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2018 Film Reviews
EXCELLENT  (in order of preference throughout)
Damsel - The movie catches fire in unexpected ways and ends up being a marvelous reworking the Western blueprint in cinema.  Terrific stuff.  After marveling at it a second time, I'm going to put it on top of my list: the best film I've seen so far this year. (64)

The Rider - A powerful and intimate exploration of struggling after life’s promise seems passed. (Metacritic: 93.)

Lean on Pete - Not perhaps as flaws as The River, but a movie with the same heartfelt refusal to surrender to what seems like a life with nothing left to offer. (80)

American Animals - What starts off as merely clever and funny eventually shifts into a second gear that is a touching reminder of how people (esp. young people) realize it’s too late to avoid crossing a dangerous line. (66)

Isle of Dogs - Just about every scene in this delightful movie has freshness and charm. Highly recommended. (82)


VERY GOOD AND GOOD
The Death of Stalin - Often hysterical look at the madness of the Soviet regime in Stalin’s last days. (88)

A Quiet Place - A film with more genuine suspense and clever plotting that any horror film in ages. First-rate acting, script and direction. (82)

The Party -  Smart, fast-paced, often funny look at personal interactions, political infighting and more in England. (73)

Under the Tree - Fewer laughs than in "dark comedy" in memory, but the tale of despair and revenge ends up remarkably absorbing. (77)

Let the Sunshine In - Slight in some ways, but Juliette Binoche is wonderfully convincing as a woman who desperate search for love unravels her. Also, a fine bit of double-talk by Gerard Depardieu. (80)

On Chesil Beach - Slow, but lovely, tender story of sexual repression in the early 1960s. (62)

​The Incredibles 2 - Cute, but not as winning as the first Incredibles.  (80)


​AVERAGE OR (SOMETIMES) BELOW
Sorry to Bother You - Writer/director Boots Riley has an engaging, charismatic lead actor in Lakeith Stanfield, but he could have also used a top-notch co-writer to help separate the silly and predictable from this occasionally striking and ambitious look at racial relations, worker's rights and more in this uneven comedy/sci-fi drama. (81)

Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again - It's light as a feather, but a nice diversion.  They did a lovely job celebrating the bounce and sweetness of Abba's music. (60)

Mission Impossible: Fallout - The helicopter segment is pretty sensational, but the film is no Dark Knight.  It's more appealing than most comic book-ish movies, but not good enough to escape the weaknesses of the genre.  Best seen as a comedy: Alec Baldwin as an overheated CIA connection. (86)

Sicario: Day of the Soldado - Capable script (by Taylor Sheridan of “Hell or High Water”), but the film about transporting humans across the U.S.-Mexican border fails to take full advantage of it. (61)

Beriuit - Jon Hamm proves he has what it takes to be effective on the big screen, but the espionage film feels like it has been told before and much better.  (69)

​The Commuter - Liam Neeson vehicle; pretty much what you expect, but nicely done. (56)

Submission - Tackles a timely topic—sexual misbehavior—but so conventionally that it doesn’t add to the national discussion. (52)

Double Lover - Marine Vacth lifts this strained effort at psychological suspense and identity slight-of-hand with her immense charisma, but, in the end,it’s still over-stained and at times laughable. (70)


AVOID
The King - You can see how this attempt to equate Elvis Presley’s story with the rise and fall of the American dream in the second half of the 20th Century seemed like a good idea on paper, but it fails on almost every level on the screen. (69)

Tully - No A’s for effort in Hollywood. There is lots of ambition here, but it can’t overcome an inherent dullness. Left the theater after 40 minutes. (75)

Ocean’s Eight - Sluggish, mechanical twist on the Ocean’s 11 series. The gimmick: a female gang.  (61)

Goldstone - A film noir-ish movie from Australia that offers little invention or punch. (78)

You Were Never Really There - Slickly made, but unbearably strained statement of human depravity; both artificial and heavily borrowed. (84)

Outside-In - Unbearably dull and unconvincing tale of small-town anguish. (77)

Red Sparrow - Absolute disaster. (53)

Gemini - Overbaked attempt to make a low-grade mystery story arty and daring. Mostly artless and dull. (71)


The Great Silence**



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