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RVCC to Hold Film Screening, Discussion of "The Librarians" on April 8th

(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.





 



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 Jersey Play Lab to Present Feature-Length Screenplay Workshop

The New Jersey Play Lab thinks it's time for you to write the movie you've been wanting to see and they believe they can help. They're presenting a hands-on weekly workshop on Zoom to help you generate a structurally sound screenplay targeted for producing and festival success. The workshops take place Sundays from 9:30am to 12:30pm from April 19 through May 17, 2026. The workshop fee is $250.




The ShowRoom presents "GOOD FOR HER" - A viciously Entertaining Celebration of Female Revenge

(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.




Cape May MAC to Screen "Once in a Hundred Years: The Life & Legacy of Marian Anderson" on April 4th

(CAPE MAY, NJ) -- The award-winning documentary film, Once in a Hundred Years: The Life & Legacy of Marian Anderson, will be presented Saturday, April 4, 2026 at Cape May Stage Theater in partnership with Cape May MAC (Museums+Arts+Culture). Admission is free, but donations will be collected to benefit the Cape May Community Food Closet. The screening begins at 2:00pm and continues the celebration of Black History Month.












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.




Outpost in the Burbs and Montclair Film presents the Music of John Prine: Film and Concert

(MONTCLAIR, NJ) -- Outpost in the Burbs and Montclair Film presents "In Spite of Ourselves," a concert and film screening of You Got Gold, on Saturday, April 11, 2026. The concert and film are a tribute to the music of the legendary singer-songwriter John Prine.




Garden State Film Festival to Take Place March 26-29

The 24th Garden State Film Festival (GSFF) takes place March 26-29, 2026 across Asbury Park, Monmouth County & Cranford, Union County, NJ featuring over 200 films from around the world, events, filmmaker parties, live podcasts, industry panels and networking opportunities.




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






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    EVENT PREVIEWS

    (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

    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.




    New Release Review - "The Bride!"

    Following Hamnet and "Wuthering Heights", Maggie Gyllenhaal's The Bride! is the latest in a line of awful movies inspired by the work of great English writers. It's Mary Shelley here of course, but Gyllenhaal also plucks from James Whale's Bride of Frankenstein. Whale cast Elsa Lanchester in the dual roles of Shelley and the titular monster, and Gyllenhaal pulls the same trick here with Jessie Buckley. That's where the similarities end however, as The Bride! has more in common with '70s exploitation flicks and '90s horror comedies than either Shelley's novel or the Universal monster movies it inspired.




    New Release Review - "Crazy Old Lady"

    In its 1960s peak, the Hagsploitation (or psycho-biddy) sub-genre gave a second act to classic Hollywood stars like Joan Crawford, Bette Davis and Olivia de Havilland, who found themselves cast as aging psychopaths. It wasn't without controversy, drawing accusations of ageism and misogyny from critics. It's a surprise that our current age of sensitivity has seen a mini-revival of the form with movies like X and The Visit using senility as a cheap, albeit effective way to explain their villains' actions.




    New Release Review - "Scream 7"

    I'm not going to suggest that Scream 7 is a return to form for the critically ailing yet commercially triumphant slasher franchise (I don't believe it had much form to begin with), but it's certainly a baby step up from the awfulness of the previous two instalments. That's a bit like saying a soccer team is showing signs of improvement because they only lost 3-0 against their local rivals as opposed to the 5-0 drubbing they suffered the previous season. But I'm a Spurs fan, so I'll take whatever crumb of comfort I can, and the crumb tossed to fans here is the return of Neve Campbell as Sidney Prescott, along with series creator Kevin Williamson, directing for the first time since 1999's Teaching Mrs Tingle, and co-writing with Guy Busick (with a story contribution by Zodiac scribe James Vanderbilt).