Setting Sail

It’s funny, this week didn’t seem especially busy when I started making this list …

The Accountant: “Okay, but what if being autistic actually gives you superpowers?” Ben Affleck is terribly miscast as the eponymous avenger in Gavin O’Connor’s boneheaded thriller, though I honestly don’t know who could have made it work.  Edward Norton, ten years ago? Maybe? But probably not.

American Honey: Andrea Arnold’s latest has been dividing critics ever since its Cannes premiere — and its length kept me from seeing it at TIFF, since it inevitably ran over into something else I needed to see — but Rad digs it, so I’m in.

Art Bastard: Victor Kanefsky’s documentary profiles Robert Cenedella, who may or may not be the bastard of the title. (He probably is, though.)

Christine: Antonio Campos’ latest stars Rebecca Hall as TV reporter Christine Chubbuck, who committed suicide on-camera in 1974. Jake likes it, and I’m hoping its arrival at the Lightbox means we can look forward to Robert Greene’s documentary Kate Plays Christine turning up there soon as well.

Complete Unknown: Michael Shannon and Rachel Weisz make the most of the opportunities Joshua Marston’s new drama offers them; the result is a fascinating and occasionally incisive walk-and-talk picture that may not stick the landing, but tugs on the brain in just the right way.

Kevin Hart: What Now?: Kevin Hart’s latest concert movie — which let Rad down pretty hard — stands to top the box-office this weekend. Sorry, Ben Affleck; he’s just better at giving the people what they want.

Long Way North: Animator Remi Chaye’s directorial debut — after working on The Secret of Kells and The Painting— is a glorious Arctic adventure that deserves a much wider theatrical release than it’s getting.

Tower: Keith Maitland’s experimental documentary restages the August afternoon in which Charles Whitman laid siege to the University of Texas through digital rotoscoping … which, while certainly an intriguing choice, didn’t totally work for me.

Unless: Alan Gilsenan’s adaptation of the Carol Shields novel stars Catherine Keener as a mother who finds her long-lost daughter (Hannah  Gross) living homeless and mute in front of Honest Ed’s. Susan found things she liked, but isn’t sure it’s entirely successful.

There, that’s everything. Now to cut next week’s episode of Someone Else’s Movie, which — trust me — could not come at a better time.

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