Doug's Favorite Movies of 2022

Everything Everywhere All at Once

The Northman

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness

Prey

Good Night Oppy

Weird: The Al Yankovic Story

Violent Night

Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery

Honorable Mention:

Kimi

Avatar: The Way of Water

Emily the Criminal

Die Hard

Rewatched this often-imitated action classic on Christmas because a: Kristen Haldeman Kauffman had never seen it and b: Christmas. It’s interesting what a slow build the opening hour is. Hardly any explosions. These days the action is full-steam by minute 15.

Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery

The filmmakers say that all of this makes sense. The filmmakers say if you watch multiple times, all the clues are there and it all ties together. My old, tired brain can’t keep track of all the pieces in real time, but this was FUN. The actors really seem like they’re enjoying themselves. (Oh, boo hoo. Poor them! Filming a movie in a beautiful resort in Greece. Rough times!) It’s Agatha Christie on Red Bull, it’s luxury wish-fulfillment, and it thoroughly entertains.

The Volcano: Rescue from Whakaari

This documentary about tourists getting fried by an active volcano milks the suspense and the peril to death. What happened to the sightseers is awful and it’s clear that precautions weren’t taken by the guys in charge. It’s an interesting story, but a downer cautionary tale about the… DANGERS of peering into ACTIVE VOLCANOS.

Jurassic World Dominion

Trying to resurrect something from the distant past can be foolhardy and dangerous. That’s what filmmakers did by dusting off the original Jurassic Park cast to spice up the far inferior Jurassic World franchise. To be honest, it was nice to see those oldies, although they didn’t have much to do. What stands out here is not the par-for-the-course, scary dino chases, or the cool, wisecracking-under-fire repartee, but that there was actually an attempt to invoke a Michel Crichton-esque scientific commentary on the dangers of genetic modification. There’s a real dig at Monsanto here and I think Crichton would be pleased, because although it’s fiction, it’s scarily possible. Otherwise, CG dinosaurs roar, people run, yadda yadda yadda. Bryce Dallas Howard ends up in a swamp. She was a good sport about that.

8 Bit Christmas

If a kid sets his sights on a toy at the beginning of the movie, I don’t care how many lessons about Christmas or materialism the kids needs to learn, he should GET that goddamn toy at the end of the movie. So, this throwback comedy tries to teach a bunch of “Treasure of the Sierra Madre” lessons about greed and materialism, but at the end: the kid gets a dumb present that he NEVER asked for. Dumb and lame, not bittersweet. A big, derivative letdown.

Uncharted

It’s a cinematic version of “top this.” Raiders of the Lost Arc is going to do this? Well WE’RE going to do this!! Goonies and National Treasure are going to do this? Well WE’RE going to do THIS!! It’s a suitable, action-packed airplane movie, but you don’t walk away with a lot of heavy, philosophical undertones.

Avatar: The Way of Water

Marveling in someone’s technique doesn’t last as long as being moved by a hero’s plight. As technically trailblazing as this is, it takes a LONG time for the heroes to dive into the conflict, and there’s a lot of swimming with sci-fi whales in the meantime. The burden of world-building yields amazing visuals, but beyond that it’s really hard to distinguish all the different blue people, except the one that looks like Sigourney Weaver. And to dust off the old villain is just lazy. I always say this, but I admire the love of movies. I admire the desire to entertain and dazzle. So it’s an A+ for dazzle. But I hunger for the hero’s journey.

Violent Night

“Someone should just re-make Die Hard with Santa Claus in place of John McClane,” said some studio executive, probably. “To decide for certain that Die Hard is a Christmas movie”, that same eager studio exec, probably. But to raise the stakes and achieve the necessary body count, the heist has to be big. And for the heist to be big, we have to get to know the rich assholes that have all the money, which is too bad. Because we would really rather be watching Santa Claus kill some motherfuckers with a sledgehammer. It’s really enjoyable. And it’s a new Christmas tradition.

