As everyone knows, my favorite thing to do is recommend movies. Bonus if it’s a movie you haven’t heard of. So, once a month, I recommend a handful of movies I watched last month that I recommend you check out. Here are five movies I recommend that I watched for the first time in October.
The Hitcher (1986) – Robert Harmon
A young man, Jim (C. Thomas Howell), is transporting a car to California. One night he picks up a hitchhiker, John Ryder (Rutger Hauer). Ryder makes Jim’s life a living hell. It’s a terrifying turn by Hauer who is having a ton of fun as the psychopathic hitchhiker.
What really needs to be praised here is the cinematography by John Seale. The man who shot: Dead Poet’s Society, Mad Max Fury Road, The Talented Mr. Ripley, and The English Patient; makes one of the best looking horror films ever. Now I’m trying to decide whether I buy the $60 Limited Edition boxset for the film.
Sense and Sensibility (2026) – Georgia Oakley
Adapted from Jane Austen’s 1811 novel. The second film adaptation of the story of the Dashwood women who lose their estate after their father passes and try to make a life by finding love. Especially in a time when women didn’t have much agency.
I love this story and really love Ang Lee’s 1995 adaptation Penned by Oscar Winner Emma Thompson, as well as starring. It’s a brilliant adaptation that didn’t need another iteration. Not to mention I haven’t been sold on Daisy Edgar-Jones yet.
Well, I don’t know if I’m sold on her yet, but I do think this is a very good adaptation. I love Esme Creed-Miles as Marianne Dashwood. Daughter of Samantha Morton, and you can see it in certain scenes.
I still prefer the 1995 version, but I do recommend this one to any Austen fans.
Session 9 (2001) – Brad Anderson
An asbestos cleaning crew is hired to clean an abandoned mental hospital. The perfect setup for a horror movie. You can guess how well this goes for the cleaning crew.
It’s a very slow burn, but it is a great unreliable narrator story. Keeping you guessing until the last second. With a perfectly cast David Caruso right before CSI: Miami.
I had heard rumblings that this was a secret masterpiece. I don’t know if I go there yet, but it was a great find during spooky season.
You Can See Everything (2026) – Lance Oppenheim & Nathan Fielder
34 days before Elizabeth Holmes is to report to Federal Prison for her sentence, she and her partner Billy allow a documentary crew into their home to document it all. Led by Nathan Fielder in front of the camera and Lance behind it, what unfolds is the perfect marriage between Nathan’s and Lance’s sensibilities.
It’s hard to talk about this movie without spoiling it. Suffice it to say the above premise is only half the movie. You won’t expect where this story goes. Multiple times I was shocked. It’s unlike anything I’ve ever seen.
I cannot wait to see how this crashes to Oscar’s party and how it will shape category rules going forward.
Zabriskie Point (1970) – Michelangelo Antonioni
Mark, an activist college student on the run from authorities for killing a cop (Though he didn’t do it), meets up with Daria, an anthropology student who is helping a property developer. Together they have a jaunt in the Los Angeles desert before Mark decides to go turn himself in and clear his name.
Is one of the best movies about the counter-culture movement and how abruptly it ended. The ending of the film perfectly encapsulates how fast the free love movement ended. The murder of Sharon Tate. The Altamont Free Concert by the Rolling Stones where a man is stabbed by Hell’s Angels.
Not remembered with the likes of Easy Rider but it probably should be.
The Only Living Pickpocket in New York (2026) – Noah Segan
John Turturro plays a pickpocket. Subway surfing, stealing from people and selling it to pawn shop owner and fence Steve Buscemi. One day John steals from the wrong people and is forced to make things right before something happens to him or his bedridden wife.
It’s a cool 70s-style film with a introspective mind that’s with regret, grief, and what we do with the time we have. At 88 minutes, it’s an awesome little crime thriller that had me from minute one with LCD Soundsystem’s “New York I Love You, but You’re Bringing Me Down”.
The Cycle (2026) – Jordan Downey
A forensic pathologist is called to investigate a crime scene where her father, who went missing 36 years prior, is found essentially mummified at the crime scene. If that doesn’t sound interesting to you, I cannot help you.
Not only does the setup sound great, but it’s an awesome slow-burn horror film. I don’t want to reveal too much, but the film definitely gives you the pieces to put it together. However, the practical effects are incredible. A worthy make-up contender will be completely overlooked by the Oscars.
