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This weekend there are TEN new films out for you to choose from: a double-hitter of strong drama in The Accountant and Nocturnal Animals, light-hearted real-life tale in A Street Cat Named Bob, a gory horror in Rupture, a low-budget British comedy in Crossing Over, something very surreal in British movies in The Darkest Universe, a documentary about a master filmmaker in Richard Linklater: Dream Is Destiny, more drama from Sweden (Girls Lost) and the UK (My Feral Heart), and one of the most turgid wastes of time… The Light Between Oceans.
The Accountant stars Ben Affleck (Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice) as Christian Wolff, 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 (JK Simmons), starting to close in, Christian takes on a legitimate client: a state-of-the-art robotics company where an accounting clerk 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.
Directed by Gavin O’Connor (Jane Got A Gun), from a script by Bill Dubuque, the film also stars Anna Kendrick, Jon Bernthal, Alison Wright, Jeffrey Tambor, Gregory Alan Williams and John Lithgow.
Hit or Miss? Verdict: Hit!
Nocturnal Animals
A “story inside a story,” in which the first part follows a woman named Susan who receives a book manuscript from her ex-husband, a man whom she left 20 years earlier, asking for her opinion. The second element follows the actual manuscript, called “Nocturnal Animals,” which revolves around a man whose family vacation turns violent and deadly. It also continues to follow the story of Susan, who finds herself recalling her first marriage and confronting some dark truths about herself.
Starring Amy Adams and Jake Gyllenhaal, I definitely want to check this out sooner rather than later.
Hit or Miss? Verdict: Hit!
A Street Cat Named Bob
Based on the international best selling book. The true feel good story of how James Bowen (Luke Treadaway – The Rack Pack), a busker and recovering drug addict, had his life transformed when he met a stray ginger cat.
Hit or Miss? Verdict: Hit!
Rupture
A single mother tries to break free from a mysterious organization that has abducted her. Staring Noomi Rapace, Peter Stormare, Michael Chiklis and Lesley Manville, with fears controlling Noomi’s mind, this looks like a decent horror movie, so I definitely want to check this out.
Hit or Miss? Verdict: Hit!
Crossing Over
A frustrated Agent submits eight actors to audition for the next big Hollywood Movie. Potential career breaks for them and a large payday for her. How will they fair against two LA Casting Directors and the movie’s unusual premise?
With a budget of an incredibly low £1500, and starring Louise Jameson, Jake Francis, Mark Haldor and J. David Hinze, although there’s only a couple of brief teasers online, the first one (below) certainly drew me to it.
Hit or Miss? Verdict: Hit!
The Darkest Universe is BAFTA-nominated directors Will Sharpe and Tom Kingsley‘s surreal and hilarious follow-up to the critically acclaimed Black Pond.
The film follows world-weary banker Zac on his search for his eccentric sister, Alice, who goes missing while on a narrowboat trip with her new boyfriend. Poignant, funny and thought-provoking in equal measure, The Darkest Universe is an otherworldly and truly original gem of a movie from two of the UK’s freshest young directors. the film’s ensemble cast includes Chris Langham (The Thick Of It, Black Pond), Joe Thomas and Simon Bird (the latter two from The Inbetweeners).
Checking out the trailer, it’s very bizarre, but there’s definitely something in this…
Hit or Miss? Verdict: Hit!
Richard Linklater: Dream Is Destiny
A feature documentary on the life and work of filmmaker, Richard Linklater. Produced and Directed by Louis Black (founder of SXSW Festivals and the Austin Chronicle) and Karen Bernstein (Emmy and Grammy Award winning documentary filmmaker), this is an unusual look at a fiercely independent style of filmmaking that arose from Austin, Texas in the 1980s/ early 90’s and how Linklater’s films, Slacker, Dazed and Confused, Waking Life and Boyhood, sparked a low budget, in your own backyard movement in this country and around the world.
The trailer is brief, but I’ve seen a number of Mr Linklater’s films and this documentary certainly looks interesting.
Hit or Miss? Verdict: Hit!
Girls Lost (aka Pojkarna)
Three young girls’ friendship is tested after they plant a very special flower; the Nectar from the flower changes their lives- and friendship – forever, as they get a taste of what it’s like growing up as a boy. It’s a story of how we’ve created gender, and how to know who you are when society is telling you who you should be, but also a story about young love and lust.
Written and directed by Alexandra-Therese Keining, and starring Mandus Berg, Adam Dahlgren, Malin Eriksson and Alexander Gustavsson, this looks intriguing, so I hope to check it out at some point, although it’s unlikely it’ll be airing at your local multiplex.
Hit or Miss? Verdict: Hit!
My Feral Heart
Luke (Steven Brandon), an independent young man with Down’s syndrome, is forced to live in a care home after his elderly mother dies. He struggles to settle there, both frustrated at having his wings clipped by its rules, and unimpressed by his new house mates. His disappointment with his new home soon turns to wonder when Luke discovers a way out and begins to explore the surrounding countryside. When he is caught sneaking out by Pete, a troubled youth who tends the gardens at the home, the two strike up an unlikely rapport: Pete covers for Luke and in return Luke helps Pete clear the garden. On one illicit excursion to the adjoining field Luke discovers a young girl in desperate need of his help.
Also starring Suzanna Hamilton, Pixie Le Knot and Darren Kent, this does look intriguing so I certainly want to see this.
Hit or Miss? Verdict: Hit!
The Light Between Oceans
This film looks so depressing it made me want to fall asleep in this drama starring Michael Fassbender, Alicia Vikander and Rachel Weisz about a lighthouse keeper and his wife living off the coast of Western Australia raise a baby they rescue from an adrift rowboat…
Hit or Miss? Verdict: Miss!
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.