In-Review: October 2024
What would you do for a more perfect version of yourself?
I’d like to say that the days are getting cooler, but it’s November in New England and t-shirt weather isn’t going away. But November has just begun and this newsletter is about October. What went down in October? Spent some time watching some horror movies—rewatched old favorites, and some I’ve never seen before like Body Double, Pulse, Mute Witness, The Substance, and Saw.
The Substance (pictured above) is now available to stream on Mubi and I’d wholeheartedly recommend it. It features Demi Moore as fitness guru superstar Elizabeth Sparkle who has been pushed out of the industry due to her age. Stumbling upon a magical substance allows Sparkle to create a “younger, more beautiful, more perfect version” of herself. This younger version, Sue (Margaret Qualley), is birthed from a slit in Sparkle’s back. Now the two versions of Sparkle must co-exist, even if there are unexpected complications.
There are a lot of free trials available for Mubi and given that they also recently put the 4K remaster of Tarsem Singh’s The Fall on the service, it’s a great time to give it a try.
As for what I have planned for November? I plan on publishing another holiday gift list this year and have started putting it together today. I’d love to write about The Brutalist so maybe that will be coming down the line too.
Here are the movies I caught up with in October:
For a long time, I put off watching the original Saw. Well now that it was celebrating its 20th anniversary, I decided to see what the original was all about. And what do you know, it wasn’t half bad! The franchise has a reputation for violence, and while the first movie does share that DNA, it isn’t as gory as I anticipated. If you’ve been putting it off like I had because you heard the series is known for “torture porn” know that the first one is worth a watch. If for no other reason than to discover where director James Wan (Insidious, The Conjuring, Malignant) got his start.
Podcast
While IFFBoston Fall Focus might be over for this year, the Boston Jewish Film Festival is happening now. Check out this podcast from my co-host Evan Crean and I.
Links
A new mini-series is coming to Peacock based on “The Day of the Jackal.” I reviewed it for RogerEbert.com.
Mickey 17, the new film from Oscar-winner Bong Joon-Ho, is now opening on Easter weekend 2025.
Quincy Jones passed away over the weekend. Read this piece by Justin Charity about the legacy Jones leaves behind.
While I don’t believe Interstellar is Christopher Nolan’s best movie, it’s one of my favorites. Ryan Britt writes about the movie for its tenth anniversary.
One of the best-reviewed documentaries of the year doesn’t have distribution. Read this article by Jacob Oller on why that is.
The Warner Archive announced its first ever 4K release and the movie is John Ford’s The Searchers. Certainly among the best westerns ever released, this is a big-time release.