The 10 Best Movies of 2026 … So Far

The Big Picture - The Ringer

Amanda D. and guests discuss the best films of 2026 so far, highlighting standout movies like '28 Years Later: The Bone Temple' and 'Project Hail Mary,' while exploring trends in horror and blockbuster cinema. John Early joins to discuss his directorial debut, 'Maddie Secret.'

Key takeaways

• Horror films dominate early 2026, reflecting cultural anxieties.
• Audiences are drawn to emotionally resonant, character-driven stories.
• Blockbusters like 'Project Hail Mary' gain lasting impact despite early hype fading.

Transcript preview

I'm sure, I'm sure. I'm Amanda D. And this is the big picture in conversation show about the best movies of the year so far. Today on the show we are joined by eight Ringer friends who share their favorite movies of 2026 unless Rob Mahoney has stolen their pick two choices. Later in this episode I'll be joined by John Early who is the writer director of Maddie Secret. One of the films picked for this episode. John is a hilarious comedian actor and writer and it turns out a damn good director too. His feature debut manages to blend Douglas Surk David Wayne and lifetime movies into an elegant heartbreaking quasi-camp stew. John is a great guest, super smart guy. Most definitely stick around for this conversation. But first let's go to our favorite movies of the year so far and first up who else. C. C. C. R. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. Okay, C. R. is here. I am. What's up, man? Not much. You okay? Are we doing the best movies of 2026 so far now to get it in under the Odyssey wire because you feel like that's where the movie year turns? No, he has a very complex scheduling regimen that's, you know, he consults the holy tablets, you know, and the positions of the planets. The Quran. I know. Yeah. And then he puts it together before we do the movie auction. Yeah. And then he puts it together before we do the movie auction. just happens that they scheduled the Odyssey for the beginning of, I guess it wouldn't be Q2, what are we calling? Q3. Q3. Sure, but what if it's just the halves? What is that in business parlance? The second half of the year. Okay, well, we need, they need a catchier jargon. So this is our hydration break in a way. It is, and we do do this every year at roughly the July 1st mark. And it's interesting because July, it seems like it's going to be pretty action-pack. But the movies have been popping as you know see are yeah so but you chose you chose a film that came early very early yeah what you pick 28 years later the bone temple near to costus follow up to Danny Boyle's reimagining a reboot of the 28 days later franchise and I wanted to bounce a little theory off of you that I've been working on was 28 years later the little kernel of an idea of where we are now with like obsession and backrooms of that like why I know it wasn't like a massive huge success and it was did well enough to get a second movie out there but I kind of feel like the way that those movies made me feel of like feeling like this director's really taking me into their own personal world and that this is an idiosyncratic enigmatic way of telling these stories even if there are things that we've seen before certainly that's the case for these two movies for the two 28 years later movies but I wonder if that like we'll go back look at that as a little signal that something new was coming down the line. I have no idea I can speak to this film's specific qualities if you want which is Anita Costa had a really really tough assignment which is to follow up this franchise his originators return to the franchise and he did an amazing job your number one movie with 25 20 years later and she just very wisely chose to do something different it's a much more static film it's not as kinetic I mean there's certainly really incredible action sequences in it's much more of a two-hander really between Ray finds his character and Jack O'Connell's character as like these two poles of how you would deal with such a tragic apocalypse and you know what happens to the human soul when it's put in this situation but it's also about grieving and it's also about loss which the first one's about to and you know I just thought it was just such an electrifying way to start the movie or I thought it would be a good movie to highlight. I didn't really see like I didn't draw any of the conclusions, the conclusions, the connections, the connections, the connections, the connections, the connections, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the doing around horror movies things maybe like a little bit of a longer period of time but this movie is I thought was shockingly great and I loved the transition the stylistic transition from what Boyle is doing to what Neatocasa was doing huge look for Duran-Iran yeah quality needle drops obviously we were very fines forward on this show yes love his work I think he is definitely an Oscar nom worthy performance yes it would be Gladys and and and you know continued that yeah was a little bit of a financial let down and so because of that maybe it will be more of a struggle but there was news that Boyle is coming back and is making the fourth yeah I mean I think that if you're if you're saying like Killian Murphy is going to be in a in another zombie movie it's really hard to just be like nah we're