Top Films by Year
Top Films of 2020
Top Films of 2017
Top Films of 2015
Won’t You Be My Neighbor – 6
Whether you think “Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood” was warm and fuzzy or vapid and cloying will determine your reaction to this movie, which faithfully recounted the career of Fred Rogers and his unique view of television. Regardless of your view, and I lean toward the latter camp, the film does make one wonder if kids are […]
First Reformed – 7
This will win the award for darkest film of the year (I hope). Ethan Hawke was riveting, although I wish he had had a bit more presence to begin with. He never seemed to fill his pastoral robes, so didn’t convince me of what he used to have been. We came upon him already subject […]
RBG – 7.5
For the first half, I thought, what a true American hero Ruth Ginsberg is, and what a wonderful support was her husband. I wanted to pair her documentary up with Itzhak Perlman’s for a heartwarming celebration of goodness and excellence. Once Martin Ginsburg died, and once Ruth ascended the high court, however, things sort of […]
Tully – 6
For two-thirds this was an unusually realistic take on motherhood, albeit focused on the negative, made enjoyable by the intelligent dialogue and the fine acting of Charlize Theron. Then the plot jumped off the tracks, and Theron’s character started acting in ways that made no sense. At the end, was it revealed that the nanny […]
Let the Sunshine In – 6.5
Ignore the meaningless title: there wasn’t much sunshine here, just a series of flawed relationships for the wondrous Juliette Binoche in an essay on the subject of, when lovers talk, are they actually saying anything? There are no resolutions – indeed, Gerard Depardieu is still discussing the subject, unreliably, as the credits end – but […]