Some of the year’s very best films are in theaters now. I especially recommend these four:
The Artist: A magical romance given us through the highly original choice of an almost silent film.
The Descendants: Director Alexander Payne’s (Sideways) family drama is set in Hawaii and contains a brilliant performance by George Clooney.
Hugo, Martin Scorsese’s revelatory 3D tale of an orphan living in the bowels of a 1920s Paris train station who strives to survive by his wits, keep his independence and solve the puzzle of an discarded automaton.
Best Movies of 2011. Steven Spielberg’s War Horse has also been nominated for Best Picture.
I highly recommend A Separation, the searing and brilliantly constructed Iranian drama, but it’s a tough watch. It’s a cinch for the Best Foreign Language Oscar.
Here are my comments on some other current films, the sex addiction drama Shame, the biopic The Iron Lady and the very odd fable Albert Nobbs.
This week’s lightweight pick is the feminist action thriller Haywire. My heavyweight pick is Ralph Fiennes’ very fienne contemporary adaption of Shakespeare’s Coriolanus.
I haven’t yet seen the Denzel Washington spy thriller Safe House, which opens this week. You can read descriptions and view trailers of upcoming films at Movies I’m Looking Forward To.