The It List: WWE meets horror in Netflix's interactive 'Escape the Undertaker,' Monica Lewinsky explores cancel culture in new doc and the best in pop culture the week of Oct. 4, 2021
The It List is Yahoo's weekly look at the best in pop culture, including movies, music, TV, streaming, games, books, podcasts and more. Here are our picks for Oct. 4-10, including the best deals we could find for each. (Yahoo Entertainment may receive a share from purchases made via links on this page.)
STREAM IT: Explore the Undertaker’s mansion in WWE and Netflix’s new interactive special
WWE is getting into the Halloween spirit with its first-ever interactive movie experience on Netflix, titled Escape the Undertaker. The film pits Mark Calaway, who reprises his iconic Undertaker character for the first time on screen since retiring in 2020, against The New Day trio — WWE Champion Big E, Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods — as they search a mansion looking for a magical urn, similar to the one Undertaker and the late William Moody (aka “Paul Bearer”) used for decades in WWE. Through on-screen prompts, viewers will be given options to direct The New Day, crafting their own journey and, as the Undertaker ominously states in the trailer, confronting their “deepest, darkest fears.” The 31-minute interactive special is the latest collaboration between Vince McMahon’s wrestling company and Netflix. In 2020, the companies teamed up to release “The Main Event,” a full-length film starring Mike “The Miz” Mizanin. — Anthony Sulla-Heffinger
Escape the Undertaker premieres Tuesday, Oct. 5 on Netflix.
STREAM IT: Pharma Bro explores the curious case of Martin Shkreli aka “The Most Hated Man in America”
Not all supervillains wear outlandish outfits. In 2015, hedge fund manager and pharmaceutical entrepreneur Martin Shkreli earned public ire for astronomically driving up the price of an important anti-parasitic drug. Instead of an apology tour, the 33-year-old “Pharma bro” seemed to relish his notoriety. Two years later, he went from the boardroom to the courtroom after being charged with multiple counts of securities fraud. (He’s currently serving a seven-year prison sentence.) Brent Hodge’s documentary Pharma Bro filters Shrkeli’s story through a comic book lens, marveling at the way he attained Marvel supervillain status in the public eye. This exclusive clip from the film features Wu-Tang Clan member Ghostface Killah addressing the famed hip-hop group’s own weird history with Shrkeli. Now there’s a comic book brawl we want to see. — Ethan Alter
Pharma Bro premieres Tuesday, Oct. 5 on most VOD platforms including Apple TV.
WATCH IT: The Sundance-approved drama Mass tackles the wrenching subject of gun violence
Talk about an acting masterclass: Expert thespians Jason Isaacs, Martha Plimpton, Reed Birney and Ann Dowd share the screen in writer/director Fran Kranz’s chamber piece, which made its debut at this year’s Sundance Film Festival in January. The quartet play two married couples who share a tragic backstory that gradually comes to light over the course of one long day together. Six years ago, Gail and Jay (Plimpton and Isaacs) lost their son in a school shooting, and it was the child of Richard and Linda (Birney and Dowd) who pulled the trigger. Now, a local church has donated space for them to have a reconciliation meeting in the hopes that they can all find a way to put the past behind them. But this exclusive clip from the film shows how far they have to go to achieve that goal. “You say you want to heal,” Dowd asks Plimpton. “We all do. Is this how?” — E.A.
Mass premieres Friday, Oct. 8 in theaters; visit Fandango for showtime and ticket information.
STREAM IT: Fire up your proton packs with the tell-all documentary Cleanin’ Up the Town: Remembering Ghostbusters
With Jason Reitman’s highly-anticipated Ghostbusters: Afterlife poised to hit theaters on Nov. 19, the beloved Ghostbusters brand is about to come back from the dead. But before you meet the new proton pack-wielding crew, it’s a good time to revisit the story surrounding Ivan Reitman’s unlikely 1984 blockbuster. Originally released in 2019, Anthony Bueno’s expansive behind-the-scenes documentary Cleanin’ Up the Town: Remembering Ghostbusters is returning to VOD in an expanded edition that features interviews with all of the major onscreen and offscreen players… minus Bill Murray, of course. In this exclusive clip, co-writer and star Dan Aykroyd explains how he drew on his own family’s history with the paranormal when dreaming up the idea for Ghostbusters. Now that’s definitely spooky. — E.A.
Cleanin’ Up the Town: Remembering Ghostbusters premieres Tuesday, Oct. 5 on most VOD platforms including Apple TV.
STREAM IT: V/H/S/94 brings the popular horror anthology series into the era of flannel and grunge
Launched in 2012, the V/H/S franchise has become the found footage equivalent of such beloved horror anthologies as Creepshow and Tales From the Crypt — and a place where new and emerging filmmakers can cut their (bloody) teeth. The latest installment once again features a collection of terrifying shorts, plus one wraparound segment, all of which take place in the distant past of… 1994. The carnival of terrors on display in V/H/S/94 include a legendary “rat man” who has made his home in an L.A. storm drain, a very spooky all-night wake, the biomechanical creation of a mad scientist and a domestic terrorist group with a supernatural weapon. Check out this exclusive clip from the “rat man” chapter, which features scary sights that would make Pennywise tremble. — E.A.
V/H/S/94 premires Wednesday, Oct. 6 on Shudder.
