EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT CURRENT MOVIES
1917—sort of a big-budget version of “Blair Witch Project”—a single uninterrupted shot of the young Brit soldier skulking through hell. Visually very impressive, but like the similarly-overrated Dunkirk it’s kinda myopic and simplistic—there’s no side-plots, character development or comic relief. No friggin’ way they’d ever get me out of those trenches.
The Irishman—I tried four times to get through the whole film but fell asleep on each occasion. Al Pacino plays the exact same role in every film, with only minor variations in his hairstyle. Someone should tell Scorcese not to use so many slow pans and reaction shots.
Once Upon A Time in Hollywood—Inglorious Basterds and Django Unchained are among my best-ever, but this was a huge letdown—virtually nothing happens until the flamethrower-enhanced final ten minutes. Brad Pitt does do the laconic cool guy better than anyone, however.
Hustlers—no moral judgments, but strip clubs always depress me, and nothing about these thoroughly reprehensible girls holds my interest, prurient or otherwise.
The Joker—like its forefather, The King of Comedy, this is extremely uncomfortable viewing, and a hideously emaciated Joaquim Phoenix is painful to behold. I ended up walking out two-thirds of the way through.
Richard Jewell—Eastwood’s films tend to meander, but he keeps things moving briskly here, with tight plotting and enough black humor to keep the mood from getting too ponderous. Jon Hamm and Kathy Bates phone it in here, but the guy in the titular role is a force of nature and Olivia Wilde looks scorching in that short skirt.
