Top Films by Year
Top Films of 2020
Top Films of 2017
Top Films of 2015
Sing Street – 7
There can never be too many movies about misfit high schoolers who form a rock band to get the girl of their dreams (although the Swedish We’re the Best was the exception proving the rule). This one from Ireland was a bit of a stretch, although the impossibly good music the tyro band produced was pleasanter […]
Viva – 7.5
A very sweet movie about a young Cuban caught between his macho, ex-con father and his aspirations as a drag queen. There are plenty of cliches and moments of predictable melodrama, but the setting – the slums of Havana – is realistic enough that you forgive some predictabilities in this, surprisingly, Irish-made film. Most of […]
Everybody Wants Some!! – 2
This movie’s view of college life makes Animal House seem realistic. Unfortunately, where Animal House is hilarious, Everybody is just obnoxious. In the 40 minutes we watched before walking out, there wasn’t a single enjoyable, let alone amusing, moment, no one I cared about, or anything resembling a plot. The characters’ personality traits were among my least favorite. […]
Vegas Baby – 8
Despite having no knowledge of, experience with or particular interest in the subject of in-vitro fertilization, I was hooked from the start of this documentary, and it never let go. Director Amanda Micheli skillfully mixed science, human interest, joy, sadness, ethics and economics, with just the right touches of humor for leavening to tell a […]
Eye in the Sky – 8
Kudos to director Gavin Hood, producer Colin Firth, et al., for making a commercial film that presents and provokes debate on a controversial public policy issue: America’s drone war on terrorists in the Third World. Both sides are vividly presented. Pro: a drone strike will eliminate three identified terrorist leaders and two jihadi mules armed […]