3 fresh new Paramount+ movies to watch this week (October 5-11)

Credit: Lucas Gouveia/How-To Geek Published Oct 5, 2026, 6:00 PM EDT Derek Malcolm has been covering the worlds of tech and entertainment for more than two decades. Before coming to How-To Geek in 2025, Derek was a contributing editor and writer for the A/V and Home Theater section at Digital Trends, where he wrangled and wrote everything from what to watch on Netflix to reviews, explainers, and guides on the latest Bluetooth speakers, turntables, projectors, and other A/V gear. Based in Toronto, Derek graduated from Humber College's Journalism program in 1999, after which he started covering the worlds of music, movies, TV, and celebrity for publications such as TV Guide, Hello! magazine, and Inside Entertainment. He then got the bug for covering tech and gadgets in 2006, when he served as editor-in-chief of Canadian tech magazine Connected for more than a decade. An avid skier, when all the snow's gone Derek can be found at home spinning vinyl with his daughter or cheering on his favorite F1 team, McLaren. Sign in to your How-To Geek account You know it's heading into spooky season when freaky things start happening. For starters, Ryan Phillippe has not one but two movies in the top spots on the Paramount+ U.S. movie charts. Shudder. I'm kidding, of course, but what's no joke are the 71 movies that the streaming service dropped into its catalog on October 1st, three of which are below and are well worth watching this week. Two of them head into the jungle, but with wildly different outcomes—Francis Ford Coppola's dark Vietnam War epic and a video game action-comedy with a 77% critics' score on Rotten Tomatoes. But my top pick this week is a John Hughes masterclass in odd-couple comedy with real heart. 3 Apocalypse Now Redux The horror, the horror, and an extra 49 minutes of it If you've never seen Francis Ford Coppola's dark and intense 1979 epic Apocalypse Now, now's your chance. It's considered by many to be at the pinnacle of Vietnam War cinema, alongside Platoon and Full Metal Jacket. The production, which was largely shot in the Philippines, was massively over budget, took three and a half years to make, survived a typhoon, and its star, Martin Sheen, nearly died from a heart attack. Loosley based on Joseph Conrad's novella Heart of Darkness, Apocalypse Now follows Captain Benjamin Willard (Martin Sheen), who is sent deep upriver into the Cambodian jungle to assassinate Colonel Kurtz (the larger-than-life Marlon Brando), a Green Beret who's gone rogue and is living as a pseudo-god in a chaotic compound. The iconic film is a hallucinatory trip that captures the madness of war, and this Redux version is streaming now the longest cut of the film, released in 2001, which restores 49 minutes that were left on the cutting room floor. Brando is unhinged, Sheen is at the peak of his career, and the film also features several memorable performances from other icons like Robert "I love the smell of napalm in the morning" Duvall and a young Laurence Fishburne. Redux has a 93% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Release Date August 15, 1979 Runtime 147 minutes Director Francis Ford Coppola Writers Joseph Conrad, John Milius, Francis Ford Coppola, Michael Herr Main Genre War Budget $31.5 million Studio(s) United Artists Distributor(s) United Artists 2 Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle Come for The Rock, stay for Jack Black as a mean girl As far as action-adventure comedies go, Jake Kasdan's sequel to the 1995 Robin Williams hit is one of the better ones of the last decade—comparables that come to mind include 2021's Free Guy and 2023's excellent Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves. Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle hit theaters in 2017 and became a box office smash, with its ensemble cast of heavy hitters—Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, Jack Black, Kevin Hart, and Karen Gillan, plus a side dish of Nick Jonas. The story, updated from a board game to a game console, sees a mismatched group of teens exiled to detention together magically get sucked into a vintage video game, only their avatars are nothing like their real-world selves. The nerdy kind takes the role of Dr. Smolder Bravestone (Johnson), a jock who shrinks into sidekick Mouse Finbar (Hart), the shy girl becomes commando Ruby Roundhouse (Gillan), and the funniest of all, the popular girl is stuck as middle-aged Professor Shelly Oberon (Black). The four must work together, and use their individual strengths to return a stolen jewel to a giant jaguar statue to return home. And if they use all three lives, they die ... for real. The 77%-rated film is a ton of fun, and it launched a trilogy that wraps up with Jumanji: Open World that's coming this December. Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle Release Date December 9, 2017 Cast Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Hart, Jack Black, Karen Gillan, Rhys Darby, Bobby Cannavale, Nick Jonas, Alex Wolff, Ser'Darius Blain, Madison Iseman, Morgan Turner, Sean Buxton, Mason Guccione, Marin Hinkle, Tracey Bonner, Najah Jackson, Natasha Charles Parker, Kat Altman, Maribeth Monroe, Missi Pyle, Michael Shacket, Jamie Renell, Marc Evan Jackson, Carlease Burke, Jason New Runtime 119 minutes Director Jake Kasdan Writers Chris McKenna, Jeff Pinkner, Scott Rosenberg, Erik Sommers Producers Matt Tolmach, William Teitler Prequel(s) Jumanji Sequel(s) Jumanji: The Next Level, Jumanji: Open World Franchise(s) Jumanji Main Genre Adventure Budget $90-150 Million Studio(s) Columbia Pictures, Matt Tolmach Productions, Seven Bucks Productions Distributor(s) Sony Pictures Releasing Executive Producer(s) Ted Field, Dany Garcia, David B. Householter, Dwayne Johnson, Jake Kasdan, Mike Weber 1 Planes, Trains and Automobiles Steve Martin and John Candy's Thanksgiving trip from hell Planes, Trains and Automobiles is the ultimate Thanksgiving movie that my my family and I watch every year during the comatose hours after stuffing ourselves with turkey. I'm Canadian, and I know it's weird, but it's Thanksgiving this weekend. And even though it isn't streaming on Paramount+ up here (I have the DVD, though), why not just borrow our holiday as an excuse to eat some turkey and watch this John Hughes masterpiece anyway? The guy who made his career of defining the high school experience made a hard-right into more adult-focused fare with this comedy classic. It follows uptight ad exec Neal Page (Steve Martin) whose flight home from New York to Chicago for Thanksgiving is forced to land in Wichita due to a snowstorm. It's there he agrees to team up with loveably annoying Del Griffith (John Candy), a traveling shower curtain ring salesman. The rest is one disaster after another—from the famous pillow incident in the motel to the broken-down train to their flaming rental car and "going the wrong way" on the freeway. Along the way, however, Neal learns that there's more to Del than meets the eye, and the film has one of the most touching endings of the era. Planes, Trains and Automobiles is this week's top pick, and it still holds a 93% on Rotten Tomatoes. Planes, Trains & Automobiles Release Date November 25, 1987 Runtime 93minutes Director John Hughes Cast John Candy, Steve Martin, Kevin Bacon Writers John Hughes Budget $15million Studio(s) Paramount Pictures Distributor(s) Paramount Pictures There's a ton more to watch on Paramount+ We're obsessed with streaming movies and TV shows, and we're experts on it. Every week we stay on top of everything hitting all the major streamers and pull the best recommendations together so you don't have to. For Paramount+, if movies are your thing, the above list comes every Monday. If you're into thrillers, we have that, too. We also get more niche, with great suggestions for bingeable miniseries, documentaries and more. Subscription with ads Yes, $8/month Simultaneous streams 3 Live TV Select live sports (NFL on CBS & UEFA Champions League) Price Starting at $8/month or $60/year