Welcome back to The Big To-Do. With Halloween swiftly approaching — and, heads up, falling on a Friday — the haunted happenings are heating up. If living in eastern Mass. has left you Salem-ed out, the Globe’s Emily Sweeney offers an impressive list of 13 (of course) other places in New England to find “a spooky fall adventure.” For those too chicken or too comfy to venture out this weekend, the Globe’s Matt Juul rounds up six scary streaming titles, all Stephen King adaptations.

At least the weekend weather looks phenomenal. That’s good news for Head of the Charles competitors and spectators, but with the usual cautions about traffic on the roads surrounding the course. Also expect traffic near No Kings Day of Action protests around the region on Saturday. And at day’s end, Sabrina Carpenter does double duty as host and musical guest on “Saturday Night Live.”

Not feeling any of that? The Globe’s experts are here to help.

Movies

Aziz Ansari as Arj and Keanu Reeves as Gabriel in "Good Fortune." EDDY CHEN/LIONSGATE

Keanu Reeves and Keke Palmer “elevate the familiar plotlines of ‘Good Fortune’ with their excellent, heartfelt work.” Switched identities and guardian angels drive the action in writer-star Aziz Ansari’s directorial debut, which earns 3 stars from Globe film critic Odie Henderson. “[S]ince I wrote my initial, mildly negative response [in September], I haven’t stopped thinking about Reeves’s performance.”

As the title character in “Urchin,” Frank Dillane “gives a performance that will stick with you long after the symbolism-laced last scene.” Dillane’s Mike is “an unhoused addict whose attempt to go straight is fraught with self-sabotage,” Henderson writes in a 3-star review. The film “doesn’t wallow in misery, nor does it let Mike off the hook for his own actions.”

“If I Had Legs, I’d Kick You” centers on Linda, a psychotherapist with a chronically ill daughter. Rose Byrne’s portrayal is “intriguing at first, but ultimately redundant and routine,” writes Henderson, awarding 2 stars. And Conan O’Brien, who plays Linda’s therapist? “[H]is primary function is to show callous indifference. It’s a one-note performance at best, but he hits that one note.”

Luca Guadagnino’s “After the Hunt” is “an empty David Mamet-style ripoff” that scratches out 1 star from an irritated Henderson. Starring Julia Roberts as a Yale professor and Ayo Edebiri as a grad student who makes a shocking accusation, it’s “so poorly written that you’ll question why it was made in the first place.”

The Boston Asian American Film Festival is underway, with 10 screenings on the schedule. “The mix of films that we have this year really represents a wish for the community to enjoy film as a kind of escape,” festival director Susan Chinsen tells Globe correspondent Ryan Yau, who has the scoop on an impressively varied slate.

The Boston Palestine Film Festival, opening today, includes narrative and documentary selections, features and shorts. “I’m constantly surprised how powerful these films are,” the festival’s Michael Maria tells Globe correspondent James Sullivan. New this year: “gallery exhibitions and an Arabic cooking class.”

Diane Keaton, who died Saturday at 79, “always rose above lackluster material, especially late in her career.” She won an Oscar for “Annie Hall,” but her other leading performance that year, in “Looking for Mr. Goodbar,” is the one that sticks with Henderson. “Those two 1977 films presented radically different performances that proved her versatility.”

GlobeDocs Film Festival

The GlobeDocs Film Festival returns Oct. 22-26.

The 11th annual GlobeDocs Film Festival starts Wednesday and runs through Oct. 26. The 15 features and 15 shorts are all over the map, but Globe correspondent Natalia Winkelman finds a through line: “This year’s lineup features a smattering of films that turn their lens onto the medium and practice of journalism, treating it not just as a profession but also as a way of life.” Also, Keytar Bear! For more information and to buy tickets, click here.

