The Accountant 2

My View:  The Accountant 2  (2025)  R   Our favorite math wizard is back in The Accountant 2. Christian Wolff (Ben Affleck) is a math savant who gets along better with numbers than people. He works as a freelance accountant for some of the world’s most dangerous criminal organizations. This time, Christian is using his unique mind and a few illegal methods to find out who killed an old acquaintance. It’s going to get messy, so Christian has called in someone he hasn’t worked with in a long time, his brother Brax (Jon Bernthal). That’s if Brax takes his phone call. I enjoyed the first film, The Accountant (2016), in which I said, “I thought this film was highly entertaining with its unique and unlikely hero, an accountant who probably has Asperger’s Syndrome and is a highly trained killer.” I liked this film even more than the first one because of the comedic aspects of the pairing of the two brothers. The chemistry between Affleck and Bernthal is exceptional, and their timing is impeccable, highlighting their quirkiness, as both brothers are unique in how they perceive the world. The Accountant 2 is a perfect example of the buddy action film, where we have two actors who understand what their characters would do and react. A perfect example in the film is a bar scene where the two go out together to ‘get drunk’ and end up in a western bar with a live band and line dancing. It’s such a fun scene, made even better by seeing the reactions of Bernthal’s Brax as he watches his brother go dancing, impressing a girl, and pissing off a guy who thinks she’s his girl. It’s a great and hilarious scene that makes this film work so well. Also, giving the brothers more to play off of is the reappearance of Federal Agent Marybeth Medina (Cynthia Addai-Robinson), who enlists Christina to help her solve a killing and gets more than she bargains for having to work with the brothers, who tend to hit first and ask questions later (if that person is still alive). And for action fans, there is plenty of action packed scenes, with an incredible final battle scene to round out the film. It would help if you had seen the first film as we learned how Christian works and, better yet, how he sees the world. Still, you can have a great time watching this film if you haven’t seen the first one. You just won’t enjoy it as much as viewers who know the quirks of Christian. Just remember, don’t get him started explaining how to maximize your tax returns.  My Rating: Full Price  The Accountant 2 Website  Now playing in theaters. 

My View:  Until Dawn  (2025)   R    In Until Dawn, a group of friends visit an old visitor center, looking for clues as to why a relative vanished a year ago. Instead of discovering the mystery, they get trapped inside a time loop. They are chased and killed by mysterious foes, only to come back to life over and over. To escape their fates, the group must survive until dawn. Based on a popular video game, Until Dawn is all show and no story. Additionally, there are very few scares and I was bored halfway through. The characters are very two-dimensional, making them seem like they are part of the video game the film is based on, waiting for someone to move the joystick or push a jump button. We, the audience, figure out very early that these characters all have to survive in order for their deaths to stop. Unfortunately, they don’t figure this out until about halfway through all the dying. Other than a few jump-out-of-the-dark scares, this film isn’t scary at all, and I was disappointed that the film didn’t play with all the slasher killer icons that have shown up in this type of movie before. Instead, we get a few zombies, a clown killer, and other typical horror villains. Most deaths are not very original, and there is a repetitive style of death that I found more amusing than frightening. Apart from the lack of scares, my biggest problem was that I didn't care about any of the characters, who all seemed to only care about themselves. I pity the brave filmgoers who did the dusk-to-dawn marathon of Until Dawn. I can’t imagine seeing this film again, ever.   My Rating: Cable Until Dawn Website  Now playing in theaters. 

My View:  The Legend of Ochi  (2025)   PG   The Legend of Ochi takes place on the island of Carpathia, where children are taught to not go outside after dark because of the dangerous and reclusive creatures known as the Ochi. When a girl named Yuri (Helena Zengel) finds a lost and injured baby Ochi, she sets off on a journey to return the baby to its family. Let me say, right off the bat, that the visual look of this film is magical, and the puppetry is jaw-droppingly amazing. The film used a mix of puppetry, animatronics, computer animation, and matte painting to bring the Ochi to life, and the baby Ochi looks and acts incredibly real. The film is, at times, breathtaking, with wide shots of the magical island where the film takes place. Even the smallest things, like the caterpillars Yuri keeps in a terrarium, are full of color and life in almost every shot. The Legend of Ochi is a film that I think kids will enjoy much more than adults. While I loved the film's visuals, the plot is scattershot and requires us to fill in many blanks in the storyline. I also had a tough time understanding Helena Zengel’s dialogue, as she always seemed to talk in such low tones it was difficult to follow along. Still, her interaction with the baby Ochi is fun and heartwarming. The ending seems a little rushed, but I think kids will be enamored by the baby Ochi and the adventures Yuri and the baby go on. Plus, this could be a gateway film for children to those classics like The NeverEnding Story or The Dark Crystal. My Rating: Bargain Matinee  The Legend of Ochi Website Now playing in theaters. 

