2026, Feature Story

Feature Story: Planning a Themed Watch Party – The Masters Golf Tournament

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You’ve thrown your annual Oscars party, cheering Michael B. Jordan and Jessie Buckley in clinching gold statuettes while enjoying “KPop Demon Sliders,” predicting one ballot after another and sipping Sinners Juke Joint Juice. Such fun! So how can you gather your friends again for fun times and a next iconic viewing soiree?

We’ve talked before about the intersection of celebrity and golf. And there’s no bigger event than what’s happening in Augusta, Georgia April 9, 12, 2026.

For golf fans, the Masters is a showcase of the game at its finest and a tradition like no other. If Augusta National Golf Club’s fairways and greens could talk, they’d tell stories of some of the most unforgettable stories in golf history. Those moments are inseparable from the iconic sights of the course itself. From the precision required around Amen Corner, the iconic sight of Hogan Bridge and the challenge of Rae’s Creek, Augusta National is more than a course – it’s the stage for golf at its very best. Even the Par 3 Contest, where players’ family members don caddie uniforms, are part of what makes the Masters so memorable.

With Masters tickets famously the hardest in sports to get, most fans will never experience the tournament in person. That’s why Masters viewing parties have become a popular way to bring the excitement into your own home. By embracing the tradition, atmosphere, colors and flavors of the Masters, fans can celebrate the game with friends and family, enjoying every memorable shot along the way.

PGA TOUR Superstore, purveyors of the golf experience every day of the year, have organized an array of popular products in a Here Comes the Green collection so you can gear up for what many call the “First Major” of spring.  Here’s how to set the mood, what to wear, what to eat and how to tune in for an elegant and elevated party to remember celebrating one of the world’s most cherished traditions in sports.

Course Setup:

When you turn on the TV to watch the Masters, the stunning flowering landscapes of Augusta National will always catch your eye. Each hole is named after a flower or tree, many of which bloom across the country in spring, including azaleas, magnolias, holly and yellow jasmine. Adding these blooms can help set the scene to complement your party atmosphere. The Masters signature palette of green, yellow and white can guide your décor, creating an unmistakably Masters vibe.

  • Clear vases filled with golf balls and golf tees. Caddie-tip: If you have a golfer in the family, use the golf balls they like to play with, so they can be repurposed after your event.
  • Tableware in the Masters color palette – they make more than just red plastic cups these days – and golf-themes and patterns.
  • In the spirit of golf flags on the greens, use mini flags to mark your snacks and drinks.
  • Bucket-style “ball containers” for snacks

Tee Up Your Style:

Bring the spirit of the Masters to your party with attire that nods to the game while keeping things fun and festive.

In the Clubhouse:

Think fan favorites and easy-to-enjoy dishes that keep guests grazing from the first tee shot to the final putt. For your menu, draw inspiration from Masters Champions dinner menus – each year, the previous champion selects dishes that reflect their personal taste and regional flare. From firecracker dip to meatball and ravioli bites, recipes are all easy to find online.

Pimento cheese sandwiches are a Southern classic and a Masters essential for decades. My Aunt Pat Bell’s pimento cheese is a cherished family recipe for tournament get-togethers. Her special twist on the classic Southern dish includes Spice World jarred garlic in bottles with the iconic blue lid, an ingredient which adds flavor without the pungent bite, and Lea & Perrins Worcestershire sauce, which gives it a little extra kick. Like any true Southerner, she insists Duke’s mayonnaise is the only acceptable brand to use and the cheese must be hand grated. She serves her pimento cheese on white bread with the crusts cut off or with Ritz crackers.

Ingredients to Make Aunt Pat’s pimento cheese:

Directions to Make Aunt Pat’s pimento cheese:

Combine all the ingredients in a bowl and stir gently, taking care to retain the texture of the shredded cheese. Refrigerate in an air-tight container at least two to three hours but overnight is even better! Stir before serving, add a bit more Duke’s if needed for the spreadability you desire, and adjust the garlic, salt, black pepper or cayenne pepper if needed.

Other suggested watch party nibbles include the following:

  • Azalea cocktails or mocktails and “Arnold Palmers”
  • Cheeseburger sliders served Scottie-style
  • Barbecue pork sliders
  • Pigs in a blanket
  • Peach ice cream sandwiches

Golf moves at an ideal leisurely pace, leaving lots of time for snacking. Chips, roasted peanuts and cookies are always welcome and appropriate for your party.

Par for fun:

Not everyone can stay glued to the TV for every hole, so set up golf-inspired games and activities to keep guests of all ages entertained.

Sidebar programming can add other fun for attendees. Party planners can showcase favorite films about the game of golf in home theatre or simulator spaces. Think majestic stories like The Legend of Bagger Vance, The Greatest Game Ever Played or Bobby Jones: Stroke of Genius. Or funny ones like Tin Cup, Caddyshack and Happy Gilmore (but maybe not the sequels to the latter two).

