The hit horror comic series Something is Killing the Children is headed to the big (and small) screen. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Blumhouse is developing a live-action movie and adult animated series based on the comics. There are no details yet on the release timeline or casting.
Something is Killing the Children, created by writer James Tynion IV and illustrator Werther Dell’Edera, follows monster hunter Erica Slaughter in a reality where monsters exist and only children can see them. While it was announced back in 2023 that Netflix would be developing a TV series based on the comic and helmed by Dark creators Baran Bo Odar and Jantje Friese (which could have been awesome, honestly), that plan was scrapped last year, according to THR.
It’s a big week for comics I love getting the TV/film treatment, and I am cautiously hyped (emphasis on cautious); the SIKTC news comes on the heels of the announcement that Charles Burns’ Black Hole is being adapted for a Netflix series by Jane Schoenbrun (I Saw the TV Glow, We’re All Going to the World’s Fair). Fingers crossed that they don’t suck!
Fresh from his incandescent performance of “It Never Went Away” at the 96th Academy Awards, the highly acclaimed, multi-talented Jon Batiste heated things up, then tore them down at NYC’s Beacon Theater on Tuesday, March 19th.
The 5-time Grammy and Oscar-winning musician and former bandleader for “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” is in the middle of his first North American headlining tour to promote his latest album, World Music Radio. Jon Batiste’s “Uneasy Tour: Purifying the Airwaves for the People” kicked off on February 16 in Portland, Oregon, will span the US and Canada, and culminate in Miramar Beach, Florida on April 27.
Batiste aims to create unique experiences even in smaller venues. As he recently told USA Today: “We are designing these performances to be catalysts to bring people together, raise awareness for things I care about, and inspire change in this country, and the world.”
These are fine days for Batiste. Last year, he was nominated in six categories for the 2024 Grammy Awards. His nods included Album of the Year for World Music Radio, Record of the Year for “Worship.” His other nominations include Best Jazz Performance for “Movement 18′ (Heroes).” Best Pop Duo/Group Performance for his appearance on Lana Del Rey’s “Candy Necklace,” and Song of the Year for “Butterfly,” (also nominated for Best American Roots Performance).
Sadly, “Butterfly” didn’t win the Grammy but it sure was a winner with the audience.
Jon Batiste – Butterfly | Deezer Sessions, Pariswww.youtube.com
Batiste transfixed the crowd with this heartwarming song of childhood. Almost a lullaby, it’s incantatory. There’s a repeated set of triplets – Oh-oh-oh, whoa-whoa-whoa, oh-oh-oh . . . that Batiste urged the audience to sing together, saying:
“Everybody put your lights in the air. It represents the soul light.”
All around the Beacon Theatre people’s phone lights flickered as they sang along.
“Light that’s been with you since you were a child – Since the day you were born. You can never-ever lose it. All of us have it.”
“We can win, we can win, we can win, we can win.”
“Now you see I composed this melody, this healing melody . . . And the more you sing it with friends and family and complete strangers – The more the healing properties take effect – So sing with me this lullaby, this butterfly-healing-melody – first composed for my beautiful wife, Suleika.”
And, as the audience continued singing, Batiste was joined onstage at the Beacon Theatre by Suleika Jaouad, the author of the New York Times Best Seller Between Two Kingdoms – a chronicle of survivorship (Penguin Random House 2021).
Diagnosed with a rare form of acute myeloid leukemia in 2011, Jaouad was given only a 35% chance of surviving. She survived and has written and spoken extensively about these medical challenges. At the end of 2021, Jaouad announced the recurrence of her cancer.
Batiste and Jaouad have been a couple for a decade, but they officially tied the knot in February of 2022 a day before she underwent a second bone marrow transplant.
In the recent Netflix documentary American Symphony, a doctor advises Jaouad that although she’s technically in remission, chemotherapy might have to continue for the rest of her life.
American Symphony | Official Trailer | Netflixwww.youtube.com
As the audience sang to the couple, showering them with love, There were tears, laughter, joy, and smiles. This was no sentimental wallowing – Batiste achieves what he’s set out to do: encouraging people to seek peace and happiness.
Batiste is worth the attention he’s receiving – as anyone who saw him at the Beacon last night will attest. For the better part of the two-and-a-half-hour show, Batiste was playing and singing – dancing wild and free. Over the course of the evening, he demonstrated his mastery of the piano, melodica, drums, synth, and more.
Truth to tell, when you take an outstanding composer, voice, band, and a packed-out, loving audience then meld it with Batiste’s positive message about the power of humankind to effect change, you leave the venue with the feeling you can change the world.
And who knows? Maybe you can.
Want to catch Jon Batiste in the act? The singer will make stops in Seattle, Denver, Chicago, Nashville, Atlanta, Toronto, New Haven, New York, Dallas, and more, on the 23-date run of shows.
Head to Ticketmaster, but be quick about it – many shows are sold out!
Let me just start by saying that I actually hate romance, and I don’t discriminate. I hate romance film, books, and television shows: the tacky plot, the cringe writing, the insufferable characters. But, to be transparent, I watch every single teeny-bopper love triangle show on the market.
I loved to hate The Summer I Turned Pretty, the adaptation of Jenny Han’s novel starring Lola Tung, Gavin Casalegno, and Christopher Briney in which Belly (Tung) falls in love with not one, but two brothers. It took over the world, having 30 year old women debating the question: Team Conrad or Team Jeremiah?