Indiefest:  On Swift Horses  (2024)   R   On Swift Horses begins when Muriel’s (Daisy Edgar-Jones) fiancé, Lee (Will Poulter) comes back from the Korean War, and are starting a new life in California. Their lives are uprooted when Lee’s brother, Julius (Jacob Elordi), shows up and starts causing problems. Julius is always in trouble, which causes Muriel and Lee to have more problems than they can handle. On Swift Horse is a film that looks beautiful but doesn’t pay enough attention to the storyline or its character to make this film’s plot match its cinematography. The film wastes a brilliant performance by Daisy Edgar-Jones, a woman who gets married but isn’t happy or fulfilled in the marriage. At first, horse race betting was her source of happiness, but then she met someone else and her world was transformed. On Swift Horses is the story of two people, Muriel, who got married but isn’t happy having the husband make the decisions and the money, and Julius, who is a gay man in the world of the 1950s where he has to hide who he is, while he lives for the big score from gambling that may never come. Watching the film, you never feel you know these characters and who they are. We only see them, especially in Muriel and Julius, in relationships that seem only about attraction and infatuation rather than genuine feelings that are never explored. This film is like the opening credits, where we see photographs showing us only the surface of what the camera captures, but we don’t know what went on before or after that picture is taken, so we only get what is on the surface, with no depth.   My Rating: Bargain Matinee  On Swift Horses Website   Now playing in theaters. 

My View:  Havoc  (2025)  TV-MA  Havoc is about Walker (Tom Hardy), a hard-nosed detective who investigates a drug deal that went bad. Walker must fight his way through the criminal underworld to rescue a politician’s estranged son. Walker may have to take on the entire city, as the busted drug deal is part of a dark web of conspiracy and corruption. Havoc has been on action film fans' radar for quite a while, as the director/writer of the film, Gareth Evans, was responsible for two of the most incredible action films of the past 15 years, The Raid: Redemption (2011) and The Raid 2 (2014). Those films were a precursor to the John Wick series, with almost non-stop action, including some amazing close combat fighting scenes and it's taken over 4 years to get this film on the screen. So, in walks Tom Hardy, an actor I greatly admire, who looks like he could take on a Chinese mob and some crooked cops all by himself. The film starts off with a bang, as cops are chasing an 18-wheeler. This isn’t an Eddie Murphy movie, and people are getting seriously hurt in this chase that I wish I had seen on the big screen. It’s a thrilling start and shows us how high the stakes are in this film. Unfortunately, the plot and the dialogue get in the way of some incredibly violent and brilliant action sequences. Jessie Mei Li is wasted as a beat cop who somehow gets partnered with homicide detective Walker. The plot is messy, and the ending comes off as one big battle royale, where everyone shows up for the big shootout. As an action hero, Hardy carries the film, and his fights, especially one scene in a club, are right up there with some of the action sequences in the Raid movies. However, the film has too many twists and turns, most of which you can see coming, and too many characters feel as if they have come right out of a bad comic from the 60s. Action fans will have fun with all the fights/shootouts, and it’s entertaining to watch Hardy beat the crap out of the bad guys. But Havoc sometimes feels like what one of the characters, Mia (played by a very convincing action star in Quelin Sepulveda), does when she shoots someone. She shoots twenty rounds almost point-blank into a bad guy when one or two rounds would have done the trick.    My Rating: Bargain Matinee  Havoc Website  Now playing on Netflix.

Sorry I Missed It (A film that I didn’t see in theatres but have seen recently):   Grand Theft Hamlet  (2024)  R   Grand Theft Hamlet is a documentary about two struggling actors, Sam and Mark, who, during the 2021 Covid lockdown, decided to try to put on Hamlet inside the Grand Theft Auto Online game. I enjoyed the first half of this film when the two actors explored the idea, scouted locations, and casually met people who might want to either watch the production or be in it. I started losing some interest in the film as we got closer to the actual performance, as it’s a lot of talking about trivial things while watching game characters move in that strange back-and-forth that they do while waiting for commands. You get to see what I would call a ‘highlight reel’ of performing the play, but by that time, the novelty had worn off, and I was ready for the curtain call. In this case, the curtain call was an after-party at one of the games clubs. The concept of Grand Theft Hamlet is amusing, but it could have been a better short movie.To paraphrase a line from the play: “Alas, poor Hamlet! I knew him well.”  My Rating: Bargain Matinee  Grand Theft Hamlet Website   Now available for rental on MUBI. 

Forgotten Film:  Basquiat  (1996)  R  The story of Jean Michel Basquiat (Jeffery Wright), an artist who went from going graffiti on the streets of New York City and living in a cardboard box to the toast of the NYC art world, where his work was sold for hundreds of thousands of dollars. Jeffery Wright is brilliant as an artist who saw the world differently and expressed it through his art. Sadly, Basquiat was a troubled and self-destructive soul who spent his years doing drugs, dying at age 28. The cast is outstanding, including an incredible performance by David Bowie as a friend of the famous artist Andy Warhol, who sees that Basquiat is a person who has immense talent but may burn out very quickly. Basquiat is a look at a troubled man whose talent was great, but what was greater was the trouble inside that man. My Rating: Full Price  Basquiat Info  The film is available to rent/buy on Amazon. It's just been announced that this film is going to be part of the Criterion Collection! Basquiat Criterion Info Here 

Weird Credits:  From the credits of The Legend of Ochi:  Primate Choreographer 

Coming Soon to a Screen Near You: The Life of Chuck  (2024)  R  I am going to quote IMDB, “A life-affirming, genre-bending story based on Stephen King’s novella about three chapters in the life of an ordinary man named Charles Krantz.” This is a film from the mind of Mike Flanagan (The Haunting of Hill House, Doctor Sleep) and is based on a Stephen King short story. The cast includes Tom Hiddleston, Mia Sara, Karen Gillan, Nick Offerman, Carla Gugino, Molly C. Quinn, Jacob Tremblay and Mark Hamill.  The Life of Chuck Website  The film opens in theaters on Friday, June 6, 2025.