Most Anticipated Films Of October 2021!

So we finally reached the month I have been looking forward to for the longest time, throughout the year October has been really building a fantastic roster of film releases (heck November and December are both fantastic as well). Which led to the most amount of movies on any of these lists. I’m not going to go in depth with all of these movies, since I’ve been busy moving (I’m still going to be in Long Island NY) but I’ll try to describe a huge amount of them. So let’s get started!

30. Muppets Haunted Mansion – I’m excited for this because we haven’t gotten Muppet content in quite sometime, it looks like what you would expect from The Muppets so I’m on board. It releases October 8th on Disney+

Let’s just get next four out of the way and combine them.

29. Bingo Hell, 28. Black As Night, 27. Madres and 26. Manor – if you remember the “Welcome To The Blumhouse” movies from last year this is a continuation of that, the movies from last year while not anything incredible were mostly decent (outside of The Lie that was horrendous) so I’m hoping this follows in the same footsteps. All of the movies have interesting premises that sound like a lot of fun or interesting, let’s hope these are great! Bingo Hell and Black As Night release October 1st on Amazon Prime Video, Madres and The Manor release on Amazon Prime Video October 8th!

25. Runt – worth noting that this is Cameron Boyce’s last performance. Runt releases October 19th on all VOD Platforms.

24. Women is Losers – Women is Losers releases October 18th on HBO Max!

23. Snakehead – I actually saw Snakehead at TIFF and it’s a very solid movie that I recommend (I will be getting my TIFF reviews up soon as I said I’ve been very busy) Snakehead releases October 29th on all VOD Platforms!

22. Night Teeth – This looks like a very fun movie, with Sydney Sweeney, Megan Fox and Debby Ryan in it, sign me up! It releases October 20th on Netflix!

21. V/H/S/94 – I was very surprised to see that this got a release date and is actually coming out soon, I’m a huge fan of the first two films, V/H/S Viral was massively disappointing and was quite bad as well, from what I’ve heard this one puts the series back to it’s roots and is quite great. So I’m pretty excited for this one! It releases October 6th on Shudder!

20. Knocking – I saw this one back at Sundance and I really liked it, I’m definitely excited to rewatch it as it was thrilling and pretty well done! Knocking releases October 8th in theaters and October 19th on all VOD Platforms.

19. Injustice: Gods Among Us – I’ve always wanted a Injustice film and we are finally getting one….and it looks really good! This is definitely something that has huge potential to become a series of movies, so I truly hope this is good! it releases October 19th on all VOD Platforms!

18. The Souvenir Act II – While I wasn’t that big on the first movie I have heard that the sequel fixes the problems that were in the first one and make it really good. So I’m definitely down to see this one. It releases October 29th in theaters!

17. Bergman Island – I’ve heard a lot of really great things about this one, a friend of mine actually told me about this one (they saw it at the TIFF) I checked out the information about the film and it definitely sounds like something I would really like. It releases October 15th on all VOD Platforms!

16. Army Of Thieves – Earlier this year Army Of The Dead came out and now this one is coming out which serves as a prequel to Army Of The Dead and is mostly about Matthias Schweighöfer’s character, which was one of my favorite parts of Army Of The Dead so I’m excited to see where this movie goes. It releases October 29th on Netflix!

15. Paranormal Activity: Next Of Kin – Hear me out on this one, I really like the first three movies, but didn’t like Paranormal 4, The Marked Ones or Ghost Dimensions. From what has been shown so far Next Of Kin seems like it could be great, it has a decent director William Eubank director of Signal and Underwater. I do have faith that this could end up being decent, we just have to wait and see. It releases October 29th on Paramount+

14. The Blazing World – This is yet another one I saw back at Sundance, I understand this isn’t going to be everyone’s cup of tea but it is definitely worth watching. Carlson Young does a fantastic job in the directors chair and really makes a Pan’s Labyrinth type movie that’s very effective. It releases October 15th on all VOD Platforms!

13. Venom Let There Be Carnage – I didn’t like the first Venom in fact I hated it. However I’ve heard this one is a huge improvement and everything that’s been shown about it looks and sounds far better, I’m very excited to see Carnage in a comic book movie something I’ve been wanting since I was a kid. It releases October 1st in theaters!

12. No Time To Die – While I’m not as big on James Bond movies as some other people, I do think No Time To Die looks really great. I’m very excited to see the opening scene with the song No Time To Die (Billie is about win her Oscar). Plus I’ve heard it’s pretty fantastic! It releases October 8th in Theaters!

