Scary Movie (2026)

Director: Michael Tiddes
Starring: Marlon Wayans, Shawn Wayans, Anna Faris, Regina Hall, Kenan Thompson, Dave Sheridan, Lochlyn Monro, Kim Wayans, Cheri Oteri, Chris Elliott, Damon Wayans Jr., Heidi Gardner, Olivia Rose Keegan, Cameron Scott Roberts, Savannah Lee Nassif, Sydney Park, Gregg Wayans, Benny Zielke, Ruby Snowber, Jon Abrahams, Deon Cole, Carmen Electra, Teyana Taylor, Kai Senet, Anthony Anderson, Shaquille O' Neal 
Running Time: 96 min.
Rating: R

★★½ (out of ★★★★) 

At least on paper, rebooting or requeling the Scary Movie franchise a little over a decade since its last installment isn't the worst idea in the world, especially given how many new horror films seem ripe for parody. And while there's minimal nostalgia to be found in reuniting a cast that starred in half a dozen of these already, the Wayans brothers do make good on their promise to temporarily resurrect the politically incorrect comedy with this entry. So regardless of how many jokes land or flop, they can't be accused of playing it safe. 

The real problem is that it's sort of a mess, with randomly inserted and characters whose actions inconsistently waver depending on how ridiculous the story needs to be at any given moment. But that's almost a silly complaint to lodge against a franchise that's always been about getting to the next gag at any expense, including quality. They're just especially blatant about it this time, with parodies flying at us a mile a minute as it spoofs every popular horror movie of the past five years and skewers a variety of hot button social issues. 

Now a paranoid recluse and alcoholic, Cindy Campbell (Anna Faris) is estranged from her two daughters when the youngest, Tuesday (Savannah Lee Nassif) is attacked by a recently resurfaced Ghostface killer.  Older sister Sara (Olivia Rose Keegan) and her boyfriend Jack (Cameron Scott Roberts) try to narrow down the suspects, getting help from Brenda's (Regina Hall) kids Brad (Gregg Wayans) and Dei (Sydney Park), Brad's girlfriend Elle (Ruby Snowber) and Sheriff Phillippe's (Lochlyn Monro) transgender son Jess (Benny Zielke). 

While at odds with pill popping daughter Sara, Cindy reunites with Brenda and Shorty (Marlon Wayans), convinced Ghostface is back to kill off the original legacy characters. And as the religious, churchgoing Brenda deals with husband Gay Ray's (Shawn Wayans) ambivalence about his homosexuality, original Ghostface and mentally challenged former deputy Doofy Gilmore (Dave Sheridan) reemerges, aiding Sara and the gang. But with the body count rapidly rising, everyone's a suspect.

What's most noticeable is how determined the Wayans are to go to those uncomfortable places that permeated the 2000's era spoof films, challenging the notion it still can't be done today. And it's a relief they're fully committed to the offensiveness considering this material is so wildly uneven that holding back would really sink it.  

The opening scene featuring Teyana Taylor as "herself" in the franchise's meta movie within a movie spoof immediately quells concerns, providing enough laughs to wish they'd continue along this trajectory. But as quickly as this occurs, the action immediately shifts to the actual story, with a plot that shares an outline with the latest batch of Scream sequels, right down to the terrorized sisters and suspicious boyfriend. 

Of course, all of this highlights the challenge of basing an entire series of films on spoofing an existing horror franchise that's already a self-referential parody of its own. As usual, the Wayans solve this problem by sending up everything else, whether it's Sinners, Smile, Weapons, Get Out, Terrifier, M3GAN, Longlegs, Wednesday, K-Pop Demon Hunters, The Substance and even Michael. The Substance spoof featuring a returning Cheri Oteri as the Courtney Cox-inspired reporter Gail Hailstorm is probably the funniest while multiple, oddly placed jabs at Sinners bomb, especially a lengthy church "conversion" scene with Gay Ray that overstays its welcome. 

