Ideas are thin these days.. while we liked the BURBS it was a cult hit and not a huge hit.. but they will try again anyway?
Peacock has unveiled the first trailer for The ‘Burbs, the new mystery comedy series starring Keke Palmer and Jack Whitehall, as well as revealing a premiere date for all episodes on Sunday, February 8.
Their world is upended when a new neighbor moves in across the street, bringing old secrets of the cul-de-sac to light, and new deadly threats shatter the illusion of their quiet little neighborhood.
Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 Is About to Chomp Zootopia 2
Five Nights at Freddy’s Part 2, the sequel to the initial hit, is about to take down Zootopia 2 at the box office this weekend. If you look at the Rotten Tomatoes website, you’d never expect that to happen. Right now it’s sitting at one of the lowest critic scores we’ve ever seen ..just 12%. That’s it. That means the overwhelming majority of movie critics basically despise this film and think it’s a waste of time to watch and maybe even a waste of time to make.
But this is a tale of two cities and two audiences. While critics hate it, people in general love it, with an 89% audience score from 500+ verified ratings. The original movie made about $297 million on a $20 million budget, and it’s expected that this sequel might actually do even better.
Is it going to be Oscar-worthy material? Probably not. It might not even be the best movie you’ve ever seen. But it’s doing something critics haven’t really tapped into.
For a long time, 80s and 90s nostalgia reigned supreme. That era is fading. People now can’t always relate to a time and place that’s long gone, but they can relate to a time when they were playing this game.. or when they were parents of kids who were playing it in the mid-2000s. That’s what we have here: an homage to new nostalgia, something different and unique to this generation of people growing up now, and to Millennials who are older and had kids who downloaded this game. Parents and kids alike enjoyed playing it.
Remember from in the mid 2000 teens how many Five Nights at Freddy’s–themed birthday parties we saw? That’s the energy showing up at the box office now.
What this really shows is how little critics matter anymore. There was a time when a movie poster could boast a perfect score with critics or a Roger Ebert quote on the back of the VHS and that meant everything. Those days are so far gone they’ve turned to dust. Now it’s word of mouth, social media, instant reviews, and live theater reactions that matter, and that’s what’s happening here.
We haven’t seen Five Nights at Freddy’s Part 2 just yet. We will. And when we do, even if it’s the “worst movie of all time,” guess what?
Jane Fonda has been leading the charge, along with the Screen Actors Guild, railing against the Netflix deal that would gobble up Warner Bros. for 43 billion dollars. The emotions in Hollywood have gone from apprehension to anger about this deal, and people are actually worried it could be consequential to the First Amendment itself. Some might say that’s hyperbole, but think about this.
Netflix is going to be given token releases to theater chains such as AMC, IMAX, and Cinemark. Those stocks fell 8% on Friday because this merger may represent a total consolidation of the industry under a corporate conglomerate. Corporate conglomerates aren’t rare these days. We don’t have many companies like we once did—just big giant corporations eating up the competition and owning it.
This is also the tech giants owning something as opposed to the old Hollywood elite. Warner Bros owns a lot of horror franchises. Let’s think about Pennywise the Dancing Clown and Freddy Krueger. Let’s think about some of the others you’ve come to love on different streaming platforms. Netflix will now own those rights and distribute them the way they see fit, if this deal and acquisition go through.
So maybe we all agree with Jane Fonda, and maybe we’re all a little bit worried. And quite frankly, if Netflix really wants to do something here, they can either kill movie theaters—or allow them to thrive.
Stranger Things fans are getting a little sneak preview of what life will be like when their favorite radio station disappears. Let me explain.
You might have read on my site (and plenty of others) about WSQK—a.k.a. The Squawk. It’s that now-famous “radio” station that was really just an online stream but felt like a real 80s station straight out of Hawkins, Indiana. It had 80s DJs, 80s music, the whole nostalgic vibe.
You could find it on TuneIn Radio. But now a bunch of people, myself included, are getting these weird warnings that The Squawk is suddenly “not available in our region” or country.
At first, I thought, “Hey, maybe this is some kind of promo stunt, like the Demogorgons hijacked the station for a bit.” But nope, it’s not part of the show.
It’s just a glitch or a regional licensing issue on TuneIn.
The good news is you can still get The Squawk on the Global Player app. I tried it, it works, and others have done the same. So you can keep listening for now.
Just know that come January, The Squawk is reportedly going off the air for good as that little promo run ends. So yeah, consider this a taste of what life will be like when the station disappears for real.
