The darkest hour

Oscar-bound movie with a primitive plot. Gary Oldman is brilliant and totally believable in imitating Churchill's physicality but that's about it. Kennedy once quipped: "What is private is policy. What is public is propaganda." The movie substitutes Churchill's patriotic speeches and corny flag-waving scenes, probably invented, for his political maneuvers and shenanigans. His refusal to negotiate with Adolf is cursorily explained in the movie "you don't negotiate with a lion having your head in his mouth" but this line is never bolstered by cinematic means.

In fact, Churchill was not a naive fulminating every time his German counterpart was mentioned but a very practical politician who lived through German trashing of Munich agreements (which he supported), attacking Poland and kidnapping British intelligence personnel from then neutral Holland (Venlo Incident), which could have impressed him more than the two previous episodes. Nor was he a passionate anti-Nazi--after the WWII he contributed to the legal defense of Nazi war criminals in British custody.  He simply understood that if Adolf disregarded all previous agreements and understandings--probably a generic feature of German diplomacy from Friedrich II to Merkel--he will not stop now with victory seemingly in his grasp.

The Shape of Water by Guillermo del Toro

Good. Sally Hawkins is magnificent and the cast (Spencer, Shannon, Stuhlbarg, etc.) is very good but Guillermo del Toro becomes lazy. Could not he find people with genuine Russian pronunciation in New York City? Michael Stuhlbarg's character could be given another bio as, e.g. an Austrian communist to explain his accent. Soviet spies meet with their agent at an abandoned construction site, yet inexplicably come to his apartment in full view of the minders. Michael Shannon, a supposed top intelligence professional shoots an important agent instead of arresting and presenting him to the superiors. Less dramatic but more in-style conclusion would be if Michael Shannon presented a top Soviet agent to the general and was subsequently buried as hero among the accolades, while Hawkins and Doug Jones unite in a passionate embrace under the waves. These are, of course, details but details distinguish a good movie from great.

All the money in the world

Solid, well organized movie. Christopher Plummer as an inscrutable psychopath J. Paul Getty is magnificent. Michelle Williams' understated performance as suffering but steely mother is also good. The cinematic organization is traditional.