what we watched in october '24
- 3shotcine
- Nov 4, 2024
- 16 min read
What's really spooky would be watching no new movies at all.
Some of 3shotcine's new staff writers make their debut in the monthly roundup this October, say hi to Emmanuel, Suria and Taie! Joining them are resident staff Atlanta, Milaine and Zeff, with co-founders/ assistant editors, Danis and Sophia.
Wanna meet the team in more detail? Hop over here, and get to reading. Or if you just care about the movies, that's more than fine with us too.
Let's get into it!
Disclaimer!
These monthly roundups tend to include more mainstream titles than our usual lists, as our goal here is to document anything we watched in the past month.
It can be hard to keep up with regular movie-watching when so many other things are happening in the world, so we do this to remember first, share second, and uplift third.
That being said, we hope you enjoy this installation of our monthly roundups! Feel free to leave a comment with your October watches, or tell us what you think about ours.
This list is available on our Letterboxd here.
atlanta’s picks
Lisa Frankenstein (2024)
written and directed by Zelda Williams
There are few nepo babies I root for but Zelda Williams is definitely one of them. Lisa Frankenstein is a charming gothic comfort film for girls who devoured Jennifer's Body, The Craft and The Cure in our teenage years. Williams knows her goth girl cultural references and uses them to their full potential in this slow-burn romance that will undoubtedly become a cult classic once the rest of the world learns to indulge in some good old horror camp. If you've still got some Halloween costumes to put together Lisa and The Creature is a win for me.
Available: on YouTube, Apple TV, Amazon
Call Me Mommy (2023)
directed by Haley Alea Erickson & Taylor Washington
Call Me Mommy is a weirdly wholesome genre-crossing short that fits a surprising amount of pathos and humour in its compact narrative. Following a to-be mother as she hires an out-of-work actor to practise caregiving, the film is immaculately shot. The set design deserves a special mention for creating such an atmospheric additional character alongside the two protagonists - the emptiness and clean, sanitising lines add significant depth to the future mother's characterisation and exemplify how effective set design can supply nuance even in short-form content.
Available: on Vimeo
Tiny Angry Witch (2024)
co-created by Beth Eyre and David K. Barnes
With all the complaints about social media, one significant benefit is discovering creators keep old crafts and practices alive - such as the Tiny Angry Witch's wonderful stop-motion. The first of a series of animations is a fun combination of child-like and grotesque (a classic combo in my books) that captures the eponymous Tiny Angry Witch having her insectile breakfast. A valuable reminder that CGI is hell and that crafts like stop-motion must be kept alive, I am looking forward to engaging with the subsequent animations in this series.
Available: on Instagram via @tinyangrywitch
Bloodsuckers (2021)
written and directed by Julian Radlmaier
Subtitled 'a Marxist vampire comedy', Bloodsuckers is a strange polemic which asks if Marx was being literal when he called capitalists vampires. It's hard to say what the film is about, exactly, as it's caught up in a non-linear anachronistic narrative about film-making, class, love, and race. This makes it a particularly fun film aesthetically, as clothes, food, vehicles and other quotidian clash across the twentieth century creating pleasingly silly frames. At times the film veers so absurd as to frustrate, but there seems to be an intentionality in this, and it tends to read as a highly strung analogy for contemporary political clownery. Whilst I am disappointed by the lack of actual Marxist vampires, Bloodsuckers is a fascinating film that will certainly bring up more questions and confusions upon each rewatch.
Available: on Mubi
danis’ picks
Joker: Folie à Deux (2024)
written and directed by Todd Phillips
I can see why most folks hated this film, and there are definitely valid reasons to their hatred, but I really liked it. Sure, it went against the fans who loved the first Joker film - and for the folks who hated the first film, this might either fuel your hate, or actually make you think, aw well that wasn’t actually that bad. Either way, I liked it, Joaquin and Gaga were great. If you hate courtroom dramas though, this will not be your thing.
