The Best Movies, TV, Books and Music for October

Welcome to Culture Hound, InsideHook’s deep dive into the month’s most important cultural happenings, pop and otherwise. 

A prequel to The Sopranos, this new film — via longtime series director Alan Taylor and series creator David Chase — charts a young Anthony Soprano and the relationship he has with his “uncle” (and mentor) Dickie Moltisanti. (HBO Max/theaters, 10/1)

More new films coming to the small screen and big: The Guilty (Netflix, 10/1); Venom: Let There Be Carnage (theaters, 10/1); V/H/S 94 (Shudder, 10/6); No Time to Die (theaters, 10/8); Halloween Kills (theaters/Peacock, 10/15); Needle in a Timestack (theaters/VOD, 10/15); Dune (theaters/HBO Max, 10/22); Army of Thieves (Netflix, 10/29); Paranormal Activity: Next of Kin (Paramount+, 10/29)

How would a hostile alien invasion unfold around the world? Apple’s new series shows a nice combination of big-budget FX and a more grounded approach — more Signs and Arrival, less Independence Day.  (Apple TV+, 10/22)

New series: Baking Impossible (Netflix, 10/6); Chucky (Syfy/USA, 10/12); Dopesick (Hulu, 10/13); Guilty Party (Paramount+, 10/14)

Last season wrapped with Kendall Roy betraying his father and declaring “today his reign ends” in a televised press conference. Obviously, the focus will be on the Roy family civil war that lies ahead in the show’s forthcoming third season. One thing: The new season will conveniently ignore the Covid-19 pandemic.

Returning TV series and specials: Saturday Night Live (NBC, 10/2); The Walking Dead: World Beyond (AMC, 10/4); Shark Tank (ABC, 10/8); Legends of the Hidden Temple (The CW, 10/8); You (Netflix, 10/15); Fear the Walking Dead (AMC, 10/17); Succession (HBO, 10/17); Locke & Key (Netflix, 10/22)

A limited series that follows Colin Kaepernick’s life story, from growing up as a Black adopted child in a white family through this successful pro football career and now in his present-day role as an activist. It’s a scripted work, though Kaepernick does narrate. Bound not to cause controversy or opinionated emails. (Netflix, 10/29)

More new documentaries: The Velvet Underground (Apple TV+, 10/15); 

If Dave Grohl is even half as entertaining a writer as he is a performer (and talk show guest), we’ll be thrilled. Expect tales from starting from his first tour at 18 through Nirvana, Foo Fighters and all the famous people he hung out (or collaborated) with over the past several decades.

More new non-fiction: (10/5) Truffle Hound by Rowan Jacobsen; The Night the Lights Went Out by Drew Magary; Major Labels: A History of Popular Music in Seven Genres by Kelefa Sanneh  (10/12) The Boys: A Memoir of Hollywood and Family by Ron Howard and Clint Howard; Gastro Obscura by Cecily Wong and Dylan Thuras; Music Is History by Questlove  (10/26) Cooking at Home by David Chang and Priya Krishna 

New fiction: (10/5) Crossroads by Jonathan Franzen  (10/12) Silverview by John le Carré

A “super deluxe” edition of the Fab Four’s final album Let It Be contains five CDs, a Blu-ray audio disc and a 100-page hardcover book. The expanded set features new mixes, unreleased session recordings, a 14-track “Get Back” stereo mix that reflects what the album would have possibly sounded like in an earlier, pre-Phil Spector incarnation, and track-by-track recording information. With the Peter Jackson documentary on the band’s final days coming up in November, this feels like the ideal companion piece.

More new music: (10/1) Tony Bennett & Lady Gaga; Brandi Carlile; The Specials; Meek Mill  (10/8) James Blake; Billy Bragg; Atmosphere; We Are Scientists  (10/15) Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes; Coldplay, FINNEAS; Tom Morello; Santana  (10/22) Lana Del Rey; Duran Duran; Elton John; Lady A  (10/29) Tori Amos; Mastodon; Migos; Ed Sheeran; The War on Drugs

Archive releases: (10/1) Taylor Swift; Neil Young  (10/22) The Rolling Stones