Black Girl Nerds • 23rd November 2022

Cult Classics: Revisiting the Twisted, Unofficial Thanksgiving Dark Comedy ‘Addams Family Values’

In 1991, director Barry Sonnenfeld (Schmigadoon!) reintroduced us to cartoonist Charles Addams’ delightfully macabre family who first graced the pages of the New Yorker in his movie The Addams Family. But with Paul Rudnick’s (Sister Act) sharp, satirical follow-up script, Addams Family Values could be a standalone movie. The Addams Family set the stage but the sequel outdid its predecessor. It’s not even necessary to see the first one to understand the events of the second. Despite not meeting

Black Girl Nerds • 22nd November 2022

Review: Jenna Ortega is Exceptional as the Woeful and Weird ‘Wednesday’ Addams

The extraordinary character of Wednesday Addams has been around since 1938, popularized in the 1960s sitcom, and cemented as an icon in the 1990s Barry Sonnenfeld (The Addams Family, Addams Family Values) movies. Even though we’re often weary of reboots, remakes, and reimaginings, this year’s Addams spin-off from creators Alfred Gough and Miles Millar (Smallville) along with director/executive producer Tim Burton (Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children) is something original and wholly its

Black Girl Nerds • 18th November 2022

Review: Our Favorite Profilers, Back and on the Hunt for a Serial Killer Network in ‘Criminal Minds: Evolution’

The long-running crime drama Criminal Minds came to an end in February 2020. A dip in ratings likely led to its cancellation on CBS. However, the series’ fanbase grew during the pandemic when everyone was quarantined and binge-watching it on Netflix. Showrunner Erica Messer took notice and, teaming with Criminal Minds writers Breen Frazier and Chris Barbour, and director Glenn Kershaw, a new chapter was born. It doesn’t sound like it took much convincing to get the cast back together. Aisha Tyl

Black Girl Nerds • 3rd November 2022

Review: Make It a ‘Blockbuster’ Night with Netflix’s Feel-Good Series

In September 2000, Blockbuster CEO John Antioco turned down the opportunity to join forces with a little company known as Netflix for $50 million, having them handle the online DVD-by-mail side of things while Blockbuster put its focus on in-store rentals. Twenty-two years later, Netflix is thriving and ironically, debuting an original series about the last remaining Blockbuster.

Black Girl Nerds • 28th October 2022

Cult Classics: Revisiting the Underrated Horror Gem ‘Thirteen Ghosts’

The big horror movie remake boom of the early 2000s was an interesting time in movie history. Classics like House on Haunted Hill, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and House of Wax all got the remake treatment and produced varying results in terms of profitability. Director Steve Beck (Ghost Ship), with writers Neal Marshall Stevens (Hellraiser: Deader) and Richard D’Ovidio (Hypnotic), put their own spin on William Castle’s 1960 film 13 Ghosts, but it didn’t do so hot at the box office back in Octo

Black Girl Nerds • 25th October 2022

Review: 'Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities' is a Delightfully Eclectic Assortment of Horrors

This month horror legend Guillermo del Toro (The Shape of Water) brings his curated anthology horror series to Netflix for a 4-night event with a different theme each night. Ghosts, demons, and Lovecraftian tales of witches — Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities has got it all and then some. The first episode is an original story from del Toro himself written for the screen by Regina Corrado (The Strain) and directed by Guillermo Navarro (Hannibal). It follows Nick (Tim Blake Nelson), a

Black Girl Nerds • 21st October 2022

Review: Henry Selick’s ‘Wendell & Wild’ Is a Hellish, Heartfelt Film a About Girl and Her Demons

Legendary animator-writer-director Henry Selick (Coraline) makes his long-awaited return to the screen with a dark and edgy stop-motion feature just in time for Halloween. Co-written by horror auteur Jordan Peele (Nope) and based on an unpublished book by Selick and Clay McLeod Chapman, Wendell & Wild is about second chances, self-discovery, and the afterlife and somehow manages to shine a light on the grim reality of the prison industrial complex and juvenile correctional system while remainin

