David Fincher’s Gone Girl finally hit theaters last weekend, after what felt like months (and months) of internet hype, and immediately rocketed to the top of the box office. If you’ve already re-read Gillian Flynn’s book and gotten your fill of full-frontal Ben Affleck—but are still looking to scratch your itch for stories about, ahem, unusual relationships—this weekend offers plenty of options at theaters around Washington.
Opening Friday at E Street Cinema is Only Lovers Left Alive, Jim Jarmusch’s vampire love story starring Tom Hiddlestone and Tilda Swinton. Before you cry Twilight foul, know that this flick involves zero werewolves, and the main characters’ lust runs more to exploring the vast realm of art and culture than each other’s undead bodies. An eternity to stay ahead of the cultural curve? It’s every hipster’s dream.
Also opening Friday at E Street is The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Her and Him, two separate films that explore a couple’s crumbling marriage from each party’s distinct perspective. Them, the third version of the story Ned Benson created, was the only one to get a wide release, but critics have reviewed both gender-divided versions more favorably. Decide for yourself which half of the couple is in the right.
October 10 through 16, the Goethe-Institut puts on the Film Neu festival, featuring new works from Germany, Switzerland, and Austria. The lineup this year includes Love Steaks, a partially improvised film about an unlikely friendship between a pair of hotel workers (the supporting cast members are all actual hotel employees rather than actors); and Age of Cannibals, a “German Wolf of Wall Street” about two ruthless business consultants at war with each other. See the full schedule of films online.
Showing through Thursday at West End Cinema is Fort Bliss, which stars Michelle Monaghan as a hyper-competent Army medic returning home and attempting to reconnect with her young son and ex-husband. Written and directed by Washington local Claudia Myers, it’s a film that translates the idea of work/life balance through the lens of modern war to heartbreaking effect.
On Friday, the Angelika Film Center in Fairfax offers a late-night screening of The Shining, Stanley Kubrick’s famous adaptation of Stephen King’s novel about a family trying to survive the winter—and a serious case of cabin fever—in a terrifying Colorado hotel.
Sick of thinking about bad relationships? AFI Silver Theatre provides some even scarier subjects. Its annual Spooky Movie International Horror Film Fest, running October 9 through 18, includes titles such as the pulpy Call Girl of Cthulhu, the Iranian vampire flick A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night, and the Australian haunted-house film The Babadook.
