In Theaters: ‘Michael Jackson’s This Is It’ (Stay Home)

If you have any sense in the world you’re probably got a weekend worth of haunted houses and spooky hay rides ahead of you and will avoid theaters this weekend. Good call. Michael Jackson should be have no problem topping the charts this week, but us Playlisters will probably be catching ‘Wild Things’ or “A Serious Man” again or going to see things in limited release. If you’re in a city that’s not L.A. or New York, take the weekend off or catch things that are finally expanding into your market, but MJ’s kids, his family, Sony, Sony Records and his estate are rich enough as it is.

In Wide Release: Only one film is going wide this weekend opposite Halloween and the World Series and it already came out Wednesday. “Michael Jackson’s This Is It” was compiled from rehearsal footage for his sold-out London residency that sadly never happened. It is definitely a cash-grab, but maybe will give his fans some sense of closure following his shocking death in June. We just hope the film’s receipts will help look after the departed singer’s kids and not just line Sony’s pockets. This is truly the most convincing undead picture to come out this Halloween, so if you look at it that way maybe you can enjoy it with a clear conscience. Jackson’s talent still has the power to inspire, amaze and confound, so the critics are on board with a 81% fresh rating from Rotten Tomatoes and a 65 score from Metacritic.

In Limited Release: Don’t get us started with “Boondock Saints,” it’s a truly awful film that should’ve died a quick death on videostore shelves, but lo and behold 10 years later we have a sequel “Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day” thanks to nerds that love faux-“cool,” action chum (we know you guys generally have zero taste, but this week you should be particularly embarrassed for yourselves). Most of the original cast returns, minus Williem Dafoe so expect a similar blend of ham-fisted gun fights and cringe-worthy Tarantino-lite dialogue. You’d be much better off renting the 2003 documentary “Overnight,” chronicling the rise and fall of ‘Boondock’ director Troy Duffy, a true master class in douchebaggery. The film is 14 % fresh on RT with a Metacritic score of 0 at the moment.

We don’t mean to come off as Negative Nancys this week, but we really love cinema here at the Playlist and hate to see crime done in its name. First Troy Duffy and now another picture from an indie auteur of questionable vision, Jared Hess hits screens. “Gentlemen Broncos” is Hess’ followup to his big-studio debut “Nacho Libre,” of course that film made possible by the success of the little movie that could, “Napoleon Dynamite.” ‘Dynamite’ wasn’t the worst film in the world, but it was cloying and condescending and the trailer for this one looks even worse. We’re not rushing out to see this one, so we’ll let the reviews speak for themselves. The movie is 14% fresh at RT and has a Metacritic score of 34. Though our reviewer gave it a not completely terrible C-grade, which isn’t a thumbs up either, but not a 14% pitiful rating either.

Ti West’s fun horror film “House of the Devil” gets a small release this weekend. Its a nearly plot-free spookfest concerning a young woman (Jocelin Donahue) who reports to a creepy house to babysit to find out the job isn’t what it seems. We got to see the film earlier this year at Tribeca and found it stylish, funny and clever if ultimately too safe for its own good. Tom Noonan, Greta Gerwig, and Mary Woronov also star. The film has a 82% fresh rating from Rotten Tomatoes and a 72 score from Metacritic.

Weirdly coinciding with the MJ film is Patrick Swayze’s posthumous “Jump.” Directed by Joshua Sinclair, Swayze plays a lawyer defending a man suspected of the murder his own father in pre-WW2 Austria. Not much info is available about the film, RT has no reviews listed, while Metacritic seems to have never heard of the movie.

Sophie Okonedo, Sam Neill, and Alice Krige star in the South African film “Skin” from director Anthony Fabian. It’s the true story of a black child born to white parents (unaware of their own ancestry) in 1950’s South Africa. The cast is quite good and reviews are positive, so this could be a strong sleeper drama this fall. RT gives it a fresh rating of 86% with a 63 score from Metacritic.