I’m kind of a wuss when it comes to horror movies, which makes me that much more susceptible and appreciative when a good one comes along. In honor of Halloween, here are five recent horror films that did the trick for me.
“Mr. Nobody”: A heady sci-fi Choose Your Own Adventure
“Mr. Nobody” is now available on video-on-demand and for rent on Amazon and iTunes. It opens theatrically in New York and Los Angeles on Friday, November 1. A Madison date has not yet been set. R, 2:28, two and a half stars out of four.
Think of “Mr. Nobody” as a “Choose Your Own Adventure” book for grown-ups, but read straight through as if it were any other book, so the reader keeps skipping across alternate storylines. On Page 28, the hero gets eaten by a dragon; on Page 29, he’s alive again, having decided not to go into the dragon’s cave after all.
What’s playing in Madison theaters: Oct. 25-31, 2013
All week
“The Counselor” (Point, Eastgate, Star Cinema, Sundance, Cinema Cafe) — It’s no country for young men, either, as Cormac McCarthy writes this bleak thriller about a lawyer (Michael Fassbender) who gets entangled in a Mexican drug cartel.
“Museum Hours”: When the paintings look back at you
“Museum Hours” screens at 7 p.m. Thursday at the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art. Free for members; $7 at the door for everyone else. Not rated, 1:46, three and a half stars out of four.
It’s fitting, of course, that a film called “Museum Hours” would screen at a museum, although the classical paintings in Jem Cohen’s film would stick out like a sore thumb among MMoCA’s more contemporary pieces. Still, the film captures the contemplative feeling of whiling away a couple of hours among some of the world’s great works of art, especially in the company of a couple of engaging, droll guides.
Instant Gratification: “Dirty Wars” and four other good movies to watch on Netflix Instant
Pick of the week: “Dirty Wars”: My full review is here, and my interview with Jeremy Scahill is here. Investigative journalist Jeremy Scahill (a Wauwatosa native) looks into America’s secret war on terror, including targeted assassinations and drone strikes, and ponders the blowback that we may be unleashing.
Classic of the week: “Wake in Fright”: My full review is here. A cultured schoolteacher is waylaid in a rough Australian town in this 1971 film, and a dark night of drinking, carousing and kangaroo slaughter unleashes his inner beast.
Documentary of the week: “Ai Weiwei Never Sorry”: My full review is here. The combative Chinese artist Ai Weiwei mixes art and activism to crusade against his government’s abuses.
Thriller of the week: “In Bruges”: My full review is here. Brendan Gleeson and Colin Farrell are hitmen on furlough in a picturesque Belgian town in this very funny and very violent film.
Western of the week: “Two Mules for Sister Sara“: Not my favorite Clint Eastwood Western, as Clint reluctantly takes on a prostitute masquerading as a nun (Shirley MacLaine). But still, a Clint Eastwood Western.
See “Nosferatu” and help UW-Cinematheque convert to digital
You really don’t need an extra reason to see Werner Herzog’s 1979 chiller “Nosferatu” on the big screen, especially with Halloween coming up. The 1979 film is effect both as an homage and an update to the F.X. Murnau silent vampire classic; as UW student Ryan Waal said on the UW-Cinematheque blog, “this film is emotionally expressive and scary in ways most films only aspire to be, and a fantastic demonstration of Herzog’s abilities to curate and display pure weirdness on the screen.”
“Gravity,” “Captain Phillips,” and being trapped off the grid
Spoilers abound in this article, not surprisingly.
“I get it.” astronaut Matt Kowalski (George Clooney) says to astronaut Ryan Stone (Sandra Bullock) at one point during “Gravity.” “It’s nice up here.” Earlier in the film, before everything goes to hell, Kowalski asks Stone what she likes best about outer space, and she says, “The silence. I could get used to that.”
What’s playing in Madison theaters: Oct. 18-24
All week
“Carrie” (Point, Eastgate, Star Cinema) — “Boys Don’t Cry” director Kimberly Peirce takes a swing at a remake of the Stephen King classic, but they’re all going to laugh at her. Or at least dismiss her film as a by-the-numbers cash grab.
“I Used to Be Darker”: Heartbreak in a minor key
“I Used to Be Darker” opens Friday at Sundance Cinemas. Not rated, 1:30, three and a half stars out of four.
In musicals, people sing when mere dialogue isn’t enough to express the emotions that they’re feeling. In that sense, Matthew Porterfield’s “I Used to Be Darker” follows those same rules. For the most part, the characters are closed off from each other, mumbling pleasantries or veiled insults instead of saying what they mean. It’s only within the safe confines of a song that they feel comfortable revealing themselves.
“A.C.O.D.”: Breaking up is hard to do with a straight face
A.C.O.D. opens Friday at Sundance Cinemas. R, 1:27, three stars out of four.
“A.C.O.D.” is a movie that might properly described as “sitcommy,” although that speaks less to problems with the movie than just how good sitcoms are these days. With sharp writing and acting, including two of the stars of “Parks and Recreation,” “A.C.O.D.” (“Adult Child of Divorce”) is in the tradition of everything from “I Love Lucy” to “Modern Family,” an amusing collision between insufferable people and those who try to suffer them. It’s more a situation than a story, but a pretty funny situation.
Madison Movie 