From the very first frame of “Roma” you know you are seeing something unique to modern filmmaking. Not necessarily unique to cinema as a whole. As I watched, flashes of Fellini and Tati constantly came to mind. But seeing this level of visual and narrative craftsmanship is a rarity these days.

Alfonso Cuarón’s intensely personal “Roma” is a semi-autobiographical reflection on growing up in early 1970s Mexico City. The film’s title is a reference to the West-Central neighborhood Colonia Roma and Cuarón puts a ton of effort in capturing its energy and vibrancy. It truly is a movie of detail with each gorgeous black-and-white shot framed like a richly detailed memory begging to be examined. It’s a tapestry of individual compositions skillfully woven together by a narrative that has far more heart than it may first appear.

The film focuses on Cleo (Yalitza Aparicio), a maid and nanny for a bustling upper-middle class family. Cuarón isn’t as much interested in narrative as he is conveying Cleo’s personal story – her life, her nature, her routines. Much like Xavier Beauvois’ “The Guardians” from earlier this year, Cuarón puts a visual emphasis on her work, capturing every chore and the effort she puts into each of them. It may sound mundane but Cuarón is deftly building her character despite the absence of a traditional narrative.

This family is a significant part of Cleo’s life. In fact there are only a handful of scenes where she is apart from them. Whether taking the kids to school, making an unexpected hospital visit, spending New Year’s at a countryside hacienda, or (in one of the film’s very best scenes) buying furniture in 1971 as the bloody clash between protesting students and Los Halcones erupted. Through Cuarón’s eyes and unknowingly to her, Cleo is a stabilizing force for this family especially when they threaten to unravel after a family crisis. And on a smaller scale the turmoil that festers within their home is an interesting mirror image of the societal unrest outside. It’s a striking metaphor that doesn’t go unnoticed.

The Cleo character is inspired by Cuarón’s childhood nanny Liboria “Libo” Rodríguez. She worked for his family for decades and they maintain a close relationship to this day. She has even made cameos in his other Mexican-made films. One of the many things Cuarón’s camera does is accentuate the very essence of her character – her humility, her compassion, her insecurities. But just as important is the way he captures her experience. In many ways Cleo is defined by her experiences and she is much more than simply an avatar for Cuarón’s memories.

Cuarón also uses his cinematic canvas to paint an energetic portrait of the political and social landscape of the time. The film bursts with vibrant street sounds of kids playing, the shouts of vendors, and honking car horns. He uses the canvas to illuminate different areas in and around the city – the family’s cozy residential area, the lively downtown, the muddy slums on the outskirts of the city. And none of these arresting images wastes an inch of the screen.

It’s hard to find a beef with “Roma”. It’s such a stunning and intimate work from a filmmaker invested in every facet of the production (Cuarón served as director, writer, cinematographer, co-editor, and co-producer). A couple of scenes did clash for me and felt yanked from another film (the man in a ghillie suit singing in front of a forest fire and a character practicing martial arts with a shower curtain rod while fully nude instantly come to mind). I searched but still haven’t found satisfying answers to those creative flairs.

Mild quibbles aside, you can’t watch “Roma” without seeing the heart of the man behind it. A big deal has been made about Netflix distributing it through their streaming service and limiting its theater run. I would much rather see “Roma” on the big screen, but as with so many films of this type, smaller markets are often left out in the cold. Netflix offers a chance for anyone to see it, and I see that as a good thing.

VERDICT – 4.5 STARS

In “Ready Player One” the world has become a pretty crummy place. Energy shortages, economic stagnation, and overpopulation has turned many of the world’s cities into slums. Aside from widespread poverty it has also resulted in cases of social unrest (my personal favorite being ‘The Bandwith Riots’).

One of the stricken cities is Columbus, Ohio. Orphaned 18-year-old Wade Watts (Tye Sheridan) lives with his Aunt Alice (Susan Lynch) in a poor neighborhood known as The Stacks. Like everyone else, Wade escapes the harshness of life through the OASIS, a massive virtual reality playground of interconnected worlds. It was the brainchild of sheepishly eccentric James Halliday (the always wonderful Mark Rylance) who posthumously reveals that an Easter Egg is hidden deep within the OASIS. Whoever finds the virtual three keys can unlock the Egg and gain full control of Halliday’s fortune and the OASIS.

