Speaker 1: Hey there, folks.
Speaker 2: Sit is Sunday, October nineteenth. And of course, it is
Speaker 2: widely understood that in any horror movie, the first person
Speaker 2: to die.
Speaker 1: Is the black person.
Speaker 2: Yes, but what if a horror movie has an all
Speaker 2: black cast, Well, can't kill us all And welcome to
Speaker 2: this episode of Amy and DJ folks Weggo. Welcome as
Speaker 2: we continue on our horror hit list, Number thirteen is.
Speaker 1: Near and dear.
Speaker 2: It is one of our absolute favorites, probably could be
Speaker 2: higher on the list, but it's a newer entry and
Speaker 2: this is the most fun you can have watching a
Speaker 2: horror movie.
Speaker 3: It's almost so funny, and it makes so many culturer
Speaker 3: cultural references that as a white person you might be
Speaker 3: afraid to laugh at some of it.
Speaker 1: Or you might even know what the hell they's talking about.
Speaker 4: You know what.
Speaker 3: There might be moments where like, I don't get it. Ye,
Speaker 3: So I actually think if you have friends who are
Speaker 3: black and you are white, and you were listening to this,
Speaker 3: please watch it in a mixed setting, like a mixed group,
Speaker 3: because you'll understand things in a different way.
Speaker 4: It's funny no matter what.
Speaker 3: But I think it's even more funny if you have
Speaker 3: people who understand it on different levels.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and folks, they lean in to the blackness and
Speaker 2: this movie it's number thirteen on our list and it
Speaker 2: is called The Blackening, And it was bro to part
Speaker 2: of the posters they used when they were promoting this movie.
Speaker 2: The movie posters said we can't all die first. I mean,
Speaker 2: that's that really is the case. And it was a
Speaker 2: great promotional campaign that played on something that in our
Speaker 2: culture is kind of understood. Yes it's not all movies,
Speaker 2: but it's kind of the thing. It's like a token
Speaker 2: black guy in the group and he's the to go.
Speaker 3: And the joke also as the movie progresses is they're
Speaker 3: trying to figure out who the blackest is among them,
Speaker 3: and the comedy that ensues trying to figure out the
Speaker 3: blackest of the group is hilarious streak.
Speaker 2: And everybody's then trying to show their what their their
Speaker 2: non black credentials.
Speaker 1: But like, wait a minute, no, no, my dad is white.
Speaker 2: Somebody else. I voted for Trump twice. Yes, And that
Speaker 2: might be the funniest scene. Actually, we got to put
Speaker 2: this on again today. That's the funniest scene. But yet
Speaker 2: it is The Blackening. It's pretty new movie. It was
Speaker 2: in June of twenty twenty three. It's only an hour
Speaker 2: and thirty seven minutes long. It is perfect, and it
Speaker 2: is rated R. It's comedy and it's horror. This is
Speaker 2: laugh out loud, not just a couple of here and
Speaker 2: there like throughout this movie is funny.
Speaker 4: It's laugh out loud.
Speaker 3: But it's also very good at creating suspense drama. There
Speaker 3: are there are there is there's more than one. Actually
Speaker 3: I don't want to give it a but they are
Speaker 3: being hunted. So there is actual horror movie elements. This
Speaker 3: isn't just a comedy that has a little bit of horror.
Speaker 3: It really does toe the line between both really well,
Speaker 3: like exceptionally well.
Speaker 2: And I guess it to make the point, just the
Speaker 2: concept of the movie tells you that it is a
Speaker 2: horror and a comedy.
Speaker 1: Because what's a classic horror.
Speaker 2: Scenario being out in the middle of the woods in
Speaker 2: a cabin. This is a cabin in the woods scenario.
Speaker 2: Now what's funny about that? Black folks ain't supposed to
Speaker 2: be out there in a cabin in the woods. They
Speaker 2: play on this idea in culture and yes, sweetheart, you
Speaker 2: want to go hiking all the time?
Speaker 4: I love cabins in the woods, and I.
Speaker 1: Say, why do you got why you got me out
Speaker 1: here once again?
