Darkroom

Carol

Crit

OK, confession: I'm not a consistently worshipful Todd Haynes fan. And I could toss out a few quibbles, but mostly I just loved the matter-of-factness of a 1952-53 lesbian love affair in the U.S. of A. Yes, of course, there are crappy repercussions--Cate Blanchett's title character is in critical danger of losing the daughter whom she cares about more than the film does--but mostly it's just a love story like any love story, except with much better-looking people (and if you can imagine such a thing, I mostly found Rooney Mara's face more riveting than Blanchett's).

OK, one quibble: for the most part the men in the film reminded me of when the Cro-Magnon sportswriter asked Martina Navratilova, "Are you still a lesbian" and she parried, "Are you still the alternative."

OK, one other quibble: I was thrilled to see the name of my second-favorite lesbian rocker in the opening credits, but most of what she did must have ended up on the cutting-room floor, because she shows up almost at the end for what must be < 2 minutes and for 3 lines. But having brought her up, let me take this opportunity to say that Sleater-Kinney's No Cities to Love is, by a wide margin, my favorite album of 2015. Click that link and download it, and thank me later.

But back to the film: good film. Good Christmas film.

Trailers

• Jane Got a Gun--Looks like it wants to estrogenize Tarantino.
• Miracles from Heaven--From the producer of Heaven Is for Real; people in the theater laughed.
• The Lady in the Van--Dame Maggie--this looks very much like one I'll see because of my New Year's resolution (stay tuned).
• Eye in the Sky--Does the presence of Helen Mirren satisfy the parameters of the NYR?