Top Films by Year
Top Films of 2020
Top Films of 2017
Top Films of 2015
Of Gods and Men – 8
A hauntingly beautiful story of French monks in remote Algeria during a time of civil war, but what impressed me most was the respect it gave and intelligence it ascribed to its viewers. Quotidian events were presented on a par with liturgical, and when crisis came, it was realistic, not overwrought. Whether the monks were […]
The Adjustment Bureau – 5
The ridiculous – no, silly – plot concept, that an “adustment bureau” monitors and controls human fates – by opening doors to a different dimension but having to run on foot to catch a bus – is not saved by a central romance between the normally likeable but here personality-free Matt Damon, who seems to […]
Barney’s Version – 3
“Unpleasant,” “absurd,” “pointless” are the descriptors that come to mind when reacting to this purported comedy, with “insufferable” not far behind. A little Paul Giamatti can be interesting, although I’m tiring of even that, but a whole movie of him smoking cigars, drinking and behaving badly is hard to take. Then there is the question, […]
Another Year – 7.5
Sometimes, it seems, not much happens in a year: we grow tomatoes, have a barbecue party, lose a friend from work – oh, and our son gets engaged. Not much there for a movie, it would seem, but Mike Leigh’s ensemble actors make the mundane sufficiently dramatic without, for the most part, histrionics. The exception […]
Biutiful – 7
Most of the movie was Javier Bardem’s face, which expressed a range of emotions, almost all melancholy. The backdrop was the Europe of 2009’s Gomorrah, this time in Spain instead of Italy, with sweatshops of Chinese illegals, Senegali street merchants, and cops on the take or on the make. A fair amount of explanation was […]