October 30th, 2023

HELL HOUSE LLC ORIGINS: THE CARMICHAEL MANOR - Shudder, AMC+

Hell House LLC mastermind Stephen Cognetti brings us his fourth film in the franchise, and it arrives on Shudder just in time for Halloween. It’s reportedly a return to form for the series, and we’re excited to check it out. The film does employ the demonic clown trope, which at this point, is there any other kind of clown? They’re all demons now. There’s an official term for the fear of clowns: Coulrophobia. We all have it. Did you know beloved actor Hugh Jackman used to work as a clown before he got famous? His name was Coco, and it did not go well.

October 31st, 2023

A HAUNTING IN VENICE - Hulu, PVOD Sale (Price TBD)

The third Agatha Christie/Hercule Poirot adaptation brought to us by Kenneth Branagh, this one is said to be the best of the bunch. Star-studded whodunnits are a favorite genre of ours, but this is starting to feel a little bit like an abusive relationship. We watched both Murder on the Orient Express and Death on the Nile with open hearts and great expectations, only to be served plodding pacing and cheap-looking CGI backgrounds. A Haunting in Venice used a number of actual Venice locations, so that’s a good sign. But fool us once…shame on you. Fool us twice…shame on us. Fool us thrice…we’re still hoping there will be more of these.

INVISIBLE BEAUTY - $16.99 Sale / TBD Rental

This doc explores the life and career of Bethann Hardison, who has broken ground as a model, modeling agent, and activist.  Hardison co-directs with Frédéric Tcheng, and it features interviews with Whoopi Goldberg, Zendaya, Naomi Campbell, Tracee Ellis Ross,  Fran Lebowitz, and Tyson Beckford. In addition to being a fashion icon and trailblazer, Hardison is also the mother of actor Kadeem Hardison, who played the iconic Dwayne Wayne in the 80s/90s sitcom A Different World.

PAW PATROL: THE MIGHTY MOVIE - $24.99 Sale / $19.99 Rental

Bogie and Bacall. Redford and Newman. Hanks and Ryan. Film lovers revere classic movie pairings. Here’s hoping PAW Patrol: The Mighty Movie ushers in a new classic movie duo, as Kim Kardashian and Serena Williams finally unite their powers to give voice to Delores (that’s Kim), a sassy poodle who works in an animal shelter, and Yoga Yvette (that’s Serena), who is a (human) yoga instructor. They’ve both conquered their respective industries (tennis, shapewear), so why can’t they conquer the movies?

SPIDER-MAN: ACROSS THE SPIDER-VERSE - Netflix

For all the talk of superhero fatigue, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is the ultimate argument that audiences aren’t tired of superhero movies, they’re tired of crappy superhero movies. The Spider-Verse sequel grossed $381.3 million in the United States and Canada, and $308.7 million internationally, for a worldwide gross of $690 million. It surpassed Into the Spider-Verse's total gross of $384.5 million after 12 days of release. That’s incredibly impressive, and a testament to the creativity and quality of both films. Here’s hoping they take their time and keep up the quality for Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse, which was scheduled to be released in 2024 but now won’t be arriving until at least 2025.

November 1st, 2023

ABOUT MY FATHER - Starz

About My Father is a comedy that was co-written by and stars Sebastian Maniscalco, which is loosely based on his life and relationship with his father, played by Robert De Niro. It got lukewarm reviews and did not do much business at the box-office. You know what movie we’d love to see? The story of De Niro and his father, also named Robert De Niro. The elder De Niro came out as gay and divorced when the younger De Niro was two years old, though father and son remained close all through his childhood. The actor recounted his dad’s life as an artist in the 2014 HBO doc Remembering the Artist: Robert De Niro, Sr. Would be incredible to see that story adapted in to a biopic.

WINGWOMEN - Netflix

Inspired by the graphic novel La Grande Odalisque, which follows a gang of female expert thieves targeting high-end goods, Wingwomen is the latest directorial effort from Inglourious Basterds’ Mélanie Laurent. Laurent also stars alongside Adèle Exarchopoulos, Manon Bresch and Isabelle Adjani, and though no reviews have hit online yet, the trailer makes it look like a solid caper comedy. In a Variety interview, Laurent boasts ‘I like the fact that we had this freedom to portray these characters smoking cigarettes and drinking wine when they’re not kicking butts.’ So French!

November 3rd, 2023

THE BLIND - $19.99 Sale

It’s fascinating to see which films Christian audiences support and don’t support. The Blind (also known as The Blind: The True Story of the Robertson Family) has been a minor sensation this fall, becoming Fathom Events’ highest grossing film of all time. But what makes The Blind a hit and The Hill, which came out in late summer, a flop? If the audience is underserved, why don’t they show up for every faith-based offering? We have more questions than answers.

