Movie of the Day: "The Skeleton Twins" (2014)

The next Halloween set movie is last year's The Skeleton Twins, an indie dramedy out of Sundance that is completely made by the chemistry and rapport between Kristen Wiig and Bill Hader as siblings reunited after a ten year estrangement. I really liked this movie a lot, even with the slightly formulaic elements to it- sometimes when the actors and characters fuse like this, everything seems believable and authentic, and you just want to spend time with these people as much as they clearly want to spend time with each other. It's a film set during the fall season in upstate New York and with a big brother-sister outing on Halloween night, so it surely is perfect for the holiday. Take the time to check this one out when you can.

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New 'Suicide Squad' Pics Show Off Harley Quinn and the Joker

Empire magazine got the new stills from next year's Suicide Squad, with new looks at Margot Robbie's Harley Quinn, the Joker, Killer Croc and Enchantress. This movie could either be wacky and cool like Guardians of the Galaxy or super weird and a total misfire like this summer's Fantastic Four. Here's hoping for the former- at least WB seems to be letting David Ayer go with his own, weird vision. He's now promising a love triangle between Harley Quinn, Joker and Will Smith's Deadshot.

Movie of the Day: "Donnie Darko" (2001)

Our next movie set at Halloween is the cult classic Donnie Darko, one of the most confusing and surreal movies you'll ever see, but intriguing nonetheless. You can see why this became a cult phenomenon after it came out, since it's almost impossible to figure out what's happening in this movie and what it all means. Jake Gyllenhaal plays a troubled high schooler who keeps seeing a monstrous rabbit everywhere who's telling him the world is going to end in 28 days. This takes us through the month of October and a climactic Halloween party, which fits our theme, and the movie's creepy enough to qualify as somewhat frightening, although it's hardly horror. I wouldn't try to think too hard on this one when you're watching it- the plot is too puzzling to concern yourself with, so instead just enjoy the strange mood and dazzling visions set to some great 80's music (the movie takes place in 1988). It's still a haunting experience in a lot of ways.

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Movie of the Day: "Song of the Sea" (2014)

For this Halloween week, we're going to do something a little bit different, and instead of outright horror or monster movies, we're going to recommend films that are actually set on or around the holiday itself. As you might expect, there aren't too many, but I did manage to dig up five choices, the first of which is this beautiful gem from last year, which you may remember as one of my favorite films of 2014. It's only grown stronger in my memory, and now it may even qualify as my number one movie of last year- a story of a little boy and his sister, who happens to be a Selkie, as they journey back to their home and run into a myriad of characters from Irish folklore. It's actually set on Halloween, funnily enough, so it counts as an entry in this Halloween set category, and I'll never refuse the chance to recommend this wonderful movie whenever I can. Check it out, and show the kids too. It's a treat unto itself.

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Blu-Ray Pick of the Week: "Mulholland Dr." (2001)

One of David Lynch's best movies and one of my very favorite films of the previous decade is out in a Criterion Collection edition this week, and it's so creepy (well, it's Lynch, how could it not be?), that hey, it works well for Halloween too. Naomi Watts had her breakthrough role as the super sweet small town girl who gets caught up in the mysterious noir-esque Hollywood scene. You can't describe too much more of the plot than that, because it takes all kinds of surreal twists and turns and it's best to just let it wash over you as you try to absorb the madness. In a way, this movie deals with the powerful and abstract nature of dreams in a way that so-called mindbenders like Inception could never conceive of. Mulholland Dr. will blow your mind in the very best way- I guarantee it.

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REVIEW: "It Follows" (2015) Maika Monroe, Keir Gilchrist. Dir. David Robert Mitchell

It’s that time of year where horror is the thing to be watching, but I just caught up with one that was released way back in January, and it’s kind of a shame because this was undoubtedly one of the best movies of the year. It Follows is the second feature from writer-director David Robert Mitchell, and if this guy goes out of his way to take his cues from 70’s and 80’s horror films (John Carpenter especially, is an obvious influence here), this movie’s all the better for it.

It’s rare to see a horror film more concerned with mood than scares, but here’s one that evokes an enormous amount of dread and fear around every corner, almost regardless of whether anything is ever actually coming at you in that jump scare shot perfected by guys like James Wan of (Saw and The Conjuring). A college student named Jay (Maika Monroe) happens to be dating a guy who seems pretty into her, until it’s revealed that he was using her to “pass on” the entity that’s been following him wherever he goes. How does he pass it on? Well, through sex of course- this is horror movie about teenagers. Nothing good ever comes from having sex, and in this one the fear is made literal. The supernatural being in question is vaguely ambiguous, sometimes taking the form of loved ones, alive or dead, and always catching up with you eventually, even though it’s actually slow enough that you can outrun it for a period of time, but only temporarily.

