Ty's movie picks for Friday, October 26

First, just one thought about last night's game, or rather Fox's broadcast of last night's game: I vow never to enter a Taco Bell for the rest of my life. If Joe Buck and Tim McCarver weren't taking up valuable airtime by informing us that Jacoby's steal meant "America could get a free taco," the final straw was an interview with the Taco Bell COO in the stands.

Get that man out of my %*$%@ing face. I want to watch baseball, not Fox bend over to pleasure its advertisers.

Other than that, nice little game, no?

On to movies. Of this weekend's new releases, "Dan in Real Life" is the date movie, the one the softies will love unless, like me, they find a sentimentalized Steve Carell not much fun to watch. (Note to Steve: It didn't work for Robin Williams, it probably won't work for you.) Eh, I'll probably get hate-mail from readers on this one because it's feel-good and what's wrong with that? (Just this: the movie's so concerned about making us feel good that every moment comes off as pre-cooked and pre-chewed; the film has your emotional response for you before you even get a chance to.) Emily Blunt's the best thing in "Dan," and she just gets two scenes. Excellent interview with Carell by Janice Page today, though.

If you're a music fan and want to know where three decades of doomy post-punk got its start, "Control" is a well-turned bio-pic about Joy Division, the Manchester, England, band that recorded from 1978 to 1980, until lead singer Ian Curtis hung himself. Sam Riley plays Curtis, the actors play their own instruments, and photographer-turned-director Anton Corbijn keeps the thing just this side of a romanticized mash-note. Shot in black-and-white, the movie looks great. Interpol fans are in for a shock when they see this.

Also shot in black and white is "Lake of Fire," Tony Kaye's epic documentary on abortion, and thank God it is: Explicit footage of dismembered fetuses will send the squeamish running for the barf bags. But there's never been a movie so open to all sides of this taboo issue, and if you have the nerve for it -- and if you think you have an opinion on abortion, you really should work up the nerve -- "Lake" is a challenging, compassionate work of provocation. It's playing at the Brattle.

If that's too much for you, go see "Black Irish," a Southie-set drama which is small, sincere, and easy to take.

The Coolidge kicks off its fifth annual Halloween horror movie marathon Saturday night at midnight, running until noon on Sunday. Smart line-up of 80s gorefests, too, including "Near Dark" (hands down, the best neo-vampire movie), John Carpenter's "The Thing," and Cronenberg's "The Fly" (in photo above).

For those who want a deeper, harder-to-shake brand of movie dread, Michael Haneke films continue to unspool at the Harvard Film Archive and the Museum of Fine Arts. In fact, the heck with "Dan in Real Life" -- on Halloween weekend, make "Benny's Video" your date movie. Trick or treat!