October 2023 Movies Ranked

With October at a close, it is time to share my thoughts and ranking of the 5 October releases that I saw. This month was a bit light for me. I only saw two movies in the theaters just because of what was being released and being gone for a week. Despite that, I still managed to see three solid movies on streaming. I wouldn't go negative on any of these movies but there was a large gap in quality between the bottom and the top of this list. With that being said, here are my thoughts and ranking of the five October releases that I saw.

5. Five Nights at Freddy's

Five Nights at Freddy's is a small horror movie streaming on Peacock based on a video game series of the same name. For fans of the video games, it seemed like this movie was a lot of fun. It delivered on the setting and characters from the game and had some solid moments from the game. For someone like me who hasn't played the games, I just thought the movie was okay. I thought the basic premise was interesting as essentially being Chuck E Cheese coming alive and trying to kill people. I also thought it had some solid horror action and some quite terrifying moments. I also thought it was fun to see Josh Hutcherson in something new as he hasn't been in a lot since The Hunger Games. Finally, I thought this movie had a surprising amount of emotion as its core is about the relationship between a man and his little sister. The biggest thing holding this movie back for me is just that it had too much backstory and too many side plots bogging it down. I was there to see killer animatronic action, not custody battles and missing siblings. I also thought that the action was a bit light until the second half. In the end, while it gave the fans some of what they wanted, I thought it was a bit too bogged down with backstory to be truly exciting.

Score: 6.5/10 Grade: B-

4. Dumb Money

Technically, this movie came out in September but I saw it at the beginning of October which is why it is here. This movie and Pain Hustlers are very similar in tone and both happen to be about a weird event that happened in the last ten years. Dumb Money centers around the GameStop stock fiasco back in 2021-2022. It follows Keith Gill as he sparks a movement that causes GameStop's stock to rise to ridiculous levels. This movie takes a very interesting story and gives it a somewhat light tone. It's not a funny movie but is definitely more exciting than a typical movie about the stock market would be. I liked how this movie had a lot of star power in it with Paul Deno, Shailene Woodly, Pete Davidson, Seth Rogan, America Fererra, and Nick Offerman. They all portray very interesting and fun characters that bring a different perspective to the story. The movie also does a great job of making the stock market make sense. It explains concepts in an easy-to-explain way that makes the story very easy to pick up. Finally, I thought the movie did a good job of including COVID in its story and showing how different characters responded to the virus. The main issue holding this movie back is that there were just too many characters and storylines going on. There were at least four different characters to follow each with their own investments in the stock, not including any of the hedge fund managers that get some moments. I felt it just caused the movie to jump around way too much and didn't really give any character time to develop. Overall, this is a very interesting story with fun actors but it just had too many characters that made the story jump around too much.

Score: 7/10 Grade: B

3. Pain Hustlers

Just like with Dumb Money, Pain Hustlers has a bit of a lighter tone while telling a story about a bizarre event. Pain Hustlers centers around Liza Drake who joins a fentanyl-based drug company that bribes doctors to prescribe its medicine. The two leads, Chris Evans and Emily Blunt do a great job of playing larger-than-life characters. Chris Evans is trying really hard to distance himself from Captain America and so far has done a pretty decent job at it. His character is essentially the exact opposite of Captain America and Chris Evan plays the part so well. I was very impressed with Emily Blunt's performance. I think she does a great job playing a redneck American, hiding her British accent very well. She also gives a lot of emotion in her role with some very impressive scenes. I thought the story as a whole was very interesting. It was fascinating to see inside this drug company and see how they operate. The movie also manages to get you to route for these characters even though they are doing bad things. Liza goes through a lot of conflict her throughout the movie and by the end, you want her to make the right decision which she eventually does. The biggest issue with the movie is that it got a little slow in the later half of the film. I also had a hard time getting invested in the Liza character at first and she just came across as so unlikable and selfish. In the end, this was a high-energy story about an interesting subject that was a little rocky at parts but won me over by the end.

Score: 7.5/10 Grade: B

2. Totally Killer

Totally Killer was the most fun movie this month. It is essentially Back to the Future as a slasher film which made for a really fun story. This movie is probably about as close as we will get to a Back to the Future remake. It takes a modern-day teenager and sends them back to the less PC 1980s. There are a lot of fun interactions here as our main character, Jamie, gets so taken aback by the cultural differences of the 80s. I also thought the slasher side of the movie was done well too. It adds a bit of a whodunnit element to mix and kind of gives off a Scream vibe in terms of tone. The time travel logic also makes a good deal of sense. It utilizes more of the logic from Avengers Endgame, where changing the past just creates a new reality instead of impacting the person who time traveled. It was also interesting to see the changes Jamie was making be shown in real-time in the future. The only issue I had was that the ending reveal wasn't as satisfying as it should have been. These top two movies were a bit harder to place as they are so different from each other. Killers of the Flower Moon is clearly the better-made movie but Totally Killer is a lot more fun and probably one I would be more likely to re-watch. But ultimately I had to go with Killers of the Flower Moon at number one as it is the more well-made movie. Overall, this was a very fun movie that mashed two very fun sub-genres together.

Score: 8/10 Grade: B+

1. Killers of the Flower Moon

When a Martin Scorsese movie comes out, it is pretty difficult for another movie to be number one for that month. Of course, this movie has great Oscar-worthy performances from Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert DeNiro, and Lily Gladstone. All three actors give such compelling and layered performances. Robert DeNiro and Leonardo DiCaprio's characters are both terrible people but they are still likable that you get invested in their story. I also really liked the setting of the movie. It is set out in the Old West. The sets all look so real as this movie was filmed out in rural Oklahoma. I also liked the historical aspects of this film. I thought it was interesting how the movie addressed the culture of the Native Americans and their struggles and relationships with the white settlers. I also liked the overall story. The movie kind of plays a bit like a murder mystery thriller with Lily Gladstone's character trying to uncover who is killing her people. Finally, I liked how this movie manages to build tension throughout its runtime. With a time of 3.5 hours, it has the potential to run slow but this movie manages to keep things tense and interesting until the very end. In the end, this is a very well-made movie by Martin Scorsese that tells an interesting story with solid performances.

Score: 8.5/10 Grade: A-