Pick a point

The Master

Crit

Please don't ask me whether I like this, at least not until I've seen it 4 or 5 more times. I know I like the PTA audacity of it, and all the lead performances--Joaquin Phoenix as a loony alcoholic World War II vet, Philip Seymour Hoffman as the equally loony religiophilosophical guru into whose thrall he falls (a thralldom that may be mutual), and Amy Adams as the pointedly sober and nonloony Lady Macbeth behind the guru.

And I know I like the film better than the trailer, which conceals virtually all the humor of the film, especially Hoffman's remarkable comic work. In fact, for all the high seriousness of the film, it can be seen as a romantic comedy, with Phoenix and Hoffman as the leads.

Trailers

• Killing Them Softly--Remember this plot from The Sopranos: dumb crooks rip of big-stakes mob poker game. Seems pretty clear that's never a good idea.
• Cloud Atlas--It may be spectacularly good, it may be spectacularly bad, but it's clearly going to be spectacular. My most anticipated film of the fall, based on what may be my favorite novel of the millennium so far.