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| Rachel McAdams & Jason Bateman (r) star in Game Night |
From our friend, Arch Campbell...
Lady Bird - 4 Stars. Greta Gerwig directs a spot-on mother/daughter battle, during a young woman's high school senior year. Saoirse Ronan and Laurie Metcalf deliver award-worthy performances.
Darkest Hour - 4 Stars. Set in May 1940, as Winston Churchill becomes Prime Minister and ignores the advice to negotiate with Hitler.
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri - 4 stars. Caustic, often shock comedy, starring Frances McDormand as a woman at war with the town police over the unsolved murder of her daughter.
I, Tonya - 4 Stars. Margot Robbie dazzles as hard scrabble Olympic skater and tabloid queen Tonya Harding.
Phantom Thread - 4 Stars. 1950s fashion artist Daniel Day-Lewis finds his match in waitress Vicky Krieps. Hitchcock would have loved this power struggle romance.
The Post - 3½ Stars. The Washington Post defies the government, and publishes the Pentagon Papers in 1971. Stirring newspaper drama, as well as inspiring rise of Katherine Graham as publisher/leader.
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| Arch Campbell with Will Ferrell & Zach Galifianakis (r) |
Call Me by Your Name - 3½ Stars. Beautifully filmed, languid Italian summer romance.
Black Panther - 3½ Stars. Chadwick Boseman breathes life into a new and exciting superhero. As king of a little known African nation, he can bring peace and power to the world; but first, he must settle a family score.
Coco - 3 Stars. Pixar takes a deep dive into Mexican culture, in this eye-popping story of a little boy searching for his roots.
Best New Bet > Game Night - 3 Stars. Jason Bateman and Rachael McAdams get more than they bargain for, on a murder mystery night hosted by Kyle Chandler.
The Insult - 3 Stars. A construction worker and a mechanic get into an argument over a drainpipe. Set in Lebanon, it pits a Christian party member against a Palestinian. Deft storytelling, subtitled.
The Shape of Water - 3 Stars. Sally Hawkins as a mute cleaning woman, who comes to the aid of a sea creature captured during the Cold War.
A Fantastic Woman - 3 Stars. A transgender woman cannot grieve the sudden death of her partner, because of his family and a repressive South American society. Dreamlike and beautifully made, but a little too coy at times.
Star Wars: The Last Jedi - 2½ Stars. Echoes the best elements of the earlier Star Wars films. Runs long and loud. Fans will love.
Molly's Game - 2½ Stars. Jessica Chastain spins a pretty good story about an Olympic hopeful, turned gambling queen. Aaron Sorkin's script starts interesting, but turns exhausting.
Fifty Shades Freed - 2 Stars. Concludes the series, thank Heavens!
12 Strong - 2 Stars. Patriotic based-on-fact story of the special forces team that joined an Afghanistan warlord to fight the Taliban in the weeks following 9/11. Long and hard to follow.
Hostiles - 2 Stars. Christian Bale is ordered to escort Indian Chief Wes Studi back to his homeland to die. Slow and predictable.
Annihilation - 1 Star. Natalie Portman sci-fi mystery starts with a bang, but ends with a whimper.
Maze Runner: The Death Cure - 1 Star. Same old, same old young adult dystopian flesh-eating zombies conclusion.
Visit Arch's website for his (unrivaled) take on movies. He remains the only other (we're not self-hating) critic, whose opinion we admire and respect.
