Category Archives: Movies

SFFILM Will Close Its 69th Festival With The Empire Strikes Back at the Castro

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luke-skywalker-and-darth-vaderSFFILM 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.

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Lou Ferrigno Returns to the Screen in Backwoods Horror The Hermit

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the-hermitLou 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.

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Shame and Money Wins World Cinema Grand Jury Prize at Sundance

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shame-and-moneyVisar 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.

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2026 Sundance Film Festival Announces Award Winners

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sundance-2026The 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.
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Inception, Clueless, and Before Sunrise Added to the National Film Registry

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cluelessChristopher 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.

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Guillermo del Toro Returns to Sundance With Cronos Restoration

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By Armando

Director Guillermo del Toro at Sundance 2026

Guillermo del Toro made a low-key appearance Tuesday night at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival for a Park City Legacy screening of Cronos, his 1994 debut feature, at The Ray Theatre in Park City. The screening coincided with the presentation of a newly restored 4K version of the film, more than 30 years after it first premiered at Sundance.

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.

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Blades of the Guardians Heads to North American Theaters in February

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blades-of-the-guardiansWell 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.

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Pinnacle Peak Pictures has acquired North Am theatrical rights to sci-fi dramedy Matter of Time

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matter-of-timePinnacle Peak Pictures has acquired North American theatrical rights to Matter of Time, a sci-fi dramedy from filmmaker Jeremy Snead, with an exclusive theatrical release set for February 27, 2026.

The film follows Charlie Fleck, a 29-year-old aspiring video game designer who stumbles upon a device that can stop time, giving him the chance to chase the ambitions he has always put off. What starts as a dream scenario slowly turns more complicated, as the ability to pause life forces Charlie to confront the cost of control, ambition, and the people caught in between.

Matter of Time stars Myles Erlick alongside Sean Astin, with Ali Astin and Jamie Alexander appearing in supporting roles. The film marks a rare on-screen reunion for Sean Astin and his daughter Ali Astin, their first shared appearance since The Lord of the Rings era. Directed by Snead, the film blends emotional character drama with genre-forward sci-fi elements, pulling from themes of creativity, grief, friendship, and gaming culture.

The film premiered at the Dallas International Film Festival in 2025 and later screened internationally at SCI-FI-LONDON. Pinnacle Peak Pictures plans a targeted theatrical rollout in partnership with IGN Entertainment, aiming to connect the film directly with audiences drawn to narrative-driven games, science fiction, and creator-led storytelling.

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Time and Water Premieres at Sundance in Park City

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By Armando

Sara Dosa, directory, writer, producer

Sara Dosa, directory, writer, producer

Time and Water premiered January 27, 2026, at the Library Center Theatre in Park City as part of the Premieres section of the Sundance Film Festival.

Before the screening, director Sara Dosa and Icelandic writer and subject Andri Snær Magnason stepped out for a press line alongside members of the producing team, a quiet, unhurried moment that felt entirely in keeping with the film they were there to present.

The documentary grew out of Magnason’s deeply personal reckoning with two parallel losses, the death of Iceland’s glaciers and the passing of his grandparents. Rather than approaching climate grief through data or alarm, Dosa weaves together science, myth, and personal history, using Magnason’s own generational archives to craft something closer to a time capsule than a traditional environmental documentary.

At its core, the film traces a striking paradox: while Magnason’s family were among the first to explore Iceland’s glaciers, he has become one of the first to witness their disappearance.

The atmosphere around the premiere matched the film’s tone — contemplative and intimate, circling the question at the heart of Dosa’s work: how do you say goodbye to what you never thought you could lose? National Geographic Documentary

Films is set to release Time and Water in theaters globally beginning May 29.

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One Battle After Another Leads Online Film Critics Society Awards

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onebattle-after-anotherPaul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another emerged as a major winner at the 2025 Online Film Critics Society Awards, taking Best Picture and Best Director among five total wins. The film’s strong showing places it firmly among the most critically embraced releases of the year.

Ryan Coogler’s Sinners ultimately led the awards overall, collecting 10 wins across major categories including acting, writing, cinematography, score, and multiple technical honors. With more than 38 films recognized across 22 categories, this year’s OFCS awards reflected an unusually broad spread of genres, from studio releases to international and independent titles.

One notable takeaway from this year’s results is how concentrated the wins were at the top: just two films accounted for nearly half of all awards handed out, underscoring a rare level of consensus among the Society’s nearly 300 voting critics worldwide.

The organization also presented Lifetime Achievement Awards to Colleen Atwood, Jack Nicholson, Steven Spielberg, Vittorio Storaro, and Walter Murch, alongside Special Achievement Awards recognizing sustainability efforts in filmmaking and advocacy within the industry.

Here’s the complete list of Online Film Critics Society Award winners and nominations for 2025.

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