What to Watch This Weekend: Our Friend, True Mothers, Dark Whispers, Max Cloud, Come Play, White Tiger, Ad Astra, MacGruber

For A Powerful Friendship Drama: Our Friend
Our Friend is a poignant, painful, and powerful movie about love, family, and friendship that feels so real and raw and should not be missed.  For more information, check out the review!

For An Oscar Worthy Adoption Drama: True Mothers (Virtual Cinema)
True Mothers is a thoughtful, delicate film that approaches a difficult subject matter with beautiful cinematography, realistic and realized characters, and a balanced approach to the story telling that will leave you speechless.  For more information, check out the review!

For A Collection of Scares: Dark Whispers Volume 1 (Digital)

Dark Whispers Vol. 1 is a scary good compilation of horror stories, that highlights some frightful female voices in the horror genre.  For more information, check out the review!

For A 90s Inspired Space Opera: Max Cloud (Digital and Physical)

Max Cloud is the ridiculous 90s science fiction and video game homage that we didn't know we needed with plenty of fun, 16 bit gaming references, and a great space opera cast.  For more information, check out the review!

For Those Looking For Digital Horror: Come Play (Redbox)

Come Play is a modern Babadook, with fantastic sounds, a creepy modern creature, and palatable tension.  For more information, check out our review!

For A Compelling Drama About Class: The White Tiger (Netflix)

The story of a poor villager's rise to successful entrepreneur, this film has rave reviews based on its great source material and compelling drama.  Definitely check this out if you're looking for something new to watch!

For Two Hours of Brad Pitt and Phenomenal Sound: Ad Astra (HBO)

Ad Astra is leaving HBO after this weekend, so if you've been thinking of watching this one now is your chance!  It is a slow burning near future space journey that will take you to the stars and beyond if you give it the time.  For more information, check out our review!

For A Ridiculous Time: MacGruber (Amazon)

MacGruber is all ridiculousness that will have you laughing at the slapstick comedy and insane situations.  Plus it has some stars in it who have become household names!

What to Watch This Halloween: Horror Films and Spooky Stories To Get You Through Quarantine Night

For Those Looking For Digital Horror - Come Play (Theaters)

Come Play is a modern Babadook, with fantastic sounds, a creepy modern creature, and palatable tension.  For more information, check out our review!

For Those Feeling The Lockdown - Host (Shudder)

The quintessential quarantine movie (and probably the best horror movie this year), Host dials in the scares with a clever use of technology, references to the current predicament, and enough jump scares to keep you from dropping out of this zoom meeting.  For more information, check out our review!

For Some Mind Games - Black Box (Amazon)

Black Box takes you on a technological deep dive with strong characters led by the amazing Mamoudou Athie, an intriguing story, and a mental mystery that will keep you guessing.  For more information, check out our review!

For a New Classical Classic - Nocturne (Amazon)

Nocturne's fantastic music, story, and characters create a slowly building symphony of suspense, obsession, and madness.  It also has probably my favorite movie poster released this year!  For more information, check out our review!

For Those Wanting To Get Outside - Creep (Netflix)

Creep was one of the earlier found footage horror films and did it so incredibly well, fueled by Mark Duplass's intense, unpredictable, and wholly personable performance.

For the Kids - Addams Family (Hulu)

The Addams Family is a nostalgic animated feature that captures the style and characters of the main show.  For more information, check out our review!

For Nostalgic Kids - It's The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown (AppleTV+)

The Halloween classic is now only on Apple TV+, so if you still have your free year remaining, now is a great time to take advantage of it.  A mainstay in my own childhood, this is a classic Halloween film that can be enjoyed against and again!

For Those Looking For A Different Type of Horror - Cats (HBO)

Yes, this movie was universally panned.  Yes, it is a strange film.  But it is also catchy and has enough in there that I'm sure you'll be singing through the fever dream that is this film.

What to Watch: Fishbowl, All In, Come Play, The Call, Blackjack, Cut Throat City, Cats, and Bad Therapy

For An Indie Gem - Fishbowl (Digital)

Fishbowl's fantastic style, understated humor, wonderful performances, and subtle touches showcase a family and spiritual crisis surrounded by small town angst and judgment.  For more information, check out our review!

For Those Looking to Vote - All In: The Fight For Democracy (Amazon, Youtube)

All In; The Fight for Democracy is an important film about modern voter suppression techniques, with poignant examples and valuable advice to ensure that all Americans are able to exercise their rights to vote.  It is free to watch this weekend on Youtube so make sure to check it out!  For more information, check out the news story!

For Those Looking For Digital Horror - Come Play (Theaters)

Come Play is a modern Babadook, with fantastic sounds, a creepy modern creature, and palatable tension.  For more information, check out our review!

For 80s Kids and Scream Queens - The Call (Digital)

The Call gives Lin Shaye a platform to shine as a different, insidious type of character, surrounding her with a young cast and a creepy setting for this atmospheric 80s horror callback.  For more information, check out our review!

