TV Watchlist: Chris Evans and Emily Blunt Are Pain Hustlers, 'Our Flag Means Death' Ends

Plus "Five Nights at Freddy's" spooks Peacock and Bong Joon-ho gets his own Netflix doc Week of October 21 – 27 With the last full week before Halloween, there is plenty of spooky stuff to offer – a documentary about one of the most famous hauntings of all time (“The Enfield Poltergeist”); a new season of “American Horror Stories;” a sinister sequel to “Veronica” (“Sister Death”); and an adaptation of one of the most popular spooky video games in recent memory (“Five Nights at Freddy’s”). But if you’re not one for scary programming, there’s plenty of spook-free offerings too, like a new Chris Evans/Emily Blunt drama (“Pain Hustlers”) and documentaries on Mr. Chow (“aka Mr. Chow”), Bong Joon-ho (“Yellow Door”) and the Hare Krishnas (“Krishnas: Gurus. Karma. Murder.”). No matter how brave you are, there’s something for you! On with the television! The Enfield Poltergeist Friday, October 27, Apple TV+ Source: Apple TV+ One of the most famous documented hauntings, “The Enfield Poltergeist” takes its name from a real-life occurrence that happened in a working-class neighborhood in North London in 1977. Since then, the voracity of the accounts have been endlessly debated and puzzled over, with various pseudo-scientific groups squabbling about what actually happened. (Even at the time that it was happening.) American ghost hunters Ed and Lorraine Warren were even pulled into the mystery; they visited the house in 1978 and said it was actually haunted. (These events formed the basis for James Wan’s blockbuster “The Conjuring 2.”) But this new documentary takes a unique and, quite frankly, horrifying approach – using actual recordings from the haunting, they have actors portraying various figures, meaning you are watching a reproduction but listening to what really occurred. It is genuinely unnerving. Of course these reenactments are interspersed with talking head interviews, including from some of the people who were there during the haunting. Ultimately, the documentary leaves it up to the viewer to decide if the Enfield poltergeist was real or imaginary; what sensation it really ends up delivering is one of, at the end, tragedy. This was a struggling family who, for whatever reason, had their lives turned upside down and heartbreakingly altered forever. Ghosts were the least of their worries. [[TRAILER](] Our Flag Means Death Thursday, October 26, Max Source: Max Is it really true? Have we hoisted the white sail of defeat already? Sadly, yes, “Our Flag Means Death’s” shorter second season (with eight episodes compared to the inaugural season’s ten episodes) is already coming to a close. And with no word yet on whether the show will be renewed for a third season, this very well could be the end for Stede Bonnet (Rhys Darby), Blackbeard (Taika Waititi) and the rest of our pirate pals. But let us not weep if the show is, indeed, over, let us celebrate that it existed at all – a heady mixture of workplace comedy, (loose) historical recreation and gay romance, David Jenkins’ show was fearless and visually intricate. Pray that it returns. [[TRAILER](] Pain Hustlers Friday, October 27, Netflix Source: Netflix David Yates, who directed several of the latter “Harry Potter” movies and the “Fantastic Beasts” spin-offs as well, trades wands for over-the-counter drugs in “Pain Hustlers.” Instead of a broader look at the opioid epidemic, “Pain Hustlers” (based on the New York Times article and book by Evan Hughes) follows a pair of unscrupulous pharmaceutical reps, played by Emily Blunt and Chris Evans. They’re both, at least initially, just trying to make a living but the cost of their aggressive salesmanship winds up costing people their lives. Told in a kind of “Wolf of Wall Street” style, Yates gives it his all, as do Blunt and Evans, who both fearlessly go to some pretty ugly places. (There are also great supporting roles from Catherine O’Hara as Blunt’s mom and a particularly sleazy Andy Garcia as the head of the pharmaceutical company.) If you want to get down to the nitty gritty and understand how the pills wound up in peoples’ hands, “Pain Hustlers” will do the job. It’s a tragedy, ultimately, but one told with style and panache. [[INTERVIEW](] Yellow Door: ‘90s Lo-Fi Film Club Friday, October 27, Netflix Source: Netflix Ever wanted to know where Bong Joon-ho, the trailblazing South Korean filmmaker whose “Parasite” won both the Palme d’Or and the Best Picture Oscar, began? Well, as it turns out he was part of a club in South Korea that would watch movies and occasionally even make them. According to Netflix’s official synopsis: “The 1990s witnessed an explosion of film clubs on Korean campuses, providing young students with a creative outlet and a platform to study the art of cinema. Yellow Door Film Club was one of them. Back in 1993, a fresh-faced Bong was an integral part of this gathering of film aficionados, and he meticulously managed the club’s video library of cinematic masterpieces from around the world.” A