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Review by Steve Barton II  The world of mixed martial arts has become a global phenomenon over the last 20 years. With the quick rise of the UFC, it has often become a term for people who aren’t fully familiar with the sport of MMA. With the rise in popularity, Hollywood quickly sank their teeth into the sport and there have been plenty of attempts at making the next best sports drama. There were several attempts early on with Fighting, Never Back Down and more recently (and refined) with The Smashing Machine. The current champion of the MMA sub-genre is 2011’s Warrior, but Beast arrives in the cage over fifteen years later to attempt a title change. Beast follows an MMA legend, Patton James (Daniel MacPherson) many years after his career ended. He works as a fisherman to earn an honest living for his family. As his bills pile up and his family’s needs become larger, he’s pulled back into the cage for one big payday. If that plot description sounds familiar to you, it’s because it’s quite similar to many classics like Warrior and (ironically) Cinderella Man. In Beast, they pack in a sick child, another kid on the way, losing his job and having an addict brother causing trouble to really build up the stakes for poor Patton. While those are all serious reasons and solid motivation, only a few of them fully build to be emotionally impactful while the others almost feel forgotten by the end. The cheese-filled dialogue may begin to make you feel hungry by the halfway point, but the dynamic camera may satiate you until it’s over. The fight choreography, shot selection and editing teams made the sequences look solid. It’s also refreshing to see Beast work with the ONE fight promotion over the UFC and give ONE more of the spotlight to the American audiences.  The production of Beast was executed with a near fully Australian cast, minus the kiwi Russell Crowe. Daniel MacPherson did good work as the lead and committed completely to becoming a fighter for this film. Daniel even ended the shoot with a few broken bones and other injuries after his final performance with his arch rival, Xavier Grau (Bren Foster). While some of the emotional scenes between Patton and his wife didn’t land well, his scenes with the always great Rusell Crowe filled the gaps. Crowe sells his character of an aged veteran of the fight game who is living with a deep, emotional grudge perfectly. When Crowe and MacPherson break down and share their true feelings, even the coldest hearts will feel the heat from the screen.
Overall, Beast is a good watch for fight fans and enjoyers of sports dramas, but it’s not the next Rocky. There is a predictable plot and a few less than average actors, but the stuff that matters most works well. The lead performances bring heart and the fight scenes rival some of the best on a technical level. The addition of Luke Hemsworth was a bit distracting, but he plays the sly, evil fight promoter quite well. Luke's face is incredibly similar to his brother, Chris' and that added to the distraction, but also made it quite humorous. The rest of the supporting cast fills out the film well, especially Patton's training team with George Burgess and Amy Shark. If you’d love to see a feel-good underdog story from down under, look no further than Beast. Beast is playing in theaters starting April 10th Rating: 3/5
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Review by Steve Barton II  Why do so many people have a morbid fascination with death? It could be true crime documentaries, body cam footage from crime scenes, cell phone videos of accidents or deaths and folks will watch it while having their dinner with the family. Before the birth of the internet and websites like LiveLeak, we had the infamous film Faces of Death from 1978. The original Faces of Death was a mockumentary film where a fake doctor narrates and frames different segments where death occurs uncensored. While most of the footage was fake, many countries still banned it for absurdity and it drove Faces of Death to have a cult following among the darkest horror freaks. When it comes to 2026’s Faces of Death, we follow a more traditional narrative with Margot (Barbie Ferreira), who works as a quality control specialist for a social media platform and screens for violent material. When she continues to see a series of violent videos, she slowly discovers that they are real murders inspired by the original Faces of Death film! As someone who wasn’t a fan of the original film, the 2026 version of Faces of Death outshines the original in every way. In a world where we have plenty of shot-for-shot remakes of horror classics, Daniel Goldhaber took a completely unexpected approach. While still staying true to the original idea of Faces of Death, he was able to update the premise and give us a brand new story. The film still covers how people are fascinated with violence and death, without framing it as “real events they don’t want you to see”. Instead, Daniel uses social media (specifically a TikTok clone) to show how desensitized people have become and how they almost celebrate the demise of others for their entertainment.  While some of her reaction faces while using her computer were comical, Barbie Ferreira was fantastic as our leading lady. Margot is a very layered character with depression and trauma and Barbie embodies it completely. She gives Margot an interesting depth and when Margot grows into our hero it’s believable and earns our hearts. Dacre Montgomery got in touch with his inner Patrick Bateman for his villain role and it is terrifying! He passes as a normal guy in public, but behind closed doors he’s an absolute maniac who commits heinous crimes to obtain attention.
