Captain Fantastic

Deep in the forests of the Pacific Northwest, isolated from society, a devoted father dedicates his life to transforming his six young children into extraordinary adults.  But when tragedy strikes the family, they are forced to leave their self-created paradise and begin a journey into the outside world that challenges his idea of what it means to be a parent and brings into question everything he's taught the children.  Not a comedy but there are some humorous moments.  I give it a seven.  Stars Viggo Mortensen.

The Innocents

Upon the conclusion of the second World War, a nurse, Mathilde is treating the last  of the French survivors of the German camps in Warsaw, Poland when a panicked Benedictine nun appears at the clinic, begging Mathilde to follow her back to the convent.  What she finds there is shocking:  a holy sister about to give birth and  a several more in advanced stages of pregnancy.  Mathilde enters the sisters' fiercely private world, dictated by the rituals of their order and the strict Reverend Mother.  Fearing the shame of exposure, the hostility of the new anti-Catholic Communist government, and facing an unprecedented crisis of faith, the nuns increasingly turn to Mathilde as their belief and traditions clash with harsh realities.  Based on a true story, not for the faint of heart.  The crimes of war that involve civilians are laid out in graphic detail.  The movie is well done.  I give it an 8.  Stars Agata  Kuleszo.

Free State Of Jones

This epic action-drama is set during the Civil War.  It follows a defiant Southern farmer Newt Knight and his extraordinary armed rebellion against the Confederacy.  Banding together with small farmers and local slaves, Knight launched an uprising that led Jones County, Mississippi to secede from the Confederacy, creating a Free State of Jones.  Knight continued his struggle into Reconstruction, distinguishing him as a compelling, if controversial, figure of defiance long beyond the War.  The movie can be slow at times but good.  We too often forget about this part of history.  I give it an eight.  Stars Matthew McConaughey and Gary Ross.