Welcome to Spooky TV and Movie Season.
In case you’ve been under a rock or have been lost in the pandemic “time doesn’t matter” vortex, let me remind you that it’s officially October. That traditionally means 3 things, 1) the Astros are about to be in the playoffs stunting on bitches 2) it’s SPOOKY SEASON and 3) Fall fashion Instagram is BACK. So if you read this website that means your social media feed is going to alternate between Astros fans tweeting “Hoes Mad”, videos of random people wearing Michael Myers masks to do every day activities, and some people (not me, what are you talking about? I would NEVER) thirsting over the pumpkin spice latte sippers in their cozy sweaters and denim jackets frolicking through orange and brown forests. It’s the most wonderful time of the year.
Oh yeah also some scary movies and plenty of brand new tv shows come out. That’s what I was supposed to be talking about.
Welcome to part 1 of the 2nd edition of the monthly Movie/TV roundup. I look up what’s coming out in theaters and on the major streaming services in October so you don’t have to. Yes, I said part 1. I don’t wanna be here all day and there’s actually a ton of theatrical releases worth talking about this month. In the September edition of this roundup there was an MCU movie coming out and then a bunch of unexciting titles that ended up being pretty mediocre. This month doesn’t have anything as big as Shang-Chi, but there’s a lot more depth overall. Plus I’ve got agendas that need to agend. So, I’m only doing theatrical movie releases in this post, I’ll get to streaming releases and the new lineup of ABC/CBS/NBC fall tv shows in part 2 later this week.
To hear reviews and conversations about some of these movies be sure to subscribe to the One Take Podcast wherever you get your podcasts and let us know on Twitter if there’s anything you want to hear us review this month! We’re going to talk about the uber popular Netflix show Squid Game in the next episode, and we’ll do the new Bond film after that, but we’re a podcast of the people so if you’ve got requests you can hit us up @1TakePod. Anyway,
Let’s get spooky. I linked the trailers for all the films.
The Most Important Movie of the Month
Halloween Kills
All my SPOOKY SEASON enthusiasts already know that the latest Halloween movie, Halloween Kills, comes out in theaters October 15th. Unless the pandemic has killed the hype for James Bond and HBO Max really does suppress Dune’s box office, Halloween Kills probably won’t be the most successful movie of the month. But it’s October and Micaél Myers is BACK in a sequel to the very successful Halloween reboot from 2018. And Jamie Lee Curtis still out here trying to get the whole town to put the paws on him before he puts the paws on them. What else do I need to say? Y’all know what time it is.
Now on to the other interesting things coming out this month, in chronological order.
October 1st
Venom: Let There Be Carnage
A sequel to the bad but surprisingly fun Tom Hardy Venom movie from 2018. This time around, as teased in the post credits, Woody Harrelson joins as the main villain Carnage. I’ve actually already seen this one and it’s awful. The first one felt like it was the kind of bad that is fun on accident. This movie tried to do that on purpose and is worse off for it. The dialogue is painfully predictable and cringeworthy. The character motivations are poorly explained so they make 0 sense and the story is just a half-hearted exercise to get the villain to say, literally verbatim, “LET THERE BE CARNAGE” and then to fight Venom.
Go see it with as many of your friends as you can pull together, y’all will have a blast.
The Addams Family 2
As 1 of 17 adults without children who has seen the first animated Addams Family movie from 2019, I thought it was fine. Inoffensive, but entirely forgettable. The sequel is out and apparently it sucks. Whatever.
The Many Saints of Newark
Please don’t be alarmed by what I’m about to say. I’ve never seen The Sopranos. Anyway, there’s a Sopranos prequel movie that came out this past week to somewhat mixed reviews. The trailer is pretty good and I have AMC A-List so I’ll probably check it out at some point.
October 8th
No Time to Die
After several COVID delays, Daniel Craig’s last ride as James Bond is finally upon us. Rami Malek is on board this time as the villain, Billiam Eyelash has already won a Grammy for the title song, and being honest I know nothing else about this film beyond what you just read right there. Doesn’t matter. I’m in there. Like I said we’re definitely going to be reviewing this one on One Take Podcast so stay tuned for that.
