Stepfather | Halloween 2026

Hey! Taye Diggs is in Stepfather! And so is Tamar Braxton! That should be a good sign, right?

When Leon (Diggs) was a child, he was severely abused by his stepfather. He was told that he would never have the perfect family. As an adult, Leon is searching for that perfect family. But when a woman betrays him, things go terribly wrong.

OK. So. This is a movie all about domestic abuse. There is a huge domestic violence warning before the movie starts but I don’t think that warning was enough to really get the point across how much abuse happens. And, unfortunately, most of the abuse that is shown happens to a child. Yes, there is abuse against women but that isn’t the majority of the movie.

Also, unfortunately, this isn’t a good movie either. Since we are shown all of the abuse that happens as a child, we, the audience, aren’t particularly surprised when it happens as an adult. There isn’t anything suspenseful. We aren’t wondering what will happen next or will he actually do it. Even the big twist isn’t interesting. Everything feels like violence for the sake of violence and neither the police nor the psychologist seem to really care what happens to Leon or the families that he comes upon. And if they don’t care, why should we?

Rating: Who substitutes a yellow pepper for a red pepper?

Takeout | Halloween 2026

Takeout is another movie from 2025 but I’m going to give it a pass. It looked interesting enough and I’m not sure Tubi has enough 2026 movies to fill the whole month of October.

In a fast food restaurant in the middle of nowhere, three co-workers - Nova (N’kone Mametja), Harper (Deoudoné Pretorius), and Benny (Darron Meyer) - are working the late shift when they hear reports of a serial killer in the area. Nova convinces the others that the killer has come into the restaurant…but she may have the wrong person.

Well, this turned out to be much more boring than I thought. Since the entire movie takes place in one location, there isn’t a lot of movement from the characters. There’s the dining area, the prep area, the backroom, and outside. Rinse and repeat between those spots. And a lot of the movie is the three main characters arguing over whether they should call the cops or the tip hotline in order to get the reward for finding the killer. Then the writers throw in Nova’s little sister for absolutely no reason. She was completely unnecessary to the plot. I’m sad that this was so boring. There are a few indie video games with a similar plot that are much more interesting. Too bad the writers didn’t take notes from them.

Rating: Isn’t there anywhere else to get food?

Simon Says | Halloween 2026

I normally stick to full length movies for my reviews. However, the short film, Simon Says, seemed interesting. And with a runtime of only 20 minutes, I figured it wouldn’t be a total waste of time.

At Jana’s 21st birthday party, a strange-looking man, Simon (Chance Miller), knocks on the door claiming to be the entertainment. Simon gets the gang to play Simon Says. At first, everyone has fun. But then the murdering begins.

Since the movie was so short, there wasn’t a lot happening. It is literally just a game of Simon Says. There’s no character development or any real plot. With that said, it’s fine. I’ve seen worse movies. The biggest problem with the movie is just that it’s fairly boring. Nothing really happens. Sadly, that means this isn’t even worth spending 20 minutes to watch it.

Rating: Simon Says DO SOMETHING

Buzzkill | Halloween 2026

Taking a little bit of a turn from straight horror is the horror comedy, Buzzkill. Let’s see how this goes.

Five weeks after the Sigma sorority president, Sarah (Frances Sholto-Douglas), was murdered, it up to party girl Nora (Siena Agudong) to figure out what happened that night. Did Sarah’s boyfriend, James (Dean Goldblum), really kill her or was it someone else? Nora was there when the murder happened but she was really drunk at the time. And only Drunk Nora has the answers Nora needs.

I was delighted to find that Buzzkill was actually a good movie. Sure, it may not be something I turn on every year but I thoroughly enjoyed myself. There are a few plot holes and some of the acting is a little cringe-worthy but Agudong makes up for a lot of that. If you enjoy horror comedies, this does deserve at least one watch.

Rating: Drunk Nora doesn’t get the recognition she deserves

Kidnapped | Halloween 2026

Kidnapped isn’t a new movie on Tubi. It was released in February 2025. But it was filmed near(ish) where I live so I wanted to watch it.

Cassandra Ferris (Brandi Seaton) is a single mom to Kevin (Warren Smith II). When Kevin doesn’t come home after school, Cassandra calls the police and organizes search parties to find her son. However, he has been taken by Diane (Alisha Fagg), a woman who lost her husband and son to a house fire. Can Cassandra be reunited with her son?

I haven’t watched a ton of Tubi movies yet so I’m not sure where on the scale to place this. It was better than Content but still not good. Unfortunately, the acting was all over the place. There were moments that were really good but then they were ruined by fake crying or bland deliveries. But, honestly, it is always the script that gets me. You would think that the writer never met a police officer or watched a cop television show. We almost always see the cops just sitting somewhere talking about the case, except for the one time they are walking to a potential crime scene. And they don’t seem particularly interested in solving the case. Sadly, this is a movie that I was hoping I would like. But it just fell flat.

Rating: Have you ever had a dream that your name was Kevin?

Content | Halloween 2026

I know that I have been gone a long time. Well, we’re moved into the new house and things are back to normal…mostly. Before we get into the very merry holiday season, I’m going to give you some scary movies to get into the Halloween spirit. But they won’t be just any scary movies. They probably won’t even be good movies. I am vowing to watch 31 days of scary movies on Tubi. And we’re going to start off with a Tubi original - Content.

Nia (Hailey Kilgore) is a true crime podcaster who is taking some time off in a Palm Springs Airbnb. Before she can even go to sleep for the night, she finds herself being stalked by a serial killer wearing a smiley face emoji mask. Will Nia survive the night or will the killer take another life?

