‘A Woman’s Life,’ ‘Harold and Lillian’ and more critics’ picks for May 12
Movie recommendations from critics Kenneth Turan, Justin Chang and other reviewers.
Harold and Lillian: A Hollywood Love Story Director Daniel Raim’s captivating doc on storyboard artist Harold Michelson and researcher Lillian Michelson not only chronicles their mutual adoration and respect, but also Hollywood’s love for them, and the joy they derived from their work. (Sheri Linden) NR.
La La Land Starring a well-paired Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone, writer-director Damien Chazelle’s tuneful tribute to classic movie musicals is often stronger in concept than execution, but it’s lovely and transporting all the same. (Justin Chang) PG-13.
Like Crazy A vibrant and compelling look at friendship, freedom and the fine line between sanity and madness from director Paolo Virzì, who keeps the jampacked film moving apace with a whirlwind of high-wire emotionality, memorable set pieces and vivid location work. (Gary Goldstein) NR.
The Lost City of Z Based on David Grann’s nonfiction bestseller about the British explorer Percy Fawcett (well played by Charlie Hunnam), James Gray’s rich, meditative and deeply transporting adventure epic is the sort of classical filmmaking that feels positively radical. (Justin Chang) PG-13.
The Lovers Azazel Jacobs’ exquisitely funny-sad romance stars a superbly matched Debra Winger and Tracy Letts as a long-married couple whose feelings for each other are rekindled at the most inconvenient possible moment. (Justin Chang) R.
Norman: The Modern Rise and Tragic Fall of a New York Fixer Subtle, unsettling, slyly amusing, Israeli director Joseph Cedar’s first English-language film provides Richard Gere with a splendid role as a hustler forever on the make in Manhattan. (Kenneth Turan) R.
Obit A fun and informative documentary that interviews several of the New York Times’ most adept obituary practitioners, articulate individuals every one, who show and tell how they go about bringing the dead to life. (Kenneth Turan) NR.
Panique French director Julien Duvivier’s dark and compelling 1946 film is chilling to the bone, long little-seen but now widely accepted as a neglected classic. (Kenneth Turan) NR.
A Quiet Passion Cynthia Nixon gives a brilliant performance as Emily Dickinson in Terence Davies’ masterful biographical portrait of the great 19th century poet, which begins as a razor-sharp drawing-room comedy before edging almost imperceptibly toward tragedy. (Justin Chang) PG-13.
Their Finest Genial and engaging with a fine sense of humor, this story of making movies in World War II Britain stars Gemma Arterton and a marvelous Bill Nighy and makes blending the comic with the serious look simpler than it actually is. (Kenneth Turan) R.
A Woman’s Life Stéphane Brizé’s piercingly sad and wise adaptation of a novel by Guy de Maupassant stars a superb Judith Chemla as a noblewoman quietly experiencing love and loss in 19th century France. (Justin Chang) NR.
Your Name. The highest-grossing anime of all time and winner of the Los Angeles Film Critics Assn.’s animated feature prize, Makoto Shinkai’s thrillingly beautiful film juggles an out-of-body farce, a time-traveling romance and a terrifying epic of survival. (Justin Chang) PG.
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