Stand before the public and God, and be obliterated

TÁR

2022

Written and directed by Todd Field

Spoilers: moderate

True medium

NIGHTMARE ALLEY

2021

Directed by Guillermo del Toro

Written by Kim Morgan and Guillermo del Toro (based on the novel by William Lindsay Gresham)

Spoilers: mild

But I'm looking even more forward to Ocean's One, which will just be a really flashy, really fun liquor store robbery

OCEAN'S EIGHT

Heist flicks typically don't have extended fourth acts for a very good reason, as Ocean's Eight demonstrates; but those first three acts are such a great time at the movies that it doesn't matter as much as it should.

2018

Directed by Gary Ross

Written by Olivia Milch and Gary Ross

With Sandra Bullock (Debbie Ocean), Cate Blanchett (Lou), Mindy Kaling (Amita), Helena Bonham Carter (Rose Weil), Sarah Paulson (Tammy), Nora Lum Ying (Constance), Rihanna ("Nine Ball"), Anne Hathaway (Daphne Kluger), James Corden (John Frazier), and Richard Armitage (Claude Becker)

Spoiler alert: mild, but that asterisked footnote does contain a somewhat severe spoiler

Ice and snow

THOR: RAGNAROK

It falls into almost all of the usual Marvel movie traps—and then thrives within them anyway.

2017

Directed by Taika Waititi

Written by Eric Pearson, Craig Kyle, and Christopher Yost

With Chris Hemsworth (Thor), Mark Ruffalo (Bruce Banner), Tessa Thompson (the Valkyrie), Anthony Hopkins (Odin), Benedict Cumberbatch (Dr. Stephen Strange), Idris Elba (Heimdall), Tadanobu Asano (Hogun), Ray Stevenson (Volstagg), Zachary Levi (Fandral), Taika Waititi (Korg), Rachel House (Topaz), Jeff Goldblum (the Grandmaster), Clancy Brown (Surtur), Karl Urban (Skurge), and Cate Blanchett (Hela)

Spoiler alert: moderate

I am for an art that has explosions, and car chases, and maybe a little skin

MANIFESTO

A little airless, but not arid, Manifesto is a strange and fascinating trinket, centering itself upon a feature-length consideration of art's history of outright comical hubris.

2017

Written and directed by Julian Rosenfeldt

With Cate Blanchett

Spoiler alert: N/A

Steven Spielberg, part XXXI: The Old Indiana Jones Chronicles

INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL

Hardly the travesty of the holy Original Trilogy that crybabies constantly say it is, the fourth Indy film is actually a rather fine adventure movie that does almost everything it does pretty damned well—but, unfortunately, does very little perfectly, which I'm afraid does set it decisively apart from its predecessors.

2008

Directed by Steven Spielberg

Written by David Koepp, Jeff Nathanson, and George Lucas

With Harrison Ford (Dr. Henry "Indiana" Jones, Jr.), Shia LaBeouf (Henry "Mutt" Williams), Karen Allen (Marion Williams nee Ravenwood), John Hurt (Dr. Harold Oxley), Ray Winstone (George "Mac" McHale), and Cate Blanchett (Col. Dr. Irina Spalko)

Spoiler alert: you saw it, and you probably hated it

It will obsess you, but believe me, it will be a mediocre obsession

CAROL

Todd Haynes returns to the 1950s.  I wish he hadn't.

2015
Directed by Todd Haynes

Written by Phyllis Nagy (based on the novel The Price of Salt by Patricia Highsmith)

With Cate Blanchett (Carol Aird), Rooney Mara (Therese Belivet), Kyle Chandler (Harge Aird), and Sarah Paulson (Abby Gerhard)

Spoiler alert: moderate

Dragons without dungeons, part II: He says "red" a lot during dragon training

HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON 2

If the aesthetic problems of the first are addressed and then some, every issue the shaky background mythology could possibly have is trebled and jammed right into your soft, quivering brain.  How to Train Your Dragon 2 is recommended for the audiovisual splendor, and for the occasional awesome character moment that rarely (or never) quite pays off on its promise, and for not too much else at all.

2014
Written and directed by Dean DeBlois (based on the book series by Cressida Cowell)
With Jay Baruchel (Hiccup), Cate Blanchett (Valka), America Ferrara (Astrid), Gerard Butler (Stoick), Craig Ferguson (Gobber), and Djimon Hounsou (Drago)

Spoiler alert: moderate