Ben Affleck stars in THE ACCOUNTANT. See it in theaters October 14th.
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Christian Wolff (Ben Affleck) is a math savant with more affinity for numbers than people. Behind the cover of a small-town CPA office, he works as a freelance accountant for some of the world’s most dangerous criminal organizations. With the Treasury Department’s Crime Enforcement Division, run by Ray King (J.K. Simmons), starting to close in, Christian takes on a legitimate client: a state-of-the-art robotics company where an accounting clerk (Anna Kendrick) has discovered a discrepancy involving millions of dollars. But as Christian uncooks the books and gets closer to the truth, it is the body count that starts to rise.
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Writer's note: If you insist on getting to the theater early just to make sure you're in a seat before the previews start, then you're among friends here. Each week we're going to round up some trailers — newly released or not-so-much — pick 'em apart a bit and maybe learn a thing or two (probably not). Of course, feel free to chime in down below in the comments section. 3,2,1 ...
The Accountant: In theaters Oct. 14
Good: You know what? I like Ben Affleck. I know he probably cheated on Jennifer Garner and I acknowledge that he seems to have a gambling problem and I get that he maybe got a giant phoenix tattooed on his back and then maybe lied about it being for a movie. But I can't quite quit the guy. I haven't seen Batman v Superman yet — should I never see Batman v Superman? — but the last movie he was in that wasn't part of an Expanded Universe™ (Gone Girl) was good! Also good: Radiohead.
Bad: Ben here appears to be playing a mashup of Matt Damon characters? For the first part of the trailer he's a sort of variation on Will Hunting, but then he morphs into a sort of variation on Jason Bourne. It could work! But I have concerns.Â
Still, I'm interested.Â
Hell or High Water: In theaters August
Select Cities August 12
http://hellorhighwater.movie #HOHWMovie
In HELL OR HIGH WATER, two brothers, Toby (Chris Pine) and Tanner (Ben Foster), go on a calculated bank robbery spree that puts them on a collision course with a West Texas Ranger (Academy Award©-winner Jeff Bridges) determined to take them down.
Good: Guns. Trucks. Bank robbin'. The West. Jeff Bridges. Bad: This trailer (and, one fears, this movie) is full of clichés. Let's start with Trailer Clichés: A character says the name of the movie and the soundtrack for the trailer and a famous song covered in a style that suits the vibe we need. Now, these can work sometimes. See Snakes on a Plane or that Beyoncé remix of "Crazy in Love" for the 50 Shades of Gray trailer, which wasn't my bag, really, but it got the point across! Beyond that, we've got Movie Clichés. First: "We're not robbing you, we're robbing the bank." Yes, we're familiar with John Dillinger and Bonnie and Clyde and all these noble bank robbers. Second: Aging sheriff called upon for one last mission. Third: Did I mention a character says "hell or high water" in this trailer?
Another potentially bad (and definitely cliché) thing here? A handsome man (Chris Pine) trying to look rough. Not working for me, but you be the judge.
Snowden: In theaters Sept. 16
Academy Award®-winning director Oliver Stone, who brought Platoon, Born on the Fourth of July, Wall Street and JFK to the big screen, tackles the most important and fascinating true story of the 21st century. Snowden, the politically-charged, pulse-pounding thriller starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Shailene Woodley, reveals the incredible untold personal story of Edward Snowden, the polarizing figure who exposed shocking illegal surveillance activities by the NSA and became one of the most wanted men in the world. He is considered a hero by some, and a traitor by others. No matter which you believe, the epic story of why he did it, who he left behind, and how he pulled it off makes for one of the most compelling films of the year.
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Good: On newspaper, the story of Edward Snowden is compelling, provocative, exhilarating and filled with complicated characters. It's everything you want. Joseph Gordon-Levitt has Snowden's surprising deep voice nailed and Zachary Quinto actually kind of sounds like Glenn Greenwald. (Also, there are journalists in this movie. Take my money.) Bad: Nicolas Cage. Also, I cannot imagine a dramatized version of this story that will be better than the real version shown in Citizenfour — the riveting documentary made by Laura Poitras, one of the three journalists who worked with Snowden and met him in a Hong Kong hotel. I don't mean to say "Oh, the book is better," but in this case, I just can't imagine Oliver Stone — who doesn't make good movies anymore and hasn't for a while — doing better. And it's not just his fault. I think part of what makes mass surveillance, in real life or in the movies, unsettling is that it can't be visualized or really even comprehended. The urge to make it visual, as seen in this trailer when the world's data is flying at us, is understandable but I'm afraid it may take away from the paranoiac nature of it. I also didn't like The Fifth Estate, the 2013 film about Julian Assange and the birth of Wikileaks, and fair or not, it has me feeling pessimistic about this one.
