judy: good evening. i'm judy woodruff. on the newshour tonight -- >> your money is not charity, it is an investmenin the global security and democracy that we handle in the most responsible way. judy: a call for arms. ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy makes an impassioned case to congress amid another round of military assistance to aid the war effort. then the final report. the january 6 committee prepares to release its assessment of the capitol attack. we speak with a key member about the recommendation of charges against former president trump. and trump's taxes. a congressional committee begins to release t contents of the former president's tax returns.

all that and more on tonight's "pbs newshour." ♪ >> major funng for the pbs newshour has been provided by -- ♪ moving our economy for 160 ye ars. bnsf, the engine that connects us. >> pediatric surgeon. volunteer. topiary artist. a raymondjames financial advisor tailors advice to help you live

your life. life well planned. >> the walton family foundation. working for solutions to protect water during climate change so people and nature can thrive together. supported by the john d. and catherine t. macarthur foundation. more information at macfound.org . and with the ongoing support of these institutions. this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. judy: president volodymyr zelenzkyy of ukraine is in

washington this evening, a surprise visit to his nation's most important partner in its fight against russia. he met with president biden this afternoon and addressed a joint meeting of congress earlier this evening. the late plan pre-christmas visit comes as congress is set to pass a major funding increase for ukrae, and the administration sends more weapons to ukraine in a visit the world is watching, ukraine's president volodymyr zelenskyy traveled outside the borders of his battered country for his first known trip abroad since russia invaded in february. his decision to come to washingt on day 301 othe war reinforces the partnership between the u.s. and ukraine that zelenskyy sees as critical. on twitter he said he would meet with president biden to "strengthen resilience and defense capabilities of ukraine."

he took that same message tuesday the ukrainian troops in the city of bakhmut, the sight of pitched and brutal fighting in the east. >> it is a complicated situation. the enemy increases the number of its troops. we will pass on gratitude from our boys to the u.s. congress and president for their support, but it is not enough. judy: ukrainians reacted to news of zelenskyy's visit, trusting their leader will secure what the country needs. >> we hope for support as the united states is one of our remaining partners. i think no one in the u.s. can remain carelessnd support can only grow. judy: russia has hammered ukraine with missiles and one strikes in recent weeks, as moscow shifted its strategy to inflict even more pain on ukraine's people, repeatedly taking down the electrical grid amid freezg winter cold. but more air defense is on its

way. the u.s. announced today that it would provide an additional $1.8 billion in medical aid -- in military aid to ukraine with for thfirst time precision guided bombs for fighter jets. with those, the u.s. aims to help ukraine bolster both its air defense and attack capabilities. meanwhile, russia sent a stark warning against further american military aid to ukraine. >> weapons supplies ctinue. the assortment of supplied weapons is expanding. all this leads to an aggravation of the conflict and does not bode well for ukraine. judy: in a speech to top military leaders, russia's president putin vowed to continue the war no matter what. >> of course combat and military actions always bring tragedy and human losses, but since it is

inevitable it is better that it happens today than tomorrow. i have no doubt that all the goals we set ourselves will be achieved. judy: back at the white house, zelenskyy thanked the u.s. for support and presented president biden with a medal worn by a ukrainian officer, given at the officer's request. in his address tonight before that joint meeting of congress, president zelenskyy said his country was grateful for all the aid the u.s. was providing and was inspired by america. >> speaker, the president of ukraine. [applause] pres. zelenskyy: thank you so

much. ukraine gained this victory and it gives us courage which inspires the entire world. americans gained this victory. that is why you have succeeded in uniting the global community to protect freedom and international law. europeans gained this victory. that is why europe is now stronger and more independent than eve the russian tyranny has lost control over us. [applause] and it will never influence our minds again, yet we have to do whatever it takes to ensure that the global south also gains such victory.

i know one more very important thing, the russians will stand a chce to be free only way they defeat the kremlin in their minds. [applause] yet, the battle continues and we have to defeat the kremlin on the battlefield, yes. this battle is not only for the territory, for this and other parts of europe. the battle is not only for life, freedom and security of ukrainians or any other nation which russia attempts to conquer, this struggle will define in what world our children and grandchildren will live, and then their children and grandchildren. it will define whether it will be a democracy of ukrainians and for americans for all. from the united states to china,

from europe to latin america, and from africa to australia, the world is too interconnected and interdependent to allow someone to stay aside and at the same time to feel safe when such a battle continues. our two nations are allies in this battle. and next year will be a turning point, i know it, the point when ukrainian courage and american resolve must aaron t the future of our common freedom -- must guarantee the future of our common freedom. the russians tactic is primitive. they burn down and destroy everything they see. they send thugs the frontlines, they send convex to the -- convicts to the war.