Tune in!

The Masters is covered by ESPN (early rounds), CBS (weekend/later rounds), Paramount+, Amazon Prime Video and the official Masters website/app, with Amazon joining for 2026 to stream first/second-round coverage leading into ESPN, while ESPN, CBS, and Paramount+ handle other broadcasts and streams for the U.S. audience.  

2026

”Nirvanna The Band The Show The Movie” is The Best

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Canadian comedy scales new heights of creativity in Matt Johnson’s rollicking and raucous Nirvanna The Band The Show The Movie (A-), chronicling a pair of fictionalized musicians (the manic Johnson plus straight man Jay McCarrol) endeavoring to land a gig at a nightclub in their beloved Toronto hometown, and no highjinks, homages or holler-backs are off-limits along their daft-punking journey. Neither the band’s curiously familiar name nor the Quixotic  plight to promote themselves nor the blurry backstory nor the dubious prospects for future success make much sense at all for those diagramming a conventional plot, but the “let’s just go for it” mentality is the stuff of an improv fever dream and the reason a dreamy time-traveling quest format works so well. The filmmakers constantly top themselves and set crafty traps for droll detours, with funny flashbacks making their deviled Easter eggs abundantly clear. This mighty mockumentary blends scripted and candid camera footage into a “yes, and…” whirling dervish of a caper, bringing viewers along for a sweet ride of laughter and recognition. Fans of the viral online series and cult TV show will most certainly appreciate the franchise’s giddy glow-up into full buddy film comedy, as if the pratfalls of a Jackass or Borat were given the canvas of Chaplin’s Modern Times or an extended afterlife exploration into John Belushi or Andy Kaufman’s noggins. There are a variety of set pieces and stunts that prompt a “how’d they get away with that?” feeling as the comic duo enlists the CN Tower and a Back to the Future style time machine aboard a tour bus, powered with the fizz of a bygone beverage, into their lofty, overcomplicated and unquestionably maximalist plans. There’s a thematic undercurrent that a best friend who’s full of both insane and inspired ideas evokes a simultaneous desire for constant together time as well as the longing to eject from the relationship completely. This flight of fancy or “flee and don’t look back” duality is fully explored with masterful comic effect. Johnson and McCarrol make for a superb comic pair, subversive and fiercely acerbic like few funnymen since Monty Python. You don’t have to know this duo or their eclectic characters before experiencing this movie to fully relate to their daffy plight and relish it completely. 

2025

“A Mess of Memories” a Joyous and Cathartic Feature Debut

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It’s always delightful to witness a new take on a classic trope, in this case the ensemble dramedy, told with a sharp and distinctive new voice on the filmmaking scene. When three sisters reunite in their childhood home to confront a hoarding mother in writer/director Ebony Blanding’s A Mess of Memories (B+), there’s an ample mix of hilarity and healing. The central trio of actresses are remarkable in their roles: Brittany Inge as the grounded and funny sibling, Cynthia D. Baker as the bitter and more than mildly germ-phobic sister and GeffriMaya as the new age social media influencer of the bunch, most intent on getting to the bottom of their collective familial issues. The chemistry between these idiosyncratic Black women on screen is solid, as estrangement transitions to new energies. Jason Louder is superb as their brotherly counterbalance, especially tender in a moment when he reveals concerns about history repeating. And in a small but potent role, Sherry Richards is magnetic as their maddening maternal grand dame of contradictions. There are a few flourishes of refreshing narrative creativity which frankly could have extended and another sequence or two mildly overstaying their welcome; but all in all, it’s absorbing material. Blanding has sensational control over the storytelling beats and plumbs natural emotion rather than melodrama from a collection of character archetypes rarely seen on screen. The family residence is nearly a character itself with relics sure to evoke knowing reflections from viewers; kudos on the very authentic art direction. This auspicious debut would make a great double bill with either Waiting to Exhale or Sentimental Value. 

2026

Sundance Film “The Musical” Thinks It’s More Subversive Than It Is

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Viewed as part of Virtual Sundance Film Festival 2026

In Giselle Bonilla’s The Musical (C-), Will Brill plays a frustrated playwright and middle school teacher who hatches the perfect plan to exact revenge on Rob Lowe’s character, the principal who has wronged him. The game plan seems foolproof: ruin the school’s chances of winning the prestigious Blue Ribbon of Academic Excellence by staging an inappropriate and chaotic school play. At the film’s center, Brill doesn’t register with the comic timing nor the screenplay words to properly propel the dark comedy. There’s some fun with occasional outrageous jokes at the expense of woke culture, and the kid ensemble is roundly enjoyable. Bonilla maintains consistent gallows humor, but the enterprise just doesn’t get much lift. Anyone who has viewed the 2016 TV series Vice Principals or the 1999 movie Election has already seen a much better interpretation on similar themes. By the time the showdown goes on in the final act, there’s not much more to say or sing.