Tár

Orchestra conductor Lydia Tár is an asshole. Sure she’s talented and yes, she’s smart. But she’s shitty to everyone around her but her 8-year-old daughter, and even then it’s touch-and-go. There are long, long scenes of her being awful to her music students and abusing her power by favoring young, potential hook-ups. She’s shitty to her co-workers and her neighbors. She’s both obsessed with and derides youth and new points of view. Her bout of writer’s block is well-deserved and eventually she melts down all together. Blanchett is always good, but this is not much different from her typical Blue Jasmine-esque uptight basket-cases. The point of the movie seems to be: even if you spend two and a half hours burning all your bridges, you still get to do what you love as long as you move far, far away. I didn’t really get this, and I’m not really impressed.

Willow

In the old days, the rules of the blog were simple: anything seen in the theater belonged on the blog. But when the pandemic hit the rules had to change - movies watched on video could go on the blog, but only MOVIES, not TV shows. So, but, then, along comes Willow, which is a TV show but I watched it in the theater with a crowd. Therefore, according to the old rules, it gets a write-up. This is the way. 

Almost to prove a point, this dives right into the action, leaving much of the character building until the rag-tag, motley crew has assembled and the quest has begun. It’s female-centric and thankfully not reliant upon the princess finding a husband. There’s a refreshing deconstruction of the regular tropes. It’s fairly smark-alecky and when Warwick Davis’ title character appears, he’s full of Nelwyn sass. Not much wizardy magic in these first two episodes, but plenty is foreshadowed. So, I’d say so far so good. Can they keep up this plot-filled pace?

The Fabelmans

Spielberg’s version of a Woody Allen movie. Lots of bickering and Jewish jokes. It’s highly autobiographical, and heartfelt for sure. It’s episodic, but while the episodes themselves are interesting, the sum of the parts out-measure the whole. While the episodes: a piano rehearsal, a camping trip, a visit from an uncle, a high-school film screening, an awkward encounter at a camera store, feel authentic and personal, it’s unclear what the underlying THEME is, other than, I suppose, Mrs. Spielberg… DOH! I mean: Mrs. Fabelman is in the wrong marriage. Michelle Williams, as always, is great, as is the rest of the cast. But if the whole point is to depict the painful divorce of Spielberg’s parents, there’s not a lot of emotional resolution. The final scene, the best in the movie, resonates more than anything else, as the young Spielberg analogue receives some sage advice from a certain Hollywood guru.

Disenchanted

It’s confusing why Disney didn’t release this in theaters. Maybe the problem was it would compete with other Disney movies? It’s a fun and funny meta-musical. As always, Amy Adams owns her part expertly from beginning to end. And while it’s not as mind-blowingly original as its predecessor, it’s still a delightful watch. A high-quality, non-theatrical video.

The Spy Who Dumped Me

Laverne & Shirley become spies. Or maybe "Lucy and Ethel." It’s a girl-power, best-friend, physical schtick fest. Lots of witty banter during chases and shoot-outs. It could be shorter, and the plot and resolution isn’t largely hilarious, but the charisma of the leads keeps it aloft, barely, for video/airplane viewing.

Weird: The Al Yankovic Story

Details of Al Yankovic’s true life story are remarkable. From his gritty, traumatic, abusive childhood, to his tumultuous affair with Madonna, from his feud with Michael Jackson, to his violent confrontation of a Colombian drug cartel, Al’s behind-the-scenes life was a far cry from the frivolity and silliness you hear on Dr. Demento. You can see why he would want to do an dirty, honest, authentic telling of his story – warts and all, so people can learn about the real man and the suffering he endured. Like most musical bio-pics, I can see this winning many Oscars. Maybe even a Peabody or the first film to win a Nobel prize. Don’t look away, however dramatic this is. It’s an important film and stark but necessary piece of music history.

Confess Fletch

Jon Hamm makes a pretty good wise-ass. Not as smug, and ironically not as much of a “ham” as Chevy Chase’s Fletch, but can still mutter wise-cracks under his breath with the best of them. (For a true masterclass of sotto voce wise-crackery check out Christina Applegate in Dead to Me on Netflix.) The plot, involving a murder and some valuable paintings, is foggy. But Fletch’s friendships and interactions are cracking and the mystery skips along at a decent clip. So it’s a fun, lighthearted watch.

Real Life

A very relevant satire (and accurate prediction) of reality shows from comedian Albert Brooks. Made in the late 70’s, a large part of the comedy comes from the cameramen interfering with the “reality” and how the documentarians will ultimately “script” everything that you eventually see. Preemptively pokes fun at all the trashy “Duck Dynasty”, bickering family shows. Not ha-ha funny as much as pointed satire, but so astute.

