Top Films by Year
Top Films of 2025
Top Films of 2020
Top Films of 2017
Top Films of 2015
Taking Venice – 5
A disjointed melange of mostly still photos for a documentary that purported a big story–scandal at the Venice Biennale–that never showed up. What was Leo Castelli’s involvement? Who was Rauschenberg’s competition? Wasn’t he the “best painter” there? What did his later ventures–e.g., ROCI–have to do with anything? Why talking heads who arrived on the scene […]
Green Border – 8.5
A sober and sobering account of a Syrian refugee family’s attempt to reach Sweden via Belarus and Poland, two countries that kicked them around, and worse, like political footballs. Agnieszka Holland crafts her film, shot in black-and-white after an opening view of, presumably, the green border, in chapters told from the perspectives of 1. the […]
The Bikeriders – 8
A movie based on a book of photographs is a novel concept (if you pardon the anti-pun). Accordingly, it describes a place and time and a particular subset of people: bikeriders. Enough happens to keep the story moving, but without the dramatic tension of a plot-driven film. It’s watching people. And what people! Jodi Comer […]
Hit Man – 6.5
Unfortunately, I’m a little Glen Powelled out after Anyone But You, hot on the heels of his flyboy roles in Top Gun: Maverick and Devotion. The various disguises he put on for his hit man job didn’t hide the pretty-boy charm that seemed his main contribution. Adria Arjona was new and good, and the supporting cast was […]
The Idea of You – 7
A love poem to Anne Hathaway, by Anne Hathaway, but what’s wrong with that? There’s a serious subtext of gender-based hypocrisy: society (i.e., social media) wouldn’t shame a 40-year-old man for an affair with a 24-year-old woman as they attack Hathaway’s character. But if the man has a 16-year-old daughter it gets a little trickier. […]