10. A Fantastic Woman. This fantastic film about a transgender woman navigating the aftermath of her boyfriend’s death impressed me by resisting melodrama and club-you-over-the-head agenda messaging, instead trusting the power of its story. Transgender actress, Daniela Vega, delivers an understated but powerful lead performance. 9. Thoroughbreds. Evil plans are put in motion when an unlikely friendship, between a psychopath ... Read More »

Spoiler Scale (How spoilery is this article on a scale of 1 to 10?):  8 We Americans, inextricably wedded to our Puritanical roots, have always had a difficult relationship with sex in the media, and particularly, popular film.  (See, e.g., Annabelle Timsit, “The vast gap between how the US and Europe think about teens and sex,” qz.com (7/26/2018).)   We talk ... Read More »