AFI Fest: “Selena Gomez: My Mind & Me” shows the star up close

by Eurochees

This year’s AFI Fest opened with a spotlight on pop star Selena Gomez under the direction of Alek Keshishian, who famously brought us Madonna: Truth or Dare (1991). The film kicks off promoting Gomez’s music and telling the audience her backstory, walking us through a career she began at 7 years old on the show Barney & Friends. She has been consistently working since that time, turning 30 this past summer. We learn about the physical toll lupus took on her, an emotionally exhausting period which led her to a breakdown stemming from her bipolar disease. Her decision to go public with her diagnosis ties into her statement later in the film that she is driven by her focus on what to do next when facing hurdles... 

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Dragula: Titans S1.E2 "Revenge of the Witch"

by Nathaniel R

Just give us dark beauty, right?

Challenges on competition reality shows are planned out in advance but sometimes it's fun to imagine they aren't but instead, forced by the previous episode. Last week, when Dragula Titan's competitors were asked to reinterpret a classic horror type for a Halloween party, nobody chose a witch, surely the most common costume of all. So for episode two, witches are the whole theme. Revenge! 

For those of you who need a little cinematic referencing in your TV (oh, maybe that's just me?) the guest judges were the "Demon Nun" herself Bonnie Aarons (The Conjuring 2, The Nun, Mulholland Drive) and director Darren Stein (Jawbreaker, GBF)...

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Streaming Roulette (Halloween Weekend)

Happy Halloween Weekend! There are quite a few newish-to-streaming things to screen this weekend (many of them horror themed) so herewith 10 ideas to take you through Halloween on Monday night. 

If we can raise him up, we can raise up anyone in the cemetery.

WENDELL & WILD (2022) on Netflix
Went in with the highest hopes since Henry Selick is just great. Plus stop-motion animation is always such a treat in the more lifeless era of the absurdantly dominant CG 3D style. The animation here is definitely the highlight and it's perfect for Halloween...

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"Elvis" maxes out on nominations from the AACTA

by Travis Cragg

Baz Luhrmann’s musical biopic Elvis has thoroughly dominated the film categories of the Australian Academy Cinema Television Arts (AACTA) scoring a nod in every category for which it was eligible. The grand total is 15 nominations! Not too far behind, with 13 nods each, are George Miller’s fairytale 3000 Years Of Longing and Leah Purcell’s revisionist Western The Drover’s Wife: The Legend Of Molly Johnson. In recent times, the big movie of the nominations tends to sweep the wins as well (see Nitram, Babyteeth, Lion, and Luhrmann’s The Great Gatsby for evidence), so if you’re wanting to make predictions, the Presley biopic is the best bet for all. 

After the jump a list of nominations, where you can stream them in the US, and a few comments. In case Elvis leaves the building, we offer a few alternatives as to what might win...

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Streaming Roulette (Oct 21st-27th): A school for Good and Evil in the woods

A weekly series in which we survey new-to-streaming titles (on various services) freezing the scroll bar at random and sharing what comes up. 

So you're saying -- I can't believe I'm actually saying this -- if Sophie were to kiss her true love...

THE SCHOOL FOR GOOD AND EVIL (2022) on Netflix
Came to this one with high hopes given that Paul Feig often makes blissfully funny and stylish movies (Spy, Bridesmaids, A Simple Favor) and the source material (yes, I've read it) is great fun...

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