Movies Update: 'Ford v Ferrari' and More

Plus, Tom Hanks is just as nice as you think he is.

View in browser|nytimes.com Continue reading the main story November 15, 2019

By Kyle Buchanan

Hey, movie fans!

Please forgive a somewhat more truncated intro than I usually give you, as I woke up this morning to a pinched nerve that has me in some mighty brutal pain. My current state is so dire that the only movie-related thing that makes sense to me is the trailer for “Cats.” (Don’t worry, I’ll be tracking the situation: If this pain intensifies, or I continue to remain on the same worrisome frequency as those phantasmagorical CG felines, a doctor will be called.)

This week’s big releases include Matt Damon and Christian Bale in the car-racing drama “Ford v Ferrari,” Helen Mirren v Ian McKellen in the con-artist tale “The Good Liar,” and Kristen Stewart leading the squad in the newest take on “Charlie’s Angels.” In more limited release, you’ll find Adam Driver in the fact-based drama “The Report” (although there are moments the movie doesn’t mention), A24’s tumultuous family drama “Waves,” and two Netflix titles that were hits at the Cannes Film Festival this past summer, “I Lost My Body” and “Atlantics.”

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Merrick Morton/20th Century Fox   Critic’s Pick ‘Ford v Ferrari’ Review: It’s a Gas Matt Damon and Christian Bale star in James Mangold’s look back at the golden age of auto racing. By A.O. Scott Daniel Dorsa for The New York Times   This Tom Hanks Story Will Help You Feel Less Bad Hanks is playing Mister Rogers in a new movie and is just as nice as you think he is. Please read this article anyway. By Taffy Brodesser-Akner

MOVIE REVIEWS ‘Charlie’s Angels’ Review: Um, You Go, Girls? In this franchise reboot, the writer-director Elizabeth Banks tries to sell stale goods with a sheen of empowerment. by manohla dargis ‘The Good Liar’ Review: For Helen Mirren and Ian McKellen, the Truth Hurts This thriller doesn’t need a spoiler warning. It spoils itself. by ben kenigsberg critic’s pick ‘Waves’ Review: The Shattering Ebb and Flow of Family Life The writer-director Trey Edward Shults tells the story of a family held together by love and nearly undone by tragedy. by manohla dargis critic’s pick ‘Atlantics’ Review: Haunted by Ghosts and Injustice in Senegal Mati Diop’s Cannes prize winner is a potent mix of genres and moods. by a.o. scott ‘The Report’ Review: Inconvenient Truths Adam Driver’s gracefully intelligent performance as an investigator never quite zaps this dramatically frozen procedural to life. by jeannette catsoulis ‘I Lost My Body’ Review: The Quest of a Severed Hand There is no shortage of imagination in this animated feature. In fact, there may be more than you can stomach. by teo bugbee ‘Scandalous’ Review: Riches From a Supermarket Rag A documentary on the National Enquirer pays tribute to a halcyon era of dirt digging. by ben kenigsberg ‘Ernie & Joe: Crisis Cops’ Review: Keeping Calm Is Their Secret Weapon Jenifer McShane’s documentary introduces an empathetic method for policing. by kristen yoonsoo kim

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ANATOMY OF A SCENE Merrick Morton/20th Century Fox   Anatomy Of A Scene Watch Christian Bale Burn Rubber in ‘Ford v Ferrari’ The director James Mangold narrates a Le Mans racing scene featuring Bale and Matt Damon. By Mekado Murphy

NEWS & FEATURES     The Carpetbagger The Best-Picture Race Has Begun. Could One of These Films Win? From “Parasite” to “Joker,” and Scorsese to Tarantino, we’ve sized up the current field, and it’s a wide-open race. By Kyle Buchanan Atsushi Nishijima/Amazon Studios   ‘The Report’ and the Untold Story of a Senate-C.I.A. Conflict The Adam Driver film dramatizes a contentious investigation into post-911 torture. But it leaves out a tense episode that could have buried the results altogether. By Mark Mazzetti and Scott Shane Merrick Morton/20th Century Fox   In ‘Ford v Ferrari,’ a Race With Plenty of Real-Life Characters The Matt Damon-Christian Bale movie is based on the still-controversial 24 Hours of Le Mans run in France in 1966. By Bruce Fretts Paul Drinkwater/NBC, via Associated Press   THE CARPETBAGGER Ricky Gervais Will Return to Host (and Roast) the Golden Globes The British comedian, notorious for his awards-show mockery, will serve as M.C. of the show for a fifth and, he says, final time. By Kyle Buchanan

STREAMING The 50 Best Things to Watch on Disney Plus Right Now The new streaming platform has hundreds of movie and TV titles from Disney, Star Wars, Marvel and more. These are our favorites. by scott tobias the streaming revolution Will Streaming Kill the Art of Cinema or Grant It New Life? A co-chief film critic of The New York Times debates himself on the subject. by a.o. scott streaming movie review ‘Lady and the Tramp’ Review: Seconds of Spaghetti and Furballs Disney’s latest live-action remake is sweet and tastefully rendered, but it lacks the liveliness of the animated original. by elisabeth vincentelli Eddie Murphy Will Star in ‘Beverly Hills Cop 4’ for Netflix The comedy sequel is part of a continuing deal between the streaming giant and Paramount, a studio without a streaming service of its own. by nicole sperling Not Streaming: ‘Song of the South’ and Other Films Stay in the Past The streaming boom will not include problematic films from decades ago, like Disney’s 1946 musical. by brooks barnes

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CRITICS’ PICKS Grasshopper Film   Critic’s Pick ‘The Hottest August’ Review: Ordinary New Yorkers Facing Extreme Heat The director draws on texts from Zadie Smith, Annie Dillard and Karl Marx for narration, but ospreys and a solar eclipse take more of a center stage. By Glenn Kenny Zeitgeist Films   Critic’s Pick ‘Recorder: The Marion Stokes Project’ Review: A VCR Obsession Matt Wolf’s documentary shows how one woman captured history by recording television news. The results are compelling. By Glenn Kenny

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