2026

Sundance Dramedy “Chasing Summer” Showcases Talents of Comedienne Iliza Shlesinger

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Viewed as part of Virtual Sundance Film Festival 2026

Based on her spirited original screenplay, comedienne Iliza Shlesinger stars as a global humanitarian licking her own wounds after losing both her job and her love interest in Josephine Decker’s joyful dramedy Chasing Summer (B). When her character retreats to her Texas hometown, she experiences a kind of Millennial coming-of-age that starts screwball and evolves to sentimental. There are good ensemble performances by Cassidy Freeman and Megan Mullally as family members, Lola Tung as a new friend and Tom Welling as a high school sweetheart, but it’s Garrett Wareing who rises to the top as a handsome and confident new younger boyfriend, providing our protagonist with a memorable age gap relationship which could either be a summer fling or much more. Shlesinger is largely a hoot as her fish out of water maneuvers a summer job at the skating rink including extracurricular keggers. The actress demonstrates considerable sass and spunk; and as screenwriter she gives herself some pretty fun situations and scenery to chew. It’s not the most original film (it’s telling it’s not even the only Sundance movie this year about the insights one learns on a return to one’s hometown: see – or rather don’t – Carousel). The romantic plot is electric, and our leading lady is funny opposite the more traditional Lone Star State women as she flexes her character arc. It’s well filmed and entertaining thanks to Decker, and a screen star is born in Shlesinger.

2026

Sundance Doc “Birds of War” Splices POV of Two Powerfully Connected Witnesses to History

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Viewed as part of Virtual Sundance Film Festival 2026

The grand tradition of a couple finding love against the backdrop of history continues in the nearly decade and a half chronicled in a new Sundance Film Festival premiere documentary. Birds of War (B+), co-directed by its subjects Abd Alkater and Janay Boulos, follows their love and war story. He’s a Syrian activist and cameraman, and she’s a London-based Lebanese BBC journalist. The story traces a pivotal 13 years of their personal archives spanning revolutions, war and exile. With international journalists banned from front-line coverage during the Syrian civil war, international news stations were reliant on activists on the ground to provide footage of the conflict. Exchanging text and voice messages between their respective cities of London and Aleppo, Boulos tasks Habak to clandestinely capture editorially approved stories and segments for her viewers. Gradually, theirs shifts beyond a working relationship, and the film deftly balances the gravity of the grim stories they cover with the flourish and delight of young people in love. The documentary traces the duo’s parallel lives and burgeoning love affair as Boulos loses her faith in journalism and Habak faces the inevitable fall of Aleppo. As both Syria and Boulos’ homeland of Lebanon undergo dramatic developments, the couple reflects on the sacrifices made because of politics and war, but also on the insights they’ve gained along the way. The film is powerful and emotional and a standout of the 2026 Sundance slate.

2026

“Hanging by a Wire” Chronicles Aerial Feats of Courage

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Viewed as part of Virtual Sundance Film Festival 2026

Mohammed Ali Naqvi’s documentary Hanging by a Wire (B) showcases valiant rescue efforts to save eight schoolchildren trapped mid-wire nearly 1,000 feet over a ravine in a daily use cable car in a remote part of the Himalayan foothills. With ten hours until the transport’s snapped wire is expected to drop the cabin of kids to the ground, viewers witness an array of techniques being employed to try to avert disaster. The film’s director orchestrates reenactments and captures fascinating interviews with locals and lieutenants juxtaposed with crystal-clear drone footage of the race against time. It’s a lean and exciting, if not particularly surprising, entry into real-life sagas of heroism. Some sophisticated techniques to save the stranded are no match for the ingenuity of some unexpected problem solvers. It’s clear why international attention turned to this North Pakistan tale, and this doc fills in many of the details with skill and finesse that will suspend disbelief.

2026

Sundance Premiere “Carousel” (2026) Makes You Pine for More Chris Pine

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Viewed as part of Virtual Sundance Film Festival 2026

Despite clearly positive intentions, Rachel Lambert’s domestic drama Carousel (C) is a whole lot of the same. It’s nice to see Chris Pine in a dramatic role: here he portrays a sad dad coping with changes in the physician clinic where he works, with an anxious daughter (Abby Ryder Fortson) and a childhood love interest (Jenny Slate) re-emerging in his life. The plot just doesn’t spark and the dialogue doesn’t crackle as the film quietly observes the machinations of domestic life. Most confounding, the chemistry between Pine and Slate doesn’t manifest with much natural energy, and it’s unconvincing these lifelong connections had a palatable past relationship. Still, despite the inertia of this particular movie, Chris Pine’s presence in it should remind casting directors we want to see more of him challenging himself in future juicy roles.

