A while back, the Netflix CEO said movie theaters are “outdated” and that Netflix is “saving” Hollywood. Movies have been moving to streaming for quite some time, and the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated a trend that seemed to be underway when movie theaters had to shut down for months. Even after opening major motion pictures, like Dune (2021), were released on streaming the same day as their theatrical releases. It was looking bleak for movie theater lovers.
It turns out it’s not Netflix saving Hollywood; it’s Generation Z. In April, Variety published a piece about Gen Z driving the box office. In May, they showed up! The Gen Z filmmakers behind Obsession, and Backrooms, were the heavy hitters for the month, even making AMC’s highest-attended month of May since 2019!
Hell yeah.
Here’s what we have for you this week:
Concession Stand Scorecard: Scary Movie
Watchlist Worthy: WTF is this trailer, but also yup, at least two of us are sat.
Friends We Recommend: Latest Movie Mavens Podcast Episode
This week’s movie - Scary Movie
Letterboxd Description:
Every line will be crossed.
Twenty-six years after outrunning a suspiciously familiar masked killer, the Core Four are back in the killer’s crosshairs and no horror movie IP is safe.
Best Watched With
Someone whose skin is tougher than Teyana Taylor’s abs, and chronically up to date on pop culture.
End Credit Thoughts
Scary Movie claims every line will be crossed and no horror movie IP is safe. And they did not lie. They even took shots at non-horror movies like One Battle After Another. It has been 25 years since the Wayans Brothers took the reins of the Scary Movie franchise, and 13 years since Scary Movie 5. There was a lot of catching up to do, and catching up they did.
The ghostface killer from the Scream franchise leads the charge in terms of the storyline, but the movie also pulls in callbacks to other scary movie legacies, such as Terrifier, Get Out (2017), and Halloween (2018). They had nods to not-so-big productions such as Ma (2019) and Longlegs (2024), to major ones such as Netflix’s Wednesday series, and Oscar winners like Sinners (2025) and Weapons (2025).
The humor is what we expected from this family of filmmakers. They took shots at people all over the political and social spectrums. Race, politics, gender, the run-of-the-mill topics most avoid during Thanksgiving dinner, were all fair game. From pronouns to broad strokes painting a certain demographic as racist, we knew we couldn’t be sensitive or take offense. Comedy might be the last place for public discourse where anything goes, even if people disagree with this. Because for this filmmaking crew, comedy means nothing is censored.
It was fun seeing the gang get back together. The OG crew fell right into step with one another and looked like they were having fun making this movie, even if at times the fun was only for them. There were more call-backs than original and new quotable quotes.
One has to know a lot about horror movies. For the most part, they are riffing on major hitters, but some of the scenes are bar-for-bar parodies of scenes from one installment of a franchise. If you missed a movie, a joke or a few can be missed as well.
This movie is dumb in a great way. It’s not trying to be profound; it knows what it wants to be, and the crew delivers true to the Scary Movie tradition. We went to a Dolby fan event on opening night (for the free merch), but if it wasn’t for AMC A List Stubs, this would have been $20+ a ticket. Yes, we want to support theaters, but there are plenty of other bangers out right now to do so. This is a great streaming-at-home movie, especially for those who take vitamin T, H, C, C, B, D supplements.
Josh Jump Scare Count: 3
Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma by Jane Schoenbrun
Letterboxd Description:
Blood. Lust.
After years of slapdash sequels and waning fandom, the Camp Miasma slasher franchise is handed over to an enthusiastic young director for resurrection. But when she visits the original’s star, a now-reclusive actress shrouded in mystery, the two women fall into a blood-soaked world of desire, fear, and delirium.
A new film by Jane Schoenbrun, who brought us I Saw The TV Glow…. WOW this trailer fucked us up. We aren’t sure what to expect at all, at all.
But we are seated.
-The Harrisons
Also Directed by Jane Schoenbrun:
We’re All Going to the World’s Fair (2021)
I Saw the TV Glow (2024)
Home of the Spicy Double Feature, Movie Mavens is a podcast about movies hosted by filmmaker Annie Jaynes and pop-culture critic Carsen Greene.
Each week, the Movie Mavens compare two or more films that are related in some way in what they call a Spicy Double Feature.
They also keep a diary of recent watches and recommendations across all entertainment: film, TV, games, books, & more!
Follow them on Instagram @MovieMavens
For business inquiries, email moviemavenspodcast@gmail.com
Their latest episode is on two movies still in theaters, one we haven’t seen yet and one we said is worth the price of admission.
Ep. 222 - Contemporary Cultural Commentary??? (Obsession + I Love Boosters)
Is OBSESSION as good as everyone says? Is I Love Boosters deserving of the walk-outs? The Mavens discuss this and so much more.
00:00 - Intro
01:45 - Obsession
19:14 - I Love Boosters
Tune in next week for | Disclosure Day
Follow us on:
Instagram: @_sweetandcondensed_
TikTok: @SweetAndCondensed
Youtube: @SweetAndCondensed