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Digging in to the events surrounding the 2021 Wall Street saga of the Gamestop short squeeze, web financial guru Roaring Kitty/Keith Gill (Paul Dano) is a social media influencer who gains the trust of the public in this modern day David and Goliath triumph over hedge fund investors looking to profit on failed businesses; a financial roulette that also has the interest of the U.S. Government. Eventually, someone will have to pay for bad investment decisions, but will it be the billionaires such as Ken Griffin (Nick Offerman) and Gabe Plotkin (Seth Rogen) or the average citizens such as Marcus Barcia (Anthony Ramos) and nurse Jenny (America Ferrera)?Written by Lauren Schuker Blum and Rebecca Angelo, based on Ben Mezrich’s book The Antisocial Network and Directed by Craig Gillespie, with Executive Producer credits going to Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss (yes the twins from the 2004 Facebook lawsuit now turned cryptocurrency investors). It’s a star studded ensemble piece told from multiple viewpoints in a way that manages to keep the majority of its stars from ever sharing the screen at the same time. Truly an exercise in Covid filmmaking protocols that plays to its strengths and relies on compelling story, solid acting, and the constant drive of the market to quite accurately re-count the bigger details of the actual events, even if some of the story lines are still fictionalized; end result, a story that infuriates as much as it entertains, with perhaps a bit more rage than entertainment. This worthy endeavor doesn’t get too heavy into the actual ins and outs of Wall Street, rather, running one hour and forty five minutes it’s a quick start guide into economics and just enough to get the viewer interested. Dumb Money is rated R.

Special ops agents the Expendables find themselves in a new pickle as nuclear WWIII steams closer to the brink. Now, Christmas (Jason Statham), Gunner (Dolph Lundgren), Easy Day (50 Cent), Toll Road (Randy Couture), Gina (Megan Fox) and the rest of the crew will have to work quickly to save the world, again. Written by Kurt Wimmer, Tad Daggerhart, and Max Adams, Directed by Scott Waugh, this lowest common denominator of a film caters to its audience with impeccably delivered testosterone soaked one liners, oozing the 80’s action nostalgia more than should be allowable by law, read as, so bad it’s just bad. This laughably bad installment has the audience chucking intentionally and unintentionally from start to finish, which thankfully almost couldn’t come quicker with a runtime of one hour and forty three minutes. Brace for impact, EXPEND4BLES is about to crash land into a theatre near you, you don’t want to be caught in its backwash….Peeyewww. EXPEND4BLES is rated R.

Now several years after World War II master detective Hercule Poirot (Kenneth Branagh) is retired and living in Venice Italy. But, when friend and writer Ariadne Oliver (Tina Fey) shows up at his door with an invitation to a seance, Poirot finds himself back in the game sleuthing clues on a fresh murder. Of course, murder at a seance on Halloween can only mean one thing, ghosts. Now, sifting through clues may come with supernatural help. One thing is certain, the hand and mind of Poirot is sure and swift. Written by Michael Green based on the work of Agatha Christie and Directed by Kenneth Branagh, this third installment of the Hercule Poirot’s adventures comes as the most polished and concise in the bunch running an hour and forty three minutes of runtime. Cinematically rich with lush production design, Branagh and company have crafted a visually compelling whodunit with just enough element of spook to keep things interesting, although frustrating in that there’s no way for the audience to play along with the actual events as the final reveal is reliant on clues we’re not fully privy to, so it goes. Regardless, as we roll into fall and the veil grows thin this entertaining ride serves its purpose to welcome us in. A Haunting in Venice is rated PG-13.