She's not a regular 40-year-old. She's a cool 40-year-old. <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>
Fans are making all kinds of snap judgments, but what about James Gunn's co-chair? <p><strong>The Background</strong>: Nick Venable is an Assistant Managing Editor, and the TV Editor. His humble origin story with CinemaBlend began all the way back in the pre-streaming era, circa 2009, as a freelancing DVD reviewer and TV recapper. After rising up through the ranks covering Movies, Nick leapfrogged over to the small screen to cover more and more television news and interviews, eventually taking over the section for the current era. Born in Louisiana and currently living in Texas — Who Dat Nation over America’s Team all day, all night — Nick spent several years in the hospitality industry, and also worked as a 911 operator. And if you ever happened to hear his music or read his comics/short stories, you have his sympathy. His love for his wife and daughters is almost equaled by his love of gasp-for-breath laughter and gasp-for-breath horror. A lifetime spent in the vicinity of a television screen led to his current dream job, as well as his knowledge of too many TV themes and ad jingles.</p> <p><br></p> <p><strong>What He's Into</strong>: Nick is one of those people who won’t necessarily insert a Monty Python reference into every conversation, but is still mentally equipped to do so. Beyond such appreciation for surreal UK comedy, Nick also indulges in as much horror splendor as possible, from Stephen King novels to James Tynion IV comics to Freddy Krueger one-liners to all things Mike Flanagan. Throw in a dash of NFL, some 311 and Weird Al, fried crawfish poboys, bourbon, ‘90s-era pro wrestling, crossword puzzles and mystery-driven video games, and baby, you got a stew going. (Nick will insert an Arrested Development reference into every conversation, if possible.)</p> <p><br></p> <p><strong>What He's Excited About</strong>: Anything Jeff Lemire, Tom King and W. Maxwell Prince think of, ever. More of Kelly Reilly’s deliriously fierce performances on Yellowstone. HBO’s The Last of Us. Clone High’s return. Colin Farrell’s Penguin being in every movie/TV show/breakfast cereal.</p>
What can he say, except... <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>
This Disneyland dad energy is pretty hard to beat. https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/XbAXNYeMUxUvrHFt3Cg5KE.jpeg
It's hard to believe it's been five years. https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/gNi5ipvqyWREFVbs7Ehzx9.png
Reviews don't always speak for everyone. https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/w7HQ9MvRSDd7diNpTmruW9.png
DC fans are sounding off. https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/QyFDQjurXJr5xt5g6DznEN.png
Who can blame him? https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/w7HQ9MvRSDd7diNpTmruW9.png