2024 October Movie Ranking: What Were the Top Films I Saw?

With another month come and gone, it is time to share my thoughts and ranking on the October new releases that I saw. October was a very light month between going on vacation and not having a lot of movies out this month. Because of this I only managed to see four new movies. There isn't too much else to say about this month as there wasn't a whole lot going on. With that being said, here are my thoughts and ranking of the four new releases that I saw.

4. Venom: The Last Dance

Venom: The Last Dance is a movie that is definitely not very good but it is still a lot of fun. The best part of this movie is the dynamic between Eddie and Venom. The two have such a bromance that really comes to its peak in this film. The movie also plays into its goofiness with a lot of fun sequences through the format of a road trip movie. Every stop the two make has some little fun sequence that makes the movie more entertaining. The movie also has an incredibly entertaining third act. The story is incredibly clunky to get there but once the action starts it totally delivers. From a quality standpoint, the movie is not good. The script is messy with lots of clunky storytelling and subplots that just don't need to be there. The movie also has an overabundance of characters that really have no purpose in the story. But in the end, for a movie like this, none of that really matters. I'm here to watch Venom bite people's heads off and dance to Dancing Queen and that is what this movie delivers.

Score: 6/10 Grade: C+

3. Joker: Folie a Deux

Joker: Folie a Deux is probably the highest-profile film on this list. Following up on the billion-dollar Joker, many people were very interested in this film. Unfortunately, this film did not do well. I bombed at the box office making less than 1/4th of the original and has not fared well with critics or audiences. From my experience, I didn't hate or think it was as terrible as many people did. Making it a musical was definitely a choice but it went for it and I think handled the musical aspect rather well. I also thought that Lady Gaga was a standout in the film with her performance as Harley Quinn and I wish we would have gotten more of her. The biggest issue about this film is that the film actively dislikes everything great about the first film. It takes the impact of Arthur and his Joker and downplays the connection between the two identities. It also hardly ever allows Arthur to do any Joker stuff and when he gets the opportunity, he rejects the role. I was a bit unsure about the film when I first saw but after thinking about it more and hearing some podcasts about it, my opinion of it dropped quite a bit. The best way to describe this movie is that it is a very well-made not great movie. In the end, certain aspects of this movie worked well but the fact that it spits in the face of everyone who liked the first film really hurt how good it could be

Score: 6.5/10 Grade: B-

2. Conclave

Conclave is the one Oscar-bait movie I saw. This movie follows the Catholic Church as they undergo the intense process of electing a new Pope. Based on that description, the movie sounds very boring but it was actually a surprisingly somewhat exciting thriller. The movie features solid performances from Ralph Fiennes, Stanley Tucci, and John Lithgow. The basic feel of this movie is that it is a soap opera within the Catholic Church. During the process, the different officials attempt to expose each other's pasts to make them ineligible to the Pope. The movie really dives deep into being a deconstruction of the Catholic Church. It emphasizes that even those high up in the religion are flawed people like everyone else. The movie also provides a lot of details about the Catholic Church. The whole process of electing the Pope was quite interesting and something I didn't know before. The movie also does a great job of bringing the audience into the intrigue. By the end of the movie, you are really invested in who becomes the new Pope. What holds this film back for me is that while it does add a bit of excitement to the process of electing a Pope, there is a cap to how exciting it can be. It did begin to feel a bit dull at times for me just due to the subject matter. In the end, while this is not the most exciting movie ever, it is still very well-made and offers a decent level of intrigue and suspense.

Sc0re: 7.5/10 Grade: B

1. Saturday Night

Saturday Night was the biggest surprise of the month. It was not on my radar at all until I saw a preview for it a few months ago. This movie does a great job of capturing the chaos and tension of the 90 minutes leading up to the first episode of Saturday Night. The film plays in real time which really adds to the urgency of what is happening. Every time something goes wrong, you feel the stress of knowing that they are just losing time. I found this movie to be quite funny with a lot of interplay between characters doing a great job of cutting the tension. Easily the best part of the movie was the casting. The cast does a great job of embodying their characters. You can totally buy these actors as a young John Belushi, Dan Ackroyd, Jim Henson and others. These actors just nail the mannerisms and personalities of these people. The standout performance was the actor who played Chevy Chase. He was absolutely perfect in the role. Overall, this was a very fun movie with perfect casting that pays tribute to Saturday Night Live.

Sc0re: 8.5/10 Grade: A-