When you enter a theater for a movie titled Faces of Death, good kills are expected and this film exceeds expectations! While it may not be framed as a documentary this time, the kills still look incredibly real and disturbing. The film shows how people can’t see the difference between simulated versus real violence and the team behind creating these kills pass with flying colors. While not all of the deaths are perfect, there are a few that will be at the top of your mind for hours after witnessing them. The bathtub stream is one that is currently seared into my frontal lobe. With the grotesque kills and a killer reveal moment, that would make Kevin Williamson blush and return to his old Scream notebooks. Overall, Faces of Death is an incredible reinvention of the original movie by staying true to its spirit while becoming its own monster. Barbie Ferreira and Dacre Montgomery both have fantastic performances and their adversarial chemistry made the last act tense and chaotic. If you’re in need of some dark humor, disturbing violence and engrossing story, seek help and then go see Faces of Death! Faces of Death is in theaters starting April 10th! Rating: 4/5 Review by Steve Barton II  When it comes to horror, the amount of sub-genres are vast and plentiful. One of the most popular of the entire collection being shark movies, often nicknamed “Sharksploitation” by fans. Since the birth of the genre when Bruce swam onto the scene with Steven Spielberg's Jaws, hundreds of imitations have invaded cinemas, video stores and streamers alike. Thrash is the newest addition to this large ocean, but it may not survive with the kings of the sea. Thrash follows three simultaneous stories all happening during a category five hurricane that destroys their coastal town and the storm brings in some undesired guests. The one thing you certainly can’t deny about Thrash is that it checks off all the boxes on the “must haves” list for a shark movie. You begin with minor character setup and set stakes high immediately with a marine researcher (played by the always great Djimon Honsou) who is desperate to save his agoraphobic niece, Dakota (Whitney Peak) who became trapped when the storm came in. Dakota’s character development is the only one worth mentioning because she’s forced to face her fears in order to save a pregnant woman, Lisa (Phoebe Dynevor) from being trapped in her car and becoming the next course in the shark buffet. The pregnant Lisa and her silly playlist were present purely to heighten stakes, build tension and bring cheap giggles. The third plot follows a group of foster children who are abused by their foster parents and they leave the kids behind when the storm hits. The kids’ plot felt like runtime padding more than a necessary story to tell in this silly shark movie.  The effects in Thrash were hit and miss throughout the runtime, especially when it came to the sharks. While the digital sharks certainly had some effort put into them, shark kills have looked better in the past with less. The filmmakers use some practical effects like blood splatter and fun weapons, but the actors acting against digital didn’t work too well. With Bruce the Shark proving that animatronic sharks won’t work, but I think they should’ve tried more tricks, rather than relying on the computer to sell the scare. There are a few tense moments with the sharks, but you can quickly see that the main characters have invisible plot armor on and no shark tooth will penetrate it. The sound effects team deserves the most praise when it comes to the production of Thrash. The eerie sounds and the tension it builds sells the movies more than anything on screen warrants. The music and sound design certainly aids in building the tension moments, but the practical cameo from Vanessa Carlton may be one of the goofiest needle drops of 2026!
In the end, Thrash is just another piece of bait for the shark movie fans to sink their teeth into and nothing more. Sony originally planned a theatrical release for Thrash, but they saw the writing on the wall (and script) and decided streaming would be a better fit. It’s a movie that would’ve done numbers on Blockbuster shelves or Walmart bargain bins back in 2008, but it’s just okay by today’s standards. With a higher budget and a bit more passion behind it, Thrash may have been something special, but its a carbon copy of the many others. It may find its audience in the vast ocean of Netflix, but Thrash is only treading water at best. Thrash splashes onto your television on April 10th on Netflix! Rating: 2.5/5 Review by Chadd Clubine  Co-written and directed by Jonah Hill and featuring an ambitious all-star cast, this film should work. It doesn’t—at least not in the way it intends. The outcome feels heavily shaped by Hill’s own experiences with fame, and like Jay Kelly, it aims to humanize celebrities by reminding us they’re just people. It’s a compelling premise, but the execution never rises above that initial idea. Instead, the film plays like a collection of half-formed thoughts, never fully developed or meaningfully resolved. It resembles a weak thesis—full of intention, but lacking a clear argument or conclusion, leaving little for the audience to take away. Even at just 84 minutes, it somehow feels overstretched, as if it lingers far longer than it deserves. The most disappointing element here is Jonah Hill’s own performance. He proves to be far less effective when directing himself, and based on this, it’s a pairing that doesn’t play to his strengths. With another self-directed, lead-role project on the way, it’s hard not to feel a bit apprehensive. What makes this misstep more surprising is that it follows the genuinely strong Mid90s and Stutz—films that showed a much more confident and focused filmmaker. Here, the issues run deeper, from awkward, unnatural dialogue to character behavior that never quite feels authentic. Ironically, someone like Adam Sandler might have been a better fit for Hill’s role, bringing a more grounded or nuanced presence. Instead, Hill swings big in his