10 Biggest Films to Watch in October 2016

Welcome to October! The leaves are turning vibrant colors before meeting winter’s death; the stores sell puffy coats to swaddle summer-roasted humans against the chill, and Movie Web says there are 72 movies to be released. Heaven help us all.

The first weekend has already provided two films for separate audiences. Fantasy won the box office with Tim Burton’s Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children. Don’t overlook Deepwater Horizon. It’s a realistic look at a disaster that still affects the Gulf of Mexico.

 

1. The Girl on the Train

Oct 7

This film is aimed at the same audience who enjoyed Gone Girl. A psychological drama, The Girl on the Train stars Emily Blunt as a daily commuter who daydreams about her neighbors’ perfect life. It’s all harmless speculation until she sees something happen; and then the wife goes missing. I suspect that if you enjoyed Gone Girl, you’ll enjoy this.

 

2. The Birth of a Nation

Oct 7

It’s the story of an uprising of black slaves, led by Nat Turner who is a preacher and a slave, in the pre-Civil War South. There is a controversy with the director, Nate Parker. The original film was a racist 1915 white supremacy film by very influential director, D.W. Griffith.

 

3. The Accountant

Oct 14

Stars Ben Affleck as a mathematical savant, top accountant and the capability of being a superb sniper. He also has dangerous criminal clients. This sounds like it could be a really good popcorn movie.

 

4. Desierto

Oct 14

A fictional look at a slice of life about illegal immigration on the Southwest border. A migrant group tries to cross the hot baking desert to find work in the U.S. They run into a vigilante who picks them off with a rifle.

 

5. Killing Reagan

Oct 16

You may need to get the National Geographic channel is based on a book written by Bill O’Reilly and Martin Dugard. Based in history, it looks at the events leading up to and after the attempted assassination of President Ronald Reagan in 1981, only two months after his first inauguration. The assassin was John Hinckley, Jr. who sought to impress actress Jodie Foster, and who, after 35 years at St. Elizabeth’s Hospital, has been released into his mother’s care.

 

6. Boo! A Madea Halloween

Oct 21

Comedian Tyler Perry has a continuing series in which he stars as grandmother Madea as well as other characters. This takes place on – surprise! – Halloween, where Madea is coping with teens, ghosts, zombies, and killers. Boo! looks like a total hoot.

 

7. Before the Flood

Oct 21

Let’s try out a documentary about climate change for a change. Leonardo DiCaprio and National Geographic have teamed up to show the dangers increased by global warming. It includes discussions with Elon Musk and President Barack Obama who also hosted DiCaprio at his South by South Lawn event; the speeches start around 38 minutes.

 

8. 31

Oct 21

Well, there has to be at least one blood-soaked film for Halloween included in this list. You’ve got clowns, torture, axes, R-rated, and for those with a strong stomach.

 

9. The Eagle Huntress

Oct 28

Another fabulous film that should be seen by all. It’s a documentary concerning a young Kazakh woman, 13-year-old Aisholpan, who breaks new ground in a time-honored tradition that has been handed down from father to son for a thousand years – hunting with golden eagles. It was filmed on the Mongolian steppes by cinematographer Simon Niblett, working on a shoestring budget and using drones. Just stunning.

 

10. Inferno

Oct 28

The latest adaptation of a Dan Brown pot boiler of a book, starring Tom Hanks as Harvard history expert Professor Robert Langdon of The Da Vinci Code and Angels & Demons fighting to prevent the release of a virus that could cause a worldwide plague. The book was good, this looks entertaining, and even educational – how many people out there know about Dante’s Inferno? Those who do, as I do, will look forward to the movie. In the meantime Il’ll play an Inferno game, Journey Through Hell where “players assist Robert Langdon in solving three puzzles per week.”