Shiny Things

By Norm Wilner — Jun 12, 2026 What’s Worth Watching: June 12, 2026 Your weekly recommendation for stuff that's not on disc. This one's kind of a big deal. This post is for paying subscribers only Subscribe now Already have an account? Sign in.

By Norm Wilner — Jun 5, 2026 What's Worth Watching - June 5, 2026 Your weekly recommendations for stuff that's not on disc. Yet. This post is for paying subscribers only Subscribe now Already have an account? Sign in.

I’ve been told, fairly often, that comedies are all about unfulfilled desire: The characters have to want something that’s just out of reach. Two of the films I’m covering in this week’s newsletter focus on people who shouldn’t get what they want – while the third is all about someone who wants what we all want, a sense of security and maybe a good night’s sleep, and can’t get it. And that works, because that movie is decidedly not a comedy. So let’s start with the ones that are.

By Norm Wilner — May 29, 2026 What's Worth Watching - May 29, 2026 Your weekly recommendations for stuff that's not on disc. Yet. This post is for paying subscribers only Subscribe now Already have an account? Sign in.

I am drowning in new releases here, so much so that I’m breaking this week’s newsletter into two parts just to fit it into your mailbox. So I’m covering three titles today, with three more to come next time. Here we go. If not for Sinners, Oliver Laxe’s pulverizing apocalyptic road movie Sirātwould have been the cinematic event of 2025 … but it’s still awfully close.

By Norm Wilner — May 22, 2026 What's Worth Watching - May 22, 2026 Your weekly recommendations for stuff that's not on disc. Yet. This post is for paying subscribers only Subscribe now Already have an account? Sign in.

Okay, so that review of Moneyballis still on the DL, as I’m waiting on the arrival of a replacement disc with corrected DTS-MA HD 5.1 sound.

By Norm Wilner — May 15, 2026 What's Worth Watching - May 15, 2026 Your weekly recommendations for stuff that's not on disc. Yet. This post is for paying subscribers only Subscribe now Already have an account? Sign in.

Reality isn’t always enough, you know? Just as musicals create heightened worlds where people burst into song when their feelings are too big to be contained in conventional speech, sometimes movies break with reality entirely to place us inside the heads or hearts of their heroes. Sometimes it works brilliantly. And sometimes it doesn’t.

By Norm Wilner — May 8, 2026 What's Worth Watching - May 8, 2026 Your weekly recommendations for stuff that's not on disc. Yet. This post is for paying subscribers only Subscribe now Already have an account? Sign in.