'Darkest Hour'

Well, I kept my promise and bumped out for a bit to take in "The Darkest Hour." I'm delightfully pleased. It's far from the greatest or near greatest war (or war-ish) film, but next to Daniel Day Lewis in "Lincoln," it's the best biographical portrait of a democratic leader ever.

I read a half dozen reviews right now, and you can check Google yourself if you wish. Here's the New York Times' rather harsh take, "Review: ‘Darkest Hour,’ or the Great Man Theory of History (and Acting)," and Kenneth Turan's, at the Los Angeles Times, "Gary Oldman's bulldog performance as Winston Churchill lifts Joe Wright's overwrought directing in 'Darkest Hour'."

I definitely recommend it. Indeed, a day of great movie-watching would be to watch this one right after "Dunkirk." I love the populist moral clarity here, which is what A.O. Scott at NYT attacks. Indeed, I mostly go to the flicks for exactly this heroic patriotic fare.