Yeah, this is a bad movie. The acting isn’t completely terrible but the script and the cinematography are awful. There are these long, drawn out scenes where Nia stares out a window while slowly drinking wine, or slowly walking down a hallway, or just sitting in a bubble bath. I believe the movie is a little over an hour long and I swear that it could have been an easy 45 minutes if they just took out these boring, pointless scenes. They could have easily brought it back up to an hour by having Nia actually do anything to save her life. Sure, she calls the police but doesn’t give them any useful information. Her ex-boyfriend calls to beg her to come back but she blows him off instead of asking him to come help her. Yes, I know that she’s trying to fully break up with him but, girl, your life is in danger. Any help is good help. Instead, she calls the property agent - a complete stranger - to help her. Oh, I guess she does go live on Instagram a couple of times, though I’m not really sure what she expected her fans to do.

I will be surprised if I recommend any Tubi movies to anyone. This is definitely one to stay away from…unless you need to take a nap.

Rating: Why is it an emoji mask? It’s just a smiley face.

Christmas Isn't Cancelled But The Movie Reviews Are

I haven’t written a Christmas movie review in a long time and I apologize for that. I have been putting this off for as long as I can but you deserve an explanation.

I will not be reviewing any more Christmas movies this year because we are moving. I thought that I would be able to juggle watching movies, writing reviews, finding a new house, and packing up the house we have lived in for the past 20 years. Alas, I cannot. Selling this house and finding a new one took up way more time than I had expected. Now that we are in December and our closing dates are right around Christmas Day, we have to go into overdrive to empty this place out. Unfortunately, that means the movies have to go for this season.

On the bright side, our new house has much more space and I will be able to have a dedicated writing space that will allow me to focus on this blog. I would really like to get back to my “blog roots” of reviewing TV shows and music. More than just Hallmark or Christmas movies. I hope that you will wait for me just a little longer. I’ll try to make it worth the wait.

Christmas Above The Clouds | 2025 Christmas Movies

There have been a wide variety of adaptations of A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. Back in 2020, Hallmark gave us A Nashville Christmas Carol. Then in 2021, they had Boyfriends of Christmas Past. And this year it’s Christmas Above The Clouds. At least they gave us a break in between adaptations this year?

Ella Neezer (Erin Krakow) is the CEO of a travel company. She demands her employees work just as hard as she does. Unfortunately, that means she makes them choose between their families and their work, just as she did when she broke off her engagement to Jake (Tyler Hynes) when she started moving up the corporate ladder. It wasn’t until now, on a flight to Australia with her assistant Bobbi Cratchet (Emily Tennant) and, surprisingly, Jake, that her mentor, Marlene Jacobson (Gabrielle Rose), visits her from beyond the grave to inform her about the impending visits from three Christmas spirits. Will they be able to bring empathy and love back to Ella?

Could it be? Is it possible that we have THREE decent Christmas movies this early in the movie season? Maybe my expectations were low because, this story is told so many times that it feels rare to find a good adaptation of it. But, yes, Christmas Above The Clouds gave us an interesting take. Sure, it’s not anything new and Jake does feel a little tacked on but Krakow makes a very good Scrooge character and I found myself enjoying the three spirits. It might not make the best movie list but I didn’t regret watching it either!

Rating: 4 Christmas Spirits out of 5 - OK, there aren’t five Christmas spirits but the rating still stands!

A Newport Christmas | 2025 Christmas Movies

So we’ve got another period Christmas movie starring Ginna Claire Mason - A Newport Christmas. If she had a nickel for every time she starred in a period Christmas movie on Hallmark, she’d have two nickels. Which isn’t a lot but it’s weird that it happened twice. Right?

Ella (Mason), a socialite living in 1905 Newport, wants to start a charitable foundation instead of getting married as her father wishes. While on an evening ride in her sailboat, Ella wishes on a comet for a different life where she can find love. Suddenly, she is transported to 2025, where Nick (Wes Brown) appears on her boat mysteriously. When they get back to town, they realize that Ella has somehow time traveled to the present day. Now they must figure out how to get her back to 1905 before all of her past charitable work is undone.

I’m not quite sure how they managed to do it but this movie is both interesting and boring at the same time. There will be scenes where Ella shines as a character - for example, when she is giving the tour of her former home - but then the movie will just drag as Nick shows her how Newport has changed over the years. He really is the worst part of the movie. I kinda wish that this wasn’t a romance movie and that it was just Ella and historian Christine (Talia Robinson) learning how each other lived their lives in their respective times. That was much more interesting than anything Nick did. Except for maybe the twist ending. I guess that part made him interesting.

Rating: 3 lessons in fan language out of 5 - I want to know more fan signs!

Christmas On Duty | 2025 Christmas Movies

Every year, we get some sort of military-themed Christmas movie. Usually they are about missing family members that can’t come home for the holidays or helping veterans or something like that. Christmas On Duty has chosen a different route.

Blair (Janel Parrish) and Josh (Parker Young) have been bitter rivals ever since basic training. Three years after they went their separate ways, Josh takes a job at Quantico, where Blair is stationed. When a snowstorm shuts down all deliveries to the base, the pair gets assigned to save Christmas by playing Santa themselves.

I’m not going to lie. I almost always find the military-themed movies boring. The writers try to go for sentimental but they always end up preachy instead. This one isn’t any different. There is zero chemistry between Parrish and Young, watching them drive around picking up Christmas presents is dull at best (even when they have to puzzle their way out of things), and the USAA in-movie advertisements are cringy. I want to like these movies, I really do. Isn’t there someone out there that can write a good one?

Rating: 1.5 climbing jumpropes out of 5 - Yeah, that still won’t hold your weight