Speaker 3: As you're driving through a dark, lonely wooded street, You're like,
Speaker 3: how is it that I'm here again in the middle
Speaker 3: of the woods where black people aren't supposed to be.
Speaker 2: And you know what, every one of my friends, especially
Speaker 2: my boys, what I tell them where I am, they
Speaker 2: have no sympathy, Like what happens to you out there?
Speaker 2: You deserve it, even so you're not supposed to be
Speaker 2: out there. Oh my god, I had.
Speaker 4: You watching what was the movie on summer Midsummer?
Speaker 3: I'm like, this is where we're going, babe, where there
Speaker 3: are almost no black people.
Speaker 4: Yes, that's scary in and of itself.
Speaker 2: Sweden was nice, though I take Sweden over some parts
Speaker 2: of the South. No, but this is and this is
Speaker 2: a treat of a movie. Here the synopsis here. This
Speaker 2: is a longer one, but explains it so you take
Speaker 2: it all right.
Speaker 3: The Blackening Center is around a group of black friends
Speaker 3: who reunite for a June teenth weekend getaway even funnier,
Speaker 3: that's hilarious, only to find themselves trapped in a remote
Speaker 3: cabin with a twisted killer forced to play by his rules.
Speaker 3: The friends soon realized this ain't no motherfucking game. Directed
Speaker 3: by Tim's Story and co written by Tracy Oliver who
Speaker 3: girls trip, Hello, who didn't love that movie? So you
Speaker 3: can see their comedic barbershop Tim story did so. Yes,
Speaker 3: they have comedic backgrounds for sure. And Dwayne Perkins, the
Speaker 3: Blackening skewers genre tropes and poses the sardonic question if
Speaker 3: the entire cast if a horror movie is black, who
Speaker 3: dies first.
Speaker 2: It's just a great setup and a great so good concept.
Speaker 2: Now it did well at the box office. I can't
Speaker 2: remember if it finished one or two, but it made
Speaker 2: noise that weekend because look, seventeen point seven million dollars
Speaker 2: doesn't sound like a huge haul. But this is a
Speaker 2: small budgeted movie, a five million, very lean budget. Here
Speaker 2: the cast is superb. Now Dwayne Perkins stars. Now, he
Speaker 2: is the one who did a it was a comedy
Speaker 2: sketch that this whole thing is based on that was
Speaker 2: back in twenty fifteen, twenty seventeen.
Speaker 4: And it get it's an improv thing, right.
Speaker 2: Yes, And he went from there and became this so
Speaker 2: kudos to him, and he is hilarious. Has even a
Speaker 2: funny dancing scene in this movie. It's great Grace Buyers,
Speaker 2: Jermaine Fowler, Melvin Gregg, you'll recognize Antoinette Robertson, J Farrell
Speaker 2: of SNL fame Kuah Wall we love him, of course.
Speaker 2: And then Yvonne Orgi what was the name of her
Speaker 2: show on HBO, but you know her comedian, She's awesome.
Speaker 2: But the director as well, Tim's story, you know his
Speaker 2: movies Think like a Man, Right along with Right Along too,
Speaker 2: as well with ice Cube and Kevin Hart. He's this
Speaker 2: is his lane. It's this thing.
Speaker 3: The acting is superb, the writing is remarkable. You will
Speaker 3: be laughing out loud throughout the entire entire movie. How
Speaker 3: many times have we watched this?
Speaker 1: It gets better every time, it really really does.
Speaker 4: We even watched this with my parents the other weekend.
Speaker 1: That was a good night. That was a fun night.
Speaker 4: They were laughing out loud.
Speaker 2: Any of y'all have ever seen this movie, especially black
Speaker 2: folks right now, If you're thinking, wow, TJ.
Speaker 4: Watching this with three white people.
Speaker 1: Well in two of them being your parents.
Speaker 4: Really white people. Yeah, there were some scenes in there, but.
Speaker 2: It's just it's it's stuff, and for me, it's nothing
Speaker 2: we talk like this, this is all familiar, and yet
Speaker 2: this is very black movie. It leans into that. But
Speaker 2: to watch this that was.
Speaker 1: Funny, and your folks were cracking the hell out with
Speaker 1: this one.