TV & Streaming

Donnie Wahlberg (left) as Danny Reagan and Sonequa Martin-Green (center) as Lena Silver in "Boston Blue." CHRISTOS KALOHORIDIS/CBS/CBS

The “Blue Bloods” spinoff “Boston Blue” brings Donnie Wahlberg home, but he’s playing a New Yorker. “It’s a very unique position to be in, loving Boston in my heart, not loving Boston in Danny’s heart,” he says of the character he played for 14 years on the original series. He sits for a Q&A with the Globe’s Meredith Goldstein in advance of tonight’s series premiere.

Rebecca Miller’s “Mr. Scorsese” is “a portrait of a survivor as much as a portrait of an artist.” Over five episodes, featuring almost every talking head you can think of and “clips galore,” the docuseries shows that its subject “knows what it means to get knocked down,” writes Globe TV critic Chris Vognar. “Fortunately for film lovers, he just keeps getting back up.”

The “best Martin Scorsese documentary you can stream right now” is 30 years old. “History of American Cinema,” a.k.a. “A Personal Journey with Martin Scorsese Through American Movies,” is “worth watching for the clips alone,” Vognar writes. Screening it “can feel like attending an off-the-books film school.”

Ken Burns returns next month with “The Revolutionary War,” and he’s bringing a slew of big stars. The voice cast includes performers with “eight Oscars and an additional two dozen acting nominations,” the Globe’s Mark Feeney reports. Other boldface names include Paul Giamatti, Laura Linney, and of course Peter Coyote.

The Big Day

Chef Tony Susi of Little Sage and Maria Linquata of The Quin wed on Sept. 21 at Herb Lyceum in Groton. The pair, both from big Italian families, filled and served cannoli as part of the dessert course. CHERYL RICHARDS

The Globe’s weddings column, The Big Day, tells stories of how couples found each other, fell in love, and said “I do.” In 2022, Maria Linquata invited her former coworker Tony Susi, a veteran Boston chef, to lunch, ostensibly to talk business. “I respected his opinion and knew that he knew what he was talking about,” she tells Globe correspondent Rachel Kim Raczka. “But I definitely chose my outfit very carefully.” From his perspective, “We could have easily done it over the phone.” Good thing they didn’t — in September, they married in Groton.

To apply to be featured, recently married and engaged couples (vow renewals and commitment ceremonies, too!) with ties to New England can click here for the application form. And Big Day readers with opinions to share can click here to take a survey about the Globe’s relationships coverage.

Music

Ethan Hawke as Lorenz Hart in "Blue Moon." SABRINA LANTOS

Richard Linklater’s “Blue Moon” brings lyricist Lorenz Hart to the big screen in the person of Ethan Hawke. He’s an unexpected subject for a biopic, writes the Globe’s Mark Feeney. “In neither life nor death has he much registered in the greater culture — as, say, Cole Porter did and does, or George Gershwin.” Great American Songbook fans, don’t miss this story.

Belly’s second album, “King,” turns 30 this year, and frontwoman Tanya Donelly says it’s been “a joy to fall in love with these songs again.” In a Q&A with Globe correspondent Marc Hirsh, she recalls the days when selling 350,000 copies of an LP was disappointing, discusses moments when “59-year-old me has to slow this one down a little bit.” and hints at a new album.

Singer-songwriter Kathleen Edwards plays Boston tonight, deep in the second act of a career she put on pause to ... run a coffee shop. “I think now, I have a better appreciation and self-awareness about what I do,” she tells Globe correspondent Ken Capobianco. He calls her new album, “Billionaire,” “a revealing and dynamic set of songs.”

The pandemic did wonders for Casey Dienel. Eight years ago, burned out from the grind, they left the music business. Locked down in Scituate, they gravitated toward the piano. The result is a new attitude and a new album, “My Heart Is an Outlaw.” Globe correspondent Eric R. Danton tracks the return of “their artful blend of dreamy pop, indie rock, and a hint of jazz.”

Mass MoCA’s “already-rich relationship with the music world” expands this month as the museum launches its own record label. The Malawian roots group the Kasambwe Brothers kicks off the three-year pilot. “[T]he infectious levity of the first three songs released from the album ... transcends words and genres,” Globe correspondent Victoria Wasylak writes for Sound Check.

