THE TOP 5
The top five movies at the North American box office:
Halloween: David Gordon Green’s movie is the 11th in the franchise, but he wisely ignores everything since the original. So we pick up
40 years later with a former terrorized babysitter (Jamie Lee Curtis) now a pistol-packing survivalist, and Michael Myers on the loose again. Mixed results, but worth it to revisit an old classic. ★★★ (Chris Knight) A Star Is Born: Starring Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper (who also directs) as star-crossed lovers, this is the fifth incarnation of a familiar tale, but it’s never been better. The two leads have genuine chemistry that receives full melodramatic expression in several spectacular musical performances. ★★★★1/2 (Calum Marsh) Venom: Tom Hardy stars as Eddie Brock, a muckraking journalist who picks up a parasitic alien passenger after visiting an evil entrepreneur’s lab. There are problems with plot and motivation, but on the plus side there’s some solid banter — Hardy also does the deep voice of Venom. ★★★ (Chris Knight) Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween: In this followup to the 2015 film, which featured a similar premise involving R.L. Stine’s books all serving as individual Pandora’s boxes, siblings Sarah (Madison Iseman) and Sonny (Jeremy Ray Taylor), plus best friend Sam (Caleel Harris), must conquer a ventriloquist’s dummy’s evil plan to bring Halloween decorations and costumes to life. ★★ (Tina Hassannia) Hunter Killer: Gerard Butler plays a submarine captain in this cheesy espionage thriller that jumps between the Pentagon, the Arctic Ocean and a Russian naval base. It’s complicated and straightforward — many moving parts, but no one who isn’t exactly who and what they say they are. ★★★ (Chris Knight)