good yeah yeah and Jack O'Connell in this movie is terrifying and funny and hard to watch and I of sorts at the end, very different than the cause way and the and the set pieces of 28 years later but memorable. Very memorable. Yeah, it's a great pick. It's interesting to think about four or five of the films being talked about on today's episode being horror movies, you know, the fact that it really has had centrality in the conversation this year and but this is like... How do you guys feel about that as, you know, keepers of the flame? I think that there's probably some people out there that are like no it's a genre for freaks and we've always just been denigrated and kept to the back of the video store or whatever next to the porn but I think it's where you love to be I think it's a really exciting time to see all these different filmmakers working with some of the conventions of horror and I don't really look at it as elevated or not horror movies one of the most democratic genres that we have. I do like, I mean, Dicasa comes by it honestly, I mean she made a candyman movie like seven years ago. It's not like she's not interested in the genre and what it does. It's interesting to see a movie like obsession happen. Yeah. Like that's a hard genre horror movie with like violent gross stuff like beheadings and very upsetting and things like it is pure horror and for that to crossovers quite fascinating but this one is a bit more elegant even though it has a lot of gnarly stuff in it. Yeah, I really hope that they get to make the third one just because I think it'll maybe give a little a shine to the second one. I think it'll if there's a third one with Killian coming out I think people might be like oh I missed the bone temple because it came out in January or I was waiting for it to get to Netflix and I hope that there is a little bit of a revival. I think this movie. Okay, Joanna Robinson is here. Hello. Hi. So you've chosen a film? I have. Was this an easy choice or a hard choice? It was. I was really excited because usually as the narrative on this pod, Rob Mahoney takes my pick. This keeps coming up. This is literally every segment. It is a theme. He was sitting right next to me when the message came in from Jack and I was just like, like, and then I was like, oh, check your phone. Jack sent us a message, but I already report. were taking something from him? I don't. Just once I would like someone to take something for Rob Mahoney. We will be drafting later today so maybe we can. Don't know that this would have been his number one pick but like he picked right after me he took your number one pick yeah so yeah stuff. I'm I'm interested to talk to you about this movie we saw this movie together we did and what is it? It's Project Tell Mary. Okay so this movie one of the biggest movies of the year. The first strike in the movies are back narrative we are kind of living through we are kind of living through What usually happens to movies like this, I think, is when they come early, they start to get diminished. Yeah, a little bit, like the flaws start to get elevated a little bit, we've had more time with them. I wouldn't say it has happened in a dramatic way to this movie, but it doesn't feel as shiny and new as some of the other movies that are being picked even on this episode. So I want to hear your strong defense for the film, what you love about it. What an old stale pick you picked just a few months ago. Do you feel. Do you feel, I mean, I mean, I mean, I mean, I mean, I mean, do you feel like, do you feel like, do you feel like, do you feel like, do you feel like, do you feel like, do you feel like, do you feel like, do you feel like, I mean everyone has very short attention spans but especially people who track box office and what the new shiny thing is in movies and especially if you have to talk about movies all of the time on the podcast and I think also maybe a little bit in terms of awards sense because we are all Oscar nerds on this podcast and we all saw Project Hillmary and we're like huh so is that our big our big is that our sinners for this year is that our big block early in the year blockbuster that turns into Oscar nomination you know King? and we're in the time of the year where it just gets forgotten. Which happens to centers too. So it's just, you know, I enjoyed it. I'm not gonna ask you, I'm not gonna put you on the stand. No, I'm like other than you're just for the sake of podcast. I am. I'm like, sure, attention is elsewhere. Yeah, no, and that's fair. I think I loved the movie. I love the book that it's based on, but it still feels like a big win. original sci-fi even though it's an adaptation it's not a not a franchise movie despite what murmuring you might have been hearing about a sequel I think it's like an incredible standalone I think it's a movie star story for Ryan Gosling which is really important it's a studio story for Amazon MGM so in the big pick sense it is like this interesting business story of the year and then but then they cancelled an artificial movie because they have a deal with it open AI oh yeah you know and they they put out he man like I'm not saying everything's great for Amazon mGM but this was like a big win that they kind of needed he man will be heard from in this episode have you know not and not by Sean not from me no van leth than yeah what a chaotic