Enchanted

Rewatched this Disney confection with Amy Adams at her perky best. It’s everyone’s commitment to the bit that makes this work.

Werewolf by Night

Is this a movie? Is it a special? Is it a short film? I’m not sure. It’s all encompassing. It ends. But it’s only about an hour long. It’s more like an Amazing Stories episode, or some other horror anthology. Presented in beautiful black and white, and with creepy old music, it really feels like an old Hammer Films horror film. It’s never very scary, often funny, and dips into the Werewolf legend, as well as other movie monsters. It’s a fun, bite-sized Halloween yarn.

Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore

This was pretty long and pretty boring. To be fair, there are a couple of really exciting, really original magical action sequences. And the second half is better than the first half. But man it’s pokey. The first half makes Downton Abby look like a Michael Bay movie.

Amsterdam

David O Russell does Wes Anderson. I enjoyed this, despite not really following what was going on. The structure is goofy, and there are lengthy flashbacks full of set-up and exposition, where the groundwork for the plot is being laid, but there’s not a lot of conflict. Filmmakers rely on witty banter to keep the plates spinning, and not much else. Sitting back, having a beer, trusting Bale, Robbie, Washington, et al, and going along for a ride seems to work. It’s a fun but mostly frivolous endeavor. And (spoiler alert) Taylor Swift gets run over by a car, so there’s that.

Avatar

Revisited this re-release in Imax. It’s still amazing after all this time, and there are still moments that are plenty corny, like the mean Colonel (Stephan Lang) who drinks his open cup of coffee in the giant rain-forest destroying machine-thing - more of a caricature than most Disney villains. However corny, Cameron and his crew capture one of the primary qualities that I admire these days – an unalloyed joy and deep passion for making movies.

Elvis

It’s Baz Luhrmann, so of course it’s way, way over the top. It’s Baz Luhrmann so of course it’s super cutty and disjointed. It’s Baz Luhrmann so of course the musical numbers are the best thing about it. It’s Baz Luhrmann, so of course it’s about as subtle as a flying chainsaw. If you sign up for Baz Luhrmann, you get Baz Luhrmann.

Three Thousand Years of Longing

Alithea (Tilda Swinton) is the skeptic. She lectures about myths and stories for a living. So, when a genie smokily manifests  in her hotel room, she immediately starts poking holes. “All genie stories are cautionary tales” and she won’t get sucked in. In what’s a sweet love story resolution, she winds up granting wishes for the genie in this simple parable about being selfless and reinventing yourself in the process. As it is a story about stories, the Djinn regales Alithea with tales from his long past, the morals of which are that the genies always suffer. These chapters are beautifully filmed by George Miller et al, but are scattered, elusive, and a bit long. But the point, which takes a while to get to, is heartwarmingly worth it.

The Ravine

Emotional, faith-filled story from Keoni Waxman about forgiveness and redemption. Excellent moving camera and heart-felt performances from the cast.

The Day Shift

“Now hiring: circus performers for vampire comedy.” The contortionist vampires are the most original touch to what is otherwise a conventional and by-the-numbers vampire hunter comedy. Jamie Foxx et al celebrate the well-worn tropes with fun and flair: daylight, fangs, wooden stakes, and killin’. LOTS of killin’. It’s an acceptable airplane movie that won’t really resonate, despite all the cool twists… of the contortionists.

Bullet Train

A lot of this is told in flashback - a chaotic, non-liner timeline like a little kid trying to tell a joke. Assassinations and heists gone wrong which lead-up to this point – a motley crew of quick-witted killers occupying an empty train and fighting over a shiny McGuffin. As a killer trying to rebrand himself as a non-killer, Brad Pitt is always best when he plays a doofus, and he delivers expertly as he brawls with the witty, witty, witty hostiles. Sometimes you wish they would shut up and get to the killin’. At times the physical comedy is hilarious, but it takes a while to get to that. It’s not suspenseful, so it behaves more as an escalating comedy; shallow but fun.

