Spooky Movie Season Round Two (2020)

Back by popular demand, SpOoKy MoOvIe SeAsOn. As you may remember, last year during October, I watched a bunch of spooky movies. <— Click to read that real quick. In case you don’t know, I spend all my free time in the month of October watching as many “spooky” movies as I can. Some a little scary, others suspenseful, some even a little humorous, but all based along the horror/scary/halloween spooky movie genre.

Now that it is Halloween, the 31st of October, 2020 aka All Hallow’s Eve, with a full moon in our graces, I present you with this blog for a second straight year.

This year I’ve decided to compile a list of my Hot or Not “Spooky” movies by theme. You can see the full list of 60+ movies below.

Creepy Kid Spooky Movie
Hot: Us - Love the twist and story line behind this one. Jordan Peele is back at it again after a top finishing movie “Get Out” last year, Us is based around a girl whose family gets impersonated and haunted. Spooky.

Not: Children Of the Corn - While the story line is pretty classic and the movie was a bit spooky, the 1984 film just couldn’t hang with 2020. The children are definitely spooky, but almost too real.

Kidnapped Spooky Movie
Hot: Better Watch Out - Christmas, meets baby sitting, meets a series of murders. I liked the originality of this film and despite it being spooky, it was kind of fun. Beware Babysitters!
Not: Kidnap - Interesting concept and decent storyline, certain scenes just lasted too long, like the 30 minute car chase.

Magical Spooky Movie
Hot: The Prestige - My favorite movie of all time, how could I not add it on this list? Tesla vs Edison, plus Christian Bale does an amazing job as usual. This is a must watch for those fond of magicians.
Not: Practical Magic - 90s film that just didn’t do it. Maybe it was good when it first came out, but it was just so cheesy watching in 2020, the list of eye rolls is endless. A sad magical love story.

Sequel Spooky Movie
Hot: Doctor Sleep - The Shining sequel. Stephen King always kills it around Spooky season. Despite this movie being 2 1/2 hours long, it keeps your attention the whole time and goes quick. Great sequel! Definitely watch the Shining first for the full experience though.
Not: Men In Black: International - new cast, but kind of the same story line, just wasn’t the same without Will Smith or Tommy Lee Jones. Fourth movie in the series, it just didn’t do it knowing the originals exist. I appreciated the homages to the original films though.

Animated Spooky Movie
Hot: Monsters Inc - Pixar, spooky and animated classic with James P Sullivan and Mike Wazowski. We Scare Because We Care!
Not: Welcome to Monster High - children’s movie. Didn’t realize it was a Matel, barbie brand film. A spooky girl starts a spooky high school. Mehh. Pass on this unless you are five years old.

Spooky Spooky Movie:
Hot: As Above, So Below - “Found Footage” type of film from the Catacombs of Paris, really left me chilled and spooked throughout. Great film. Chillllllssss galore.
Not: Hubie Halloween - Adam Sandler is back at it again! And in true Adam Sandler fashion. The movie was a nice throwback to the classic 90s films, but really was kinda lame. Good netflix movie, that’s about it.

Here are the spooky movie films I watched in order:

Gone Girl
Onward (disney +)
Little Nicky
Murder on the Orient Express
Beetlejuice
Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows
A Perfect Getaway
Club Dread
Before I Go To Sleep
Secret Window
Halloween Town (rented)
Clue: The Movie
Hubie Halloween (netflix)
Inception
Zombieland 2: Double Tap
Us (rented)
The Ones Below
Nosferatu (amazon)
Welcome to Monster High
Cabin in the Woods (amazon)
Children of the Corn (amazon)
The Prestige
The Belko Experiment
The Burbs
Super 8
Ghostbusters (2016)
Better Watch Out
Zodiac
Kidnap
Scream
Stoker
The Ring
The DaVinci Code (amazon)
Men In Black 3 (showtime)
The Addams Family (amazon)
The Pagemaster
The Strangers (rented)
Scary Movie
Knives Out
Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events
Angels & Demons
Hocus Pocus
Hellboy
Hereditary
Paranorman
Inferno
Doctor Sleep
Scary Movie 3
Saw
Practical Magic
Men In Black: International
It
Monster Inc.
Monsters University
The Nightmare Before Christmas
As Above So Below
The Lighthouse
Psycho
Rocky Horror Picture Show
Young Frankenstein
Coco

I hope you enjoyed this spooky blog, were able to watch some spooky movies this season, and be sure to let me know what spooky movies I missed out on this Halloween season!

Happy Halloween!