These are the worlds director Steven Spielberg plays in – both real and virtual. It was first conceived through the creative mind of Earnest Cline whose award-winning 2011 novel has been a phenomenon in itself. Cline joins writer Zak Penn in adapting his story to the screen and Spielberg takes it and runs. The CGI is as endless as the opening narration but it does allow Spielberg to do some pretty crazy things. Look no further than an homage to “The Shining” which is nothing short of fabulous. But by the third act CGI fatigue had set in.

Wade, an unabashed Halliday enthusiast, begins scouting for clues within the OASIS. His hunt for the first key leads to an elaborate vehicle race through virtual Manhattan. It’s an extraordinary sequence featuring Bigfoot (the monster truck, not Sasquatch), the 1933 King Kong, Jurassic Park’s T-Rex, and a DeLorean time machine for starters. Wade encounters and quickly falls for fellow racer Art3mis (Olivia Cooke). The two reluctantly ‘clan up’ to find the keys and keep the Oasis out of the wrong hands.

Ben Mendelsohn provides the story’s antagonist, an evil corporate head who wants the OASIS for himself. Mendelsohn is a good actor who can do these kinds of roles in his sleep. But he feels a little off here. Maybe bland is a better word. I don’t think it’s Mendelsohn’s doing. It’s more of a script issue and indicative of the lack of depth we get in several of the supporting characters.

The story delves into several obvious themes: the haves versus the have-nots, self-identity, etc. But it’s most effective as straight-up pop culture science fiction. It’s essentially a virtual treasure hunt where the characters are searching for three keys while I was hunting for as many culture references as I could find. And there are a ton of them. You could say “Ready Player One” is relentlessly nostalgic and that turns out to be a positive. There are moments when the nostalgia is all that keeps the film afloat.

It’s hard not to be impressed by the sheer volume of pop references scattered throughout the hefty 140 minute running time. The Iron Giant, Hello Kitty, Saturday Night Fever, Freddy Krueger, Mortal Kombat, even Buckaroo Banzai! I’m sure someone out there has compiled a list. For me that was the fun of “Ready Player One” and it’s what made the movie stand out. It’s threaded throughout the story just enough to keep me interested. But if you happen to look past the nostalgia for something more, you may have a hard time finding it.

VERDICT – 3 STARS

Some actors work on a higher and entirely different plane than others. I’m convinced Denzel Washington is one of those actors. Over the years Washington has shown himself to be in tune with his craft. So much so that even when the material he works with may not be the strongest, he has a way of making it better. Take his new film “Roman J. Israel, Esq.”, a legal drama that could have collapsed at several points yet you have Washington, injecting every scene with life.

That’s not to take away from writer/director Dan Gilroy. He wrote the part specifically for Washington and he’s well aware that his star is the linchpin. Similar to Gilroy’s first turn as directing, 2014’s “Nightcrawler”, this is an engaging character study and morality play revolving around an intriguing central character. It’s a great fit for Washington who enjoys digging deep into his roles. For Roman he gets to go full throttle.

For 36 years Roman J. Israel has worked as the behind-the-scenes brains of a small, two-man Los Angeles firm. He’s an earnest go-getter with a photographic memory and an impressive history of civil rights defense. He’s also a bit of a wild card which has kept him in the office instead of the courtroom.

Washington pulls everything out of this fascinating, off-kilter character and then adds some flavor of his own. His Roman is rich with personality and is always operating within his own world. His eccentricities are evident from his lumbering stroll, unfashionable wardrobe, retro headphones, or his strong affection for peanut butter sandwiches. But it’s when Washington and Gilroy give him a voice that his peculiarities shine.

When his boss (who is also the face of the firm) suffers a heart attack, Roman is ready to take the helm, but he is blindsided when secrets begin to surface regarding his boss’ practices. Even worse, Roman learns the firm has been left in the hands of an ambitious hot-shot attorney George Pierce (Colin Farrell). With no plans to keep the practice running, George offers Roman a job at his big downtown firm out of pity. Strapped for cash Roman accepts, but in doing so is put face-to-face with the very things he has crusaded against.

