The holidays are over and the days are getting colder, which means it’s the perfect time of year to cuddle under some blankets and enjoy a movie! We have several big titles arriving at the library in January, including something for just about everybody! There are 2 very different takes on the Halloween holiday, one that’s pretty scary and one that’s decidedly more family friendly. We also have a trio of poignant dramas, a comedy, a true story about mankind’s trip to the moon, and a twisty thriller. Check out the list below!
NIGHT SCHOOL
A group of misfits are forced to attend adult classes in the longshot chance they’ll pass the GED exam.
Description and score provided by Metacritic.
“The promise is double the fun, double the laughs, and the movie can’t quite deliver on that. But there are still big laughs to be had, and there’s the pleasure of watching these two gifted comedians sharing the same frame.” – Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle
“Positively amusing, Night School assures Tiffany Haddish’s lift-off into comedic stardom, continues to sell Kevin Hart’s trademark persona and makes an outspoken case for supporting and encouraging individuals to accept their challenges and to work on moving forward.” – Carlos Aguilar, TheWrap
Available Formats (1/1):
BAD TIMES AT THE EL ROYALE
Seven strangers, each with a secret to bury, meet at Lake Tahoe’s El Royale, a rundown hotel with a dark past. Over the course of one fateful night, everyone will have a last shot at redemption… before everything goes to hell.
Description and score provided by Metacritic.
“Bad Times At The El Royale is creepy and mysterious in all the right ways. The tension builds as the non-sequential story allows the pieces to fall into place in mesmerizing fashion.” – Bobby LePire, Film Threat
“The more that Goddard upends our assumptions about who’s good, who’s bad, and who’s going to live through the night, the more we realize that we’re rooting for all of these f██ed-up people to get right with the world. It’s massively didactic, but in a way that encourages us to dwell on how we feel about these characters, and how malleable those feelings are.” – David Ehrlich, IndieWire
Available Formats (1/1):
HALLOWEEN
Laurie Strode comes to her final confrontation with Michael Myers, the masked figure who has haunted her since she narrowly escaped his killing spree on Halloween night four decades ago.
Description and score provided by Metacritic.
“While no entry in the franchise has surpassed the original film, this Halloween sequel is truly a cut above the rest and a great piece of horror entertainment even for those unfamiliar with the series.” – Jim Vejvoda, IGN
“With original director John Carpenter’s blessing, Green manages something that is both a tribute to and an evolution of the 1978 classic, with moments designed to create resonances that are not just re-enactment but part of his bigger theme of trauma-causing scars (there are also, in a nod to his days as an Austin resident, a couple of subtle visual nods to the original The Texas Chain Saw Massacre).” – Richard Whittaker, Austin Chronicle
Available Formats (1/15):
GOOSEBUMPS 2: HAUNTED HALLOWEEN
Halloween comes to life in a brand-new comedy adventure based on R.L. Stine’s 400-million-selling series of books.
Description and score provided by Metacritic.
“The special effects are still top-notch and it is a pleasant little scare-fest for the Halloween season.” – Nell Minow, RogerEbert.com
“So, the safely scary and often amusing formula holds. Meanwhile, the movie’s conclusion includes enough plot about Stine’s fate to suggest Goosebumps 3 will feature more of the elusive Black and that can only be a good thing.” – Kate Taylor, The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
Available Formats (1/15):
THE OLD MAN AND THE GUN
Forrest Tucker (Robert Redford) has been on the wrong side of the law since he was a teen. He grew into a career bank robber who broke out of prison 18 times, including a daring escape from San Quentin at age 70. The film covers his twilight years, and an unprecedented string of daring heists that confound authorities and enchants the public. Wrapped up in this chase are a detective (Casey Affleck) who becomes captivated with Forrest’s commitment to his craft, and a woman (Sissy Spacek) who loves him in spite of his chosen profession.
Description and score provided by Metacritic.
“So damn charming it makes your heart twinkle like Redford’s eyes.” – Jamie Graham, Total Film
“Sometimes a movie arrives that charms its way into your heart — and The Old Man & the Gun is just such an unassuming, exuberant gift.” – Peter Travers, Rolling Stone
Available Formats (1/15):
FIRST MAN
First Man is the riveting story of NASA’s mission to land a man on the moon, focusing on Neil Armstrong and the years 1961-1969. A visceral, first-person account, based on the book by James R. Hansen, the movie will explore the sacrifices and the cost-on Armstrong and on the nation-of one of the most dangerous missions in history.
Description and score provided by Metacritic.
“What makes the movie so memorable, so good, so strong, is the unvarnished, warts-and-all perspective.” – Richard Roeper, Chicago Sun-Times
“Astonishing. The definitive take on a monumental moment in history — without ever losing sight of the man underneath the visor.” – John Nugent, Empire
Available Formats (1/22):
THE HATE U GIVE
Starr Carter is constantly switching between two worlds: the poor, mostly black, neighborhood where she lives and the rich, mostly white, prep school she attends. The uneasy balance between these worlds is shattered when Starr witnesses the fatal shooting of her childhood best friend Khalil at the hands of a police officer. Now, facing pressures from all sides of the community, Starr must find her voice and stand up for what’s right.
Description and score provided by Metacritic.
“Like the infamous ‘talk’ that opens the film — the conversation that many black parents feel forced to have with their children about how to behave when you are stopped by the police — it is a movie that feels both essential and terribly, terribly sad.” – Michael O’Sullivan, Washington Post
“If Tillman ties it all together a little neatly, he’s already served up a message that feels too fresh and important to dismiss — not of hate but of hope, and faith that even if sharing these stories can’t magically fix what’s broken, telling them still matters.” – Leah Greenblatt, Entertainment Weekly
Available Formats (1/22):
THE WIFE
After nearly forty years of marriage, Joan and Joe Castleman (Glenn Close and Jonathan Pryce) are complements. Where Joe is casual, Joan is elegant. Where Joe is vain, Joan is self-effacing. And where Joe enjoys his very public role as Great American Novelist, Joan pours her considerable intellect, grace, charm, and diplomacy into the private role of Great Man’s Wife. Joe is about to be awarded the Nobel Prize for his acclaimed and prolific body of work. Joe’s literary star has blazed since he and Joan first met in the late 1950s. The Wife interweaves the story of the couple’s youthful passion and ambition with a portrait of a marriage, thirty-plus years later—a lifetime’s shared compromises, secrets, betrayals, and mutual love.
Description and score provided by Metacritic.
“Close’s performance here surely must finally provide her with the Oscar she has deserved for so many years; the suppressed resentment which slowly builds up on her face steadily throughout the film is a masterclass in screen acting.” – Zoe Margolis, CineVue
“Soars above the ordinary with a timely narrative and a magnetic performance by Glenn Close that is nothing short of miraculous.” – Rex Reed, Observer
Available Formats (1/29):