Speaker 3: My dad was literally laughing out loud this movie, laughing
Speaker 3: out loud. Rotten Tomatoes agrees their score eighty seven percent,
Speaker 3: and the audience agreed eighty five percent. So, I mean,
Speaker 3: this was a movie that was well reviewed and well
Speaker 3: liked by pretty much everyone who has seen it.
Speaker 2: All right, critic consensus, Now, I haven't seen an audience
Speaker 2: consensus consensus. They had one on this one, so I
Speaker 2: included them both. So from the critics, the critic consensus
Speaker 2: was this, while it could stand to be a little
Speaker 2: funnier and quite a bit scarier, the Blackening is a
Speaker 2: thoughtful satire that skewers horror tropes and racial stereotypes.
Speaker 4: All Right, I thought it was pretty damn funny.
Speaker 1: It's hard, I mean, a little funny.
Speaker 3: It could have been a little scarier, maybe, but I
Speaker 3: thought it was really funny.
Speaker 1: It seemed like somebody might have been nitpicking.
Speaker 3: Yes, perhaps they wanted to find something about it. The
Speaker 3: audience consensus, I feel like, is a really good way
Speaker 3: to view this movie. The Blackening is a laugh out
Speaker 3: loud horror comedy that's perfect for watching with a big
Speaker 3: group of friends.
Speaker 2: Yeah, that needs to be done. You have to get
Speaker 2: a group together because you're all going to be arguing
Speaker 2: about what you would do and which one of the
Speaker 2: group is in your group, or which character are you
Speaker 2: and that.
Speaker 1: Kind of thing.
Speaker 3: Yeah, and for white folks, like I said, if you
Speaker 3: don't get the joke, if you have a lot of
Speaker 3: people there, someone will explain it to you.
Speaker 2: There's not a lot of you know what, there's a
Speaker 2: little bit of that. There's a there's a kool Aid scene.
Speaker 1: Maybe might be confusing to some folks.
Speaker 3: Oh yes, I wouldn't have gotten that. I would not
Speaker 3: have understood understood the kol Aid reference.
Speaker 2: Well, okay, there's a lot of stuff in there. But
Speaker 2: the audience reviews came in this way that Blackening was hilarious.
Speaker 2: It's rare to have a comedy that has so many
Speaker 2: fresh and upcoming faces where the ensemble is kinetic, hilarious, engaging,
Speaker 2: and so talented. Even as a remake from a short skit,
Speaker 2: this is one of the funnier self aware comedies this year.
Speaker 2: That's I like.
Speaker 4: That self aware comedies.
Speaker 3: It's true, like they go ahead and they go there
Speaker 3: and they know what they are, and I appreciate. Like
Speaker 3: the whole Friends thing had me laughing out loud. Oh,
Speaker 3: that was one of my favorite parts of the movie,
Speaker 3: because you know, black people didn't never watch Friends.
Speaker 2: See it's a black That was such a black moment
Speaker 2: that we've all had. It was amazing to where you
Speaker 2: were not supposed to be a part of that thing
Speaker 2: from white culture. But then you have to admit, like,
Speaker 2: wait a minute, y'all watch that show.
Speaker 3: So all right, The Blackening is a slasher movie that's
Speaker 3: also a slap dash, enjoyable social satire. That the satire
Speaker 3: turns out to be sharper than the scares isn't a problem.
Speaker 3: It's all part of the film's slovenly demonic party atmosphere.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I agree with that the way to put it
Speaker 2: might be funnier than it is scary, and that's okay.
Speaker 4: I think I think that's a true state. But it's
Speaker 4: still a horror.
Speaker 1: Movie, all right.
Speaker 2: Let me go to a couple of the negative ones
Speaker 2: down here. Robes sporadically funny but mostly repetitive, choppily edited
Speaker 2: and dull without being zany, hilarious, campy, or bold enough.
Speaker 2: It's like Boo a Medea Halloween without Medea to invigorate it.
Speaker 4: Oh, I couldn't disagree more.
Speaker 2: Okay, there was some I took issue with us when
Speaker 2: I included it for a reason that seemed.
Speaker 3: A little so much unnecessary. Also, Medea would not have
Speaker 3: made it funnier at all.