Josh

Spooky Movie Season

I own a decent amount of movies, like over 1000. So at the beginning of October, when I went through and pulled all of my spooky movies out of my collection, I asked “the people” if they thought I could get through them all. Many doubted, just a few had hope, and some said it couldn’t be done.

I spent basically all of my free time in the month of October watching over 60 of what I deem to be “spooky” movies. Some a little scary, others full of suspense, some even a little funny, but all based along the horror/scary/halloween movie genre.

Now that it is the 31st of October, 2019 aka All Hallow’s Eve, aka Halloween, I present you with this blog.

Instead of breaking down each movie as I’ve done with my actor of the month blogs in the past (Russell Crowe, Emma Stone, Jim Carrey), I’ve decided to compile a list of my top 5 best “SpOoKy” moovies and my bottom 5 worst “sPoOkY” moovies. You can see the full list of movies I watched in the image below, and make sure you let me know which spooky movies I am missing out on at the end.

Let’s get right into it with the bottom of the barrel films.

Bottom 5 Worst “sPoOkY” moovies

#5. Disturbia (2007) - You know, I used to really like this movie and thought it was good, but it is just so cheesy and takes forever to develop. Shia LaBeouf spies on his neighbors when being on house arrest, and finds out one of them is super creepy! Decent spookiness level in the second half of the movie, but stick to the original, Hitchcock’s Rear Window (1954) instead.

#4. The Crucible (1996) - The acting is pretty good with Daniel Day-Lewis as John Proctor & Winona Ryder as Abigail Williams in this movie. The story line, The Salem Witch Trials of 1692 was solid, there just wasn’t enough action for me. The book by Arthur Miller is probably a better option for this one.

#3. Bedazzled (2000) - This was actually the first spooky movie of the season that Rachel and I watched. It has a somewhat similar plot to The Butterfly Effect (2004), which we watched immediately after. Anyway, it involves Brendan Fraser selling his soul to the devil, Elizabeth Hurley, in exchange for seven wishes. Although you can’t usually go wrong with Brendan Fraser, and Elizabeth Hurley is quite the good looking devil, I would have to say this film is a pass during spooky movie season.

#2. Scream 3 (2000) - As if the first two movies weren’t good enough, they had to go and extend the series into a trilogy. We’ve already seen this movie with this plot, and the third proved to not be necessary as it was a movie about the movie about the first two movies. What!? Although it was great seeing where the parody Scary Movie (2000) franchise came from, I vote a no for this one.

#1. Freddy vs Jason (2003) - You may have noticed that none of the other Freddy Krueger or Jason movies were on this list. I know, that was my first mistake, but for some reason, I only own this one…. I know, my bad. In this movie, the two iconic horror villains meet face to face in an often “unrealistic” battle in a race to kill as many kids as they can. Lots of teens were sacrificed in the making of this film. I would avoid this film in the franchise and watch the other versions.

Now that you know which spooky movies to avoid, let’s get into which movies you should be watching first!

Top 5 Best “SpOoKy” moovies

#5. Scream (1996) - Wow. I cannot believe that I had gone my whole life without seeing the original Scream. I used to dress up as the killer for Halloween back in the day. Scream lived up to its name by being the only movie that made Rachel actually scream out loud, helping edge itself into the top list. As you may know, the plot involves high school students who try to escape phone calls, stabbings, and more from a killer in the now famous scream mask. Watch it!

#4. The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993) - The only animated movie to make the list. In this stop-motion film produced by Tim Burton, Jack Skellington of Halloweentown stumbles upon Christmastown and brings a little bit of Halloween to Christmas. Lots of sign-along songs in this classic that will get you coming back for more. This is Halloween, This is Halloween….and if you haven’t seen the movie, you need to go do that.

#3. The Shining (1980) - Jack Nicholson plays Jack Torrance, the author and now caretaker of the Overlook Hotel in Colorado. He brings along his wife Wendy, and son Danny along with him to watch the hotel over the winter season, only to discover the dark secrets and haunting past to the hotel. Lots of unsettling and iconic scenes in this movie with great character development and spooky vibes. Can’t go wrong with a film directed by Stanley Kubrick and based on a Stephen King novel!

#2. The Exorcist (1973) - The oldest movie on the list, and one of the spookiest. I actually had never seen this movie until I watched it and was super spooked. Although some of it may seem unrealistic now, the performance by the little girl Regan was exceptional and unnerving. A little girl becomes possessed by the devil and it is up to the priests and church to save her. They even say this is based on true events, and to think the soundtrack, acting, and storyline are nearly 50 years old makes it even better. A must watch this spooky season.