documentary about an all-time filmmaker’s beginnings as a young nerd? Sounds like a winner! [[TRAILER](] Okja Netflix Source: Netflix Since Netflix is putting out a documentary on the early days of filmmaker Bong Joon-ho, why not follow it up with the movie that he made for the streaming service? “Okja” centers around a young girl (Ahn Seo-hyun) and her relationship to Okja, a genetically engineered super-pig created by an evil corporation (run by Tilda Swinton). When the corporation wants Okja back, it begins a wild journey from the farmlands of Korea to the sprawling metropolis of New York City. Years before “Parasite” made Bong one of the most in-demand filmmakers in the world, “Okja” cemented him as one of the most exciting. Gleefully mixing tones and genres, with a game cast of actors (Jake Gyllenhaal plays an unhinged TV personality; Paul Dano, Steven Yeun and Lily Collins are animal rights activists; Giancarlo Esposito is a slick corporate operative) and some of the most convincing creature effects of all time. If you’ve never seen “Okja,” it’s an absolute blast. [[WATCH](] Source: Universal “AKA Mr. Chow” Sunday, October 22 at 9 p.m., HBO This new HBO documentary charts the life of Michael Chow, who forged a new identity as Mr. Chow, made famous by his eponymous upscale Chinese restaurants in Los Angeles, Las Vegas, New York, London and Miami. (Clint Eastwood attended the opening of the Beverly Hills location.) But after decades of being a successful restauranteur and businessman, he has turned to a new passion – painting. He has also rebranded himself once again. Goodbye Mr. Chow. Hello artist M. [[TRAILER](] “Krishnas: Gurus. Karma. Murder.” Tuesday, October 24, Peacock This is how Peacock is summing up the new documentary series, which is better than we ever could: “When an Indian Swami gives a lost generation of Americans a new message of love, the Hare Krishna religion is born. But when the Swami dies without finishing his mission, an American Guru tries to seize control of the movement, leading to accusations of racketeering and murder, and the investigations by a West Virginia Sheriff’s Detective, the LAPD and the FBI. Krishnas: Gurus. Karma. Murder. gives a glimpse into the epic American tale about charismatic personalities that offer divine light, and Krishna devotees who discover their movement has been corrupted by greed, lust for power and vengeance.” We’re in! [[TRAILER](] “American Horror Stories” Thursday, October 26, Hulu Just as the main “American Horror Story” season was cut short, so too is the new season of “American Horror Stories,” the anthology spin-off series where each episode is a completely new story with a completely different cast. These four stories seem, well, horrifying, with one episode involving a tapeworm that people are using to stay thin. (Ozempic has got nothing on an actual parasite!) The best part? All four episodes stream Oct. 26, so you can stay up late and freak yourself out. [[TRAILER](] “Five Nights at Freddy’s” Friday, October 27, Peacock Continuing 2023’s streak of high-quality video game adaptations (including “The Super Mario Bros. Movie,” “The Last of Us,” “Twisted Metal”) continues with “Five Nights at Freddy’s,” a movie that asks the age-old question: What if the Chuck E. Cheese or Showbiz Pizza was haunted by the spirit of dead children? Part of the fun of the movie is playing up the inherent creepiness of those jittery audio-animatronics that would play music while sugar-fueled kids play Skee-Ball. And this is especially true since Jim Henson’s Creature Shop, responsible for the characters in “The Dark Crystal” and the first “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” (truly the height of Chuck E. Cheese’s) came up with the animatronic creatures for this movie. And there is a pretty involving mystery at its heart, too, as a beleaguered security guard (Josh Hutcherson) works to uncover the truth behind a series of disappearances somehow connected to Freddy Fazbear's Pizza, the spooky decrepit pizza joint. Plus, this is one of those PG-13 horror movies that still has enough edge to delight every nightmare-seeker in your family. [[TRAILER](] “Sister Death” Friday, October 27, Netflix 2017’s “Veronica” is one of the best (and indeed scariest) horror movies in recent memory. Supposedly based on a true story of a young woman who, in the early 1990s, died following her use of a Ouija board. It was really, really terrifying. And thankfully director Paco Plaza is back for more. “Sister Death” is a prequel to “Veronica,” this time focused on a young nun (Aria Bedmar) who exhibits some very supernatural traits in the aftermath of the Spanish Civil War. Honestly, how great does that sound? Plaza is one of the world’s most creative and exciting genre filmmakers (he also oversaw the “REC” series). Any new movie from Plaza is an event but a spin-off of arguably his very best movie is cause for celebration. This one will undoubtedly scare the pants off of you. [[TRAILER](] 2034 Armacost Ave. | Los Angeles, CA 90025 [Unsubscribe](