Phantom Thread movie review: hate couture
A conundrum of a film that defies genre as it twirls us around a wickedly fascinating triad of gently, quietly manipulative people. A cinematic experience of sly eeriness and oblique mystique.
drama
Hostiles movie review: white man’s burden
Sure, millions of Native people dead and ancient cultures destroyed, but who has to live with that? All the good soldiers who were just following orders, that’s who. Won’t someone think of the white man?
Darkest Hour movie review: a surrender to open-and-shut history
A feature-length Oscar clip, two hours of Gary Oldman stomping around in a Winston Churchill suit. There’s too little drama and too much inevitability in what amounts to a reanimated Madame Tussaud’s waxwork scene.
Call Me by Your Name movie review: met a boy cute as can be…
You can feel the stillness and the heat of this sultry, sensual summer in Italy. This is a glorious romance about falling in love with life itself, and living with gusto.
All the Money in the World movie review: cashed out
The most interesting thing about this all-over-the-place drama-thriller is Ridley Scott’s last-minute Hail Mary pass to replace a disgraced cast member. The finale is tense and exciting, but it’s a slog to get there.
Molly’s Game movie review: absolutely aces
Bold, tough, hugely entertaining. Like a new GoodFellas, except about a woman caught up in her own impudence and daring. Jessica Chastain is badass.
The Post movie review: printing truth to power
Crackles with life and energy, depicting a grand adventure in journalism from almost half a century ago with vigor, suspense, and an urgent relevance for today.
The Unseen (aka Amaurosis) movie review: when the see it/skip it recommendation is right in the title
A portrait of grief and guilt that’s only mildly engaging, until it morphs into a wannabe psychological thriller and turns limp, laughable, and just plain icky.
Menashe movie review: the unhappy nonconformist
A bittersweet, deeply human tale, one with a documentary sense of discovery to its setting: a little seen, highly insular ultraorthodox Jewish community.
Love Is Thicker Than Water movie review: so, love is a sludge, then?
This would-be modern Romeo-and-Juliet tale is little more than a pile-on of class stereotypes, contrived dialogue, and one whopper of a coincidence.