Speaker 1: This seems a little now.
Speaker 4: Maybe they just didn't get it.
Speaker 1: They didn't get it.
Speaker 4: I wonder who wrote it.
Speaker 2: Well, some of them have their pictures next to it,
Speaker 2: and I think that might be a challenge maybe for
Speaker 2: a critic. I think it might be a challenge to
Speaker 2: watch a movie like this that is actually not made
Speaker 2: for you as not trying to pander to you to
Speaker 2: where you do have to try to understand another culture.
Speaker 2: You do try to understand a joke and if you
Speaker 2: don't get it. So I did read a lot of
Speaker 2: reviews that seem from people they didn't get it. They
Speaker 2: didn't say they didn't get it. Instead it came out
Speaker 2: as negativity towards the.
Speaker 4: Movie because they didn't know they didn't get it.
Speaker 3: That's kind of a problem, right, I mean, isn't that
Speaker 3: a lot. We talk about this all the time. You
Speaker 3: and I say similar ages, similar parts of the country,
Speaker 3: but just so many different references that we're surprised and
Speaker 3: actually like like shocked that we don't understand references.
Speaker 4: So I do think it's.
Speaker 3: Kind of an opportunity actually to have fun and learn
Speaker 3: a little along the way. Here's a negative one as well.
Speaker 3: This movie not only fails at both horror and comedy
Speaker 3: what but it also panders to the black community so
Speaker 3: hard that it's hard to watch. Literally, the N word
Speaker 3: is said probably nine and ninety nine times, and almost
Speaker 3: all of the jokes relate to blackness. It's called the Blackening.
Speaker 3: I don't know what they thought they were watching.
Speaker 1: I thought that's.
Speaker 2: I don't know, Maybe you don't have to watch it,
Speaker 2: right if you don't want to. But I I never
Speaker 2: walked out of a theater because the joke was one
Speaker 2: that I didn't think was written for my community. Right,
Speaker 2: you're looking at you actually don't like it because it's
Speaker 2: specific to somebody that's not you, and you have no
Speaker 2: interest in trying to be open to it. It's weird
Speaker 2: how a simple movie review like that tells us so much,
Speaker 2: Like what are you talking. It's not funny because it's black.
Speaker 2: It's not funny because somebody that doesn't look like me
Speaker 2: might have found it funny. It's just some of them
Speaker 2: a little hoigh. I included that one on purpose. Who
Speaker 2: knows what was going on here, It's possible, like I
Speaker 2: didn't think it was funny, and I didn't think the
Speaker 2: horror was an Again, this was my problem with it
Speaker 2: because this is.
Speaker 1: This, Eh.
Speaker 3: Look, I recognize that I got some of the jokes
Speaker 3: because I'm in a relationship with you.
Speaker 4: I get that.
Speaker 3: But I still think even never having known things on
Speaker 3: another level, I still would recognize how funny it was.
Speaker 4: I mean, I just totally take issue with that.
Speaker 3: But I do think it's a point to consider that, yes, people,
Speaker 3: sometimes art is made for different or in the lens
Speaker 3: or through the lens of different cultures, and that's actually
Speaker 3: a really cool thing to be able to witness, watch
Speaker 3: and learn from and enjoy.
Speaker 4: It doesn't have to be about white people for white people.
Speaker 3: I do think that's so interesting that even the writer
Speaker 3: of that review couldn't recognize their own limitations that they put.
Speaker 2: On themselves, right, That's that's my criticism. The jokes are
Speaker 2: too black for me.
Speaker 3: All right, So we're gonna we're gonna come back and
Speaker 3: tell you why it made our list, who it's for,
Speaker 3: who it's not for, anyone who just wants white things,
Speaker 3: and what you can pair it with. We'll also tee
Speaker 3: the head to our next movie on our list. We
Speaker 3: continue our horror hit list with number thirteen on our list.
