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Cult Classics: Revisiting the Strange and Obscure ‘We’re Back! A Dinosaur’s Story’ 30 Years Later

This month we look back on We’re Back! A Dinosaur’s Story, one of the three animated films produced by Steven Spielberg’s Amblimation and an unofficial animated companion to Jurassic Park. It was released on November 24, 1993, and unlike the aforementioned live-action dino-centric movie that year, it wasn’t a hit with critics or audiences.

The story begins with Buster the Bird (Blaze Berdahl) planning to run away from his family nest. But before he hits the skies, he chats with a friendly Tyran
Black Girl Nerds •

Review: ‘Goosebumps’ Finally Goes Dark

Since R.L. Stine’s first Goosebumps book hit shelves in the 1990s, we’ve seen countless comics, video games, and a beloved TV series. The Rob Letterman (Pokémon: Detective Pikachu) 2015 film of the same name was geared toward a much younger audience, as was its 2018 sequel Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween directed by Ari Sandel.

But the latest Goosebumps adaptation, a 10-part series developed by Letterman and fellow writer-executive producer Nicholas Stoller (Forgetting Sarah Marshall), delivers
Black Girl Nerds •

Cult Classics: 20 Years Later, 'Freddy vs. Jason' Is Still a Gory Good Time

In 1993, the end of Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday, the ninth installment in the Friday the 13th franchise, teased a crossover between horror icons Jason Voorhees and A Nightmare on Elm Street’s Freddy Krueger. Fans wouldn’t get to see the epic showdown until Freddy vs. Jason hit theaters on August 15, 2003.

With New Line Cinema owning the rights to Freddy and Paramount Pictures owning the rights to Jason, among other things, the horror flick went on a rough journey. Beginning in the late
Black Girl Nerds •

Review: ‘The Boys’ Spinoff ‘Gen V’ Proves to Be Just as Irreverent, Explosive, and Bloody Fantastic

Based on the comics of Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson, Eric Kripke’s The Boys is known for its shockingly graphic violence and outrageous fun. But if you thought the Seven and other thirtysomething supes were wild, prepare yourself for the unhinged youngsters of Gen V, who are more tech-savvy, meaning most of their unsavory actions end up online.

Gen V, developed by writer-director Craig Rosenberg (The Boys) and with Michele Fazekas and Tara Butters (Emergence, Agent Carter) serving as showru
Black Girl Nerds •

Fantastic Fest 2023 Review: Winning Millions Has Deadly Consequences in Daniel Brown’s Thrilling Morality Tale ‘Your Lucky Day’

Writer-director-producer Daniel Brown (Color TV, No Vacancy) makes his feature film debut with Your Lucky Day, an indie action-thriller based on his popular short of the same name released in 2010. The film marks one of the last performances of late actor Angus Cloud, who tragically died in July of this year.

From the beginning, we’re with Sterling (Angus Cloud), a young man considered a low-life doing less than legal things to make a living. It’s Christmas Eve in Miami and he’s out trying to m
Black Girl Nerds •

Fantastic Fest 2023 Review: ‘Pet Sematary: Bloodlines’ Unearths the Origins of Jud Crandall and the Lore of Ludlow

Based on a chapter in Stephen King’s 1983 novel, Pet Sematary: Bloodlines acts as a prequel to the 2019 remake and delves into the story Jud Crandall (John Lithgow) tells Louis Creed (Jason Clarke) about “that Baterman boy.” In the film, writer-director Lindsey Anderson Beer (Sierra Burgess Is a Loser) and co-writer Jeff Buhler (Pet Sematary, Jacob’s Ladder) show us the origins of Jud’s iconic wise words of warning, “Sometimes dead is better.”

Warning: Some spoilers ahead for Pet Sematary (both
Black Girl Nerds •

Fantastic Fest 2023 Review: Netflix’s ‘The Fall of the House of Usher,’ Mike Flanagan’s Darkly Comedic, Delightfully Gory Masterpiece

Those still trying to fill The Midnight Club-sized hole left by its unceremonious cancellation can pause their rewatch cycle because Mike Flanagan season is upon us. Netflix has another delectable horror-drama to devour. And this one won’t leave you in a puddle of tears!

