Jackie

Natalie Portman is an amazing actress and tackling on a role of one of the most iconic figures in American history certainly further cements that.  Jackie is a uniquely written and directed film about First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy.  It's shown in a series of flashbacks from an interview in the aftermath of her husband's assassination.  The flashback segments include her time in the White House, the events of the assassination, and the aftermath; which are amazing in showcasing the many sides of her persona within that high stakes bubble. There is a very unique soundtrack that captures the tone of those moments really well and aids in these transitional segments.  Because of that, the performances, the creative cinematography, and directing, Jackie has a poetical almost art house feel to it that lends itself well in discovering this character.

Detroit

Kathryn Bigelow directs Detroit, concerning the events of the Algiers Motel that punctuated the 1967 riots in Detroit.  It's an ambitious undertaking on the 50th anniversary of one of the most tragic events in U.S. history.  Bigelow and the talented cast of John Boyega, Will Poulter, and Anthony Mackie turn it into a very intense and watchable hard-boiled drama, carefully crafted with well placed documentary footage.  As a native Detroiter and hearing in some fashion about the 67 riots all my life, I was happy to have a movie made about events.  However, the significance of those events is hard to encompass in just one film, but the parallels to our recent history in dealing with police brutality and killings, racial profiling, and the militarization of the police should not be lost on anyone.

Three

Johnnie To films are certainly interesting and edgy.  I haven't been keeping up with his films in years. Three is a twisty, ensemble driven, crime thriller starring Loui Koo and Wallace Chung.  It might just be a bit too twisty I say with a certain curve for subtitled films, but I applaud the primary one set piece infused with a dialogue driven cat and mouse plot.

Founder

Watched this story of McDonald's franchise founder on Netflix.  Michael Keaton is a really engaging actor and this is certainly an interesting story about the guy who propelled the fast food giant to it's current status in the world.  It's also a slightly dark, cautionary tale trying to straddle both sides of the endeavors morale in doing so. In trying to maintain that equilibrium Founder suffers going deep enough into the story, but is more than a worthwhile watch with a very talented cast.