Halloween weekend is upon us, and if there’s one thing the city of Boston knows how to do, it’s make everyone in New England want to go to Salem, where the real spooky season stuff happens and exists as that nice farm upstate where old hipsters go when they get Old Yeller age. Look, we’re not saying that cool shit doesn’t happen all around the city during the haunting season, but we are saying that you’ll still have plenty of time to check out some incredible films at the second weekend of IFFBoston Fall Focus. Plus, a bunch of the big features aren’t happening near Halloween, so you don’t really have much excuse to miss out.
As always, Fall Focus will take over the Brattle Theatre (40 Brattle St. in Cambridge) from October 29 through November 4, and you better bet there are some heavy hitters in this line-up from here on out. So, if you want to impress your Letterboxd followers, your film school professors, or just have a great time watching some of the season’s best movies, get your ass to Cambridge. Here are five titles we think you might like, though the entire program is well worth your time (and let’s be real, it’s cheaper than getting plastered while dressed up as a sexy version of the Pirate Guy from Backrooms). For the full line-up, visit the IFFBoston site, and check out our picks for week one, as well. But yes, the five:
The Debut
Jesse Eisenberg’s junior feature (if the second movie is a “sophomore” effort, well, we’re going to take the metaphor all the way through high school) is his best yet. We caught this uproariously funny tale about a small-town theater production at TIFF, and it absolutely blew us away. Julianne Moore plays a newbie actor who first finds acceptance in the theater, then nearly tears her life apart as she butts heads with her director (Paul Giamatti). Her commitment to her part takes her to dark, bizarre places, but Moore and Giamatti’s fantastic performances light up the screen. So, if you were a theater kid or want to be a theater adult, The Debut may hit close to home – but it may, unexpectedly, warm your heart in the process.
‘THE DEBUT’ :: Thursday, October 29 at 7 p.m. :: Advance Tickets
Coward
This Cannes hit left us mush-mouthed when we caught it at TIFF (hence why we couldn’t get a review out), and we have a weird feeling you’ll swoon for it too. Lukas Dhont returns with another examination of queer life in Belgium, but his new setting, the trenches of the First World War, gives it a fantastic historical foundation for a strong romantic narrative. It’s about a young soldier (Emmanuel Macchia) who falls in love with a member (Valentin Campagne) of a military theatrical troupe made up of the walking wounded, those who aren’t fit for combat but can help behind the front lines. He decides he’d like to join them, hence where the “cowardice” of the title comes into play. But there’s nothing cowardly about Dhont’s stirring direction, or the fearless, achingly beautiful performances from Macchia and Campagne, who justly shared the Best Actor award on the Riviera back in May. So, be brave. Quit the Allston Halloween party and let this lovely, lovely film move you to tears. The rats will be there on the first.
‘COWARD’ :: Saturday, October 31 at 7:30 p.m. :: Advance Tickets
Elsinore
Want to get a leg up on everyone in your Oscar pool? Get your tickets for Simon Stone’s latest feature. Why? Andrew Scott, that’s why. Scott has had an incredible decade– All of Us Strangers, Blue Moon, Ripley, Wake Up Dead Man, et al- and this might be the performance that gets him on the stage in February. Scott plays Ian Charleson in the final years of the Chariots of Fire star’s life, as he defies the odds and an AIDS diagnosis to perform in a National Theatre production of Hamlet. Scott’s work is truly stunning, as he and Stone pay homage to the courage of an icon of modern English theatre who was much, much more than a Vangelis theme.
‘ELSINORE’ :: Monday, November 2 at 8 p.m. :: Advance Tickets
I Play Rocky
Who doesn’t love an underdog story? Those who didn’t like the first Rocky, maybe, and they should stay away from Peter Farrelly’s dramatization of Sylvester Stallone’s path to superstardom, since they probably hate fun. Before he was Oscar, he was a man with a dream – a dream to make a fictional movie based on that one dude who fought Ali, and to star in it as well. We’re really just kidding around, though: we’ve heard fantastic things about this feature, with special praise reserved for Anthony Ippolito, who plays Sly. Besides, in fifty years, they might make a movie about him: I Play Stallone in ‘I Play Rocky,’ and you’ll probably want to have the context for that so you can explain to your grandchildren why they didn’t make that movie about Creed instead.
‘I PLAY ROCKY’ :: Tuesday, November 3 at 7 p.m. :: Advance Tickets
BEHEMOTH!
Come February, you’ll face a very different Pascal’s Wager than you might expect. This time, it won’t be about believing in God; it’ll be about believing Pedro Pascal can bring home the bacon and win a Best Actor Oscar despite stiff opposition. Directed by Tony Gilroy (who you might know as “the guy who made the one piece of Star Wars media in the Disney era that everybody agrees is pretty damn good”), BEHEMOTH! follows an acclaimed cellist and session player who returns to LA to work on film scores with the orchestra, and what happens when he does. If the talent isn’t music to your ears, then, well, the music will be music to your ears – six composers worked on the film’s score, and it’s a tribute to the folks who make the movies sound as good as they do. So, will you take the bet?
‘BEHEMOTH!’ :: Wednesday, November 4 at 8 p.m. :: Advance Tickets