The Quiet Critic

★★★ What you can see will never be as scary as what you cannot. The Invisible Man  goes all-in on this aspect of human nature as it tells the story of a woman haunted by an abusive relationship. The film works well as both a commentary about gaslighting and a plain scary thriller.

★★★★ Who's this for? People who love courtroom dramas, The West Wing and other Sorkin works, or well-written dialogue.

I remember my first personal Best Picture—the 2002 classic,  Star Wars: Episode II—Attack of the Clones . Now, in my defense, I was six years old, but man, that last lightsaber duel between Yoda and Count Dooku was the coolest thing I had ever seen! Really, if you ignore the nonsensical plot and the painful dialogue and the wooden acting and the poorly aged CGI, it's almost watchable. My taste in film has matured since then—though I will still defend Clones  as the eighth-best film in the Skywalker saga. This past year, for the first time, I managed to watch all the films nominated for Best Picture at the Academy Awards. From the May release of Once Upon a Time in Hollywood  to finally finding a theater in the Salt Lake City area that was still screening Parasite  in January, I can say that I thoroughly enjoyed each and every nominee. I cannot say the same thing about past Oscars (I'm looking at you, A Star is Born !). I can also definitively say t...