Black Girl Nerds • 20th October 2022

Cult Classics: Revisiting the Wonderfully Strange Other-verse of ‘Coraline’

In 2009, LAIKA Studio released its first stop-motion feature, Coraline, written-directed by the incredibly imaginative Henry Selick (The Nightmare Before Christmas). The adaptation is based on Neil Gaiman’s (The Sandman) 2002 novella of the same name, about a lonely girl who falls into a dreamy world that’s both exciting and scary. The delightfully dark fairy tale blends horror elements with family-friendly fun. Almost 14 years later, Coraline is still relevant and beloved. The Jones family mov

Black Girl Nerds • 13th October 2022

Modern Horror Classics: 10 Years Later and ‘Sinister’ Is Still One of the Scariest Films in Horror

It’s getting harder to impress horror audiences, especially with the rise of highbrow horror. But, back in 2012, Scott Derrickson and C. Robert Cargill, the writer-director duo behind Doctor Strange and this year’s The Black Phone, gave us a movie full of atmospheric terror. In 2020, Forbes reported that the “Science of Scare Project” determined Sinister was the scariest movie by measuring audience heart rates, which went from an average of 65 BPM to 86 BPM while watching the film. So, the effec

Black Girl Nerds • 8th October 2022

Review: Horror Master Mike Flanagan Brings the Thrilling Stories of Christopher Pike to Life in ‘The Midnight Club’

Yes, it’s that magical time of year when we get another entry into the Mike Flanagan Cinematic Universe. This month the Flanaverse expands with the writer-director’s Netflix series, The Midnight Club, adapted from the 1994 YA novel of the same name by prolific author Christopher Pike, who also serves as executive producer. Co-created by writer-producer Leah Fong (The Haunting of Bly Manor), the series follows a diverse group of terminally ill teenagers and their nightly meet-ups to scare each o

Black Girl Nerds • 28th September 2022

Review: Ana de Armas Shines in the Fever Dream That Is Andrew Dominik’s ‘Blonde’

Writer-director Andrew Dominik’s (The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford) immersive and surreal adaption of Joyce Carol Oates’ imaginative novel of the same name is a lot to take in. The film digs deep into the myth of Marilyn Monroe, resulting in an unrelenting depiction of a fragile woman at the mercy of the Hollywood system. Blonde begins before the fame, with young Norma Jeane (Lily Fisher) and her unstable mother Gladys Pearl Baker (Julianne Nicholson). On her birthday,

Black Girl Nerds • 28th September 2022

Fantastic Fest 2022 Review: ‘Piggy’ is a Brutal, Blood-Soaked Coming-of-Age Slasher on the Horrors of Being a Teenager

Spanish writer-director Carlota Pereda’s feature film debut is an extension of her 2018 award-winning short film of the same name. With all its bloodiness, Piggy is a female-centric coming-of-age story much like Raw, Ginger Snaps, and The Witch. This introspective morality thriller explores bullying, body image, and basic humanity. It also has fun Friday-movie-night vibes — a classic teen slasher with more to offer. On an unforgiving hot summer day, Sara (Laura Galán) goes to the pool in her ru

Black Girl Nerds • 27th September 2022

Fantastic Fest 2022 Review: Explore the Parisian Catacombs in Grégory Beghin’s Claustrophobic Subterranean Horror ‘Deep Fear’

Belgian director Grégory Beghin (Losers Revolution) makes his first foray into horror with a tale of urban exploration gone awry. Written by Nicolas Tackian (Alex Hugo), Deep Fear goes beyond the jump scares and familiar genre tropes to deliver an overwhelming feeling of suffocating dread. In early ‘90s Paris, three college friends, Sonia (Sofia Lesaffre), Max (Kassim Meesters), and Henry (Victor Meutelet, aka Timothée on Emily in Paris), go out for a night of drinking to celebrate before Henry

Black Girl Nerds • 24th September 2022

Fantastic Fest 2022 Review: Shinzô Katayama's ‘Missing’ Is a Gripping Thriller That Keeps You Guessing

