The Suggestion Box #109: Spiders, and Death Tolls, and Weird Al, Oh My!

Posted on by Lauren

Wondering what to do with your upcoming free time? Good thing we have some suggestions for what you should be watching, playing, reading, listening to, etc.

Ben’s Movie Pick: Infested – Is Infested a radical reinvention of killer spider movies? No; but it is a well-executed entry into the subgenre that mixes genuine frights with more emotional depth than one would expect from a movie about murderous arachnids. The majority of the film is set in an apartment complex, which gives Infested a potent mix of claustrophobia and the pure terror and panic created by eight-legged abominations. The leading man, Theo Christine, also puts in a ton of work to build up his character and the bonds he has with his neighbors, and the cast as a whole is solid. The end result is a well-rounded group of survivors who all feel like actual people rather than caricatures, and when any of them die it actually feels like a loss. Infested won’t replace Arachnophobia as the scariest spider-themed horror flick I’ve seen, but it’s still one of the best.

Ben’s Movie Pick: Weird: The Al Yankovic Story – It’s quite fitting that instead of a stereotypical musical biopic, the cinematic tale of Weird Al’s “life” is instead an exaggerated spoof of the genre. It’s as wacky and wild as the legendary artist’s biggest hits, and while the man himself does appear in the film, he only plays a supporting role. Harry Potter/Swiss Army Man/Guns Akimbo star Daniel Radcliffe portrays Al with another hilariously bizarre yet endearing performance that continues to show his incredible range as an actor. Rainn Wilson and Evan Rachel Wood portray Yankovic’s mentor and a comically twisted version of Madonna respectively, and they’re an absolute blast to watch play off of Radcliffe. There’s a ton of cameos too – ones I won’t spoil here – and the film rarely loses its charm as it’s constantly throwing gags or classic Weird Al songs at you. Weird: The Al Yankovic Story may not be my all-time favorite musical biopic, but the fact that it’s anywhere near the top is pretty impressive nonetheless.

Lauren’s YouTube Series Pick: Dead Meat’s The Kill Count – With the strong and frequent recommendation from two horror loving friends of mine, I finally gave The Kill Count a go, a show that, you guessed it, counts the kills in horror films in a CliffsNotes retelling of the film’s plot. But it’s far more than that: with a clear, infectious love of the genre, host James A. Janisse fills each episode with loads of puns and references that make these recounts far more addictive than I expected, reigniting my love of bonus features, commentary tracks, and all the bells and whistles that have fallen to the wayside as film consumption has moved more towards streaming services than physical media. Some highlights include learning that Alyssa Sutherland was inspired by Jim Carrey in The Mask for her phenomenal performance in Evil Dead Rise, that one of the prop hands from Talk to Me is currently MIA, that Ralph Fiennes had no idea what S’mores were as he filmed the finale of The Menu, that the cast of The Blair Witch Project had a safe word if ever things got too overwhelming in the woods as they stayed in character throughout the entirety of the shoot, that Sigourney Weaver was so excited for the werewolf in The Cabin in the Woods that she would stand around holding the actor’s hand while he was in costume — it was adorable — that all of the kids in the It films seemingly ended up absolutely loving Bill Skarsgård because he would go out of his way to check in with them between takes, that the majority of Final Destination 2’s kills were filmed practically, etc etc. Seriously, whether you love horror films or are too scared to watch them yourself, you should be watching The Kill Count.

So what do you think about these picks? What content did we miss over the past two weeks while we were spending time with these? Be sure to leave a comment below letting us know about everything (both current and simply new to you) you’ve been consuming lately!

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