they threw everything against us, similar to the other tear any which is in the battle of -- other tear any which is in the battle of the bulge. just like the brave american soldiers which held their lines and fought back hitler's forces during the christmas of 1944. brave ukrainian soldiers are doing this same to putin's forces this christmas. [applause] ukraine holds its lines and will never surrender. we have artillery, yes. thank you. we have it. is it enough? honestly, not really. in this genocidal policy, iran, iranian deadly drums sent to russia -- drones sent to russia

in hundreds became a threat to our critical infrastructure. that is how one terrorist has found the other. it is just a matter of time when they will strike against your other allies. thank you for both financial packages you have already provided us with and the ones you may willing to decide on. your money is not charity. it's an investment in the global security and democracy that we handle in the most responsible way. [applause] russia could stop its aggression, really, if it wanted to, but you can speed up our victory. let this flag stay with you, ladies and gentlemen. this flag is a symbol of our

victory i this war. we stand, we fight, and we will win because we are united. ukraine, america, and the entire free world. [applause] [cheers and applause] pres. zelenskyy: just one thing, if i can, the last thing. thank you so much. my g protectod -- may god protect our citizens. may god bless the united states

and happy victoria's new year. -- victorious new year. judy: that was the ukrainian president zelenskyy's remarks today. i'm now joined by the newshour's geoff bennett who was in the house chamber during the speech. i don't think i have seen the chamber filled with members of the house and the senate united in the way they seemed to be tonight in a long time. geoff: that is a good point that you make, judy. president zelenskyy in the open to that piece was graded by a resident minutes long standing ovation of respectful and resounding standing ovation. there were couple lawmakers who unfurled a ukrainian flag. on the republican side of the room there were two lawmakers, matt gaetz and lauren boebert, who stood but did not applaud. for the duration of his speech,

the two sat motionless. earlier today what we saw from marjorie taylor greene, she fired off a tweet where she derisively referred to president zelenskyy as a shadow president who in effect was coming to congress to beg for additional money which she called the 51st state, ukraine. the reason why i raised the behavior from those three-members of congress, those are the lawmakers and that is the type of sentiment that will have an outsized influence in the next republican congress. white house officials know they will face increased republican scrutiny when it comes to keeping the spigot of humanitarian aid open. it is why they have tucked into the spending bill an additional $45 billion of aid to ukraine. interestingly, house republican leader mccarthy, in many ways the house speaker in waiting if he's able to cobble together enough votes, he said he will

not support what he calls a blank check for ukraine. he said that going into this speech and that is what he told reporters on his way out of the house chamber. in the senate it is a slightly different story. mitch mcconnell said that in many ways he saw zelenskyy as a leader that we can "all look up to." you have a senator like republican tommy tuberville, who has questioned why ukraine needs $45 billion. he posited, why does any country need all that money at once? you heard from president zelenskyy, a detail reason why ukraine needs just not financial aid, but weaponry and artillery. lindsey graham has said there is no domestic issue that is improved by russia winning in ukraine. you get a sense in the house chamber and the upper chamber in

the senate, this differing perspective about the need to continue assisting ukraine. the white house has been very clear that they view this as a battle of autocracies and democracies. president biden said time and again this is the chief battle of the 21st century and if the russian threat goes unaddressed, that just props up other totalitarian states like russia, iran, like china. judy: you are talking to folks at the white house overtime. how worried are they about being able to continue the repeated asks for aid f ukraine, which is a big part of the reason that president zelenskyy was here? geoff: it is a real concern. in the next conference house republicans will have a nine vote margin. that is a slim margin by way kevin mccarthy will have to

govern if he is speaker. it is why this speech was timed for the current moment. i can give you more background on that. december 11 was when the call between president biden and zelenskyy initially happened and that over the weekend there came a confirmation to make sure that this beach went forward without any issues. the speec the meeting between president biden and zelenskyy in the ovalffice, all of that was a carefully choreographed message not just to the american people, but to lawmakers in coress about why it is an urgent imperative to make sure the u.s. standby ukraine until the end. judy: it is the case that often these events seem like they are somewhat spontaneous in the spirit of the season and so forth, but it's pretty clear there was very much a plan behind this and the timing was critical in terms of congress

