THE ACCOUNTANT. 3 stars. Crime thriller specialist Gavin O'Connor ("Hope and Glory"), delivers a slick, well-paced actioner based on the most ludicrous premise. Ben Affleck stars as an autistic accountant who also happens to be an expert sniper and martial arts master who is targeted by assassins after he finds financial irregularities at a powerful tech firm. Anna Kendrick is terrific as a geeky junior accountant who falls for the heroic CPA. With John Lithgow, J.K. Simmons, and Cynthia Addai-Robinson. 2 hr. 8 R (strong violence and profanity throughout) _ Tirdad Derakhshani
BAD MOMS. 2.5 stars. Mila Kunis stars as a stressed-out working mother who teams with two similarly overtaxed women (Kristen Bell, Kathryn Hahn), rebelling against a hissy PTA prez (Christina Applegate) in a mildly amusing, moderately raunchy, mostly schematic comedy from the writers of "The Hangover" franchise. 1 hr. 41 R (profanity, sex, nudity, adult themes) _ Steven Rea
THE BATTLE OF ALGIERS. (Not previewed). This 50-year-old landmark work of political cinema, now digitally restored, tracks the three-year conflagration between French soldiers and North African freedom fighters in the streets of the Algerian capital. The newsreel-style film, nominated for three Oscars, deployed a cast of nonprofessional actors and seethes with energy and authenticity. 1 hr. 27 No MPAA rating (realistic war footage).
THE BIRTH OF A NATION. 3.5 stars. Nate Parker's Sundance sensation lives up to the hype: A powerful work of history and myth alike, it depicts Nat Turner's transformation from a preacher who taught his fellow slaves to submit to white ownership into a firebrand and rebel who led a bloody, if short-lived, mutiny in 1831. Parker, who also wrote and directed, gives a rousing, controlled performance as Turner, and he's ably backed up by Aunjanue Ellis, Aja Naomi King, and Armie Hammer. 2 hrs. R (disturbing, violent content, and some brief nudity) _ Tirdad Derakhshani
BLAIR WITCH. 2 stars. Writer Simon Barrett and director Adam Wingard, who are arguably the best filmmaking team in horror with a body of works that includes "You're Next" and "The Guest," are wasted on this revisitation of the 1999 low-budget marvel "The Blair Witch Project." It's 17 years after doc filmmaker Amanda Donahue and her crew of two disappeared in Black Hills forest, victims of a witch. When a vid crops up suggesting she's still alive, her brother and a group of friends grab fancy film and tracking equipment and go after her. Will the witch get 'em too? 1 hr. 29 R (profanity, terror and some disturbing images) _ Tirdad Derakhshani
BOO! A MADEA HALLOWEEN. 2.5 stars. Tyler Perry is back as Mabel "Madea" Simmons _ and brother Joe and nephew Brian, whose daughter slips out of the house to attend a fraternity Halloween party. Madea _ along with Aunt Bam (Cassi Davis), Hattie (Patrice Lovely), and Joe _ follows, and they crash the party. Laughs galore, of course, and nothing more. 1 hr. 43 PG-13 (drug use and references, suggestive content, language, some horror images, thematic material) _ Sofiya Ballin
BRIDGET JONES'S BABY. 3 stars. The hot-mess Brit returns for the third installment with the same love-triangle high jinks that characterized the first film, this time with added morning sickness. After two unprotected hookups, Jones (Renee Zellwegger) finds out she's pregnant, but doesn't know who the father is: a tech billionaire (Patrick Dempsey) or longtime love (and now ex) Mark Darcy (Colin Firth). The film is not as good as the first go-round, but much better than the dreadful second. 2 hr. 2 R (language, sex, nudity) _ Molly Eichel
CAPTAIN FANTASTIC. 3.5 stars. Viggo Mortensen stars, with an amazing group of young actors, as a radical hippie dad who has raised his kids way off the grid, way outside the norms of "the real world." When events force them to leave their rustic retreat and deal with modern-day America, the experience is jolting _ and funny, moving, meaningful. 1 hr. 58 R (profanity, nudity, adult themes) _ Steven Rea
COMMAND AND CONTROL. 3.5 stars. A brilliant, terrifying PBS documentary about the mishaps and accidents that nearly led to the detonation of several nuclear weapons on American soil during the Cold War. Director Robert Kenner's adaptation of journo Eric Schlosser's book skillfullly uses archival material and interviews to provide an in-depth, minute-by-minute analysis of one such "Broken Arrow" incident from 1980. 1 hr. 32 No MPAA rating (adult themes, footage of nuclear detonations, disturbing subject matter) _ Tirdad Derakhshani
DEEPWATER HORIZON. 3 stars. One of the most effective action directors in the biz, Peter Berg recounts the April 20, 2010, explosion that englufed the massive Deepwater Horizon oil rig with rare grace and style. Featuring Mark Wahlberg, Kurt Russell, John Malkovich, Kate Hudson and Gina Rodriguez, this is a film of great economy and elegance, a no-nonsense recreation of a tragedy that's thrilling, suspenseful, heart-stopping. Yet one can't help but wonder if the story would not have been better served with a more thoughtful drama that captured its long-term consequences. 1 hr. 47 PG-13 (prolonged intense disaster sequences and related disturbing images, and some profanity) _ Tirdad Derakhshani