11. Antlers – After being delayed numerous times Antlers is finally coming out, it looks fantastic and from the looks of it has this creepy folklore atmosphere to it which I really like! It releases October 29th in theaters!

10. The Guilty – Yes it’s a remake but it from what I’ve heard it’s a very solid one, Jake Gyllenhaal’s performance I’ve heard is really strong and that it’s an overall suspenseful ride! It releases October 1st on Netflix!

9. Coming Home In The Dark – Another film I saw back at Sundance and it’s truly an incredible one. This is definitely one of the ones I’ve been waiting to rewatch for awhile, it’s a very brutal and actually quite disturbing movie that I’m aware will not be for everyone. But for everyone who’s been wanting a disturbing film you will definitely get it here. It releases October 1st on all VOD Platforms!

8. The Last Duel – Here’s the first Ridley Scott film that’s releasing this year, from the trailers this looks pretty incredible. It’s one of those films that I’ve been waiting to see for awhile now between the cast and some of the reactions it gets me pumped! It releases October 15th in theaters!

7. Lamb – This is a strange one, they have done a pretty good job with giving as little information about it as possible. All that I know is that the film itself looks bizarre and given the premise sounds very bizarre. It releases October 8th in theaters!

6. The French Dispatch – This is a film I’ve been looking forward to since last year, Wes Anderson is one of my favorite directors and it definitely seems like he’s going to give something new and very interesting as well. The cast looks fantastic and this is definitely one to keep an eye on when it comes time for the award shows.

5. Halloween Kills – I actually saw Halloween Kills back in February 2020, it was a test screening (the film was pretty much finished outside of some of the gore and the sound) I haven’t reviewed the movie just to be safe, however I will say that any fan of the franchise is going to love this film. In my opinion it’s one of the best of the franchise and is a fantastic film as well. It’s brutal and much darker than some of the other films. Make sure to see this one! It releases October 15th in theaters!

4. Mass – I’m going to keep this short, but Mass is easily one of the best films of the year. I saw it back at Sundance is truly something I’m looking forward to rewatching, the cast is incredible, the writing is very raw and the film itself is very heavy. It hits really hard and I can easily see this film being discussed about among several people. It releases October 8th in theaters.

3. Dune – What can I say that already hasn’t been said? Dune is Denis Villeneuve’s next film someone I consider to be one of the best directors working today, I’ve heard Dune is absolutely incredible (some people comparing it to Lord Of The Rings) this is another film I’ve been waiting to see for the longest time! It releases October 22nd in theaters and on HBO Max!

2. Titane – Julia Ducournau who previously directed Raw (one of the best films of the 2010s) is back, Titane is one of those films where I have been excited for ever since it was announced, I’m so glad to see that as little as possible has been shown or talked about. All I know is that it’s a very bizarre film, its worth mentioning that I haven’t seen a single bad review for this one! It releases October 1st in theaters!

1. Last Night In Soho – Those of you who follow me are probably not surprised by this, I’ve said many times that Last Night In Soho is my most anticipated film of the year (Twitter is JeromeM94Movies if your interested in following). For years I’ve wanted Edgar Wright to do a full on horror film (not a horror comedy) and from what I’ve heard Wright does a fantastic job, I absolutely love Anya Taylor-Joy and I love the first trailer! It releases October 29th in theaters!

And that is my list! I hope you enjoyed and discovered new films that you didn’t know about, there’s a whole lot more coming out in October as well (seriously the release schedule is packed) what are your most anticipated films of October?

The Eyes Of Tammy Faye Turns Jessica Chastain into Tammy Faye!

An intimate look at the extraordinary rise, fall and redemption of televangelist Tammy Faye Bakker.

The Eyes Of Tammy Faye is interesting and sort of surprising, right from the beginning it gives this bizarre style to it that I had no idea what to make of it. There are very standard biopic bits during the first half that aren’t too exciting but not anything really bad, Jessica Chastain gives one of her best performances here and is more than likely going to get nominated when the award shows start. And as she should she becomes Tammy Faye, she nails every single thing about her from how she acted and spoke to her style of singing. Speaking of which the songs were very great, despite Christian music certainly not being my type of music I still found myself singing along and have actually listened to a few of the songs since I saw the film. Andrew Garfield is also pretty great as well, while he isn’t as good as Jessica Chastain he still delivers a fantastic performance and was very believable as Jim Bakker. There are moments when he even becomes Jim Bakker it gets pretty scary, Cherry Jones who plays Rachel LaValley deserves to be talked about more for her performance. She’s hilarious, she gives this sarcastic yet loving performance that really makes you smile. The major flaw with The Eyes Of Tammy Faye is skimming over certain subjects. Especially with her connection to the LGBT community sure it’s shown in the film a few times and it does show she genuinely cares about the community, however it doesn’t feel like it’s discussed very much. I would have also loved to see the film dive a bit deeper on the shadiness of televangelist, but for what the movie did talk about it did a solid job. The writing definitely improves as it goes on, it starts out good enough but just very strange for the sake of feeling strange, but as the movie reaches its 30 minute mark it improves quite well. Overall The Eyes Of Tammy Faye is quite great, it does feel like a very standard biopic at times but there is a lot to like about this one, I recommend watching this one solely because of the performances!