having this vote in the days to calm on keeping the government-funded and on this important defense expenditure. geoff bennett joining us from the capital. he was in the house chamber tonight when president zelenskyy addressed that joint meeting. thank you so much. now to explore the impact and significance of president zelenskyy's visit to washington and speech, we have with us retired lieutenant general douglas lute he had a 35-year career in the army, served on the national security council staff during e george w. bush and obama administrations. and stephen sestanovich is a professor at columbia university and senior fellow at the council of foreign relations. he was ambassador-at-large for the former soviet union during the clinton administration. gentlemen,elcome back to the newshour. sum up what you see as the impact of president zelenskyy's visit and speech tonight. stephen: it was terrific

theater. everyone will remember that speech. there was a substantive message here that is relevant to policy choices that the administration and congas will ha to make. zelenskyy's message is ware in this together. victory is possible. i think victory is the most frequently used word in his speech. but i think there is also real fear that this would drag on without more help. victory is possible but not inevitable. he had a message for both the administration and congress in the way with -- the way which he described the responsible use the ukrainians will make of the aid they get. that is a message for congress. thiss a way out for kevin mccarthy, that they are prepared

to use it responsibly, audits are possible and so forth. he also wants to reassure the administration that there will not be reckless use of enhanced these -- enhanced capabilities. the patriots today were a nice gesture, a little christmas present, but they have a wish list that goes significantly beyond that if they hold off what they see as a coming russian counteroffensive. judy: that message from president zelenskyy came through loud and clear, we have been responsible in the way we handled your support. doug lute, in hearing what president zelenskyy said tonight , did you hear an argument that will change any minds, the skeptical minds geoff bennett was just describing, especially

in the house? it is pretty clearhe senate is more on board for some work for ukraine, democrats and republicans. but in the house did you hear something zelenskyy said that might shift some thinking? doug: i don't think so. the outliers who might oppose additional assistance to ukraine will oppose it for their own reasons. i don't think he will persuade them. i found his presentation authentic, genuine, racial. -- genuine, inspirational. if anything, it cemented support across the majority of congress to continue u.s. assistance. there is a bigger thing he alluded to as well. he seems to be suggesting that this war is a strategic inflection point that does not come every day.

i would mark 9/11 as such an inflection point, and may before that the breakup of the soviet union. he was posing this in big terms, as a struggle between autocracy and those who agree to international rules of the road, similar to the impact of the breakup of the sovt union. judy: we did hear him refer several times to the fact that this was part of the larger struggle for democracy, the biggest reason he was argument why the u.s. should continue its support for this war. hanging over this is how much your has been willing -- europe has been willing to do fred's neighbor. -- do for its neighbor. to juke come out with a sense of

how zelenskyy sees europe? he was saying the united states is our closest ally here. where does that leave europe? stephen: he is getting aot of financial support from europe and more weapons support than people often acknowledge. the assistance he gets from europe is often tied to the assistance that he gets from the u.s. for example, he wants the u.s. to authorize a small number of tanks, not so much because he thinks those are important by themselves, but it can free up the transfer of tanks from european countries. he has been making a big page two european countries that they need -- pitch to european countries that they need tanks for the war. european countries have said

they will wait to see what the united states' policy will be. biden's message to zelenskyy was clear, we have never been so united. zelenskyy is saying, okay, work on the europeans to give us more help. judy: doug lute, we have been talking about what weapons systems the u.s. and others have been giving ukraine. how long will what they have now last them? months? weeks? they are already asking for more. he said, yes, thank you, but we need more. are we talking about a cycle of every couple months ukraine will be coming to the u.s. with an outstretched hand? stephen: that is exactly what we are talking about. my view is we are closer to the beginning ofhis war than the end. we are not even at halftime yet. that involves sustaining support

for the systems whave already given ukraine, so artillery systems, precision rocket systems, air defense systems and so forth. sustaining the ammunition for those, but in some cases the laundry cells require support. these things where out under the enormous -- wear out under the enormous firing process. beyond that, zelenskyy hinted at capabilities he needs to sort of refurbish his offensive forces for the spring. this is where tanks have become the password for this offensive capabilities. it is armored engineers, armored personal carriers. it is the training of ukrainian units that putting these pieces of the battlefield together in a coherent way. it's a big slice for the u.s. it does extend beyond what we