Speaker 3: We are talking about one of our favorites, laugh out loud,
Speaker 3: funny horror comedy, The Blackening. It came out in twenty
Speaker 3: twenty three. We have probably watched it at least ten
Speaker 3: times since then, and most recently just a week ago,
Speaker 3: and going to watch it today too. We might watch
Speaker 3: it again today. That's how funny it is. It is
Speaker 3: just enjoyable from start to finish. So why it made
Speaker 3: our list. It's rare that you can. I look, there
Speaker 3: are horror comedies and they can make you chuckle or
Speaker 3: make you smile in the middle of just extreme fear,
Speaker 3: and I appreciate those, but it's very rare that a
Speaker 3: horror movie actually has you laughing out loud, and that
Speaker 3: for me, this is singular in that ability to do that.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and it's still I mean, this still legitimately is
Speaker 2: a horror movie, but no, it's not the scariest thing
Speaker 2: you're going to watch.
Speaker 3: But it.
Speaker 2: You don't get shorted on deaths and murder and mystery
Speaker 2: and fear and tension. You don't get shortered on that
Speaker 2: in the least bit. But it's so funny throughout, and
Speaker 2: so many of the performances, even when they're not delivering
Speaker 2: lines or jokes, they're just in their personalities so engaging
Speaker 2: and even adorable to a certain degree. And sing and
Speaker 2: the brother the plays the guy who's married to the
Speaker 2: white woman.
Speaker 4: That's hilarious.
Speaker 2: He has one of the best lines in there. When
Speaker 2: you were talking earlier, some jokes you might not get
Speaker 2: where they're all sitting around trying to figure out who
Speaker 2: is the blackest. His argument was I'm not the blackest.
Speaker 2: I'm married to a white woman. And everybody said, no, brother,
Speaker 2: that does not help your case.
Speaker 4: And I don't think I.
Speaker 5: Would have gotten that joke, and they just moved on.
Speaker 5: They didn't explain it in the movie. Everybody got it
Speaker 5: and it was hilarious. That kind of stuff in this
Speaker 5: movie is why you have.
Speaker 2: To watch this with a group, yes, agreed group, biggest
Speaker 2: group you can get.
Speaker 4: So who's the movie for TJ Black people.
Speaker 2: Absolutely, this is for black folks, and I appreciate it
Speaker 2: being that way, and I think it's for anybody who
Speaker 2: wants just a little window, if you want a little
Speaker 2: insight into black friendship actually and to black problem solving,
Speaker 2: into really black culture in how we view other parts
Speaker 2: of culture, including the O'Reilly theme song even has a
Speaker 2: hilarious moment in here. It just I think a lot
Speaker 2: of folks don't get to see good, college educated, successful,
Speaker 2: normal black folks just doing their thing friends, right, Everybody
Speaker 2: got to see that this is friends in the middle
Speaker 2: of a horror movie, and I encourage anybody to take
Speaker 2: a minute to watch just the normal sea of this group.
Speaker 1: It just happens to be black.
Speaker 4: That's so true.
Speaker 3: I even loved at the end, like just something as
Speaker 3: funny and yet telling about them trying to figure out
Speaker 3: how to get help because obviously they couldn't call the police.
Speaker 2: That's a good jokes and there was nothing. They weren't
Speaker 2: laughing and it was just dead pain.
Speaker 4: It was just like what do we do?
Speaker 1: It was a call.
Speaker 2: Yes, it's a real issue that folks have had, real
Speaker 2: folks in the community scared to call. They don't think
Speaker 2: we burned the place down. They don't think we stole it.
Speaker 2: I've absolutely had that moment in my life before. I
Speaker 2: shouldn't be here. They don't think it was me.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 4: And then so TJ. Who is this movie not for?
Speaker 2: Oh, if you're racist, this thing for you, if you
Speaker 2: got any racist tendencies, and the least bit this is
Speaker 2: not for you. If you've been texting with young Republicans
Speaker 2: over the past seven months, this is not your movie.
Speaker 2: That's just a joke, y'all. Don't come for me. If
Speaker 2: you've been watching the news, you know what that joke
Speaker 2: was about. I'm just kidding. But my point is not
Speaker 2: open to go to looking and seeing something that maybe
Speaker 2: you're you don't know. You need to be a little
Speaker 2: open minded. I think to other people, other cultural cultures
Speaker 2: and the way somebody else might do something.
Speaker 4: I think this is a great movie to do that.