The “stuck between two brothers” trope is ever-popular and goes hand-in-hand with the classic Love Triangle. Think The Vampire Diaries, where Elena can’t decide who’s really right for her: Stefan or Damon. Or Twilight’s ever-present battle of Team Edward vs. Team Jacob. So when I hear that Netflix has released their dupe of The Summer I Turned Pretty, I figured it would be the same, deliciously terrible media that we all love to consume…
Except it’s inherently terrible. Originally a Wattpad novel by Ali Novak, My Life With The Walter Boysfollows recent orphan Jackie Howard (Nikki Rodriguez) as she’s forced to move from Manhattan to Silver Falls, Colorado to live with her mom’s best friend (and her plethora of 10 sons) on a ranch.
Immediately, she’s torn between two boys: Cole, ex-football player who had a full ride to Alabama before he was injured (more on this later), and book nerd Alex, who is shy, soft-spoken, and making a play at Jackie’s heart. It has all the makings of the worst Hallmark film you’ve seen: overworked Manhattan socialite gets lost in small town with lumberjack that teaches her the meaning of Christmas. Except the men of the show are laughable at best.
Starting with Cole (Noah LaLonde), who absolutely cannot let anyone enjoy a football game without having a tantrum that he can’t play. Seriously, the guy had a breakdown when he learned someone else was wearing his number. So obviously, the clear lack of therapy and emotional comprehension is already a red flag…and to make matters worse he’s still in high school, so he just doesn’t want to play football if you ask me.
Jackie and Cole
Netflix
And then there’s Alex (Ashby Gentry). Hopeless, hopeless Alex. The Jeremiah of the brotherly duo. Poor Alex likes to read in his free time and is clearly the safer option for recently traumatized Jackie Howard. I have minimal problems with Alex in the same way I hate every character in this show, but his behavior offends me the least.
The show begs the question: what would happen if you combine The Vampire Diaries, The Fosters, The Summer I Turned Pretty…and gave it no plot with bad writing? And don’t you dare blame it on the Wattpad of it all…how could you when it gave us cinematic masterpieces like After?!
What is normally tolerable about these shows is that they are so simple, and the dialogue is so outrageous, that you physically can’t stop watching these characters ruin their lives. However, all I could think about while watching My Life With The Walter Boysis that every single character needs the heaviest of in-patient therapy.
Nevertheless, like all incessant annoyances in my life, My Life With The Walter Boys has been renewed for second season. And I guess I’ll have to watch.
When Hwang Dong-hyuk’s Squid Game debuted on Netflix in 2021, it took the world by storm, literally. The story follows 456 financially struggling competitors – especially gambling addict Seong Gi-hun – who use strategy and luck to compete in common South Korean children’s games for 456 billion won 45.6 (that’s $38.2 million USD). The twist? If you fail a game, you die, and only one person can win.
Squid Game quickly became the platform’s most-watched series – nominated for 14 Primetime Emmys. And actors O-Yeong Su, Lee Jung-Jae, and HoYeon Jung received SAG and Golden Globe awards for their performances. Despite being a fully-subtitled show, it had such a cultural impact that Mr. Beast created his own live Squid Games (sans death)…and then, Netflix of course couldn’t resist releasing Squid Game: The Challenge.
456 contestants come together to compete for $4.56 million reward in iconic challenges like Red Light-Green Light, carving a shape out of dalgona (honeycomb candy) without cracking it, marbles, and jumping over the Glass Bridge. It’s the largest cash prize in gameshow history, enough to make people do the unthinkable. And while I wasn’t sold at first, the controversy surrounding the show is enough to get me to tune in.
Controversy Behind Squid Game: The Challenge
Now that players have been eliminated from the games, we’re getting the bigger picture of what went on during production. Contestants reported eating under 1,000 calories per day, which makes sense considering the one meal we saw them eat was a leftover-sized container of rice and egg. Temperatures were so cold that one contestant suffered from hypothermia, while others were using lubricated condoms in lieu of chapstick.
The iconic green tracksuit uniforms (which must be returned to producers after elimination) were not enough to keep the competitors warm, especially during Red Light-Green Light…where they filmed over nine hours, staying frozen in place for up to 45 minutes at a time. Time goes much quicker when you watch, which is why one contestant caught fire for not being able to hold a squat (now we know she is a modern-day warrior.)
The editing of the show itself has caused its own issues. And thanks to social media, contestants are sharing their own version of Squid Game: The Challenge. While a series villain like Ashley may have appeared selfish for refusing to step forward during Glass Bridge for Trey, reports have indicated that Trey blindly jumped tiles on his own accord.
It’s a dystopian show – inherently creepy in its message that people will quash any natural, nurturing instincts just to achieve financial freedom. You slowly watch these people go insane, building mistrust amongst themselves and against the producers, the all-knowing Big Brother voice, and eerily always-in-character guards. And now that we’re taking a peek into what it’s like inside the Games, you can understand how someone would lose their mind.
I can confirm that this gameshow is the ultimate entertainment for viewers, and the controversy behind the conditions only fuel the fire. This show has everything: betrayal, likable characters, despicable characters, and moments that will make you hold your breath and scream at your television like it’s the Super Bowl.
Who Will Win Squid Game: The Challenge?
It’s the season finale of the games tonight, December 6, when we find out which of the three finalists – Player 287, Mai; Player 451, Phill; or Player 16, Sam – will win the coveted cash prize.
It’s also been reported that the show has been renewed for a second season, so you know we’ll be tuning in.
