WHAT WE CAN’T WAIT TO WATCH
Watchmen
When HBO announced it was developing Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’s landmark deconstruction of superhero narratives as a television series – and that Lost’s Damon Lindelof was running the show – the biggest question was: why? Wasn’t Zack Snyder’s 2009 movie the most faithful adaptation possible? It turns out Lindelof’s master plan was to create a companion piece to the text, set well after the events of the comic in an America looking for meaning in the absence of heroes. Oscar-winner Regina King stars as Angela Abar, a cop who moonlights as a cape – and who’s pulled into a larger battle when she tries to stop a terrorist group that models themselves on the unhinged vigilante Rorschach. October 20
Mrs. Fletcher
This limited HBO series, which screened at TIFF, is a twofold coming-of-age story: the indomitable Kathryn Hahn plays the titular Eve Fletcher, a mother figuring out what to do with herself after her son leaves for college, while her son Brendan (Jackson White) attempts to fit in with progressive college politics at odds with his sexist jock persona. It’s based on the New York Times bestselling novel by Tom Perrota, who last teamed up with HBO for the TV adaptation of his novel, The Leftovers. (Perrota has a knack for writing books that make great adaptations: he also wrote the high school satire Election and the drama Little Children). We can’t wait to see Hahn leading her own show. October 27
RuPaul’s Drag Race UK
The British version of the reality show that somehow turned drag into a viable career path is also the first international edition to star RuPaul and his bestie Michelle Visage. Joining them on the judging panel are chat-show hosts Alan Carr and Graham Norton plus rotating celeb guests that include Andrew Garfield, Michaela Coel, Twiggy and Spice Girl Geri Horner. In a twist, one of the contestants is a London-based Canadian queen Crystal. The references to classic BBC sitcom production values in the trailer have us hoping the impending Canadian version will fully embrace that classic Canadian TV look, aka Degrassi Realness. October 3
Letterkenny (season 7)
Jared Keeso and Jacob Tierney’s cult Canadian comedy is back for another round of snappy insults, deadpan reaction shots and small-town foolishness: this season, for some reason, the Hicks launch a public-access call-in show. Keeso (who stars) and Tierney (who directs) are also bringing back some of their favourite recurring characters, including Kaniehtiio Horn’s Tanis, leader of the Natives Kelly McCormack and Jess Salgueiro as Betty-Anne and Mary-Anne, rival stars of the Letterkenny Shamrockettes and Glen, the closeted pastor played by Tierney. And of course Magalie Lépine-Blondeau will return as Marie-Fred, to whom Keeso’s Wayne was about to propose in last season’s cliffhanger. October 11
Silicon Valley (season 6)
Returning for its final season, Mike Judge and Alec Berg’s HBO sitcom about a scrappy software engineer (Thomas Middleditch) who bumbles his way into killer apps and corporate death matches has an awfully high bar to clear: the world is very different than it was when the show started, and dick jokes – however ingenious and mathematically accurate – just aren’t going to cut it anymore. But Silicon Valley has always been conscious of its tech-bro vibe, if not 100 per cent in control of it, and hopefully Judge and Berg will be able to make these last episodes work as commentary as well as comedy. And maybe they’ll let Kumail Nanjiani write an episode. October 27
Sid & Judy
It’s a good time to be a friend of Dorothy. Fifty years after Judy Garland’s death at age 47 we’re getting a big-screen biopic starring Renée Zellweger – that we gave 4Ns – plus this Stephen Kijak-directed documentary about the Hollywood icon’s relationship to her third husband (and manager) Sid Luft. Narrated by Jon Hamm and Jennifer Jason Leigh, the film draws upon newly available Luft family archives and promises to feature never-heard-before voice recordings and rare footage. October 18
Courtesy of Focus Features
Isabelle Huppert (left) plays another piano teacher from hell in Greta.