choice and I really loved the movie and like you know I'm not I'm here to praise project hillmary not Berry disclosure day but I think that sort of like a lot of people got that like Spielberg feeling from it was lord of miller's first film that they directed since a sort of like maybe you should have let us have solo a Star Wars story moment so there's like a lot of narrative around it and then I just I really loved the movie I loved it I loved it I loved it I loved it he's 15 and he just like loved it and he loves that book and so the book readers loved it the people who had never heard the story loved it I'm back theater and he just like loved it he's 15 and he just like loved it and he loved it and he loved that's so like apparently his name escapes me the puppeteer who also says thank you um it sounds like there's gonna be a campaign for him and supporting actor which is fascinating and I would love for there you know we've heard about this for years and years and Andy Circus has been put up many times and it never really cracked through I do feel like the Academy making a bunch of these changes getting the stunt category in like all the stuff that we've kind of been winching about for 10 years they're getting their heads around and the body's so big now that would be now that would be who's doing that kind of voice work. Because it's only two performances in that movie. That's really it, aside from Sandra Hula. Yeah, who's fantastic. Yeah. And she's wonderful too, but yeah, that's a great part of it. I love to hear that about your nephew. And I do think it's completely fair to compare it to Disclosure Day. I mean, Project Tell Mary doesn't exist without ET. So that's totally a component of the story. And one side is a very a very hopeful, optimistic, excited version of this story. I mean, and one is a little bit less. I mean, more of like I think a beaten down vision of what the world wants us to think is behind the shadow. But they're both trying to end on this like Hope Corps note and for me personally at least the Hope Corps was more successful inside of Project Hail Mary and I think it's something that will have that late I mean I actually don't really care if it wins Oscars I care about the Oscars in general but like I care about that sporting actor narrative but like I do think it might have a resurgence because they were so smart about the way San Diego comic-con last year all the way through the debut. They met a ton of money I think they really rolled it out very expertly so I think they know they need to be like quiet for a minute yes and then come back and feel like a sort of remember how much you loved Project Hill Mary. Just get the puppet out there get Rocky out there get him performing it. Yeah like I just it's candy it's and a great story that would be fun to say. Gosling in addition to being a performer as a producer in the movie and so he stands to be a best picture nominee So I think you're right I think it's gonna go quiet until about September October They'll probably have a re-release of some kind It's it is a movie theater movie that's the thing too is like you got it's a real like one of the reasons why it works a well is People going back multiple times check it out on the big screen What else anything else you want to say about it that really connect with you? You've done multiple podcasts about the film at this point I have I've talked about it a lot I Don't I don't I think it's maybe a year or two early for Alice. It's somewhat complex at times and it takes a little while to get to Rocky. Yes. So I was thinking about the kind of the first 30 minutes. But the Rocky of it all, I think my son would respond to. I think both would actually. The note that I remember us having when we came out of it was just sort of like, it was a little if it had just been a little shorter, a little tighter, it would have been an all-time sort of classic. I still feel that way. I still that way. I kind of. I kind of. I kind of. I kind of, I kind of, I kind of, I kind of, I kind of, I kind of, I kind of, I kind of, I kind of, I kind of, I kind of, I kind of, I kind of, I kind of, I kind of, I kind of, I think, I think, I think, I think, in the theater and every subsequent time I saw it I expected to feel the runtime more and I didn't actually at the end of the day so but also I saw it with like full excited audiences and that's just a huge part of that whole experience as well totally and that I think has been that's been the trickle down effect of going to the movies for the last for the four months since since it first hit right guess what movie theaters are great yeah seeing movies with people is great and like the last couple times I mean certainly last year was black bag like I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I've at home alone and it just like feels so different to talk about a big just so fun that we had a big blockbuster movie at the beginning of the year that we've got a we're staring down the barrel of a bunch this summer and there's even more waiting for us in the fall and that's just very exciting to me so I totally agree Joe you're the best what are you going to come back and talk on the show about what's what are you targeting this fall I don't I don't know what are you targeting this I don't know I don't know what are you anything appears in my shot right now. I don't know