Available: in Cinemas
Bone Tomahawk (2015)
written and directed by S. Craig Zahler
Completely and utterly provoking with its portrayal of violence and of the Wild West, specifically from the perspective of problematic white folks from the Wild West.
Available: on DVD
emmanuel’s picks
Brokeback Mountain (2005)
directed by Ang Lee
The cinematography and acting from the cast of this film were what stood out to me the most. The shots of the titular Brokeback Mountain were slow and deliberate, conveying a sense of calm and otherworldliness. You truly feel that the mountains are a safe space for the two leading characters. The acting is overall solid, especially from the two leads as they convey star-crossed lovers who find unexpected sanctuary in each other. Unfortunately, like most films of the time involving the LGBT+, there is no happy ending and that is not just fiction, but reality for a lot of people, past and present. And I’m glad that a chance was taken and this story was told 19 years ago, when society at large was much less kind and accepting. In summary, I enjoyed this film and I would re-watch some key scenes but not the whole film anytime soon as it is quite emotionally heavy.
Available: on Netflix (leaving on October 31st!), Amazon Prime, Apple TV
Alien: Romulus (2024)
directed by Fede Álvarez
I was amazed by the production quality of this film! The set design and world feels futuristic yet analog in classic retro-futuristic fashion. The sound design, CGI, practical effects and score were well utilized to showcase everything from the beauty of space to claustrophobic dread as the protagonists try to save themselves from a horrific situation.The acting by David Jonsson in particular was remarkable, as he indirectly plays two characters in this film. In true Alien franchise fashion, I love how everything goes from 0-100 so fast! I could only grip my face in horror as everything went downhill for the characters. And I enjoyed how they expanded upon the source material while staying true to the Alien franchise.This is a genuinely scary film and inspiration was definitely taken from the Alien: Isolation game to that effect. There is one scene in particular that will be forever seared into my mind, and that’s how I know this movie delivered. I would definitely re-watch this film and if you’re a fan of horror or the Alien franchise, I recommend you give it a shot too!
Available: on Amazon Prime Video, coming to Disney+ in November 2024.
Conjuring Kannappan (2023)
directed by Selvin Raj Xavier
I enjoyed this film primarily due to the comedy which shined through in the dialogue, the family dynamics of the characters and the sheer absurdity of the plot. Comedy and horror are two sides of the same coin, and this film definitely played around with that. There was also a surprising line up of senior actors and actresses, and I enjoyed seeing them having fun embodying more comedic roles. This film did not take itself seriously, and it was definitely more camp than horror, which I enjoyed! For me, it was a fun and entertaining “timepass” film and I would recommend it if you need something silly to help de-stress.
Available: on Netflix
milaine’s picks
English Teacher (2024 - present)
created by Brian Jordan Alvarez
As one of the famed English Teacher’s pets of yore, I went in thinking that this show would be an Abbott Elementary remake, full of warm and fuzzy feelings about the Value of Education. Come to find out that it’s not so much about the beauty of schooling, and unexpectedly more about the comic irony of being a millennial adult under late stage capitalism in the year 2024. Created and starring Brian Jordan Alvarez of Youtube Fame, the show does depict the realities of being a modern educator - the main character Evan’s first hill to climb is that a student’s conservative parent wants him fired for being gay.
But where narratives about teachers commonly focus on the overwhelming nobility of the profession, English Teacher fleshes its characters out to acknowledge the fact that teachers are people who can be hot messes, too. Mayhaps a teacher should like to have an on-again-off-again friends with benefits situation with his ex boyfriend, making his ex drive three hours to spend time with him, only for him to call the other person clingy and needy the next morning. The difference between being a hot mess with a normal corporate job and being a teacher is that the stakes feel so much higher. It’s something I think about whenever I meet a new student and think to myself: I’m supposed to be nurturing young minds, but yesterday I spent three hours playing Angry Birds to avoid thinking about my overdue electricity bill. These two things should not coexist in the same body, but English Teacher shows that they can.