2026

Fascinating Sundance Documentary “Soul Patrol” Reunites Elite Black Vietnam Soldiers 50 Years Later

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Viewed as part of Virtual Sundance Film Festival 2026

Talk about men with a mission! J.M. Harper’s Soul Patrol (B+) is a moving documentary about a valiant recon team in Vietnam comprised of Black soldiers reuniting a half century later. It is enlightening and therapeutic for all involved, including this elite team’s wives endeavoring to pierce the veneer of bygone and often troubling memories. It is all the more poignant leveraging Super 8 camera footage captured by the Company F, 51st Infantry soldiers in action, many of them teenage innocents abroad facing adversity and experiencing a singular solidarity bonding them forever. The flashbacks are effective and in some cases quite tense as viewers learn the origins of the men and the challenges they faced on a variety of battlefields. Harper chronicles an abundance of history with craft and cunning, collapsing the past and modern day subjectively and with mastery. By the time the Blind Boys of Alabama’s “I Shall Not Walk Alone” plays as the heroes appear in modern day in the aisle of a Piggly Wiggly grocery store, it’s truly a stand up and cheer event.

2026

“How to Divorce During the War” Gracefully Examines Relationship Rifts Adjacent to Ukraine Conflict

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Viewed as part of Virtual Sundance Film Festival 2026

There’s never an optimal time to make tough decisions affecting one’s personal destiny, and for the female protagonist in the Lithuanian film How to Divorce During the War (B+) directed by Andrius Blaževičius, separating from her partner on the eve before the Russian invasion of Ukraine is just the beginning. Žygimantė Elena Jakštaitė stars as steely corporate breadwinner Marija opposite Marius Repšys as faux-hipster homemaker husband Vytas, and the crumbling couple shares a precocious pre-teen daughter Dovilė, convincingly played by Amelija Adomaitytė. Set in Vilnius in 2022 in the Baltic state adjacent to a simmering war territory, the characters occupy a clinical and sometimes lightly satirical world as they maneuver through complacency about shifts to the status quo and soul search to be properly performative about life in flux on both domestic and geopolitical fronts. Jakštaitė is particularly effective, from an iconic early sequence told almost entirely through a windshield to her fluid interactions with corporate colleagues, refugees and even her own rebellious offspring. The elegant, classical composition of sequences by cinematographer Narvydas Naujalis against unsettling and insistent music by Jakub Rataj places the players in this ensemble as fascinating pawns in a zone of interest. Examining both the propaganda and realities of politics and war in their extended families tightens the psychological lens. From home life and corporate settings to the art scene and schoolyards where protests large and small start conjuring, a meditation on messiness plays out in interesting ways, even though the film feels like a pilot episode of an even more interesting plot to come. While those next milestones don’t fully manifest within the boundaries of this movie, its makers provoke a deep sense of introspection and conversation about identity in an interconnected world.

2026

Savage Good Time! Raimi’s “Send Help” His Best Work in Years

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Let these lyrics wash over you as the latest examination of office toxicity plays out in a modern milieu: “They just use your mind and they never give you credit / It’s enough to drive you crazy if you let it.” Sam Raimi’s buoyant horror/comedy Send Help (A-) functions as both a delirious deserted island escapade and also a twisted battle of the sexes, with pulp friction aplenty to scratch the itch, feed the beast and satisfy the gods of carnage attuned to his particular directorial sensibilities. Rachel McAdams brilliantly creates a singular character: an undervalued cubicle denizen with mad coping skills who finds herself on shipwrecked shores with a boss most boorish, played with a dashing grimace by the ever-more-fascinating Dylan O’Brien. This deeply entertaining two-hander traces the peculiar power dynamics of two incredibly committed actors, all the while steeped in the tropes of a survival story. This adventurous allegory offers continuous fresh takes and mixed genres, with plentiful splashes of giddiness and gore. Bill Pope’s crystalline cinematography and Danny Elfman’s understated score add zest to the demented dynamics. It’s watercolor meets watercooler as corporate culture get an epic seaside skewering. 

2025

“No Other Choice” Portrays the Dark Side of Job Search 

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Lee Byung-hun lends a delicious lead performance of dark desperation as a father and gardener who finds himself on the outs in a career crossroads in Park Chan-wook’s sneaky satire No Other Choice (B+). The antihero at the film’s center sets violent targets on his competitors for a coveted job, and the movie keeps upping the ante with zany episodes. As his spouse, Son Ye-jin is the film’s unsung MVP, lending diabolical support to the story’s central conflicts. Chan-wook’s mastery of tone, pace and picturesque cinematic frames help carry a very dark premise over the finish line. Expect nothing short of relentless.