Top Films by Year
Top Films of 2020
Top Films of 2017
Top Films of 2015
Public Enemies – 4
What an expensively handsome emotional zero! A film eulogizing a murdering bank robber was probably misconceived to begin with, but then to direct both John Dillinger and G-man Melvin Purvis as one-dimensional ensured that our sympathies would not be engaged. The love interest, played by Marion Cotillard, set off no sparks, either. The only character […]
Seraphine – 3
I had never heard of the “naïve” artist Seraphine de Senlis, but discovering at movie’s end that she was a real person explained in large part why this film was so dramatically inert. To take but one example, Wilhelm Uhde had to flee Senlis at the outset of World War I because that actually happened, […]
The Hurt Locker – 8.5
Powerful and suspenseful, beautifully directed and acted. Together with Dexter Filkins’ amazing The Forever War, which I’m currently reading, this gives a picture of the war in Iraq that makes you wonder, over and over, what are we doing there? Who is the enemy we are fighting? It could be anyone – the man with […]
Whatever Works – 8
It’s funny how a movie that starts with such an extraordinarily mundane, realistic view of New York City, not to mention such a depressing view of the human condition, ends up in a total fantasy – everybody happy, everybody fulfilled, and everybody together on that most depressing night of all, New Year’s Eve. But that’s […]
Cheri – 5
A must for lovers of Art Nouveau – dec arts and fashion – optional for the rest, this apparent synthesis of two Belle Epoque novels by Collette defines “longueur” (languor?) in the person of the title character, played by sole-eyed Rupert Friend. Now, if Michelle Pfeiffer were French, or even sounded, like the estimable Kathy […]