have so far given that. judy: this is complicated because he did spend time tonight on those iranian manufactured drones, which are difficult for the ukrainians to defend against, yet they are making life more miserable for the ukrainian people. stephen: zelenskyy's formula was the two terrorist states have come together, russia and iran, trying to fuse hostility with one with hostility to the other. in congress there is certainly no sentiment in favor of iran. he's saying if you don't stop the iranians hoping the russians, those drones will be used to attack american allies. go ahead. judy: we are going to have to wrap it up, but we so appreciate the two of you staying with us throughout this evening to anticipate the remarks from president zelenskyy and to

analyze it for our audience. steve sestanovich, doug lute, thank you very much. ♪ in the day's other news, as president zelenskyy arrived, the u.s. senate confirmed lynn tracy as the new american ambassador to russia. she sailed through on a 93-2 vote in a signal of u.s. solidarity with ukraine. tracy is a career diplomat and the first woman to be u.s. ambassador to moscow. a second massive winter storm in as many weeks is rolling into the nation's midsection tonight. the system is on track to bring lizard conditions to the northern plains and midwest and frigid conditions all the way to florida by friday. heavy snow already blanketed parts of washington state and

western canada. some 200 million people across the u.s. are now under extreme weather alerts. along the u.s. southern borde thousands of migrants waited today, looking for the end of the pandemic era ban on asylum. for now the so-called title 42 restrictions on legal protections once migrants enter remain enforced, pending a supreme court ruling. in the meantime, many migrants have been camped out in the cold just inside mexico. some say they can't wait much longer. >> i am going to ask for permission to see if they let me enter legally and if not, then i am going to try to stay here for a while to see if they give me asylum and if not, then migrate because i wanted to get ahead for my children and honestly i have lost a lot of time already. judy: the biden administration has asked the supreme court to let title 42 lapse, but not until after christmas.

states supporting restrictions warn ending them will overwhelm shelters. in britain, growing labor troubles became more serious as ambulance workers went on strike across england and wales. they staged the one-day walkout to demand better staffing and higher wages in the face of soaring inflation. paramedics insisted they would still insert lifesaving calls. >> nobody takes this lightly. i have been talking to people inside. nobody wants to be on strike. we don't want patients to suffer. i'm not withdrawing my labor today but i thought it was a portent to send a message out. judy: the ambulance crews plan another one-day strike next week. nurses already held t walkouts this month. elon musk said he's ready to let someone else run twitter after users asked him to step down in an online poll. musk tweeted today "i will resign as ceo as soon as i find someone foolish engh to take the job."

the billionaire's takeover of twitter with sudden policy shifts unnerved users and advertisers. on wall street stocks rallied on a report that showed consumer confidence improving. major indexes were up 1.5% or better. the dow jones industrial average gained 526 points close at 33,3 76. the nasdaq rose 162 points. the s&p 500 added 56. pro football great franco harris has died. he won four super bowls in the 1970's. harris made the legendary play dubbed the immaculate reception, scooping up a deflected last second pass to score and win a playoff game. franco harris was 72 years old. still to come, ukraine's president prepares to address congress as the war grinds on.

a congressional committee begins to release former president trump's tax returns. two film critics give their takes on the best movies of 2022. plus much more. ♪ >> this is the pbs newshour from weta studios in washington and in the west from the walter cronkite school of journalism at arizona state university. judy: late today the january 6 committee released transcripts of nearly three dozen of the more than 1000 interviews they long investigation into the capitol attack and president trump's role. the congressional committee will be releasing its final report tomorrow. geoff: the reports released tomorrow, after committee members held their final business hearing where they referred president trump on four criminal charges, obstructing an official proceeding, making

false statements, defrauding the u.s. and inciting an insurrection. joining us to discuss a we can expect in the full report is -- what we can expect in the full report is congressman jamie raskin. we expected the full report to be released today. we learned it is actually coming tomorrow. what accounts for the delay. rep. raskin: i believe there were issues at the government printing office. we decided to wait until tomorrow early in the day. geoff: when that full report does arrive, how will it to include the transcripts, all the underlying evidence gathered over the last 18 months, how will that full report expand public understanding of what transpired on january 6 and who bears responsibility? rep. raskin: it will supply a lot of color to the story that the public already understand. we have a president who refused to take no from an answer from

