The Old Man and the Gun:

Robert Redford's final movie in front of the camera, he says, as he steps away from acting, is a delight for Redford fans. It is a nice, gentle, bank robbery story for anyone with a desire to watch a tale about real people who did the real things depicted in the film.  Redford is Forrest Tucker, a man who was imprisoned 17 times, and escaped 16 times, all for armed robbery.  He did it in such a gentlemanly fashion that even his victims, as well as the police, marveled at what a fine man he was.  Casey Affleck plays the Texas cop working the case and Sissy Spacek is Tucker's romantic interest.  There are many references to Redford's previous work, including scenes that are tips of the hat to The Sting, The Chase, and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.  True fans will pick up on all of these.  It's a small picture that Redford produced himself, and he said, when interviewed, that it was nice to bow out of acting in such a fun way.  And fun it truly is!  Rated PG.

Halloween:

40 years after six-year-old Michael Myers stabbed his 15 year-old sister to death, and then murdered three other people, he's back at it again in what is likely not the final sequel to this long-running franchise.  This is one of those horror movies where, as the body count mounts, we really don't care all that much about those being dispatched.  Many of the people who are offed by the once-again-on-the-loose mental patient are either sketchy characters in whom we are not invested, or characters too stupid about whom to care.  Stupid people in horror movies are always abundant, and they always get what's coming to them.  Jamie Lee Curtis is back as Laurie Strode.  No longer a teenage babysitter, she is now a grandmother, but her adult daughter and her teenage granddaughter have no real relationship with Laurie, because they see her as being totally obsessed with the return of Michael Myers.  She is, they think, paranoid and just a little mental herself, and that has put a strain on the family.  When Michael Myers is being transported by school bus, along with a number of other mental patients, it doesn't take long for him to dispatch everyone on the bus and go on the loose once again, looking for Laurie Strode on Halloween night.  A compendium of rather stupid teenagers fills in the spaces in the plot as they await their own deaths at the hands of the masked killer who seems unkillable himself, and the ultimate showdown between Laurie and Michael seems to leave a crack in the door for a sequel.  Much to her credit, Jamie Lee Curtis plays it straight, looking and acting like a regular grandmother - one with issues for sure, but there is nothing exotic or pretentious about her - no facelifts, no fancy lighting, and no big makeup or hair ... she's just your garden variety paranoid waiting for her tormentor to show up. Rated 18A for violence.

 Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween:

Based on the series of children's horror stories by R. L. Stine, this is a sequel to 2016's Goosebumps, and once again stars Jack Black as R. L. Stine.  This time it's Halloween, and there are monsters afoot.  A couple of teens who work after school as junk collectors, take on a job, and inadvertently open a trunk containing Slappy the Dummy.  They read a magic spell included in the box, and decide they will take Slappy to be their own. What they don't realize is that the spell has brought Slappy to life, and that he has magical powers.  Initially, Slappy uses those powers to pull the pants down on a school bully threatening one of the boys, making the bully a laughing stock, but soon Slappy becomes a problem.  He uses his magic to turn Halloween costumes of witches and goblins into the real thing, and before we know it, the city is overrun.  Despite the spooky stuff, it's all played for laughs and kids, other than those who are very young, will find it fun and entertaining.  Rated PG.

A Quiet Place (2018):

John Krasinski (The Office) and his real-life wife Emily Blunt (Mary Poppins Returns) star in one of the best sci-fi/horror films of the past decade.  In a post-apocalyptic world where "something" has invaded the earth, we follow a family living in a rural area that is doing its best to survive.  The aliens are blind, but they have acute hearing and the slightest noise results in instant death.  As Lee and Evelyn Abbott, they do their very best to keep things quiet, but when Evelyn becomes pregnant, we wonder how they will manage with a crying baby in the picture.  No blood, no guts, no gore ... just a very, very good thriller.  Rated 14A. 

Solo (2019):

This Netflix original film is a story of overcoming all odds as a lone surfer falls of a cliff and is badly injured in the Canary Islands where the movie was shot on location.  Alain (Alvaro Vizcaino) is badly injured, the storm-driven tide is coming in, and there is no way back up the cliff.  Spanish with English subtitles, a life-threatening challenge ensues.  Rated 14A.