what are you anticipating. Oh gosh I don't know I mean my mind is so stuck in sort of the Odyssey is right around the corner and Spider-Man's right around you know in that sort of house of our way so I have yet to migrate to where to the fall Oscar are you are you hype on Spider-Man where's your head at? medium hype I think Sadie sink is incredible and everything that I've heard from people who have seen it is that she's fantastic and they're hiding her so much but I'm really excited for this as a potential sort of new chapter of this world that has felt like it's running on fumes for so long so this is potentially an expansion. How do you feel about the mutant centering the NCO? I'm glad you clarified which mutant is she? Probably Gee gray. Sure and that's who Jennifer Lawrence and no. No. No. Oh and then Sophie Turner. Yes. And Fonka. Okay. Yeah. So different than the blue person. Think about the red heads. Yeah, okay. Um, good luck. Sure. I'm gonna see it. Yeah, of course. And then I'm gonna go on vacation. Where are you in Spider-Man in general? Pro. I get it. I mean, I really liked the last one when they pointed at each other and then when Andrew Garfield saves Zendaya, but we were thinking of Emma Stone and I thought that was very beautiful. Listen, when it's a team, it's a good character, you know, like it makes sense to me. Do I know anything else? Not really. Not really. I'm in the midst of attempting to book the first ever Tim Simon's Alex Ross Perry conversation for that episode so that we can talk about Gore effects and also the pain of being an actor which is what Clayface is about. How are you feeling about it? I'm really excited for it. Me too. I'm like bizarrely very excited for it. It is actually it's sort of similar to Andor where it was sort of like you could have been doing this with superhero movies all along. Like we've been waiting so long for you to be like scale it down tell a different kind of story yeah yeah anyway all right Joanna thank you for being here prestige TV podcast house of are correct what else is cooking right now occasionally big picture big picture rewatchables yeah see you soon see you soon see you soon. go outside without having a breathing apparatus. Yeah. Yeah, that's been a struggle out here. You just spent nine minutes extolling the virtues of your skin care regimen to Amanda. Yes. And fitness routine, which is germane to the film. We're about to listen. My brother is still in New York and if someone he does not work out and he helped his like 27 year old friend move from Brooklyn to Harlem. Yeah. And he's like I can't move my body. I'm like dog. My dog. My I'm 33 right now. I'm like, I'm 33 right. I can't. I can't. I can't. I can't. I can't. I can't. I can't. I can't. I can't. I can't. I can't. I can't feel like, I can't feel like, I can't. I can't. I can't feel like, I can't. I can't. I can't. it's just going to do. We're training for life and so when the bounce house hit yesterday and I had to just throw children in like kettleballs one by one I was ready. You were you ready? You know? No. I did my work. No you did it your daughter came over and said please. That's not true. I literally did get a turn. Are you doing back stretches every day? I stretch. I am not on a fitness right now actually. For the first time, these last two years I have stopped fully and need to figure out because I'm headed towards the back nine. You're not at the back nine yet. You're still a Hale and Hardy. You could be performing in the film that you chose at the stage of your life. No. But for the film I chose this. This was a late stage pick but the furious. Yeah, so why did you choose this movie? So it's funny. Before I chose this when I was talking to Jack, I was originally going to pick Nervana the band. And to me, even though one is a comedy and one is a martial arts film, both of them, both of them share a quality. like I that makes me fall in love of movies all over again is like this is something that only these creators could do where it is like I think the furious was budgeted at something like 20 million and I was reading interviews and the director was like we are not Tom Cruise like leave jumping out of the helicopter to Tom Cruise we are not Fast and Furious we cannot film cars as great as they do what do we have and it's martial arts it is the judo it's the whooshu I thought I was going to go in thinking like this is such a Chad boy experience and I'm like I'm watching beautiful men at the height of their of their sportsmen like just lives doing that way yes it kind of reminds me everybody's saying like the comp is the raid I'm like this almost reminds me of crouching tiger almost where just the choreography is the story yeah the martial artistry is more the thing with this movie there is a lot of it is a fusion of those two kinds of films though you know there's no gun fighting in this movie this is not John Wick is not gun food yeah it is it is hand to hand but the choreography in the fight sequences is astonishing I mean it is really really and but the thing about that is sometimes you can talk about this and I think it can be alienating where if you're not a martial arts movie expert or you don't know the history of that stuff that sometimes it can be like a little boring or you think you're maybe you're thinking of futile Japan or something but this is a contemporarily set