Liars and Saints

  "Se7en" is a mixed bag, but it's a movie I really like. It's structurally inventive. Someone is murdering civilians; the murders take unusual forms. An overweight man is forced to eat pasta until he dies; this is, almost literally, the punishment given to Big Anthony in the "Strega Nona" picture book. A cunning lawyer dies after having sawed off a pound of his own flesh; this act is not "gluttonous," it's not its predecessor; it's an act that is meant to represent "greed." Another man dies after having been chained to a bed for a year; his "sin" is sloth. Then the script does something surprising. Detective Morgan Freeman finds the address of the killer. He does this by conducting a kind of library search to determine which "John Doe" has been raiding libraries for books about murder and books by Dante, Chaucer, Milton. This leads Freeman close to the killer--closer than he realizes--but it also does somethin...

 "Minari" is like a Rodgers and Hammerstein comedy -- with two love stories happening concurrently. The first love story is the best; it concerns a little boy and his grandmother. The little boy gives his grandma brutal feedback; it's so brutal, it must have an element of affection. "You don't bake cookies." "Grandmas should not swear." "Grandmas should not watch wrestling." "I don't like you, and you smell bad." The boy's grandmother--a character for the ages--acts as a tireless advocate. She is eccentric, but, consistently, she has good advice. You don't throw a rock at a visible snake; it's best to have your threats remaining visible, and not ducking to hide in the bushes. You might disregard your neurotic parents; you're stronger than you think. Maybe don't dwell on your wardrobe selections before a picnic; no one cares what a little boy wears to a picnic. In the most touching sequence from this year,...

My husband and I loved Brad Pitt as Anthony Fauci this weekend. The joke is that Fauci must repress his rage and encourage us to "keep an open mind" while he himself struggles with exasperation. Donald Trump once suggested that a cure would pop up "relatively soon," and Dr. Fauci observes that "relatively" is a tricky adverb; if you tell your friend you'll arrive "relatively soon," then take a year and a half to show up, well, she might punch you in the face. Trump asserted that "a miracle will happen" -- and, patiently, Dr. Fauci acknowledges that miracles are nice. "But they shouldn't be Plan A. Even Sully tried to land at an airport--first." The thing that elevates the skit is Pitt's use of silence. (Here's why he is a star and an Oscar winner.) Confronted with a Trump clip in which it's suggested that "no one really knows what the virus is," Dr. Fauci briefly goes into a wordless tails...