Articles by Alex Reed

June 2026 is loud. Pixar, Spielberg, dragons, sequels, reboots — the multiplex is doing what multiplexes do. But on the next screen over, and one tap away on streaming, the most interesting movies of the summer are showing up quietly. Here are the five indie pickups I'm circling on the calendar this month — and exactly where to find them.

The Mandalorian and Grogu hits theaters this Friday and is about to eat every screen for ten days. Before then, here are five quietly excellent indie films that landed on streaming in the first half of May — verified platforms, no fake hype, all watchable tonight.

This week ends an era — Wednesday May 20, the Boys series finale lands on Prime Video after a Tuesday-night 4DX theatrical preview. Then the weekend hands theaters over to one Star Wars title, with Boots Riley quietly counter-programming on the same day. Here is exactly where to spend your attention from May 18 to May 24.

🎬 This week splits the calendar in half. The first half belongs to Cannes — the 79th festival opens Tuesday with Park Chan-wook chairing the jury, and Christopher Nolan's massive The Odyssey trailer is still echoing from its Late Show drop last Monday. The second half belongs to Wednesday's penultimate The Boys episode and Friday's most interesting new release: Olivier Assayas's political thriller The Wizard of the Kremlin, with Jude Law as Vladimir Putin and Paul Dano as his fictional whisperer. Here's everything worth your screen time between Monday and Sunday.

We're three days into May and this is finally the week things get interesting again. The Terror returns to AMC+ for its long-awaited third season, Hugh Jackman of all people is voicing a shepherd who reads detective novels to his sheep, Mortal Kombat II is crashing the party with $40-50M tracking, and Devil Wears Prada 2 keeps stealing the weekend after that monster $77M opening. Here's what's actually worth your time May 4-10.

Big week. Bigger than I expected, honestly. The Devil Wears Prada 2 finally hits theaters Friday, Man on Fire drops on Netflix Thursday, and there's an animated Animal Farm sneaking into multiplexes too. Here's what's worth your time between April 27 and May 3.

Last week CinemaCon told us what Hollywood is planning. This week, Hollywood shows what actually works — and what doesn't. Michael drops Friday, Boys S5 gets its midpoint shake-up Wednesday, and The Mummy's $13.5M debut is exactly the crash-landing skeptics predicted.

Sony and Warner Bros. showed their hands Monday and Tuesday. Then Universal brought Nolan and Spielberg. Amazon brought Rick Moranis back as Dark Helmet. Paramount dropped a Street Fighter trailer. And Disney? Disney brought Chris Evans back as Captain America — and the whole room demanded they play the trailer twice.

CinemaCon is live in Vegas with every major studio showing off their biggest guns, Lee Cronin's R-rated The Mummy is already scaring the hell out of early audiences, and The Boys keeps dropping bodies in its final season. Here's everything worth watching this week.

The biggest movie industry event of the year kicks off April 13 in Las Vegas. Avengers: Doomsday footage, Dune Part Three, Spider-Verse updates, and more. Here's your complete guide to what's coming.

Spider-Man is still swinging, Jason Statham is boarding a ship, Ridley Scott is ending the world, and the Green Lanterns are finally landing on HBO. August 2026 is loaded.

Tom Holland returns as Peter Parker on July 31 with a 1-billion-view trailer, a $300 million opening weekend in sight, and the biggest cast a Spider-Man movie has ever assembled. Plus Gregg Araki's Sundance sensation as counter-programming and summer holdovers that refuse to quit.

Sébastien Vaniček brings the deadites back on July 24 with Evil Dead Burn, Christopher Nolan's Odyssey dominates its second weekend, and Tom Holland's Spider-Man: Brand New Day is exactly seven days out. July 2026 is the summer that won't stop giving.

The Odyssey lands on July 17 with a $250 million budget, the most stacked cast of the year, and the first film ever shot entirely on IMAX 70mm cameras. Plus Jonah Hill's counter-programming comedy, Moana's second weekend, and the July gauntlet rolls on.

Catherine Laga'aia steps into the biggest Disney live-action debut since Halle Bailey's Little Mermaid, Dwayne Johnson returns as Maui, and this is just the warmup — Nolan, Evil Dead, and Spider-Man are all coming before August.

This week brings Illumination's Minions & Monsters to the July 4th corridor, Angel Studios bets on Young Washington, and the holdover lineup — Supergirl, Jackass 5, Toy Story 5 — is still pulling crowds. Plus: July's upcoming slate might be the strongest of the entire summer.

Two massive theatrical premieres and a Netflix drop that's about to take over every timeline. The week of June 22 doesn't mess around — here's everything hitting screens and what deserves your time.

Toy Story 5 asks whether tablets have made toys obsolete, A24 reimagines Robin Hood as a dark thriller with Hugh Jackman and Jodie Comer, and Hayley Kiyoko brings her bestselling queer romance to theaters. Three films, three completely different vibes, one great week.

Steven Spielberg returns to alien sci-fi for the first time in 21 years with Disclosure Day, John Williams comes out of retirement at 94 to score it, and Emily Blunt faces extraterrestrials on live TV. Plus: two series finales and a romance novel adaptation on streaming.

May gave us Mario's record-breaking opening and Star Wars back in theaters. Now June arrives with He-Man, the Wayans family reunion, and a vampire rock star. Here's everything hitting screens the first week of June 2026.

From Spielberg's UFO epic to Nolan's mythological gamble to the return of Woody and Buzz, summer 2026 is absolutely loaded. Here's every major release you need to know about — and the ones worth clearing your schedule for.

Star Wars is back in theaters for the first time since 2019, and The Mandalorian and Grogu is about to dominate every screen in sight. But there's more hitting this week than just a galaxy far, far away.

The 79th Cannes Film Festival kicks off May 12, and this year's lineup is shaping up to be one of the most auteur-driven editions in recent memory. Here's your complete guide to what's coming, who's competing, and why you should be paying attention.

The Devil Wears Prada 2 finally struts into theaters, Daredevil: Born Again wraps its second season with what might be Marvel's best TV finale yet, and Netflix drops a bestseller adaptation starring Sally Field and an octopus. Yeah, this week is stacked.

Three beloved series drop their final seasons in the same week, Star Wars goes animated again, and Dan Levy brings crime comedy to Netflix. This is a week you plan your schedule around.