The Eyes Of Tammy Faye is available in theaters!

7/10 B

Dear Evan Hansen is the biggest disappointment movie in 2021 thus far.

Evan Hansen is an anxious, isolated high-school student who’s aching for understanding and belonging amid the chaos and cruelty of the social media age. He soon embarks on a journey of self-discovery when a letter he wrote for a writing exercise falls into the hands of a grieving couple whose son took his own life.

There is absolutely a lot to say about how much of a complete and total disaster Dear Evan Hansen was so sit tight. Let’s just jump right into it and get the positives out of the way, I actually enjoyed a lot of the songs, sure the context of where certain songs were are pretty bad. But the songs themselves are great, plus everyone in the cast does a pretty good job at singing (I really liked Kaitlyn Dever’s singing voice.) the scene where you You Will Be Found was actually quite great, I could help but sing along to it and the scene itself is very well done. As far as performances Kaitlyn Dever is easily the best she steals a huge amount of the scenes she’s in and really shows her talent quite well here. Amandla Stenberg isn’t too bad either, granted she’s not given a whole lot to do towards the end of the movie but she works with what’s given. Which leads me to Julianne Moore and Amy Adams both of which do great…the problem is they aren’t given much to do, especially Julianne Moore. Julianne Moore shows up in a handful of scenes and that’s really it, while Amy Adams is given more to do than Moore it still isn’t enough to turn her performance into something amazing. That’s where Dear Evan Hansen ends for me, the most common criticism about this movie that Ben Platt is way too old and looks way too old which is true but that’s the least of this movie’s worries. But I’ll briefly explain why that’s a huge issue and why isn’t in other movies, the problem here is Ben Platt looks his age, he doesn’t have the luck of looking far younger take The Amazing Spider-Man for example. Andrew Garfield was 27 years old at the time but he LOOKS a hell of a lot younger meaning you can get away with that. Ben Platt was 27 (he actually turned 28 the day Dear Evan Hansen released) and he could not pull off being a kid from high school. With that out of the way let’s move on to the writing….it’s very painful. A lot of the writing ultimately comes down to being really out of touch with mental health issues (I know this movie has helped people with their mental health so if you are one of those people reading this is just my opinion and I’m glad this movie helped you out!) the writing really tries to make a terrible situation into something that’s not a big deal, what annoys me the most is from what I’ve heard a few of the songs from the Broadway show that actually call out Hansen’s behavior…yet they were cut. Which leads me to the running time….2 hours and 17 minutes It has no business being this long, in fact why couldn’t they cut out some scenes and add in some of the songs that do call out Hansen’s behavior? That would have made the movie more interesting, it’s a shame to because I do believe Dear Evan Hansen had potential heck I ranked it as my most anticipated film of September 2021. As far as everything else the movie itself is a chore to sit through, the mental health aspects of it feel like one of those viral Twitter posts that somehow get a lot of likes and says “sitting in a chair ruins my mental health or is a trauma response.” As I said before because I do think this is very important to make clear, I know Dear Evan Hansen is going to have it’s fans and as I said earlier I do know that this movie has actually helped people. Which as I always say more power to you, I’m glad you enjoyed something I didn’t! But overall Dear Evan Hansen completely misses it’s mark, it’s hands down the most disappointing movie I’ve seen so far this year. If you aren’t a fan or aren’t familiar with the source material don’t even bother.

Dear Evan Hansen is now available in Theaters!

2/10 F

Blue Bayou is a very solid film that could have been more.

Antonio LeBlanc is a Korean adoptee raised in a small town in the Louisiana bayou. He’s married to the love of his life, Kathy, and raising his beloved stepdaughter, Jessie. Struggling to make a better life for his family, he must soon confront the ghosts of his past after learning that he could be deported from the only country he’s ever called home.

