Critic’s Notebook
La dolce vita is not so sweet
In his latest cinematic effort, the master Italian director Paolo Sorrentino revisits two themes that have dominated his work: La [...]
Black new world
The blockbuster "Black Panther" is both a classic super-hero movie (not meant as a compliment), and an immersion into black [...]
Codes of love
Sicilian Luca Guadagnino beautifully captures the implacable oneness of deep feelings in "Call Me By Your Name."
Creature comfort
A mousey cleaning woman and a monster become sentimentally entangled in Guillermo del Toro's magical "The Shape of Water."
Five-inchers
In reconfiguring humans, director Alexander Payne has more than sci-fi comedy on his mind.
Much ado about Mildred
Frances McDormand helps Martin McDonagh's "Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri" hit a rural nerve.
Flags and war ghosts
In a sabre-rattling age, Richard Linklater's "Last Flag Flying" may be as close as the U.S. can come to an anti-war film.
Blade Runner reborn
Fans of the original "Blade Runner" will find much to like in Denis Villeneuve challenging sequel.
Luckless Logan
Steven Soderbergh's return to the movies is a misfire, above all because it flunks American cultural geography.
Over there, and desperate
Christopher Nolan's "Dunkirk" successfully conveys a chaotic World War II's fiasco that turned into a heroic moment.
A creepy mind
In "Berlin Syndrome," Australian director Cate Shortland tugs at Patty Hearst's cape, with mixed results.
What you wear
Olivier Assayas' "Personal Shopper" has lots of clothes, but the people beneath them are murky.
Authors
Dianne Bennett & William Graebner
William Graebner is Emeritus Professor of History, State University of New York, Fredonia, where he taught Film and American Culture. Dianne Bennett, the first woman to head a large U.S. law firm, is a mostly retired U.S. tax lawyer. They blog about Italy and can’t resist movies. Visit HERE.