THE SKELETON TWINS—Kathy Fennessy takes a look at the Kristen Wiig/Bill Hader dark comedy:

After Craig Johnson, who previously directed the Northwest-set True Adolescents, establishes this credibility-straining premise, The Skeleton Twins finds its darkly comic groove. If it feels like a Sundance Film Festival sensation, in the vein of Personal Velocity or Sunshine Cleaning, that's because it was, and though these small-scale domestic dramas struggle to find paying customers outside the hype-filled bubble of Park City, Utah, Johnson's sophomore effort is better than most.

THE BOXTROLLS—Robert Ham checks out the latest effort from Laika, and finds things both good and not-so-good:

While the elaborate set pieces get bigger and bigger as the film moves along (including a dazzling, dizzying dance sequence), the story gets muddled. Laika—for the first time in their short cinematic history—tries to squeeze in a Message, with screenwriters Irena Brignull and Adam Pava straining under the effort.

THE NOTEBOOK—Marjorie Skinner breaks the bad news:

Not at all a romantic film starring Ryan Gosling, The Notebook is something far uglier.

HALLOWEEN III: SEASON OF THE WITCH—Mercury metal writer Aris Wales called up composer Alan Howarth to talk about the integral role of music in horror.

"A well-crafted soundtrack really makes a horror film go," Howarth tells me. "In a horror movie, a lot of times nothing is going on. We're standing in a hallway, or we're in an empty street looking around for the bad guy. It's the music that tells you something bad is going to happen."

THE EQUALIZER—Wm. Steven Humphrey declares it to be the best Home Depot commercial ever!

Every action movie should take place in a Home Depot, because there are so many possibilities! And believe me, Denzel makes use of every one of them—including wince-inducing violence involving barbed wire and power drills.

HECTOR AND THE SEARCH FOR HAPPINESS—Ben Coleman gets frustrated with Simon Pegg's take on Eat, Pray, Love:

Hector and the Search for Happiness is a peculiar attempt to make a Michel Gondry film without Michel Gondry. All the components are there: a shifting between fantasy and reality, endearingly low-fi effects, a charming cast. Technically, it's not bad, but it's also one of the most frustrating films I've ever seen.

We've got even more reviews in Film Shorts (including Alex Falcone's take on the Christian movie The Song and Marjorie Skinner's thoughts on Tracks), and here are your Movie Times. As always, choose your films wisely: A lot of them are fucking awful, but the good ones can change your life.

Speaking of Alan Howarth, here's your recommended soundtrack to this week's Mercury Film section: