Far From Heaven

How I missed this movie, I don't know. Very good. Tight storytelling. Emotional. Impressive in the restraint by the filmmaker and actors.

Patricia Clarkson was standout - both the performance and character. Damn.

Going back to an old theory of mine - the idea that there is such a thing as an "objectively" good movie. It isn't merely "taste" or popularity that determines whether a movie is good or not. There is some objective criteria. There is such a thing as good acting and bad acting, good writing and bad writing, good transitions, good framing, good choices of music, etc.

Ultimately, however, what makes a good movie is whether the story is well told. There are lots of good stories, lots of good/solid performance, good shot choices, etc. However, if you're looking for a single criteria to distinguish a good film from a bad film or even a mediocre film...it has to do with HOW the story is told.

On a side note, over the 4th of July weekend I watched two movies: Mongol and Starship Troopers. Mongol is a somewhat new movie made out of Russia about Genghis Khan. Starship Troopers - this was probably the 4th time I've seen the film. What stood out between the two movies - transitions. Mongol was full of clumsy transitions - both from a filmmaking and storytelling standpoint. At one point Genghis Khan escapes from prison and next he has an entire mongol army following him. How the hell did that happen? There were many others, but that was the most egregious example. In contrast, Starship Troopers, with all it's camp and "bad" 50s movie feel, has incredibly adept transitions between scenes and story beats - reflective of a sure handed filmmaker like Verhoeven.