Top Films by Year
Top Films of 2020
Top Films of 2017
Top Films of 2015
Gravity – 7
A feeling of weightlessness, enhanced by my 3-D glasses, set in with George and Sandra’s first roll in space and remained the identifyingly unique feature of this otherwise generally weightless survival story. Actually, the less said about the story itself, the better. Somehow, Sandra Bullock’s character changes from a somewhat incompetent space traveler who crashed […]
Ain’t Them Bodies Saints – 7
A movie director’s first obligation to his audience is to provide appealing, or at least interesting, characters. Not far down the list, however, is providing dialogue that the audience can understand. I don’t want to sit there thinking, what did he say? – even if, as in this movie, it probably doesn’t matter. (If I […]
Enough Said – 7.9
Wow! – a movie about real people and real relationships; no fancy sets or photography, not even gorgeous movie stars. Julia Louis-Dreyfus is the personification of needy, but in her usual winsome way, and the teenagers are convincing teenagers (I loved Chloe). The movie’s anchor, though, is the late, great James Gandolfini. When he says, […]
Don Jon – 7.5
Joseph Gordon-Levitt is not my favorite actor (viz., Lincoln, Premium Rush), but his intelligence illuminates this fun story of a porn addict who has to learn that giving yourself in love is better than meaningless sex. The supporting actors are all sensational, in the style of Silver Linings Playbook, and the surprisingly non-erotic use of […]
Rush – 6.5
A formulaic movie about Formula 1: every cliche of the sports movie is rolled out, with only the world of auto racing offering any novelty. The close-ups of the drivers and their cars are riveting, and Chris Hemsworth and the two leading ladies are easy on the eyes; but in the end we are left […]