A Year in Movies

Baz Luhrmann’s 'The Great Gatsby' proves to be a triumph of both faithfulness and daring. It conveys some of the novel’s glories and possesses virtues all its own.

John Ponsoldt avoids triteness and makes you care; Cate Blanchett's operatic and annihilating performance makes Woody Allen's newest film a keeper.

In this film slavery creates a hell in which everyone burns—blacks and whites, men and women, victims and victimizers, the well-intentioned and the malevolent.