Available: on Disney+ Hotstar, FX
The Wild Robot (2024)
directed by Chris Sanders
I felt so conflicted about this movie. On one hand, I have mommy issues and I WILL be sobbing at the slightest inkling of a healthy parent-child relationship where sacrifice is non-transactional!! I simply will!!! And I did so indeed. On the other hand, I have so many questions about the internal coherence of the plot that I actually feel myself going insane. It’s easiest to describe it as an absolutely beautiful movie split into two parts. We have the obvious mother-child storyline between the robot Roz and the goose, Brightbill, who Roz raises and cares for so that he can weather the rough migration journey away from the island they are on. I sobbed! I cried! I pondered the depths of my relationship with my mother and wept like a babe craving their parent’s touch during a desperate fever!
The second part of the film begins to unravel once we apply any kind of critical thought to its characters’ interactions with the human world. What does it say about humans who are generating the illusion of social warmth via care robots like Roz? What is it actually saying about motherhood? I do not think we can ever talk about robots without thinking about the humans that built them, yet this movie seems happy to chug along without any kind of perspective on what its main character or their animal friends represent. I did watch it twice in the cinema, but I have since come to wonder if being plagued by these questions was too high a price to pay. Watch at your own risk if you, too, wish these frustrations upon yourself.
Available: Catch it in cinemas! Soon to be on Disney+ Hotstar, I am sure.
The Half of It (2020)
directed by Alice Wu
There is so much to love about this film and its main character Ellie Chu, a high-achieving Chinese-Canadian teenager in a small town, who gets herself into a Cyrano de Bergerac-esque dilemma of having to help someone write love letters to the girl she has a crush on. It wasn’t reviewed well when it first came out, but the film has stayed with me for its tender and nuanced portrayal of friendship, queerness, and teenage identity. This film came to me during a time when I could feel myself going crazy every time someone tried to talk to me about Awkwafina and how I should sink to my knees in thanks for white people allowing us to be on screen speaking English. Everything featuring Asians in English-language media started to feel like a trash compactor, with each heightened notch of pressure pushing my body more and more into itself. The Half of It was like a release valve that let the air in and taught me how to breathe again with the sheer force of its sincerity. Ellie Chu reminded me of what it's like to really feel seen by a movie, and how it can help you feel so much less alone if you are a young person trying to make sense of their place in the world.
Available: on Netflix
sophia’s picks
Nobody Wants This S1 (2024)
created by Erin Foster
We are SO BACK. This Netflix series starring Kristen Bell and Adam Brody will have you delusional and yearning in a way that only good romcoms are supposed to. The show follows a whirlwind romance between a sex podcaster and a rabbi as they deal with religious and familial tensions.
Available: on Netflix
suria’s picks
The Cutting Edge: Chasing the Dream (2008)
directed by Stuart Gillard
They truly don’t make love stories like they did back in the early 2000’s. I don’t think I’ve heard of this film — let alone, that it was a series — and I went in half-thinking that it was going to be ridiculously cheesy given the idea of romance people had back then because I think everyone was waaayyy more romantic (which is a good thing!), but to my surprise, I hardly felt that way while watching it. Created by Susan Jansen and Randall Badat, this sports-romantic film is the third installment of The Cutting Edge series. It was cute, it made me feel warm inside and it was competitive and I think watching this got me a little bit more interested in the art of figure skating after Spinning Out. Don’t even get me started on how good the chemistry between Matt Lanter and Francia Raisa is in the film. So, if you like sporty romances, I do recommend this one! However, I can’t say the same (yet) for the rest of the films in this franchise, so I’m hoping to watch them soon tehe.
Available: on Amazon Prime
One Two Jaga ("Crossroads: One Two Saga") (2018)
directed by Namron
I have to admit that I probably wouldn’t have picked this up on my own, but I’m glad I got the chance to watch it anyway. This underrated Malaysian crime-action film plays devil’s advocate by presenting social issues such as corruption and systemic injustice without a one-sided, overtly moralistic stance; it neither idealizes the cop who’s trying to fight corruption nor demonizes the domestic laborers, which allowed us to understand and in some ways sympathize with both parties. This was played for us in class, I guess to raise awareness about the seriousness of corruption and I believe that it is an important watch for anybody. The plot itself was well executed, though, I was slightly confused about the two characters in the film that got killed off in the end — mainly about what their roles were in the whole film. Nonetheless, the actors did a great job in their performances and I think I would love to see them in other works too!