story and it's also kind of funny in a way that nirvana is funny too. I mean the way that it's choreographed is you're meant to be like jumping out of your seat and like chortling to yourself and applauding. There is there is a scene and it's been in the trailers where they're in a cage and there's no way in real life a fight would work like this but our main character is quite literally like building a skyscraper of beating guys and he's like stepping one over another and instead of having like a gun, he's just killing people It's just the lizard part of your brain is like monkey beats other monkey with hamper. Cool. It's like this is crazy. It's physical comedy. Like there which there is there's you know there's a line from you know like three stooges and then musical comedy and then people fighting together which is yes what can you use your body to do that is outrageous and unexpected and like not really true to life. Not true to but but exhilarating. What can you use your body to do that is? What is? What? It should not make sense that there is at the end there the greatest fight I've seen in decades happens at the end It's a five way fight like so great You almost stand out of your seat when they split the frame in five I said the same thing on the show It's that part is just so awesome But to get there you're just like there's this big hulking Mass of a guy who basically wakes up and he's not a zombie But it's like he just like runs to the fight and you're like what is happening Yes and then you just have like five have like grudges but the movie has also done this phenomenal thing where it's like this is not taken where the whole thing is we are going all the way to rescue the daughter halfway through their movie they rescue the daughter they rescue the captured kids and you're like what's the rest of this movie and they're like oh no they solve the problem I don't actually give a fuck about these kids anymore I just want to see people peat at each other yeah it's a set piece machine it's also like it does tip into Dada surrealist really important what's happening with what matters is the poetry of violence that is on screen and that character that Charles is describing is like a bullet-headed gigantic man who has is like axed to death and then comes back to life in an alarming fashion and then like biochemically knows which path to follow to find the fight that is happening I was laughing the entire time. is a lot of fun. I'm I'm not super familiar with with gee meow the one the silent star of the film who's the father of the little girl. So neither was I I was I'm gonna butcher their names so I'm not gonna eat it but like the other two stars one of them is one of the greatest martial arts artists he's been in the rate he was in the rate too yes when you see him in a movie you're like this guy is the devil and to defeat him these characters are just going to have to um he was the guy with the guy on ruin yeah yeah whatever you see him in a martial arts movie you're like oh my gosh yeah he that there's a there's a this movie. This movie puts the death of Robin Hood the shame when it comes to bow and arrow battle I will say that for sure. I was this movie I was enchanted and it's also funny where a lot of times because I was like when I left the movie I can tell it had an oppressor on me where it's like usually I'm like all right I'm driving home. I'm driving home. I'm going to listen to an album and I drove home in silence because I just want to think I was just like what did I just watch like I don't want that I kind of want to just bask in this memory of being like oh we can still do cool shit in movies we can still do stuff where I'm like I'm still kind of scratching my head I'm like I can watch all these videos of how they did this stuff and still there is a there is a magic of cinema of being hey some guys can just like dance and the dialogue beating the shit out of each other. And what more did you want at the age of 33? Did you see it with a full crowd? So I. Yeah, where I wanted to do a movie theater check in for you. So unfortunately I watched it at one of my least favorite movie theaters Regal Passio. Okay. Tuff. Passio? Passio. How do you say it? I'm doing Paseo? I'm doing. And they have a large Kim Crawford port when you need it. It's. That is not my favorite because I will. What's the Catholic movie where they're all voting? Conclave. Conclave. I got there with you. Where they're all? Why's there? It's beautiful. I saw the reason I could never really go to that movie theater again is I saw Conclave when Trump was elected the second time and I went into the movie not knowing what was gonna happen. And I left and I checked my phone and I was like, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, the way. because like I walked out and it was just pure silence. No one was talking. Everybody. So you have a negative association with that. I have a negative association. And when I. And they have the new, they have like the school desk chairs now. Yeah. I don't really under, I feel contained. But what I would say. I like all movie theaters. Sure. This was a Thursday at 4 p.m. And while it was not packed, I did, like I was doing a sociological like a sociological study because it was grown men who were like in their 40 but all of them had brought their partners. Like there was just a like, it was like a