Prey

Surprisingly and refreshingly original take on the old Predator franchise. So, so, so many Native American/indigenous details. Who knows if it’s historically accurate. It feels accurate and authentic, thanks in much part to the performance of the lead Amber Midthunder. Her hatchet throwing, dog training, and general physicality bring a grounded baddassery to the proceedings when the battle with the big-bad begins. And one of the best dog performances in while. (I’m not sure how they did that.) This was a great summer movie. It should have been in theaters.

Lightyear

Whereas other Pixar movies focus on the emotion and relationships in times of crisis, Lightyear is primarily an action movie with some sentiment and poignancy injected in -- sometime sincerely and sometimes cynically. Of course the animation, the voice acting, and the music are all “stellar.” But it’s not a boo-hoo, make-me-cry kind of Pixar movie. Thoroughly entertaining, though, but not super-deep.

Nope

Someone needs to call me and explain this one to me. At its core, it’s a typical UFO yarn - trying to get a glimpse of the alien to find out what they want and maybe get a photo. It’s "Close Encounters." But Jordan Peele et al fill out scenes with so much distracting cuttiness and weirdness, you forget it’s just basically a Twilight Zone episode. Some of the distractions are cool. The horse farm location, for example. But other subplots are *bananas* and left me throwing up my hands in frustration. What. The. Hell? Still, a highly-ambitious story by a filmmaker who takes his sci-fi really seriously, and that’s appreciated. But I’m flummoxed. I’m going to need a power-point.

Kimi

“Wow them it the end.” It’s what the fake Robert McKee tells the fake Charlie Kaufman in the movie Adaptation. So this Covid-era, Blow-Up descendant starts out REALLY slow and boring. I almost bailed-out all together, but I was on an airplane, so what the Hell else was I going to do? Anyway, it builds well and unfolds expertly. Zoé Kravitz draws you in. And when Soderbergh and company finally reach the climax, it’s a hum-dinger and vindicates the opening draginess. A refreshing, perfectly entertaining airplane diversion.

The Gray Man

This is a huge but simple action movie. The good guys are good, the bad guys are bad, and everyone is a ninja. Individual action scenes can be surprisingly clever, in a "Loony Tunes" cartoony way. Car tires squeal. Guns bang. Lots of people explode and die. It’s a fun watch, even if it’s pretty calorically empty.

Ender's Game

Watched this 10-year-old sci-fi yarn on the plane. It's a teenage boy wet dream. Ender is the “chosen one” because he’s really good at video games. The military officers, Harrison Ford and Viola Davis (believe-it-or-not), throw a bunch of tests at him, which he passes with flying colors because he’s the chosen one. They watch him get bullied and then kick ass and say, “Excellent. He passed the bully test. He is the chosen one.” Everything is a secret test for this kid, but he’s an unstoppable video game nerd who takes NO crap from Harrison Ford. This teenager will lead a huge space army and he will save the world. Whoever wrote this fantasy justifying their video gaming and locker room torture might need a little therapy about their childhood. 

 

Thor: Love and Thunder

It’s not commonly known, but the ancient writers of the Norse sagas and myths were really snarky and would regularly ridicule the Gods as being vacuous dunderheads. It’s possible we’ll find out that these latest few Thor movies weren’t made by Taika Waititi and company, but instead secretly filmed by Loki as a playful burn. Nonetheless, there’s a lot of laughs, goofing on the gods. There’s a love story, too, that dips a toe into sincerity. I eagerly anticipate another super-serious, bombastic Shakespearean tragedy, a la Kenneth Branah. But for now, yuk it up!

Top Gun: Maverick

A lot of effort went into making this movie big and entertaining, and you have to appreciate that. Plot-wise, it’s interesting to follow a single mission from the early planning and training to its execution – and inevitable life-threatening complication. So, it’s a perfectly suitable piece of popular entertainment and desperate over-justification of military might. Beyond that, well, it’s not that surprising and it’s NOT Shakespeare. The preview for the next Mission Impossible movie was the best part.

(Afterthought: One of the funny bits in this is that there’s a guy named Bob and his nickname is just “Bob.” And everybody around seems sort of disappointed that he doesn’t have a badass nickname like “Jackhammer” or whatever. He’s just plain ol’ Bob.)

Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers

Why did I watch this? I’m not sure. I heard from a few people that it was “nutty” so I decided to have a look. And it turns out to be a throwback, Who Framed Roger Rabbit? homage made by the Lonely Island guys. It’s weird and mostly entertaining. It’s a barrage of pop culture and Hollywood references, some completely surreal and obscure. I’m not sure if little kids will get this -- it seems to be laser-guided to appeal to a specific generation of 90’s kids who watched too much TV and are currently high. Some gags are laugh-out-loud funny (i.e. “Aunt Man”) and some are more oblique and meta. What’s most noteworthy about the filmmakers is recognizing the legal/clearance team, which must have been massive and incredibly busy. The references are non-stop.

Downton Abbey: A New Era

It’s a big family. An ensemble cast. There’s lots of conflict, but they stick together. Fancy cars are involved. Many of the people are aging. It’s basically Fast and the Furious with tea instead of Red Bull. I don’t really follow the series so I’m not sure why it’s a big deal if Lady Featherbottom clashes with Lord Devonshire. An unfortunate requirement of this is knowing all the backstory (see also: Fast and the Furious). But, man! The cast is top-notch. The crew is varsity elite. The costumes, the hair, the sets, the props, the drone shots. The music. Everything is perfect. Those British made the hell out of this movie, even if I had little idea of what was going on.

The Greatest Showman

I’ve had several people recommend this to me over the years. It was free on the plane, so I decided to take a look. Production value is high and the cast is talented and diverse. Michelle Williams is way more talented than she deserves to be. All told, it’s an energetic and rousing musical biopic about PT Barnum. And HOLY FUCK is it hokey. Like face palm, cringy, hokey. Like… UGH! YIKES! I’m glad I watched it on the plane. I’m glad it was free.

Jungle Cruise

Holy crap this movie had some money. That’s all I could think about. How expensive was this?? It flopped, unfortunately. Mainly due to the pandemic. But it’s a likeable and lighthearted adventure filled with action. Dwayne Johnson is a capable, wise-cracking hero. Emily Blunt is perfect as the plucky scientist wearing pants. And there’s a nice turn from Jack Whitehall as the British ninny who gets to be a little deeper than most comic-relief scaredy-cats. Efforts to make this like Pirates of the Caribbean are transparent, so it’s not like it’s super original. But it’s fun enough. Disney should have re-released some of these pandemic victims when the world started to open up again. They deserve to be experienced on the big screen.

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

Finally watched this Ben Stiller vehicle, and it’s not bad. It’s all Ben all the time, overcoming obstacles, conquering his fears, and getting the girl. Funny cameos from some colorful characters and a funny bit from Sean Penn goofing on his own intensity keep it light, but also kind of inspiring.

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness

A sensory blast! An imaginative barn-burner from Sam Raimi et al. It’s great to see Raimi do his Raimi thing for large portions of it, too. Fantastic demons and apparitions and zombies are a welcome addition to the clean super-hero milieu. Also welcome is something that is not quite characteristic of these movies: a villain with a heartbreakingly personal motive; a super-hero-sized level of grief that feels painfully authentic. It’s too bad that you need to have an encyclopedic knowledge of the Marvel Universe to figure out what the hell is going on in these movies much of the time. But man, do they give you your money’s worth.

The Northman

Incredible. An ambitious and visionary saga, made with blistering dedication and detail. Yes, it’s violent. But no more than an episode of Game of Thrones. The violence cuts deep because of WHO is involved; family members killing each other, etc. The sound of the cold wind, the “splotch, splotch” of the feet through the mud, and the screams of the enslaved people make this an amazing, visceral experience. Massive kudos to the cast and the filmmakers for this fascinating, solid, and entertaining telling of a revenge parable that really captures a sense of how brutal life was in the olden times. A must-see in the theater.

The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent

The wild thing about this is, Nicolas Cage is the straight man, dragged into misadventures. Pedro Pascal is the wacky, nutty, Nic Cage type of character. The other thing is, it isn’t really reliant on being Nic Cage as Nic Cage. It’s meta, but it’s not THAT meta. It could easily have been a fictitious actor. It’s an extremely light and fun action comedy. Not always laugh-out-loud funny, but clever and amusing. A worthy distraction.