SOLID BETS
Greta
Neil Jordan’s campy, Toronto-shot thriller finds Isabelle Huppert riffing on her iconic role from Michael Haneke’s The Piano Teacher, but in English. The French acting great stars as a loner piano teacher who stalks, imprisons and tortures a young woman (Chloë Grace Moretz), Misery- style. The movie is among a few high-profile thrillers released recently that tap into post-#MeToo conversations about women being believed. Though the plot machinations are predictable, Greta turns into a good time when it gets to where it’s obviously going. The kind of movie you might watch while nursing a Sunday hangover. October 25
Firecrackers
Andrea Arnold’s Fish Tank comes to mind while watching Canadian director Jasmin Mozaffari’s film about two young women (Michaela Kurimsky and Karina Evans) who dream of escaping their rundown rural Ontario town. They’re scraping by, cleaning motels while planning to make a break from a depressed economy and inescapable misogyny. Mozaffari took home the best director prize at the Canadian Screen Awards for this tough-but-sensitive feature debut. October 10
Final Destination 2
If you’re new to the horror franchise – in which hapless people have a near-death experience only to die later in gruesome karmic comeuppances – you need to know that the second movie is what set the template for the remaining three sequels. Producers traded the ominous CGI liquid representing death and the earnest tone from part one for Rube Goldbergian splatsick and unapologetic self-parody. (Liquid spilled dangerously close to an electrical socket is a running gag that is never not funny.) It also opens with a gloriously inane sequence on a highway that Quentin Tarantino has hailed as “magnificent” and the best movie “car action piece” since Terminator 2: Judgment Day. October 25 with Starz add-on
Pleasantville
Gary Ross’s 1998 film, featuring rising stars Reese Witherspoon and Tobey Maguire, is about two teens who get trapped in reruns of a 50s black-and-white sitcom. Their modern sensibilities literally bring colour to a televised suburban America where innocence verges on intolerance. It’s the kind of movie that would’ve won Best Picture at the Oscars if it were released just a decade later. October 11 with Starz add-on
The Bourne Supremacy
The first four Bourne movies are hitting Crave, and while Identity and Ultimatum are nothing to sneeze at, The Bourne Supremacy is where it’s at. The first team-up between Matt Damon and director Paul Greengrass (taking over for Doug Liman, who helmed the original) features a more soulful, self-critical Bourne his climactic feat this time is a sincere apology. Arguably one of the best action movies since Die Hard, The Bourne Supremacy is packed with show-stopping sequences and that final car chase, in which two vehicles swirl through a narrow tunnel like they’re doing the tango, is near-Frankenheimer great. October 11 with Starz add-on
Easy Rider
Pay tribute to the late Peter Fonda, who passed away in August, by watching this late-60s classic. Fifty years ago, the landmark road movie represented the counter-culture onscreen while ushering in the New Hollywood – or American New Wave – movement of the 70s. Co-written by stars Fonda and Dennis Hopper (who also directed), the film follows hippie bikers Billy and Wyatt as they roll across America like cowboys on the new frontier. October 11 with Starz add-on
Full list of new titles available in October, by date. The + symbol indicates a TV show or movie that is only available on Crave+ . The * symbol indicates a TV show or movie that is only available with the Starz add-on.
TV SHOWS
October 1
The Bold And The Beautiful (season 33, episodes 24-28)
October 2
The Voice (season 17, episodes 3-4)
October 3
RuPaul’s Drag Race UK (season 1, episode 1)
October 4
Ali Siddiq: It’s Bigger Than These Bars
Murder In The Bayou (season 1, episode 4)
Room 104 (season 3, episode 4)+
W5 (season 54, episode 2)
Wynonna Earp (seasons 1-3)
October 5
Gary Gulman: The Great Depresh+
October 6
The Affair (season 5, episode 7)
Ballers (season 5, episode 7)+
