Author: Samantha Sanders

I, Tonya is Fourth Wall-Breaking, Genre-Defying Fun

I, Tonya is Fourth Wall-Breaking, Genre-Defying Fun

Posted by | Dec 11, 2017 | , |

Overview: From “redneck” childhood to Olympic near-glory and then on to infamy, this is the story of a life bigger and more cutting than any hack punchline. 2017; Rated R; Clubhouse Pictures;119 minutes. Full 90s: I, Tonya opens with a statement that its story is based on “irony free, wildly contradictory” interviews with the real people involved in the events depicted in the film. What initially reads as qualifying—in other words, be warned you might not be getting the full truth—instead quickly becomes a promise as you’re introduced to the principals. By the time you realize someone (possibly many...

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GHOSTWRITING: AE Staff and Readers Share Their Scary Stories, Part 3

GHOSTWRITING: AE Staff and Readers Share Their Scary Stories, Part 3

Posted by | Oct 27, 2017 |

Welcome back to the final installment of what may become an annual Audiences Everywhere tradition, Ghostwriting. This is the final crop for 2017 but we’ve saved the best haunting experiences for last. Enjoy and we’ll see you here next year. White Feather I was born in 1969, which makes me the right age to be a second wave Beatles fan. By the time I was old enough to ask for records (first record asked for: Gary Numan, The Pleasure Principle, but only because he was a guest on SNL), the individual Beatles were all fairly well along into their...

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GHOSTWRITING: AE Staff and Readers Share Their Scary Stories

GHOSTWRITING: AE Staff and Readers Share Their Scary Stories

Posted by | Oct 20, 2017 | , |

Welcome back to Ghostwriting, Audiences Everywhere’s first community-driven collection of spookiness and assorted scares. Each piece was contributed by an AE writer or reader. Do you have story? DM us at @WeTalkMovies if you’d like to share it. Three Ghosts I have had three distinct experiences. Each took place at my parents’ house while I was in high school. These three moments happened over time in 1992 and 1993 when I was 16. First: Guy at the doorway, fall of 1992. Late afternoon on a school day, before dinner. Guessing it was around 4:00. I was taking a nap in my...

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Blotter | Angels, Demons, Branded Women, and The Eleven

Blotter | Angels, Demons, Branded Women, and The Eleven

Posted by | Oct 19, 2017 |

Hello again. I have a few more links to the latest in true crime for you today and a quick reminder that if you’re more into scares of the supernatural kind, the second in this year’s Ghostwriting stories comes out tomorrow. Real scares from real AE writers and readers.  I think this week’s are the best yet. Let’s start with a few longreads: A classic from Longform: Angels & Demons From the New York Times: Inside a Secretive Group Where Women Are Branded “He said it would be ‘awesome’ to help a friend kill herself. Now he’ll be tried...

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BLOTTER | Halloween Costumes, Therapy, and Dirty John

BLOTTER | Halloween Costumes, Therapy, and Dirty John

Posted by | Oct 17, 2017 |

Tuesday Hi again, pals. I’m here with a short roundup of all things true crime and true crime adjacent (sometimes I feel like there are sea disasters you need to be aware of, it’s no big deal). Let’s first take a closer look at our nasty habit. Being into true crime is good, so says this article that touts the therapeutic qualities of the hobby. But, actually? It’s bad. Or at the very least, it is really screwing over some kids’ Halloweens. Maybe it’s the Mindhunter binge that has me feeling philosophical about the whole thing. Earlier this week,...

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With Mindhunter, David Fincher Gives Us a Thrilling Ten-Hour Movie

With Mindhunter, David Fincher Gives Us a Thrilling Ten-Hour Movie

Posted by | Oct 16, 2017 | , |

Overview: FBI agents Holden Ford (Jonathan Groff) and Bill Tench (Holt McCallany) interview imprisoned serial killers to help ongoing investigations. Netflix; TV-MA; 10 episodes. Worth the Wait: It’s been a long wait for Mindhunter. Since the project was first announced, hopes were high for a David Fincher-directed drama with Charlize Theron attached as an Executive Producer and there were countless of us counting down the days to the show’s October 13th debut on Netflix. Yet fans have nothing on the pair themselves, who first pitched the project back in 2009. But good things take time, and Mindhunter is very...

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GHOSTWRITING: AE Staff and Readers Share Their Scary Stories

GHOSTWRITING: AE Staff and Readers Share Their Scary Stories

Posted by | Oct 16, 2017 | , |

Happy Friday the 13th and welcome to the first edition of Ghostwriting, Audiences Everywhere’s first community-driven collection of spookiness and assorted scares. Each piece was contributed by an AE writer or reader. Do you have story? DM us at @WeTalkMovies if you’d like to share it. Look for the next edition Friday, October 20! One More Song Despite my religious beliefs nowadays, I spent most of my childhood and teenage-hood a staunch atheist. I didn’t believe in ghosts. I didn’t believe in an afterlife. I didn’t believe in a God. Fast-forward a few years and I’m now a believer...