FINGERNAILS - Apple TV+

Greek director Christos Nikou’s English language debut tells the story of a woman who begins working at an institute that has a technology that says it can determine if the romance in a given couple is genuine. Such an intriguing premise! And one that was also explored in the AMC anthology series Soulmates. That show was hit or miss, and from the critical reaction to Fingernails, the film sounds like it doesn’t quite live up to the potential of its premise. Still, with Jessie Buckley, Riz Ahmed, and Jeremey Allen White starring, we’ll definitely give this a look.

THE KILL ROOM - $14.99 Sale / TBD Rental

A reunion of Pulp Fiction co-stars Uma Thurman and Samuel L. Jackson, The Kill Room is a comedic crime thriller that skewers the art world. But let’s talk about Thurman and Jackson, both of whom received their sole Oscar nominations for Tarantino’s 1994 landmark film. It’s crazy that neither of them have been nominated again, especially for their projects with Tarantino. Jackson, of course, did receive an honorary Oscar last year. Well deserved. But it would be great if these terrific actors were in the mix for competitive Oscars again. Probably not for this film, though.

MY BIG FAT GREEK WEDDING 3 - Peacock

We’ve talked about the need for more ‘take your mom to the movies’ movies. The My Big Fat Greek Wedding movies serve that need. But let’s examine the poster for this film, which we believe belongs in the movie-poster-photoshop-atrocity hall of fame. Screencrush did a terrific breakdown of the all-time worst offenders, but we thought we’d highlight some of our (least) favorites:

NYAD - Netflix

The narrative feature debut of Oscar-winning documentarians Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin, who made the acclaimed Free Solo in 2019. Nyad gives Annette Bening and Jodie Foster meaty roles, though from the reaction at the Telluride Film Festival, both actresses are let down by the film. Still, critics seem to be rallying around it a bit. It has an 86% Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and it would be great to have Bening and Foster in the Oscar conversation this year.

OUTLAW JOHNNY BLACK - $19.99 Sale / TBD Rental

Director/actor Michael Jai White’s ‘spiritual sequel’ to his 2009 blaxsploitation cult film Black Dynamite, Outlaw Johnny Black is a comedic western that should also build an audience when it hits home screens. White made a ‘proof-of-concept’ trailer for the film to get it financed, and the film is clearly a labor of love for the filmmaker. And we absolutely love the name of his production company: Jaigantic Studios. Brilliant.

QUIZ LADY - Hulu

Quiz Lady looks like another solid direct-to-streaming movie for Hulu, whose batting average is impressive compared to some of the other major streamers. Sure, Netflix has their prestige titles, mostly in the last few months of the year. But they put out A LOT of terrible, disposable films. Hulu, being a pipeline for 20th Century Studios productions, has quietly impressed with their non-theatricals. Last year’s Prey was fantastic. This year they’ve had Boston Strangler, Rye Lane, Flamin’ Hot, and No One Will Save You. Sure, they still have duds like White Men Can’t Jump and Vacation Friends 2. But overall, some real movies. We’re hoping Quiz Lady is another in the winners column.

SLY - Netflix

After Netflix’s three-part doc-series about Arnold Schwarzenegger, we now get a feature documentary about Sylvester Stallone. In the storied rivalry between the two action heroes, do you think it rankles Stallone that he only got a doc, not a series? We suppose if Sly had ever held public office, there might be more material. From the reaction at this year’s Toronto Film Festival, Sly is a solid, if unremarkable overview of Stallone’s career. We’re suckers for these kinds of showbiz docs, so we’re all in for this one.

SOUND OF FREEDOM - $19.99 Sale Only

Not much more to say about this one. As we publish this preview, Angel Studios, the company behind Sound of Freedom’s phenomenal box-office success, has released a new documentary in theaters. It’s called AFTER DEATH, and it’s getting an ultra-wide release not usually afforded to non-fiction films. We’ll see if they can continue the success of this ‘pay-it-forward’ sensation.

SYMPATHY FOR THE DEVIL - AMC+

Another week, another Nicolas Cage movie! The prolific actor, who has seven(!) movies in theaters this year (yes, we’re counting the uncredited cameo in The Flash), this time teams with our favorite B-movie actor Joel Kinnaman. We mean B-movie actor as a 100% compliment. Kinnaman is an incredibly appealing screen presence, and is finding his groove is high-gloss trash cinema. In a way, he’s a stoic spiritual successor to Cage himself. We’ll definitely check this one out, but we’re really looking forward to SILENT NIGHT.

November 4th, 2023

INSIDIOUS: THE RED DOOR - Netflix

The fifth film in the Insidious series, Insidious: The Red Door has the distinction of being directed by its star, Patrick Wilson. Word-of-mouth on this one hasn’t been great, but Netflix is the perfect platform for audiences to catch up on it. Shame it won’t arrive in time for Halloween, but there are plenty of other options out there. Have we mentioned WHEN EVIL LURKS is absolutely terrifying?

Happy Streaming Everyone!

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