The Circus (season 4, episode 11)
Last Week Tonight With John Oliver (season 6, episode 25)+
On Becoming A God In Central Florida (season 1, episode 8)
Power (season 6, episode 7)*
Power: Confidential (season 1, episode 7)*
The Righteous Gemstones (season 1, episode 8)+
Succession (season 2, episode 9)+
October 7
The Deuce (season 3, episode 5)+
Our Boys (season 1, episode 10)+
October 8
The Bold And The Beautiful (season 33, episodes 29-33)
October 9
The Voice (season 17, episodes 5-6)
October 10
RuPaul’s Drag Race UK (season 1, episode 2)
October 11
Letterkenny (season 7)
Murder In The Bayou (season 1, episode 5)
Real Time With Bill Maher (season 17, episode 30)+
Room 104 (season 3, episode 5)+
W5 (season 54, episode 3)
October 13
The Affair (season 5, episode 8)
Ballers (season 5, episode 8)+
The Circus (season 4, episode 12)
Last Week Tonight With John Oliver (season 6, episode 26)+
On Becoming A God In Central Florida (season 1, episode 9)
Power (season 6, episode 8)*
Power: Confidential (season 1, episode 8)*
The Righteous Gemstones (season 1, episode 9)+
Succession (season 2, episode 10)+
October 14
Desus & Mero (season 1, episode 34)
The Deuce (season 3, episode 6)+
October 15
The Bold And The Beautiful (season 33, episodes 34-38)
October 16
The Voice (season 17, episodes 7-8)
October 17
Desus & Mero (season 1, episode 35)
RuPaul’s Drag Race UK (season 1, episode 3)
October 18
Real Time With Bill Maher (season 17, episode 31)+
The Red Line (season 1)
Room 104 (season 3, episode 6)+
W5 (season 54, episode 4)
October 20
The Affair (season 5, episode 9)
Axios (season 2, episode 5)+
The Circus (season 4, episode 13)
Leavenworth (season 1, episode 1)*
On Becoming A God In Central Florida (season 1, episode 10)
Watchmen (season 1, episode 1)+
October 21
Catherine The Great (season 1, episode 1)+
Desus & Mero (season 1, episode 36)
The Deuce (season 3, episode 7)+
October 22
The Bold And The Beautiful (season 33, episodes 39-43)
October 23
Castle Rock (season 2, episodes 1-2)
The Voice (season 17, episodes 9-10)
October 24
Desus & Mero (season 1, episode 37)
RuPaul’s Drag Race UK (season 1, episode 4)
October 25
Deadly Class (season 1)
Real Time With Bill Maher (season 17, episode 32)+
Room 104 (season 3, episode 7)+
W5 (season 54, episode 5)
October 27
The Affair (season 5, episode 10)
Axios (season 2, episode 6)+
The Circus (season 4, episode 14)
Last Week Tonight With John Oliver (season 6, episode 27)+
Leavenworth (season 1, episode 2)*
Mrs. Fletcher (season 1, episode 1)+
Power (season 6, episode 9)*
Power: Confidential (season 1, episode 9)*
Silicon Valley (season 6, episode 1)+
Watchmen (season 1, episode 2)+
October 28
Catherine The Great (season 1, episode 2)+
Desus & Mero (season 1, episode 38)
The Deuce (season 3, episode 8)+
October 29
The Bold And The Beautiful (season 33, episodes 44-48)
October 30
Castle Rock (season 2, episodes 3-4)
The Voice (season 17, episodes 11-12)
October 31
Desus & Mero (season 1, episode 39)
RuPaul’s Drag Race UK (season 1, episode 4)
MOVIES
October 1
Diego Maradona+
October 4
Chronically Metropolitan*
Cowboys Vs. Aliens*
The Drop*
Foreman*
Glass+
High Plains Drifter*
King Of Marvin Gardens*
National Lampoon’s European Vacation*
National Lampoon’s Vacation*
Slaughterhouse Rulez+
Slumdog Millionaire*
October 10
Torn Apart: Separated At The Border+
October 11
Bourne Identity*
Bourne Legacy*
Bourne Supremacy*
Bourne Ultimatum*
Easy Rider*
Enough*
No Good Deed*
The Ladies In Black+
Pleasantville*
The Sisterhood+
Sleepless In Seattle*
October 17
Liberty: Mother Of Exiles+
October 18
Bucky Larson: Born To Be A Star*
A Colony+
Flipped*
Hitch*
House Of 1000 Corpses*
The Informant*
Orphan*
The Purge*
Sid & Judy
Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride*
The Wedding Guest+
October 24
Saudi Women’s Driving School+
October 25
The Book Of Life*
Christine*
Edward Scissorhands*
Evil Dead*
Final Destination*
Final Destination 2*
Freddie Vs. Jason*
I Am Ali*
Poltergeist*
The Prodigy+
The Unseen+
October 29
Any One Of Us+
October 30
The Bronx, USA+
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