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]
R.L. Stine, best-selling author of the iconic Goosebumps and Fear Street series, may have built an empire spooking young readers, but he takes his inspiration from an unexpected source ー comedy. "Being scary was never my idea," he told Cheddar Thursday. "I was always funny." Goosebumps 2" is out now on Digital and coming to 4K, Blu-ray, and DVD on January 15.
He's one of the must successful authors of all-time, selling more then 400 million books. But the success of 'Goosebumps' goes far beyond the bookshelf, that now includes films, TV shows, merchandise and even an amusement park ride. Cheddar sat down with the series' creator, R.L. Stein, who shared how the terrifying series came to be. Goosebumps 2 is out now on Digital and coming to 4K, Blu-ray, and DVD on January 15.
Dustee Jenkins, global head of communications for Spotify, came to CES to "put a stake in the ground" for podcasting. She told Cheddar that Spotify still sees upside in new forms of audio storytelling, and its "discover" algorithm can help users find podcasts that will appeal to them, much in the way millions of people use the feature to find new bands.
What happens when the world's richest couple gets a divorce? The announcement from Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos that he and his wife, MacKenzie, are divorcing amicably after 25 years of marriage and a trial separation, is unprecedented, given Bezos' net worth and his control over and stake in one of the world's most valuable companies, as well his personal ownership of one of the country's biggest newspapers.
New Year's resolution season is in full swing. Enter mind-body wellness expert Erin Stutland, who helps people conquer their goals through body mindfulness with her new book, "Mantras in Motion: Manifesting What You Want through Mindful Movement."
These are the headlines you Need to Know for Thursday, Jan. 10, 2019.
The electric vehicle industry got a jolt this week as Harley-Davidson introduced its new LiveWire electric motorcycle at the 2019 Consumer Electronics Show. "We're the leader in the category, so we're going to lead the electrification of the sport," Heather Malenshek, senior vice president of marketing and brand at Harley-Davidson, told Cheddar at CES.
This year, CES marked a new partnership between gaming hardware maker Alienware and "League of Legends" developer Riot Games, a union that was a year in the making, according to the general manager at Dell's gaming arm, Alienware. "It actually started here a year ago," Azor told Cheddar at the Las Vegas conference on Wednesday. "That's where we first met."
Television psychologist Phil McGraw, better known as Dr. Phil, praised his "best friend" and colleague in entertainment Oprah Winfrey in an almost-endorsement for a presidential run on Wednesday when he joined Cheddar to discuss his new podcast, "Phil in the Blanks."
Flying taxis are closer to liftoff than you might think. Dr. Tom Prevot, a former NASA aerospace engineer who now runs the engineering division at Elevate, Uber's airspace unit, told Cheddar's Hope King that the nascent industry is reaching a point at which "a lot of things come together."
