The Truth and Tragedy of Moriah Wilson 2026 * * * Stars

TRUTH HURTS

A "cry for help" documentary that's well-known enough to be put out on a streaming service as well as a network (Netflix and CBS). Yeah I'm talking about 2026's The Truth and Tragedy of Moriah Wilson, one of those 95-minute flicks that's more like a encomium to a murdered victim than a spell out mystery. I mean it's pretty brutal to endure what the Wilson fam has gone through right? And how unbelievably stoic is Moriah's convicted killer in Kaitlin Armstrong? And um, talk about some love triangle, green-eyed monster shtick in good old Kate. "My friend is laying on the bathroom floor." Yikes.

So OK, "Truth and Tragedy" is slickly shot by veteran Marina Zenovich, she of 30 for 30 and What Happens in Hollywood fame. There's the usual archives of yore (mid 90s and such), present-day interviews from Wilson family members that cut deep, and an initial suspect in Colin Strickland. You know, the dude who dated Moriah Wilson and unknowingly purchased the gun that offed her. 

Uh, you want a 48 Hours episode that's more somber and without Mr. Peter Van Sant at the helm? Well you'll get that with "Truth and Tragedy". And do you want a docu where you feel the nerve endings of Karen and Eric Wilson and just about everyone else involved in Moriah's abbreviated life? Prego...it's truly in there. Natch. 

Distributed by Netflix (duh) and filmed sequentially with sledgehammering sentiment, The Truth and Tragedy of Moriah Wilson is about of course, Moriah Wilson, a promising pro cyclist who gets murdered in May of 2022 by a covetous ex-girlfriend of Moriah's ex-boyfriend. The remaining Wilsons, well they want the world to feel their pain and why not. I mean why a foolish craven would end the entity of a young 25-year-old is truly beyond me. "Tragedy spring."

Written by Jesse Burleson

Crime 101 2026 * * 1/2 Stars

IMPERFECT CRIME

"I need to be in your line of work." Are you sure about that boss, a dangerous life of misdeed with the po-po hot on your heels. Yowsa! Oh and said po-po listens to Bryan Adams while getting his nicotine on then proceeding to do yoga. Double yowsa.  

Anyway 2026's Crime 101 does involve transgression and the 101, well I guess it's the highway in which an escape route is used when the stealing goes down. Slickness, glossy cinematography by Erik Wilson, a musical score that evokes some Michael Mann flick from years back (hint hint). It's like Crime 101's director (Bart Layton) saw Heat from '95 and decided to nearly equal its running time (140 minutes compared to 170 minutes). "Start by handing me your phone." Uh, I don't think Al Pacino was packing the cell back in post-Cold War decade LA. 

So yeah, as a vehicle about a master thief who befriends a saddened insurance broker hoping she'll help him pull off some million dollar heist, Crime 101 stars Chris Hemsworth, Halle Berry, and good old Mark Ruffalo. As for the rest of the big cast, uh Jennifer Jason Leigh makes a cameo, Nick Nolte shows up for a few scenes, and recent Oscar nominee Monica Barbaro, well she plays Hemsworth's character's cute squeeze, a pseudo, Eady type (more with the hint hint).  

Basically "Crime" is a sort of software-updated version of Heat (mentioned earlier). It's locale driven, with personas that fade in and out, some SoCal speck, and a couple of nifty car chases. Too bad it lacks Heat's haunting closed book, its lack of dangling plot threads, and its completely cold-blooded danger. Oh well. Film geeks will for sure get a kick out of Crime 101's earnest attempt to be the GOAT of all things neo-noir. Oh and guess what, Neil McCauley called and said he wants his sunnies, his nice suits, and his black, nitrile gloves back. "Regulatory offense." 

Written by Jesse Burleson

Pretty Lethal 2026 * * * Stars

LETHAL WEAPONRY

A group of ballet dancers and their coach have their bus break down in the middle of nowhere. Where do they go after being stranded? Well they head to a traveling lodge, encountering a sadistic, former ballet prodigy who plans to make their life a living hell. That's the gist of 2026's Pretty Lethal, a horror thriller where you want the protagonists to triumph and the bad guys to veritably get theirs. Said evil ballet prodigy is played effectively by veteran actress Uma Thurman. "We need to get out of here." Uh, ya think?

So yeah, Pretty Lethal is extremely bloody and pulpy, a modus operandi that's so violent its violence nearly veers into camp. I mean when you watch "Lethal" you have to take your mind back to the early 2000s, where Eli Roth, Rob Zombie, and even the late Tobe Hooper kind of ruled the roost. The only things missing are Malcolm McDowell wearing a wig, some evil kid yelling "pancakes!", and various cannibals chilling in rural Texas. "Inside every ballerina's heart beats the blood of a warrior." Oh fo sho. Fo...sho! 

Exaggerated style and carnival-esque directors aside, Pretty Lethal has its villains with nearly nil motives, its sitting, target leads not the most likable females in the room, and its plot rather cut and dried, a sort of excuse to roll out the old grindhouse at the dead of night (pun intended). Oh well. With "Lethal" it's the action that truly counts here, sanguinary action with fight scenes that use artistic dancing as a form of nasty birds in flight. As the five pro hoofer personas try to escape the rather glorified hostel they're in (that would be Hungary's Teremok Inn), Pretty Lethal shows its audience the result of danseuses on pure adrenaline, getting their high-powered, Jet Li on. "Pretty" girl rock.  

Written by Jesse Burleson

The Rise of the Red Hot Chili Peppers: Our Brother, Hillel 2026 * * * 1/2 Stars

"PEOPLE, KEEP ON LEARNIN"

Members of the Red Hot Chili Peppers talk about the beginnings and origins of the band and their beloved guitar player who died tragically nearly 40 years ago, right before they made it really big. So basically we have a vehicle here that doesn't drown in total self-conceit. "We were a trio of best friends in high school." You don't say Flea. You don't say.

So OK, I think The Rise of the Red Hot Chili Peppers: Our Brother Hillel is one of the best documentaries I've seen in the last five years. I mean it doesn't bend to normal tropes, taking one portion of the Chili Peppers Behind the Music chunk and stretching it out to a never-dull 93 minutes. Rock on brothers! Yeah VH1 is fun to watch but the early 2000s were dated as all get-out. "Our Brother Hillel" is more modern-day in terms of its polish and cinematic professionalism. "It was red-hot." Uh, hint hint. 

Directed by Ben Feldman (a near rookie), projecting the usual archives and animation, distributed by Netflix (naturally), and showing raw concert footage that would give you some serious whiplash (yikes!), The Rise of the Red Hot Chili Peppers: Our Brother Hillel is an unflinching and fervent docu, not necessarily praising the Peppers boys but paying tribute to their fallen, influential axeman Hillel Slovak who perished from a heroin overdose circa 1988 (see first paragraph). 

Singer Anthony Kiedis, Hillel's bro (James Slovak), and bassist Flea (whose real name is Michael Balzary), well they wax on profusely about Slovak, spewing profanities, being vulnerable, and shedding non-crocodile tears. I mean "Our Brother Hillel" is massively without filter, and it's quite refreshing witnessing this on screen as opposed to a flick about rock heroes where everyone but them is being interviewed to um, anatomize. Give "rise" to.  

Written by Jesse Burleson