Pablo Larrain’s “Spencer” profiles the late Princess of Wales during the 1991 Christmas weekend at Sandringham before she and Prince Charles separated. It’s a stunning performance piece that may catapult Kristen Stewart onto the Oscar dais. 

Queen Elizabeth’s Sandringham House is an immense Jacobean mansion, isolated on 20,000 acres on the Norfolk Coast. It’s where England’s dysfunctional Royal Family celebrates the winter holiday. 

Labeled “A Fable from a True Tragedy,” it begins as self-sabotaging Diana (Kristen Stewart), who ditched her security detail in London, gets lost driving her BMW convertible. 

After she’s duly weighed-in on a pair of antique scales, she’s chastised for arriving late. 

 “Why do we have to open our presents on Christmas Eve, not Christmas Day like everybody else?” asks young William. “Daddy told Harry it’s because Father Christmas does Queens and Kings the day before everybody else so we get the best presents.”

Like a captive animal, closely watched Diana is herded from one frosty family gathering to another, observing tradition and strict protocols. Required to change fashionable outfits several times a day, her only confidante is her dresser, Maggie (Sally Hawkins).

Forced to wear the large pearls Charles gave her – after presenting his mistress Camilla with an identical gift – Diana yanks the necklace from her neck, dropping pearls in her soup, then popping them into her mouth and chewing  them up. 

Admittedly bulimic and lonely, increasingly paranoid, self-pitying Diana is haunted by the ghost of another wronged wife, Anne Boleyn, beheaded by adulterous Henry VIII.

Perhaps Chilean director Pablo Larrain conceived this as a companion piece to “Jackie” (2016) with Natalie Portman as Jacqueline Kennedy after JFK’s assassination. Likewise, Diana’s travails are condensed into a short period of time and presented with utmost compassion.

What’s particularly effective is how Larrain, screenwriter Steven Knight, cinematographer Clair Mathon and musician Jonny Greenwood evoke psychological horror, heightening Diana’s emotions, ferociously embodied by Kristin Stewart.

FYI: Those ‘pearls’ were actually crunchy chocolate candy.

On the Granger Gauge of 1 to 10, “Spencer” is a surreal, absurdist 7 – only in theaters.

As the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) expands to include some 26 interconnected movies, more and more superheroes emerge. The  new entry is “Eternals,” directed by Oscar-winner Chloe Zhao (“Nomadland”) with an emphasis on eclectic diversity and familial inclusion.

In an exposition-filled introduction, the 10 cosmic Eternals emerge from an intergalactic slab in the sky.  Created by the Celestial god Arishem, their purpose is to save humanity from predatory Deviants.  

Emerging in Mesopotamia in 5000 B.C., they’ve since been embedded among humans for centuries – under the spiritual leadership of Ajak (Salma Hayek), a matriarchal healer. 

Much of the backstory revolves around high-flying Ikaris (Richard Madden) and his romantic relationship with matter-manipulating Sersi (Gemma Chan), who is also wooed by a London-based historian Dane Whitman (Kit Harington), who has a “complicated” family history. (In Marvel lore, Dane is the Black Knight, possessor of the Ebony Blade.)

Plus there’s the inventor Phastos (Brian Tyree Henry), firebomb & fame-obsessed Kingo (Kumail Nanjiani), mind-controlling Druig (Barry Keoghan), strongman Gilgamesh (Ma Dong-seok), warrior Thena (Angelina Jolie), deaf-speedster Makkari (Lauren Ridloff), and the androgynous adolescent Sprite (Lia McHugh).

Loosely based on Jack Kirby’s 1976 “When Gods Walk the Earth,” the dense, non-linear script, filled with too many subplots, is cobbled together by Patrick Burleigh, Ryan & Kaz Firpo and director Chloe Zhao, who collaborates with cinematographer Ben Davis to create a dazzling, if utterly confusing concept which includes Greek mythology and bizarre allusions to J.M. Barrie’s Peter Pan, Wendy and Tinkerbell.

Above all, it’s visually gorgeous, combining the sweeping splendor of exotic locations around the globe with predictable CGI action clashes – kudos to production designers, art directors and set decorators.

FYI: For purists, in the comics Ajak, Makkari and Sprite are males; here, they’re females.

Running 2 hours and 37 minutes, it’s the second-longest MCU film after “Avengers: Endgame” (2019) -and post-credit scenes forecast future installments.

On the Granger Gauge, “Eternals” is an exciting, yet exhausting 6 – only in theaters.

In “Best Sellers,” octogenarian actor Michael Caine is an absolute hoot as an outspoken, cantankerous author whose favorite expression is “Bullshite!”

The comedic story ostensibly revolves around Lucy Stanbridge (Aubrey Plaza), a young editor who pins her only hope of saving her father’s boutique publishing company from bankruptcy on an elderly, alcoholic writer named Harris Shaw.

While Shaw’s legendary last book “Atomic Autumn” was written nearly a half-century ago, an examination of his contract reveals that he actually owes her company a follow-up book. So Lucy, accompanied by her assistant Rachel (Ellen Wong), decides to pay him a visit, spotting a foreclosure notice on his disheveled home.

Although reclusive Shaw pulls a shotgun on them, Lucy talks her way into him allowing her to publish a manuscript – “The Future Is X-Rated” – that he’s squirreled away for decades. Although the contract also states she can edit it, he adamantly refuses to allow her to touch a word: “I’ll be damned if I let the incompetent hand of nepotism molest my words, Silver Spoon!”

So off they go on a Book Tour, a whiskey-fueled road trip during which Shaw pulls various offensive stunts, including urinating on his own words, assaulting a smirking New York Times literary critic (Cary Elwes), gruffly baiting millennials and repeatedly uttering “Bullshite!” – a self-styled catchphrase which quickly becomes an Internet meme.

Granted, Anthony Grieco’s flimsy script is contrived, yet Lina Roessler’s canny direction allows Caine and Plaza to play off one another, gently satirizing the clash between art, commerce and celebrity. 

FYI: A widower. Shaw keeps a photo by his bedside; it’s of Caine and his wife Shakira Baksh.

When questioned about whether he’s still open to offers, Michael Caine told Variety: “I have a spine problem so I can’t walk very well. But regarding retirement, I’ve spent over 50 years getting up at 6 a.m. to make movies, and I’m not getting rid of my alarm clock.”

On the Granger Gauge, “Best Sellers” is a poignant, cross-generational 6, available on DVD and streaming platforms.