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SXSW Review: “Chili Finger”
By Christopher Llewellyn Reed
March 15, 2026
Chili Finger (Edd Benda/Stephen Helstad, 2026) 3½ out of 5 stars Co-directors Edd Benda and Stephen Helstad, who previously collaborated on the films The Kids Table and Superior, clearly love the work of Ethan and Joel Coen; their latest effort, Chili Finger, is very much an homage to the 1996 Fargo. For good measure, they even include the actor John Goodman, a longtime partner of the Coens (though he was not in Fargo). The new movie is more ... >>
SXSW Review: “The AI Doc: Or How I Became an Apocaloptimist”
By Christopher Llewellyn Reed
March 15, 2026
The AI Doc: Or How I Became an Apocaloptimist (Daniel Roher/Charlie Tyrell, 2026) 3½ out of 5 stars Although there is a high likelihood that artificial intelligence (or AI) will lead to the end of humanity (or at least the human race as we know it)—whether by the systems developing consciousness and eradicating us, the algorithms making such quick decisions that cataclysmic events occur too quickly to stop, or the less dramatic slow-drip of ... >>
SXSW 2026 XR Experience: “Lacuna” and “Lesbian Simulator”
By Christopher Llewellyn Reed
March 15, 2026
XR Experience Spotlight @ Fairmont It’s impossible—unless that’s all one intends to do—to catch all the different XR (“extended reality,” the umbrella term for AR, VR, and MR) exhibits at a festival like SXSW, but during the press preview yesterday, I was able to sneak in a few hours to experience two of them. Those were Lacuna, from co-directors Maartje Wegdam and Nienke Huitenga Broeren, and Lesbian Simulator, from Iris van der Meule. Both ... >>
“The Spin” Strikes Balance Between Grounded and Heartwarming
By Robin C. Farrell
February 25, 2026
The Spin (Michael Head, 2025) 4 out of 5 stars Based upon a semi-autobiographical story of co-writer Mark McCausland, The Spin tells the tale of Dermot (Brenock O’Connor, Double Blind) and Elvis (Owen Colgan, Lulu and the Electric Dreamboat), both music enthusiasts who run a less-than-successful record shop in Omagh, Northern Ireland. From the jump, ddirector Michael Head (Bermondsey Tales: Fall of the Roman Empire) offers up a welcome dose of ... >>
“Murder in Glitterball City” Offers More Than Meets the Eye
By George W. Campbell
February 18, 2026
Murder in Glitterball City (Fenton Bailey/Randy Barbato, 2026) 3½ out of 5 stars The first thing you see in HBO’s two-part Murder in Glitterball City is the face of a man named Joey Banis. He sits down in front of a webcam, eyes darting offscreen, staying uncomfortably silent. Banis reads off a piece of paper and announces to whom it may concern that they are watching a suicide video. He claims to have killed someone and wishes to absolve his ... >>

SXSW 2026 XR Experience: “Lacuna” and “Lesbian Simulator”
March 15, 2026
XR Experience Spotlight @ Fairmont It’s ...>>
5 Films to Watch at SXSW 2026
March 10, 2026
I didn’t travel to Austin, Texas, last year for SXSW, ...>>
10 Films to Watch at Sundance 2026
January 20, 2026
The 2026 Sundance Film Festival runs live and ...>>
Chris Reed’s Top 10 Films of 2025
December 31, 2025
It always amazes me how different a given year’s ...>>
Hannah Tran’s Top 10 Films of 2025
December 29, 2025
Whether in narrative or documentary, few years have ...>>