MOVIE - First Reformed

R (1:48)

Limited release May 18, 2018

Viewed Thursday evening, June 21, 2018 with Sandy at Carlisle Theater
IMBd:  7.7/10

RT Critic: 96   Audience:  70
Critic's Consensus:  Brought to life by delicate work from writer-director Paul Schrader and elevated by a standout performance by Ethan Hawke, First Reformed takes a sensitive and suspenseful look at weighty themes.

Cag:  How do you rate a movie like this?  Yes, I liked it....

Directed by  Paul Schrader

Studio A24

Ethan Hawke, Amanda Seyfried, 

My comments:  Holy shit, what did I just watch  What happens when you combine loneliness, despair, environmental issues, alcohol and religion? (and barbed wire, Drano, magical mystery tours, and holy roller, born again music...)  Well, watch this movie and you'll find out!  AND, what an ending!

RT/ IMDb Summary:  Reverend Ernst Toller (Ethan Hawke) is a solitary, middle-aged parish pastor at a small Dutch Reform church in upstate New York on the cusp of celebrating its 250th anniversary. Once a stop on the Underground Railroad, the church is now a tourist attraction catering to a dwindling congregation, eclipsed by its nearby parent church, Abundant Life, with its state-of-the-art facilities and 5,000-strong flock. When a pregnant parishioner (Amanda Seyfried) asks Reverend Toller to counsel her husband, a radical environmentalist, the clergyman finds himself plunged into his own tormented past, and equally despairing future, until he finds redemption in an act of grandiose violence. From writer-director Paul Schrader (Taxi Driver; American Gigolo; Affliction) comes a gripping thriller about a crisis of faith that is at once personal, political, and planetary.

MOVIE - Phantom Thread

R (2:10)

Wide release 1/19/18, another that was difficult to find nearby

Viewed date 2/22/2018
IMBd:  7.6

RT Critic:  91  Audience:  69
Critic's Consensus:  Phantom Thread's finely woven narrative is filled out nicely by humor, intoxicating romantic tension, and yet another impressively committed performance from Daniel Day-Lewis.

Cag:  Did I hate it?  Did I like it?  I'm not sure...but 6 months later I still remember what happened, so it's certainly stayed with me!

Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson

Focus Features

Daniel Day-Lewis

My comments:  Okay, I have no idea how to rate this movie.  I guess I liked it.  I had absolutely no idea what it was about other than that Daniel Day Lewis was some sort of famous fashion designer 60 years ago.  I love quirky and odd, and this was certainly quirky and odd.  It is about one of the strangest relationships I have ever witnessed.  Everyone should see it without any spoilers because it's a bit ind-blowing.  And one that won't be easily forgotten.  But even now, after thinking about it and ruminating even more, I have no idea how to rate it.  I did like it, but I was unsettled by it.  Totally unsettled.

RT/ IMDb Summary:  Set in the glamour of 1950s post-war London, renowned dressmaker Reynolds Woodcock (Daniel Day-Lewis) and his sister Cyril (Lesley Manville) are at the center of British fashion, dressing royalty, movie stars, heiresses, socialites, debutants, and dames with the distinct style of The House of Woodcock. Women come and go through Woodcock's life, providing the confirmed bachelor with inspiration and companionship, until he comes across a young, strong-willed woman, Alma (Vicky Krieps), who soon becomes a fixture in his life as his muse and lover. Once controlled and planned, he finds his carefully tailored life disrupted by love.