date night, but it was also 4 PM and these men were like, in my 40s and 50s. And I was like, this is a, this is a, this is a, on a Thursday. On a Thursday. On a Thursday. It never for one second crossed my mind to bring Eileen to go see the furious, not for a single second. I can't imagine a thing she'd enjoy less. The, I will say, I will say, I will say, I'll Yeah, yeah. People standing and cheering in the middle of my movie theater. It was it was amazing I yelped during the five what they split it in five dollars like I was almost about to just like stand up and just keep standing. Yeah, so sorry that I We had boy corner Listen that's good. It's it's good when people make the highest version of their art instead of trying to do stuff in the middle that pleases nobody I I was trying to do the drama Rob Mahoney picked it I think drama and the furious I will just say ending on this would be a great double feature. Love it. Like to me these are both speaking to the same things just the fight of the human spirit and then the fight of hammers drilling into foreheads. Charles Holmes. That's beautiful. Well done. Thank you. Oh yeah, thank y'all. I know the answer unfortunately because I had Star Wars draft yeah I've known many sleepless nights since it was the Star Wars draft and when I fall asleep at night I see the Sky Walker family tree it's the last thing I see before I doze off and the first thing that popped into my brain when I wake up in the morning yeah but in your version the little tiny things are part of the tree right the droids are on the family tree that's correct I know what the droids are what are the other ones what was the real what was the real the internet saying that I was right and you were wrong. Can I also say that I received a lot of feedback from people who thought that you were me? That is the tale is all of the same time. Yeah, that's sure. That is a tale is all this time for us. Yeah. Not all women. We have brown hair. Exactly. I was going to say we do both have brown hair, but we could not possibly have more different. Like, our interest and tastes are so different. Yeah, so. And yeah, two of the most important gals in the world. We miss you. Do you want to lead with your complaints about the procedural aspects of this episode? Yes. Go ahead, floor is yours. I have some complaints about the procedural aspects of the draft, which I think have already aired when this airs, but we'll be recording after, so I'll save some of my ammo. No, I'm kidding. I can't wait. Or am I. We'll find out. You're always very normal in drafts. I've noticed that about you. I have three guns today. Come, thoughtful. You roll with the punches. I'm excited for the draft. I'm. I'm. I'm. I'm. I'm. I'm. I'm. I'm. I'm. I'm. I'm. I'm. I'm. I'm. I'm. I'm. I'm. Or. Or. Or. Or. Or. Or. Or. Or. Or am. Or am. Or am. Or am. Or am. Or am. Or am. Or am. Or am. Or am. Or am it's been better served in general by a more mellow approach to the draft which is what I will be bringing today. Oh I'm sure. Yeah. Fully expect to encounter that momentarily. What did you pick for this? I saw the text. And how did you pick it? Sean hit up the group chat, you know, and this is a sad annual tradition. I was in Sweden when you hit up the group chat. Were you actually in Sweden or were you on one of your 14 layovers? That's a good question. I think I was in Sweden. I think I was in Sweden. I was in Sweden. I was in Sweden. I was in Sweden. I was in Sweden. I was in Sweden. I was in Sweden. I was in Sweden. I was in Sweden. I was in Sweden. I was in Sweden. I was in Sweden. I was in Sweden. I was in Sweden. I was in Sweden. I was in Sweden. I was in Sweden. I was in Sweden. I was in Sweden. I was in Sweden. I was in Sweden. chat came and all of the many layovers and the many hours of travel when I was also not responding to text came later and before. By the time I was able to catch up on the group chat, the exchange, the two movies that I would have really loved to pick. Project Hill Mary, 28 years later, had been selected by two of my dearest friends and colleagues and now sworn enemies. Joanna and Chris. And then I thought, okay, we got a couple of weeks. Sean is such a thoughtful planner, always a head. Before we record, Amanda, a little feedback via feedback via feedback from Amanda. Surprising. Nodding of the head. Shaking of, not a nodding actually, a shaking of the head. I thought, you know what? Thoughtful planner should be the title of my memoir. That would be good. Did you consider that for your newsletter? No, I'm saving that. Back pocketing that one for down the road. In my 70s, you know, it's gonna be. Will you still be potting? I hope so. Okay. Wow. I'll be on a beach what about you same I'll be on my own island yeah oh yeah I just I I love the spirit of creativity I love creating I love sharing my thoughts I like the spirit of creativity and I will be engaging with that by reading other people's books while I sit on a beach so I thought maybe by the time we pod I will have seen sheep detectives a movie that I hear is wonderful and feel sure I'll love didn't get a chance and I was like you know what we're recording this a week a week a couple days a couple days a couple days a couple days a couple days we couldn't make the screenings and I was out of town. This is just a nightmare. You told me all the way up until the last minute, last