

7.(17) Jake Brendel (49ers)

6.(+) Ryan Neuzil (Falcons)

5.(+) Tanor Bortolini (Colts)

4.(8) Zach Frazier (Steelers)

3.(4) Aaron Brewer (Dolphins)

2.(2) Tyler Linderbaum (Raiders)

1.(1) Creed Humphrey (Chiefs)

Movie Review: Backrooms

Sometime in early 2022, a 16-year-old kid in the North Bay Area of California named Kane Parsons launched a web series on YouTube called Backrooms that was inspired by this viral creepypasta. This lo-fi, liminal space sci-fi horror that was made entirely in the open-source 3D visual effects program Blender soon became a viral sensation (as of this writing, the first episode has amassed a whopping 81 million views) and shortly after that, Parsons was courted by Hollywood to turn the series into a feature film. 4 and a half years later, Parsons'-who turns 21 later this month-ascent from DIY YouTube videos to Hollywood is now officially complete as Backrooms has already become a box office sensation and solidified his standing as a young man with a vision that's worth investing in. 

My familiarity with the Backrooms web series remains nonexistent, so if you're looking for somebody who can comment on how faithful of an adaptation this is or how much of the lore is explored, you're going to have to go elsewhere. What I can tell you is that the film version revolves around a recently divorced alcoholic named Clark (Chiwetel Ejiofor) who inadvertently discovers a portal to the titular alternate universe in the basement of his furniture store after noticing some weird anomalies with the electricity in the building. He soon becomes obsessed with exploring this vast space that looks like a slightly distorted version of the real world and recruits a couple of his employees (Finn Bennett, Lukita Maxwell) to videotape his findings to prove its existence. Sometime later, Clark leaves an ominous voicemail for his therapist Mary (Renate Reinsve), which inspires her to do a wellness check on him. Upon arriving at Clark's store, Mary stumbles upon the portal and quickly gets a taste of the wonders and horrors that the Backrooms have to offer.  

As an exercise in building a world that's fueled by dread, Backrooms is a roaring success. Parsons cleverly plays with the horrifying idea of regular people stumbling upon a place where everything is just slightly off and how the curiosity to explore a place that is so close to the one that they know gets them into trouble. There's a surreal brand of claustrophobia that emerges from being in a space that's a big looping maze full of near identical corridors, two-way mirrors and narrow tunnels that lead to rooms that could have anything in them. The sequences where Parsons deploys found footage techniques (technically, it's just the opening scene that's found footage as the other sequences in the format are being shot in real time by Bennett's character on a video camera) to capture this setting is where the film particularly shines as getting to see this world from the first person perspective of a camera lens puts you in the same headspace as the characters. I had absolutely no clue what was going to be waiting for them as they went deeper down this proverbial rabbit hole and getting to see all of the strange shit they stumble upon at the same time as them did wonders for the impact of the scares. 

Where Parsons' greenness as a filmmaker emerges is in the final act where some answers to what the hell is going in this weird little world start to surface. Without giving too much away, the film eventually reveals itself to be an exploration of trauma. While these heavy scenes are admirably performed by Ejiofor and Reinsve, the material they're working with is too undercooked to have any real resonance. To be fair to Parsons, there is an interesting angle to this topic that's introduced that has the potential to be fleshed out in the sequels, but for now it's just something that kind of weighs down the narrative momentum and leads to a pretty underwhelming ending.  

Despite unraveling a bit at the end, Backrooms is still an impressive start to Parsons' directorial career. A kid who had never made a project away from his computer stepping onto a set and confidently building an expansion of the world he created that could be appreciated by fans and non-fans of the web series alike is very impressive. Getting the chance to tell more stories in this world should do wonders for his skill as a director and I look forward to seeing how much he's grown as a filmmaker when the sequel comes out in 2-3 years.  

Grade: B
 

Idris Elba Ranked

Welcome to "Ranked", a weekly series where I rank a franchise or filmography from worst to best and hand assorted related superlatives. This week, I'm profiling the work of Idris Elba-whose latest project "Masters of the Universe" releases in theaters on Thursday. 