Blue Bayou is the definition of a film that has a lot of great things in it and ends up being a solid film all around, but there’s a lot that hold it back from being so much more such as being one of the best films of the year. Let’s start with what really worked, well first off the acting was very solid all around. Particularly from Justin Chon (who also directed the film), Alicia Vikander who is truly incredible in every single scene she’s in, Linh Dan Pham who easily gives the best performance from the supporting cast and Sydney Kowalske who is 9 years old and manages to give a very strong performance. The chemistry between Chon and Vikander is incredible, it feels raw, emotional and truly beautiful at times. Their chemistry builds up to some of the film’s greatest moments, the final scene as a lot of people have mentioned is very heavy and quite sad. It’s easily one of the best moments of the film mostly due to how raw it feels and how pretty accurate it can be. Blue Bayou was shot with a 16mm camera which ends up benefiting this movie, it gives it a raw feel to it which given the subject matter it was a very wise move to go that route. However what does destroy the rawness at times is the writing and it’s resolution with some of the supporting cast, some of the decisions that were made completely come out of nowhere mostly from Mark O’Brien’s character which I won’t spoil what happens but it comes right out of left field. There isn’t any real build up or anything other than wanting to see Jessie (Sydney Kowalske) it takes away a lot of realism and completely interrupts the story. There’s a lot of other things such as characters just being there and at times being rushed. Blue Bayou is overall a solid film that could have easily been a lot better, I still recommend giving it watch mostly due to the performances and the final scene!

Blue Bayou is now in theaters!

7/10 B

The Mad Women’s Ball is both mesmerizing and wonderfully crafted!

A woman who is unfairly institutionalized at Paris asylum plots to escape with the help of one of its nurses. Based on the novel ‘Le bal des folles’ by Victoria Mas.

The Mad Women’s Ball is kind of a surprise for me, not that I thought that it was going to be bad or anything (far from it), the surprise comes in with the fact I liked it a lot more than I thought I would. Let’s get the obvious out of the way Mélanie Laurent does a fantastic job here at everything, from her performance to directing and writing she makes this film work quite well with her talent. She creates a atmosphere that truly is effective and makes a interesting commentary on the healthcare system, which I thought was very well done. The acting is great all around, the cast really does a fantastic job of giving raw performances that bring the viewer in. Speaking of which what The Mad Women’s Ball does very well at is it brings the audience into the time period the film is taking place in, mostly due to the acting and writing when combined give outstanding results. Overall The Mad Women’s Ball is a very solid film, that I would recommend giving a watch!

The Mad Women’s Ball is now available on Amazon Prime Video!

8/10 B+

Free Guy is a missed opportunity.

A bank teller discovers that he’s actually an NPC inside a brutal, open world video game.

Free Guy was one of those movies that I got a lot of requests to review or was asked when I was going to watch it. The ultimate reason why it took so long to get around to watching it is because I really didn’t rush to watch it, something about just really seemed off to me. Free Guy does have it’s positives such as some of the acting, although Ryan Reynolds once again feels like he’s playing the exact same character as he does in a lot of his other movies he’s still pretty okay here. The rest of the cast isn’t too bad either Taika Waititi probably being the best, I also liked the premise of the movie. There were times where the movie actually takes advantage of the premise and uses it in some clever ways. The writing is where things fall apart unfortunately starting with the jokes while there were a few jokes that I found pretty okay, a majority of them suffer from either just not being funny or land terribly. There is one scene in particularly that really just destroys the whole mood SPOILER AHEAD it’s the scene near the end where Chris Evans (and the Captain America shield), Hulks hand, a lightsaber and a bunch of streamers make a cameo appearance. While it may sound harmless in itself it’s the script that ultimately makes this painful, I’m sorry but shouting “that’s a lightsaber” not once but twice is not funny. And for a movie that is all about being original resorting to a scene to show off IPs is extremely hypocritical SPOILER ENDS. Overall Free Guy did not do it for me, I can understand why someone would enjoy this movie and if you did more power to you! This just wasn’t for me.

Free Guy is available on all VOD Platforms September 28th!

4/10 D+

Cry Macho is a Eastwood Throwback!

A onetime rodeo star and washed-up horse breeder, in 1978, takes a job from an ex-boss to bring the man’s young son home and away from his alcoholic mum. Crossing rural Mexico on their back way to Texas, the unlikely pair faces an unexpectedly challenging journey, during which the world-weary horseman may find his own sense of redemption through teaching the boy what it means to be a good man.

