Paul McGuire Grimes, creator of Paul’s Trip to the Movies, sat down with the case of “Lee” and gives us his review on it, plus two other movies.

LEE (in theaters)

Kate Winslet has proved time and time again that she is a force on screen. Only she could have portrayed war correspondent Lee Miller, and she’s spent years bringing her story to life in the new movie, Lee. Lee Miller was a pioneer in her field being one of the first female war photographers in a very male dominated field. The film is structured around an interview she’s giving in her apartment to a journalist played by Josh O’Connor. It’s here where she’s recounting significant moments of her life going back to being a model and muse in 1938, meeting her future husband and how she felt a calling to be on the front lines during World War II. She doesn’t want to hide or lay low. While she’s perfectly content working alone, she finds it hard to get access due to the fact she’s a woman. She gets hired by Vogue to cover the war and works alongside fellow photographer, David Scherman, to document the atrocities of the war.

-Starring: Kate Winslet, Andy Samberg, Alexander Skarsgard, Marion Cotillard and Andrea Riseborough.

-Kate Winslet has brought on a female-led creative team with screenwriters Liz Hannah and Marion Hume and director Ellen Kuras.

-Winslet and her writers make the wise choice to cover roughly ten years in Lee Miller’s life at the critical time of her documenting the war. The structure of her being interviewed does along time to cover her younger years, but it’s brief without having that general biopic wash over her life.

-There’s a not-so-subtle reminder here that history can repeat itself. We hear characters in disbelief that people are falling for Hitler and his tyranny. She was used to a simple life until the war changed everything.

-As the film progresses, Winslet and director Ellen Kuras really demonstrate the drive within Lee that carries to film. This is primarily Lee’s story and is a compelling character profile of her.

-Kate Winslet has a passion for telling Lee’s story, and you can feel it on screen through her production. Ellen Kuras’ work as a cinematographer gives her a leg up on directing and knowing how to tell this story by channeling Lee’s work as a photographer. This an urgency here at reminding the audience of the ambitious and determination she had to stand out and be the best.

RATING: 4 out of 5 TICKET STUBS

THE SUBSTANCE (in theaters)

Demi Moore has never been better than in her new film The Substance. Demi Moore stars as fading Hollywood starlet Elisabeth Sparkle. She has a star on the Walk of Fame, but it’s now cracked, stepped on, and walked over as if no one remembers her. She has a hit series of work out videos but that has taken a toll on her ego. She’s basically told by a studio executive Harvey that she’s now washed up at the age of fifty. She’s at a breaking point when a young doctor hints there may be a solution for her. There is a concoction and anecdote called The Substance. It comes delivered at a secret location with very specific instructions. Elisabeth takes it in a desperate attempt to look young again. What happens next is one of great horror when she collapses, her body cracks open, and the younger version of herself steps out. She’s now played by Margaret Qualley who takes on the name Sue.

–The Substance could be described as a new body horror experience and certainly one that I’ve never seen with this angle.

-It’s written and directed by up-and-coming auteur Coralie Fargeat. She has a very distinct and daring point of view that challenges the audience and her actors every step of the way.

-She, along with her production team and cinematographer Benjamin Kracun, have made this a very sensual movie as they’re engaging in all of our senses to amp up the heightened reality of what’s at stake. Kracun uses extreme close-ups from the supposed imperfections of Elisabeth’s body to food and other beauty standards she is tormented by.

-Demi Moore is compelling from the very beginning. The first half of the film relies on her to carry it with little dialogue around her. She lays it all out there with strong vulnerability to showcase the depths of what Elisabeth goes through. You’re reminded of the power and screen presence Demi Moore has as an actress.

-Margaret Qualley is quite stunning as Elisabeth’s younger counterpart, Sue. Qualley carries herself like Barbie’s bestie Skipper. Ready to be noticed and be the rising star she knows she is. Both actresses did an admirable job at crafting two sides of the same character.

–The Substance is not an easy watch. It reminded me of the watching Darren Aronofsky’s Requiem for a Dream or Black Swan where they’re visually stunning and disturbing.

-Writer/director Coralie Fargeat dares to go there with her film. It’s hard to accurately convey the full picture of what to expect with The Substance as it will be a unique and singular experience for each moviegoer.  It speaks on the desperate measures some people take to feel and look younger as if that magically makes life better.

RATING: 4.5 out of 5 TICKET STUBS

MEGALOPOLIS (in theaters)

Francis Ford Coppola’s new film, Megalopolis, is a passion project decades in the making. He labels this film as a fable. It’s a cautionary tale as told through the lens of the fall of the Roman Empire. He sets this in the 21st Century, third millennium in New Rome, which is clearly what we think of New York City today. Adam Driver leads this large ensemble as Cesar Catalina. He’s a Nobel-prize winning inventor whose latest project involves rebuilding the city for a sustainable and environmentally friendly for future generations. His rival is current Mayor Franklyn Cicero who has his own ideas for the future of New Rome. They represent the very real notion of two people who want to run the city and have two vastly different visuals for how to achieve that. Cesar is obsessive, compulsive, and won’t stop of making his dreams come true. Cicero’s daughter, Julia, becomes infatuated with Cesar going so far as to marrying him and going against her father’s wishes. It sounds messy enough and then Cesar’s cousin, Clodio, enters the picture as something of an influencer and disruptor, ready to shake things up, blackmail Cesar, and start his own revolution.

-Starring: Adam Driver, Giancarlo Esposito, Shia LaBeouf, Nathalie Emmanuel, Aubrey Plaza, Jon Voight, Jason Schwartzman, and Kathryn Hunter.

– There’s an urgency at stake as you can feel Coppola throwing everything into this film knowing it could be the last film he makes. This is truly an experience like none other in its execution.

-Trying to make sense of it in a practical way may make your head spin on the first viewing.

-This is a fable, so the characters are larger than life symbols of society archetypes. It’s a hodge podge of everything thrown at the screen from mixed media, animation, split screen, special effects and more.

-Adam Driver is a strong presence throughout commanding Cesar’s drive for what he thinks best. He also comes with his own checkered past. Giancarlo Esposito is always great as the antagonist, but he never veers into maniacal or cartoony.

-Throughout all of this Coppola wants his audience to ponder about the future and what’s at stake, and he states things like “Time is a funny thing to understand” “Do we just accept endless conflict?” Those are just two of many questions asked and debated.

-The moviegoer will have to decide if it’s all too pretentious, if any of it works, and if they willing to go along for the ride.

RATING: 3 out of 5 TICKET STUBS