Idris Elba's Filmography Ranked:

35.Three Thousand Years of Longing (D)

34.Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance (D) 

33.Avengers: Age of Ultron (D+)

32.The Gunman (C-)

31.The Jungle Book (C-)

30.Zootopia (C)

29.The Dark Tower (C+)

28.Star Trek Beyond (B-)

27.A House of Dynamite (B-)

26.Prometheus (B-)

25.The Take (B-)

24.Beast (B)

23.Cats (B)

22.The Losers (B)

21.Thor: The Dark World (B)

20.Takers (B)

19.Thor (B)

18.Sonic the Hedgehog 3 (B)

17.Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (B)

16.Zootopia 2 (B)

15.Heads of State (B)

14.Finding Dory (B)

13.Concrete Cowboy (B+)

12.RocknRolla (B+)

11.28 Weeks Later (B+)

10.Hobbs & Shaw (B+)

9.Pacific Rim (B+)

8.Beasts of No Nation (B+)

7.Extraction 2 (B+)

6.The Harder They Fall (A-)

5.American Gangster (A-)

4.Molly's Game (A)

3.Avengers: Infinity War (A)

2.Thor: Ragnarok (A)

1.The Suicide Squad (A)

Top Dog: The Suicide Squad (2021)

The Suicide Squad remains my favorite thing James Gunn has ever done. The hunger Gunn had to prove himself in the wake of the unearthed Tweets debacle that got him temporarily fired from Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.3 led to him making the most mature, daring film of his career and I'm not sure if he would've attempted to make something that hinges on such a tricky balance between tragedy, horror and comedy if he hadn't come so close to having his career ripped away from him. 

Bottom Feeder: Three Thousand Years of Longing (2022)

The passion project that George Miller made between Mad Max: Fury Road and Furiosa is easily one of the most ill-conceived movies I've seen in recent years. The entire movie is centered around the magic of storytelling and romance and yet, it's completely unconvincing as a sales pitch for the wonderous qualities that either of those things can possess. None of the fantastical stories that the djinn (Elba) weaves are particularly compelling and the romance that eventually forms between him and the unsuspecting mopey author (Tilda Swinton) that freed him from his bottle after purchasing it at a flea market in Istanbul lands with a thud thanks to a staggering lack of chemistry. Some really vibrant, inspired work from cinematographer John Seale-who came out of retirement for this project and has since retired for good-is the only reason that this isn't a complete waste of time. 

Most Underrated: Beasts of No Nation (2015)

When Netflix was beginning their transition from DVD-by-mail-service to a streaming service that offered a plethora of original programming, they elected to make Beasts of No Nation the first original film that they released on their platform. While it's really not much more than a fun little fact these days given the sheer size of their library and the algorithm-driven homepage that dictates what most subscribers watch, Beasts of No Nation is an excellent film that offered up an early look at the kind of prestige fare Netflix would emphasize putting out during awards season. Cary Joiji Fukunaga is able to pull off the difficult task of making a movie about child soldiers in an unnamed West African country that are forced to fight in a civil war that is unflinching in its depiction of the horrors these kids endure without ever being exploitative and the performances from Abraham Attah as the kid trying desperately to not let the violence he's suddenly surrounded by turn him into a monster and Elba as the brutal militia commandant are astounding.

Most Overrated: Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)

Age of Ultron remains in dead last in my MCU movie rankings by a comfortable margin, and I'm honestly kind of surprised by how hard people continue to ride for this movie. I don't know if Joss Whedon or Kevin Feige is to blame for what happened here, but this movie is a convoluted, tonally incoherent and dull disaster that represents the absolute worst that the modern Hollywood blockbuster machine has to offer. 

2026 NFL Position Rankings: Top 30 Guards

()=2025 ranking

+=Unranked or ineligible in 2025

30.(+) Austin Corbett (Bills)

29.(13) Teven Jenkins (Browns)

28.(12) Alijah Vera-Tucker (Patriots)

27.(10) Robert Hunt (Panthers)

26.(27) Ezra Cleveland (Jaguars)

25.(+) Tate Ratledge (Lions)

24.(+) Tyler Steen (Eagles)

23.(+) Mason McCormick (Steelers)

22.(+) Tyler Booker (Cowboys)

21.(28) Matthew Bergeron (Falcons)

20.(+) Dalton Risner (Bengals)

19.(3) Kevin Zeitler (Free Agent)

18.(+) Ed Ingram (Texans)

17.(+) David Edwards (Saints)

16.(11) Dominick Puni (49ers)

15.(26) Jonah Jackson (Bears)

14.(8) Landon Dickerson (Eagles)

13.(+) Steve Avila (Rams)

12.(9) Tyler Smith (Cowboys)

11.(18) Damien Lewis (Panthers)

10.(+) Peter Skoronski (Titans)

9.(16) Sam Cosmi (Commanders)

8.(7) Trey Smith (Chiefs)

7.(14) Isaac Seumalo (Cardinals)

6.(17) Mike Onwenu (Patriots)

5.(6) Kevin Dotson (Rams)

4.(4) Joe Thuney (Bears)

3.(2) Quenton Nelson (Colts)

2.(5) Quinn Meinerz (Broncos)

1.(1) Chris Lindstrom (Falcons)