the american people, who gave more than 7 million more votes to biden than trump, the same margin that trump had defeated hillary by in 2016, which trump declared an absolute landslide. he wasn't going to take no for an answer. he began a multi prompt assault -- a multipronged assault on the legislature. our reported not get everything because there were a bunch of people who blew off their subpoenas or took the fifth amendment. we certainly understand every basic element of the assault on democracy and how 150 of our officers came to be wounded by the mob that donald trump whipped up. geoff: the justice department has been conducting its own wide-ranging investigation to

the insurrection and the efforts by donal trump and his allies to overturn the election. the january 6 committee is sharinevidence with federal prosecutors who for months were critical of the panel for refusing to send over witness terview transcripts and other information. why not share that information earlier? rep. raskin: these things are enormously time-consuming. our staff was overburdened under the weight of the work as it was. we made it clear we would turn over to the department of justice all relevant information they are seeking. we want the whole public to see what we have learned from this bipartisan inquiry into the worst violent domestic assault on the peaceful transfer of power in our history. geoff: the january 6 committee

referred four members of congress, all republicans, to the ethics committee for ignoring subpoenas. the membership of the ethics committee is evenly divided between each political party. still, republicans are set to take control of the house in weeks. do you expect this committee to operate in a nonpartisan fashion regarding these referrals? rep. raskin: no, i would not expect them to operate in a nonpartisan fashion. i would expect them to operate in a bipartisan fashion. but there is a profounproblem that is posed by members of congress who received a congressional subpoena to give information about what they know , who refused to do that. that is a serious problem. congress issues subpoenas and we expect people to comply with them under the rule of law.

what does it do to the credibility of congress and our ability to enforce our own subpoenas if we have members of congress who don't respect that process enough to show up and assert some kind of legal immunity if they think they have got it? geoff: the executive summary that came out this past week does not address questions of why the fbi, why u.s. capitol police and other law enforcement agencies did not do more to security on that day. will we get more clarity on that issue when the final report comes out? rep. raskin: the final report has a lot more detail about different is that people said about that. there clearly was information coming through from different one spent intelligence channels, that there were going to be large numbers coming to washington, and many of them on extremist websites said the

wanted to storm the capitol or attack the capitol or attack officers. the president of the united states ultimately is the chief of the executive branch of government, but had no interest in defending us in this case, as we saw on january 6 itself when the riot was underway, the attack on his own vice president was underway and he didn't get in touch with the fbi, the joint chiefs of staff, police, so on. he wasn't doing anything before that. overall it was simply not up to the task of dealing with the size of the crowd that came to attack the capital as incited by donald trump. that is a serious problem we will have to look at. none of that exonerates donald trump in any way because he

unleashed the whole sequence of events. he called for the rally at the same time congress was meeting. he urged everyone to come for a wild protest and became the first president in ameran history to try to assemble a crowd, quickly to become a mob, to attack the peaceful transfer of power. it is like a bank robbery where you have a mastermind take place and the bank is robbed and ask afterwards, were people cooperating with it, how could we fortify ourselves in the future? none of those questions absolving on a trump of his centraculpability. geoff: jamie raskin, member of the january 6 congressional committee. thanks for your time. rep. raskin: you bet. ♪

judy: newly released information from a congressional investigation shows the irs did not pursue timely mandatory audits of former president trump during his term in office, as is required. our william brangham has more on what we are learning about trump's finances and my irs oversight did not take place. william: the new report after democrats on the house ways and means committee engaged in a long battle with the irs to obtain the former president's tax records. the supreme court cleared the way for access last month. the report does not yet include the raw returns but data shows trump made as little as$750 in federal income tax while running for president in 2016. once his income started increasing while in the white house, he pay the federal government nearly $1 million in taxes. he paid no federal income tax his final year in office.

the committee will publicly release six years of his tax returns. joining me is someone who spent the last several years investigating trump's financial dealings. what is this summary report tell us about the president's financia dealings? russ: it is a continuation of what we reported in the past, that every year logs high losses, for him to pay taxes is rare. this audit function has not worked, as you alluded to, in exploring his vulnerabilities financially, the places where he could be subject to manipulation, and ways that

money could be sent to him through business transactions, apparent business transactions that did not have any business purpose. that is a couple things that were alarming, he just has not been looked at and is beyond a doubt the most financially and at times vulnerable president. william: the house took to task the irs for not doing this. they are supposed to do that with every sitting president, the irs? russ: there is a regulation that requires that. it is not yet a law. there is talk of making it into a law. it shows the need this is done. william: years ago you and your colleagues did this very deep

