Grab Bag: My Favorite movies of 2026. And some flicks I would like my time back, please! Also drama at AO, and some sportsball!

2025 was a very good year for scary movies, that could be horror, psychological, supernatural, etc...and my list reflects that. I've also added Not so favorite, to spare you the time! Oh, and some Sportsball stuff after the movies!

Sinners: Congrats on the record breaking SIXTEEN Oscar nominations; the voting board got this one right! Michael B. Jordan deserves the Best Actor Oscar for playing two gangster brothes who return back home to start a business in Mississippi in the 1930's, so yes, racism is definitely a part of this film. A big part , and the heart of the film, is the blues, and music, both in the story, and in the soundtrack is a key component! There is a sequence about halfway thru the film, at the juke joint they opened for one night only, where the music goes into hyperdrive, that the sequence, which show the before, the present, and future of Black America, that it is like experiencing a fever dream, and as many have pointed out, the highlight of the film, It's shortly after fever dream sequence ends that fangs start popping, and blood starts spilling. Director Ryan Coogler has made a masterpiece of a film...I hesitate to call it a horror film, because it's so much more than that, but when you have racists, vampires, and racist vampires, II wouldn't blame you!

Weapons: Tied with Sinners as my favorite flick of the year, to tell the tale of the mysterious disappearance of 22 kids thru the eyes of five different perspectives made it really cool. When we get to the 4th perspective, we get the Reveal, while the final perspective is the more REVEAL and RESOLUTION. As I wrote in my review, the chase scene at the end is so well directed/edited and wildly bizarre that you find yourself laughing cuz of the bonkerness of it all....I'll give you readers here a scoop I didn't in my reveal....there are no cars, just humans involved in the chase!

Wicked: For Good: I really thought this would have been my number one flick a year ago, but as I wrote in my review on the last blog, too long, and coloring problems. However, the two leads, Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande were once again, perfect! Hot take: An Absolute SHAME that this flick did not get one single Oscar nomination! BOO!

How to Train Your Dragon-Live Action. The animated version is one of my all time favorite films, and with this live action version, the production team got most of the folks who worked on the animated version to work their magic again, and they succeeded! Mason Thames, who plays the lead (he was in TWO of my fave films in 2025!) Hiccup, was great with his scenes with our Toothless dragon! Some beautiful cinematography as the two of them fly the skies, and a great battle sequence at the end! Fans of the animated version will be very happy with this faithful adaptation!

Final Destination: Bloodlines: What makes this installment of this franchise so good, is the story, which is the subtitle of the film! Death got cheated, so not only those who survived the great special effects of the skyscraper restaurant disaster, but Death also wants the family tree of those who survived! As I wrote in my review, remove ALL metal objects if going into an MRI room- ALL piercings...yes...ouch!

Thunderbolts*: Who would've thought one of the best written MCU films would be about mental health? The cast is great, very good action sequences, and just a great script the actors were given!

Black Phone 2: I actually have to do TWO reviews here or the first Black Phone, and this sequel.UPDATE: Due to my heaing from the dental surgery, I did not have time to write up the reviews of these two movies. This IS the other movie that Dragons Mason Thames got his stardom...in a later post, I will review both. For no, as a teaser, I will post BOTH trailers for the films! I think my bestie, David can handle both! :)

Superman: A much better than I expected flick. It doesn't bother getting into Superman's back-story, in this flick, hs is already established, as is Lex Luthor, who almost steals the film, if it were not for a certain Superdog, who DOES steal the movie!

All these films I've chosen have case to be my #1 favorite, as they definitely bring STORY to the table! I do want to denote that at least two of my favorite films involve the abduction of children, and if that might be a trigger for you, I complately understand. Without giving too much away, both those films have MOSTLY positive outcomes, but I respect if you have kids, the two films may not be for you. Two films I did NOT like, and I'm not even posting their trailers! How to Kill a Unicorn: I rarely use the hate word, but ohh, I was definitely hate-watching this flick! As I wrote in my review, when you want a Pual Rudd character to DIE, that's never a good sign! And tried as she might, Jenna Ortega could not save this dumpster fire of cinematic trash! AVOID!

One Battle After Another: My controversial pick, and I just recently reviewed it, short version, the story is a mess! Leo's worst acting, but others, such as Sean Penn and Teyana Taylor, are great; but not great enough for me to recommend this rambling flick!

Sportsball: Tennis: Australian Open (AO): The first Slam of the year, and the only one Carlos Alcaraz has not won! He seems to be favoring lime green as his color palette this past week, btw. I found a cool graphic for the men's Round of 16; its the first time ever in a Slam that all 16 men's players are ranked in the top 25!

