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| Domhnall Gleeson & Saoirse Ronan (r) star in Brooklyn |
From our friend, Arch Campbell...
Best Bets > Brooklyn - 4 Stars. Irish girl comes to America in the 1950's, then gets tugged back. Great story of finding your way, and making the right life choice.
Spotlight - 4 Stars. The Boston Globe's investigation of abuse in the church leads to global change. Wonderful celebration of newspaper reporting in its humanity.
Room - 4 Stars. Hard to watch, and impossible to forget. Bree Larson raises her son in captivity, then suddenly... freedom. A knot-in-the-stomach thriller.
Carol - 4 Stars. Todd Haynes paints a beautiful picture of the early 1950's, as he unfolds the love between Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara.
The Martian - 3½ Stars. In the great tradition of rescue movies, likable Matt Damon gets left behind on Mars and must figure out his survival.
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| Arch with Will Ferrell & Zach Galifianakis (r) |
Creed - 3½ Stars. Winning update of the "Rocky" series.
The Big Short - 3½ Stars. Makes the 2008 financial meltdown understandable and even funny, although there’s nothing funny about it.
Star Wars: The Force Awakens - 3 Stars. Winning reboot of the beloved series echoes the best of the original and “The Empire Strikes Back.”
Concussion - 3 Stars. Will Smith brings Dr. Bennet Omalu to life, the brilliant Nigerian pathologist who stood up to the NFL on the cost of pro football concussions.
Bridge of Spies - 3 Stars. Tom Hanks stars in solid, true life Cold War drama.
Trumbo - 3 Stars. Bryan Cranston as screenwriter Dalton Trumbo, blacklisted in the 1950's.
Spectre - 3 Stars. The latest James Bond hits all the winning formula marks, but runs long and sometimes feels predictable. Fans won’t mind.
Steve Jobs - 3 Stars. I wanted to love Aaron Sorkin’s biography of Steve Jobs. I liked this treatment; but it’s awfully talky, feels like a play, and Jobs comes off as even more of a jerk than expected.
Youth - 2½ Stars. Michael Caine as a composer/conductor, considering his life as he relaxes at an eccentric Swiss Spa. Sometimes "Youth" gets too cute for its own good, but includes some strikingly beautiful moments.
Joy - 2 Stars. In spite of Jennifer Lawrence and David O. Russell’s stock company, “Joy” never quite catches fire, and undermines the plot with a rushed finale.
In the Heart of the Sea - 2 Stars. Ron Howard epic on the story behind “Moby Dick” feels slow and sluggish.
The Danish Girl - 2 Stars. Eddie Redmayne dazzles as the world’s first transgender patient, with Alicia Vikander as his supportive wife. Beautiful, but cold.
Sisters - Zero Stars. Painfully unfunny comedy misfire.
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.
