The Tragedy of Macbeth – 7.8

Powerful and sleek, this compressed Macbeth begins in intensity and never lets up. Denzel Washington and Frances McDormand are good, not great, as the title couple (and closed captioning was an aid in following the dialogue). The black-and-white cinematography, modernist architecture and insistent score create an atmosphere of constant foreboding. Kathryn Hunter’s “Sisters” helps, too. The fault, if there be one, was in the play: we never understood why Macbeth turned on the king–a rather crucial point.

The Lost Leonardo – 7.5

The saga of “Salvador Mundi” by (perhaps) Leonardo da Vinci is the art story of the decade, and this documentary sufficiently marshaled the critical talking heads and visual evidence so that the viewer (i.e., me) felt he could make intelligent sense of what happened and, more importantly, what the painting is. Other than the slippery Yves Bouvier, who misleadingly flipped the painting for a $47 million profit, everyone–discoverer, restorer, dealer, curator, auctioneer–had reason to believe in what they were doing, and it wasn’t their fault that a Saudi prince paid a ridiculous $450 million for damaged goods. (Who was the underbidder?, one wonders.) My conclusion [spoiler alert]: the painting was originally painted by Leonardo; it was severely damaged and poorly restored (painted over), so that it escaped attention before winding its way to a New Orleans auction house; and it was innocently restored/repainted in the style of the Mona Lisa. It was sold solely on the Leonardo name–obviously a Saudi prince has no affinity for the subject or appreciation of art technique–to a buyer who was simultaneously spending the same kind of money for a yacht and a French chateau. This was just another trophy. Pictures of the work after cleaning and before retouching show none–zero–of the Leonardo sfumato that makes the painting ultimately glow like the Mona Lisa; so saying the painting is “by” Leonardo is unwarranted. But it is also unfair to call it “a piece of crap,” as the retouched painting is much better than the other copies of the composition shown in the film and affected many viewers.
Interestingly, both this film and Julia employed the same technique of mixing documentary footage with reenactments of unimportant actions: in this case, headless people carrying the painting from place to place; in Julia, anonymous figures slicing and dicing vegetables. The distinction was clear, never misleading, and the technique added visual interest.

Julia – 6.5

Cook-a-little, talk-a-little, cook-a-little, talk-a-little, cheep-cheep-cheep, talk-a-lot, cook-a-little-more. For a non-foodie, there was a lot of same in this documentary recounting of Julia Child’s admittedly amazing career. There were occasional plot twists–Julia’s derision of nouvelle cuisine, her support of Planned Parenthood–but they disappeared as abruptly as they arose. The movie announced its theme at the outset and replayed it all the way to its close.

CODA – 7.5

Emilia Jones steals your heart in this year’s crowd-pleaser, not just with her winsome charm but her amazing singing, and signing. The plot is over-the-top obvious, with every plot point telegraphed from the moment it’s introduced, but it’s still a fun ride. Troy Kotsur is endearing as the father, but Marlee (“I’m a famous actor”) Matlin is a bit hard to take as the mother. It’s also nice to see Gloucester, Mass., and the community of fishermen get a moment in the sun. The music selection, from “Clouds” on down, is superb.

Being the Ricardos – 7

This was Aaron Sorkin in overdrive, with every scene in a five-day period a crisis, and more issues than I could count. Unfortunately–and this was a big problem–I could never accept Javier Bardem as Desi Arnaz (whom I don’t know).  He was too big, too physical, too much Javier Bardem, and I couldn’t sense any chemistry with Nicole Kidman’s Lucy. The gap between Lucille Ball offstage and on was also a bridge too far. Interestingly, my favorite parts of the movie were the black-and-white recreations of actual “I Love Lucy” episodes. I’m sure the threat of Communist exposure was as real as depicted, but everything about that plot seemed overdramatized. Partly this was the fault of the portentous score. Perhaps Sorkin was trying to recreate the feel of a 1952 movie, but if so, that just added to the confusion of trying to shoehorn ten stories into one movie. As a six- or eight-part miniseries, each plot would have had room to breathe. But still, there would be Javier Bardem.

Licorice Pizza – 6

A disjointed series of rather fantastical episodes, linked only by the only slightly less fantastical relationship between Gary and Alana, a relationship we didn’t know whether to root for or cringe at. Cooper Hoffman and, especially, Alana Haim were faultless in their roles and fun to watch, remarkable for first-time actors without great looks, and she was a great runner. It was hard to believe Gary was 15, but that wasn’t essential. More of an issue was the movie’s 2:13 length: it kept going on and on without any particular story driving it. Sort of Paul Thomas Anderson’s Belfast?

The Lost Daughter – 8

A taut psychological thriller that played out, almost entirely, on Olivia Colman’s face, photographed in intense close-up the whole way. The setting and characters were wonderfully reminiscent of the other Elena Ferrante books I’d read, a surprising achievement for a first-time American director. Jessie Buckley was just as good as the young Leda, but I had trouble connecting the two characters–the physical dissimilarity didn’t help–and I almost felt I was watching two different films. The young Leda’s struggle with motherhood was convincing; but I could never figure out Colman/Leda’s deal with the doll. Did one story explain the other? If not, why not? Still, it was good to see a film that made you think and made you tense with anticipation, even though, like much of life, it ended in anticlimax.

Don’t Look Up – 8

As a sucker for broad comedy (see, e.g., Monty Python), especially when it leans in my political direction, I enjoyed every minute of Adam McKay’s latest satire. Low expectations, based on word-of-mouth criticism that it was too obvious or just too much, undoubtedly helped. While it’s unfair to single out any of the star-studded cast, I loved Jennifer Lawrence. Not so much Leonardo DiCaprio, but maybe his role was  the nondescript squishy middle that the others played off of. The movie took on climate change deniers, celebrity journalism, tech giants, social media, Live with Kelly!, space billionaires, political appointees, MAGA and more! Plus, it had the snappiest ending I can remember.

The Rescue – 6.5

A theoretically dramatic story of the cave-diving rescue of 12 trapped boys in Thailand in 2018, this documentary somehow left me cold. Maybe because I compared it to the superior Free Solo by the same directors. Visually, 40% was talking heads, 40% faceless swimmers in dark, muddy water. Many of the action scenes were unannounced re-enactments, which made you wonder, “how’d they shoot that?,” and left you a little confused (as opposed to Free Solo, where you asked the same question but then were amazed by the answer). The divers were worthy heroes, but once we met them there was little more to learn. It was a hard story to tell after the fact, with obvious restrictions. Although in both movies we knew the quest would succeed, I was tense through much of Free Solo, but never here.

Hand of God – 8

A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, or Belfast–Italian Style, Paolo Sorrentino’s love letter to growing up in Naples in the 1980s captures La Famiglia in all its frictions and closeness. His style is distinctive: every scene is short and self-contained, without musical background (except once). His characters, too, are distinctive: the lusty aunt, the prankster mother, the misanthropic matriarch and on and on. Best is the film’s sense of humor. There are no–well, only one or two–overt jokes, but the situations and people had me laughing the whole time. There’s a nod to Fellini, but more to Italian realism. And how beautiful Sorrentino makes the world. Like young Fabietto will make his movies.