Mimics, the directorial debut of Kristoffer Polaha, opens in theaters nationwide this Friday, February 13.
The film stars Polaha alongside Mōriah, Chris Parnell, Stephen Tobolowsky, Jesse Hutch, Jason Marsden, and Austin Basis. Written by Marc Oakley, the story follows a struggling impressionist whose shot at fame comes with unexpected consequences.
Described as a mix of comedy, romance, and darker elements, Mimics marks Polaha’s first turn behind the camera.
Watch the trailer below.
The final trailer for Project Hail Mary is now online ahead of the film’s March 20 theatrical release.
Directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller and based on Andy Weir’s best-selling novel, the sci-fi drama stars Ryan Gosling as a middle school science teacher who wakes up alone on a spaceship with no memory of how he got there. As his memory returns, he realizes he’s been sent on a mission to stop a mysterious force threatening the sun and, ultimately, life on Earth.
The cast also includes Sandra Hüller, Ken Leung, Milana Vayntrub, Priya Kansara, Lionel Boyce, and James Ortiz. The screenplay is by Drew Goddard.
The film was shot for IMAX and opens exclusively in theaters March 20.
Watch the final trailer below.
The documentary Dear Lara makes its world premiere tonight, February 6, at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival.
The film is directed by violinist Lara St. John and centers on her decision to publicly speak in 2019 about being sexually assaulted as a teenager while studying at the Curtis Institute of Music. After her account was published in The Philadelphia Inquirer, St. John received messages from musicians around the world who shared similar experiences.
The documentary follows St. John as she meets with some of those individuals across North America and Europe. The film focuses on personal accounts from musicians who describe abuse, institutional inaction, and the professional consequences of speaking out within the classical music world.
Dear Lara is St. John’s first feature as a director. She also serves as a cinematographer on the film alongside Patrick Hamm, who produced the project. The film includes original music by St. John and is edited by Christie Herring. Blood Sweat Honey is handling sales.
Following the screening, St. John will participate in a panel discussion alongside several of the documentary’s featured subjects. The film is supported by partnerships with advocacy organizations, including Child USA, and is intended for future screenings at festivals, universities, and music institutions.
SFFILM already has its Closing Night set, and it lands right on May the Fourth.
The 69th San Francisco International Film Festival will wrap on Monday, May 4 with a screening of Star Wars: Episode V, The Empire Strikes Back at the newly renovated Castro Theatre. The event is being presented with Lucasfilm and Another Planet Entertainment, and it doubles as a high-profile moment for the Castro as it reopens its doors to major public screenings.
After the film, Anthony Daniels, best known as C-3PO, will take the stage for a conversation with longtime Lucasfilm executive Howard Roffman, who spent decades helping shape the franchise’s reach well beyond the movies themselves.
It’s an on-the-nose choice in the best way. Empire remains the most emotionally grounded film in the series, and San Francisco’s connection to Star Wars runs deeper than most cities, with Lucasfilm’s history rooted just across the bay. Putting it in the Castro, freshly restored and unapologetically theatrical, feels right.
Closing Night begins at 7:00 pm, with tickets available first to SFFILM members on February 4, followed by a general onsale on February 6. The full festival lineup will be announced April 1.
Lou Ferrigno is back on screen and stepping into new territory. The legendary actor best known for The Incredible Hulk makes his first-ever horror appearance in The Hermit, a backwoods thriller that leans dark, strange, and unapologetically grim.
Released by Uncork’d Entertainment, The Hermit arrives on Digital and On Demand March 3, following a Los Angeles premiere on March 2. Ferrigno stars as a reclusive pig farmer with a gruesome secret, selling jerky made from human flesh. It’s his first creature-style role in decades, and easily his most unsettling.
The film also stars Malina Weissman (A Series of Unfortunate Events) and Anthony Turpel (Love, Victor) as two teenagers whose vacation into the woods turns into a fight for survival. What starts as an uncomfortable trip quickly spirals into something far worse.
Directed by Salvatore Sclafani, The Hermit marks the filmmaker’s first English-language feature after his earlier work on Tyger Tyger. The tone walks a fine line between horror and dark absurdity, embracing its B-movie roots while pushing into more disturbing territory.
