Movies, music, and books we're into this week

I never got around to watching United 93 or Flight 93, but the former was on the dashboard of Amazon Prime and we were looking for something to watch, and reviews were good.While it was a great recreation of the tragic events that occurred 17 years ago, later sitting through Flight 93 took it to a higher level and was a far better representation, in my opinion. If you haven't seen the events unfold, I recommend watching Flight 93 at some point.

My Grandad first introduced me to The Princess Bride when I was young, and I've not stopped loving it into adulthood. The movie starts with a young Fred Savage home sick from school, only to have with own Grandpa show up with a book to read.The movie cuts to live action of the book, and from there it just gets weird. Sword-fighting, pirates, a real-life giant, treachery, trickery, and above all, love, play a big part in this movie from director Rob Reiner. I don't know how many quotes I still pull from The Princess Bride, delivered originally by actors like Cary Elwes, Robin Wright Penn, Wallace Shawn, Andre the Giant, Christopher Guest, and on and on.If you're in the mood for an '80s movie, definitely consider watching this one.

I'll just come right out and say it: Hereditary is one of the best damn horror flicks I've seen in years.Hereditary chronicles the story of a deeply troubled family with a dark, mysterious secret. Picking up directly after the death of the secretive family matriarch, extremely strange things begin occurring among members of the Leigh family. Part psychological thriller, part supernatural horror, the movie takes several unexpected twists and turns as it becomes clear just why this family in particular is plagued with nothing but neverending tragedy.I don't want to say much more, as it could spoil some of the surprises Hereditary has in store for fresh viewers. I'll just say this: prepare to gasp (and maybe scream a some obscenities) several times over the course of the film's two-hour runtime.

The premise of 'Tag' is a silly one: A group of adult friends play an intense game of tag (as in, 'tag, you're it') every May, for the entire month, in an effort to keep them together as they get older and inevitably grow apart. And perhaps the strangest thing about this light comedy is that it's apparently based on a true story.The best part of the movie is the cast, which includes a ton of well-known actors, such as Ed Helms, Rashida Jones, Jeremy Renner, Isla Fisher and Jon Hamm.This movie isn't going to win any awards. But it's really quite funny. And the level of seriousness the group treats the game with rivals a top-secret military mission or something. It's a light, funny watch that's perfect for a late-summer weekend.

What do you need to keep you company when stuck in traffic on a four-hour journey, which took a total of seven hours? Some music!I just had to tune into some classic stations and playlists, with Pure 80s being one of them, packing in all the greatest hits from back in the day.

Every once in awhile I get into a reggae mood, and this time it was kicked off by the song "Natty Dread" from Israel Vibration. The album on which it rests, Stamina, is good all the way through.Israel Vibration hails from Kingston, Jamaica, and is currently made up of Lascelle "Wiss" Bulgin and Cecil "Skeleton" Spence (a third member, Albert Craig, left in the late '90s). They've been going strong since the '70s, and I'm happy to reach back into their discography when the reggae mood hits me again.

These past weeks I've been reading the World of Warcraft Chronicle books, which summarise the events from various Warcraft games, books, comics, and other media.With World of Warcraft's latest expansion, Battle for Azeroth, Blizzard has placed an increasingly sharp focus on the game's lore and characters. Having the full rundown of the universe's literally tens of thousands of year's worth of lore is not only helpful while playing, but simply interesting. The books are full of great writing, amazing art work, and intriguing plot points, giving a great overview of one of the most fully-realized virtual universes in gaming history.There are currently three books, costing $25 each, available both on hardcover and Amazon Kindle.

Everybody loves a good demon-possession story, right? Well … I do. And this book is one.It's about a teenage girl in Massachusetts who may or may not be possessed by a demon, or The Devil—but even if she's not possessed, she's unquestionably mentally ill. Her parents and her younger sister try everything to help, but nothing works. And the father has been out of work for a long time, so their financial options are few. When a local TV producer offers to pay them big bucks to film their story, and the subsequent exorcism aimed at 'saving' the afflicted teen, for a reality TV show, they jump at the opportunity. And that proves to be a very bad idea … for the family, at least.It's a genuinely creepy book that's packed with throwbacks to many classic horror movies and stories, including, of course, 'The Exorcist' but also 'The Evil Dead' films and even HP Lovecraft's Cthulhu mythology.