Not at all what I expected. <p><strong>The Background</strong>: Heidi Venable is a Content Producer for CinemaBlend. She started freelancing for the site in 2020 and officially came on board in 2021. Her job entails writing news stories and TV reactions from some of her favorite prime-time shows like Grey's Anatomy and The Bachelor. She graduated from Louisiana Tech University with a degree in Journalism and worked in the newspaper industry for almost two decades in multiple roles including Sports Editor, Page Designer and Online Editor.</p> <p><br></p> <p><strong>What She's Into</strong>: Heidi grew up in the 1990s, and her tastes strongly reflect that. She can (and does) quote Friends constantly, enjoys a good West Wing binge, thinks Can't Hardly Wait was the most influential movie of her life and finds solace in 311 concerts. On Sundays during football season, she can be found cheering on the New Orleans Saints with her husband and two daughters. Who Dat! She loves to read but usually settles for a pop culture podcast, and thinks the best weekends are spent cooking and playing cards with friends and family, preferably with some UFC fights or other sporting event on TV.</p> <p><br></p> <p><strong>What She's Excited About Right Now</strong>: Football season, Pumpkin Spice Lattes and everything related to fall and cooler weather. The Game of Roses podcast and all things The Bachelor, and new episodes of Grey's Anatomy, Love Is Blind, The Voice, OMITB and more.&nbsp;</p>

There was no silver lining or playbook in this situation. <p><strong>The Background:</strong> Jessica Rawden is Managing Editor at CinemaBlend. She’s been kicking out news stories at CinemaBlend since 2007 and joined the full-time staff in 2014. She oversees news content, hiring and training for the site, and her areas of expertise include theme parks, rom-coms, Hallmark (particularly Christmas movie season), reality TV, celebrity interviews and primetime. She loves a good animated movie.&nbsp;</p> <p><br></p> <p>Jessica has a Masters in Library Science degree from Indiana University, and used to be found behind a reference desk most definitely not shushing people. She now uses those skills in researching and tracking down information in very different ways.&nbsp;</p> <p><br></p> <p><strong>What She’s Into</strong>: A former soccer player and recent tennis addict, Jessica also enjoys running, both of the distance and sprint variety. When not at the movie theater or in a theme park, her other free time is spent in book clubs, hiking, drinking wine, binge-watching, keeping tabs on celebrity fashion and riding rollercoasters. Has a serious Hallmark habit and an even bigger record-buying habit. Will bake for compliments.&nbsp;</p> <p><br></p> <p><strong>What She’s Excited About Right Now</strong>: &nbsp;Hallmark Christmas movie season. Wearing socks to bed. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>

Did anyone else notice this? <p><strong>The Background</strong>: Erik Swann is a Senior Content Producer at CinemaBlend. He began working with the publication in 2020 when he was hired as Weekend Editor. Today, he continues to write, edit and handle social media responsibilities over the weekend. On weekdays, he also writes TV and movie-related news and helps out with editing and social media as needed. He graduated from the University of Maryland, where he received a degree in Broadcast Journalism. After shifting into multi-platform journalism, he started working as a freelance writer and editor before joining CB. During his time with the site, he's been able to cover some excellent TV shows and films and interview some wonderful stars.</p> <p><br></p> <p><strong>What He's Into</strong>: Erik is a superhero fan, and his love for comic books began after he first watched Batman: The Animated Series as a child. He also enjoys comedies, action/adventure flicks, dramas and science fiction. He has a love for sports as well, particularly professional basketball. Though he's a Maryland/Washington D.C. native, he roots for the Boston Celtics. Some of his all-time favorite TV shows are BTAS, Breaking Bad, Sanford and Son, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Better Call Saul and Atlanta. And when it comes to movies, Beverly Hills Cop, A Raisin in the Sun, Toy Story, Iron Man, Star Wars, and Wall Street are among his favorites. He also enjoys a good pizza (preferably with pepperoni and mushrooms) while he's watching entertaining films and TV series.</p> <p><br></p> <p><strong>What He's Excited About Right Now</strong>: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem, Reservation Dogs Season 3, Ahsoka, Loki Season 2, Invincible Season 2, Next Goal Wins and Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget.</p>

Same, sister. Same. <p><strong>The Background</strong>: Rich Knight is a content producer for CinemaBlend who has been off and on writing for the website since 2010. He used to cover video games and DVDs (Remember those?), but now mostly writes about whatever he’s interested in at the moment. He graduated from Rutgers University (Go, R.U.!) and has written for a number of publications, including Complex Magazine, XXL, Weightwatchers, etc. But he considers CinemaBlend his favorite website to write for, mostly because it’s so much fun. And also because they let him write about Godzilla. When he’s not writing for CB, he’s a novelist and a teacher.&nbsp;</p> <p><br></p> <p><strong>What They're Into</strong>: Rich loves old movies, video games, and books. Lots and lots of books. His favorite movies of all time are Apocalypse Now, Big Trouble in Little China, and Adaptation, as well as so-bad-they're-good movies like Troll 2, Batman &amp; Robin, and Freddy Got Fingered. Bring on the awful! He’s also really big into anime, AEW, The Legend of Korra, and pretty much anything connected to the Breaking Bad universe. He’s a Nintendo fanboy for life, loves Deep Dish Pizza, and his Marvel vs. Capcom 2 team is Guile, Strider, and Wolverine. Come get some.&nbsp;</p> <p><br></p> <p><strong>What They're Excited About Right Now</strong>: Going through John Carpenter’s entire filmography, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, and the drama that is the AEW locker room.&nbsp;</p>

