Hugh Grant and Nicole Kidman in “The Undoing”. Photo: HBO

Quick Take: THE UNDOING

The story initially comes across as full of potential, but it has very little mystery to offer.

Golide Hawn and Kurt Russell in “The Christmas Chronicles Part Two”. Photo: Netflix

Quick Take: THE CHRISTMAS CHRONICLES PART TWO

Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn bring some charm to a movie that feels bloated, with annoying elves and less than thrilling action. 

Richard Vuu in “The Last Emperor”. Photo: Columbia

Review: THE LAST EMPEROR

Bernardo Bertolucci as director and co-writer makes the film thoroughly engrossing, an emotional history lesson in the shape of a traditional epic.



“Servants”. Photo: Punkchart Films

Quick Take: SERVANTS

Slow-moving and starkly black-and-white; the cinematography is more memorable than the director’s way of telling the story.

Vanessa Hudgens in “The Princess Switch: Switched Again”. Photo: Netflix

Quick Take: THE PRINCESS SWITCH: SWITCHED AGAIN

Has nothing to do with Christmas in spite of all the season trappings, but offers undemanding fun for preteen girls. 

Amanda Seyfried and Gary Oldman in “Mank”. Photo: Netflix

Review: MANK

The film is an arresting tour-de-force that takes us to a specific time and place with more or less the tools of that era.



Glenn Close and Amy Adams in “Hillbilly Elegy”. Photo: Netflix

Quick Take: HILLBILLY ELEGY

Amy Adams and Glenn Close’s performances edged near to parody, some said, but they are arresting.

Ibrahima Gueye and Sophia Loren in “The Life Ahead”. Photo: Netflix

Quick Take: THE LIFE AHEAD

Sophia Loren is touching as the Auschwitz survivor and former prostitute who now cares for abandoned children.