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■ Comedy
I didn’t hate Normal, but I didn’t love it either. It’s a weird quirky comedy/action film starring comedian and “Better Call Saul” Bob Odenkirk. I don’t know why they keep trying to make Odenkirk an action star (he’s the star to the John Wick-ish Nobody)… maybe it’s because he just doesn’t look like an action star. But that schtick is getting old. Normal technically came out in 2025 in Canada, but it finally made its way to the USA in April 2026.

All Night Wrong (2026)

I’m not really a comedy guy, but I thought All Night Wrong was pretty good. It’s a low-budget, direct to video a month after their premiere at SXSW London on June 2, 2026. The film stars Maria Bakalova (I’ve never heard of her, but I thought she did a great job) and Zach Cherry (who is currently starring in Fallout television show).

As the title explains, the whole film takes place in one long (wrong) night. And no, there is no Asian Lionel Richie singing “all night wrong…”.

The film sorts of just drop you in the middle of a blind date between two unlikely people – Zach (who plays Gary) and Maria (who plays “ELL”). They are determined to have sex. When they get to the hotel, the man behind the counter would only accept cash… so the two of them “borrow” his car to drive to the nearest gas station to use the ATM. All this sounds fairly boring, but the film does keep it interesting… setting everything up.

Of course, everything that can go wrong, does goes wrong. It started with the body in the trunk of their stolen car, along with a bag of cash. They make poor decisions, such as trying to get rid of the body.

Along the way, you find out more background between Gary and Ell, and their reason(s) for wanting to have a one-night stand.

It’s a small group of actors who has to act and do most of the heavy lifting to make us believe their situation. If they didn’t act well, then the situation is just plain silly. Having said that, I think they miscast the bad guy in the film. I just wish he was more menacing and scarier, but instead I never believed the bad guy was a murderous guy. He’s just a guy who doesn’t like the coldness of Canada! C’mon, just move to Florida instead of going on a killing spree.

In the end, everything seemed to work out just fine, as the killer (and the crime) is exposed and caught. I love it when a film just wraps up neatly, with no loose ends. I’m pretty sure there will be no sequel, but if there was one, I wouldn’t mind seeing this unlikely team-up of Gary and Ell, crime fighters.

I didn’t catch who did the music, but I really enjoyed the 80s-influenced/synthy music in some scenes. Not all the soundtrack is synthy… you get a bit of hard rock and maybe a little metal-ish.

Scary Movie (2026)

Yeah, this movie is quite old by now… having had their theatrical run in June 2026. This sixth installment in the Scary Movie franchise, sees the return of the Wayans Brothers (Marlon, Shawn, and Keenen Ivory) return to the comedy parody movie that they started in 2000. The brothers left the series after Scary Movie 2, due to disagreements with the film studio Dimension Films.

By the way, if you did not know, but the original Scream movie by the great Wes Craven was originally called “Scary Movie”. I personally would have prefer that original title, vs ‘Scream’.

The new comedy has a lot going on in film. A lot of good ideas, but ultimately none of it leads anywhere (for example what’s up with that Michael Jackson’s parody?) and some of the jokes are a bit way too raunchy (that little girl holding a sack of balls was way too extreme).

The thing that I will give the Wayans credit is that the parody is based on really recent movies and events… very topical. I like all the Final Destination references (see Final Destination: Bloodlines). Parodies of movies I haven’t seen, such as last year’s Sinners, went over my head… and it just seemed out of place in Scary Movie. I haven’t seen K-pop Demon Hunters either (although I am aware of it), so that really, really felt out of place with the musical within the movie. For parodies that I did recognized, like Weapons (see File under W), The Substance, M3gan, Smile (one of my favorite horror movies), and Get Out, they weren’t that funny… and again, didn’t really belong in the film (or add any value to the film).

If you have seen a lot of horror movies (and kept up with topical events), you’re going to have a really good time with this film. For anyone looking for a story, it’s really hard to follow. It just seems like a series of (random) jokes and parodies until you get to the end of the film. There’s maybe 20% story, the rest are just jokes. When we do get a story, it’s still parodying the recent Scream films… which combines the “old school crew” with the new younger cast.

I think based on the $231.4 gross (based on a $30 million budget), that the Wayans would like return to the next Scary Movie… so this won’t be the last we see of this franchise.

Behind the Scream

Actor David Arquette is going on tour with Behind the Scream, in celebration of the 30th Anniversary of the film. Fans are invited to screen the original 1996 slasher classic, and after the film, you can chat with Arquette (who plays officer Dewey).

BEHIND THE SCREAM, 30th ANNIVERSARY TOUR WITH DAVID ARQUETTE

Oct 08 – Roanoke, VA @ Berglund Performing Arts Theatre
Oct 09 – Englewood, NJ @ Bergen Performing Arts Center
Oct 10 – Jacksonville, FL @ Florida Theatre Jacksonville
Oct 14 – Rapid City, SD @ Fine Arts Theatre at The Monument
Oct 15 – Sioux Falls, SD @ Washington Pavilion of Arts & Science
Oct 21 – Akron, OH @ EJ Thomas Hall
Oct 22 – Wabash, IN @ Honeywell Center
Oct 23 – Bloomington, IL @ Bloomington Center for the Performing Arts
Oct 24 – Aurora, IL @ Paramount Theatre Aurora
Oct 25 – Cedar Rapids, IA @ Paramount Theatre Cedar Rapids
Oct 28 – Austin, TX @ Bass Concert Hall
Oct 29 – Lowell, MA @ Lowell Memorial Auditorium
Oct 30 – Schenectady, NY @ Proctors Theatre
Oct 31 – Torrington, CT @ Warner Theatre (Oneglia Auditorium)