Twenty-eight years after its publication, Orson Scott Card's sci-fi novel finally launches onto big screens Friday (November 1), with 16-year-old "Hugo" star Asa Butterfield at the helm as the titular space fighter.

Directed by Gavin Hood and co-starring Harrison Ford and Viola Davis, the film follows Ender's journey from wide-eyed recruit to command leader, as humans wage a war against an alien race known as Formics.

Before you land in a theater seat, check out what the critics had to say about "Ender's Game."

The Story
"Based on the 1985 science-fiction novel by Orson Scott Card, the movie envisions a future world ruled by monolithic militaristic government that trains children to fight large insect-like extraterrestrials called Formics or buggers. When the story opens, Ender (Asa Butterfield) thinks he's just another runt with a monitor jammed in his neck that allows the authorities, personified by Colonel Graff who, because he's played by Harrison Ford, should have been called Gruff, and a psychologist, Major Anderson (Viola Davis), to observe each potential warrior's words, moods and tears. Graff believes that Ender may be the child to lead them all, a sermon he preaches as Ender is tested first on Earth and then in the outer space battle school where the movie gets its game on." — Manohla Dargis, New York Times

The Direction
"By all appearances, this should be an excellent sci-fi adventure. But Hood keeps such a steady, unvaried pace that the revelations of the final act — which should be HUGE — have the same dramatic heft as everything else. ...

Tyler, The Creator seems to be all about the directing lately. Now, he's treading into John Carpenter territory with his thrilling new Odd Future-made horror film, "The Ghost of the Hotel."

Yup, the MellowHigh album isn't the only Odd Future-featuring production to get a Halloween release date, OFWGKTA members Jasper Dolphin, Tyler, The Creator, Taco Bennett, L-Boy and Earl Sweatshirt put out their short film on the Day of the Dead as well.

All in all, the film is the kind of deal you might have created in high school for a class project. The plot summary, per YouTube, is the following: "A Little Girl Dies By The Stairs In A Hotel And Detective Ray And Tony Has To Find Out Who Did It Before Its Too Late.........."

The "little white girl" — as it reads in the credits — is played by Taco. And that's not the only nonsensical thing that happens. For example, watch out for some pretty fancy camerawork, courtesy of directors of photography Tyler, Taco and Jasper. It's like French New Wave, but upside down. Literally.

And then there's the big reveal: Who lurks under the ghost's spooky, eyehole-less sheet? We won't give that away, but we'll tell you the closing line: "I am the ghost. No, I'm not. I'm really a horse." OK.

Tyler, The Creator has dropped a ton of videos over the last few months, all just a bit more polished than this short horror flick. He released a trailer for a mysterious upcoming movie called "Wolf" — also the name of his ...

Is another member of One Direction off the market?

Last month, Niall Horan tweeted his proposal to Katy Perry and on Halloween — while both were at a Tokyo radio station — she gave him her answer.

"She said yes ! It's happening! Haha," Niall wrote with an Instagram pic of the pair standing cheek-to-cheek.

But while they look awfully cute together, we're pretty positive Niall won't be taking a walk down the aisle, like his engaged bandmate Zayn Malik, since Katy seems very happy with boyfriend John Mayer.

That didn't stop Niall from stealing a kiss from his "lovely wife," though, and posing with his "groomsmen," the rest of the boys of One Direction.

"Today was so fun at music station in Tokyo!" Niall went on to tweet. "Had such a laugh with the lads and @katyperry ! Love that girl!"

Niall's love for Katy goes way back. Fans may not know that the "Roar" singer was pretty instrumental in helping to jump-start his career. In 2010, Perry was a guest judge on the "X Factor" U.K., where she cast the deciding vote to let Niall, who she called "adorable," through to boot camp.

Since then, the two haven't been shy about showing their admiration for each other, with Perry personally congratulating Niall in 2012 on Twitter when 1D's album, Up All Night hit #1. Later that year, they sealed their "relationship" with a kiss at the 2012 Video Music Awards.