For the Showboats - Blackjack: The Jackie Ryan Story (Digital)

Blackjack: The Jackie Ryan Story is a slam dunk portrayal of the legendary street baller, with a boisterous performance by Finley and a loud style to match the street ball subject and hot-tempered athlete.  For more information, check out our review!

For the Fan of Thrillers and Tension - Cut Throat City (Digital / Redbox)

Cut Throat City has a lot more going on than meets the eye, from its complex characters, to its involved story, and wonderful dialogue, this film steals the spotlight.  For more information, check out our review!

For Those Looking For A Different Type of Horror - Cats (HBO)

Yes, this movie was universally panned.  Yes, it is a strange film.  But it is also catchy and has enough in there that I'm sure you'll be singing through the fever dream that is this film.

For Fans of Awkward Comedy - Bad Therapy (Hulu)

Bad Therapy has three great leads in a dark comedy with funny moments, awkward humor, and ridiculous situations.  For more information, check out our review!

Come Play Review: A Tense Technology Creature Tale

Release date: October 30, 2020
Running time: 96 minutes
Starring: Azhy Robertson, Gillian Jacobs, John Gallagher Jr.

Just in time for Halloween comes Focus Features newest film COME PLAY, a horror movie directed by Jacob Chase starring newcomer Azhy Robertson as Oliver, a lonely young boy who feels different from everyone else. Desperate for a friend, he seeks solace and refuge in his ever-present cell phone and tablet. When a mysterious creature uses Oliver's devices to break into the world, Oliver's parents (Gillian Jacobs and John Gallagher Jr.) must fight to save their son from the monster behind the screen. 

Come Play is about the isolating nature of technology and the dangers of its constant use, and thankfully for this film, the use of technology is very good.  Oliver's near constant contact with his tablet, which he uses to help drown out the world around him and to communicate, is a main driving force of this film.  But it also uses some interesting aspects of technology, like pieces of the story showing up on the tablet only, or images only appearing when looking through the tablet camera.  These give you a real sense of possession and helps to showcase the creature and its unique abilities.  It also gives a great excuse to not show the creature all the time, and when it is visible, it allows some logical explanation for why it looks strange and CG.  Speaking of CG, the use of CG in this film is thankfully minimal.  And although the creature looks computer generated (despite being a puppet from the Henson group), the CG is high enough quality that it doesn't break your disbelief that easily.  I wish they had done less with the big creature, but overall it is not too distracting.

And the thankfully part of the minimal creature CG is that the creature does not show up much during the film.  Rather, the movie uses smart lighting, sound, and effects to create some very tense scenarios before you see the creature.  Tying in with the technology, sometimes things are only shown on a tablet, or only through that tablet, causing the visibility of the creature to be minor.  And what this does is create some very tense scenarios as you are waiting for the creature to show up.  And this tension is made even that much more palatable because of the fantastic sound in this film.  As you are waiting for the monster to show up you have creepy noises, shuffling of the creature, and otherworldly sounds coming from both the creature and the kids.  

And this tension leads to some really good jump scares.  I am not a fan of jump scares in general, but I was enjoying these ones.  You know they are coming and when they hit you, you can't help but smile a little.  The whole movie has a similar feel to the fantastic Babadook.  You have a kid who has trouble expressing himself, a scary story / monster that begins to come alive, and parents who initially don't believe the child.  And like the Babadook, this film shows the lengths that parents will go to protect their children.  

Come Play is a modern Babadook, with fantastic sounds, a creepy modern creature, and palatable tension.

Watch it.

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Come Play will be available in theaters on October 30, 2020.

Interview: John Gallagher Jr For Come Play, New Horror Film With Gillian Jacobs and Azhy Robertson

John Gallagher Jr., who plays Marty in the all new horror film Come Play, joins for an insightful interview. Come Play is a horror movie directed by Jacob Chase starring newcomer Azhy Robertson as Oliver, a lonely young boy who feels different from everyone else. It has a great sense of tension, clever use of technology, heartfelt family moments, and plenty of scares. I discuss with John his history with horror, what drew him to this film, and what he has been up to during quarantine. So give it a watch and make sure to check out Come Play, in theaters October 30. Starring: Azhy Robertson, Gillian Jacobs, John Gallagher Jr. Director/Writer: Jacob Chase Producers: Amblin Partners, Alex Heineman, Andrew Rosen Synopsis: Newcomer Azhy Robertson stars as Oliver, a lonely young boy who feels different from everyone else. Desperate for a friend, he seeks solace and refuge in his ever-present cell phone and tablet. When a mysterious creature uses Oliver’s devices against him to break into the world, Oliver’s parents (Gillian Jacobs and John Gallagher Jr.) must fight to save their son from the monster beyond the screen. Please subscribe to be updated on the latest videos: https://bit.ly/3ajxSle