Top Films by Year
Top Films of 2020
Top Films of 2017
Top Films of 2015
Please Give – 7
An idiosyncratic story about – or at least, a look at – relationships among five women and one man living more or less next door to each other, very much in Manhattan. Oliver Platt was bit pudgy for my taste, but the five women were pitch-perfect: my fave was Rebecca Hall (again!) in the Charlotte […]
The City of Final Destination – 5
Five characters of five nationalities in a country estate in Uruguay, struggling over the legacy of a popular one-book author, sounds like the setting for intriguing interpersonal relationships, if not a postmodern Chekhovian roundelay. Unfortunately, only Charlotte Gainsbourg and Anthony Hopkins inhabited their roles in a convincing manner, and too often the acting resembled an […]
Oceans – 5
Not much of a story – in fact, no story – just weak segues in Pierce Brosnan’s embarrasingly anthropomorphic and fey narration. There were plenty of “how-did-they-get-that?!” shots of whales, gannets, and stonefish, but without any common thread the “let’s-save-the-ocean” pitch came across as gratuitous.
Exit Through the Gift Shop – 6
I wish that the star, Thierry Guetta, had been more attractive and that he had been a better videographer, because the story of street art was inherently fascinating; I would have loved a movie all about Banksy, the nominal producer of this film (I have my doubts). As it was, Exit provided an inside, introductory look at one […]
Shutter Island – 5
If Martin Scorsese is such a great director, why does he cast Leonardo DiCaprio in the psychologically complicated role of Teddy Daniels? Or Mark Ruffalo as his sidekick, for that matter? Perhaps this was an unfilmable story, relying as it does on a shocking twist at the end that works far better on the page. […]