performance and completely misses the mark. The film’s visual aesthetic is certainly a choice—one that initially looks intriguing in trailers and stills but quickly falls apart in execution. Rather than creating a euphoric or stylized atmosphere, it often comes across as goofy and out of place. The look is so distracting during dialogue-heavy moments that it undercuts whatever emotional or thematic point Hill is trying to convey. It’s especially frustrating given the backing of Apple TV, which suggests the resources were there to do something far more cohesive and polished. If the film was going to commit to such a distinct style, it needed to fully lean into it. Instead, there’s a noticeable imbalance: exterior shots frequently look rough and unconvincing, while interior scenes are merely passable. That inconsistency only widens the gap between the film’s ambitions and what actually ends up on screen.  At just 84 minutes, the film might seem brisk on paper, but in practice, it feels far longer. Weighed down by an overload of half-developed ideas—both thematic and comedic—it drags instead of moves. There are occasional flashes of intrigue, some of which are buoyed by Reeves’ natural likability, but even that can only do so much. The film never convincingly allows his character to feel genuine emotional pain, leaving those moments hollow and unearned. Comedically, it fares even worse. Not a single joke truly lands, and when the film reaches for humor, it often relies on Hill leaning into an exaggerated, grating performance that comes off as more irritating than funny. The cast is undeniably stacked, which raises an obvious question: what did everyone see in this script? At times, it feels less like a deliberate ensemble and more like a group of friends signing on out of loyalty rather than conviction. Martin Scorsese, in particular, feels miscast and unconvincing, as if his involvement is more a returned favor after Hill’s role in The Wolf of Wall Street. Cameron Diaz’s return to acting is similarly underwhelming—an unfortunate and undeserved stumble given her long absence. Meanwhile, Matt Bomer does what he can to elevate the material, but the writing and direction work against him, repeatedly leaving the audience wondering why his character is there at all. Overall, Outcome isn’t just a disappointment—it’s one of the worst films of the year. It certainly isn’t a reason to subscribe to Apple TV+ if you haven’t already, especially when the platform offers far stronger content. Whatever spark Jonah Hill once showed as a filmmaker feels absent here, replaced by a project that never finds its footing. At the very least, the cast remains likable enough that this misfire is unlikely to do any lasting damage to their careers. Outcome streams on Apple TV April 10th! RATING: 1/5
Review by Steve Barton II  Think back to the last time you left a concert. The echoes of Rascal Flatts’ Life Is a Highway still penetrates your brain as your heart races, while walking through a desolate parking garage. Every floor looks identical, yet your car seems to have disappeared all together. As the distant voices and flickering lights engulf your senses, the horror sets in that you’re trapped in your own hellish maze. If this scenario sounds familiar at all, you may find Exit 8 to be more than just the newest video game adaptation! Exit 8 is based off of a 2023 low budget video game of the same title and even became a VR game just a year later. The film follows The Lost Man (Kazurnari Ninomiya) as he is riding the train and sees a woman being harassed over her crying baby and no one (including our protagonist) intervenes to help her. After exiting the train into the subway station, The Lost Man receives a call from his ex-girlfriend and she’s pregnant. While frantically pacing through the halls, the call drops and he realizes that he’s trapped in a repeating maze that has no simple exit. Exit 8 does a fantastic job at taking a simple concept and building tension from very little. The sets are mostly confined to 2 or 3 places, but the main set of the white, liminal spaces of the subway hallways are as simple as they are creepy. The design of just a few posters, a couple doors and vents sounds simple and boring, but when they’re distorted or missing, it sends your brain into panic mode! The source material is a first-person POV and while they do experiment with that shot a few times, we stay in third-person for most shots and it works better in the end. While it may have amplified the tension for some scenes, most audiences would’ve checked out due to them thinking it’s “just another found footage movie” and skipped it all together. The sound design for Exit 8 with the small sound effects and emotional music layered in helped sell the whole picture.  The gore hounds and traditional "horror" fans in the audience may hate the simplicity and slow pace of Exit 8, the magic comes more from its performances. Kazurnari Ninomiya plays the lead character incredibly, especially in the emotional scenes where he’s forced to become vulnerable both physically and emotionally. Being trapped in this Groundhog Day or Dante’s Inferno type experience would be an absolute nightmare and we watch The Lost Man slowly descend into hopelessness and pain. Naru Asanuma as The Boy and Yamato Kochi as The Walking Man were also fantastic. Yamato is able to convey so much emotion with just his one stare as The Lost Man turns around. When you hear his footsteps stop (also due to the expert sound design), your whole body clenches without a jump scare to force it.
In the end, Exit 8 is a fun thriller that should satisfy fans of the game and thriller fans alike. While staying true to the source material, the filmmakers expand on the plot and create a compelling experience. It does move a bit slow, but you may find yourself searching for anomalies in every shot and playing along with The Lost Man. Now, who wants to go play tag with me and The Walking Man at the train station at 6:30? Exit 8 releases in theaters starting April 10th! Rating: 3.5/5 |