BSO artist in residence Augustin Hadelich came into his own when he left Europe for New York. “I felt like I immediately belonged, even before I decided to stay,” says the Connecticut-based violinist. American music “feels very much a part of me now,” he tells the Globe’s A.Z. Madonna, who profiles the versatile artist and his wide-ranging repertoire.

Theater

Musical director Manny Schvartzman watches the orchestra as he warms up at his keyboard minutes before “Hamilton” begins at the Citizens Opera House. BEN PENNINGTON/FOR THE BOSTON GLOBE

“Hamilton” fans, prepare to feel jealous. To “get a sense of what live musicians bring to live theater,” the Globe’s Meredith Goldstein visited the orchestra pit during the touring Broadway hit. “There are lots of bells and whistles in the small space, but it was [music director Manny] Schvartzman — and his ensemble — who set the mood and made adjustments to match the audience.”

Speaking of “Hamilton,” swing performer Taylor Broadard, a Worcester native, is reveling in the show’s Boston run. “[T]o be able to perform in the theater I grew up seeing shows in is really special,” she says in an interview with Globe correspondent Juliet Pennington. They talk theater, travel, and more.

Justin Huerta’s musical “Lizard Boy” captures his “love of comic book imagery and superheroes.” Three performers and nearly a dozen musical instruments tell a coming-of-age story Huertas says “really depends on your identity and what you are bringing to the show.” Globe correspondent Terry Byrne previews the SpeakEasy Stage production, opening next week.

“ThotBot Implantation Center” begins with an hour “reminiscent of the nostalgia of your grandmother’s house mixed with the unease of an episode of ‘Severance.’” The “immersive transmedia production” by Rebecca Kopycinski takes place in an alternate reality but also in Somerville. Globe correspondent Isabella Bernstein has a fascinating look at what the creator calls “a cautionary tale.”

Books

Covers to “Pride and Pleasure” by Amanda Vaill and “Angelica” by Molly Beer. MACMILLAN/W. W. NORTON & COMPANY

Alexander Hamilton’s wife and sisters-in-law take center stage in two new books. Amanda Vaill’s “Pride and Pleasure” and Molly Beer’s “Angelica” “follow the same cast of characters through the Revolution and the early years of the Republic,” writes Globe reviewer Wendy Smith. She’s struck by “how differently two writers covering much of the same material can depict the same people.”

“Call it autofiction, call it a novel, call it a momoir” — Gish Jen’s “Bad Bad Girl” is “a transcendent work of art.” The book “oscillates between plainspoken narrative and bold, italicized dialogues between Gish and her kvetching dead mother,” writes Globe reviewer Rhoda Feng. “The conceit is risky but pays off.”

Museums & Visual Art

Hugh Hayden's "the End," 2025, in the forest above the Clark Art Institute for the museum's outdoor sculpture exhibition "Ground/work," open through October 2026. MURRAY WHYTE/GLOBE STAFF

A colorful sea serpent. A “slithery-smooth column of hemlock fitted with softly curving ribs.” A human silhouette in stone. The second installment of “Ground/work,” on the campus of the Clark Art Institute, is “an inevitably uneven grouping of outdoor-friendly sculptural works with no more in common than the massive sprawl of acreage they share,” writes Globe art critic Murray Whyte.

When Jane Maxwell uses billboard paper in her collages, “I’m excavating,” says this week’s Working Artist. “Which is so much of the theme. What’s on top, what’s underneath? What are we showing? What’s hidden?” She discusses her latest show, “In Your Face” — which incorporates Botox vials, among other materials — with Globe correspondent Cate McQuaid.

Dance

Music from the Sole brings "House is Open, Going Dark" to Boston this weekend. SMILE GUIRAND

In “House Is Open, Going Dark,” the tap dance and live music company Music From The Sole conveys “a sense of a journey ... conflict and resolution.” The show was years in the making, troupe cofounder Gregory Richardson says in a Q&A with Globe correspondent Karen Campbell. “We ... kept outlining this story, then we’d take pieces and move them around until it came back around.”

Today's newsletter was written by Marie Morris and produced by the Gl