DON'T BREATHE. 3 stars. Horror director Fede Alvarez follows up his fresh take on Sam Rami's "Evil Dead" with a lean, mean, twisted home invasion thriller about three young thieves who break into the house of an aging blind man (Stephen Lang) who turns out to be vengeful, violent and bloodthirsty. One of the most suspenseful and frightening horror pics of the year, this ingenious thriller is filled with delightful twists. 1 hr. 28 R (terror, violence, disturbing content, and profanity including sexual references) _ Tirdad Derakhshani
DON'T THINK TWICE. 3.5 stars. A love letter to the art of improv comedy from writer, director and actor Mike Birbiglia ("Sleepwalk with Me"). Featuring a superb cast of comics including Key & Peele's Keegan-Michael Key, Gillian Jacobs (Netflix' "Love"), "Inside Amy Schumer" writer Tami Sagher and Garfunkel and Oates' Kate Micucci, the showbiz satire is about an improv group that is torn apart when one of the members wins a big TV role. 1 hr. 32 R (profanity and some drug use) _ Tirdad Derakhshani
THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN. 2.5 stars. Emily Blunt will set your teeth on edge as a self-hating alcoholic divorcee in this surprisingly enjoyable murder mystery with a quasi-feminist twist. Told entirely from the point of view of its three heroines (including Rebecca Ferguson and Haley Bennett), the thriller aspires to Vertigo-like perfection. But it's no Hitchcock classic. Costars Justin Theroux and Luke Evans provide a virile male element. 1 hr. 52 R (violence, sexual content, profanity and nudity) _ Tirdad Derakhshani
HANDS OF STONE. 2 stars. An uneven, disappointing attempt to tell the fascinating story of Panamanian boxer Roberto Duran, who won world titles in four weight classes but who was lambasted when he walked out in the middle of a fight with Sugar Ray Leonard in 1980. The film moves in too many directions and never really coheres despite great performances by Edgar Ramirez (Carlos) as Duran, Robert De Niro as his trainer Ray Acel and singer Rusher Raymond as Leonard. 1 hr. 45 R (profanity, some sexuality/nudity) _ Tirdad Derakhshani
HELL OR HIGH WATER. 4 stars. Jeff Bridges is a soon-to-retire Texas Ranger, teamed with his Native American partner (Gil Birmingham) as they crisscross West Texas on the trail of two desperate bank-robbing brothers (Ben Foster, Chris Pine). A contemporary Western that goes way beyond being simply satisfying genre fare. Written by Talor Sheridan, directed by David Mackenzie, a soulful, jolting, sharp-eyed affair. 1 hr. 42 R (violence, profanity, adult themes) _ Steven Rea
THE HOLLARS. 2 stars. Actor-director John Krasinski ("The Office," "Brief Interviews with Hideous Men") delivers an uneven, exasperating mess of a story with his sophomore directorial effort, an endlessly life-affirming dramedy about the love that helps a middle-class Ohio family rise above its many dysfunctions. Stuffed with plot twist after plot twist and enough themes to fill a library, the film flounders despite a fine cast that includes Margo Martindale, Richard Jenkins, Sharlto Copley and Anna Kendrick. 1 hr. 28 PG-13 (brief profanity and some thematic elements) _ Tirdad Derakhshani
IN ORDER OF DISAPPEARANCE. 3.5 stars. The fourth collaboration between writer-director Hans Petter Moland and fellow Scandinavian, master thesp Stellan Skarsgard, this brilliant, violent and absurdist black comedy features Skarsgard as a bereaved snow plow truck driver who avenges his son's murder with a bloody campaign to wipe out Norway's entire underworld, one corpse at a time _ using the tools of his trade as his weapons. 1 hr. 56 R (bloody violence and profanity throughout) _ Tirdad Derakhshani
JACK REACHER: NEVER GO BACK. 3 stars. Tom Cruise has found his ideal role in novelist Lee Child's anithero Jack Reacher, the former U.S. Army criminal investigator who travels around helping people who've been exploited by bad guys. This sequel, costarring Cobie Smulders as a current Army cop and Danika Yarosh as a teenage runaway, has Reacher taking on a private military contractor run by an evil former gerneral (Robert Knepper). 1 hr. 58 PG-13 (sequences of violence and action, some bloody images, profanity, thematic elements) _ Tirdad Derakhshani
KEVIN HART: WHAT NOW? 2.5 stars. Kevin Hart comes back home to Philly for his latest concert movie, which was filmed last year over a sold-out two-night stand at Lincoln Financial Field before crowds of 53,000 a night. Hart mocks James Bond pictures in a silly prologue costarring Halle Berry before taking the stage, where he dominates with sharp-edged jokes based on his daily life with his two kids and his fiancee. His surreal routines are less funny when they touch upon sex. 1 hr. 36 R (sexual material, profanity) _ Tirdad Derakhshani
