October 2016 Watchlist

Article by Gabe Zia
So September is almost over and you guys know what that means, it's time for me to tell you guys about some of the movies coming out next month I'm interested in seeing. And this is October, so expect this month to have a lot of indie horror and indie films coming out leading up to the Oscar-bait saturated section of time that is November and December.

October 7th

The Girl on the Train

The book aside, this movie looks very intriguing. It looks kind of David Fincher-ish, and I've seen and heard a lot of comparisons to Gone Girl in terms of its presentation. However, I have friends who have read the book and tell me that Girl on the Train and Gone Girl are two very different stories overall, which has me interested. As of writing this, I'm reading the book myself, so here's hoping the movie does a good job with the adaptation.

Under the Shadow

So this was a movie I had the chance to see a while back, I decided to see something else (I don't remember what). And ever since it's kind of had me intrigued, it looks like kind of an Iranian Babadook. And with 2016 being hands down the best horror movie year in a long damn time (Neon Demon, The Shallows, The Witch, Hush, Don't Breathe, Lights Out, and arguably 10 Cloverfield Lane), I have high hopes for Under the Shadow.

October 14th

Desierto - October 2016 Highlight

In the time of Trump driven racism and hatred towards Mexican immigrants, a film that is very literally a commentary on said hatred and racism towards Mexican immigrants couldn't have come at a better time. The film follows a group of people trying to get into America, when a guy who takes border patrol way too seriously targets them and is trying to kill them. Jeffrey Dean Morgan plays the villain, and he's always a welcome sight. What makes this the highlight is how important it is to shine a spotlight on the kind of hatred people like Trump promote, as well as humanizing a story Western media would rather demonize.

The Accountant

The marketing for The Accountant has been absolutely outstanding from what I've seen, as of writing this I know absolutely nothing about this movie beyond Ben Affleck is in it as a kind of OCD aspergers character involved with some sort of criminal-thing. Like I said, the trailers are vague as hell, so I really know nothing at this point. That said, I'm very intrigued to see it.

The Handmaiden

So after films such as the cult classic Oldboy, producing Snowpiercer (my favorite movie of 2014), and making Stoker (a super underrated movie IMO), Chan-Wook Park is one of those directors who can make a movie, and I'll probably see it simply because it has his name on it. I haven't seen the trailer for this movie, I don't know what it's about, and honestly I don't want to know, I want to find out for myself when I go see it.

October 21st

Moonlight

I've heard a lot of really good and and really promising things about this film from TIFF, and it's a film I've been intrigued to see for some time now. This, to me, looks like one of the more visually alluring films of 2016, and already from the trailer a breathtaking capability with cinematography is put on display. That alone has me sold on this one.

Ouija: Origin of Evil

Now, when I heard this movie was being made, it was originally something I was intent on avoiding like the goddamn plague. However, then Mike Flanagan came on board to direct, so I knew I had to see it. He's one of my personal favorite horror directors working today, behind two horror masterpieces thus far (Oculus and Hush), and seeing as how apparently Before I Wake isn't coming out anytime soon, Ouija: Origin of Evil will have to suffice.

October 28th

Inferno

Unpopular opinion - I am a fan of the movie adaptations of Dan Brown books so-far. A lot of people find them boring, and pretty much everyone who's read the books will tell you these movies are bad adaptations. I, on the other hand, have never read the books, so I'm totally in the dark here. And as far as I'm concerned, Inferno looks like a fascinating movie, and it touches on a relevant but difficult topic, overpopulation.