Critic’s Notebook
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.
Bringing back Baldwin
Haitian director Raoul Peck takes risks by reviving James Baldwin's racial views.
Down and out
Jordan Peele's sly "Get Out" uses horror to get to the core of American race relations.
Skirting the censors
Ashgar Farhadi deservedly picks up a second Oscar for "The Salesman," a taught marriage drama.
Elusive Elle
In Paul Verhoeven's psychological thriller, Isabelle Huppert's Michèle Leblanc is the sum of violence and lies.
LA, darkly
Damien Chazelle's "La La Land" is chock with music and dance, but there's a basement at its core.
Some lovely Moonlight
Writer-director Barry Jenkins' story of a taciturn boy as seen through various stages of life is a stunning accomplishment.
Stranger than fiction
Scott Derrickson's saccharine "Doctor Strange," heavy on time warping and mysticism, is redeemed in part by jack-of-all-trades Benedict Cumberbatch.
Sempre la mamma
In Nanni Moretti's latest, a dying mother plunges a filmmaking daughter into crisis.
No average road trip
In "Captain Fantastic," writer-director Matt Ross rallies precocious kids around Vigo Mortensen.
For love of screwball
The Coen Brothers' spool of 1950s Hollywood perfectly suits their tradition of mischief.
“Critics Notebook” 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.