Joe on Film: Bi-weekly bits

A Walk Among the Tombstones —It’s been a couple of months since we’ve seen Liam Neeson loveably beat the immortal souls out of an entire cast of humans and/or animals. Now he’s back in the long awaited adaptation of Lawrence Block’s acclaimed novel, “A Walk Among the Tombstones.”

The leather-clad, gruff-voiced Neeson plays Scudder, a former NYPD detective and now private investigator who is hired on to find a drug dealer’s kidnapped wife. Written and directed by Scott Frank (“Minority Report”), the film sports a fine pedigree and a compelling trailer that gives hope for a gripping time at the theater.

Opens wide 9/19/2014   

Tusk — Kevin Smith has become something of a punchline. After his breakout film “Clerks” and his critically lauded “Chasing Amy,” the guy ceased to grow, resigning to subpar comedies that ran their own View Askewniverse tropes into the ground. Then he gave up entirely to smoke weed, sell merch, and whore himself to his arrested fan base. Despite a threatened retirement (he doesn’t take criticism well) Smith has dusted off his camera again and, instead of “Clerks III,” made something that sounds…original?

Justin Long plays a podcaster who interviews an old man of the sea, who lives like a hermit in a remote cabin. When Long begins inexplicably transforming into a walrus, shit gets real. Michael Parks co-stars.

Opens wide 9/19/2014  

The Equalizer —Yes, it’s a film adaptation of the ‘80s Edward Woodward television drama updated with a cast and creative team from the ‘00s. Denzel Washington reunites with his “Training Day” director Anton Fuqua as The Equalizer (Bob to his friends), a retired Special Forces operative who gets back in the game when he meets a young girl (Chloë Grace Moretz) who lives under the yoke of the Russian mafia. Not much to say here—as this is not my brand of ironic television adaptation, and I never much liked “Training Day.” If you’re this films audience then you probably know it already.

Opens wide 9/26/2014