Oh boy. Charlie St. Cloud may be handsome but he sure is weird. Really intense and looks like he’s going to burst into tears at any moment. And he does. Quite a lot. After the death of his younger brother, Charlie’s sense of responsibility for the fatal accident finds him as a caretaker of the graveyard where his brother is buried. And what does he do for fun? He hangs out with the dead eleven-year-old every day at sunset. Party time!

At one point, drug smuggler Howard Marks was believed to control ten percent of the world trade in hashish. Following a long spell in jail, he wrote a best-selling memoir of his experiences as a twentieth-century pirate – and as if he needed to seem more devil-may-care and elegantly weathered, he’s now being played by legendary waster Rhys Ifans. Mr Nice is enormous fun that you don’t even need to be stoned to enjoy.

October is, of course, a time dominated by ghouls, zombies and good ol’ fashioned frightfulness. But with All Hallow’s Eve not falling until the last day of the month, what on Earth are you supposed to do until then? Well you can stop fearing death by boredom and leave your demise to the demons, because here at Best For Film we’ve leapt on the case and compiled some of our favourite film events happening this month. After all, if you’re going to get shocked by skeletons and mauled by monsters, you might as well have some fun first.

Nobody puts Baby in the corner! Classic coming-of-age tale Dirty Dancing is released as a major Blu-Ray/DVD combo gift set on October 25. We have 2 copies to give away! Competition ends 14 November 2010.

We all love a good puppeteering. From blossoming love between Kermit and Miss Piggy to the Alpine goat dance in The Sound of Music, puppets are great. But take away the romance and the joyful singing and replace it with murder and mystery and you’ve got yourself the dark creation of the Jim Henson Company, Happytime Murders. Who could be happy murdering puppets? It’s sick.

With the script apparently shaping up nicely, Natalie Portman has joined the race against The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo‘s Noomi Rapace for the lead role in Ridley Scott’s Alien prequel.

Morgan Freeman has been awarded the American Film Institute’s Life Achievement Award. Quite right too.

Pat Tillman was an archetypal all-American – a handsome and successful athlete who gave up a multi-million dollar football career to enlist after 9/11. His death in Afghanistan saw him become a national hero, but when it emerged that he had died as a result of friendly fire the government mobilised to block the truth of his death. This spectacular documentary tunnels to the very heart of the American establishment and will shock you with what it finds there.

First time Swedish director/writer Ruben Ostlund is probably feeling very smug. Highly acclaimed and multi award-winning, Involuntary uses crafty shots and uncomfortable everyday situations (welcome to my life) to present five stories, each with their own potential disasters. With possible real life situations told through creative framing, it’s like watching a film through the eyes of a stalker. Creepy. Unless you are a stalker. Then enjoy.

George Clooney finally backs away from cool, calm and collected in the strangely compelling tale of The American; a thriller that questions the humanity of a life without trust. Though occasionally frustrating and just a little pleased with itself, its nevertheless an absorbing account of one man’s descent into darkness, and Clooney – thankfully – is more than capable of taking us on the journey.