A year later, just before the 2013 VMAs, Niall reminisced about the smooch: "I don't ...

HOLLYWOOD, California — Arcade Fire, indie rock's favorite theater kids, take Halloween seriously. At their Palladium show on All Hallows' Eve, the environment was unapologetically campy with tombstones, plastic skeletons, cobwebs and pumpkins lining the corridors of the Hollywood theater. A mariachi band greeted the crowd as they shuffled into the venue; it had also accompanied Arcade Fire, 10 minutes before doors opened, as they entered via a red carpet with their now-signature papier-mâché bobbleheads.

It was the first of the band's shows, which they're playing as the Reflektors, where they didn't request that the audience arrive in shining attire or dress up for the occasion. They didn't have to with the date being October 31 and the location being Hollywood, the heart of the film industry and one of the few cities in the world where adults get more into Halloween than trick-or-treaters. But just in case attendees arrived without a costume, Arcade Fire had set up a stand that handed out carnival, mirrored and presidential-themed masks for free.

Arcade Fire's costumes, on the other hand, mostly defied classification. Frontman Win Butler and singer Régine Chassagne jumped at the opportunity to get crafty with their outfits: He wore several masks — from a Lucha Libre tiger headpiece to a face-painted pink DayGlo bandit to his papier-mâché mask (which he stuck on his mic stand near the end of the show) — and she was styled in a tattered, layered dress and fringed arm warmers. The theme of the evening pervaded Arcade Fire's hour-long set. "My grandfather played this room back ...

NEW YORK — Mario and Luigi rip off their mustaches and chug a cup of beer; minions from "Despicable Me" take turns getting drinks from the bar so as not to lose their spot in the crowd; a female Waldo endures a long night of "I found him, guys!" and a gingerbread man steps onstage with a guitar to croon some tunes.

If one hadn't known any better, it would have been easy to confuse the Mercury Lounge on Halloween night with a land of children's characters past. But upon closer inspection, one would have realized that these zany characters crowding around the small stage were the 200 fans lucky enough to gain entry to debatably the hottest show of the night, and that gingerbread man onstage strumming his guitar and working that loophole like it's nobody's business was none other than Ed Sheeran.

Returning to the venue that housed his first-ever New York City gig 18 months ago, Ed waddled his best gingerbread man waddle onto the stage, greeted the crowd with a humble hello and went right into one of his earliest songs, "She." The crowd let out an audible gasp of excitement before singing along to every word; opening with such a throwback meant that this Halloween night would be filled with way more treats than tricks.

While recapping the entire night would be a personal pleasure for us, we'll settle for presenting the top five memorable moments — and trust us, this was a painful elimination process.

Pajamas and Beer
Sorry to say, but the gingerbread man gimmick ...

Need a good cry this weekend after all that Halloween candy? Well, you might want to check out Rachel McAdam's latest romantic comedy,

In it, McAdams plays Mary, a woman who falls for Tim, who happens to have the power to time travel. While their love story will surely make you smile, there are some heartbreaking scenes as well. After all, what good romance doesn't have its highs and its lows?

(Be warned, spoilers are ahead!)

Ahead of the movie's opening, MTV News sat down with McAdams and director Richard Curtis (who's known for penning the screenplays to "Four Weddings and a Funeral," "Notting Hill," "Bridget Jones' Diary" and "Love Actually'), and they opened up about one of the flick's happier moments: Tim and Mary's rainy wedding ceremony.

"So it was great for me to realize I can do something that was almost silent comedy, with the sound of a lot of rain," he recalled. "And that was based on the wedding of a friend of mine that I went to that was so wet the bride even as she took her oaths was soaking wet."

And while the scene required its leading lady, and the rest of the cast to get soaking wet, McAdams loved every minute of it. "I loved that scene on the page. I loved it when we did it at the table read," she recalled, before breaking down what it was like to film it.