Ironically, the film does best when tackling the riskiest material, such as the sheriff's interactions with trans son Jess, COVID or a train scene centered around the nonbinary, not so subtly named Dei's obsession with pronouns. It's when the plot has to move forward that this stalls, but that's nothing new for the franchise. Anyone labeling it a huge step down from the others or an affront to cinema may want to rewatch those to remind themselves how bad these can get. Or maybe not.

A returning Faris enters her grizzled Jamie Lee Curtis phase from the most recent Halloween trilogy, putting her own comedic spin on the drunk, mentally unstable, gun toting survivalist driven to insanity from the previous films' events. If there's a Final Girl, it's Sara, who Olivia Rose Keegan plays as over-the-top and in-your-face as possible, recognizing that the most appropriate performance in a Scary Movie sequel is always an intentionally bad one. Marlon Wayans takes a page out of that book as permanently baked high school student Shorty while Dave Sheridan's Doofy reverts to his original "special needs" incarnation, stepping back into his uniform as if it were yesterday.

Stumbling from one Ghostface scenario to the next with hardly a plot to speak of, director Michael Tiddes throws jokes at the wall to see what sticks. Probability dictates a bunch will, even as others fall flat in the span of a 96 minute running time that feels just a bit longer. The parodies that do hit tend to hit hard, and if they weren't directly followed by awkward character moments that slow the momentum, this could have been something. But by its end, the Wayans brothers seem just as bored seeing the legacy characters interact with these new faces as we are. And if that's the biggest takeaway, they might have a better understanding of this franchise than we thought.                                                            

Air

Director: Ben Affleck
Starring: Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Jason Bateman, Marlon Wayans, Chris Messina, Chris Tucker, Viola Davis, Matthew Maher, Julius Tennon, Damian Young, Jay Mohr
Running Time: 112 min.
Rating: R 

★★★ ½ (out of ★★★★)

After a montage of 80's milestones set to Dire Strait's "Money For Nothing," Ben Affleck's Air kicks off by taking us straight into Nike headquarters, where something huge is about to go down, even if no one knows it yet. Based on a true story, it's about one man's gut feeling based on extensive knowledge and experience. Having already rolled the dice on a number of bad ideas and some really good ones he didn't get credit for, key employee Sonny Vaccaro has a new one he thinks can turn the fledgling company's fortunes around. And it just might be crazy enough to work.

This details how a Nike basketball scout signed college standout Michael Jordan to the sponsorship deal that transformed sports as we know it, to this day still generating a seemingly endless revenue stream. Unlike others, Vaccaro knew what bringing Jordan aboard would mean and was willing to do anything to get him. In retrospect, it's almost impossible to envision another outcome, but the film transports us into a world where it's not such a sure bet, as Alex Convery's script reveals everything that needed to fall exactly into place.

So accessibly mainstream that even those uninterested in basketball or sports in general will be hooked, it's easily the best in its genre since Moneyball, if slightly lighter in tone, but representing the type of adult-driven Hollywood picture that doesn't get made nearly enough. It also marks the long anticipated onscreen reunion of Affleck and Matt Damon, which doesn't disappoint, as both bring their best to this deceptively accomplished audience pleaser.

It's 1984 and Oregon-based Nike is on the verge of shutting down their unprofitable basketball shoe division as CEO and co-founder Bob Knight (Affleck) tasks Marketing VP Rob Strasser (Jason Bateman) and Sonny (Damon) with picking recently drafted NBA players to sign. Lagging far behind Adidas and Converse in sales, they're still primarily known for running shoes, leaving this division hurting for resources and attention. 

With North Carolina's Michael Jordan out of their price range and already planning to sign a lucrative Adidas contract, they go down the list of more attainable draft picks like Melvin Turpin and John Stockton. But Sonny can't let it go, pushing Knight to spend the department's entire budget on acquiring an uninterested, unaffordable Jordan and build their entire brand around him.  

