Coco ★★ 1/2 “At a time when xenophobia runs rampant, and talk of building a wall along the Mexican border continues, it’s nice to see a family film take pains to humanize our neighbors to the south without coming off as a polemic.” Read more >>

Daddy’s Home 2 ★★ 1/2 “Surprisingly, it’s not awful. Credit the addition of John Lithgow as Brad’s father, retired postal carrier Don, and especially Mel Gibson as Dusty’s dad, former space shuttle pilot Kurt.” Read more >>

Darkest Hour ★ 1/2 “The entire film is rather silly and cartoonish, and just the type of historical drama the Academy might eat up.” Read more >>

Lady Bird ★★★★ (pictured above) If you liked last year’s highly praised The Edge of Seventeen, a delicate comedic drama about high school life for an awkward teen girl, you’ll love the similarly themed, yet even more perceptive coming-of-age tale, Lady BirdRead more >> 

Roman J. Israel, Esq. ★★ 1/2 “Denzel Washington plays the titular lawyer in Gilroy’s Roman J. Israel, Esq. as a collection of mannered tics, a socially awkward crusader housed in a rumpled, ill-fitting suit, along with glasses and an uneven afro that wouldn’t seem out of place in the 1970s, even though Gilroy has once again set his unfortunately meandering film in the here and now.” Read more >>

The Disaster Artist ★★★ 1/2 “…director/star James Franco’s The Disaster Artist is a ridiculously entertaining portrait of a mysterious man with delusions of genius…” Read more >>

The Shape of Water ★★ 1/2 “This 1962-set tale flips the script on Splash by focusing on a human heroine who falls for her amphibian prince, a finned merman.” Read more >>

The Man Who Invented Christmas★★ 1/2 “A tale like this requires not only a light hand—which Nalluri possesses—but also a stylized visual sensibility.” Read more >>

Thor: Ragnarok ★★★ 1/2 “Even though he’s an A-list member of the mighty Avengers, Thor’s first two films aren’t exactly the most beloved of the 16 previous movies in Disney’s ever-expanding Marvel Cinematic Universe. But with the latest installment headlined by Australia’s Chris Hemsworth, that’s about to change.” Read more >>

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri ★★★ 1/2 “McDormand and her character are a force to be reckoned with, which she ably demonstrates when she dresses down a condescending priest, using words that would make Jesus himself blush.” Read more >>

Wonder ★★★ 1/2 “Chbosky displays a great amount of empathy for all of his characters, presenting his warm-hearted drama—a rallying call against bullying—as a true ensemble piece, one that surprises with its constantly evolving point of view and shifting narrations that provide a deeper understanding of everyone involved.” Read more >>

Wonderwheel ★★ “The warm, saturated images evoke a ‘50s-era Coney Island that likely only exists in people’s imaginations, and here, the colors and light magically change with characters’ moods.” Read more >> 


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