Available: on Netflix
Pride and Prejudice (2005)
directed by Joe Wright
There’s nothing for me to say other than this will forever be my favorite adaptation of Pride and Prejudice. Keira Knightley’s Elizabeth Bennet and Matthew Macfayden’s Mr. Darcy have a special place in my heart, I just think they are both brilliant actors. Also, the hand flex. The hand flex, absolutely the hand flex.
Available: on Amazon Prime, Netflix
taie’s picks
Dracula (1958)
directed by Terrence Fisher
Dracula made really clear to me the intensity of the Haze Code since by modern day standards, it’s a lot tamer than the stuff I’ve seen. This horror movie was classified as a horror thriller film and the thriller part is correct as far as I can tell but for me, it was leaning more towards comedy. Perhaps it’s because of how far we’ve come in movie production, but I like to think that the acting had that comedic-timing-je-ne-sais-qouis to it. Christopher Lee’s performance as Dracula was hilarious just with the knowledge that he really didn’t want to do Dracula anymore (though I learned this fact after the movie). But, My Goodness… Peter Cushing as Doctor Van Helsing, the way he brings life to the entire film and practically gives the entire production a facelift is a feat that must be studied. The colours of the movie and the pacing really sealed the deal for me that Fisher’s 1958 Dracula is absolutely a divine watch.
Available: on DVD
Mamma Mia (2008)
directed by Phyllidia Lloyd
For the longest time, telling people that I have not watched Mamia Mia! felt like a sin that I could never reveal. This month, I finally took the leap, and I completely understand why people absolutely worship this film. It’s feel-good, it’s sentimental and it’s just a fun movie with Meryl Streep and Amanda Seyfried gracing your eyes and ears. Not to be the typical English Lit Major, but the way the film is set in Greece and follows the format of a Greek play was absolutely fantastic and sent me to the ethereal plane (don’t quote me on that). If you ever just want a fun time watching independent women and dumbfounded men sing ABBA songs and feeling like maybe you should give your mum a call, please (re)watch the film. For me, who’s still reeling from Seyfried’s performance in Lay All Your Love on Me. Phew.
Available: on Apple TV
Lesbian Avengers Eat Fire Too (1993)
directed by Su Friedrich & Janet Baus
Hand me a documentary about activist lesbians named the ‘Lesbian Avengers’ and you KNOW I’m tuning in. This documentary was intimate and so on-the-ground with the directors themselves being a part of the activist group, I deeply enjoyed the approach of no narration but rather letting each member of the activist group have a say in the documentary. The performance of lesbian art made by lesbians was also another aspect that I very much appreciated. Though it’s short, I feel that the act of documenting lesbians fighting for themselves to be powerful in and of itself in the history of lesbians aiding other causes. It’s meaningful and striking in its message.
Available: on Youtube
zeff’s picks
((The T a r k o v s k e n i n g))
Stalker (1979)
directed by Andrey Tarkovsky
Based on the novel Roadside Picnic, from which this movie and the S.T.A.L.K.E.R game series derives its story, this could be said as one of Tarkovsky’s most well known films, mayhaps owing to the fact that the Stalker game series developed by GSC Game World brought the Stalker name and its source material to fame. This film is absolutely one you should watch with friends, with the lights out, not because it’s a scary movie, but because I daresay there is something existential in it. The dialogue, the characters, the atmosphere all speak with a certain sense of existential dread and the realisation of it, which in itself lends to horror.