Lamb
A24 Hive where ya at??? All your favorite Film Twitter nerds will be lining up to tell you about how the latest horror movie from the studio that brought you Midsommar, Hereditary and The VVitch is inventive and unique and moving and beautiful and strangely haunting or whatever. It might very well be all those things, but it’s also (apparently) a movie about a guy who banged a sheep and made it give birth to a half-human half-lamb baby. So like…I’ll probably have to take the movie nerds’ word for it.
October 15th
The Last Duel
Now it’s my time to be a Film Twitter nerd. Remember how earlier I said I have agendas that need to agend? We’ve reached that stage of the program. WELCOME TO THE JODI COMER ERA. If you’re unfamiliar with Jodi Comer, who won an Emmy for her breakout star turn in the BBC murder drama Killing Eve and was great in the surprisingly good Free Guy earlier this year, GET FAMILIAR. She’s an incredible actress and at 28 years old she’s just getting started. This month she’s helping bring back #RealCinema with her role in The Last Duel. The Last Duel is a historical drama based on a true story about the last official judicial duel in France in the (apparently not made up) year of 1386. Doesn’t 1386 sound like a fake year? Maybe I’m tripping.
Anyway, Jodi Comer is married to Matt Damon and she accuses Matt Damon’s friend/squire Adam Driver of raping her, so Matt Damon challenges Adam Driver to a duel to decide if he’s innocent or guilty. Matt Damon vs Adam Driver in a duel to the death for Jodi Comer’s honor. What else do I need to tell you? Get your (vaccinated) ass to the movie theater and watch this shit! The real is back! The Gawd coming!
Needle in a Timestack
I had never heard of this movie until I looked at the upcoming releases for this month to start writing this article and I just had to make sure that I’m not the only person aware of the fact that a movie named Needle in a Timestack is being released by a major movie studio. Leslie Odom Jr. and Cynthia Erivo are in it and it’s about a time traveler ruining their relationship or something? I don’t really care. I just need to burden other people with this information now that I myself have been burdened with it.
Needle. In. A. Time. Stack.
Bruh.
October 22nd
Dune
A new adaptation of a popular book that I will never read, Dune is another major movie that faced COVID related release delays. It’s release has also been the subject of controversy because director Denis Villeneuve has been very vocal about wanting people to watch it in a theater instead of on HBO Max when it drops on the streaming service the same day as the theatrical release. All that aside, it’ll soon be here. The cast is LOADED. It stars noted very attractive people Timothee Chalamet, Oscar Isaac, Jason Momoa, Batista, Rebecca Ferguson, and more.
Most importantly, and part of another one of the agendas I told you about earlier, ZENDAYA WILL BE BACK ON OUR SCREENS. I’ve been Zendaya Hive since my days as a dumb youth watching Shake It Up on Disney Channel. And then she turned into an actual good actress who has given us some bangers! Who woulda thought!?! She’s obviously great in the MCU Spider-Man movies but she also gave us a triple-double performance in The Greatest Showman, then won an Emmy for Euphoria, and then she was the best part of that weird Malcolm & Marie movie that came out on Netflix earlier this year. Not to mention, Zendaya is Meechie! IT’S HER TIME.
Do I really understand what Dune is supposed to be about? No. And neither do you unless you read the book. But reviews so far have been great and I’m a sucker for big budget Oscar-bait sci-fi. So we move.
The French Dispatch
Speaking of Oscar-bait starring Timothee Chalamet that’s coming out on October 22nd, The French Dispatch exists! Why am I calling it Oscar-bait, you ask? Well, check out the synopsis.
“A love letter to journalists set in an outpost of an American newspaper in a fictional 20th-century French city that brings to life a collection of stories published in ‘The French Dispatch.'”
Not convinced yet that this movie exists specifically to win awards? What if I told you it’s directed by Wes Anderson and parts of it are in black and white and there’s some animation thrown into the mix too?
