Joey Magidson
Welcome back to my Home Movies! Today, we have a rock solid action movie leading the way in The Accountant 2. This week also features a Criterion Collection release, as well as plenty of other options, including the newest take on How to Train Your Dragon. So, the slate is far from bare. Read on for more…
Joey’s Top Pick
The Accountant 2
I like The Accountant a lot. So, it says something that The Accountant 2 is an improvement in almost every way. Getting to see this unconventional Ben Affleck action hero get to show off some light comedy vibes is a hoot to me. I sincerely hope that we get another sequel, as this movie is so much fun. My review here on the site began like so:
Back in 2016, The Accountant debuted as a slightly odd duck of a movie. It’s a slightly high concept shoot em up at its core that has Ben Affleck in hero mode as well as serious actor mode. The mixture worked because of Affleck’s commitment to the dramatic aspects, as opposed to simply the action ones. It gave what could have been a rather silly flick a bit extra of a punch. In the years since, it’s become a very re-watchable film, which certainly explains why a sequel is now hitting screens. What easily could have been a situation of diminishing returns is instead the opposite. The Accountant 2 is here with even more to offer, which is a welcome surprise. It’s still popcorn entertainment, even more so here, but everyone involved knows what works and doubles down on it. It’s a nice lesson for a franchise to take, even if it rarely happens.
The Accountant 2 improves on the already very solid first film, leaning into buddy comedy elements and just raising the overall scope of the action. Both movies are fun, to be sure, but this feels more consistently designed to make you laugh. There were humorous elements in The Accountant, but they were just sprinkled in to break up some of the brutality. Here, it feels like the action comes when it’s time to take a break from the light comedy. Both versions work, without question, with this style actually working even better.
Also Available This Week
1923: Season Two (TV)
The 40-Year-Old Virgin (4K)
Casper (4K)
Freaky Tales (Blu-ray)
High Tension (4K)
How to Train Your Dragon (2025)
It Follows (4K)
Meet the Parents (4K)
Sleepaway Camp II: Unhappy Campers (4K)
Straight Outta Compton (4K)
The Strangers (4K)
The Toxic Avenger (4K)
World Trade Center (4K)
Criterion Corner
Cairo Station
From The Criterion Collection: “Youssef Chahine established his international reputation with this masterpiece, which, though initially a commercial failure in Egypt, would become one of the most influential and celebrated works in all of Arab cinema. The director himself stars as Kenawi, a disabled newspaper hawker whose obsession with a sultry drink seller (Hind Rostom, known as the “Marilyn Monroe of Arabia”) leads to tragedy of operatic proportions on the streets of Cairo. Blending elements of neorealism with provocative noir-melodrama, Cairo Station is a work of raw populist poetry that explores the individual’s search for a place in Egypt’s new postrevolutionary political order.”
Stay tuned for more next week…
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