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Monday, October 12, 2026

Resident Evil (2026)

Between the critical failure of Paul W. S. Anderson’s Resident Evil hexalogy and the commercial failure of Welcome to Raccoon City, Zach Cregger’s Resident Evil (2026) had a lot riding on it. Although Cregger found success in both Weapons and Barbarian, his take on Resident Evil would represent the second reboot of the film arm of the wider franchise, a side that had already burned longtime fans (but not necessarily general audiences) multiple times. As such, he decided that instead of adapting a specific game, he would focus on adapting the “survival horror” aspect while following a new character. Although a loud segment of the fandom would question this decision, the finished film would not only earn the highest critical scores of any video game movie, surpassing Exit 8, but also make over $250 million against its $75 million budget as of this writing. Personally, following the disappointment of Welcome to Raccoon City, Cregger’s clear passion for the franchise and a sneak peek shown at SDCC 2026 won me over and I couldn’t wait to see it as soon as I could. Fortunately, Cregger seems to have finally cracked the code on adapting a survival horror series to the big screen in a way that a film like Return to Silent Hill could not.

Stubs - Haunted Mansion (2023)

Haunted Mansion (2023) starring LaKeith Stanfield, Tiffany Haddish, Owen Wilson, Danny DeVito, Rosario Dawson, Dan Levy, Jamie Lee Curtis, Jared Leto Directed by Justin Simien. Screenplay by Katie Dippold. Based on The Haunted Mansion by Walt Disney. Produced by Dan Lin, Jonathan Eirich Run time: 123 minutes. USA. Color. Supernatural Horror, Comedy.

Sometimes a film can have a really great cast but the material doesn’t live up to the casting. Such is the case with Haunted Mansion, a 2023 release from Walt Disney. It's a remake of sorts of The Haunted Mansion (2003), the original, which only gets better when compared with this film.

The Haunted Mansion (2003)

Back in 2003, Disney released Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, their most successful film based on one of their theme park attractions by virtue of spawning a money-printing pentalogy. That same year, mere months later, Disney would also release The Haunted Mansion, based on the theme park attraction of the same name. Although the film would actually break even at the box office, with about $180 million earned against a $90 million budget, the film’s negative reception among critics, with a meager 14% on Rotten Tomatoes, would turn me off from watching it in the two decades since its original run. That would change with this blog’s yearly celebration of the Halloween season. While by no means a masterpiece, I now firmly believe that critics were too harsh on the film the first time around.

Shaun the Sheep: The Beast of Mossy Bottom

With the continued development and popularity of the Wallace & Gromit spin-off Shaun the Sheep, a third feature film, Shaun the Sheep: The Beast of Mossy Bottom (The Beast of Mossy Bottom), was inevitably produced, releasing just in time for the 2026 Halloween season. Unlike the previous feature, A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon, this one was not locked behind Netflix Jail, instead receiving a wide theatrical release. Since I don’t have a Netflix account, this made it a lot easier to watch The Beast of Mossy Bottom within the release window, at a time that ended up being a private screening, and found myself thoroughly entertained as a fan of the series.

Second Screening - The Transformers: The Movie (1986) 40th Anniversary

Note: This review contains spoilers for The Transformers: The Movie (1986).

In celebration of the 40th anniversary of The Transformers: The Movie (1986), Hasbro held a promotional campaign framing it as an Apology Tour, centering on the trauma many ‘80s kids faced from the infamous death of Optimus Prime in the film and culminating in a special theatrical screening from Fathom Events. While this campaign was meant to be tongue-in-cheek, the recent passing of Optimus Prime voice actor Peter Cullen shortly before the planned screening made the whole thing very awkward, leading both Hasbro and Fathom to downplay the Apology Tour aspect, save for whatever was too late into production to change. Truth be told, before Peter Cullen’s passing, I was actually planning to skip the screening entirely until I learned there was to be a new animated coda attached to it, at which point I got tickets when they went on sale; similarly, I was also going to skip the upcoming 40th anniversary Blu-ray set (I already own the Rhino DVD, Sony DVD and both of Shout! Factory’s 30th and 35th anniversary sets since they all have different bonus features on them) until I learned said coda was going to be included. As for the screening itself, I still found the movie worth celebrating for Transformers fans, but felt mixed about the extra content.

Stubs - Batman (1943)

Batman (1943) starring Lewis Wilson, Douglas Croft, J. Carrol Naish, Shirley Patterson Directed by Lambert Hillyer. Screenplay by Victor McLeod, Leslie Swabacker, Harry L. Fraser. Based on Batman by Bill Finger (uncredited) and Bob Kane. Produced by Rudolph C. Flothow Run time: 260 minutes. Black and White USA Superhero

There’s a long list of actors who have played the Batman character on television and in movies: Adam West, Michael Keaton, Val Kilmer, George Clooney, Christian Bale, Ben Afleck and Robert Pattison come to mind. But the first actor to don the mask and cape was Lewis Wilson, who starred in the first serial based on the DC character, Batman.

Review Hub - Wallace & Gromit

What started as a student film, A Grand Day Out, from Nick Park in 1989 went on to launch Wallace & Gromit, Aardman's flagship IP depicting the misadventures of eccentric inventor Wallace and his silent dog Gromit. While it has remained popular in its own right, even becoming a mainstay in British culture, the popularity of Shaun the sheep from A Close Shave led to him getting his own spinoff series, which shows no signs of stopping. Both franchises have even spawned their share of video games and feature films, a testament to their everlasting popularity.

Below is a list of links to every Wallace & Gromit review on this blog, separated by series and medium and listed in release order.

Update (9/27/2026): Added Shaun the Sheep: The Beast of Mossy Bottom