You’re STILL not convinced? Well let me show you some of the cast.
Timothee Chalamet, Bill Murray, Tilda Swinton, Benicio Del Toro, Adrien Brody, Frances McDormand, Owen Wilson, Saoirse Ronan, Willem Dafoe, Elisabeth Moss, Jeffrey Wright, and more.
Ever since the mere concept of this movie was teased a couple years ago it has been placed on Potential Best Picture Nominee watchlists and goddamit I’m a sucker for the Oscars so I am definitely going to see it.
Ron’s Gone Wrong
I saw the trailer for this random kid’s movie the other day before Venom 2 and it looked kinda cute. Apparently Zack Galifinakas and Ed Helms do voice work in it which is a weird way to do a Hangover reunion but I’m not complaining. Olivia Colman is in it too. If you’ve got kids might as well stick them in there with a bucket of popcorn and a soda while you go into another theater to watch Dune with the adults. For the love of god don’t bring your whiny kids to an opening night showing of Dune. I will punt them through the emergency exit. Anyway yeah, Ron’s Gone Wrong. It’s a movie.
October 29th
Antlers
Surprise! A horror movie coming out on Halloween weekend! I’m not even gonna lie to you there’s 0 chance I see this movie in a theater. Not because I’m uninterested or because I don’t think it’ll be good. It’s because I was absolutely terrified by the trailer the first time I saw it back in 2020 (this is another pandemic delay release). I’m 26 years old now. I know a little bit about myself at this point. For example, I know I’m not built for most horror movies. This looks spooky as hell. I’m good.
Anyway the story goes like this. Some kid has a scary monster zombie deer thing upstairs in his house that he tries to keep a secret from the rest of the world I guess. Maybe there’s something else he keeps upstairs and the deer thing is a different monster? I don’t know. Anyway, Kerri Russel (a good actress that always makes people go “oh yeeeeeah I love Kerri Russel. She’s in this?” and do the Leo pointing meme whenever she’s on screen) and Jesse Plemmons (Mart, Texas’ finest) are trying to investigate what’s going on. I’m not doing this justice, just watch the trailer.
Last Night in Soho
For my final agenda that must agend (well, 2 separate agendas that get to collide in 1 movie) we have Last Night in Soho. Another horror movie coming out on Halloween weekend, but one I will absolutely be seeing in theaters. Why? First, it’s directed by Edgar Wright who gave us Baby Driver, one of my favorite movies of all time. Second, the original trailer was amazing. Finally, and most importantly, it stars two of the Young GOATS: Thomasin McKenzie (most notably of Jojo Rabbit) and Anya Taylor-Joy (the world-dominating and Golden Globe-winning star of Queen’s Gambit). McKenzie is 21 and Taylor-Joy is 25 so they’re still finding themselves. But I’ve already seen “it” in their work. These women have the skill and talent to be must-see actresses and awards darlings for decades to come. I’m just here to spread the good news of each of their agendas.
Plus the movie looks really fun. McKenzie plays a present-day fashion designer with a “sixth sense” that one day she finds herself transported back to 1996 in Taylor-Joy’s body as a successful night club songstress. Then everything gets real real spooky. Check out the trailer for yourself. Also Anya Taylor-Joy did some singing for the movie and for this trailer. The TALENT.
That’ll just about do it for Part 1 of the October new release roundup. Thanks for reading all that! It’s always appreciated. If you enjoyed that, I’ll be doing a similar roundup for all the new stuff coming to TV and the major streaming services in Part 2 later this week.
It’s the final stretch of the year, and this is where the magic happens when it comes to prestige movies and tv. Playoff baseball, football, basketball, new TV lineups and the Oscar races make this truly my favorite time of the year for content consumption.
So stay tuned to Apollo, listen to the One Take Podcast, and follow me on Twitter for more trailers, news, and movie/tv reviews!
Stay spooky!
And as always, #SupportFlorencePugh
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