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On Demand: What's New To Netflix, Redbox, And Amazon Prime For October 2014

Picking out a movie can be a lot like browsing the cereal aisle - the more options you have, the harder it is to decide what to watch.  It's especially difficult for subscription-based services like Netflix and Amazon Prime, which offer you more programming than you can even browse in one sitting. In our monthly segment "On Demand", we help make your movie nights memorable by offering our favorite movies and shows being made available this month.

Kramer vs. Kramer (1979)

A workaholic learns how to be a better parent after his wife walks away from their marriage. There are at least 7 reasons to watch this movie: Dustin Hoffman, Meryl Streep, and five Oscars – including Best Picture. Available on October 1st.

Shadow of the Vampire (2000)

It’s 1921, and film director Frederich Murnau (played by John Malkovich) wants to make the most realistic vampire movie ever made – so he casts a real vampire in the leading role. Also starring the godfather of creep, Willem Defoe, as the “real” Nosferatu. A good Halloween movie for viewers who aren’t fans of the standard slasher flick. Available on October 1st.

Credit Taylor Quimby
Django Unchained: Revenge is in Style

Team America: World Police (2004)

Have frightening headlines about ISIS, climate change, and Ebola got you down? Harken back to 2004 with this outrageous comedy by South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone. It’s a satirical take on what was then a growing policy of American interventionism. Sound familiar? Available on October 1st.

Wyatt Cenac: Brooklyn  

You’ll recognize this comedian from his time at the Daily Show with Jon Stewart, where he was a correspondent from 2008 until 2012. His low-key, conversational standup-style is perfect for public radio listeners. Available on October 21st.

Django Unchained (2012)

Jamie Foxx stars as slave-turned-bounty-hunter Django Freeman in Quentin Tarantino’s homage to the spaghetti western. Like most of his movies, it’s beautifully shot, incredibly violent, and definitely worth seeing.   Available on October 25th.

Credit Taylor Quimby
Things pretty much go downhill from here.

Evil Dead II (1987)

There’s no better month than October to revisit your favorite cult-horror classics – so why not pour yourself a steaming mug of wassail, cozy up with a nice fleece blanket, and watch a chainsaw wielding maniac battle his own demon-possessed appendages? Available October 1st on Amazon Prime.

Carrie (2013)

Not interested in revisiting a cult classic? Then how about a remake? This modern re-imagining of the 1976 horror film Carrie follows a shy girl with telekinesis as she seeks bloody vengeance against the high school bullies who torment her at Senior Prom.  Available October 2nd on Amazon Prime.

In A World…  (2013)

Written, directed, and starring Lake Bell, this charming film is about an aspiring voice-over artist struggling to compete in the male-dominated movie trailer industry. Co-starring comedian Dimitri Martin, In A World is a rare and intelligent romantic comedy that doesn’t sacrifice plot or originality for steamy love scenes and slapstick humor. Available on October 7th on Netflix and Amazon Prime.

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (2013)

District 12’s bow-wielding Amazon, Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) returns in the second installment in the Hunger Games franchise. This sequel got an even higher score on Rotten Tomatoes than the first Hunger Games movie (89% of critics gave it a “fresh” rating) and was considered by many fans to be “better than the book”. So there’s that. Available on October 22nd on Netflix and Amazon Prime.

Ivory Tower (2014) There aren’t many documentaries coming to Redbox, so this film investigating the growing student debt crisis definitely caught our eye. Critics say that Ivory Tower attempts to cover too much ground in just 90 minutes – but with an 88% approval rating from top critics on Rotten Tomatoes, perhaps it ought to be required viewing for college applicants and their parents. Available October 1st.

Obvious Child (2014) An aspiring comedian faces an uncertain future and an unwanted pregnancy in this film praised for tackling a sensitive subject matter with intelligence and humor. The style and tone has been compared to Lake Bell’s In A World, another recent movie admired for its willingness to put a feminist spin on the clichéd rom-com formula.  Available October 7th.

Godzilla (2014) Does this movie really require a synopsis?  Starring Bryan Cranston (Breaking Bad), Aaron Taylor-Johnson (Kick-Ass), Elizabeth Olson (Martha Marcy May Marlene) and the most enormous Godzilla in the 60-year history of the King of Monsters.  Available October 14th.

Credit Taylor Quimby
Take this Godzilla! Pew pew pew!

The Fault In Our Stars (2014) If you know nothing about this film, a quick word of advice: stock up on tissues. The Fault In Our Stars is a love story about two teenagers with cancer, and its penchant for causing viewers to weep openly in theaters became a viral meme when it was released earlier this year.  Available October 14th.

Snowpiercer (2014)

With a mostly English cast, big stars like Chris Evans and Tilda Swinton, and over-the-top action sequences, this Korean sci-fi flick was practically made for American audiences. Directed by Bong Joon-ho (The Host), Snowpiercer broke box office records in South Korea, and became one of the highest-grossing on-demand releases of all time here in the United States. Here’s the gist: the world is a frozen wasteland, and what’s left of humanity survives on a high-speed train that circumnavigates the planet once every year.  Definitely check this one out. Available October 21st.

Correction: A previous version of this post incorrectly identified one of the stars in the film Snowpiercer as "Paul Evans" - while there are certainly some folks out there with that name, the big star of Snowpiercer is actually named Chris Evans.

Taylor Quimby is Supervising Senior Producer of the environmental podcast Outside/In, Producer/Reporter/Host of Patient Zero, and Senior Producer of the serialized true crime podcast Bear Brook.
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