Gilroy’s story puts Roman through some pretty tough situations which compound his frustrations. Does he stay true to his convictions or does he give in to the hand he has been dealt? Carmen Ejogo plays a civil rights activist who is intrigued and inspired by Roman. In many ways she plays his conscience – a representation of the ideals he has held close. Both she and Farrell offer up some good supporting work.

“Let us be enraged by injustice but not destroyed by it.” It’s a Bayard Rustin quote framed on the wall of Roman’s meager apartment. We revisit it a couple of times, each with a more stinging relevance than the last. It gets at the core of Roman J. Israel, a man of dignity but idealistic to a fault. Gilroy and Washington deftly open up this character’s quirks and complexities, and even when the narrative begins to wander Roman is still the focus. That alone was more than enough to keep me glued to the screen.

VERDICT – 4 STARS

When Disney bought the Star Wars franchise I don’t think anyone expected it to be three movies and done. You don’t exactly spend $4.06 billion just to make three films. Of course Disney being Disney means that Star Wars has become an annual cinematic event featuring new installments/episodes of the main story mixed with one-shot movies meant to fill in some of the gaps between previous films. The first of these one-shots is “Rogue One”.

These stand-alone ‘Star Wars stories’ will apparently be aplenty. Already rumors of a young Han Solo adventure and a Boba Fett origin story are swirling. “Rogue One” notches in just ahead of Episode 4 on the Star Wars timeline. It tells the story of how the original Death Star plans were stolen from the Empire. You know, the ones Princess Leia hid inside of R2-D2 just before being captured by Darth Vader. Just from that you can probably tell fan service is at a premium, but “Rogue One” packs plenty more to give it its own identity and a firm standing among the Star Wars films.

“Rogue One” introduces a new band of characters living within this vivid established world Star Wars fans know well. A strong and heady Felicity Jones plays Jyn Erso, a young woman with a history marked with distress, most notably the separation from her parents as a young child by the hand of Orson Krennic (Ben Mendelsohn). He’s the Empire’s weapons research director who’s tasked with creating a planet-killing superweapon. Years back Krannic forced Jyn’s father Galen (Mads Mikkelsen), a weapons designer, to help complete what would become the Death Star essentially leaving Jyn to be raised in hiding.

Jump ahead 15 years. Jyn is rescued from an Imperial prison by Cassian (Diego Luna), an officer in the fledgling rebellion. Aware of her identity, the rebels have a very specific yet complicated purpose for Jyn which leads her from being a pawn to a potential hero. But to make that journey she will need the help of a good cast of characters – Donnie Yen as the blind mystic Chirrut along with his sidekick/protector Baze (Jiang Wen), an Empire defector named Rook (Riz Ahmed), and the deadpan, scene-stealing droid K-2SO (voiced by Alan Tudyk).

Gareth Edwards directs and follows up his 2014 reboot of “Godzilla”. In that film Edwards’ deliberate and slow-revealing tempo invigorated some audiences (like me) while frustrating others. There is a bit of that approach here, but for the most part this is an energetic, steady moving picture. Chris Weitz and Tony Gilroy’s screenplay at first feels like a very different Star Wars movie yet over time its place in this beloved far, far away galaxy is much more cemented. By the end “Rogue One” not only feels like a Star Wars film, it holds its own within the franchise.

Now I’ve already heard the frustrations of some who desperately wanted this film to be something boldly unique. Complaints that Edwards and company play it safe have merit but there is a reason they do so. “Rogue One” is unshakably tied to Episode 4 and it shouldn’t surprise anyone that this film stays within that same style and framework. It’s a wise creative decision which actually helps the film effectively meld into the Star Wars macrocosm. With so many other Anthology films coming, there will still be plenty of opportunities for risk-taking. I don’t think this is it.

“Rogue One” looks amazing, the effects are stunning, the action is energetic, the nostalgia is delightful, there’s the right amount of humor, and it tells a good story. But what surprised me the most was how much I liked its characters. They’re fun and compelling with each having a good franchise footing. Each are easy to root for (or against) particularly as they navigate the film’s themes of loss, sacrifice, heroism, and war. Jones, Mikkelsen, Luna, Mendelsohn, Yen, and Tudyk – great performances and that’s not including the handful of familiar faces we meet along the way.