In line with the old 70’s and 80’s horror movies, Jay isn’t totally alone in her plight. She’s surrounded by a group of friends, including her little sister, who try to believe her fear of impending doom despite being unable to see the thing that’s haunting her every living moment. The movie becomes a quest to get rid of it or pass it on before Jay meets her maker (if the thing catches up with you you’re dead, and if it kills you it comes after those who passed it that far), but the mechanics of the plot are not what makes this movie great. This is a supremely controlled effort from a very talented filmmaker, and every shot betrays a talent who knows exactly how long to hold a shot and what kind of atmosphere will present a mood that will make you afraid, no matter what it is that’s really following Jay. What is it anyway? Is it the fear of death or the fear of life? Is it everything that scares anyone of a certain age before facing the ultimate fear of adulthood? Is it the slut-shaming that follows women of any age whenever they choose to own their sexuality in positively assertive ways (that idea of passing it on is explored to exactly the point where you’d expect it to go).

This movie can certainly work on the level of metaphor, thanks to the mood, the style of acting (which is subtle and low key) and the direction which places us in a world that seems vaguely set in that 70’s Halloween era (someone has a cell phone, but not everyone, and the clothes and cars are ever so slightly retro in that respect). But Mitchell makes a crucial mistake when he decides he has to give the entity a physical presence beyond the atmospheric haunting. This occurs in two scenes, two scenes that are so miscalculated they nearly take you out of the film in a manner that makes you angry at the movie for failing to stick the landing that could have catapulted this film to the level of a classic. Because of this it must settle for being merely good, not great. But what a crying shame that is, because without such a turn of events that forces the film’s villain into a mortal movie monster, this would qualify as an essential entry in a genre that rarely produces such essentials. And with such a terrific closing sequence, I’m tempted to name it such anyway. Still, I say to David Robert Mitchell- bring on your next movie and fast. You’ve certainly captured my attention.

* * * 1/2

Ricky Gervais to Host the 2016 Golden Globes

Well, they lost Tina Fey and Amy Poehler, so the Hollywood Foreign Press goes back to what they know. Ricky Gervais is going to host the Globes for the fourth time in 2016. The 2010 show will forever remain notorious for his turning it into a celebrity roast, the surprise of which he was never quite able to duplicate in his second and third gigs. Still, now that he's been gone awhile, maybe the jabs will feel fresh again. Here's hoping- that first hosting stint from him was one of the most memorable Globes ceremonies ever. They will take place January 10th, live on NBC.

BOX OFFICE 10/23-10/25: 'The Martian' Returns to No. 1 as New Releases Flop

It was kind of an epic weekend for complete bombs, as Jem and the Holograms and Rock the Kasbah suffered two of the worst wide release openings ever, ParaNormal Activity and The Last Witch Hunter bellyflopped on the back of awful reviews, and most sadly, Steve Jobs performed way under expectations in wide release after its sterling two-week run in limited. We'll start with the last one first, since Universal had fairly high hopes for the biopic on the Apple CEO, considered a heavy Oscar contender and with some exceedingly good reviews to go with it, but this is an example of a film with narrow appeal, after its scorching PTA just two weeks ago failed to translate to mainstream success with audiences. It still managed an "A-" Cinemascore, but it will be interesting to see how the low box office affects its Oscar chances.

The top five was mostly filled by holdovers, as The Martian came in first with another 15 million for a new total of 166 million- that movie's own Oscar hopes are rising by the day. Goosebumps fell to second place and Bridge of Spies pulled off a miniscule drop of just 26 percent to remain in third, also helping the Spielberg film's chances for awards recognition. The Last Witch Hunter was the only new release to crack the top five, pulling in 10 million, a low number for Vin Diesel, while Hotel Transylvania 2 rounded out the chart with another 9 million.

Top 5:

The Martian- 15.9 million
Goosebumps- 15.5 million
Bridge of Spies- 11.4 million
The Last Witch Hunter- 10.8 million
Hotel Transylvania 2- 9 million

In limited release, Suffragette opened on 4 screens for 77k, a PTA of about 19k, not a great start for the wannabe Oscar hopeful, whose chances seem to be dimming by the day as well, with reviews not particularly glowing for the film. We're at the time of year where so many adult driven movies are crowding the theaters that many of them will inevitably end up left out in the cold, which to me is most disappointing for Steve Jobs- I'll have a review coming this week, but I really loved the film and wish they'd kept it in limited release a while longer. Next up we have the Sandra Bullock comedy Our Brand is Crisis against Bradley Cooper in Burnt- both films are not doing well with critics, so they will probably be underperformers while we wait for the release of the new Bond film Spectre on Nov. 6th.