#1. Get Out (2017) - The newest movie on the list, and one of the most thrilling! Written & directed by Jordan Peele, this movie is based around an interracial couple and meeting your girlfriend’s family for the first time. The emotional qualities of the characters, the spooky soundtrack, and the constant plot twists and turns make this movie exceptional. It has the perfect amount of scary, jumpy moments to go along with a riveting story line that leave you with a lasting spooky impression. This is a must see and my number one SpOoKy Moovie.

I hope you enjoyed this spooky blog, are able to watch some spooky movies, and be sure to let me know what spooky movies I missed out on this Halloween season!

Happy Halloween!

Josh

10 Podcasts (x3) to Listen to in 2018

PODCASTS! I can't get enough of them! It has only been about a year since I started listening and I am back with 10 more of my favorites! Making that 30 total podcasts. 4 Months ago, I released 10 More Podcasts You Should Listen to Today. About 6 months before that, in April of 2017, I wrote a post called, "Top 10 Podcasts To Listen To Today".

Both of these posts were all about my suggestions of the best podcasts I had been listening to. I have received suggestions from friends and I still continue to drive around, so here are my 10 favorite podcasts I have been listening to lately. Don't forget to check out 1-10 and 11-20! Now it is time to listen.

Update: Check out the fourth installment from October 2018

Update #2: Check out the newest 20 at Let’s Talk Podcasts #6 and Singular Story #5

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10. KEXP Song of the Day 

"KEXP's Song of the Day podcast features exclusive in-studio performances, unreleased songs, and recordings from independent musicians that KEXP thinks listeners should hear along with songs from more well-known artists."

Seattle radio station KEXP releases a new song every Monday thru Friday. A great way to listen to new music and hear some new sounds. The genres of music vary week by week, from all around the world. KEXP also has a fantastic Youtube channel with tons of live performances. This is where I initially found out about this station. Check out one of my favorites of theirs lately. Deer Tick in the studio!

9.  Spooked

"Spooked features true-life supernatural stories, told firsthand by people who can barely believe it happened themselves. Be afraid. Created in the dark of night, by Snap Judgment and WNYC Studios. "

Real stories from real people, Spooked has it's good episodes and it's great episodes. Some of the stories from across the globe will give you goosebumps. Highly suggest to listen during the night, especially on a drive home or when around the house. Each episode is a stand alone story and there are only 13 episodes out from season 1 right now, so go get spooked! 

8. Dirty John

"Debra Newell is a successful interior designer. She meets John Meehan, a handsome man who seems to check all the boxes: attentive, available, just back from a year in Iraq with Doctors Without Borders. But her family doesn't like John, and they get entangled in an increasingly complex web of love, deception, forgiveness."

A six episode, true crime podcast series written by Christopher Goffard of the LA Times. It was initially a true crime story in the LA Times about a deceitful man who goes by the name of Dirty John. I didn't realize it until looking it up halfway through the podcast, but it is based on a true story. You can't trust just anyone. Fantastic story telling with thrilling scenes and descriptions. If you are in to crime story telling or crime podcasts, give it a listen. Plus, it's only 6 episodes, so go for it!

7. 30 for 30 Podcasts

"Original sports audio documentaries and more from the makers of the acclaimed 30 for 30 series by ESPN."

I am a big fan of the short film series 30 for 30 by ESPN. While not as good as the short films, the audio spin of these sports stories are a intriguing listen. I recommend checking out some of the stories, as there are currently only 2 seasons with 4 episodes each, so skim through and see which episode interest you most. Maybe you will find one of the stories that is close to home for me, the Lights at Wrigley. 

6. Planet Money

"The economy, explained, with stories and surprises. Imagine you could call up a friend and say, "Meet me at the bar and tell me what's going on with the economy." Now imagine that's actually a fun evening. That's what we're going for at Planet Money. "

NPR goes in to discuss current events and things that effect the market with Planet Money. The economy and money all based around stories and events. Since I am trying to stay hip to the financial market and learn a little bit more about investing and budgeting, I have been enjoying this economic podcast. Episodes are stand alone, only about 20 minutes, and happen 2-3 times a week usually, check one out! 

5. What Trump Can Teach Us About Con Law

"Professor Elizabeth Joh teaches Intro to Constitutional Law and most of the time this is a pretty straight forward job. But with Trump in office, everything has changed. Five minutes before class Professor Joh checks Twitter to find out what the 45th President has said and how it jibes with 200 years of the judicial branch interpreting and ruling on the Constitution. Hosted by acclaimed podcaster Roman Mars, this show is a weekly, fun, casual Con Law 101 class that uses the tumultuous and erratic activities of the executive branch under Trump to teach us all about the US Constitution."

