
Based on a true story that feels eerily fresh, this highly strung procedural may not hit the jackpot, but it does pay off.

Based on a true story that feels eerily fresh, this highly strung procedural may not hit the jackpot, but it does pay off.

You may or may not be surprised to learn I do not automatically swoon every time I hear the words ‘Star Wars’. But, I’ll be damned if I didn’t feel a distinctive shiver down my spine watching The Last Jedi.
The Post
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Get Out
Lady Bird
The Florida Project
The Shape of Water
Call Me By Your Name
Dunkirk
The Big Sick
Faces Places
Wonder Woman

A veritable army of films that have something to say has provided much to comfort and challenge us these past months. Stretching the genres of horror, romance and war among others, there’s been an artistic option for almost every socially concerned eye. And while maybe there are more adventurous and creative choices among those, and I do admit he’s speaking to issues that I, personally, relate to, I also believe Spielberg’s The Post is the movie of the year.

You could just look at this as one of the most seriously funny movies about movie making, but why stop there? Thanks to James Franco’s canny eye, this love song to a film so bad it’s good also delivers one of the best emotional surprises of the year.

Woody Allen gives us fair warning: this period piece is a melodrama, a particular genre, he announces early on, that’s a force we must let flow as it demands. Apologetic as he is, Allen plunges into an area he doesn’t often go, a full on sweating tragedy. While the results are mixed, fans of the filmmaker will find this latest work worth a spin.