This film features three characters, who could be seen as parables. The Writer, the Professor, and the Stalker, who guides the other two to a location called the Zone, where it is said one’s wishes can be fulfilled. As all Tarkovsky movies are wont to be, and in fact as most Russian films of this era tend to be, the dialogue between the characters, and the nature of those characters seem very cryptic, and hidden under layers and layers of philosophy and metaphor that may take more than one sitting to decipher and understand.
To this day, I will admit to not understanding most of the dialogue in this film. There is a surface layer of understanding to it you might come across, but you’ll notice that they mean so much more than they say.
It is the same with the plot, which might seem roundabout and odd, which is consistent with the Tarkovsky style of directing. But owing to its recognisable source material, I would say this film is the easiest to digest amongst the rest of Tarkovsky’s works, because there is so much discussion about Roadside Picnic, the Stalker game series, and consequently this film as well. Give this a watch, although you might need quite some brain power for it.
A perfect Halloween movie by my account, not because it’s another scary horror movie with cheap jumpscares, but because the film’s nature fits into that Halloween mood in a philosophical kinda way that I love so much. If that isn’t enough, the locations this film was shot in are terrifying enough; most of them being in abandoned chemical plants that gave the actors medical problems long after filming.
Available: on Youtube! It’s on the channel ‘Mosfilm’
Solaris (1972)
directed by Andrey Tarkovsky
‘The Russian 2001: Space Odyssey’ is what one might say about this film, except if Stanley Kubrick tackled loss, grief, and Soviet space race nostalgia. This story is about a scientist being sent up to a space station orbiting the planet Solaris. Unlike Kubrick’s film, this film focuses on the emotional drama and interplay between the three scientists in the space station, and very broadly about the planet Solaris itself. The main character’s crisis and his struggle with loss, grief, and acceptance becomes the highlight of the film.
Being an earlier film than Stalker (1979), the film surprisingly shares a lot of the actors in that film. For example, the Writer in Stalker is one of the scientists in this film. As I expressed in the Stalker review, this film shares the Tarkovsky style of dialogue and narrative; that being very cryptic, philosophical, and all that within a deeply emotional frame that is often expressed by characters who seem to be outwardly stoic, but deep down, you notice an overarching struggle in their souls. Which I must say, is something I find characteristically Russian.
This movie is a long haul, much like a Kubrick epic, but unlike a Kubrick epic this is as cryptic as Stalker was. And I also don’t pretend to understand this movie or what Tarkovsky was trying to say with it, but neither do I think you really need to understand it. Watching the film itself should tell you all it wants to say, anything you notice under that surface layer of impression purely adds to the Tarkovsky experience.
Available: Also on Youtube, on the channel ‘Mosfilm’
Mirror (1975)
directed by Andrei Tarkovsky
Considered the greatest piece of Tarkovsky’s works, this film presents itself very vaguely as an autobiography (possibly of Tarkovsky’s life) in three chapters of history. There is the main character as a child living with his mother in a country cottage, his adolescence during what seems to be the Siege of Leningrad in World War II, and his life after the war.
This film seems to be the epitome of the Tarkovsky style of narrative introspection, because the film focuses entirely on the life and times of a single character. He is the narrative itself, the plot, the dialogue, and the meaning of the film. This is the culmination of Tarkovsky’s cryptic and philosophical inward thoughts and interrogations. But when you watch this movie as a regular movie, it absolutely does not make sense. And as I watched this with friends, we were all collectively baffled and left questioning what we just watched.
But that was rather a beautiful thought about it. Mayhaps the film was never meant to be understood at all. It was rambling, it was inward pondering of a character’s being. It couldn’t possibly be understood by anyone else who wasn’t the character himself, anyone else who hasn't experienced what he experienced. Not being Russian and or living during those times meant that I couldn’t grasp much of anything that was being said at all.
The Mirror sets the stage for the magnificence of Stalker, having laid the foundation for this Tarkovsky style of narrative. It’s a film that makes no sense when viewed outwardly, as a piece of media. But when understood as the inner thoughts and ramblings of someone like Tarkovsky, maybe there is some worth to be found here.
Available: Again, also on Youtube in full, on the channel ‘Mosfilm’
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