STREAM IT: The Monica Lewinsky-narrated documentary, 15 Minutes of Shame, starts the clock on cancel culture
In the hyper-fast world of social media, it’s sometimes easier to gain attention for being infamous rather than famous. The new HBO Max documentary, 15 Minutes of Shame — directed by former Catfish host, Max Joseph — shines the spotlight on some of the men and women who claim to have been “canceled” after their mistakes started trending on Twitter. Take Matt Colvin, who amassed a super-sized stockpile of hand sanitizer to sell online early on during the coronavirus pandemic. Once his story was published in The New York Times, the Tennessee-based Colvin was labeled as a hoarder, profiteer and even worse online. 15 Minutes of Shame seeks to re-evaluate the rush to judgement sometimes seen in high-profile cases of public shaming, and it’s executive produced and narrated by one of the most famous examples of someone who came back from cancellation: Monica Lewinsky. In this exclusive clip, author Jon Ronson — who literally wrote the book on public shaming — explains why Twitter and other social media platforms have taken over the role previously occupied by tabloids. — E.A.
15 Minutes of Shame premieres Thursday, Oct. 7 on HBO Max.
WATCH IT: Lamb is easily the greatest human-lamb-baby horror movie of our time
OK, so that headline might come off as facetious. But we’re not pulling the wool over your eyes when we say Lamb is one of the most original and intriguing films to hit theaters in a long time. Directed by Valdimar Jóhannsson, whose script with Sjón was inspired by Icelandic folklore, the film follows a couple (Girl With the Dragon Tattoo star Noomi Rapace and Hilmir Sn?r Guenason) on a remote mountainous farm who react far too calmly to the arrival of said human-lamb hybrid in their barn. It’s at times heavy, funny and tense, and at all times freaking bizarre. Jóhannsson insists it’s not a horror movie, but this one is especially for fans of A24’s other genre slow burners like Midsommar and The Witch. — Kevin Polowy
Lamb opens in theaters Friday, Oct. 8. Get tickets on Fandango.
HEAR IT: James Blake and friends are bringing on the heartbreak
English singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer and Best New Artist Grammy nominee James Blake’s fifth studio album, Friends That Break Your Heart, finds him collaborating with Finneas, SZA, buzzy American rappers JID and SwaVay, Monica Martin of the Wisconsin indie-folk band PHOX and production duo Take a Daytrip (known for their work on Lil Nas X’s "Montero"). Always expect the unexpected when it comes to this genre-defying artist. — Lyndsey Parker
Friends That Break Your Heart by James Blake is available Friday, Oct. 8 to download/stream on Apple Music.
BUY IT: The Halloween favorite Hocus Pocus gets a special line of ice cream and candle confections
It just isn’t the spooky season without multiple airings of the 1993 Halloween classic Hocus Pocus. That’s why Freeform always features the film prominently in its annual “31 Nights of Halloween” lineup. And this year, the cable channel is adding extra flavor by teaming up with Carvel and Ryan Porter for new Sanderson Sisters-themed treats. Throughout October, Carvel visitors can choose between three different Sanderson shakes, including churro, cake batter and cookies and cream varieties. Meanwhile, the wax masters at Ryan Porter have come up with three different candles that reflect the different personalities of Winifred, Mary and Sarah. We probably don't have to tell you that Winifred's candle is called — what else? — "I Put a Spell on You." — E.A.
Visit Carvel and Ryan Porter for these Hocus Pocus treats.
STREAM IT: Madonna once again proves she’s the grand madame of pop
Madonna’s groundbreaking 2019 theater-residency tour is captured in all its trippy, surreal glory in the new concert documentary Madame X, in which the onetime Truth or Dare star returns to the movie screen to share her latest truth. Ms. Ciccone transforms into the daring, mysterious titular character — a globe-trotting femme-fatale/freedom fighter — and it’s clearly the role that pop’s greatest shapeshifter was born to play. — L.P.
Madame X premieres Friday, Oct. 8 on Paramount+.
WATCH IT: American Psycho now simply there on 4K UHD
“I simply am not there,” Patrick Bateman (Christian Bale) says in one of the most memorable lines from Mary Harron’s unforgettable 2000 adaptation of Bret Easton Ellis’s popular satire about a Wall Street megalomaniac who also happens to be a deeply demented serial killer. That line can be unpacked in so many ways, just as the film itself — which 21 years later feels as fresh and topical as ever, particularly in its slickly devious depiction of white privilege and untouchability of The One Percent. The film lands on 4K Ultra HD this week with bonus features including deleted scenes and audio commentary from Harron and screenwriter Guinevere Turner. — K.P.
American Psycho releases in a new 4K Ultra HD Steelbook Tuesday, Oct. 5. Buy it exclusively from Best Buy.
PLAY IT: Suit up for Metroid Dread, Nintendo’s first Metroid game made for the Switch
She’s baaaack! Heavily armed space warrior Samus Aran, returns to battle more alien enemies in Metroid Dread, the latest installment in a video game franchise that dates all the way back to the 8-bit NES. The first Switch-era installment — and the first Metroid game released since 2017 — Dread gets back to the side-scrolling action that fans remember from the original Metroid game, while also adding stealth gameplay and other newfangled tricks. — E.A.
Metroid Dread is available Friday, Oct. 8 at most major retailers including Amazon.
— Video produced by Anne Lilburn and edited by John Santo