The original 1977 film alluded to the mission to steal the Death Star plans and the brave rebels who carried it out. The danger was intense and the cost was high. “Rogue One” tells that story with spirit and at times grit. I had confidence this could be good but with a degree of caution. I’m so pleased that my caution proved unwarranted and “Rogue One” turned out to be an absolute treat. Time will tell whether Disney’s Star Wars saturation wears thin, but as for now one thing is for sure – “Rogue One” is a sound reminder that the franchise is in very good hands.

VERDICT – 4.5 STARS

The great Howard Hawks set out to direct “Rio Bravo” after a four year hiatus. Following the box office failure of his 1955 film “Land of the Pharaohs”, Hawks left Hollywood feeling he had lost his touch. But despite his uncertainties, his return to filmmaking resulted in one of the most entertaining and influential Westerns ever made.

The film was originally titled “Bull By the Tail” and was made as a rebuttal to 1952’s “High Noon”. Reasons for John Wayne’s dislike of “High Noon” were well known, but Hawks spoke specifically against the film’s cowering weak-kneed sheriff begging his reluctant townsfolk for help. Hawks and Wayne set out to make a film featuring a similar danger, but with a hero unafraid and willing to fulfill his public duty no matter what the threat.

“Rio Bravo” also marks an interesting turn in John Wayne’s career. It could be called the second stage of his career in Westerns. In the film you see him poking fun at the public image he had developed over the years. We see him as older, a little slower, not quite as fit, but ever the strong, stoic figure of his past films. Hawks utilized Wayne’s stardom but wasn’t afraid to shake it up a bit.

The story has Wayne playing John T. Chance, sheriff of Rio Bravo, Texas. Chance arrests Joe Burdette (Claude Akins) for murder and puts him in jail until the U.S. Marshall can arrive six days later. Joe’s brother, a wealthy cattle rancher named Nathan (John Russell), surrounds the town with his thugs waiting for his opportunity to bust Joe out of jail before the marshals arrive. At Chance’s side is Dude (Dean Martin), an alcoholic struggling with sobriety and Stumpy (Walter Brennan) a crippled elderly jailer.

You also have Ricky Nelson in a fun bit of casting. He plays a young gunslinger named Colorado who comes into town but is reluctant to get involved in the sheriff’s problems. A well known star from his work in television and music, Nelson may have been the biggest global star in the film.

Angie Dickinson (in what would be her breakout role) plays a traveling gambler named Feathers. Despite an obvious age difference,  she and Wayne share a playfully combative onscreen relationship. Dickinson’s character fit the description of a ‘Hawksian Woman’. They often bucked the normal gender roles by presenting tough women who could easily hold their own with their male counterpart whether in character or in the performance. Dickinson more than holds her own.

The script was handled by Leigh Brackett and Jules Furthman. Both had previously collaborated with Hawks on his film noir classic “The Big Sleep” (later Brackett would co-write “The Empire Strikes Back”). Their story seamlessly moves through its 140 minute running time, never wasting a scene or bogging down. The story’s premise is naturally intense and several films would pull inspiration from it including Hawks’ own “El Dorado” from 1966, 1970’s “Rio Lobo”, and even John Carpenter’s police thriller “Assault on Precinct 13”.

It also looks fantastic. The film rarely steps outside of its small western town setting and that serves as a strength. It allows the camera to focus more on the characters while giving much of the town an identity. Hawks’ camera is also instrumental in building up the tension in a number of different character interactions. Frame after frame features the director skillfully serving his story in one visual form or another.

Howard Hawks was one of the most versatile filmmakers of his craft. He made quality films in nearly every genre, from screwball comedies to gangster pictures. “Rio Bravo” marked a significant return for him as well as giving us a transforming performance from John Wayne. But the glue of the film may be the supporting performances. There is no way “Rio Bravo” would be as good if not for Dean Martin, Ricky Nelson, and Angie Dickinson. When you put all of these pieces together and view it as a whole it’s easy to see why “Rio Bravo” is considered a classic.

VERDICT – 4.5 STARS