in-depth investigation into president trump and his finances during the 1980's and 1990's, the period he was promoting himself as the great reaestate developer. your investigation showed over that decade he lost nearl$1 billion. does this report this week dovetail with what your reporting back then found? russ: it is of a piece, yes. if you look at his financial records of close, not in the way he describes it, what you see are the businesses he controls are generally the lowest performing assets that he has in his portfolio. the things that have done the best are the assets that he received his father, which over his life totaled about a half billion dollars in today's money. the money he received from being on the apprentice, which was

free of any required business expertise, that licensing money toled over another half $1 billion over his life. that has basically underwritten a basketf businesses that overall do not consistently perform very well, and offered him huge tax write offs almost every year. william: this recent report showed donald trump came into office showing the same kinds of losses you were documenting in the 1980's and 1990's. while president, his income did spoke up -- spike up that year or two. two we have a sense of where those profits came from? russ: there was a blip in 2018 and he reported $22 million in reported taxable income that year. that was rare for him. it came from the sale of some assets. it appears it may have been part

of his inheritance that was finally sold off that year. after that blip, it wasn't like the businesses started performing well, it was just a big payday from the sale of a couple assets. it returned to his historical pattern of not reporting taxes. william: donald trump resisted what most modern presidents do, which is to give their tax returns over for public scrutiny. we may get those in the next couple days, these six years from congress. you touched on this earlier. what is the public interest in knowing what a essential candidate -- what a presidential candidate's tax returns, what is in the public interest? russ: a few things. if a president is in need of money, that makes him vulnerable

to manipulation. you see times in president trump's career where he is not able to make payroll. that came up in a criminal trial of his company in manhattan. he would have to come up with several million dollars to support that. we saw that in his tax returns over the years. that vulnerability to manipulation is important for the public and law enforcement to be aware of. also, there are just a lot of ways, when you have these cash-based hospitality businesses, that money can be sent to him in a way that appeared to be a business transaction but had no legitimacy. if you wanted to rent 100 hotel rooms in one of his properties through the weekend, you could easily get him $200,000 and not use those rooms. that is a large pot of money you

have given the president that would not show up on our financial disclosure forms and not show up on a tax return unless someone looked at the audit to see if those are legitimate. those have real public ramifications that currently we have no other system to capture or highlight. william: russ buettner of the new york times, thank you for being here. russ: thanks for having me. ♪ judy: it's been a very intriguing year for movies, with some big filims getting a lot of attention, smaller ones searching for audiences, and lingering questions about the future of the theater experience. jeffrey brown looks at the year in film, for our arts and culture series, canvas.

jeffrey: so are audience is returning to theaters. and if so, what are they seeing d what should they, we see? i'm joined by two film critics , ann hornaday of the washington post and justin chang of the los angeles times. it's nice to see both of you. justin, i'll start with you. why don't you give us twor three of your favorites of the last year? justin: one of my favorite movies this year is tar, which is todd fields, a brilliant study of a fictional world renowned classical conductor played by cate blanchett in one of the great performances of her career. >> time is the thing. time is the essential piecef interpretation. justin: even some -- even some have mistaken this for biopic, and it's not, she's a completely fictional creation, the character of lydia tar, her world is just so fully realized that it feels more real than some actual biopics. it's just a brilliant, mesmerizing film. and another of my favorites is a

very different movie called aftersun, which is a first feature directed by a director named charlotte wells. >> no. >> why? >> there is this feeling once you leave where you are from that you don't totally belong there again. jeffrey: it's a semi-autobiographical drama about, loosely based on an incident that happened with her and her father when they went on vacation, when she was just a pre-adolescent. and it falls in line with quite a few semi-autobiographical films this year, like steven spielberg's the fablans, james gray's armageddon time. i mean, we're seeing something where filmmakers are tapping into their persol memories. and this one, thou, from a previously unknown filmmaker, is just so piercing and haunting. it's one of the most moving studies of a father daughter relationship that i think i've seen in recent memory. ann: i will tell youomething, my number movie of the year was one top gun maverick. jeffrey: top gun maverick. ann: that was the movie where i

had the most fun. i went in with lots of skepticism. i thought it was too late. i thought it had taken too long. i wasn't really necessarily a huge fan of the first one. justin: many, many years after the first one, right? ann: many years after the fa. can tom cruise age gracefully in this role? and i was utterly disarmed almost immediately. those elbows that had been sharply out collapsed. and it was just so much fun to see it. and the audience was having such a good time. jeffrey: and there's something to be said for that these days, right? ann: there's a lot to be said for that. so i cannot tell a lie, that is number one. one that i was a huge fan of a i wish had been in theaters i so i could have sent people to it was good luck to you, leo grande . >> i'm leo. you must be nancy. may i come inside? ann: it's a little chamber piece starring emma thompson and a newcomer named daryl mccormack. and it's about a middle aged widow who wants to sort of reignite her sex life. and she hires a sex worker played by mr. mccormack to help her do that.

