American Pastoral, The Handmaiden, Christine, Moonlight, Jack Reacher: Never Go Back, In a Valley of Violence

American Pastoral

The Handmaiden

Christine

Moonlight

Jack Reacher: Never Go Back

In a Valley of Violence

Quick capsules on a largely terrific week of movies:

The Gift, Ricki and the Flash, Shaun the Sheep Movie, Cop Car, Diary of a Teenage Girl, Dark Places

Ricki and the Flash

The Gift



Shaun the Sheep Movie

Cop Car



Diary of a Teenage Girl

Dark Places






Notes on a good week in film:

Fading Gigolo, Transcendence

Fading Gigolo

Transcendence

For his fifth directorial effort, "Fading Gigolo," John Turturro has given Woody Allen a substantial role, and good thing, too, because Woody and the rest of the supporting cast bring to life a movie that, despite a few grace notes, largely dies on the vine during the scenes of the main plotline.

Closed Circuit

In the opening sequence of "Closed Circuit," a bomb explodes in London, killing dozens.

Iron Man 3

Ask somebody who likes the "Iron Man" franchise what makes Iron Man a great character and I suspect he'll be at a loss for words. It's really not an especially interesting character; without the tremendous goodwill Robert Downey, Jr. brings to the table, Iron Man would be (ahem) leaden. And, as one who doesn't like the franchise, I'm here to report that Downey is again not enough. "Iron Man 3" is loud, dark, severely bloated at about two hours and twenty minutes, and not very much fun.

Lay the Favorite

Complete the following sentences with the correct form of "lie" or "lay." (Answers below.)

1.) The maid has _____ the duvet over the bed each morning for the past six years.

2.) Among them, the three hens _____ all of the eggs consumed on the farm.

3.) The couch potato _____ on the divan all afternoon watching football games.

4.) The curio has _____ on the étagѐre since Theresa brought it back from Bangalore.

5.) The vacationers had no more important plan for the morning than to _____ their blanket on the sand and _____ on it for hours.

Argo

Ben Affleck's "Argo" gets 4 stars the same way Barack Obama got the Nobel Peace Prize a few years ago: for future promise as much as for current accomplishment. To be sure, "Argo" is a terrific movie, a crowd-pleaser that seems to please every single person in the crowd. (It received an average CinemaScore grade of A+). It might well win the Oscar for, inter alia, Best Picture. But it's not perfect.