Netflix Buys Warner Bros for $82.7 Billion — What Happens Now?
Well… whoa. That’s really the only word that fits right now.
On Friday morning, as the stock market, Oscar winners, and the White House were all waking up to the news cycle, both Netflix and Warner Bros leadership sent out internal emails confirming what the media instantly latched onto: Netflix will acquire Warner Bros Discovery and its entire streaming business for a staggering $82.7 billion.
If it goes through, this is one of those “fundamentally reshape the entire entertainment industry” moments. This isn’t just another merger. This is a tech titan fully planting a flag in the center of Hollywood and essentially saying: We run the table now.
Netflix has spent years building toward dominance, but this? This is conquest-level stuff.
The deal gives Netflix enormous leverage over the film and TV landscape … library content, franchises, IP, and the kind of studio infrastructure you simply can’t build from scratch anymore. If you’re wondering what this means for the future of streaming, the future of movie theaters, or even the political implications of a mega-merger this size… well, you’re not alone. Washington is probably already sharpening knives over antitrust concerns.
But let’s be honest for horror fans, there’s one immediate question:
What happens to Freddy Krueger?
Because with this merger, Netflix would now own The Nightmare on Elm Street franchise. Just think about that. Netflix, the same company currently dominating the global streaming market .. now potentially holding the rights to Elm Street, and deciding the future of one of the most iconic villains in cinema history.
Do they reboot it? Do they build a prestige horror series? Do they fold Freddy into a new expanded horror universe? Or do they let him sleep a little longer?
Whatever happens, this is one of the biggest entertainment shakeups we’ve seen in decades and it’s only the beginning.
If you’d like, I can add a punchier ending, a horror-purist angle, or a list of “possible futures for Freddy.”
And a lot of others …
MORE..
The Writers Guild of America has joined other industry groups in coming out against Netflix‘s proposed blockbuster deal to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery‘s studios and streaming business.
“The world’s largest streaming company swallowing one of its biggest competitors is what antitrust laws were designed to prevent,” the guild said in a statement. “The outcome would eliminate jobs, push down wages, worsen conditions for all entertainment workers, raise prices for consumers, and reduce the volume and diversity of content for all viewers. Industry workers along with the public are already impacted by only a few powerful companies maintaining tight control over what consumers can watch on television, on streaming, and in theaters. This merger must be blocked.”
Today isn’t just St. Nicholas Day, it’s also Krampus Day. And while most people grew up with the warm and fuzzy version of the season, the Alpine regions of Europe made sure kids understood that December wasn’t just cookies and love. There was always a dark and frightening shadow walking beside the saint.
Ole Kramps has long been one of our favorites..
The figure of Krampus goes back centuries.. older, in many ways, than St. Nicholas himself.
While St. Nicholas became part of Christian tradition around the 3rd–4th century, Krampus’ roots run deeper into old pagan winter folklore. These Alpine communities lived through long, brutal winters with darkness stretching hours longer than daylight. They told stories of horned, goat-like creatures roaming the solstice nights.. Imagine living in this darkness …Krampus became sort of a living symbol of winter’s terror.
When Christianity took hold, instead of eliminating those beliefs, it absorbed them. The gentle bishop St. Nicholas became the rewarder of good children, and Krampus became the punisher of the bad ones. A yin and yang. A cosmic seasonal checks-and-balances system.
Some historians even argue the Krampus figure predates St. Nicholas entirely and that he comes from a time when people feared the dark more than anything and needed a creature to explain the shadows that stretched across snow-covered villages. In other words, Krampus wasn’t invented to balance St. Nicholas… St. Nicholas was assigned to balance him.
Growing up in Catholic school, I always loved this day. I thought the old tradition was fun, and honestly, a little weird in the best way. December 5th was when we’d leave our shoes in a hallway, wondering whether St. Nicholas left candy… or if we’d get coal. Bells would ring. Of course we didn’t realize it was school staff. But we got candy. Phew. Crisis averted another year..
Never once did a nun warn us about Krampus dragging us away in a basket, but knowing the folklore now, I appreciate just how bizarre and brilliant these old traditions really were. Kids today think Elf on the Shelf is stressful. Imagine a horned goat-man showing up if you talk back to your parents.
Coke vs. Pepsi… but Make It Krampus
And here’s the fun part: if Santa Claus became the wholesome mascot for Coca-Cola, then Krampus absolutely deserves his own Pepsi campaign. Just imagine it: “Pepsi Krampus: The Choice of a New Generation… of Naughty Kids.”
