by Emily Nagle
Happy almost-October, movie fans! With a new month comes lots of new, exciting shows and movies to stream. And with Halloween around the corner, there’s no shortage of spooky stuff! Here’s a taste of the content being added to the most popular platforms.
Netflix is seeing the return of some of its most popular shows in the next month, including the seventh season of “Nailed It!” (October 5), the third season of “Derry Girls” (October 7), the sixth season of travel show Somebody Feed Phil (October 18), and the sixth season of its animated adult sitcom Big Mouth (October 28). New films include the first three “Rush Hour” films, the first four Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movies, and just in time for spooky month, the first and second live-action film adaptations of “Scooby Doo” (October 1).
Next month, Hulu will be bringing back “The Good Doctor” (October 4) and “Grey’s Anatomy” (October 6) for their sixth and nineteenth seasons respectively. It is also adding a plethora of scary content just in time for Halloween, including Monster House, The Exorcism of Emily Rose, and Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (October 1).
Still craving more scary stuff? Tune into Watch It Scream! or Frightflix on Galxy for some free indie horror films.
by Emily Nagle
British comedy horror web series “Don’t Hug Me I’m Scared” is now a full-length television show. Here’s the crazy part: this short-form YouTube series translates incredibly well to a longer format. The lengthened runtime compared to the web series allows for character development, as well as more time for trippy, stunning visuals that aren’t as cheerful and innocent as they seem.
“Don’t Hug Me I’m Scared” follows Red Guy, Yellow Guy, and Duck. Together, this colorful crew embarks on surreal adventures where they learn abstract concepts, ranging from the true meaning of friendship to what happens when you die. With each lesson comes a new teacher, in addition to lots of songs. The trio’s educational journey is told through mixed media – while the main characters are puppets, the show also utilizes other mediums, including CGI, traditional animation, and claymation. Your eyes certainly won’t get bored looking at this show!
While new musical teachers are introduced in each episode (although the ones from the web series make cameos), the show is excellent at establishing the personalities of the three main characters. Yellow Guy is this puppet who’s childlike and goofy, so the others dismiss him a lot. Duck is the most curious one, asking more questions than his housemates. Finally, there’s the perpetually unenthused Red Guy, who’s quick-witted and always the first to make sarcastic comments. In each episode, one of the characters will often get sucked into their own little side-quest, and we get to see their own unique ways of coping with the situation.
Even though it’s super creepy and existential, “Don’t Hug Me I’m Scared” boasts a unique flavor of humor. The funny moments in this show aren’t based around adult content (there isn’t even any profanity!), but rather around being unsettling. A lot of it is shock-based, but not in the way you’d think. It’s slightly unnerving visual gags such as a vending machine that dispenses an unknown brown liquid, as well as witty, well-written dialogue between the characters.
Currently, “Don’t Hug Me I’m Scared” is only available to watch in the United Kingdom, where it’s on Channel 4. But that’s not stopping “Don’t Hug Me I’m Scared’s” large fanbase – the series has racked up a quarter of a billion views since its debut in 2011 – which is resorting to alternative methods to view the show, such as rushing to sites like soap2day and YouTube to watch it before potential copyright claims take the episodes down. Some are even changing their device’s location through NordVPN so they can watch Channel 4.
If you’re a sucker for quick-witted comedy or searching for horror that’s more subtle, then “Don’t Hug Me I’m Scared” is right up your alley! Each episode is about 22 minutes long, and there’s six of them, making it the ideal binge. And with Halloween only a month away, what better way to kick off the spookiest month? If you haven’t yet seen the viral video that started it all over a decade ago, here it is. The web series is an even shorter binge, with six installments that are all less than 8 minutes long.
by Emily Nagle
The last weekend of September was the highest-grossing one all month. Two major releases broke into the top 5 this week, and were both met with rave reviews.
Top 5 Highest Grossing Films for September 23-25, 2022
5. Pearl ($1.9 million)
4. Barbarian ($4.8 million)
3. Avatar [2022 re-release] ($10 million)
2. The Woman King ($11.1 million)
1. Don’t Worry Darling ($19.2 million)
This weekend’s biggest release was thriller film “Don’t Worry Darling”, which boasts an all-star cast that includes Harry Styles, Florence Pugh, and Olivia Wilde. With the immense success of Styles’ “Love on Tour”, it’s no surprise the film shot to number one for its premiere weekend. Despite its praise for its cinematography and production design, it’s been met with criticism for its writing and direction. Additionally, viewers have found Styles’ performance in the film to be inadequate, with one critic calling it “surprisingly dull and low-wattage”.
