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
ALLIED. 2 stars. Robert Zemeckis ("Forrest Gump") pays tribute to classic Hollywood films with this sub-par romantic WWII spy yarn starring the 52-year-old Brad Pitt as a commando who parachutes into Casablanca to help an agent from the French Resistance (Martion Cotillard). The derivative story is so far-fetched and the romance so tepid, the film lacks any real vitality. That's especially true of the latter half which has the now-married couple become entangled in a spy-hunt in London. The thriller elements are too thin to be taken seriously and the romance far too sentimentalized. 2 hrs. 04 R (violence, some sexuality/nudity, profanity and brief drug use) _ Tirdad Derakhshani
ARRIVAL. 3 stars. The military recruits a linguist (Amy Adams) to help decipher alien communications. "Arrival" is at once majestic and melancholy. It's a grand endeavor, and Adams, at the center of it all, brings pluck and smarts and a deep-seated sorrow to her role. 1 hr. 56 PG-13 (brief strong language) _ Steven Rea
BEING 17. 3.5 stars. Two teens, both going through difficult personal situations, come together after initially not getting along. 1 hr. 56 No MPAA rating (violence, profanity, sexuality, nudity) _ Tirdad Derakhshani
BILLY LYNN'S LONG HALFTIME WALK. 2 stars. Ang Lee ("Brokeback Mountain") directs this ambitious and deeply flawed look at the differences between the public's perception of war and what actually happens in battle. 1 hr. 50 R (for language throughout, some war violence, sexual content, and brief drug use) _ Tirdad Derakhshani
DOCTOR STRANGE. 2.5 stars. Benedict Cumberbatch ("Sherlock") acquits himself most awesomely in the 14th entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, a visually sumptuous, trippy origin story about an arrogant surgeon who loses his career but regains his soul _ and the ability to cast wicked spells, do wicked kung fu and look wicked cool in majestic blood-red cape. The plot? Hm, well evil threatens to swallow all of reality and the good guys try to stop it. The fine ensemble cast includes Tilda Swinton, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Rachel McAdams, Benedict Wong and Mads Mikkelsen. 1 hr. 55 PG-13 (sci-fi violence and action throughout, and an intense crash sequence) _ Tirdad Derakhshani
THE DUELEST. 2.5 stars. A disgraced former Army officer turned professional duelist (Pyotr Fyodorov) seeks revenge against the man who destroyed his life in this overwrought, if beautifully produced melodrama from Russia. Set in the 19th Century milieu of Dostoevsky and Pushkin and filled with period detail about duels, the story also features a gorgeous damsel in distress (Yuliya Khlynina). 1 hr. 50 R (strong violence, some sexuality and nudity) _ Tirdad Derakhshani
THE EDGE OF SEVENTEEN. 3 stars. A teen's (Hailee Steinfeld) life takes a turn for the worse when her best friend begins dating her brother. It works because it's not a candy-coated version of teenagedom. It's harsh, awkward and funny, just like being a teenager. 1 hr. 30. R (for sexual content, language and some drinking) _ Molly Eichel
ELLE. 3.5 stars. Paul Verhoeven's most daring exploration of sexual politics features a stunning performance by Isabelle Huppert as a successful business executive and single mother who is violently raped by a masked assailant. Refusing to become a victim or to seek revenge, she tries to understand the dynamics of rape, going as far as to befriend and seduce her attacker. 2 hrs. 10 R (violence involving sexual assault, disturbing sexual content, some grisly images, brief graphic nudity, and profanity) _ Tirdad Derakhshani
FANTASTIC BEASTS AND WHERE TO FIND THEM. 3 stars. Harry Potter spin-off scripted by J.K. Rowling brings the wizarding world across the pond to our side. Set in 1920s Manhattan, with Eddie Redmayne, Katherine Waterson, Colin Farrell. 2 hrs. 13. PG-13 (some fantasy action violence) _ Tirdad Derakhshani
FLORENCE FOSTER JENKINS. 3.5 stars. Meryl Streep is achingly good in "The Queen" director Stephen Frears' latest piece de resistance as Florence Foster Jenkins, a Wilkes Barre-born heiress and amateur singer who was dubbed the world's worst. Simon Helberg all but steals the show as her pianist, while Hugh Grant is lovely as her husband. Set in the 1940s when Florence was in her mid-70s, the film follows her preparations to hold her first performance at Carnegie Hall. 1 hr. 50 PG-13 (brief suggestive material) _ Tirdad Derakhshani
HACKSAW RIDGE. 3.5 stars. One of Mel Gibson's greatest achievements as director, this incredibly violent, gory WWII epic tells the true story of U.S. Amy medic Desmond Doss (a remarkable Andrew Garfield), who became one of the most decorated soldiers of the Pacific Theater without firing a single shot. A conscientious objector, he single-handedly saved more than 75 wounded men during the Battle of Okinawa. The first-rate ensemble cast includes Hugo Weaving, Sam Worthington, Rachel Griffiths and Teresa Palmer. 2 hrs. 11 R (intense prolonged realistically graphic sequences of war violence including grisly bloody images) _ Tirdad Derakhshani
