The highly anticipated, sure to be a cult classic, “Cocaine Bear” releases in theaters today, with the horror comedy inspired by a true story, where a bear hopped up on cocaine goes on a murderous rampage. Directed by Elizabeth Banks, and featuring one of the final performances from the late Ray Liotta, it’s sure to be a banger. After checking out the animal on a rampage flick, we recommend these other five killer animal flicks.
What are some of your favorite killer animal movies? Let us know.
Super Bowl Sunday saw the release of the newest trailer for the up and coming, highly anticipated sequel to the “Scream” series titled “Scream VI.” This new sequel takes the story out of Woodsboro and in to the streets of New York City. We follow sisters Tara and Sam Carpenter once again as they’re stalked by a meaner, more sadistic Ghost Face. In celebration of the New York bound sequel, I thought I’d list five great New York based horror films you can watch to prepare yourself for the highly anticipated sequel.
What are some of your favorite New York set horror films?
Reginald Hudlin’s “House Party” is a film that studios have had a hard time duplicating over the years. It’s developed in to awful sequels because the 1990 original was such a simple bit of lightning in the bottle. What worked with the original movie is that it was quite simply, a party movie. It was small in scope, had a minimalist narrative but garnered a ton of life and charisma. Watching the movie is still like going in to a party, with its great highs and sweet lows. Hudlin’s movie is still a classic after thirty years.
Thankfully “M3GAN” has managed to live up to the hype it built throughout 2022, and has managed to also accumulate a strong slew of positive reviews and quite the profit at the box office. With a sequel underway, you probably can’t wait until the follow up. So if you have an appetite for more robots gone amok entertainment, here are five great movies that feature killer robots, haywire AI, and deadly androids that will keep you comfy until M3GAN 2.0 (?).
It seems like these days actors nearing their seventies have to make a drama comedy about nearing the end of their lives. Hell, Jack Nicholson gave us “About Schmidt” and “The Bucket List,” and Robert DeNiro had “The Intern.” With Tom Hanks we have “A Man Call Otto” which is basically his “About Schmidt.” He lends his talents to a sad tale of a widow trying to find a way to move on from the love of his life. It’s shockingly a pet project for the Hanks fam that is just fine when all is said and done. It’s not Tom Hanks’ masterpiece, but just a fine outing for the man who can do roles like this in his sleep.
Disney continues their latest studio motto of remaking and sequelizing everything that they’ve ever produced. The last being the horrendous “Lion King” CGI remake. Of course the Devil’s Advocate will explain that “Pinocchio” is more of another adaptation (one of three in 2022!) of the 1883 tale, but it’s a remake of the 1940 animated movie. Every character look like their animated counterparts, right down to Tom Hanks as Geppetto. God love Tom Hanks, he certainly tries his best here, and even does his best with the musical number he’s given. But it’s all an uphill battle for a lot of what is established here.
Want to hear something funny? As I was sitting here, getting ready to write this review, I only just this very second realized that “Black Christmas” is a play on words. Specifically, it twists around the cheerful upbeat title of the 1954 movie White Christmas starring Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye. In my usual clueless chimpanzee-like way I had never made this connection even though I must have seen the original Black Christmas thirty times in the last thirty-five years. Anyway, that’s my way of introducing today’s movie. Which is not the original, but instead the 2006 remake starring Katie Cassidy, Michelle Trachtenberg, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Oliver Hudson, Lacey Chabert, Kristen Cloke, and Andrea Martin. It was directed by Glen Morgan, who was a brilliant writer on The X-Files and a not so brilliant writer on the most recent incarnation of The Twilight Zone.
With Steven Spielberg’s “West Side Story” he manages to offer up a brilliant, dazzling, and engrossing epic retelling of the original musical. It’s stunning how much Spielberg is able to suck us in using the elements of dance as important and crucial moments of exposition in lieu of endless dialogue. To say that “West Side Story” is a surprise, is an understatement. While Spielberg is a wonderful director, there’s never been any indication he could deliver on a musical. But with his version of “West Side Story” is gives us the classic tale of star crossed lovers, and a race war amidst the back drop of New York. Except what Spielberg does is beautifully recontextualizes the entire tale of the Jets and the Sharks for Modern audiences.