Speaker 3: You know, our movie before was a Japanese film, and
Speaker 3: we kind of talked about it's not the same thing,
Speaker 3: but there are some similar aspects where you're acknowledging, Hey,
Speaker 3: I don't totally get this, but I'm guessing this is
Speaker 3: a Japanese thing. And then you kind of become more
Speaker 3: aware of those types of instruction. It's a part, yes,
Speaker 3: and even though it's not familiar, you can actually appreciate.
Speaker 3: So I think this movie is actually really cool in
Speaker 3: that regard, and I loved it all right.
Speaker 4: Food drink pairing. What would you suggest, Babe?
Speaker 2: I usually don't recommend kool aid, but there's a part
Speaker 2: of this movie that really takes you back, So I
Speaker 2: would recommend because of kool aid laying around, you know,
Speaker 2: I go a little old school, go ahead and get
Speaker 2: a little sugar in you for the night. This one
Speaker 2: takes you back. Food pairing. This made me feel even
Speaker 2: though it wasn't a big part of the movie. Food
Speaker 2: wasn't It very much felt like a cookout kind of atmosphere.
Speaker 2: So if you get a chance to grill some stuff up,
Speaker 2: throw it all in the middle of the table, even
Speaker 2: hot dogs and stuff like that would work.
Speaker 1: It feels like a cookout.
Speaker 3: Yeah, that actually that's and we were talking about it.
Speaker 3: There wasn't any food in this movie, which actually is unusual.
Speaker 3: Usually you like have a there's a dinner, there's especially
Speaker 3: when you've got people in a cabin together. I don't
Speaker 3: think they had time to cook like stuff started going
Speaker 3: bad really quickly, and I think you know they had
Speaker 3: some fun. They were shots, they were doing shots, so
Speaker 3: maybe you could put some shots to that too.
Speaker 1: There was some molly involved, but we don't want to record.
Speaker 3: We don't want to recommend any sort of illegal substance,
Speaker 3: but there was definitely molly going on.
Speaker 1: In one of the funniest scenes as well.
Speaker 3: It was hilarious. But I think you can probably put
Speaker 3: anything with this. Anything you want to eat to have fun.
Speaker 3: This is a party atmosphe I like the idea of
Speaker 3: a barbecue. If you had a big group of your
Speaker 3: friends and get together in a cabin in the woods,
Speaker 3: what would you be eating. Go ahead and put that
Speaker 3: all on the coffee table and dig.
Speaker 2: In your recommendation. This is a movie if you were
Speaker 2: having a party, this is one new stop. If you
Speaker 2: got ten people over fifty, you do sit. You can
Speaker 2: have a party specifically to watch this movie. This is
Speaker 2: a good one.
Speaker 3: I totally agree. I loved this movie all right. So
Speaker 3: our next movie, I like how we really just give
Speaker 3: everyone whiplast year because this is just going in the
Speaker 3: complete other direction.
Speaker 4: But our next.
Speaker 3: Movie Who It is about as scary as it gets
Speaker 3: you actually have a scene that you do not ever
Speaker 3: want to rewatch. Now you're already getting upset about it
Speaker 3: because you're thinking about the scene. It actually physically hurts
Speaker 3: you to think about the scene. But the acting on
Speaker 3: this one, I believe that the lead in this movie
Speaker 3: that we're gonna bring to you in our next should
Speaker 3: actually be considered for an Academy Award.
Speaker 2: We're not going too far. This is legit. This is
Speaker 2: not just a thing. She is stellar. Oh yes, yes, yes,
Speaker 2: So stay tuned for that. And another tease of this
Speaker 2: one of everything on the list, this is the one
Speaker 2: when Robot asked to rewatch it? I said, can we
Speaker 2: please not? It is that much of a scary movie.
Speaker 3: That's a good tease, all right, And with that, everyone,
Speaker 3: thank you for listening to us. I'm Amy Roebuck alongside TJ.
Speaker 1: Holmes. You sure I know.
Speaker 4: I don't know why I hesitated with my own name.
Speaker 1: Be changing anytime.
Speaker 4: Okay, that was a funny tease. That was really funny.
Speaker 4: We'll talk to y'all soon.