“I’ve always been a big fan of scary movies,” Ferrigno said in a statement. “I hope this one ends up on everyone’s must-watch list.”
The Hermit premieres March 3 on Digital and On Demand.
Visar Morina’s Shame and Money was awarded the World Cinema Grand Jury Prize at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival, marking a major moment for the filmmaker following his earlier Sundance entry Exile.
Set between rural Kosovo and the capital, the film follows a family forced to rebuild their lives after losing their livelihood, tracing how pride, financial pressure, and quiet desperation shape everyday choices. Morina approaches the story with restraint, letting tension build through small moments rather than spectacle.
The film stars Astrit Kabashi and Flonja Kodheli, whose performances anchor the story with emotional clarity and lived-in realism. Shame and Money represents Germany and Kosovo and continues its festival run following its Sundance win.
The 2026 Sundance Film Festival revealed its award winners during a ceremony at The Ray Theatre in Park City, Utah, honoring standout films across U.S., international, documentary, and NEXT categories ahead of the festival’s final weekend.
Top Grand Jury Prizes went to Josephine (U.S. Dramatic Competition), Nuisance Bear (U.S. Documentary Competition), Shame and Money (World Cinema Dramatic Competition), and To Hold a Mountain (World Cinema Documentary Competition). The festival’s NEXT Innovator Award, presented by Adobe, was awarded to The Incomer, while TheyDream received the NEXT Special Jury Award.
Audience Awards reflected strong viewer engagement across categories. Josephine also claimed the Audience Award for U.S. Dramatic, alongside American Pachuco: The Legend of Luis Valdez for U.S. Documentary. International audience honors went to HOLD ONTO ME (Κράτα Με) and One In A Million, with Aanikoobijigan [ancestor/great-grandparent/great-grandchild] taking the NEXT Audience Award.
This year’s festival showcased 97 feature-length projects and 54 short films, selected from more than 16,000 submissions, underscoring Sundance’s continued role as a launchpad for emerging voices and bold storytelling. Award-winning films remain available online nationwide through February 1, with select titles screening in person for passholders.
The 2026 edition also marks one of the final Sundance gatherings in Utah, ahead of the festival’s planned move to Boulder, Colorado in 2027.
Continue reading
Christopher Nolan’s Inception, Amy Heckerling’s Clueless, and Richard Linklater’s Before Sunrise are among 25 films newly selected for preservation by the National Film Registry, the Library of Congress announced.
The annual list recognizes films deemed “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant,” with this year’s selections spanning more than a century of cinema. Additions range from silent-era works dating back to 1896 to modern classics like The Truman Show, The Incredibles, and Wes Anderson’s The Grand Budapest Hotel.
Notable inclusions also feature Glory, Philadelphia, The Karate Kid, Frida, and The Big Chill, alongside six silent films, several of which were recently restored or rediscovered. With this year’s additions, the National Film Registry now contains 925 titles.
Turner Classic Movies will mark the announcement with a televised special on March 19, showcasing select new entries from the 2025 class.
Director Guillermo del Toro at Sundance 2026
The Academy Award winning director, appeared in good spirits and posed for photographers during a press line ahead of the screening.
Originally released in the early 1990s, Cronos follows an antique dealer who discovers an ancient device promising eternal life, setting off a quiet but unsettling chain of consequences.
The film has long been viewed as an early blueprint for del Toro’s recurring themes: mortality, monstrosity, and tenderness existing side by side.
Well Go USA Entertainment has acquired North American distribution rights to Blades of the Guardians, the large-scale historical action film directed by legendary martial arts filmmaker Yuen Woo-ping. The film is set for a theatrical release on February 17, 2026, timed to the Chinese New Year.
Based on the popular comic by Xianzhe Xu, Blades of the Guardians stars Wu Jing, who also serves as producer, alongside Jet Li, Nicholas Tse, Yosh Yu, and K-pop idols JUN (Seventeen) and Winwin (NCT).
Set during China’s Sui Dynasty, the film follows a mercenary tasked with escorting a mysterious mission across the Western Regions, only to find himself pulled into a dangerous political scheme.
With Yuen Woo-ping at the helm, the film leans heavily into classical martial arts spectacle, blending large-scale action choreography with historical intrigue. The release continues Well Go USA’s long-standing focus on bringing international action cinema to North American audiences.
