There are mere days left until Halloween, and you're still scrambling for a costume that reflects your savvy Movieline-reading film knowledge? The perfect outfit that screams, "Look at me, I watch more movies than you, plebian sexy fill-in-the-blank!" Movieline's staff have culled a litany of costume ideas for you, inspired by indie art films and big Hollywood hits alike, either from this year at the movies or from the future. Dive in to find the greatest relevant Halloween costume ideas of the year!
How ghetto was Jude Law's self-made biohazard suit in Steven Soderbergh's Contagion? So ghetto that you can easily craft a copycat costume from materials already in your home! All you need are medical/dishwashing gloves/oven mits and clear plastic bags. But be careful -- you could easily out-costume Law's onscreen get-up (or asphyxiate) and that would not be fun. Remember, the genius of this costume is that it would never protect anyone against a virus that kills within 24 hours. Extra credit if you pass out fliers, find a pair of crooked fake teeth and can figure out a way to drink all night without removing your bag helmet. - Julie Miller
Also see: Contagion Matt Damon
Cheap, easy and effective: Just get a shag wig and a down parka, and then anytime someone asks who you are, just shout back, "Can I talk to her? Where is she?! WHAT HAPPENED TO HER???" - S.T. VanAirsdale
Another easy-peasy movie costume idea! Hit up a vintage store for a period sheath. Do your hair up like a good '60s housewife. Smudge a bit of chocolate fudge on your mouth, and walk around all night holding a piece of chocolate pie murmuring crazypants ideas about social propriety. - Jen Yamato
Girl group outfit time! Find matching pink godawful bridesmaids dresses; don your best stankfaces. Bring Brazilian BBQ carry-out. Pop a squat in midday traffic. Accessorize with puppies and girl talk. - JY
But what you really want to be is everyone's favorite T.G.I. Friday's-obsessed gorilla from the only movie to ever feature a T.G.I. Friday's-obsessed gorilla. Right? The good news is that the costume is easy: Just locate a novelty gorilla costume, an XXL lime-green polo shirt and a T.G.I. Friday's menu. (Movieline does not condone chain restaurant menu theft but it does condone precise Halloween costumes based on characters from Happy Madison productions.) The bad news is that you might sweat through the fur. Bonus points if you can keep up a Nick Nolte-style rasp and then end the night by sharing your innermost secrets with a zookeeper (or friend dressed like a Zookeeper) while reclining on the top of a stolen van. - JM
Next: Indie-inspired outfits
It's the dude costume of the season! If only those choice Drive replica scorpion jackets weren't coming out until after November, it'd be a lot easier to channel Gosling's cool, toothpick-chomping Los Angeleno getaway driver for Halloween. Still! Make your own white satin scorpion jacket, don leather driving gloves, and pick up a bloody hammer and you're set -- the cherubic pixie dream girls will come running this Halloween, and all you've got to do is look bashful and bat those Baby Goose lashes.
Alternate Ryan Gosling 2011 costumes: Ides of March Gosling (wear a suit and hold a folded magazine with Clooney's face up to yours all night); NYC Street Fight Gosling (striped tank; man capris; blue baseball cap; shopping bag full of... gym clothes?). - JY
The art house costume of the season (as portrayed by Elena Anaya) requires some special preparation: First, obtain an opaque plastic face mask, with the eyes, nose, and mouth cut out. Next, shave your head. Then, slip into a skintight black bodysuit -- or, alternately, go nude with penciled in surgical lines drawing a jigsaw pattern of faux-incisions on your body. And make sure to study up on your Almodovar to strike just the right balance of perversity and panache on your big night. Go get 'em! - JY
This one's gonna be a bit tricky, but well worth the effort -- that is, if you and your fellow centipedes don't have anywhere to be, exactly. Mobility, shall we say, is not a major feature of this group costume. But it's cheap! Strip down, everyone. Get on all fours. Glue/tape/staple your mouths to someone else's... well, you get the picture. Instant party hit! - JY
Lionsgate's excellent MMA drama Warrior was so woefully underseen in theaters; do your part to spread the Warrior awareness by pairing up with your best dude pal -- the one who's like a brother to you. Don lightweight fighting gloves and different colored shorts; one of you look concerned and conciliatory, the other act like a feral cat until late in the evening, when you break down and weep uncontrollably. - JY
Mel Gibson's Beaver look is easy to achieve, if you can find the right hand puppet. Any woodland creature will do, really; walk around speaking only to the puppet on your hand (in a different accent), while pausing to say inappropriate things to cops, exes, and the media. - JY
Next: Costume ideas from upcoming films (and this year's Oscar race)
Lionsgate's take on Suzanne Collins's teen novel series doesn't hit theaters until next year, but it's not too early to thrown on some sporty wear and hunting gear and pretend you're a teen battling for your life on national television! Just throw on some Eddie Bauer outerwear, pick up a bow and arrows, braid your hair a la Jennifer Lawrence, and complete your ensemble with two gentleman companions -- one brunette and one blonde -- who spend the night competing for your affections. - JY
Fellas, here's a costume with an eye toward this holiday movie season! All you need is A) a turn-of-the-century dress, complete with ladies' Victorian-era hat, and B) copious amounts of blue eye shadow. Extra points for bringing it with a rapier wit and deconstructing the physics around you at every moment of your Halloween night, though you might also need your own Watson along to rein in the RDJ spirit. - JY
Spoiler alert, if you haven't read The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn (in which case, this isn't the costume for you anyhow): Young fang-banger Bella Swan gets married, has butter-colored sex, and gets pregnant. So this one's easy, kinda! Wear totally average young people clothes (jeans and shirt will suffice), stuff your belly with a pillow, and affix a hybrid creature to the front of it, clawing its way out. Add feathers in your hair for an added touch. At least the tweens in your 'hood will get it. - JY
For the male minimalist/exhibitionist/Oscar watcher out there; walk around naked, like it ain't no thing. Stare brazenly at strange women on the street. Hang your head in desperate self-loathing when not staring brazenly at strange women on the street. May require prosthetics to get to authentic Fassboner levels. Also may get you arrested. (Fair warning.)
For the trick-or-treater who prefers jauntiness to scariness, this mild-mannered crossdressing troubadour is just right for you. Your Albert Nobbs getup Take a cheap bowler, a matching three-piece suit, the grim stare of an incognito 19th century dame, and you're ready to rack up plenty of sweet treats and an obligatory Oscar nomination! - Louis Virtel
BONUS:
Forget "Like a Virgin" Madonna, "Material Girl" Madonna, and "Vogue" Madonna -- we're entering a whole new phase of glamor with "Film Festival Madonna," a costume that just requires a brassy wig, a freakishly expensive sheath dress, an anti-hydrangea pendant (try Urban Outfitters!), and bratty little children and boyfriends who conspire to steal your youth. Completists: Commit to a manufactured accent and farfetched comparisons between yourself and Wallis Simpson. - LV
Get more Halloween ideas in our celebrity costume gallery.
Follow Movieline on Twitter.