Maureen O'Hara 1925-2015

Maureen O'Hara died peacefully in her sleep today at the age of 95. The screen legend from Hollywood's Golden Age was easily the biggest Irish movie star of the time, her breakthrough role as Esmeralda coming at the age of just 19 in the 1939 classic The Hunchback of Notre Dame, with Charles Laughton. Her other films included How Green Was My Valley, Dance Girl Dance, Sinbad the Sailor, Miracle on 24th Street, The Parent Trap, and five films she made with best friend and co-star John Wayne, including Rio Grande, The Quiet Man, and McLintock. O'Hara was finally awarded the Oscar for Lifetime Achievement just last year, amazingly, coming after a legendary career which earned her no individual nominations for acting.

REVIEW: "Bridge of Spies" (2015) Tom Hanks, Mark Rylance. Dir. Steven Spielberg

Bridge of Spies is a movie that strikes you as a real meat and potatoes kind of movie movie, if you know what I mean. It’s an old-fashioned, well lit, well shot, well acted story of an American hero given to you straight down the middle, but the novelty here is that it’s a story most people are probably very unfamiliar with. This is a history lesson from an obscure chapter of the Cold War, and a movie about American ideals and values, very much the kind of film that somebody like Frank Capra would have made with Jimmy Stewart, and any student of movie history can see the comparison here with Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks.

Hanks is starring in a Spielberg vehicle for the fourth time, and is once again playing a patriot like his all American WWII hero in Saving Private Ryan, but here he’s James Donovan, a lawyer who was hired to defend a Russian spy convicted of espionage in 1957. Mark Rylance plays the spy, actually not a Russian himself but working for the Soviet Union, and no one in the country thinks he deserves a fair trial of any kind, simply a “show” one, to uphold the pretend values that America supposedly stands for. Hanks of course is the idealist, although he doesn’t play an incredibly fiery one, just kind of a calm and reasonable one, the kind of aw-shucks performance from a guy that of course just wants to do his actual job and give Rylance a defense- especially when there is one, plainly sitting right there in the Constitution.

This first part of the movie can’t help but speak to today’s political climate in a strange parallel- we seem to constantly be dealing with whether we should actually uphold our constitutional values of civil liberties when it comes to national defense, and this issue has never really gone away, has it? We like to put on a good show, since we wrote a Constitution that was so righteous about sticking up for the liberties and rights of every person, even convicted non-American citizens under our laws, but how many times do we skirt the issue when it’s inconvenient for us? It’s refreshing to see common sense defended by Tom Hanks in that very old school, Jimmy Stewart decency kind of way, but the movie improves even more once we get past that first act, when Rylance is of course convicted, and his sentence ultimately upheld by the Supreme Court.

It’s in this last third or so that Hanks is suddenly called to East Berlin to negotiate a prisoner exchange when two Americans are captured, one by the Soviet Union and another by the newly formed Democratic Republic of East Germany. Hanks, as a private citizen, is sent kinda sorta on on the government’s behalf to negotiate the exchange with the assistance of the CIA, and he must engage in his own, natural instinct based kind of espionage. The negotiations are laborsome and difficult, with Hanks having to deal with the changing faces of the people who are negotiating on behalf of their own governments, some of which are secret KGB operatives in disguise and Stasi agents in the employ of the East Germans, who don’t want to be seen as pawns of the USSR. The recreation of Berlin that portrays a country just as the Wall was literally being built give us some very memorable and haunting images- an era we know won’t come crashing down for thirty years. Spielberg excels at relaying this kind of lived-in, historical period, and this film, which is in the vein of 2012’s Lincoln, does just that for the Cold War, with convincing performances, absorbing ideas on hand, and a compelling true story for audiences (history buffs especially) to sink their teeth into.

I won’t say he stays entirely away from his typical kind of sentimentalism, especially towards the end (oddly, also like Lincoln, this is yet another movie that goes out of its to not end in the obvious and appropriate shot- I have a feeling you’ll know it when you see it), but this is still one of the most restrained, subtle and mature works in his filmography. It’s immensely satisfying to see two old pros giving us a professional, intelligent and absorbing drama the likes the even older pros (Capra, Stewart) would be proud to boast on their own resumes.

* * * 1/2

Natalie Portman on the Frontier in 'Jane Got a Gun'

Okay, so this is one of those movies that's been delayed for literally years, with trouble in production, post-production, editing, you name it. Who knows how this thing turned out, but it's finally being released here in February, so we'll see a finished product soon enough. The first international trailer for it dropped today, so that explains these French subtitles, but I suspect this film probably didn't end up a masterpiece.

New Featurette for 'Creed' Explores the 'Rocky' Legacy

In this featurette Ryan Coogler explains why he wanted to make a Rocky spinoff, and how he sold Stallone on the whole idea. Interesting, because this is the first movie in the Rocky universe that Sly himself didn't write. I hope this is good, but I'm still crossing my fingers that Rocky doesn't die in it- c'mon guys, nobody really wants to see that happen.