A less than perfect (but still worth a watch) thriller and a highly rated horror headline our new releases for Halloween weekend, with some other random movies in between.
The Accountant
Age Restriction: 16 L PPS V
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.
Carried by Ben Affleck’s powerful and commendable performance, The Accountant might not be the greatest work of art to ever grace our screens, but it’s still a lot of fun. Despite the scripting foibles that veer into the realm of ludicrous, the John Wick-esque action sequences make up for it in spades. It might be silly at times, but you’re still in for a thrilling ride.
TheMovies review score: 3.5/5 stars
Rotten Tomatoes: 51%
Metacritic: 51
Book now at Nu Metro or Ster Kinekor
Ouija: Origin of Evil
Age Restriction: 13 H V
In 1967 Los Angeles, a widowed mother and her two daughters add a new stunt to bolster their seance scam business and unwittingly invite authentic evil into their home. When the youngest daughter is overtaken by a merciless spirit, the family confronts unthinkable fears to save her and send her possessor back to the other side.
I vaguely remember the original Ouija movie as being a paint-by-numbers horror. Thankfully, the prequel-sequel Ouija: Origins of Evil turns the “franchise” on its head and actually delivers a good movie. Stylish, thrilling and immensely creepy, this is the Halloween movie you’ve been looking for!
Rotten Tomatoes: 80%
Metacritic: 65
Book now at Nu Metro or Ster Kinekor
Keeping Up With the Joneses
Age Restriction: 10–12PG V
An ordinary suburban couple (Zach Galifianakis, Isla Fisher) finds it’s not easy keeping up with the Joneses (Jon Hamm, Gal Gadot) – their impossibly gorgeous and ultra-sophisticated new neighbors – especially when they discover that Mr. and Mrs. “Jones” are covert operatives.
Despite a funny, talented cast and what could have been a decently entertaining premise, Keeping Up With the Joneses suffers from a lazy script and a total lack of ambition. All of the movie’s potential is wasted on what ends up being a movie as generic and uninspired as the title suggests.
Rotten Tomatoes: 19%
Metacritic: 35
Book now at Nu Metro or Ster Kinekor
Shepherds and Butchers
Age Restriction: 16 V
South Africa, 1987. When Leon, a white 19-year-old prison guard, commits an inexplicable act of violence, killing seven black men in a hail of bullets, the outcome of the trial, and the court’s sentence, seems a foregone conclusion. Hotshot lawyer John Weber reluctantly takes on the seemingly unwinnable case. A passionate opponent of the death penalty, John discovers that young Leon worked on death row in the nation’s most notorious prison, under traumatic conditions, befriending the inmates over the years while having to assist in their eventual executions. As the court hearings progress, the case offers John the opportunity to put the entire system of legally-sanctioned murder on trial.
Shepard and Butchers may start out with the noblest of intentions, but it quickly veers into insufferably preachy territory. Thanks to the uneven tone and dramatic overkill, Shepards and Butchers misses out on a lot of emotional impact, and losing itself into manufactured courtroom antics.
Rotten Tomatoes: unrated
Book now at Nu Metro or Ster Kinekor
Indignation
Age Restriction: 13 L S
In 1951, Marcus Messner (Logan Lerman), a working class Jewish boy from Newark, New Jersey, travels on scholarship to a small, conservative college in Ohio, thus exempting him from being drafted into the Korean War. But once there, Marcus’s growing infatuation with his beautiful classmate Olivia Hutton (Sarah Gadon), and his clashes with the college’s imposing Dean, Hawes Caudwell (Tracy Letts), put his and his family’s best laid plans to the ultimate test. Based on the novel by Philip Roth.
Deep and thoughtful, Indignation serves up a beautifully crafted and complex character study. With an engaging cast, elegant writing and meticulous production design, Indignation is (according to the critics at least) a masterpiece.
Rotten Tomatoes: 81%
Metacritic: 79
Book now at Nu Metro or Ster Kinekor
Thomas & Friends: The Great Race
Age Restriction: TBA
Get ready, get set, GO! The race is on for Thomas & Friends™ in this action-packed musical adventure! When the best engines from around the world gather to compete in The Great Railway Show, Thomas is determined to find a way to represent Sodor. But he’s left disappointed as Gordon is chosen and is streamlined into “The Shooting Star” for The Great Race. With Gordon and the other engines making the journey to compete, something suddenly goes terribly wrong… and Gordon is in danger! Will Thomas get to the mainland in time to help him and save the day? Join Thomas and his new international friends in this high-speed movie where friendship always wins!
If you want to torture yourself with childish “entertainment” until you’d prefer your eyes be scooped out of your head with a melon-baller and plugged in to your ears to drown out the terrible voice-acting, then look no further than the garish CGI world of Thomas the Tank Engine. Alternatively, it could serve as a decent babysitter for while you’re watching one of this week’s “grown-up” releases.
Rotten Tomatoes: unrated
Book now at Ster Kinekor
For more information about the age restrictions, click here.
Last Updated: October 28, 2016
VampyreSquirrel
October 28, 2016 at 12:11
I’d rather stab myself in the face than watch half of these movies… just saying.
Hammersteyn_hates_Raid0
October 28, 2016 at 12:14
The Accountant looks awesome
Andre Fourie
October 28, 2016 at 12:18
Yep. Looks worth a look. See what I did there?
VampyreSquirrel
October 28, 2016 at 12:47
Yeah, it does
Andre Fourie
October 31, 2016 at 07:17
Went and saw it this weekend. Very good movie.
Hammersteyn_hates_Raid0
October 28, 2016 at 12:13
I bet Thomas & Friends gets derailed at the box office
Andre Fourie
October 28, 2016 at 12:18
I saw what you did there. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/66e9bb96f8ab465dbeba3045315903a802bedd4c2fbb7aa71e4e87fe7056bcd1.jpg
Hammersteyn_hates_Raid0
October 28, 2016 at 12:33
haha
Archdruid Kromas
October 28, 2016 at 12:16
Damn. Was hoping Dr. Strange released today.
Andre Fourie
October 28, 2016 at 12:20
And again. Wonder Woman. MMMMMMMMM https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/edf204c8a8f594d7f6fb2319f8d0be797201a964ca13c49456deeee475cf1413.jpg
HvR
October 28, 2016 at 12:21
Sounds like main point of Shepherds and Butchers got lost in the movie, so should probably rather go get the book.
Admiral Chief - Dragonborn
October 28, 2016 at 12:37
GAL GADOT!!!
Andre Fourie
October 28, 2016 at 12:41
mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
Nikola
October 28, 2016 at 13:44
In a lingerie in the trailer above I bet you if the article mentioned that at the top this page would get waaay more views and comments;)