I’d watch just about anything Steve McQueen directs, so mesmerizing has his past work been. Like “Hunger,” “Shame” and “Twelve Years a Slave,” his latest feature, “Widows,” is imperfect, but McQueen has such complete command over what appears inside his frame that it’s impossible to look away. That makes this a heist picture like no other; its genre format is merely a vessel for the director’s nuanced observations on the way people struggle with the constraints of their own lives. It’s also a showcase for the formidable powers of the magnificent Viola Davis, whose smoldering eyes are a perfect match for McQueen’s sense of gravity. This movie came and went at theaters before most people even noticed, but I suspect it will be long remembered in the future.
Here are all fifteen of the movies I watched in November, including, sadly, the last movie I ever watched on Filmstruck. (In case you missed it, you might also want to read my eulogy for the best streaming movie service that ever existed.)
- “Red Beard” Magnificent.
- “Teen Titans Go! To the Movies” Best cinematic universe yet.
- “The Right Stuff” Riddled with exposition but so much else is done right.
- “Random Harvest” Pure pablum, but irresistible.
- “Can You Ever Forgive Me?” As far as Oscar bait goes, very nicely done all around.
- “Lion” Starts strong, but coasts on its “based on a true story” credentials.
- “Widows” The universe corrects for “Ocean’s 8” and 2016’s “Ghostbusters”—magnificently.
- “The Ballad of Buster Scruggs” One gift box packed jam tight with six brilliant gifts.
- “Brief Encounter” Rewatched and fell for it all over again.
- “The Princess Bride” Rewatched and confirmed: this is justifiably beloved.
- “The Grinch” Very thinly spread from the source material.
- “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them” Rewatched.
- “The Christmas Chronicles” Garbage.
- “Samurai Spy” I have no idea what happened in this film but it’s amazing.
- “Ant-Man and the Wasp” This movie has no idea how building foundations work.
If you’re interested, here is what I watched in October, September, August, July, June, May, April, March, February and January. You can also see my complete list of everything I watched in 2017 and follow along with my film diary over at letterboxd.com.
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