The Headliner

Prometheus

Finally, it’s your chance to watch the year’s most divisive sci-fi thriller in the comfort of your home, and weigh in on the debate! Though director Ridley Scott tried to convince us all that Prometheus isn’t a prequel to the Alien franchise, when you see it, it’s … pretty clear that it is. So how you respond to the new additions to the Alien mythology probably depends on how much you love the original movies.

It’s hard to get into the most common criticisms about the film without spoiling it for you, but … there are aliens, and they’re generally not cool with humans. Michael Fassbender is especially delightful as David, a very devoted assistant to the ship’s scientists, but all the performances are pretty great. I grant that the plot doesn’t quite stand up to scrutiny, but for me, the tension and scares along the way were enough to put it over.

New and Notable

Rock of Ages

Tom Cruise plays the world’s most humorless rock star in the extremely unnecessary film adaptation of the extremely average jukebox musical.

 

The Raven

Maybe this period thriller, in which Edgar Allan Poe (John Cusack) must solve crimes based on his own stories, will be improved by watching it closer to Halloween? Maybe not.

 

Beauty Is Embarrassing

If you missed this documentary about artist Wayne White (he designed the puppets from Pee-wee’s Playhouse) when it was in theaters earlier this fall, see it now.

 

A Cat in Paris

Artsy, French, Oscar-nominated, boring … it’s this year’s Triplets of Belleville!

 

Crazy Eyes

As a rich, alcoholic jerk who is somehow still interesting and charismatic enough for Madeline Zima to want to see more than once, Lukas Haas may be miscast.

 

5 Time Champion 

A smart, troubled kid tries to find his way in this coming-of-age story. If that sounds generic, that’s because the trailer is generic.

 

Losing Control

When a scientist’s boyfriend proposes and she’s not sure whether to accept, she designs an experiment to determine whether he’s The One: sleeping with lots of other dudes.

 

The Art of Flight

Red Bull and Quiksilver are behind this documentary about snowboarders who seek out the most remote, dangerous mountains in the world.

 

Werewolf: The Beast Among Us

This Victorian wolf thriller isn’t The Wolfman, but might as well be.

 

Bedevilled

In this Korean thriller, an abused woman takes revenge not just on her husband, but on what seems to be her whole village.

 

The Barrens

True Blood star Stephen Moyer takes his family on a spooooooky camping trip in New Jersey’s Pine Barrens in a horror movie directed by a veteran of the Saw franchise.

 

“In Theaters” VOD Picks

Excuse Me for Living

A sad rich boy goes to rehab after an interrupted suicide attempt and gets his mojo back in what looks like a dude version of 28 Days.

 

Stars in Shorts 

Judi Dench, Wes Bentley, Tom Hiddleston, Julia Stiles, Keira Knightley, Lily Tomlin, and Colin Firth are among the stars of this anthology of seven short films.

 

HoldYourBreath 

A road trip goes awry when 30 Rock‘s Katrina Bowden and a bunch of nobodies drive past a graveyard, fail to hold their breath, and get possessed by a murderous ghost or ghosts.

 

Weird Indie of the Week

Zombies vs. Strippers

I … don’t know what I could tell you about this movie that the title doesn’t already convey.

 

Early VOD Premieres of the Week

Price Check 

In this dramedy, Parker Posey plays a high-strung supermarket executive who undertakes an affair with one of her employees, played by Ugly Betty‘s Eric Mabius.

 

28 Hotel Rooms

If you understood the sexy subtext of Chris Messina’s hot dance moves on this week’s episode of The Mindy Project, perhaps you would like to check out a movie in which he has lots and lots of sex.

 

Masochist’s Choice

Bloody Bloody Bible Camp

[WARNING: Red band trailer may be NSFW.]

A serial-killing nun preys on the kids at a bible camp in a (somewhat) comedic take on Friday the 13th, and for some reason Ron Jeremy is involved.