Opening in limited theatrical release this Friday, October 14th…is Lavinia Currier’s Oka! starring the talented and always interesting, Isaach de Bankole. We’ve covered the film before at S&A, but if you’re interesed in a refresher, check out the synopsis below or read Tambay’s write-up from last month…

The official synopsis for Oka! reads:

The forest dwelling tribe of Bayaka pygmies is famed for its acute hearing (‘Oka!’ means ‘listen!” in their Akka language).When the tribe’s revered leader hears a menacing new sound in the forest, his super-sensory powers send a message to “Big Ear,” his ethnomusicologist friend Larry Whitman (Kris Marshall, Love Actually), from his sickbed in New Jersey.Against doctor’s orders, Larry travels to his friends in Central Africa to help them battle Mayor Bassoun (Isaach de Bankole,The Limits of Control), a powerful local politician who is helping Mr. Yi (Will Yun Lee, Die Another Day), a developer with a logging company intent on destroying the Bayaka’s forest home. Refusing to give in, Larry and the pygmies humorously concoct a series of obstacles to try to prevent the loggers, all while continuing to enjoy their colorful way of life with music and dance inspired by the beauty of the African forest, its animals and magical spirits.

If that’s doesn’t pique your interest, there’s always the big budget fare of Universal’s prequel to John Carpenters 1982 (reinvention of another film) The Thing. If you saw the trailer Sergio posted at S&A back in July, you’ll pretty much know that it uses a lot of the same elements as Carpenter’s version but makes less sense…oh well, can’t win ’em all! Anyway, the film co-stars Oz alumnus, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje.

As for the critical and general audiences’ take on The Thing (2011), things seem pretty split, with the “critics” viewing the thrills and chills as typical horror movie fodder without much bite; however, regular audiences seem sold on the once remade reinvention of a classic horror tale…maybe it’s nostalgia or maybe most of them are under 30 and don’t remember places like Drive-ins and little contraptions called Betamax.

I guess we’ll know whether “The Thing” is in or out when the numbers come down Sunday.

Until then, happy viewing!