He’s on a billboard, horns shining, holding a Pepsi can. He’s not leaving the North Pole; he’s leaving bite marks in your gingerbread men. Santa gets the cookies.. Krampus gets the coal-powered energy drink. Fair is fair after all..
We need that balance.. 🙂
People think Halloween is where the spooky season ends.
No. Halloween is merely the kickoff. Ancient folks believed the veil thinned as winter approached, not just on October 31st. November and December were long, dark, terrifying months with barely any light and no modern comforts. Every shadow in the corner of a one-room cabin was a threat. Every gust of wind sounded like something just outside the door.
Krampus isn’t out of place this time of year, he’s exactly what these months used to feel like.
And then comes December 25th it is the “rebirth of the sun.” Or son. The literal lengthening of the days. The symbolic birth of hope in both pagan and Christian traditions. Two belief systems pointing toward the same reality: The darkness finally stops winning.
Krampus ends his reign, St. Nicholas reigns supreme, Jesus is born, and the sun finally begins its slow return.
As we get closer to the two-night finale of Stranger Things dropping December 31, 2025 and January 1, 2026, it’s worth remembering one thing: we didn’t just watch a show for a decade .. we lived one.
When Stranger Things started filming, David Letterman was still hosting late-night. Jay Leno had only recently walked away from The Tonight Show. Conan O’Brien was still on TBS. (We really miss him).. It was when late night was waning but two kings were still reigning.
The streaming world was a completely different universe. Netflix was king and pretty much alone on the throne. There was no Disney+. No Paramount+. No HBO Max. No Peacock. CBS All Access was barely a whisper. Streaming was simple compared to the buffet line it is today.
Politically? Well… it was Barack Obama’s America. Donald Trump hadn’t even been elected yet. There was no constant chaos cycle, no decade of non-stop political adrenaline. If you told someone in 2016 what was coming for the next ten years, they might have said you were living in the Upside Down.
Celebrity culture? Justin Bieber was still with Selena Gomez. Prince William wasn’t even married yet. That’s how far back we’re talking when you think of it…
Music-wise, the world was dancing to “Closer” by The Chainsmokers and “Love Yourself” by Justin Bieber. In theaters, people were lining up at midnight screenings of Rogue One, dressing up, filling auditoriums — back when opening nights still felt like events, not a casual option between Netflix binges.
Even in sports, the snapshot is wild: The Chicago Cubs broke their 108-year curse and won the 2016 World Series. The Denver Broncos, led by a retiring Peyton Manning, won the Super Bowl.
We were just beginning dabbling in the nostalgia that the mid 2000-teens were about to present us.. We were just waiting for a show to come around and really bring it home.
And television? Entire shows began and ended during the Stranger Things era while we were still waiting for the next season in Hawkins. Shows like Cobra Kai, The Umbrella Academy, The Good Place, Westworld, and others completed their entire lifespan before Stranger Things even got to its final chapter.
And now here we are…
When we look back at this time capsule — this Upside Down decade, if you will — it shows just how much everything has changed, and how much we have changed with it.
The question becomes: Did we change the decade, or did the decade change us? Did we create Donald Trump, or did he create us? Maybe historians will be arguing about that long after we’re gone.
What we can say is this:
A full decade of life passed while this show unfolded. And our entire experience the this entire reality has altered.
If your child was six when Stranger Things premiered, you’re now staring down the day they get their driver’s license. If they were Eleven (*like our star*) you are nervously waiting for that first legal drink.
Time moved. Life moved. We just didn’t notice how fast.
We watched these kid actors in a weird, neon-tinted horror-sci-fi show grow up on our screens. And the joke was always, “By the time season five comes out, they’ll be in a retirement home.”
But guess what? So are we. Or at least we’re a lot closer than we were in 2016.
The decade went fast .. and slow all at the same time. When we began 2016 the show tapped into nostalgia .. We were immersed in it. But by COVID and the arguments during the pandemic, the age of nostalgia vanished away.. we were instead enraged on an hourly basis, streaming actively and killing cable, staying at home and killing malls.. and wondering what our collective purpose was in this place and time.
Now, as the final season airs a decade on, nostalgia–at least what it was then–is dead. The show seemingly has tried to stay stuck in a time that moved on… a decade is a long time. Especially THIS decade.. THIS upside down period of time..
So take a breath.
Take a moment and look around. A decade has passed in the blink of an eye.
As we gear up for the final Stranger Things episodes, maybe even seeing it in a movie theater, surrounded by others who’ve taken the same ride, remember this: This was a snapshot of our lives.