night. I texted you 10 minutes before a toy story showing this week I'm in, which was not Los Angeles and I was like I might go. I was there for a dear friend's birthday celebration so that would have been irresponsible and I did not ultimately good. I am glad that you picked the disclosure day. I have picked a experience of friendship rather than the movie quote unquote about friendship. I did actually end up sitting in the hotel room for those exact same hours. I'm and it was honestly wonderful. It was wonderful. Listen then you got the lesson of Toy Story 5 without having to update your app. So you can't wait. So I have chosen Disclosure Day, a movie that I thought would be worth including in the podcast and discussing but I do think it's interesting to talk about but I can't say like to quote Chase Serrano with my chest is actually my pick for best movie of the year so far but I do think it is a movie that has given us something that is one of the best things that is one of the best things that is one bait and discussion with each other and probably more crucially of all an excuse to dive back into a creator's canon. So one of the things that I just loved about the run-up to disclosure day was not that I need the excuse to do this not that any of us do but the excuse to the opportunity to revisit some of my favorite movies of all time. I was like time to boot up close encounters which I did. Time to boot up war of the world's not a movie I particularly enjoy but I still did. I was like dare I rewatch Crystal Skull. I was I was like you did this a couple years ago chill yeah but that's a great I don't actually think that that ultimately helped my reception of Disclosure Day candidly but it was a wonderful thing to just like engage in the the discourse your favorite thing online discourse Amanda I love to hear from other people fellasinophiles about where this movie fits and stands only in Spielberg's filmography overall but like specifically the UFO films and the opportunity to really think much of that area of interest which has spanned decades of his creative life is like the aliens come to us here on earth it was just an interesting moment to reflect on his relationship to that type of storytelling I thought the movie was very propulsive and entertaining and I also had a lot of notes on it but it's been really fun to like to listen to you guys talk about it to pot about it with Joe to see it with my husband and talk about it with him and just to like when I was like when I was and so that is my pick because I could not pick those other movies. I appreciate you picking it here. We had such an interesting experience. We saw the movie together. We did, yes. The three of us in Joanna and there was an unusual series of scrums of people exchanging notes after the screening that we went to, which is pretty rare I would say at these screenings. You sometimes get like maybe one polite two minute conversation but people were like no let's do a 15 minute break down of how we really felt about this. happening in real time. They were. Yeah. And you could tell right away this is going to be really divisive this movie because there were some people who walked out. I remember looking at one very prominent journalist heading to the bathroom he was just like, nope. Correct. And that was like, am I crazy? No. Yeah. And so it has been funny that it has gone into the blender. I think as often with these things like heavily marketed movies from huge famous filmmakers. Yeah. Yeah. And so it has been funny. And so it has been and there's been a lot of really negative reaction to the movie. That's probably going to subside over time. A lot of Spielberg movies also tend to get reclaimed pretty quickly. You mentioned not loving War of the Worlds, which is a movie that I really loved at the time, though I do think it also similarly has a lot of script flaws, also a David Kept script. I think a lot of times what happens with Spielberg movies and we talked about this in the 21st century conversation is. His personal kind of philosophy and perspective. plus the filmmaking chops tends to outlive the story annoyed me components of a lot of his movies especially the second half of his film career movies. Crystal Skull is one of the precious few that I'm like no like I just can't get on board with this. Wild film. Yeah very weird movie but um fun to rewash. Yeah I don't know I've only seen it one time though you've seen it a second time. I've seen it twice as well. Yeah. And I mean I've seen it's confirmed my experience and in terms in terms of I've only I've only I've only seen it's I've only seen it's I've only seen it's of it are electrifying and I learned more about the old alien you know and and continued to think what I thought about that alien. Jim alien? No it's like it's alien 17 right? Jimmy? In vivo 17 yeah is that right yeah. He got the name of my TV. You've really absorbed all of the cannon from where are you at on aliens Hugo? I'm pro-alien in general. I enjoyed your discussion with each other about whether your entire creative and professional and professional and personal and personal and personal. You're life would halt in full if aliens were revealed to us. I believe aliens are out there, it feels impossible that they're not. I enjoy the genre. You think they're here like on Earth? Currently? Hmm. Good question. What would you do?