Top Films by Year
Top Films of 2020
Top Films of 2017
Top Films of 2015
Don’t Look Up – 8
As a sucker for broad comedy (see, e.g., Monty Python), especially when it leans in my political direction, I enjoyed every minute of Adam McKay’s latest satire. Low expectations, based on word-of-mouth criticism that it was too obvious or just too much, undoubtedly helped. While it’s unfair to single out any of the star-studded cast, […]
The Rescue – 6.5
A theoretically dramatic story of the cave-diving rescue of 12 trapped boys in Thailand in 2018, this documentary somehow left me cold. Maybe because I compared it to the superior Free Solo by the same directors. Visually, 40% was talking heads, 40% faceless swimmers in dark, muddy water. Many of the action scenes were unannounced […]
Hand of God – 8
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, or Belfast–Italian Style, Paolo Sorrentino’s love letter to growing up in Naples in the 1980s captures La Famiglia in all its frictions and closeness. His style is distinctive: every scene is short and self-contained, without musical background (except once). His characters, too, are distinctive: the lusty […]
Spencer – 3
Billed a “fable,” this is more a ghost story, about a haunted Lady Di. I lost emotional attachment early on, when I realized that I wouldn’t be able to understand Kristen Stewart’s breathy, stage-whispered dialogue and that the portrait being painted of a hallucinating, bulimic princess hounded by a monolithic, unfeeling royal family was so […]
West Side Story – 7.3
My Fair Lady has the best songs, but West Side Story has the best score of any Broadway musical, and it was a treat to hear it (conducted by Gustavo Dudamel) on a big screen in a big theater (with only two other people). The story of Romeo (Tony) and Juliet (Maria) has stood the test […]