And just like Hawkins, we all came out a little older, a little wiser, and definitely changed.
Netflix unveiled the full list of cities and theaters participating in fan screenings of the Season 5 finale of Stranger Things, which has been confirmed to have a runtime of 2 hours and five minutes.
The screenings will take place in over 500 theaters in the U.S. and Canada starting on December 31, 2025 at 5:00pm PT, timed to the finale’s global premiere on Netflix, and run through January 1, 2026. The full list of theaters and RSVP information can be found on Netflix’s website, stfinale.com.
Shawn Levy stated that the last episode belonged on the big screen..
This promises to be a pivotal pop culture moment..
Many theaters are already selling out.. Get tickets now..
Today’s the big day! You can now buy tickets for the finale of Stranger Things in a theater.. I foresee this being a major cultural event..
We’ve got a grand total of two theaters in Pennsylvania running the Season 5 finale… yep, just two that I could find. One out in Warrington and another all the way over in Clarion, near Pittsburgh.
Now, maybe this is some kind of strategic move, spreading out the love to suburban and university towns rather than just the big cities. Or maybe it’s not strategic at all, and it just comes down to which theater chains decided to jump on board. Either way, I’m not complaining because I’ve got my ticket in hand. As an example it appears that there’s only two theaters in Pennsylvania showing it, one being a suburb of Philadelphia and the other being Clarion. Clarion smart because there’s University there maybe that’s the goal. Not sure if it’s strategic or just by accident where the theaters were chosen..
My plan? Well, I’m turning off the entire digital world from 8 p.m. on New Year’s Eve until I’m back from the theater on New Year’s Day. That means no social media, no Twitter, no Facebook, no updating my site.. nothing. I’m going full digital hibernation mode because I do not want a single spoiler before I see that finale on the big screen.
And sure, some folks might say going to a theater for a TV show is a bad idea. They’ll say you’ll be surrounded by loud, obnoxious people. But come on, if you’re heading out to see Stranger Things in a theater, you’re probably just as much of a fan as everyone else in the room. We’ll all be there to laugh, cry, cheer, and maybe even dress up like a Demogorgon or two. It’s going to be a shared experience, and honestly, that’s the fun of it.
So good luck if you’re hunting for tickets. It’s limited, it’s special, and if you do find a seat next to me, just give me a little elbow room and don’t throw popcorn.. unless it’s at a really scary part.
If you need a reminder of just how independent from corporate media Clyde Lewis really is, here it is: Ground Zero has been off the air for several days because its host is in the middle of a serious medical crisis. As a result the host is asking fans to help him.
Producer and longtime friend of the show, Ron Patton, has opened a GoFundMe to basically help Clyde pay for life right now .. bills, living expenses, and everything that comes with a health emergency. Clyde isn’t plugged into some big cushy network money machine. He’s not owned by Premiere Radio or any other conglomerate. Ground Zero is run out of his studio in Portland, where he beams paranormal and parapolitical talk across the airwaves night after night. That’s the definition of independent.
Right now, though, that independence comes with a price. Clyde’s ongoing kidney issues have put him in the hospital. We talked the other day about the video he posted for fans from his hospital bed .. it was emotional, raw, and you could tell he was genuinely scared about what’s happening to his body. It honestly sounded like he may have come very close to meeting the “big bug zapper in the sky” he’s joked about over the years.
If you’re a fan, this might be the moment to kick in a couple bucks if you can.. everyone is strapped for cash. But if Ground Zero has ever kept you company on a late night, made you think, made you mad, made you laugh, or just made your shift go faster over the decades, this is one of those times where even a small donation can help Clyde and his staff keep their heads above water.
The following was posted by Ron Patton on the GoFundMe page:
I’m Ron Patton, executive producer of Ground Zero. Clyde Lewis recently encountered a medical emergency due to kidney failure. He’s been in the hospital for a week and is on dialysis, along with getting physical therapy for his legs (lymphedema).
The good news is that his health is gradually improving, and the hope is that he’ll be back to host the show soon.
Thank you very much for your support through prayers and good thoughts. Although Clyde does have medical insurance, there are miscellaneous bills associated with his medical issue. Our primary income source is subscriptions to Ground Zero Plus, but unfortunately, it has stagnated due to Clyde’s illness. Furthermore, our advertising revenue is on hold until he’s back broadcasting. We do not receive any money from our radio syndication.
We also pay for studio rental and have a staff. Can you please help us out with any donation amount? We realize it’s the holidays, and many people are financially strapped, but please donate any amount you can afford to send.