LITTLE MEN. 3.5 stars. The fast friendship between two New York City 13-year-olds is threatened when their parents start squabbling over a piece of Brooklyn real estate. Ira Sachs' follow-up to "Love Is Strange" is keenly observed, intimate, and anchored by the performances of newcomers Michael Barbieri and Theo Tapliz. With Greg Kinnear, Jennifer Ehle, and Paulina Garcia. 1 hr. 25 PG (adult themes) _ Steven Rea
THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN. 2 stars. Good turns by Denzel Washington, Chris Pratt, Ethan Hawke and Vincent D'Onofrio can't save "Training Day" director Antoine Fuqua's star-studded remake of John Sturges' masterpiece. It's fun, exciting and diverting enough. It's also entirely forgettable. 2 hrs. 12 PG-13 ( extended and intense sequences of Western violence, and for historical smoking, some profanity and suggestive material) _ Tirdad Derakhshani
A MAN CALLED OVE. 3 stars. Rolf Lassgard ("Wallander") is brilliant in this heartwarming dramedy as a suicidal 59-year-old factory worker who finds life unbearable after his wife's death. A pitiless misanthrope who gets a kick out of showing up his neighbors as idiots, he finds his way back to humanity and love when he befriends a young family next door. Flashbacks feature the stunning Ida Engvoll as the young Ove's wife. With Bahar Pars, Tobias Almborg. In Swedish with English subtitles. 1 hr. 56 PG-13 (thematic content, some disturbing images, and profanity) _ Tirdad Derakhshani
MASTERMINDS. 2.5 stars. Zach Galifianakis is wonderfully odd as a bumbling thief in the latest slapstick comedy from "Napoleon Dynamite" writer-director Jared Hess. Based on a real-life 1997 armored car company heist, the admittedly uneven film is filled with goofy turns by a terrific comic cast including Kristen Wiig, Owen Wilson, Jason Sudekis and Kate McKinnon. 1 hr. 34 PG-13 (crude and sexual humor, some profanity and violence) _ Tirdad Derakhshani
MISS PEREGRINE'S HOME FOR PECULIAR CHILDREN. 2.5 stars. Tim Burton's tween adventure fantasy tries to replicate the immensely successful mix of arthouse cool and blockbuster power that made "Alice in Wonderland" such a huge blockbuster. The effort backfires. Eva Green stars as the headmistress of a mysterious school for paranormally gifted kids who are hunted down by murderous monsters. Asa Butterfield is the misfit Florida teen who finds himself at the school and Ella Purnell of "Never Let Me Go" the remarkably charming girl he falls for. Samuel L. Jackson, Terence Stamp and Judi Dench costar. 2 hrs. 07 PG-13 (intense sequences of fantasy action/violence and peril) _ Tirdad Derakhshani
OUIJA: ORIGIN OF EVIL. 2.5 stars. Elizabeth Reaser ("The Good Wife") delivers a sympathetic performance as a recently widowed mom who plays at being a spiritual medium to gullible old ladies. Then one day her little girl begins to channel demonic beings. Child actor Lulu Wilson gives a jaw-dropping performance as the increasingly psychic girl. The latest entry from "Insidious" and "Paranormal Activity" producer Jason Blum, is a cross between a haunted house mystery and a demon possession yarn. While it relies too much on cartoonish digital effects, it has style and a few nice scares. 1 hr. 39 PG-13 (disturbing images, terror and thematic elements) _ Tirdad Derakhshani
STORKS. 2 stars. The latest 3D, CGI, animated family adventure saga tries to combine the cuteness factor of newborn babies with the edgy humor of a Saturday Night Live skit. Featuring voices by Adam Samberg, Jennifer Aniston, Kelsey Grammer, Keegan-Michael Key, and Jordan Peele, it's about a rebellious stork that accidentally ruins the latest business venture of the world's storks _ tired of delivering babies, they now make home deliveries for an online retailer. 1 hr. 29 PG ( mild action and some thematic elements) _ Tirdad Derakhshani
SULLY. 3.5 stars. Tom Hanks stars as veteran airline pilot Chesley Sullenberger in this deftly executed account of the amazing emergency landing of a US Airways passenger jet in the middle of the Hudson River _ the so-called "Miracle on the Hudson." A true-life drama about heroism and people working in harmony under exceptional conditions _ and a sobering deconstruction of the flight's aftermath: Second-guessing, self-doubt, an administrative body _ the National Transportation Safety Board _ that appears on the hunt for a scapegoat. Clint Eastwood directs. 1 hr. 35 PG-13 (profanity, adult themes) _ Steven Rea
THE WHOLE TRUTH. (not previewed). Keanu Reeves stars in this legal thriller as a lawyer who signs on to defend a teen (Gabriel Basso) accused of killing his wealthy father. Renee Zellweger costars as the teen's mother, who has a previous connection to the lawyer. Gugu Mbatha-Raw plays another lawyer, committed to finding the truth. Scripted by Elia Kazan's son, Nicholas Kazan. Distributed by Freestyle Releasing. 1 hr. 33 R (profanity and some violence, including a sexual assault).