While Jordan's understandably protective mother Deloris (Viola Davis) drives a hard bargain, Sonny will have to first find a way around his fast-talking, abrasive agent David Falk (Chris Messina), who makes the player's feelings about Nike abundantly clear. After gauging interest from Jordan's friend and Olympic coach George Raveling (Marlon Wayans) and consulting with upper level executive Howard White (Chris Tucker), Sonny remains undeterred. He's willing to risk it all, even if Nike's entire basketball division goes down with him.     

Sonny's tenacity causes headaches, but he's the real deal when it comes to knowing the game, as we see him continuously rewatch the most famous highlight in Jordan's NCAA career, but through an entirely different lens than everyone else. While Knight got Sonny this job and clearly respects the hustle, he still has a board to answer to, so the latter has to make things happen on his own. If shaking up the status quo and challenging the entire system is what it takes then that's what he'll do. 

Standing out as a likable straight shooter in a sports business full of used car salesmen, it's easy to see why Michael's dad, James (Julius Tennon) immediately takes to him and even the far more skeptical, business-minded Deloris respects his straightforwardness. Sonny's face-to-face with her at the Jordan home is one of the film's best scenes, as he cleverly exposes the competing companies' weaknesses before Deloris eventually finds out just how right he is. It's probably the closest this comes to being any kind of cynical capitalistic critique, which is fine since such an approach would seem wildly inconsistent with what Affleck's trying to accomplish.

If the first few minutes weren't clue enough, the 80's nostalgia rarely lets up, from the clothes to office decor and barrage of period specific needle drops on the soundtrack. There's even a washed-out, VHS look to Robert Richardson's cinematography. But Affleck gets away with it since there's something unabashedly sincere about his intentions, aside from also benefiting from a story that's never been explored to this extent in a dramatic feature.

Damon plays Sonny as disheveled and defeated, until inspiration strikes and he hits the ground running. He knows Jordan is a generational talent who needs to stand out rather than be the third wheel with Magic and Bird at Converse. He has to be the whole brand and treated as such for this to work and many of Damon's strongest moments involve him trying to sell his bosses on exactly that.

Affleck's performance as Knight is something else, almost as if every sad sack internet meme of the actor looking stressed, conflicted and frustrated was suddenly transposed to the screen. Not knowing much about the real Knight beyond him being an eccentric guy, it's hard to tell how much of the portrayal was intended to be comical, but it's a hoot anyway. 

A mullet-haired Jason Bateman steals the movie out from under everyone, as his perpetually irritated Rob Strasser grounds the insanity, reining in some of Sonny's less desirable instincts. He initially comes off as a slick, sarcastic company yes man before Bateman gradually peels back the layers to remind Sonny that while taking risks can pay off, the negative consequences of bigger, less calculated ones don't just fall on him. 

Everything comes to a head in their pitch to the Jordans when Nike sneaker designer Peter Moore's (Matthew Maher) "Air Jordan" masterpiece is revealed. Credited as being played by actor Damian Young, there's a deliberate attempt not to show Michael, other than briefly from the side or behind. Stepping into this iconic role would be daunting for anyone, but you have to wonder whether this decision unintentionally causes the distraction Affleck was looking to avoid. But since the picture isn't technically "about" Jordan he gets a pass and you just roll with it.

Supposedly, Jordan himself suggested Viola Davis play his mom and was that ever the right call. Falk might be his agent, but it's clear from the get-go who really is. Tough but fair, she doesn't suffer fools, remaining acutely aware of her son's worth. What she asks for is unprecedented, but not unreasonable, at least knowing what we do now. The final meeting is full of ups and downs until Sonny digs deep to deliver an unforgettably emotional speech that both predicts and understands Jordan's place in the cultural landscape.      

Lifted by its tremendous cast, you could imagine a few of Air's performances being remembered come awards time, regardless of when or where this was released. It's a rousing, well-made sports drama about recognizing someone's value and fighting for it, especially when no one wants to listen. You could argue all day about how Nike's deal permanently moved the industry goalposts, but there's no questioning the undisputed impact of the player who got it.