Japanese writer-director Shinzô Katayama (Siblings of the Cape) makes his commercial film debut with a genre-blending tale that explores multiple themes and relationship dynamics. Co-written by Ryô Takada (Over the Fence) and Kazuhisa Kodera (The Naked Director), Missing, recently acquired by Dark Star Pictures, is a film with twist after twist that goes deeper than one would expect. Having previously worked with Academy Award-winning filmmaker Bong Joon-Ho (Parasite, Okja) as an assistant direc

Black Girl Nerds • 22nd September 2022

Review: Netflix’s ‘Lou’ Is a Female-Driven Action-Thriller That Packs a Serious Punch

Netflix’s latest action-thriller isn’t just another revenge film. Cinematographer and director Anna Foerster (Westworld) makes her directorial debut with Lou — a female-driven film that packs a serious punch. Written by Maggie Cohn (The Staircase) and Jack Stanley, Lou follows the titular landlord (Allison Janney) as she somewhat enjoys her solitary existence on an island in the Pacific Northwest with her dog Jax. The first few minutes establish that, although she’s reasonably well-liked in tow

Black Girl Nerds • 9th September 2022

TIFF 2022 Review: Sophie Kargman's Darkly Satirical ‘Susie Searches’ Has the Makings of an Indie Cult Classic

Writer-director Sophie Kargman makes her feature directorial debut at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival with Susie Searches, a dark comedy satire based on her 2020 short of the same name. The film, co-written by William Day Frank, delves into our cultural fascination with true crime, social media stardom, and how messy it gets when the two come together. Susie (Kiersey Clemons) is a socially awkward, ambitious college student living in Ohio. She divides her time between caring for

Black Girl Nerds • 2nd September 2022

What to Watch Next If You Love ‘Only Murders in the Building’

The second season of Only Murders in the Building came to an end last month, leaving fans without their weekly dose of comedy and crime. OMITB is definitely one of a kind and has the perfect blend of genres. But there are some series that can quench your thirst until the Arconia Three return to our screens. Some of the obvious choices are Fargo, Veronica Mars, Psych, or anything Agatha Christie-related. However, if you’re looking to expand your horizons, here are a few shows with unlikely partn

Black Girl Nerds • 25th August 2022

Cult Classics: Remembering Aaliyah’s Iconic Queen Akasha in 'Queen of the Damned'

It’s been twenty-one years to the day since the tragic death of music icon Aaliyah. Today, we honor her memory by revisiting the young actress’s second and final film, Queen of the Damned. After the success of 1994’s Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles, based on Anne Rice’s book of the same name, a follow-up film was inevitable. But instead of adapting the second book in Rice’s The Vampire Chronicles series, The Vampire Lestat, Warner Brothers oddly chose to combine its storyline

Black Girl Nerds • 17th August 2022

Review: Tatiana Maslany Is Sensational in Marvel’s Hilarious, Wildly Fun ‘She-Hulk: Attorney at Law’

If you thought Tatiana Maslany was incredible in Orphan Black, just wait until you see her go green in Marvel’s She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, the latest Disney+ series in the MCU’s Phase Four. The nine-episode half-hour legal comedy features a stellar cast and lots of laughs. When it comes to Jennifer Walters, you’ll love her when she’s angry, or even just mildly annoyed. Successful attorney Jennifer Walters (Tatiana Maslany) is a 30-something woman living in California trying to balance work, fri

Black Girl Nerds • 5th August 2022

Review: Neil Gaiman Brings the Cosmic World of Dreams and Nightmares to Life in Netflix’s ‘The Sandman’

After over thirty years since its publication and several attempts at film adaptations, the highly-anticipated Netflix series The Sandman finally graces our screens. Based on the DC comic series of the same name by Neil Gaiman, Sam Kieth, and Mike Dringenberg, the first season adapts “Preludes and Nocturnes” and “The Doll’s House.” The novelistic television series, developed by Gaiman, David S. Goyer (Foundation), Allan Heinberg (Wonder Woman), stays true to the comics while expanding, altering