THE HANDMAIDEN. 3.5 stars. Based on Sarah Water's novel the "Fingersmith," this breathtaking, clever, funny sexy _ and sexually graphic _ romantic thriller from "Oldboy" director Park Chan-wook is about a lesbian romance that develops between an impoverished confidence trickster and an isolated, naive heiress. Set during the 1930s, when Korea was a vassal state to Japan, the film cleverly addresses a range of themes about power, economic exploitation and sexuality. 2 hrs. 24 No MPAA rating (nudity and graphic sexual situations throughout, profanity, smoking, violence) _ Tirdad Derakhshani
THE LOVE WITCH. 2.5 stars. Indie auteur Anna Biller follows up her memorable sex comedy "Viva" with this fascinating and fun, if seriously flawed, send-up for witchcraft and Satan worship yarns from the 60s and 70s about a recently widowed beauty (Samantha Robinson) who uses witchcraft to control and subdue men she dates. Then they start dying or going mad. The amazing visuals, wild color palette and campy style don't make up for a weak script. 2 hrs. No MPAA rating (profanity, nudity, sexuality, smoking, some drug use) _ Tirdad Derakhshani
LOVING. 3 stars. True story of an interracial couple who were jailed for getting married in 1950s Virginia. Their case led to the Supreme Court decision invalidating race-related marriage laws. 2 hrs. 3 PG-13 (thematic elements, some profanity) _ Tirdad Derakhshani
MANCHESTER BY THE SEA. 3.5 stars. Kenneth Lonergan ("You Can Count on Me," "Margaret") proves once again he's one of America's finest dramatists with this working class drama about loss, grief and family obligations. Casey Affleck is sensational in an Oscar-worthy performance as a self-hating, melancholic who has lived a miserable life as a janitor since he lost both his children in an accident. When his older brother (Kyle Chandler) dies, he's forced to return to his tiny hometown and assume responsibility for his teenage nephew (Lucas Hedges). Costars Michelle Williams, Matthew Broderick and Gretchen Mol. 2 hrs. 17 R (profanity throughout and some sexual content) _ Tirdad Derakhshani
MISS SLOANE. 2 stars. Disappointing political thriller features Jessica Chastain in a powerhouse performance as an amoral conservative Washington lobbyist who comes under attack from the gun lobby when she switches sides. John Madden, who directed Chastain's 2010 breakout film, "The Debt," delivers a serviceable thriller that feels far more like a heist film about a con artist than a satire about the corrupting influence of money in politics. 2 hrs. 12 R (profanity and some sexuality) _ Tirdad Derakhshani
MOANA. 3.5 stars. This delightful, lyrical and deeply moving 3-D computer animated family picture is a semi-comic adventure story featuring the first truly feminist heroine to grace Walt Disney's animated features. Based in part on Polynesian myths, it's about a teenage princess (15-year-old Hawaii-born singer Auli'i Cravalho) who goes on an arduous journey to restore the creative powers of the fecund earth mother who created the world. Co-starring Dwayne Johnson as a macho demi-god, the film is fueled by a wondrous, ecofeminist point of view. 1 hr. 53 PG (peril, some scary images and brief thematic elements) _ Tirdad Derakhshani
MOONLIGHT. 4 stars. A true American masterpiece, the sophomore feature from Barry Jenkins ("Medicine for Melancholy") is a heady mix of brutal social realism and poetry as it tells the coming age story of a young black gay man from the Miami ghetto. Divided into three parts, it tells the story of Chiron as a 10-year-old, a high school student and a 20-something professional as he wrestles with external forces he can't control including poverty and drug crime and internal desires he cannot ignore. Alex Hibbert, Ashton Sanders and Trevante Rhodes give memorable performances as Chiron. With Andre Holland, Janelle Monae, Naomie Harris and Mahershala Ali. 1 hr. 50 R (some sexuality, drug use, brief violence, and profanity throughout) _ Tirdad Derakhshani
OLD STONE. 3 stars. Chinese Canadian writer Johnny Ma makes his feature debut with a lean, mean and utterly compelling 80-minute thriller about the Kafkaesque world a taxi driver enters when he tries to help an accident victim. In Mandarin with English subtitles. 1 hr. 20 No MPAA rating (profanity, some violence, smoking) _ Tirdad Derakhshani
TROLLS. 2 stars. DreamWorks Animation's mediocre animated 3-D musical family adventure is the first big-screen story spun from the Good Luck Troll line of toys introduced in 1959. Justin Timberlake and Anna Kendrick voice the two leads and sing a couple of nice duets. Timberlake, who produced the music, does a great job, but the film has no magic, no real luster. 1 hr. 32 PG (some mild rude humor) _ Tirdad Derakhshani
