Stranger Things, Mindhunter, The Exorcist, Channel Zero : No End House and Freakish

My Top 5 Obsessions This Week

There is a slight chill in the air , a crispness that wasn’t there before and Autumn leaves rustle around your feet in a mysterious way. Darkness falls earlier this time of year and the everyday noise we hear is cloaked in  a muffled darkness as we walk a little faster to the car or front door. Sensing somehow that Something is out there waiting... It is that time of fear my friends. Grab a blanket and lock the doors. Here are 5 I have been saving just for you.

1) Stranger Things is coming Friday and it will prove to be even better than season 1. The Duffer brothers have released more supernatural elements on the town of Hawkins, Indiana. It is Halloween 1984 and we will be in for a treat. Dustin has a new pet and two new siblings are in town to create chaos in one way or another. I cannot wait to find out.

2) Mindhunter , streaming now on a Netflix is the perfect antidote to all the slick serial killer shows out there. Set in the late 70s a Quantico professor played by Jonathan Groff is teaching hostage theory and finding it unfulfilling, he sets out with another agent played by Holt McCallany to educate local law enforcement on the psychology of murder and learns how the mind of a monster works. I think Geoff can do anything and I am a huge fan of all his work.

3)  The Exorcist new season features multiple possessions and a creepy house on an island filled with disturbed foster kids fathered by John  Cho (he who can do anything) who may or may not be demon possessed . I am unsure how they will tie this to the demons in the Vatican but I want to see how it plays out.

4) Channel Zero No End House is one of the creepiest shows on tv right now. An anthology series on Syfy , this season explores a six room house that appears once a year and draws people into it and delves into their psyche as they make their way through each terror filled room. Creepypasta stories fleshed out. Ryan Murphy should check these out.

5) Freakish , a Hulu original series is The Breakfast Club meets The Mist in a bingeworthy tale of high school students trapped in their school during a chemical plant explosion. The murderous results are terrorizing the kids as they quarrel and fight and share secrets. The high school equivalent to The Walking Dead may contain all kinds of common tropes and cliches. But I find the two seasons an easy watch.

Priscilla Barnes

Check out Priscilla Barnes as Magda on Jane The Virgin tonight. Check it out now on CW!

BarneStorming

Listen to the BarneStorming interview with special guest Jonathan Lipnicki of Jerry Maguire and #CircusKane. 
https://www.spreaker.com/episode/12796436 
Buy the movie now on iTunes!
https://itunes.apple.com/us/movie/circus-kane/id1270158753

Midnight, Texas, Gerald’s Game, Sleeping Beauties (Novel), Happy Death Day and The Babysitter

My Top 5 Obsessions This Week

Greetings all of my semi constant readers and welcome to my new ones. This is gearing up to be a great Halloween with lots of treats in store. Stranger Things 2 due to drop on Netflix October 27th looks to be even better.

1) Midnight, Texas  a series well underway has been drawing my interest. Based on best selling author Charlaine Harris books of the same name,  the inhabitants of this little Texas town are far from normal. A vampire, a witch and an assortment of fanciful characters band together against the outside world until newcomer psychic Manfred Bernardo moves in and disturbs the peaceful way of life and death. Peter Mensah as Lemuel Bridger is a standout as the town’s blue eyed bloodsucker. Definitely worth a watch.

2) Gerald’s Game  a Netflix film based on Stephen King’s novel is one of the best adaptations I have seen. Set in a remote lake house  , a married couple tries one last ditch effort to save their marriage with a sex game involving handcuffs. Jessie (Carla Gugino) finds herself handcuffed to the bed as her husband Gerald (Bruce Greenwood) dies unexpectedly. The film captures the delicate fabric of a woman in peril dredging up her past relationships with men as she struggles to save her life while trying to figure out what is real and what isn’t. The performances are riveting and there is the surprise crossover with Dolores Claiborne. director Mike Flanagan has done an amazing job delivering a story no one else could.

3) Sleeping Beauties. The new book out by Stephen King (he is hitting it out of the park these days) and his son Owen King is finally out and I am ready to dig into it.  I have been holding on to this like Halloween candy. The story of what happens when women go to sleep, they become enshrouded in a cocoon and they go to a better place (sounds great to me) unless they become awakened then all hell breaks loose. Set in a small Appalachian town and a women’s prison in what becomes a mostly male environment chaos ensues. I am excited to start this immediately so look out for more feedback.

 4) Happy Death Day now out in theaters is the ideal matinee. From the producer of Get Out, The Visit and The Purge. Horror /comedy hybrid with a healthy dose of Groundhog Day and an 80s throwback vibe make this the perfect holiday treat. Tree Gelbman is reliving and dying the same day over and over until she finds her killer.

5) The Babysitter a Netflix original is another 80s horror throwback. Cole really likes his sexy babysitter a lot. So much so he stays up late to see what she does after she tucks him in. What horrors he witnesses puts him in a wild game of cat and mouse that turns deadly. Grab the popcorn and a glass of wine and sit back and enjoy.

Transparent, GaGa: FiveFoot Two, Better Things, Fergie and American Vandal

My Top 5 Obsessions This Week

Greetings to all of semi constant readers. The first day of Autumn has come but we are still feeling the effect of  Summer. I am getting ready for an exciting October with lots of  treats but for now.... here are the top five.

1)  Transparent’s season 4  finds the younger Pfefferman clan visiting a sexual addiction meeting after taking a quiz in a magazine. Somehow Sarah gets tangled up with one of the ladies at the meeting played by our own Alia Shawkat. Josh and Ali seem to be going through a crisi ofs her own. Maura is the healing comforting presence in the show and I watch just to see her grow into the woman she is meant to be. I will not discuss the fact that Judith Light’s Yiddish accent seems to come and go because I love her. It is always about Maura and Maura has a man and a plan... to go on a trip to Israel. Everyone is in transition once again. Yet “Everything is Alright “ according to Jesus Christ Superstar.

2) Gaga: Five Foot Two a Netflix Documentary is going to be very different experience than one we have come to expect from Gaga. Opening with and ending with the Super Bowl half time show, we are given pretty much the raw footage of what it takes to be Lady Gaga. The constant flare ups of her fibromyalgia and hip pain , she gives it all to her fans on stage only to be iced down afterwards. This fascinating documentary is no Truth or Dare instead it is a deeply revealing portrait of a tortured performer who has so much to give and no gimmicks required. And... she drives herself everywhere and we get to see her first fender bender with Mark Ronson’s parked car. This is a must see.

3) Better Things second season is proving to be more of the same. Same GREAT cast featuring Pamela Adlon as Sam Fox and her girl tribe, Max, Frankie and Duke as well as her irascible mother Phil ( I love they are all non gender specific  names) played by the feisty Celia Emrie. It is a great insider slice of life of the entertainment industry circle. I enjoy every episode and look forward to seeing where the Fox family is going.

4) Fergie’s new release Double Dutchess is her first release since her debut album 11 years is full of the Fergie we love and if you get the deluxe version it includes accompanying visually stunning videos.  Songs like Hungry and You Already Know featuring  Rick Ross and Nicki Minaj respectively will be huge hits as will be M.I.L.F. $ and  Life Goes On.

5) American Vandal streaming now on Netflix is a satirical slant on the glut of American Crime mini series out there right now. Opening scene we see a school parking lot with gigantic penises spray painted on 27 of  the cars. A complete investigation including CSI  style interviews with witnesses. A teenage boy is accused of the vandalism and we get to see some genuinely funny riffs on the genre. I am still watching and evaluating but I am hopeful it will be good.