The Ghost in the Machine

Six months out from the 80th Cannes Film Festival, we dive into the initial longlist of Palme d'Or contenders. From heavyweights like Martin Scorsese, Ruben Östlund, and Damien Chazelle to the perennial question mark surrounding Terrence Malick's The Way of the Wind, we break down which major titles are positioning for a Croisette premiere.

With the Golden Globes submission deadline behind us, studios have flooded the comedy races, and “Obsession,” “Artificial,” and “Tender Loving Care” have all landed there. We break down the genre shuffling, Sandra Hüller’s move to supporting actress for “Fatherland,” Zendaya’s lead push for “Dune: Part Three,” and why “The Odyssey” is still eyeing double digits in nominations.

The 2026 Gotham Award nominations spread the wealth, with “All of a Sudden,” “Clarissa,” “La Gradiva,” “The Invite,” and “Tender Loving Care” tying for the most nods. We talk about the return of the Audience Award, why “The Odyssey” is nowhere to be found, and which smaller films like “Mouse” could ride this momentum into Oscar season.

Peter Berg’s Netflix WWII drama follows four star college football players who enlist in the Marines after Pearl Harbor and end up in the bloody Battle of Okinawa. It premiered at AFI Fest, and it hits harder than you’d expect. We talk the brutal, immersive combat, the brief game that gives these guys one last taste of boyhood, and why this might be one of the most effective antiwar films in years.

A24’s surprise documentary “You Can See Everything” just posted a record-setting Metacritic score and a $15 million opening weekend, and suddenly the Best Picture race looks wide open. We talk about whether a documentary can finally land a nomination, whether it can topple Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey,” and which contenders could still shake up the field.

Three movies into the DC Universe, the weirdest one might also be the best. James Watkins turns a shapeshifting actor with a ruined face into an R-rated body horror throwback that needs zero franchise homework. We talk the practical effects, Naomi Ackie’s scientist with a conscience, the plane turbulence scene that will haunt us, and why this one actually feels like its own thing.

Taika Waititi tackles Kazuo Ishiguro’s AI novel with Jenna Ortega as a robot companion praying to the sun to be chosen, and it should have been a perfect match. It wasn’t. We talk the candy colored Friend Store, Natasha Lyonne’s den mother energy, the “Jojo Rabbit” comparison, and why a film about mortality and obsolescence ends up so obvious and tonally confused.

Ti West’s A24 horror comedy drops a crew of scrappy adult filmmakers onto a Texas farm owned by a very unhappy elderly couple, and it’s as wicked as it sounds. We talk Mia Goth in two roles, the 1970s grindhouse spirit, the slow burn tension that West does better than almost anyone, and what the film has to say about youth, sex and getting old.

Paul Bettany returns as Vision in Marvel’s “VisionQuest,” a “WandaVision” follow-up about an android trying to understand his own feelings. We talk about why a Victorian mansion full of AI assistants, including a scruffy James Spader as Ultron, is the show’s best idea, and why the convoluted lore leaves viewers as emotionally disconnected as its hero.

From Venice to Telluride to TIFF and NYFF, this fall’s festivals introduced a fresh wave of performers poised for stardom. We meet seven standouts, including Mathilde Arcel’s shape-shifting Volpi Cup win, Eldar Isgandarov stealing scenes in two of the year’s best films, and Caleb Hearon’s move from internet comedy to leading man.