In preparation for James Cameron’s upcoming film “Avatar: The Way of Water”, its predecessor, the 2009 science fiction epic film “Avatar“, was rereleased in theaters this weekend. More than a decade after its initial premiere, it remains the highest-grossing film in box office history (right ahead of “Avengers: Endgame“), making more than $2.8 billion worldwide. Its elaborate motion-capture visual effects paved the way for an increase in 3D animated films. While critics have praised “Avatar” for its stunning visuals, they criticize its predictable story and underlying social and political messages.
by Emily Nagle
Let’s-a go! The first trailer for Illumination’s long-anticipated Super Mario movie is finally ready to premiere. It will make its debut to the attendees of New York Comic Con on October 6, 2022.
Illumination’s untitled Mario film was announced back in 2018, and confirmed to be co-produced by Nintendo’s representative director Shigeru Miyamoto and Illumination’s CEO Chris Meledandri. Ever since, it’s been subject to many rumors from fans, especially after the cast list was released last fall. It’s set to feature an all-star voice cast, including Chris Pratt as Mario, Charlie Day as Luigi, Anya Taylor-Joy as Princess Peach, and Jack Black as Bowser.
After being delayed from a release date of December 2022, the “Super Mario Bros.” movie is set to release in theaters next year, on April 7, 2023. After it leaves cinemas, it’ll be available to stream on Peacock for 45 days.
by Emily Nagle
After a long summer, “Abbott Elementary” is back in session. The sophomore season of ABC’s mockumentary-style workplace comedy following an underfunded public school in Philadelphia premiered tonight at 9PM EST, and was watched by thousands of excited Twitter users who live-tweeted the episode under the hashtag #AbbottElementary. The show’s official Twitter account interacted with many of viewers’ tweets, is continuing to do so as the episode makes its premiere on the west coast a few hours later.
On the heels of a breakup with longtime boyfriend Tariq (Zack Fox), optimistic second-grade teacher Janine Teagues (Quinta Brunson) is returning to Abbott for development week, where she and her fellow teachers will prepare for the students’ return.
Stakes are high less than halfway through the episode as we watch Janine struggle to heal her broken heart; with her infectious positive attitude, Janine is always looking out for others (especially her students), but because of this she tends to forget to take care of herself as well. Instead of focusing on picking herself back up after the split, she’s irritated over incompetent principal Ava (Janelle James) hosting a tailgate in the school parking lot.
In only 18 minutes, Janine gets multiple parking tickets, faces a possible eviction due to Tariq barely paying rent, and accidentally books the wrong day for popular Philadelphia Flyers mascot Gritty to show up and welcome students back to school. It feels like the end of the world for Janine, until her coworkers – most notably her mentor Barbara (Sheryl Lee Ralph) and fellow second-grade teacher Melissa (Lisa Ann Walter) – remind her that it’s okay to grieve.
Janine’s situation is depicted in a realistic way that’s sure to hit home for many viewers; overbooking is a common response to avoid coping with complicated feelings. Not to mention this is Janine’s first breakup (she started dating Tariq in eighth grade!), so she’s not quite sure how to deal with all these new emotions.
Now that Janine is single, one can only wonder what will happen between her and first-grade teacher Gregory (Tyler James Williams), who’s had eyes for Janine since the day they met. There’s 21 episodes left in this season, so only time will tell!
Episodes of the upcoming season of “Abbott Elementary” are set to premiere on ABC on Wednesdays at 9PM EST.
by Emily Nagle
While the past couple of weeks were relatively quiet for movie theaters across the United States, this past weekend saw plenty of new releases across lots of different genres. From creative documentaries to comedic murder mysteries, this weekend offered up something for viewers with lots of different tastes.
Top 5 Highest Grossing Films for September 16-18, 2022
5. Bullet Train ($2.6 million)
4. See How They Run ($3 million)
3. Pearl ($3.1 million)
2. Barbarian ($6.5 million)
1. The Woman King ($19 million)
The best-selling movie for this weekend was new historical epic “The Woman King”, which has been met with positive reviews from critics ever since its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival. Starring Viola Davis as General Nanisca, leader of the all-female Agojie warrior tribe in West Africa, “The Woman King” follows her and her team as they protect the kingdom of Dahomey during the 1820s. Audiences particularly praised the film’s casting and action choreography.
Another new arrival in theaters this weekend was A24’s “Pearl”, which became the third highest-grossing film for the weekend. This indie slasher film serves as a prequel for “X”, having been simultaneously shot in secret earlier this year. It tells the origin story of Pearl (Mia Goth), the villain from the film, by taking viewers back in time nearly six decades before the original film. Set in 1918, “Pearl” introduces viewers to the murderer as a 16-year-old, showing how she ended up as the murderous housewife we saw last spring in “X”. It’s been met with generally positive reviews from critics, who loved Goth’s performance as well as its tributes to classic films.
Trailing slightly behind “Pearl” was “See How They Run”. This whodunit starring Sam Rockwell, Saoirse Ronan, and Adrien Brody is set in 1950s London, and tells the story of a film crew who recruit an inspector and a constable to solve who murdered one of the main team members.
Get Some Strange!
