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The Amateur is a basic revenge film. Uber smart man who works cyber for the CIA becomes distraught when wife is murdered in a terrorist event. Oh! And he has some secrets that could blackmail some people. So he leverages training to be an assassin so he can get the killers.

I find Rami Malek to be a strange actor. Or his presence is slightly off in most of the roles I've seen him do. Here, he basically plays a savant on the autism spectrum. So somehow this makes him capable of mastermind plots to find who killed his wife, but at the same time allows him to muddle his way through these events.

Oh, and he outruns experienced CIA assassins with some help from a hacker, and a CIA trainer. And somehow, all sense of thrills is gone from this film. Tension is supposed to be felt from the ticks of Malek's character? Random chases and traps fall flat given how monotone Malek is.

While this film is serviceable, I was more engaged with my walking on a treadmill than the conclusion of this film. Ho Hum.

Opus chronicles the return of a famous and successful musical artist who is releasing a new album after 30 years. To market this return, the artist invites a select few media folk that are at the top of their professions. And, included in this group, is one underling who has yet to make a break into the media world.

What follows is a trippy stay at the artist's compound with all of his followers. And it isn't too difficult to recognize this commune as a cult. The underling has some difficulty adapting to this type of living, and she seeks more information while the others accept the service and strangeness of the estate.

Highlights of Opus first and foremost is the acting. All of the cast is excellent embodying their characters without falling into full parody.

The plot has more psychological horror than full gore horror. And I think this is where people felt this movie failed. Second to this, the focus of satire on the world of the famous and those that adore them is skewered. Third, our own desires for fame ans glory come into play.

Watch Opus if you are willing to have the mirror held up to your face and our cult of fame.

He Never Left is a smaller film, and in some ways, I appreciate what it is trying to do. Production is decent. Acting is okay if a bit grating. Plot tries to be intriguing, but it comes across a bit to simplistic, even if everything isn't known up front. The plot combines two storylines that are unconnected but by the barest of a thread. And this connection doesn't make a difference in the overall story, just a weird coincidence. So why bother?

I wanted to like this more than I did. The bleak ending didn't help as I don't appreciate evil winning just to make for a "cute" ending. Hopefully, they won't make a sequal anytime soon. Tired characters didn't help as they just became lame tropes of standard wrong doers. But, the parts didn't add up to much. Oh well.