In its textures, Raid aims for a gritty realism but the characters are painted in broad strokes. Eventually the punch is predictable but after a few stumbles, it does land.

Lady Bird combines wisdom and tenderness, humor and grace. It’s light-footed without being lightweight. And it captures, with great feeling, the turbulence of a girl growing up. I can’t recommend it enough.

What didn’t work for me was the open-ended finale. It is both unsettling and distancing and feels like a cop-out. Still this film must be seen. If only to witness the towering talent of McDormand who is almost guaranteed to pick up the Best Actress Oscar in March.

The Shape of Water is a love story set in the 1960s. The lovers are a mute cleaning lady and an amphibian man who has a muscled torso but also scales and gills. On paper, it sounds preposterous. On screen, it is poetry. Guillermo del Toro’s film is fantastical, gorgeous, nutty and so moving that I wept.

Black Panther is a landmark in terms of representation. It is the first, big-budget superhero movie to have a predominantly black cast. Coogler had a massive responsibility and he shoulders it magnificently. Black Panther speaks to the traumatic history of a continent but it also challenges every perception you might have about Africa and its people. And Coogler and co-writer Joe Robert Cole give you enough besides politics to chew on.

Phantom Thread is breathtakingly elegant. The costumes by Mark Bridges aren’t ostentatious but they are drop-dead gorgeous. I usually start noticing clothes in a movie when I’m bored but here costumes are one of the many elements to savour. As is the production design by Mark Tildesley. With extreme precision, director Paul Thomas Anderson creates a beautiful but claustrophobic world. And you are trapped in here with three individuals who are fascinating but not very likeable.

It’s also a rallying cry and an inspiration. Spielberg and writers Liz Hannah and Josh Singer who also wrote Spotlight, make an eloquent argument for a free and fair press and for courageous media company owners who are willing to speak truth to power. In the current scenario, especially in India, this seems almost as much of a fantasy as a Marvel superhero movie. Which is why The Post needs to be seen.

Pink works because the grimness of the material doesn’t weigh on the telling. This isn’t a laboured lecture on women’s rights. Pink is a powerful film that needs to be seen.

I’ ll warn you that at 2 hours and 50 minutes, Sultan is much too long. The music by Vishal and Shekhar is lilting but there are too many song breaks.
But I left the film satiated, like I had eaten too much atarich, many-flavoured feast.

Sanjay Mishra’s grief is so palpable that it gets under your skin. Even the actors with smaller roles, like Shweta Tripathi and Pankaj Tripathi, make an impression. But the real find is Vicky Kaushal. He inhabits Deepak completely. When he falls in love, his face lights up. His joy is infectious. Which is why when he weeps, you break down with him. This is the debut of the year. At one point in Masaan, a character points out that there are 28 trains that stop at Varanasi but 68 that don’t.