A Brand New review of Brand New Day.

Halloween panel @ Fan Expo Chicago 2026. John Carpenter, Nick Castle, PJ Soles, Dean Cundey, Tommy Lee Wallace. Photo: Julian Ramirez Halloween season is nearly upon us and what better way to usher it in than with a Halloween panel featuring John Carpenter, Nick Castle, P.J. Soles, Tommy Lee Wallace, and Dean Cundey! The cast and crew of the original, ground breaking horror film got together for a fun panel at Fan Expo's main hall, delighting the crowd with the best tidbits

But one weird thing - despite having Keith David, John Carpenter, and Kurt Russell on the list of celeb guests, there was no The Thing panel. For horror fans (and movie fans in general) this was pretty glaring. It's not like Fan Expo hates a reunion. We had almost the entire cast of The Boys and The Goonies AND The Hobbits, so ...what gives?

In 2005, the second live-action attempt at Fantastic Four was released, starring Ioan Gruffudd, Jessica Alba, Chris Evans, and Michael Chiklis. It received decidedly mixed reviews and spawned one sequel, the Rise of the Silver Surfer, before being rebooted in 2015 to an abysmal reception, and again in 2025, garnering overwhelmingly positive reviews.

Movies are back, and so, our butts return to the theater seats (and our comfy couches, thanks to streaming.) This year's had a lot of exciting returns to the big screen and a lot of great new things to explore, and as a team full of film junkies, we're excited to share our favorites from this past year. Let's jump in.

Reiner led with laughter and kindness that he wove into his work and "IRL" persona, and we can't help but feel a light go off in that little corner of our childhoods with him leaving so soon.