The Big Sick – Meh. It wasn’t funny. At all. Deadly serious, actually. But it was an okay relationship drama.
Darkest Hour – Meh. It was actually quite good (especially Gary Oldman’s impersonation of Winston Churchill, and some of those cool “views from above planes” pan-over shots)…but after Dunkirk, this “behind the scenes” political game came across as perfunctory.
Personal Shopper – WOW! I tricked you, just like director Olivier Assayas did to the audience here! This one (though horribly ineptly titled) is actually a minor masterpiece likely to make my top ten list for the year. As I proclaimed on the Facebooks after watching it, “So like seriously, we just watched a Kristen Stewart movie where she was texting with a stranger on the Paris-to-London Chunnel for 20-30 minutes, and it was scary as hell. Personal Shopper is a truly modern ghost story that will perplex, unnerve, and move you.”
The Dinner – Eww. Do yourself a favor and just have an actual dinner. Skip this tripe about the 1% all together.
The Killing of a Sacred Deer – Eww. Double Eww. Triple Eww. Vile bougie trash that’s not even worth being set on fire.
The Schleicher Spin 
I LOVED The Killing of a Sacred Deer (Top 10 for me absolutely!) and I did find The Darkest Hour as perfunctory when compared with Dunkirk which appears to be losing quite a bit of steam now after the year-end releases. I have seen The Phantom Thread (masterpiece); The Post (solid but not Top 10); Downsizing (awful); Molly’s Game (forgettable); Coco (enthralling) and The Death of Louis XIV over the last several days and have The Square and On the Beach Alone at Night set to view tonight, so you and I will be comparing notes soon my friend. Happy New Year!
Sam – we’re going to see Phantom Thread tonight! I will be sure to be blogging about it tomorrow – it is the most anticipated film of the season for me!
As for The Killing of a Sacred Deer – this will have to be a classic “agree to disagree” for us. I truly rank it as one of the most odious film experieces I’ve ever had the displeasure of being subjected to. Had my wife joined me in watching it, she surely would’ve filed for divorce immediately after.
Omg Killing of a Sacred Deer was so mediocre; I was so bored that I started fast-forwarding toward the end just to finish it.
And I almost walked out of Personal Shopper…I was so bored….don’t see the appeal there.
Great post!
Part of the appeal of Personal Shopper was that we expected to be bored/aggravated but were surprised how much it sucked us into its vapid weirdness mixed with deep thought/feelings. I can totally see, however, how it would bore some people.
Enjoyed your review of Lady Bird, btw. We agree on that one for sure!