"It was actually such a hot day, which you wouldn't expect in Britain in Cornwall. But it was so hot, so we ...

Eminem doesn't really do silly. Even when he's the musical guest
 on "Saturday Night Live," Slim Shady keeps it real ... real serious.

In a new set of promo clips with host Kerry Washington, the reportedly pregnant
 "Scandal" actress and "SNL" cast member Nasim Pedrad try to pry Marshall out of his stern shell to no avail.

"Hi, I'm Kerry Washington and I'm hosting 'Saturday Night Live' this weekend with musical guest Eminem," says a clearly excited Washington in the first bit. All the while, Em, wearing a military-style jacket, grey sweatshirt, dog tags and a blank expression, stares into the camera unblinkingly.

"This is fun, are you having fun?"

Pedrad asks Washington. "Of course!" the actress answers. "And Eminem, are you having fun?" Pedrad (aka "'Lil Blaster") asks Eminem. Nothing. Not a smile, not a blink, not a nod. Pedrad awkwardly adds, "Two of us are having fun!"

Hell, even Kanye West got in on the action
 earlier this year when he did a beatbox bit in a teaser for his appearance alongside Ben Affleck.

In the other Eminem commercial, Marshall finally lets go a bit after Washington enthuses about sharing the stage with the rapper (still staring out with no expression) and reveals that when they wrap they're going out for a special treat. "Afterwards we're doing out for cupcakes," she says. "His idea!"

His comic timing perfect, Shady waits a beat, turns to Washington and deadpans, "I love cupcakes." See? Em does do funny, just in his own way.

Maybe the producers of "Fifty Shades of Grey" should bring Nicki Minaj in for a reading. Because Christian Grey would have his hands full if Minaj showed up on set in the sexy S&M outfit she shared with fans on Halloween.

Not to be outdone by her talk show doppelganger, Ellen DeGeneres, Nicki went all out this year, posting a selfie of a barely-there costume that had fans saying, "Damn!!!"

Fittingly, she teased them at first with a shot of some stiletto-heeled vinyl boots draped in handcuffs, asking, "U ready?" A few hours later she did the big reveal, which was worth the wait.

With just electrical tape and a studded leather harness up top and a leather thong, fishnets and thigh-high patent vinyl boots below, Nicki's costume killed the sexy outfit game, giving Miley Cyrus' Lil Kim tribute
 a run for her money.

In another shot, Minaj is holding a pair of handcuffs, teasing her Barbz," "Officer Minaj. Who wants to get cuffed?"

Space may be the final frontier, but it's a well-tread one, to be sure — especially this year, with the release of Alfonso Cuarón's breathtaking "Gravity" and the Orson Scott Card adaptation out this weekend.

"Ender's Game" takes place in a distant future in which Earth is still smarting from an attack by an alien race known as Formics (or colloquially, as buggers). Children are recruited from an early age to be tested and trained in anticipation of the extra-terrestrials' return. Ender Wiggin (played by Asa Butterfield) is one such recruit or, more accurately, the recruit. The school's administrators, including Harrison Ford's gruff Colonel Graff, have singled out the boy as the world's last chance for survival.

With extensive sequences in which Ender and his fellow launchies learn to adapt to a zero-G atmosphere, while also learning the tactical and strategic skills that will save their species, the young actors were put through their own boot camp to perfect their weightless performances.

"Those kids worked really hard. They were trained by Cirque du Soleil aerialists, and they also had the chance to go to a space camp, where they were able to speak with real astronauts about what it feels like to be in a weightless environment," Ford explained. "And believe me, it's hard. I have one tiny little scene hanging from wires. They're out in a green-screen volume where there's nothing to hang on to, where they're really responsible for balancing themselves on wires."

Many readers of Card's 1985 novel have pondered how the intricate scenes would be brought ...