Tony Hawk: Until the Wheels Fall Off

Tony falls down a lot. Tony’s childhood was hard. Tony’s relationships were hard. Tony’s relationship with his severely disabled mother is hard. Getting to skate competitions was hard. Being booed was hard. Getting famous was hard. Getting rich was hard. Partying with the rich and famous was hard. Being addicted to prescription pain killers was hard. Being married four times was hard. Falling down and breaking many important bones was hard. Spinning 900 degrees in the air on a skateboard was hard. Getting older is hard. Tony’s life is HARD. Nope. No glamour or wealth at all. Nope. Just pain for Tony. Life was hard for Tony.

Everything Everywhere All at Once

** SPOILERS EVERYWHERE **

As much as busy mom and business owner Evelyn Wang tries to be the master of her domain, things are crumbling around her. She’s being audited by the IRS, her elderly, judgmental father is visiting from China, her meek husband isn’t happy, and her gay daughter is aggressively pushing away because traditional Evelyn doesn’t get her. This seems like a difficult but typical set of problems. And here’s where it gets complicated. According to a messenger from another realm, to combat these problems and also save multiple universes, she must learn Kung Fu and a variety of other skills from her other parallel lives to battle the creeps who prevent her from… connecting with her daughter. Do I have that right? 

 It’s a fantastic explosion of creativity. To watch it is a crazy experience, with a barrage of ideas, impossible to process all at once. But Kung Fu isn’t just Kung Fu. It’s a metaphor for battling your own demons and prejudices, and the courage to leap into other parts of your psyche to get to the core of who you wanted to be versus who you are. In her lifetime, Michelle Yeoh could not have asked for a better role. The rest of the cast is great, too, including a terrific, juicy part for Hollywood treasure James Hong and the welcome return of Ke Huy Quan. To write about this movie is to undermine it -- it’s so full of emotion and surprises. 

I love movies like this, made by people who love movies for people who love movies, that achieve great Kung Fu leaps in the art of storytelling, entertaining, and also pushing the limits of the imagination. The big, big, big point is: it wouldn’t work if it wasn’t fun.

Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald

There are a lot of characters and a lot of creatures and a lot of action happens off-screen. There’s a lot of expository dialogue in important-looking, old rooms. It’s a hodgepodge of special effects and wizard politics. I should’ve read the book first.

The Bubble

It seems certain that they barely had a script when they started this, and they thought they would just wing it, or rewrite it during quarantine. It’s hard to imagine what it would be like sitting on a film crew, all masked up, and shooting people goofing off, pretending to exercise, and pretending to be on drugs. I guess you’d be grateful to be working during the pandemic. The flying dinosaur effects team was probably thrilled – the effects are way better than this movie deserves. Nevertheless, key members of the cast give it their all and manage to squeeze a few laughs and a few pathos out of this. It’s rarely painful, it’s just stale. It’s not really a great satire of film crews or filmmaking. The best comedy comes from the scenes of isolation, and the desperateness to, as an actor must, be showered with attention.

King Richard

Will Smith will probably win an Oscar for this very, very, very inspirational sports movie about winners who win lots of things. No matter how elaborate the tennis training montages are, it’s not suspenseful. We know what happens. The Williams sisters win lots of stuff. The tricky part here is depicting them as underdogs. The filmmakers only partially succeed at this, because, I mean, we know what happens, right? Except for the parts we don’t know, like Richard Williams getting his gun from work and heading out to seek revenge… Is this true? Did he seek out violence? Or is this a Hollywood embellishment? As a piece of inspiration, especially for kids thinking about taking up tennis, it hits all the right inspirational notes. It’s the Karate Kid of tennis movies. Wax on, wax off, etc. But they're not really underdogs.

West Side Story

The first half of this is breathtaking, flawless, Spielberg-ian filmmaking. Spectacular, technically perfect, and fueled with pure energy. The camera moves are awe-inspiring. The problem with this movie is (spoiler alert): it’s still "Romeo and Juliet." It’s still a tragedy. Everything falls apart and everybody dies. So, it’s kind of a downer. Spielberg et al linger on these sullen moments, milking them too much. Despite the exemplary production, the overall experience isn’t a joyful one. It’s not the movie’s fault. Blame Shakespeare.

The Mitchells vs the Machines

Glowing, gorgeous animation paints this frenetic take of a dysfunctional (but actually, very functional) nuclear family during the robot apocalypse. The stick-together family theme sometimes gets lost underneath the blast of lights and colors, but it’s top-notch cartoon sci-fi.

