Films That I Saw: May 2026

 

Summer is approaching and the world’s biggest event is coming, which is the World Cup, as I am getting a bit excited about it despite a lot of the political bullshit that is happening as well as FIFA meddling with so much bullshit. Especially as they will do anything to praise our human septic tank of a dictator who is creating a massive spectacle for our country’s 250th birthday as it looks like the worst birthday party ever. Even as concerts have been announced in Washington D.C. where they announced the list of performers which was news to Morris Day and the Time, Bret Michaels, the Commodores, Martina McBride, and Young MC as they said no. Good for them for not wanting to be part of this shitshow though I am not surprised who has chosen to before at the clown show such as Flo-Rida and Vanilla Ice. Looking at what is happening at the White House itself is an indication of how far this country has fallen.

While I have focused my attention on futbol in anticipation for the World Cup, I still have my eye on cinema even though I still have not had the motivation to watch anything new or go to the movie theatres. Still, there was this year’s Cannes Film Festival as it was a good year as it focused more on international films rather than Hollywood fare. The big winner of the festival is Cristian Mungiu’s Fjord starring Renate Reinsve and Sebastian Stan as it won the Palme d’Or as well as the Francois Chalais Prize, the Ecumenical Prize, and the FIPRESCI prize as it also a victory for the distributor NEON that will release the film in the U.S. later this year. Other winners include Andrey Zvyagintsev’s Minotaur winning the 2nd place Grand Jury prize, and Valeska Grisebach’s The Dreamed Adventure winning the 3rd place Jury prize. Pawel Pawlikowski of Fatherland and the duo of Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi for The Black Ball shared the Best Director prize. Emmanuel Macchia and Valentine Campagne shared the Best Actor prize for the performances in Lukas Dhont’s film Coward while Virginie Efira and Tao Okamoto shared the Best Actress prize for their work in Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s All of a Sudden. Emmanuel Marre won the festival’s Best Screenplay prize for his film in A Man of His Time.

The winners of this year’s festival have been good while there have been some good buzz for other films that were competing for the Palme d’Or in James Gray’s Paper Tiger, Pedro Almodovar’s Bitter Christmas, Na Hong-Jin’s Hope, Sheep in the Box by Hirokazu Kore-eda and Ira Sachs’ The Man I Love with buzz for Rami Malek’s performance. Nicolas Winding Refn’s new film Her Private Hell, which played out of competition, has received mixed reviews which is expected from Refn while Lea Seydoux has gotten attention for being in three films in Charline Bourgeois-Tacquet’s A Woman’s Life, Marie Kruetzer’s Gentle Monster, and Arthur Harari’s The Unknown. The lack of Hollywood fare is a good thing as I often have issues with their presence in the festival though I am glad the first The Fast and the Furious film was able to play at this year’s festival to celebrate its 25th anniversary as a midnight screening where its cast members and Paul Walker’s daughter Meadow were there where the film was celebrated. One qualm I do have is the honorary Palme d’Or to John Travolta who was there premiering his directorial debut Propeller One-Way Night Coach as that was trashed by the critics as was his stupid look that he was sporting with that awful beret.

In the month of May 2026, I saw a total of 6 films in two first-timers and four re-watches with both first-timers being a film directed or co-directed by a woman as part of the 52 Films by Women pledge. Not much activity like one of the re-watches I had been rewatching is Bernardo Bertolucci’s The Last Emperor as it had been many years since I had seen the theatrical version which is Bertolucci’s preferred cut. I have a review half-finished, but it has been slow as it will hopefully come out once it is finished.

Monthly Mini-Reviews/What Else I Am Watching

Mother’s Nature



From Pixar and director Valerie LaPointe is this 2-minute short film made specifically for Mother’s Day as it plays into the journey that moms take for their children. All told through animals in the funniest moments. Notably a turtle trying to tell her child to clean up his room. A corn trying to tell her daughter not to be exposed to sunlight. All sorts of funny shit as it is just absolute fun.

The Boys of Dungeon Lane: In Conversation with Paul McCartney & Paul Mescal



With the release of Paul McCartney’s 20th solo studio album, Charlotte Wells directs a conversation between McCartney and actor Paul Mescal who is playing McCartney in the upcoming bio-pics on the Beatles. The discussion is on the album as well as its themes and the songs McCartney created based on the few tracks I have heard. It feels like an album by McCartney reflecting on his early life including his time with John Lennon and George Harrison when they were young. Days We Left Behind is a key example of that reflective narrative while McCartney also talks about his parents having to raise him during World War II as he thought about the difficulties they had to endure. This is an 11-minute short film that fans of McCartney should seek out as he is creating music that still has a lot to say while talking to the man who is playing him in Sam Mendes’ upcoming films on the Beatles.

