“PORTRAIT OF A LADY ON FIRE”: French auteur Céline Sciamma knocked me out with her last film, “Girlhood,” and she does it again with her shattering tale of love, loss and self-discovery. The movie is an achievement, one that feels like one big group hug. Most of that is due to Hanks welding the pieces together with another Oscar-worthy performance. Directed by Marielle Heller, the fact-based film slyly stays with you, its power sneaking up days later. “A BEAUTIFUL DAY IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD”: Tom Hanks slips into the red cardigan of children’s TV show host Fred Rogers to dole out lessons in kindness to a jaded journalist (Matthew Rhys) and his estranged father (Kingston’s Chris Cooper). It’s entertaining and infuriating all at once. Director Jay Roach works in the fourth-wall breaking style of “The Big Short” and “Vice” to tell the story that brought down Fox News founder, the repulsive Roger Ailes (John Lithgow). Charlize Theron transforms into Megyn Kelly to drive the movie, but supporting turns by Margo Robbie, Kate McKinnon and Nicole Kidman also impress. That’s a damn revelation - ditto for the performances. It’s a bold film that shows sexual harassment in the workplace (in this case Fox News) from the female point of view. “BOMBSHELL”: I don’t know why this movie isn’t being talked about more. Plus, Tracy Letts as blusterous Henry Ford II is a treasure. It’s about the human spirit, ingenuity and overcoming obstacles in pursuit of greatness - and sticking it to “The Man.” The filmmakers use heart and humor and immersive driving scenes to keep their movie revved. The film tracks the rivalry between the two automakers and the showdown at 1966’s 24 Hours of Le Mans, considered the race of all endurance races. “FORD V FERRARI”: Christian Bale as legendary driver Ken Miles and Matt Damon as designer Carroll Shelby make a great duo, but James Mangold’s race-car drama, has more under the hood than hot rods and hunky men. It’s an unexpected gut punch from a bunch of wise guys. This is the director, and cast, playing on the back nine of their careers and looking back through a lens clouded with regrets, the biggest being the daughter who will never come to visit. It’s de riguer Scorsese, gripping, tense, violent, but it’s also something more: profound. Martin Scorsese’s takes the gangster genre on a last hurrah with a dream cast of Robert Di Niro, Al Pacino, Joe Pesci and Harvey Keitel. “THE IRISHMAN”: If you didn’t see this in theaters, then you really missed out. Anyone know where I can get a flamethrower? (Available on demand and all the streaming spots)ģ. What results is hilarious, gruesome and perfectly Tarantino. Margo Robbie adds a ghostly presence as doomed starlet Sharon Tate. Leonardo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt do their best work in years as fictional, fading movie star and his longtime stunt double. And this one, his valentine to Tinseltown set against a revisionist take on the Manson Murders, is no exception. “ONCE UPON A TIME IN … HOLLYWOOD”: Quentin Tarantino films are so much fun to watch. Alexandre Desplat’s evocative score is the cherry on top. I’ve seen it twice, and the second viewing wrecked me more than the first. In the hands of writer-director Greta Gerwig, it’s a perfect match of artist and material, all fortified by a stellar cast of Saoirse Ronan, Emma Watson, Florence Pugh, Eliza Scanlen, Timothee Chalamet, Laura Dern, Meryl Streep and Chris Cooper. “LITTLE WOMEN”: Louisa May Alcott’s 150-year-old novel about four sisters coming-of-age in Civil War-era Massachusetts fit our modern sensibilities like a glove. This list changed daily, but since deadline is hovering, I’ll leave you with this lineup:ġ. Per usual, it was a challenge to come up with just 10 favorite films. In between there were gems, both uncut and precious, and not from Disney or Marvel, which takes the year’s five top grossing movies: “Avengers: Endgame,” “The Lion King,” “Toy Story 4,” “Captain Marvel” and “Frozen 2.” None of those titles make my list of favorites, though I have a soft spot for “Endgame.” My picks might not be cinematic masterpieces in the snobby auteur sense, but, boy, did they make me feel alive. The past year’s film viewing started with the comedy “The Upside” and ended 170 movies later with the pulse-pounding “Midnight Family,” a documentary about private ambulance workers in Mexico City.
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