The Joker in the pack
October offers plenty of variety at cinemas. Next month marks the arrival of the first of the upcoming awards season contenders, and school holidays mean plenty of family-friendly offerings like Disney sequel
Maleficent: Mistress of Evil (October 17) and animated New Zealand-China co-production
Mosley (October 10).
Titles returning from the recent NZ International Film Festival include Capital in the 21st Century (October 10), Animals (October 10), Ask Dr Ruth (October 24) and Brittany Runs a Marathon (October 31). Will Smith stars in the sci-fi action movie Gemini Man (October 10) and Bill Murray headlines zombie comedy The Dead Don’t Die (October 24).
However, after looking through next month’s schedules, these are the movies we at
Stuff are most excited about seeing.
Hustlers (October 10)
Jennifer Lopez headlines a strong female ensemble for this crime drama about a crew of New York strippers who decide to supplement their incomes by stealing from the stock traders and CEOs who visit their club.
Joining her on their spree are Constance Wu, Julia Stiles, Keke Palmer, Lili Reinhart, Lizzo and Cardi B.
Jojo Rabbit (October 24)
A recent winner of the prestigious Audience Award at the Toronto Film Festival, Taika Waititi’s latest movie is the World War II-set story of a young German boy whose life is turned upside down when he discovers his mother is hiding a Jewish girl in their attic.
The impressive cast includes Scarlett Johansson, Sam Rockwell, Rebel Wilson, Stephen Merchant and our own Thomasin McKenzie.
Joker (October 3)
In a rare foray into a Batman-free Gotham City, Todd Phillips’ (The Hangover) thriller looks at the transformation of failed comedian Arthur Fleck into the clown prince of crime.
Joaquin Phoenix dons the white makeup, and Robert De Niro, Zazie Beetz and Frances Conroy also play key roles in the early 1980s-set origin story.
Judy (October 17)
Set in 1969 when the former
The Wizard of Oz star arrived in the British capital for a fiveweek run of sell-out concerts, this Judy Garland biopic is based on the hit 2005 Australian play End of the Rainbow.
Renee Zellweger plays the woman born Frances Ethel Gumm, while Jessica Buckley, Michael Gambon and Rufus Sewell are among the supporting cast.
Ride Like a Girl (October 24)
Sam Neill plays veteran Australian horse trainer Paddy Payne in this biopic that focuses on his daughter Michelle (Teresa Palmer), the first woman jockey to win the Melbourne Cup (in 2015, riding Prince of Penzance). Along for the ride are Magda Szubanski, Mick Molloy and Sullivan Stapleton.
Terminator: Dark Fate (October 31)
Linda Hamilton’s Sarah Connor is back in this latest instalment of the long-running sci-fi series. With a plot that aims to ignore everything post-Terminator 2 ,it sees Connor having to save a young girl and a hybrid cyborghuman from a newly modified ‘‘liquid Terminator’’. Deadpool’s Tim Miller directs, while Arnie keeps his promise ‘‘to be back’’.
Zombieland 2: Double Tap (October 17)
Emma Stone, Woody Harrelson, Jesse Eisenberg and Abigail Breslin reunite in this sequel to the 2009 action-comedy-horror.
This time Columbus, Tallahasse, Wichita, and Little Rock move to the American heartland, as they face off against evolved zombies, fellow survivors and the growing pains of their snarky makeshift family.