Movie Reviews

I had a dream — actually, a dystopian nightmare — about American movie theaters of the future, based on our increasingly extreme political polarization: We’ll soon be greeted at the multiplex by ushers like the ones at a church wedding, but instead of asking, “Friend of the bride or groom?” they’ll ask, “Friend of Trump or Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez?”

If you knew Queen Anne only for her eponymous furniture and architecture, rest easy: You’ll know more than you ever wanted to know after viewing “The Favourite,” a spectacular and brilliantly acted biopic — with liberties, if not justice, for all.

Jason Reitman is a sterling example of quality over quantity. He has made relatively few films in his 20-year directorial career, but they include “Thank You for Smoking” (2005), “Juno” (2007) and “Up in the Air” (2009) — arguably the most uniquely entertaining and provocative pictures of their years — which is why we had good reason to anticipate “The Front Runner.”

It takes some people longer than others to find out what they’re really good at in life.

It took writer Lee Israel some 50 years to discover her true metier. But once she hit on it, nobody was more adept at her specialty — somewhere between high art and low craft.