I watched a lot of movies in October with the grand total being 63! But nearly half of those were re-watches, mostly thanks to my Disney retrospective that I continued, where I revisited 15 films (from 1951’s Alice in Wonderland to 1988’s Oliver & Company). In celebration of finally being in the future, I also watched the classic Back to the Future trilogy in theaters, upping the re-watch count. And at the beginning of the month, I saw The Iron Giant in theaters, another childhood favorite. This is probably the most time I’ve been to the theater this year in a month, or even in general. Along with all those re-watches I also of course watched a good handful of scary movies. Anyway, let’s take a look at what I watched in the past 31 days.

New-to-Me: 39

Re-Watched: 24

New-to-Me Films by Decade:

• 1920s – 1
• 1930s – 2
• 1940s – 6
• 1950s – 3
• 1960s – 5
• 1970s – 9
• 1980s – 4
• 1990s – 3
• 2000s – 3
• 2010s – 3

List of New-to-Me Films:

1. Kiss of the Spider Woman (1985)
2. The Stepford Wives (1975)
3. The Wicker Man (1973)
4. Marathon Man (1976)
5. On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1969)
6. The Thing from Another World (1951)
7. The War of the Worlds (1953)
8. The Adventures of Prince Achmed (1926)
9. The Martian (2015)
10. Point Blank (1967)
11. Valley Girl (1983)
12. 28 Days Later… (2002)
13. Raffles (1939)
14. The Hound of the Baskervilles (1939)
15. Eyes Without a Face (1960)
16. The Changeling (1980)
17. The Nanny (1965)
18. The Curse of the Cat People (1944)
19. Dragonwyck (1946)
20. Diamonds Are Forever (1971)
21. A League of Their Own (1992)
22. The Witches (1966)
23. Valerie and Her Week of Wonders (1970)
24. Crimson Peak (2015)
25. Scream (1996)
26. Scream 2 (1997)
27. Scream 3 (2000)
28. Scream 4 (2011)
29. Oldboy (2003)
30. Frenzy (1972)
31. The Entity (1982)
32. Escape to Witch Mountain (1975)
33. Return from Witch Mountain (1978)
34. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1941)
35. Live and Let Die (1973)
36. The Seventh Victim (1943)
37. The Leopard Man (1943)
38. The Ghost Ship (1943)
39. My Cousin Rachel (1952)

Monthly Tallies

• Best Picture Nominees Watched: 1
• Movies Watched from The Criterion Collection: 2
• Movies Watched via the Watch TCM app: 8
• Movies Watched on TCM: 9
• Movies Watched on Hulu: 0
• Movies Watched in theaters: 6

Trends and Notes

• Watched 3 films from the year 1973, one was a re-watch.
• I’m slowly going through the James Bond movies in order, except for the ones starring Daniel Craig; I’ve seen them all and can’t wait to see Spectre soon! This month I watched 3 of them, where I finished Sean Connery’s run and started Roger Moore’s.
• Watched 2 new releases this month that featured Jessica Chastain in the cast. Really enjoyed both movies!
• Watched 2 films from the year 1939 in a row.
• Watched 3 films from the year 1943 in a row, all on TCM and all produced by Val Lewton.

A Few Favorite Discoveries:

On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1969), directed by Peter R. Hunt

As I mentioned above, I watched three James Bond movies, all starring different actors! It’s been a few years since I’ve seen From Russia with Love and Goldfinger, both of which I remember being the best of Sean Connery’s films, but On Her Majesty’s Secret Service may be my favorite of the ’60s outings of 007. George Lazenby only played Bond once, but he was fortunate enough to star in one of the better stories about the agent. Here the character is more rounded, instead of just being the suave man serving one-liners among all the action. Diana Rigg as Teresa “Tracy” di Vicenzo (later Mrs. Bond) is also one of my favorite Bond girls to come out of the series, matching the agent in wit, elegance, and of course beauty. The movie also features one of my favorite Bond songs, Louis Armstrong’s “We Have All the Time in the World” and features some gorgeously shot action filmed in Switzerland.

Valley Girl (1983), directed by Martha Coolidge

I saw this as a part of TCM’s Trailblazing Women spotlight, and I had such a good time watching this. It’s a great romantic comedy that features an early appearance by Nicolas Cage, the star of the movie. I love his chemistry with the title Valley Girl played by Deborah Foreman. It’s a simple Romeo and Juliet type story set in Los Angeles, where two teenagers from different parts of the grand city find love despite their different social backgrounds. It’s a fun sort of time capsule of the ’80s, featuring a stellar soundtrack. The movie also features what is now one of my favorite movie montages, where the two characters go about the city on different dates as the song I Melt With You plays.

The Curse of the Cat People (1944), directed by Gunther von Fritsch and Robert Wise

Though the movie follows the 1942 film Cat People, it actually doesn’t feature any cat people. Instead, it follows the characters Oliver (Kent Smith) and Alice (Jane Randolph) a few years after the events of the first film, and now they have a lovely daughter named Amy (Ann Carter). Though Amy is a charming little girl, she has trouble making friends of her own and instead has imaginary friends. This doesn’t sit well with her father, as it reminds him a bit of his first wife Irena (Simone Simon). The Curse of the Cat People isn’t really a horror film but is instead more of a fantasy film, almost like a fairy tale. Ann Carter gives one of the best performances I’ve seen from a child, and really elevates the movie with her sincerity and wonder.

A League of Their Own (1992), directed by Penny Marshall

This is another great movie that I discovered thanks to TCM’s Trailblazing Women! I grew up with a baseball-loving dad, and my sisters and I played a lot of softball, so it’s actually pretty strange that I never got around to watching A League of Their Own until just recently. Geena Davis owns her role in this, and I love her interactions with everyone in the movie, especially Tom Hanks and Lori Petty. This movie in general features a great ensemble, including some great comic moments between Rosie O’Donnell and Madonna.

Scream (1996), directed by Wes Craven

This is actually the first Wes Craven movie I’ve seen; I still need to see A Nightmare on Elm Street, which I meant to watch this month but didn’t get around to. Generally speaking, I don’t watch a ton of horror movies, though I’ve seen a good number of the classics over the years. Still, I know plenty of the genre’s tropes, and this movie (and the series in general) is a good satire on horror without being a terrible spoof, doing a great job of balancing the humor and scares. Scream still holds up after nearly 20 years later and feels like a breath of fresh air among most of the newer scary movies being churned out in recent years.