Articles by Martin Cikarski (4)
As the film industry approaches 2026, it feels big but hollow. Franchise fatigue, audience indifference, and risk-averse studios dominate, while original films and AI experiments raise doubts about creativity, authorship, and cinema’s cultural relevance.
The Oscars reward visibility, not resonance. Why the Academy keeps overlooking cinema’s most meaningful films — and why taste matters more than trophies.
Hollywood hasn’t lost creativity — it has lost its nerve. Chasing profit and safety, it depends on sequels, reboots, and nostalgia, turning art into a repeatable product. Original stories exist, but mainstream cinema is trapped in familiar IP and hollow spectacle. The problem isn’t a lack of ideas — it’s the fear of new ones.
Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein (2025) is a visually breathtaking and emotionally powerful adaptation of Mary Shelley’s classic. With Oscar Isaac as Victor Frankenstein and Jacob Elordi delivering a remarkable performance as the Creature, the film blends horror, tragedy, and humanity into one of the year’s most memorable cinematic experiences. A faithful yet fresh retelling, it stands as a strong contender for Movie of the Year.