Wondering what to watch this weekend? This week we have several picks for the spooky season, plus a game show to take your mind off of Halloween.
The Mill - Hulu
Picked by Lawrence Banton
It's the thick of the spooky season and I've watched a pretty good amount of horror and thriller flicks over the last several days. Hulu's The Mill was my latest watch and it really messes with you. Imagine you're going about your day like normal and then you suddenly wake up in an open-air prison. That's the predicament Joe, played by comedian Lil Rel Howery, found himself in. He has to figure out a way to escape this prison and make it home to his very pregnant wife. With Lil Rel as the star of the film, know that you will laugh – often – while your palms sweat in anticipation of his next move.
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hxu1zTco8-I[youtube]
Totally Killer - Amazon Prime
Picked by Keara O’Driscoll
As of late, and especially during this time of the year, I've learned that my favorite style of movies is campy, fun and mildly frightening Halloween movies. I watched Totally Killer after seeing all over my “FYP” on TikTok. I didnt think the film started out well as it gave the low-budget energy of a Disney Channel movie with insanely bad CGI that I was shocked to see in the year 2023. But…that is half of the charm. Starring Julie Bowen, Kiernan Shipka and Olivia Holt, the film follows the classic "angsty teen who hates her mom until something so outlandish happens that she is forced to realize that she is just a person" trope. But as the film progresses, it really sucks you in, and I found myself glued to the screen until the end.
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNm3VPPKEQI[youtube]
Taskmaster - YouTube and Taskmaster Supermax+
Picked by Newsletter Writer Graison Dangor
This offbeat British game show is the perfect supply of clips when you just want to laugh and take your mind off things. Episodes, which you don't have to watch in any order, has comedians compete to solve odd tasks — examples include "Knock Over the Fewest Skittles," "Hide 3 Eggplants In This Room" and "Make the Plastic Bag as Heavy as Possible" — which they often fulfill in even odder ways. If you become a big fan, you can watch full seasons of the show and its international offshoots with a paid subscription to Taskmaster Supermax+, their delightfully named streaming platform.
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x5D4cph_KwI[youtube]
Throwback Pick
The Witches - Amazon Prime
Picked by Senior Editor Dina Ross
Based on the Roald Dahl novel, this spooky family-friendly film tells the tale of a boy who is on a trip with his grandmother when he happens upon a convention of witches. He finds out the hard way that the witches want to turn all children into mice. Now it's his job to stop them. I'll point you to the 1990 adaptation, starring Anjelica Hudson, but the 2020 remake, starring Anne Hathaway, is also worth a watch if you're into a more modern aesthetic.
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_ZyqaN_XNM[youtube]
A new bill in Illinois would require potential gun buyers to reveal their public social media accounts to state police. The ACLU is now speaking out against the idea, citing privacy and bias concerns. "The things that social media would show are one's political views, perhaps one's religion, and even in some instances someone's race," Edwin Yohnka, director of communications and public policy at ACLU of Illinois, told Cheddar.
The private investigator working on behalf of Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos to find out how his private texts were leaked to the National Enquirer believes a "government entity" may have been involved. That explosive claim was relayed on Cheddar Friday morning by Manuel Roig-Franzia, a Washington Post reporter who interviewed Gavin de Becker, Bezos' security chief.
These are the headlines you Need 2 Know for Friday, Feb. 8, 2019.
It's not fitness. It's life. Such is the motto of wellness brand Equinox ー which is taking that commitment to the next level with "Cycle for Survival." "At Equinox, we are a 'do good' company. We're about high-performance living and we felt that this was a cause we wanted to get involved in, " Scott Rosen, president of Equinox, told Cheddar.
Delivery has always been integral to Jimmy John's, first as a means of survival, then as a cornerstone of its business model. But today Jimmy John's is taking its push for customer loyalty one step further with a rewards program. "We're in the process. Hold on soon, it's coming," Jimmy John's CEO and President James North told Cheddar Thursday.
About 83 percent of Americans are happy in their relationships, according to a new survey by eHarmony. Grant Langston, the CEO of eHarmony, said the happiest couples are those that share in common things like income, education, and political affiliation. But power sharing is also key. "You've got to be equal, and unfortunately only about 50 percent of the couples reported having equal relationships. We've got a lot to work on there," Langston told Cheddar.
Cycle for Survival is a movement focused on beating rare cancers. Every dollar raised goes towards rare cancer research led by Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. Equinox is a founding partner of Cycle for Survival and a huge contributor to the movement's success. Equinox President Scott Rosen joined Cheddar to celebrate hitting the $200 million fundraising mark.
These are the headlines you Need 2 Know for Thursday, Feb. 7, 2019.
Low-cost airlines have succeeded by dazzling travelers with cheap tickets to popular destinations, but that strategy is growing harder to maintain for long-haul trips. "The problem is nobody's sure whether the model is sustainable," Brian Sumers, senior aviation business editor at Skift, told Cheddar Wednesday.
Lemonade, the insurance startup that uses A.I. and chatbots to pay claims within seconds, saw exponential growth in the U.S. in 2018, but the company is setting its sights on Europe for its next phase of expansion. "We've decided that if people in Berlin, and Tokyo, and New York are using Spotify, and Netflix, and Uber, why not Lemonade?" CEO and co-founder Daniel Schreiber asked in an interview on Cheddar.
