Variety to Honor Artisans at Santa Barbara Film Festival; New 'Super Mario' Movie Trailer Drops; Exoskeleton Race Crowns a Winner

The Santa Barbara Film Festival announced that EJAE, Jack Fisk, and Alexandre Desplat, among others, would receive Variety Artisans Awards, according to Variety. The awards recognize the contributions of behind-the-scenes talent in film. In other entertainment news, Universal Pictures and Illumination released a new trailer for the upcoming "Super Mario Galaxy Movie," featuring the character Yoshi, Ars Technica reported. Meanwhile, at CES 2026, exoskeleton developers raced their devices, with one clear winner emerging from the competition, Wired reported.

The Variety Artisans Awards will honor Oscar-nominated artisans EJAE ("KPop Demon Hunters"), Jack Fisk ("Marty Supreme"), and Alexandre Desplat ("Frankenstein"), as well as other notable figures in the film industry. The awards ceremony is part of the Santa Barbara Film Festival, which celebrates excellence in filmmaking.

Gaming fans expressed excitement over the new "Super Mario Galaxy Movie" trailer, which prominently features Yoshi, the green dinosaur, Ars Technica noted. The trailer also includes Easter eggs for fans to discover. The previous attempt at a Super Mario movie adaptation in 1993 was considered a failure, but the 2023 "Super Mario Bros. Movie" was well-received by gaming fans.

CES 2026 showcased a variety of personal exoskeletons from companies like WiRobotics, Sumbu, Ascentiz, Dephy, Skip MoGo, Dnsys, and Hypershell, according to Wired. Exoskeletons are wearable devices designed to enhance human movement, strength, posture, or physical activity. The main piece typically goes around the waist, with mechanized splints extending down to the thighs. Ascentiz had Wired sprinting across the show floor.