Movie Reviews

Cosmic Circus has been covering movies and TV/streaming series for over five years now. Please take some time to read through some of our movie reviews below to find out what the writers think of past and new films.

Refer to the Stellar Picks archive to find some of our top-rated movies, shows, books, games, and more!


 

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‘The Bride!’ Movie Review with John & Vin | Cosmic Circus Reviews

John and Vin are back at it again, this time with a discussion about The Bride! starring Jessie Buckley and Christian Bale. The film was directed and written by Maggie Gyllenhaal and based on Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, with cinematography by Lawrence Sher, edited by Dylan Tichenor and music by Hildur Guðnadóttir. Did Vin and John enjoy The Bride! at all?

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‘Hoppers’ Brings Pixar Back to Its Glory Days

For a long time, I’ve asked myself the following question: Have I aged out of Pixar, or has Pixar lost its magic? With Daniel Chong’s Hoppers, we finally have an answer to this question. It was the latter. In a post-Incredibles 2 era, only Turning Red felt like the masterpieces the animation studio consistently released and pushed the medium forward in

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Netflix’s ‘War Machine’ is a Strange Genre Blender

I was fully expecting to hate Patrick Hughes’ War Machine while watching it. Another Netflix piece of content that essentially amalgamates known films into one another and tries to pass it off as an “original film”? What could go wrong? For the first twenty minutes or so, a compact montage that distills the backstory of Staff Sergeant 81 (Alan Ritchson) as

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‘The Bride!’ Is A Bizarre, Messy Swing You Can’t Look Away From

When the credits roll on Maggie Gyllenhaal’s The Bride! it’s impossible to think that anyone would come away from it having no strong feelings, to say the least. The film acts as a complete revamping of the 1935 classic Bride of Frankenstein, which changes everything about it from the settings to the central framing of its story. Gyllenhaal follows up her

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‘Scream 7’ Review: Paramount Stabs and Misses

Scream 7 was always destined for backlash. The film received criticism when Paramount fired Melissa Barrera for expressing an opinion. An opinion that, unfortunately, was correct. And for the most part, the new generation of Scream fans were ready to hate this film. A little background. I grew up on Scream and actually saw the original with my older brother in

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‘How to Make a Killing’ Clumsily Reinterprets an Ealing Classic

Many might not know that John Patton Ford’s latest film, How to Make a Killing, is loosely based on Robert Hamer’s 1949 classic Ealing comedy Kind Hearts and Coronets. The 1949 film was adapted from Roy Horniman’s Israel Rank: The Autobiography of a Criminal. If you’ve seen Hamer’s film, chances are you’ve seen Patton Ford’s reinterpretation. It sadly doesn’t do much to

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Emerald Fennell’s ‘Wuthering Heights’: An Immersive, Sensual Ghost Story

Emerald Fennell’s Wuthering Heights is a sensory fever dream that feels less like a traditional period piece and more like the Nosferatu (2024) of romantic tragedies. Starring Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi, with music by Charli XCX, this is the latest adaptation of Emily Brontë’s only novel, which has been brought to screen nearly 40 times across film and television. The

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‘Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie’ is a Cinematic Miracle

Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie is Matt Johnson’s continuation of the television series of the same name, which follows the fictitious antics of Johnson and his best friend Jay McCarrol as they attempt (and fail) to book a show at The Rivoli, as if the Toronto-based café was as complex to book as Madison Square Garden. Before propelling into the

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‘Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die’: A Messy, Zany, A.I. Apocalypse Satire

After a decade since his last feature, Gore Verbinski has finally returned to helm a picture, this time with a wacky AI satire, Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die. Verbinski’s features have never strayed away from blending the bleak subject matter with comedy (even within films for younger audiences like Rango and Mouse Hunt). He’s at his loudest here, essentially holding

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‘Scarlet’ is Mamoru Hosoda’s Most Ambitious Film

Mamoru Hosoda’s Scarlet, a derivative adaptation of William Shakespeare’s Hamlet. The film begins with the most spiritually charged image of the Japanese animator’s career as the titular character (voiced by Mana Ashida) arrives in the “Otherworld,” a purgatory that stands between life and “nothingness.” Scarlet attempts to fight her internal (and external) demons and prove to the forces that be that

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‘The Moment’ Review: Charli XCX’s Witty, Incomplete Brat Summer

The Moment takes a satirical angle in a new mockumentary about Charli XCX’s success around the release of her album Brat. It’s a meta dissection of the process of becoming a pop icon overnight, with an interesting balance of humor and authenticity. None of us can fully understand the overwhelming insecurities of trying to maintain an image while making quick decisions with

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Sundance Film Festival 2026: ‘The Best Summer’ is Millennial Catnip

Have you ever thought to yourself, “Hey, I wonder if the director of Billy Madison has a bunch of concert footage of ’90s alternative bands lying around?” Who hasn’t thought about that, right? The Best Summer at Sundance Film Festival is a documentary that answers the question. And while nobody may have asked for these materials, one cannot deny that they

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