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Blotter: Lost at Sea, a Rehab Surprise, and Justice for Danny

Blotter: Lost at Sea, a Rehab Surprise, and Justice for Danny

Posted by | Oct 12, 2017 | , |

Good morning! Tomorrow, our first-ever collection of AE ghost stories comes out just in time for the somewhat arbitrary Friday the 13th kickoff. I hope you’ll take a look. We’ll have new installments coming out every Friday until Halloween. But you came here for more literal scares. Here are some of the best in true crime links this week: Season 3 of BuzzFeed’s Unsolved Supernatural series debuts on YouTube tomorrow, but you can get a sneak preview today. This season takes on an abandoned and allegedly haunted hospital, Roswell, the London Tombs. Ben Stiller is directing a multi-part series...

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The Mountain Between Us Strays Off Course

The Mountain Between Us Strays Off Course

Posted by | Oct 10, 2017 | , |

Overview: Two strangers are thrown together in a dire life-or-death situation in this romance-meets-survival story. 20th Century Fox; 2017; Rated PG-13; 103 minutes. In Peril but Out of Synch: The night before I went to see The Mountain Between Us, I caught the last fifteen minutes of the 1971 made-for-TV movie Duel on cable. It’s a guilty pleasure movie for me and I’ve seen it, in whole or in part, dozens of times.  In a very literal interpretation, it’s a survival film, a man-against-machine test of wills, slightly cheesy and slightly formulaic. I bring it up because those 15 minutes...

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Blotter: Dirty John, Kim Wall, and a Request for Stories

Blotter: Dirty John, Kim Wall, and a Request for Stories

Posted by | Oct 10, 2017 | , |

Hello! I’ve been busy collecting ghost stories and interviewing people about their experiences with the supernatural for some solid October content for you. I hope you’ll excuse me if the Blotter links are just a bit briefer this week. I hope to pay you back in scares over the coming weeks. This past weekend, Dirty John, a unique joint podcast and print feature from the Los Angeles Times blew up online. I’ve only just finished listening to the first of the five-podcast series and it’s every bit as good as people have said. I’m partial to the audio version...

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BLOTTER: Room 1046 and The Dyatlov Pass Incident

BLOTTER: Room 1046 and The Dyatlov Pass Incident

Posted by | Oct 5, 2017 | , |

For today’s Blotter, I wanted to try something different. Instead of sharing my account of an old case, I want to offer up some tantalizing resources you can either enjoy as standalone creepy stories, or choose to follow them down the rabbit hole. This first case is among the strangest I’ve ever heard, combining elements of mystery, violence, and one of those logic puzzles they used to throw at you in junior high (“But I can’t operate on this boy. He is my son.”). How does a man with no past exist? What made him check into a motel...

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Curb Your Cynicism: Long Shot is the Rare Feel-Good True Crime Doc

Curb Your Cynicism: Long Shot is the Rare Feel-Good True Crime Doc

Posted by | Oct 4, 2017 | , |

Overview: A young man is charged with murder, while his attorney goes to unusual lengths to prove his innocence; Netflix; 2017; 40 minutes. A Guy Goes to a Ballgame: The keystone around which the documentary Long Shot is built is a sad one: the 2003 murder of a 16-year old girl in Los Angeles. It wasn’t long before police zeroed in on the then 24-year old Juan Catalan, a father of two with no significant record (certainly none suggesting he was capable of murder). There was no physical evidence linking him to the crime, but plenty of the circumstantial kind;...

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The Best Screenwriters, So Say Actual Screenwriters

The Best Screenwriters, So Say Actual Screenwriters

Posted by | Oct 3, 2017 | |

Best-of lists are too often cynical, randomly thrown together content churn designed to drum up internet arguments but not much new thought on the subject. Vulture’s list of the 100 Best Screenwriters is different; it’s packed with high-quality analysis and, perhaps most importantly, was generated by working screenwriters who are too often relegated backseat status to directors and actors. But it all begins with the word. So enjoy this list from Vulture, and let us know your favorites!   Featured Image: Columbia...

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BLOTTER | Jeffrey Dahmer, The Hot One, and The “Clown Shot Her”

BLOTTER | Jeffrey Dahmer, The Hot One, and The “Clown Shot Her”

Posted by | Oct 3, 2017 | |

Hello, pals. I’m back again with your roundup of Thursday true crime links. I have plenty, so let’s get started with TV. I’m excited for Waco, an upcoming six-part series about the disastrous 1993 Branch Davidian siege in Waco, Texas. Michael Shannon stars alongside a frighteningly accurate-looking Taylor Kitsch as leader David Koresh. The show will air in January but you can watch a trailer here. If you’re in the UK, you might be familiar with ITV’s Call the Cleaners, a reality show that follows the everyday situations the men of Merseyside House Clearance are presented with as they...

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BLOTTER | The Gatekeeper and The Death of Sherlock Holmes

BLOTTER | The Gatekeeper and The Death of Sherlock Holmes

Posted by | Sep 26, 2017 | |

Hi again! Earlier this week, I began the first in a two-parter looking at some of the best recent crime-related long reads and upcoming books. If you missed it, you can catch up here. I have much more coming for you today, but I’m kicking things off with a few podcast recommendations. This week’s Criminal is a must for true crime readers. “The Gatekeeper” tells the story of Marilyn Stasio, who has been writing her review of crime fiction for the New York Times Book Review for decades. Even if you’re not interested in the art and science of...

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