Top Films by Year
Top Films of 2020
Top Films of 2017
Top Films of 2015
Crimes of the Future – 4
A “love story” without chemistry set in a fairly bleak future world where public surgery to remove spontaneously growing extraneous organs is the hot ticket. This resembles a George Saunders short story or a Remedios Varo painting on steroids. Director David Cronenberg is the master of the “body horror” genre. One has to wonder why, […]
A Taste of Whale – 7.5
A provocative documentary about whaling in the Faroe Islands–specifically, an annual (or more) slaughter of pilot whales unfortunately called a “grind.” While the killing is stomach-turning and Sea Shepherd activists politely present the arguments against, the local islanders, and the filmmakers, ask why is this different from slaughterhouse killing of the other animals we eat.
Downton Abbey: New Era – 7
No surprises and nothing original, but in managing to tie up multiple stories with happy endings for everybody–and I mean everybody–Julian Fellowes brought a few tears to my eyes and gave us a pleasant afternoon in the movie house. Everything was a bit pat and no scene lasted more than its allotted 60 seconds; it was […]
Petite Maman – 3
This one required a suspension of disbelief that I couldn’t quite muster. Or maybe it didn’t. Or maybe I missed something when the slow pace put me briefly to sleep. Two look-alike 8-year-old girls meet in the woods and I kept waiting–mercifully for only 1:18–for a plot to emerge. Three points for sincerity.
Cyrano – 8
It felt like an art museum, the Watteau gallery in particular, with soldiers parading and lovers dallying. By adapting a classic play, the movie suspended disbelief and even made the songs feel integral to the plot, which they were. Peter Dinklage, of course, is not a traditional Cyrano, but again, we weren’t looking for realism […]