Soccer’s American Dream (episodes 1-4)



With the World Cup happening as the U.S., Canada, and Mexico being the host nations, it was time for a documentary to be made about America’s relationship with the beautiful game and why it has been so complicated. It all goes back to the 1966 FIFA World Cup where it was the first time the event was televised as it was a worldwide event. It led to rich businessman trying to create a men’s professional league that eventually became the North American Soccer League that lasted from 1968 to 1984. The episodes talked about why it failed in the end due to lack of developing players as well as relying too much on Pele. The second episode is about the rise of women’s games and their popularity. Part three is about the 1994 World Cup and how it revived America’s interest in the beautiful game while the most recent episode is about the formation of Major League Soccer and its early struggles. There are two more episodes left in the series, yet I am excited for them as it is a documentary series that my dad would have loved to watch.

AEW Double or Nothing 2026



Given the lukewarm reaction towards WWE and the growing over-commercialization from TKO, longtime wrestling fans who have watched and supported WWE have become disillusioned. The fact that some of them either came to the AEW event at Louis Armstrong Stadium in Queens, New York or watched the event out of curiosity has opened a lot of eyeballs. A lot of AEW fans know what to expect from the company yet what they delivered is already a top contender for pay-per-view event of the year. On the main show that opened with Adam Copeland and Christian Cage taking on FTR for the AEW World Tag Team Championship in an “I quit” street fight gave fans something that was hot. Then it was followed with the best match of the night in Konosuke Takeshita versus Kazuchika Okada for the AEW International Championship that saw Takeshita win the match but would be betrayed by Kyle Fletcher and the Don Callis Family.

The rest of the show had this sense of momentum in standout matches including the Stadium Stampede match and the main event for the AEW World Heavyweight Championship between Darby Allin and MJF with MJF’s hair added as a stipulation where he would shave it bald if he had lost the match. AEW had been criticized by some for having long events, yet many felt that AEW had listened to the criticism and found a way to simplify things a bit. The result has wrestling fans buzzing about an event that many felt in what WrestleMania should have been if not for the awful booking, over-usage of celebrities, over-commercialization, and the constant interference of TKO. AEW may not have the drawing power or money that WWE has made but they are now a serious threat with new fans coming along because it feels different and right.

Well, that is all for May as I am unsure if I will go see Toy Story 5 in the theatres this coming June as I am still haunted by the day that I saw its predecessor as it would be followed by my father’s death hours after I had seen the film. I hope to jump back into the Blind Spot Series with The Watermelon Woman as well as complete my review of The Last Emperor. Other than that, I have no clue what I will do as I think I will spend time just re-watching a few films I never reviewed but own on Blu-Ray.



Before I bid adieu, there are two people I need to acknowledge who passed away this month who have been important parts in my life as well as all the people here in Atlanta. The first is Bobby Cox who managed the Atlanta Braves from 1978 to 1981 and again from 1990 to 2010 for what was their greatest run including a World Series win in 1995. Cox was more than just a baseball manager, but he was like a father figure for a lot of us young baseball fans as he was always fun to watch as well as managed some of the best players we had during that period.



The other figure that was instrumental in the Braves’ success and was once their owner is a much bigger figure who did more than just own the Braves and the Atlanta Hawks for a time. Ted Turner. The man who created the Superstation in TBS as well as TNT, Turner Classic Movies, the Cartoon Network, and CNN. He was also an important figure for professional wrestling when he bought Jim Crockett Promotions and rebranded it as World Championship Wrestling where for a time. It was beating WWE in the ratings. Turner was important here in Atlanta as one of my dad’s friends worked for Turner as he posted a picture of him back in the 1990s. To Ted and Bobby, thank you for making Atlanta a great city. Thank you Ted for creating TCM as a place for old movies to be seen again and for giving us an example of what a rich man should do in making the world a better place.



Also, those who passed away this month include Marcia Lucas, who edited Star Wars and was instrumental in the rise of her ex-husband in George Lucas. Others who have passed include Ronald LaPread of the Commodores, actress Kelly Curtis, hockey player Dennis Hull, Foster Sylvers of the Sylvers, baseball player Bob Horner who also played for the Braves, actor/filmmaker Howard Storm, rapper Rob Base, costume designer Albert Wolsky, actor Charles Cioffi, saxophonist Dick Parry of Pink Floyd, actor Peter Helm, voice actor Tom Kane, Dennis Locorriere of Dr. Hook, economist Edmund Phelps, screenwriter Krzysztof Piesiewicz, actress Claudine Longet, songwriter Clarence Carter, writer Barry W. Blaustein who also directed Beyond the Mat, actor Donald Gibb aka Ogre of the Revenge of the Nerds film series, film critic Rex Reed, music producer Jack Douglas, actor Dennis Rush, Warren Tipton of the Chi-Lites, sports broadcaster Jack Sterling, and the legendary saxophonist Sonny Rollins who played on the Rolling Stones’ song Waiting on a Friend. This is thevoid99 signing off…

© thevoid99 2026