A Radiotopia podcast by the creator & host of my favorite podcast ever, 99% invisible, Roman Mars. What Trump Can Teach Us About Con Law discusses things that Trump has been doing and how it can teach us about the constitution of the USA. They are only 18 episodes in, and each covers a different amendment or constitutional article. If you are you like me and can't stand what Trump is doing, maybe this podcast can help you understand what he can and can't do.

4. Atlanta Monster

"From the producers of Up and Vanished, Tenderfoot TV and HowStuffWorks present, ‘Atlanta Monster.’ This true crime podcast tells the story of one of the city’s darkest secrets, The Atlanta Child Murders. Nearly 40 years after these horrific crimes, many questions still remain. Host Payne Lindsey aims to find truth and provide closure, reexamining the disappearance and murder of over 25 African American children and young adults."

This new podcast is by the creator of Up and Vanished and former Youtube (Right Side of the Tree) star, Payne Lindsey. Atlanta Monster is a crime/mystery podcast that goes into detail about the 25 missing children of Atlanta during the early 1980s. It's story telling and Stranger Things-esque music has kept me drawn in during the first 7 episodes that are out so far. Be sure to listen starting at episode one since it goes in chronological order. 

3. More Perfect

"Supreme Court decisions shape everything from marriage and money to public safety and sex. We know these are very important decisions we should all pay attention to – but they often feel untouchable and even unknowable. Radiolab's first ever spin-off series, More Perfect, connects you to the decisions made inside the court's hallowed halls, and explains what those rulings mean for "we the people" who exist far from the bench. More Perfect bypasses the wonkiness and tells stories behind some of the court’s biggest rulings."

"The Honorable, the Chief Justice and the Associate Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States. Oyez! Oyez! Oyez! All persons having business before the Honorable, the Supreme Court of the United States, are admonished to draw near and give their attention, for the Court is now sitting. God save the United States and this Honorable Court!" This kind of stuff was so boring to me when I was reading a textbook back in middle and high school. But now that I am an adult and I can see how it all shaped the history of the USA, it is pretty darn interesting. More Perfect, hosted by Jad Abumrad, is a podcast all about the supreme court and the cases that helped shape the United States of America. Each of the 19 episodes is stand alone, although they do reference older episodes sometimes, but feel free to pickup wherever you like. Shoutout to John for showing me this one.

2. Showcase

"Showcase, from PRX's Radiotopia, features original series of all stripes, from emerging and leading producers around the world. "

Showcase is currently on the third season. Each season is 7 episodes about that are based aroudn a specific topic. My favorite season had to be season two. If you are at all into old arcade games, or mysteries, I suggest you start there. Season two is the story of the Polybius Conspiracy, an urban legend surrounding an arcade machine in Portland, Oregon where children supposedly were abducted. Season one, Ways of Hearing, is also very unique and insightful. It discusses all the different ways that humans hear and how audio has changed over the years.  The current season, number three, is about Secrets. "The secrets we keep in our lives, and the overwhelming complexity of being human." These episodes need to be listened to chronologically by season, however, the seasons do not connect. Enjoy!

1. Serial Killers

"Every Monday, Serial Killers takes a psychological and entertaining approach to provide a rare glimpse into the mind, methods and madness of the most notorious serial killers with the hopes of better understanding their psychological profile. With the help of real recordings and voice actors, we delve deep into their lives and stories."

And my number one podcast that I have been listening to as of late 2017 and early 2018 is.... Serial Killers. Creepy, I know. This podcast, as the title states, takes a deep dive into serial killers. Each killer gets two episodes about him/her. No need to go in chronological order, just look up one of the 25 killers they have covered, and give it a listen. They have covered killers from Jack the Ripper, to Ted Bundy, to the Zodiac Killer, and even the man who almost took my dad when he was a kid, John Wayne Gacy (Haven't heard the story? Ask him about it some time!) It's kind of weird I am in to this stuff, and I know that many people are not, but I find the psychological aspects fascinating. Some of the material is definitely disturbing, but if anything, I am learning how to not raise my kids to be a killer! 

On top of Serial Killers, if you haven't checked it out on Netflix yet, I highly suggest Mindhunter, which goes into how the term serial killer was coined. 

Hopefully you can take some time out of your busy life to listen to these podcasts. Remember podcasts are FREE! So download on itunes, listen on their websites (links provided above) or be like me and use the Podcast app on your phone.

That brings the total to 30 great podcasts that I listen on the daily. Remember, if you haven't already seen, check out my first 10 podcasts to listen to: Top 10 Podcasts To Listen To Today, or check out 10 More Podcasts You Should Start Listening To (Fall 2017).

As always, let me know what you are listening to! What am I missing out on? Tell me in the comments! 

Get your headphones and get listening.

Josh