First things first I respect Clint Eastwood in terms of filmmaking he’s 91 years old and still acting and directing! With that said Cry Macho is a very traditional Eastwood film with honestly not a whole lot to comment on. The acting is overall pretty strong particularly from Fernanda Urrejola, Eastwood is definitely not bad here he’s just done far better in other films. The filming is actually what I was scared about going into this movie, from the trailer it really looked cheaply made with very little style to it. Luckily that’s not the case here, Cry Macho has some great filming during certain moments that stand out quite well. Honestly what hurts Cry Macho the most is that it’s a lot like the other westerns Eastwood was in years ago, it doesn’t build a special identity for itself, however it does feel like a throwback film to the western film era so maybe that was the intention. If you are a fan of Clint Eastwood you will definitely like this one, it’s not one of his crowning achievements but it’s solid enough for a recommendation.

Cry Macho is now available in Theaters and on HBO Max!

7/10 B

The Starling has good intentions but is confused on what it wants to be.

After Lilly suffers a loss, a combative Starling takes nest beside her quiet home. The feisty bird taunts and attacks the grief-stricken Lilly. On her journey to expel the Starling, she rediscovers her will to live and capacity for love.

I was really hoping The Starling was going to be another huge moment for Melissa McCarthy (her best performance being Can You Ever Forgive Me) but unfortunately that’s not the case here. Instead we get a movie that has great intentions with it’s story showing two people cope with loss, I will say Melissa McCarthy and Chris O’Dowd have some genuinely strong moments together on screen. Both of which give solid performances and have great chemistry between one another, the biggest issue with this movie is it tries to be comedy while at the same time trying to be a movie about tragic loss and finding your way to recover from it. The comedic scenes take way too much away from the story, it doesn’t help that the movie isn’t funny either all it really does is make a ton of scenes awkward. One scene you have McCarthy and O’Dowd having a genuinely meaningful conversation and the very next scene is McCarthy getting attacked by CGI birds. I would absolutely love to know what the decision making process was to include CGI birds, the CGI birds make the viewer feel like they are watching an entirely different movie from the trailer and in the worst way possible. The Starling could have been something great but with very poor direction, the comedic tone overshadowing the rest of the movie and some of the writing. It’s a very forgettable movie that I recommend skipping.

The Starling is now available on Netflix!

3/10 D-

Night Of The Animated dead one of the most pointless remakes ever made.

Two siblings visit their father’s grave at a remote Pennsylvanian cemetery when they suddenly find themselves swarmed by zombies. One flees to a farmhouse and finds herself trapped there with a group of strangers as the zombies overcome the property.

Night Of The Animated Dead is a shot by shot remake of Night Of The Living Dead (1968)….and a terrible one. What can I honestly say about this movie other than that it’s one of the most pointless remakes of recent memory? I get wanting to bring back more of the “Of The Dead” series back, earlier this year Army Of The Dead proved this franchise can still be really great. Unfortunately for Night Of The Animated Dead that’s not the case it’s poorly animated remake of a incredible film the only difference is there’s more blood. Which really doesn’t matter much when the animation is horrendous, the animation really reminded me of Newgrounds back in the early 2000s only that the creators on Newgrounds were mostly making short movies as a hobby rather than for a actual career. Where as this movie’s purpose is to cash in on the living dead name, which isn’t the first time this has happened. Every now and then a remake of Night Of The Living Dead pops up the only one that I would say is great is the one by Tom Savini which released in 1990. Night Of The Animated Dead is just another prime example of lazy filmmaking, I really don’t know what else to say except this is hands down one of the worst movies of the year. Watch the original 1968 film instead.

Night Of The Animated is now available on all VOD Platforms!

Disgrace To Cinema F

Birds Of Paradise equals Black Sawn with 100% less horror!

Two girls at an elite Parisian ballet academy have their bond and bodies tested as they compete for a contract to join the company of the Opéra national de Paris.

Birds Of Paradise is basically if Black Swan weren’t a horror/thriller….and not as good either. I like the idea of the movie, there are some genuinely interesting moments between the main leads. The acting is pretty decent plus the filming is actually quite beautiful. Unfortunately what holds this movie back from being anything other than passable is the script, it’s not that the script is necessarily bad it’s more that it needed to be a whole lot stronger, there are plenty of times where this movie really comes off as a “style over substance” type movie. Which hits this movie pretty hard, it’s fine enough movie if you have absolutely nothing else to watch.

Birds Of Paradise is now available on Amazon Prime Video!

6/10 C+