This fall, the writer-director and his longtime producing partner Trevor Macy (Midnight Mass) deliver the next Flana-verse installment with their highly-anticipated The Fall of the House of Usher. The master storyteller’s lates
Black Girl Nerds •

Review: Apple TV+ Brings Victor LaValle’s Folkloric Horror-Fantasy to Life in ‘The Changeling’

From writer, showrunner, and executive producer Kelly Marcel (Cruella, Venom: Let There Be Carnage) comes Apple TV+’s new original series The Changeling, based on Victor LaValle’s best-selling book of the same name. The adaptation arrives just in time for the simultaneously cozy and spooky fall season.

Victor LaValle himself acts as the faceless narrator throughout the series, setting and maintaining the folkloric tone, beginning with, “Once upon a time…”

Apollo Kagwa (LaKeith Stanfield, also
Black Girl Nerds •

Cult Classics: Celebrating the Enduring Magic of ‘To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar’

Released on September 8, 1995, To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar held the #1 spot at the box office for two weeks. Playwright Douglas Carter Beane, known for Broadway musicals like Sister Act and Xanadu, originally envisioned this story of three road-trippin’ drag queens as a stage play. Ultimately, the idea evolved into a film with a lengthy title directed by Beeban Kidron (Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason) and produced by celebrated filmmaker Steven Spielberg (Jurassic Park).
Black Girl Nerds •

Review: Hulu’s ‘Only Murders in the Building’ Returns with a Star-Studded, Showstopping Season 3

Following its successful debut and an equally addictive sophomore season, Steve Martin and John Hoffman’s whodunnit comedy Only Murders in the Building is back with more laughs, more players, and more mystery.

By the end of Season 2, our sleuthing trio Charles-Haden Savage (Steve Martin), Oliver Putnam (Martin Short), and Mabel Mora (Selena Gomez) cleared their names and solved the murder of cranky but lovable Arconia board president Bunny Folger (Jayne Houdyshell). The case-cracking crew enlis
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Review: Harlivy Returns with More Make-Outs, Madness, and Mayhem in ‘Harley Quinn’ Season 4

Last summer, Harley Quinn fans were salivating for Season 3 after a two-year wait between seasons. But since Season 4 came sooner than expected, there’s nothing to do but celebrate. This season of the animated comedy, now residing on Max, sees series writer Sarah Peters (Ghosted) taking over as showrunner for Justin Halpern and Patrick Schumacker (Abbott Elementary).

Peters met her goal and then some, telling The A.V. Club, “I hope to strike that balance with Season 4: bringing our amazing fans
Black Girl Nerds •

Review: Juel Taylor’s Strange and Stylish ‘They Cloned Tyrone’ Oozes Originality

This summer, writer Juel Taylor, known for penning films like Creed II and Space Jam: A New Legacy, makes his feature directorial debut on Netflix with They Cloned Tyrone, co-written with frequent collaborator Tony Rettenmaier (Shooting Stars). The satirical sci-fi mystery horror-comedy follows a hustler, a pro, and a pimp as they embark on a strange, dangerous, and humorous journey beneath the surface to uncover a conspiracy.

The Glen is an otherworldly yet incredibly familiar neighborhood ost
Black Girl Nerds •

Review: Justina Machado Makes a Killer Return to the Small Screen in Prime Video’s Cannibal Comedy ‘The Horror of Dolores Roach’

Aaron Mark’s (Random Unrelated Projects) dark, Sweeney Todd-inspired tale of a serial killing masseuse began in 2015, on the off-Broadway stage with the one-woman play Empanada Loca, starring Daphne Rubin-Vega (In the Heights). Three years later, the writer-creator-director turned it into a Spotify podcast called The Horror of Dolores Roach. Now in its third iteration, Mark and co-showrunner Dara Resnik (Home Before Dark) adapted the story into an eight-episode TV series for Prime Video and Blum
Black Girl Nerds •

Reboots, Requels, and Remakes: Why Some Work and Others Don’t

In a time when a diverse, thought-provoking movie like Everything Everywhere All at Once wins the Oscar for Best Picture, and a studio like A24 consistently releases fresh genre films, audiences still love to complain about remakes.

Yes, there are objectively a lot of rehashed stories being promoted these days. Sometimes they’re major flops, but we can admit, if begrudgingly, that not all remakes are terrible. And even if they are, they still pull in millions at the box office, so they’re not g
Black Girl Nerds •

Cult Classics: Revisiting the Masterpiece of Mayhem ‘Who Framed Roger Rabbit’ 35 Years Later

Revisiting the movies and TV shows from our childhood is always fun. Sometimes you find that your favorite movie doesn’t hold up or that it makes you laugh just as much as it did years ago. Many of these classic titles are much darker than our little kid brains could comprehend, and watching them now as adults is a trip with several WTF moments.