and it's a series of two hander scenes in a hotel room, which you would think would be deadly dull and completely uncinematic. but it is an absolutely charming film. emma thompson is at her best and and daryl mccormack absolutely holds his own with her. and i was quite taken with it. jeffrey: justin, a lot of people are coming to the movies for some of these big ones, i want to ask you about one of the year-ender big ones that a lot of people have been anticipating, that's avatar, right? the new avatar. justin: i really enjoyed the first avatar and i was completely transported by this one, too. it is very immersive. the worldbuilding is extraordinary. you feel like you are swimming. there were times when i want it to just be a great underwater hangout movie, you know, no action. but the action is great when it kicks in and you go home happy with the action. but but it's sort of this great, blissed out, trippy, you know, john cousteau documentary on

mushrooms experience that i totally recommend. is it a perfect movie? no, but to your question, jeff, i think that it's encouraging in a year that at a time when movies have been so challenged by the covid pandemic, yes, people have gone back to movies. but it's been a really tough year at the box office, especially for movies like tar, and tar has made more money than some. i mean, the movies that ann and i write about week in, week out, smaller movies, they last a few weeks in theaters and then it feels like they're gone or they're on a streaming platform. i've never worried more than ever for the health of, you know, the mid-budget adult dramas, the american independent films, international films, jeffrey: what you think about this? ann: i share justin's concern, and i think most of us have been concerned about that, especially that mid-budget adult drama that has always been an endangered species. and now i feel like these short theatrical releases are almost ads for the stream. you know, they're they're

building awareness for audiences that have now become conditioned to stay at home. there has been an exception to this recently, which is the whale. >> people are incapable -- ann: it's a theatrical adaptation starring brendan fraser that just broke box office records. it is telling us is the movie. audiences will come out to see something, whether that's a huge big screen blockbuster spectacle or, you know, a smaller scale, smaller canvas thing. but it's going to be that content. jeffrey: let me just ask you both one more question quickly, just to take us out on a kind of upnote here about a performance that you love. ann you want to start that? ann: well, you know, i will mention a movie that i think deserved a bigger theatrical audience. and that's she said, which is about the new york times reporters who broke the harvey weinstein story. it is a really terrific journalistic procedural, you know, in that great tradition of all the president's men and spotlight. but there's a performance at the center of this movie by samantha

morton. >> he played people. he was a master manipulator. ann: it's a supporting performance. it's not one of the leads. she was one of the women who was affected and traumatized by her interactions with harvey weinstein. and her scene changes the film. it's a fulcrum moment. >> this is bigger than weinstein, this is about the system protecting abusers. ann: and she dominates and commands it in a way that is just, it's just devastating. jeffrey: justin chang, one performance? justin: i'm going to call some attention, not that she necessarily needs it, to michelle yeoh in erything everywhere all at once. >> it does not look good. justin: michelle yeoh gives a wonderful performance in it. >> what is happening? justin: the movie is very much a love letter to her, to her career, to her, just her standing as one of our great martial arts performers, one of asia's great action stars, but

also just as a fabulous actor, something that has not been recognized as much as it should be. and i can't think of another movie this year, save maybe tar and cate blanchett that just calls on an actor to do so many things. and to make you believe her doing all of them. and so those two performances, i think, are maybe on a different level this year from most everything else. jeffrey: all right, justin chang of the los angeles times, ann hornaday of the washington post, thank you very much. ann: thank you. justin: thank you so much. judy: i hope you are taking notes. there is a lot to watch. on the newshour online, watch trailers from the movies our critics mentioned. that is pbs.org/newshour. and that's the newshour for tonight. i'm judy woodruff. join us online and again here tomorrow evening. for all of us at the pbs newshour, thank you, please stay safe and we'll see you soon. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by --

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