For a moment, the narrative’s framing, the common cliches, and Squibb are enough to trick you into believing Johansson will land this film about grief—even though the film has nothing original to say on the topic. All she needs is one big, climactic monologue. Luckily, Ejiofor delivers a weepy, powerful one. Unfortunately, this film has three more monologues after that, with each lead becoming progressively more emotional during theirs. The result is a film that over-swings to the point of spinning into being unmemorable. [full capsule review via RogerEbert]

“Nosferatu” has big ‘gowns, beautiful gowns’ energy. I’m a total fan of how Eggers can compose a scene and an environment. But his films are so devoid of emotion, possessing a mood that can feel caught in the middle. Dafoe certainly knows how silly the material is. But does everyone else? I’m not sure and it’s why the film plays like an over abundance of style choking away a pulse (no pun intended). This absolutely needed to be gnarlier. In short, I was immediately bored.

It’s been 25 years since “Eyes Wide Shut,” and Nicole Kidman has once again let her Christmas freak flag fly.