CODA

A well-acted and straight-forward weepy about a child of deaf parents who discovers her gift for music. Lots of details about deaf culture and commercial fishing make this fresh and interesting. The filmmaking feels intentionally plain, to leave room for all of the important acting and crying. So, it’s packed with emotion; it’s rich with themes about growing up and rites of passage which is good, even though some of it is low-hanging fruit. Will very likely win some Oscars.

The Adam Project

Studio 666

Such a goof by Foo Fighters. So Scooby-Doo. A haunted house. A secret book of incantations. Some rock and roll and some hilarious beheadings. Some below-average acting by some rock and rollers. It feels like the kind of movie the Monkees would make if they were around today - directed by John Waters. Very much the tone and feeling of an art-house midnight movie from the 80s.

The Hard Way

Michael Jai White is a solid, sturdy leading man in this well-paced, low-budget actioner from Keoni Waxman. Asses get kicked.

The Batman

Skillfully made, but this did not reinvent the Batman wheel. Certain supervillains have omnipotent power, which is fine if they’re gods or mutants or whatever. But an ordinary dude orchestrating a highly-involved plan to bring down a city, by themselves, seems unlikely. And the evil motive here seems spotty. Efforts to make Batman an actual crime-solver with detective skills are welcome, but sometimes feel over-shadowed by the gothic razzle-dazzle. Still, A+ technique and strong performances make this highly watchable. There are beautiful, memorable compositions. Unfortunately, it sometimes feels like a re-run of the many, many other pop-culture Batman things.

Belfast

Kenneth Branagh’s hands are all over this -- the personal story, the acting, the Van Morrison, the black-and-white -- even the drawn-out snippets of daily life which, at times seem incongruous, but imperatively inform the tone. Early on, it’s unclear exactly what that tone will be. But as we watch the kid’s safety gradually deteriorate, we realize (after the fact) that Buddy and his family have passed the point of no return and somebody’s going to wind up dead if they don’t bail out of Belfast like wild banshees. That realization for the characters and the audience is grim and all too real. “Don’t look back,” Judi Dench's Granny utters ironically under her breath at the end. That’s exactly what Branagh’s doing here: looking back at how it all went down, in the movie that will probably win Best Picture.

The Eyes of Tammy Faye

There’s nothing WRONG with this movie. It’s just that there’s no likeable people in it. Everyone is a scumbag. Jessica Chastain affects every tiny little detail about Tammy Fay Baker – her walk, her laugh. Her makeup is perfect. And MY GOD is she annoying. It’s a real challenge to take a famous religious weirdo and try to flesh them out and make them seem sympathetic. So, kudos for trying. But blecch.

The Tragedy of Macbeth

This is kind of a bummer. Yes. I know: The play is a bummer. And it’s a tragedy -- it says so right in the title. But with the famously obtuse text, there has to be something grounding to bring you in. Movie stars help. But the sets are so foreign and minimalist and the costumes are enigmatic. The entire presentation seems determined to alienate the audience (I'm thankful for the very Coen Brothery respite from Stephen Root). I’m sure the plan was for the sets to “look cool.” But they end up hurting more than helping. There’s nothing relatable in this at all. There’s nothing to connect to. There's no furniture. It’s an Ingmar Bergman film without a Max von Sydow. It’s beautifully, perfectly made. Certain imagery is awesome. It pains me to say it, but this lacks heart.

The Last Duel

The ads for this made it look so stupid. Matt Damon’s dumb mullet. Ben Affleck’s bad, blonde mop. Just the hair alone made it look terrible. So my expectations were pretty low. But low and behold, this was tight, interesting, and poignant. A delicate, thought-provoking take on a moment in history that I would have never known. Sir Ridley brings the production value, that’s for sure, but he never lingers. In a Rashomon style, it’s told from three different points-of-view and every detail matters as the conflict escalates. You would never know the running time is long – it moves. Strangely, it’s a chore to pick this over other movie choices – the always crucial selection of the night’s entertainment. It seems long. It seems heavy. It seems rapey. But it’s a quality thing. Performances are solid. The plot is comprehensive and compelling. Wielded swords stab vigorously. It’s a nice yarn. But! Big, big, big BUT, there’s are themes, too. Themes about women, themes about dumb/ bickering men, and themes about marriage that hold up a mirror to our modern times.