Who Framed Roger Rabbit is one of these revelatory movies that has a lot of innuendo and adult themes that went right over our little heads. This isn’t
Black Girl Nerds •

Review: Freeform's Addictive Crime Drama 'Cruel Summer' Returns with a Compelling Murder-Mystery

In 2021, the first season of Freeform’s Cruel Summer made history as the channel’s most-watched series ever. This summer, the hit anthology series returns with new characters in a new town with plenty of drama of their own.

Elle Triedman (Guilt) takes over as showrunner for Tia Napolitano (Fire Country) who returns as an executive producer, along with Jessica Biel (Candy), Bill Purple, and Michelle Purple (The Sinner). With the success of Season 1, it’s not surprising if some fans are bummed th
Black Girl Nerds •

Underrated Vampire Films to Sink Your Teeth Into

These days there’s no shortage of vampire content, but the sub-genre is home to some quality films that definitely aren’t talked about enough. If you can’t wait for Halloween to get your vampire fix, World Dracula Day (May 26) is the perfect time to check out these underrated fang-tastic flicks.

After the success of 1994’s Interview with the Vampire (based on Anne Rice’s Vampire Chronicles book series) and before AMC’s TV series adaptation of the same name, there was Queen of the Damned. It arr
Black Girl Nerds •

Review: ‘Love & Death' Finds the Humor in Tragedy

These days audiences can find true crime programming and its various sub-genres on every network and streaming platform, whether it’s a documentary or a dramatization. Even though the stories are fascinating, participating in the exploitation of tragedies can sometimes leave us feeling icky. Really, it comes down to the creator’s intentions. To tell the true story about a seemingly normal Texas housewife killing her church friend with an axe requires someone behind the camera who intends to expl
Black Girl Nerds •

Review: Rachel Weisz Makes Her Television Debut with a Dual Role in the Deliciously Disturbing ‘Dead Ringers’

Prime Video’s latest thriller, Dead Ringers, is based on David Cronenberg’s 1988 cult film of the same name starring Jeremy Irons, which was itself based on the novel Twins by Bari Wood (who was inspired by a true story). The six-episode series comes from writer/creator Alice Birch (Succession, Normal People), actress/executive producer Rachel Weisz (Disobedience), and an all-women writers’ room, including illustrious directors like Lauren Wolkstein (Queen Sugar) and Karyn Kusama (Yellowjackets)
Black Girl Nerds •

SXSW 2023 Review: Netflix and A24 Team Up for Lee Sung Jin’s Beautifully Unhinged Road-Rage Rivalry ‘Beef’

We’ve all had those days when everything goes wrong. Nothing can change your bad mood because you’re clouded by anger, only able to see things in a negative light. All it takes is one more thing to set you off, whether it’s dropping your keys (again) or getting your shirt caught on something.

Creator-showrunner-executive producer Lee Sung Jin (Tuca & Bertie, Silicon Valley) took that relatable state of mind and turned it into a dark comedy that sees two miserable people from different walks of
Black Girl Nerds •

Review: ‘Yellowjackets’ Returns with a Chilling, Horror-Tinged Second Season

In 2021, Showtime debuted what would become their second-most streamed series, which also nabbed multiple Emmy nominations. Now two years later, creators and executive producers Ashley Lyle and Bart Nickerson (Narcos) and co-showrunner Jonathan Lisco (Halt and Catch Fire) deliver another season of the hit mystery thriller, and it does not disappoint. Plus, it’s already been renewed for a third season ahead of the Season 2 premiere.

Season one of Yellowjackets introduced us to the titular high s
Black Girl Nerds •

SXSW 2023 Review: Zoe Lister-Jones’ ‘Slip’ Takes Us on a Fantastical Sexual Journey through Parallel Universes

In recent years, the Roku Channel has joined the long list of streaming platforms churning out quality original content, like last year’s Swimming with Sharks. This year, they’ll debut with a surreal romantic comedy from writer-director-showrunner and all-around Renaissance woman Zoe Lister-Jones (How It Ends, The Craft: Legacy), starring herself. The seven-episode series takes us on a fantastical yet grounded sexual journey of self-discovery.

The series follows Mae Cannon (Lister-Jones), a thi
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