Alcaraz, hometown Aussie De Minaur, Zverev made the quarterfinals on Saturday (Sunday Aussie time) while American Tien upset Medvedev! Sundays action saw Mensik withdraw due to injury, giving Djokovic a walk thru to the semi's, Sinner cruised in his match, Sheldon held off Rudd, but Fritzie was upset by Musetti to reach the quarterfinals.. On the women's side, #16th ranked Naomi Osaka had to withdraw due to an ab injury, so she did not make the 16. Sabalenka, Gauff, Swiatek, Rybakina and Jovic won their matches on Saturday, while on Sunday, all the favorites defeated their opponents ( I did not see any of those matches).

Monday's Quarterfinals saw Sheldon, Zverev, and Djokovic advance, while on the women's side, 2 time Aussie Open Champion Sabalenka advanced. Tuesday had Alcaraz completing the semis with his victory, so he and Zverev will face off in the Semis, as will Sinner and Sheldon. On the ladies side, huge upset as Coco Gauff was upset by Svitolina, who will play Sabalenka in the Semi's on Thursday. The last two slots on the women's side were decided later in the evening with Rybakina upsetting 2nd ranked Swiatek; Rybakina will face off against Pegula in the the other women's semi-final. On the men's side, the other semi final had Musetti shocking the audience/crowd by being up two sets om Djokivic, bt in the third set, Musetti had to retire due to injury. I have to give Novak Djokivic credit in the post match interview, honestly saying he was going to lose to Musetti, and was sad the match ended that way...very classy! Last Quarter set was Sinner/Sheldon, ( i personally was looking forward to this match between these two, as Ben Sheldon's career has only been on the uprise, and now is playing one of the big two (Alcaraz the other). Turns out Sinner was ready for Sheldon, defeating him in straight sets, so the other semi-final will be Sinner/ Zverev!

DRAMA ALERT!

The next day saw Sabalenka advancing to her 4th Australian Open final, against Rybakina!

Later in the evening, both men's semis were epic matches with drama involved! In the first match, in 86 degree weather, #1 ranked Carlos Alcaraz and #3 Alexander Zverev (who has not won a slam yet, but has come close!), went 5 1/2 hours, and 5 sets, with Carlos eventually prevailing, 6-4. 7-6, 6-7, 6-7, 7-5...yep, the last for sets went to tie-beakers! Both came out a little stiff, but Carlos found his game, and was cruising along in the 3rd set, leading 5-4, and ready to close the match, but then on a court change, cameras caught Carlos hurling into a towel, and shortly later, his right groin cramped up, and the cheetah of the court became a gimpy gazelle, and Alexander jumped on Carlos inability to chase down balls, and took advantage, winning the next two sets, 7-6, 7-6. In the final match, Alexander was up 5-4, when Carlos, after loading up on pickle juice and groin massages, Carlos made an incredible comeback to win the match, 7-5, and will face off against the winner of the other semi, that was delayed due to the switching of the crowds that was due to the 5 hours 30 minutes of the first match!

Jannik Sinner, 2nd ranked player, and Novak Djokivic, 4th ranked, finally got on the court, and after what happened earlier, these guys said to the first two, "hold my racket, if you want drama!", as this match went over FOUR hours, and ended at 1:30 am Melbourne time, with Novak pulling the off the upset over two-time Australian Open champion, Jannik, 3-6, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4! Novak will be going for his 25 Grand Slam title, while Carlos is looking to win his first Aussie Open and become the youngest male player to win all four Slams! You will have to wait till next week for the finals results, as they are on a much later time zone than I get squeeze in here!

Football: We have our Super Bowl Finalists! In a battle between two great defenses, The New England Patriots battled it out with the Denver Broncos, who were playing their back up QB, due to Bo Nix's ankle injury in the previous playoff game, overcame blizzard like elements (the field in Denver was covered in snow!), beat the Broncos, 10-7. In the other matchup, the LA Rams visited Seattle and unlike the AFC Championship, there was a LOT of offense in this NFC Championship game! In the end, it was the Seahawks who scored more points, winning the game, 31-27. So its Seattle vs New England on Super Bowl Sunday here in my backyard at Levi Stadium in Santa Clara! Green Day pre-game show, and Bad Bunny performing at halftime, and no Chumpie!

San Francisco Giants: The Giants pleasantly surprised me by signing one of my favorite players, Harrison Bader, to a 2 year/20 million dollar deal. Bader is known for his defense, and will play Centerfield, while Jung-Soo Lee will move to right field for the 2026 season!

Hope you anjoyed the AO coverage, and the fave movies list! As I post this, it's the start of Super Bowl week here in the Bay Area, so streets are cleaner, and elevators and most escalators are working!