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EVENT PREVIEWS | REVIEWS | FEATURES



Learn the Perils of Plastic Pollution During Documentary Screening of "We're All Plastic People" in Surf City

(SURF CITY, NJ) – The Long Beach Island Branch of the Ocean County Library will host a screening of the documentary film We're All Plastic People Now on Wednesday, April 29, 2026 at 2:00pm. The film investigates the hidden story of plastic and its effects on human health.





 



Loew's Jersey Theatre Unveils Vision for Revitalized Cultural Landmark, Including Official Renderings and New Venue Logo

(JERSEY CITY, NJ) -- The historic Loew's Jersey Theatre unveiled a first look at its future as a reimagined, multi-purpose cultural destination, releasing new architectural renderings and designs that highlight the venue's transformation into a year-round hub for entertainment.




New Jersey's Premier Film Expo Returns to East Rutherford April 30th

(EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ) -- On Thursday, April 30, 2026, the Screen Alliance of New Jersey (SANJ) will host its second NJ Film Expo at Meadowlands Arena in Rutherford. Building on the strong success of its inaugural year, the expo returns on an even larger scale with several panels, hundreds of vendors, live music and food trucks to showcase New Jersey's expanding role in film and television.




New Release Review - "The Mortuary Assistant"

After decades of failures, video game adaptations are suddenly a hit at the box office, with screen translations of such heavy hitters as Super Mario Bros, Sonic the Hedgehog and Minecraft among the biggest earners of recent years. Just as there are cult movies, there are cult video games. Take The Mortuary Assistant, in which the player takes on the icky job of the title and attempts to finish their night shift at a morgue while evading demons. With another cult horror game, Five Nights at Freddy's, spawning two hit movies, it's no surprise that The Mortuary Assistant has now received a cinematic adaptation.




New Release Review - "Pretty Lethal"

Pitting teenage ballerinas against heavily armed Hungarian mobsters, Pretty Lethal gives new meaning to the term "balletic violence." It's a throwback to all those '70s/'80s exploitation thrillers in which stranded cheerleaders were menaced by mouth-breathing rednecks. Surprisingly for a movie debuting on a mainstream streaming service in 2026, it carries over the extreme violence of those movies, along with the threat of sexualised violence, but its tongue is firmly in its cheek.












FEATURES


2026 New Jersey International Film Festival to Take Place from May 29th to June 7th

(NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ) -- The Rutgers Film Co-op/New Jersey Media Arts Center, in association with the Rutgers University Program in Cinema Studies, presents the 2026 New Jersey International Film Festival which marks their 31st Anniversary. The NJIFF competition will be taking place on the Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays between May 29 - June 7, 2026 and will be a hybrid one as they will be presenting it online as well as doing in-person screenings at Rutgers University.




PBS' Independent Lens Launches 20th Season of Free Pop-Up Screening Series in Teaneck and Nationwide

(TEANECK, NJ) -- The award-winning PBS documentary series, INDEPENDENT LENS, presents the launch of the upcoming season of Indie Lens Pop-Up in partnership with the Teaneck International Film Festival and the Puffin Cultural Forum. The season kicks-off on February 4, 2026 with The Librarians and continues through May. The series is free for all but sign up is required.









 

LINKS

* Film Festivals in New Jersey







 

EVENT PREVIEWS

(ASBURY PARK, NJ) -- Closing out Women's History Month and charging straight into April, The ShowRoom invites audiences to experience GOOD FOR HER — a bold new screening series celebrating female rage in all its vengeance-fueled, blood-soaked, and cathartic glory. Spanning three consecutive Saturdays, the series showcases women pushed beyond their limits, reclaiming power through stories of revenge, resilience, and rebellion — each film offering its own unforgettable brand of righteous payback.



(BRANCHBURG, NJ) -- The English department and the Evelyn S. Field Library at Raritan Valley Community College (RVCC) will present a screening of the documentary, The Librarians, on Wednesday, April 8, 2026 at 4:30pm. The program, which is free of charge and open to the public, will be held in the Event Center at the College's Branchburg campus.



(RED BANK, NJ) -- The 2026 Count Basie Center Breakthrough Filmmaker Fest, the annual competition celebrating New Jersey's emerging crop of young filmmakers, takes place Saturday, April 25th on the Count Basie Center campus (99 Monmouth Street) in Red Bank.



(LOVELADIES, NJ) -- What role does film play in shaping a nation's sense of humor? How have films like Some Like it Hot, Blazing Saddles and Bridesmaids left a lasting impression on American society?



(LONG BEACH ISLAND, NJ) -- The Lighthouse International Film Festival (LIFF) presents a rare five-day acting masterclass led by acclaimed actor and director Jason Alexander, taking place June 7–11, 2026 on Long Beach Island, New Jersey, just prior to the opening of the Festival's 18th edition, which runs June 10–14.










REVIEWS

After decades of failures, video game adaptations are suddenly a hit at the box office, with screen translations of such heavy hitters as Super Mario Bros, Sonic the Hedgehog and Minecraft among the biggest earners of recent years. Just as there are cult movies, there are cult video games. Take The Mortuary Assistant, in which the player takes on the icky job of the title and attempts to finish their night shift at a morgue while evading demons. With another cult horror game, Five Nights at Freddy's, spawning two hit movies, it's no surprise that The Mortuary Assistant has now received a cinematic adaptation.





 



New Release Review - "Pretty Lethal"

Pitting teenage ballerinas against heavily armed Hungarian mobsters, Pretty Lethal gives new meaning to the term "balletic violence." It's a throwback to all those '70s/'80s exploitation thrillers in which stranded cheerleaders were menaced by mouth-breathing rednecks. Surprisingly for a movie debuting on a mainstream streaming service in 2026, it carries over the extreme violence of those movies, along with the threat of sexualised violence, but its tongue is firmly in its cheek.




New Release Review - "Ready Or Not 2: Here I Come"

2019's Ready or Not was a mediocre riff on the old The Most Dangerous Game template of a pleb being hunted by wealthy elites. The twist was that the murderous toffs weren't engaging in their hunt for the love of the sport but rather to avert a family curse that eventually saw them all explode at dawn, having failed to kill their prey. As a horror-comedy it was a dud for two reasons: the final girl, Samara Weaving's Grace, was so competent compared to her antagonists that we never felt she was in any real danger; and it simply wasn't funny.




New Release Review - "Project Hail Mary"

Whenever two movies that share a similar premise are released in the same year, movie geeks like to figure out which one is Deep Impact and which is Armageddon. Those two 1998 blockbusters shared the same setup of an asteroid on a world-ending collision course with Earth, but took very different approaches. Deep Impact was a relatively sombre affair while Armageddon was a Michael Bay action comedy.




New Release Review - "How to Make a Killing"

Writer/director John Patton Ford's 2022 feature debut Emily the Criminal proved one of the more interesting crime thrillers of recent years. In that movie, Aubrey Plaza gave a career best performance as a struggling young woman who desperately turns to crime only to discover she has a knack for it. Ford's second movie, How to Make a Killing, features a similar anti-hero, but here the crime is murder.