The theatrical experience brought it to life even more. <p><strong>The Background: </strong>Jerrica Tisdale is a freelance writer at Cinemablend. She joined the team as a freelancer in 2019. She began freelance writing in 2012 (celebrating a big 10-year milestone in 2022). Over the last decade-plus, Jerrica has written for many different publications on pop culture topics, including TellTaleTV, Screenrant, Gossip and Gab, Big Brother Access, The List, Starpulse, and other entertainment sites. She's also done ghostwriting and copywriting for companies such as Groupon and Staples. If it's related to writing, Jerrica has probably done it at some point. However, her passion has always been for pop culture and entertainment topics. &nbsp;She grew up with a deep-rooted passion for film and television. &nbsp;One day, she'll finally be brave enough to write a script or ten thousand scripts. Jerrica considers her true talent to be researching, or as she likes to call it internet detective work.&nbsp;</p> <p><br></p> <p><strong>What She's Into: </strong>Her favorite shows include Parks and Rec, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Big Brother, Veronica Mars, Fleabag, Barry, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, and British panel shows. Her favorite movies include Whiplash, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Ruby Sparks, Clueless, What We Do In The Shadows, Atonement, and most movies by David Fincher. Jerrica is also a major book nerd. She has a problem with buying too many books that she may never be able to read all of them, but she will surely try. Her favorite books include Dark Matter by Blake Crouch, Perfect Sound Whatever by James Acaster, anything by Oscar Wilde, Me Before You by Jojo Moyes, All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doer, Noughts and Crosses by Malorie Blackman, and anything by Khaled Hosseini, James Baldwin, Thomas Hardy, and Edgar Allen Poe. Jerrica is always searching for her next favorite but finds that to be a very hard search, so when she finds something she truly loves, she will never stop talking about it. You'll either hate that or love that about her.</p> <p><br></p> <p><strong>What She's Excited About Right Now: </strong>Jerrica is excited that it's fall movie season, aka Oscar bait season. She plans to invest in a discount movie pass and see as many potential Oscar winners as possible. She's also going to attend virtual (and possibly in-person) screenings at the Chicago International Film Festival this October. Jerrica is also excited to read as many scary or classic novels throughout the month of October. It is spooky season.&nbsp;</p> <p><br></p> <p><br></p>

Finally! <p><strong>The Background</strong>: Sarah El-Mahmoud has been with CinemaBlend since 2018, starting as a freelancer shortly after graduating from Cal State Fullerton with a degree in Journalism. In college, she was the Managing Editor of the award-winning college paper, The Daily Titan where she specialized in writing/editing long-form features, profiles and arts &amp; entertainment coverage, including her first run-in with movie reporting, with a phone interview with Guillermo del Toro for Best Picture winner, The Shape of Water.</p> <p><br></p> <p><strong>What She's Into</strong>: Sarah is CinemaBlend's resident YA enthusiast, often bringing her lifetime love of books and the stories behind their often contentious adaptations to the site. Deeply into when music and movies intersect, from knowing the hype musical tracks of Mamma Mia!, beautiful scores of Michael Giacchino and yes, the absolute banger Twilight soundtrack way too well. She is also passionate about highlighting and interviewing voices within the industry to help open the door for Hollywood to better represent the world through movies and television. Horror, she really loves horror movies. The world of animation as well... OK don't make her pick one genre.&nbsp;</p> <p><br></p> <p><strong>What She's Excited About Right Now</strong>: The continued resurgence of horror and musicals. The next Hunger Games movie, Mike Flanagan's upcoming shows, the Wicked movies and the final Spider-Verse animated film.&nbsp;</p>

I haven’t, but now’s the time! https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/gqJyioXTNQbSAisiNzZfAG.jpeg

So many feelings! https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/GmVxZUu56AEQ4DzUygJ4Vm.png

This deal is amaze! https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/GmVxZUu56AEQ4DzUygJ4Vm.png

This movie is SILLY AF. https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/QyFDQjurXJr5xt5g6DznEN.png

I'd watch this. https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/QyFDQjurXJr5xt5g6DznEN.png

We see what you're doing, Mr. Jackman. https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/XbAXNYeMUxUvrHFt3Cg5KE.jpeg

I'm with him. https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/QyFDQjurXJr5xt5g6DznEN.png

She told me I shouldn't watch it...and then I did.

Honestly, I get it.

I'm so glad this isn't a crazy conspiracy theory.

On and off screen, this legendary movie went through some stuff!

Things weren't as straightforward as I thought they would be.

I can't believe this flew right over my head.

Never a bridesmaid, always The Bride.